Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1h

Leunig, a former gov adviser, said scrapping it — while it would boost growth and productivity — would be “a very, very big tax cut for rich people”. One effect would be to boost house prices, making the main beneficiaries the existing owners of expensive properties in the south-east of England.

Should stamp duty be scrapped in the UK?

Conservative party says property tax deters people from moving house and stifles productivity

www.ft.com

8 19 48

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

I hate to break it to you, but there are literally hundreds of research articles by Indian researchers with actual evidence/data on this, so maybe I might place more faith in them than your random "zero benefits" claim 😉

Goodnight.

8

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

That's presumably why the centrist and left wing opposition parties have pledged to scrap it? Like the CPI did in Kerala? Oh, wait. 😉

1

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

??? The "direction of travel" is from 2009, isn't it? And which Indian political parties have called for Aadhar to be scrapped?

3

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

Aadhar was first introduced by Manmohan Singh..(not exactly a fascist!) and its main function has been to enable access to welfare/services for poorer Indians.

Not necessarily an argument for digital IDs here but saying we can't learn anything from India is exactly what it sounds like...

Hanniba-LINA Lecter 💀 @agirlcalledlina.bsky.social · 9h

Wow cool, follow the direction of travel of a fascist regime

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 9h

Keir Starmer to look at India’s digital ID system during visit to Mumbai

2 1 13

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

Most Indian progressives are for fairly obvious reasons. They make it possible to implement progressive social welfare programs, and that's Aadhar's most important function.

5 3

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 8h

Seriously? You might want to check on that. Calling Manmohan Singh a fascist is a bit of a stretch...

3

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Jon Bloomfield @jonbloomfield.bsky.social · 12h

@stephenkb.bsky.social calling out yet more racist garbage that fills the pages of our right-wing press these days.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19h

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

7 20

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

I hope and believe that most of my fellow Jews will join me in saying that it is sickening that anyone should justify this outpouring of execrable racist bile by claiming that it's for our sake.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

13 37 140

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

helen, gender goblin @gendergoblinhelen.bsky.social · 17h

I can absolutely guarantee that 1920s Stephen Daisley would have been writing the same article about Eastern European Jewish immigrants.

1 2 8

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Adam Squires @adsquires.bsky.social · 11h

Yes, agree. As @gabrielmilland.bsky.social and @stephenkb.bsky.social have pointed out, it's exactly the same things people would have said about our grandparents. Exploiting the Manchester attack to try to divide our communities with this nonsense is appalling.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

I hope and believe that most of my fellow Jews will join me in saying that it is sickening that anyone should justify this outpouring of execrable racist bile by claiming that it's for our sake.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

4 17

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

The i Paper @theipaper.com · 12h

Opinion | Starmer has not prioritised growth, not really. He has done what British governments have been doing for over a decade: prioritising anti-immigration policy and focusing on growth only where it does not interfere with it

🖋 @iandunt.bsky.social

Read more: trib.al/HHn51XN

9 35 140

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 11h

I see @iandunt.bsky.social has done an article-length version of my Meatloaf post.

It's excellent.

inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

Trump's migrant obsession offers Starmer a rare win – but Farage has scared him off

We have a golden opportunity to kick-start the British economy

inews.co.uk

2 10 32

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

I wrote about Robert Jenrick's embrace of blood and soil nationalism for @bylinetimes.bsky.social

"The British right is adopting an increasingly extreme form of ethnic identity politics, while failing to explain what the rest of us are supposed to be worried about"

bylinetimes.com/2025/08/19/r...

But what about “ethnic change”? Yes, the proportion of Islington’s population who are (like me) white British has dropped from perhaps 85% to about 40%. This change is indeed visible. For West, it is “far beyond what any group would find tolerable.” What he doesn’t and can’t say is why exactly I’m supposed to find it intolerable. Why should I, or my neighbours, be more concerned about what race or ethnicity the kids are at the local school than the quality or financing of local services, or whether the council is successfully balancing the need for more housing with the interests of long-standing residents?

6 39 98

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Fourth Crown War FPV Drone Operator 🇺🇦🇱🇹🇵🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @dov.bsky.social · 18h

If your entire argument for why Jews should be protected is not because they are human beings and deserve respect but that they have been "a model minority," then congratulations, you have actually implied that if they weren't, that would justify a mass expulsion.

3 39 240

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 20h

I'd Do Anything For Growth (But I Won't Do That)

www.ft.com/content/5ab6...

More UK visas for highly skilled Indian workers ‘not part of plan’, says Keir Starmer

British premier embarks on two-day trade trip with 125 chief executives, cultural leaders and university vice-chancellors

www.ft.com

11 41 180

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 18h

[our name change was imposed rather than chosen, but I am very grateful...]

2

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 18h

not too late for you to do a Zack!

1 2

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 18h

maybe @glanktree.bsky.social?

1

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

Stephen and Sam below.

bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19h

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

1 23

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19h

No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

26 230 870

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

I hope and believe that most of my fellow Jews will join me in saying that it is sickening that anyone should justify this outpouring of execrable racist bile by claiming that it's for our sake.

Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 19h

Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.

Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.

That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.

13 37 140

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 19h

I wrote about Robert Jenrick's embrace of blood and soil nationalism for @bylinetimes.bsky.social

"The British right is adopting an increasingly extreme form of ethnic identity politics, while failing to explain what the rest of us are supposed to be worried about"

bylinetimes.com/2025/08/19/r...

6 39 98

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 19h

Our latest edition is out, with @omerbartov.bsky.social's magisterial essay on the history of genocide denial and how Israeli denialism over atrocities in Gaza has roots in the country's own history
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/israel...

3 22 30

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19h

Spot on from @stephenkb.bsky.social. And the other aspect of this nasty turn is the eliding of British ‘culture’ with ‘white British’, which will shock anyone who has watched TV or football, or listened to music, or read a book, or indeed breathed since 1980.

4 96 270