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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · 6d

Presumably it was this post, and my one a month or so ago about Sarah Ezekiel having her voice restored, that got me added overnight to an "AI goobers & glazers" block list. What a villain I obviously am.

Screen grab of the curator's description of the "AI goobers and glazers" block list, which includes the phrase "people of the 'adapt or die' persuasion."

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 8d

That's not to say there's nothing the government could do to improve the welfare system. But the idea that costs are "out of control" compared to the past is wrong and leads to misdiagnosis.

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Max Read @maxread.info · 26d

im hearing he was a disturbed person with functionally illegible politics

Max Read @maxread.info · 27d

not an iron law or anything but basically every assassination attempt on a political figure over the last 20 years has turned out to be driven by a disturbed person with functionally illegible politics

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 5

Angela Rayner's policy legacy probably won't get discussed as much as her tax affairs over the next few days, but it's probably the most successful of Labour's first year. Forget the 1970s: she ushered in the biggest overhaul of local and regional government since the 1890s.

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 5

Hadn't realised it, but the omission I highlighted from Rayner's initial statement was crucial. It was the fact that she relied on advice that fell short of being appropriately specialist tax advice, and came with clear warnings to that effect, that has felled her.

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 3

A missing element that I would have thought she might include: a formal complaint to the relevant professional body against whoever advised her incorrctly. Doesn't seem unreasonable given the seriousness of the consequences, and would reinforce the message that she was relying on advice.

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Sep 3

Full statement from Rayner on underpaying stamp duty. She's not resigned yet but clearly now possible.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 3

A missing element that I would have thought she might include: a formal complaint to the relevant professional body against whoever advised her incorrctly. Doesn't seem unreasonable given the seriousness of the consequences, and would reinforce the message that she was relying on advice.

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Sep 3

Full statement from Rayner on underpaying stamp duty. She's not resigned yet but clearly now possible.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Angela Rayner’s full statement on her stamp duty underpayment

Deputy PM reveals details of family situation and discusses legal advice she says she received over purchase of Hove flat

www.theguardian.com

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 1

12 days too late:

*tale

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 20

Sarah was a prominent volunteer throughout my time at the MND Association; I found this a touching and delightful story to start the day with. And another cautionary tail about knee-jerking at the slightest mention of AI. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How eight seconds of scratchy audio from a VHS tape gave a mum back her voice

Sarah Ezekiel was 34 with two children when motor neurone disease took away her ability to speak.

www.bbc.co.uk

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Sep 1

Once again it baffles me how Policy Exchange get a pass, as if they're some sort of respectable think tank. They're funded by dark money and trying to break up the country by spreading obvious lies.

George Mann @sgfmann.bsky.social · Aug 31

The Times: Leaving the ECHR ‘not a threat to Ulster peace’ #TomorrowsPapersToday

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 26

Today's case study in rubbish campaigning underpinned by poor policy analysis: the radio industry in Australia, making unrealistic demands that don't take account of real-world developments. james.cridland.net/blog/2025/in...

Calls for legislation to protect Aussie radio, and BBC adds catch-up

But would it be better to work with others?

james.cridland.net

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 20

Sarah was a prominent volunteer throughout my time at the MND Association; I found this a touching and delightful story to start the day with. And another cautionary tail about knee-jerking at the slightest mention of AI. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How eight seconds of scratchy audio from a VHS tape gave a mum back her voice

Sarah Ezekiel was 34 with two children when motor neurone disease took away her ability to speak.

www.bbc.co.uk

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 18

Bookmark this thread. It could well (unfortunately) be useful to refer back to it in future.

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Aug 18

Let me give you a list of Reform UK promises and the diametrically opposite reality they will lead to if implemented. (1/?)

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 15

Yes, another big example. I do think there's something in the pubs one - it's cheaper / working class pubs that have gone, plus in some places a bit of market correction for over-provision I suspect.

And I dare say F&C will change as a sector; it's not a cheap meal any more...

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 15

When I wrote about the dangers of crying wolf, stories about looming fish and chip shop closures were the case study I used. I see they've resurfaced again today. I've no doubt times are tough, but 1 in 3 shops didn't close back in 2022 and I doubt half (as claimed by the Guardian) face closure now.

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 11

Enjoyed this both for the analysis of the policy impact and for the case study of terrible campaigning. They made mistake #4 from my 'five policy pitfalls' article back on Policy for Campaigns, and sundry campaigning blunders on top of it... policyforcampaigns.substack.com/p/policy-pul...

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Apr 2

Yep. Hard to take in, isn't it?

Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · Jan 31

Get ready for another Great Recession.

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 13

Lots of great insight in this IPPR research. Particualrly helpful if you happen to be in the early stages of developing a Local Transport Plan!

Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · Aug 13

New roads are considered much less important in people's lives than improvements to public transport.

Across all income groups people largely agree that improving public transport is important to them and their families. Only those on higher income are likely to say the same about new roads.

FIGURE 18: All income groups rank public transport affordability and provision of public transport as important to them but new roads are seen as having low importance for those on low incomes (net score of -1 per cent compared to +34 per cent for those on the highest incomes)

Question: How important would it be for you and your family for the government to achieve the following? Split sample. Showin g n et score
for positive sentiment minus negative

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 13

Well, a subtext from a UK perspective is: if/when a Reform government does similar here, will there be there any way back? In that context, it might be more clearly an authoritarian takeover rather than a reversion to C19 settlement, which had different characteristics here.

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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · Aug 13

I've just said "house style isn't a democracy, it's a benign dictatorship", and I think that is my peak editor/chief sub moment and I can go home for ever now

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 12

So, are there modern examples of successful rollback of authoritarian takeovers - proper, convincing restorations of democracy and the rule of law - without civil war and/or foreign invasion? What's the playbook, or has it not been written yet?

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 11

Enjoyed this both for the analysis of the policy impact and for the case study of terrible campaigning. They made mistake #4 from my 'five policy pitfalls' article back on Policy for Campaigns, and sundry campaigning blunders on top of it... policyforcampaigns.substack.com/p/policy-pul...

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 1

Fortunately we can now see Stirling's buildings were works of unmitigated genius, and I must have imagined those lectures I either attended sitting on the floor or missed entirely due to the inadequate, cramped lecture rooms. Thank goodness for that.

John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 1

Stephen Fry's novel Making History tells of a Cambridge historian using a time machine to kill Hitler in infancy, only to find the alternative timeline even worse.

By far the most implausible sequence in the book is when he visits the History Faculty and doesn't curse the building at length.

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 1

By the time I was there it had been listed and a new generation of historians were cursing their predecessors.

Legend also has it that the faculty received a delegation from Leicester, before they commissioned Stirling, warning them not to repeat Leicester's mistake.

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Aug 1

It was lore when I was a student that in the 1990s the faculty board voted on whether to demolish this building, as it was so obviously a terrible failure, utterly unsuitable for its intended use. One of the grand old men of the faculty - Geoffrey Elton, even? - cast the deciding vote against.

Architects' Journal @news.architectsjournal.co.uk · Jul 28

BDP’s plans to restore James Stirling’s Grade II*-listed History Faculty Building at Cambridge University have been approved

BDP’s revamp of James Stirling’s ‘Modernist jewel’ in Cambridge approved

www.architectsjournal.co.uk

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Jul 31

Ah yes, I remember that one. Simultaneously more outrageous (an actual mainstream political party!) but a lot less clever...

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John Kell @jmkpolicy.bsky.social · Jul 31

Out of interest, have those other instances also been for public bodies? As a former campaigner part of me is impressed by the tactic and maybe in certain contexts I'd consider deploying it...! But not in a statutory process, and certainly not for a public body. Totally inappropriate for that.

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