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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 1h

I've spent almost 20 years reading and sometimes writing about growth, development and industrial policy, and nowhere in any of that literature is economic expansion attributed to keeping the pubs open a bit later

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 1h

This is now: what happens if there is a blanket presumption that "development" completely overrides the concerns of local residents, which is what seems to be proposed here?

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 3h

What about if you moved to a street years ago when every commercial premises was a shop or a cafe and you now have a dozen bars in spitting distance? Are you allowed to object to having pissed people stood 10m from your bedroom window shouting at 1am or whatever it is going to be instead of 11pm?

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 22h

I hear you from the perspective of electoral positioning, but I think there's a much bigger strategic question about the future of the country at stake: i.e. force Farage to defend actually-existing Brexit against a real alternative that is the only way of escaping low-growth stagnation/isolation.

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 1d

If the Greens and Lib Dems (currently on 29%, more than Reform) could find a way to coalesce on an anti-Brexit platform with a pledge to pursue EU membership, I reckon their numbers would go through the roof and it would totally transform the terms of debate

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 1d

Four parties within a 5 point swing of first place and five parties on 12% plus.

This would be pure chaos under first past the post.

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 1d

Westminster Voting Intention:

RFM: 27% (-2)
LAB: 20% (-2)
CON: 17% (+1)
LDM: 17% (+2)
GRN: 12% (+1)
SNP: 4% (+1)

Via @yougov.co.uk, 5-6 Oct.
Changes w/ 28-29 Sep.

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 1d

Probably a bit late to The Studio party, but I actually would love to see a movie about Jonestown directed by Martin Scorsese with Steve Buscemi playing Jim Jones

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 3d

Every cost has a corresponding benefit, so politicians should never be allowed to advocate spending cuts of £XXbn on the basis of supposed "savings" alone

They should be forced to justify the other side of the ledger too: i.e. the likely larger £XXXbn loss of benefits that those cuts would entail

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 14d

If the BBC were still a half-way functioning public service broadcaster, instead of the trivial issue of small boats dominating news bulletins, it would be holding Brexiteers to account on the orders-of-magnitude-higher cost of leaving the EU which is a permanent drag on growth and never mentioned.

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 19d

“If the reading revolution represented the greatest transfer of knowledge to ordinary men and women in history, the screen revolution represents the greatest theft of knowledge from ordinary people in history”

James Marriott @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social · 19d

In the eighteenth century the rise of literacy precipitated the greatest transfer of knowledge into the hands of ordinary men and women in history and helped to destroy the old feudal order in Europe.

As literacy recedes a neo-feudal future looms.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

The dawn of the post-literate society

And the end of civilisation

substack.com

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Reposted by Matt Bishop

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 25d

this is, hands down, the best video I've seen on men's influencer content and it's not close either

380 8.4K 32K

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 27d

Thank heavens the international break is over and we can get back to the real football

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · 28d

Niche post for toddler parents, but please be aware that if you visit Cbeebies Land at Alton Towers, you might have to deal with an upset kid when they realise Postman Pat has been demolished in favour of Bluey!

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Sep 2

The real test of Polanski’s political skills will not only be keeping the Greens’ urban and rural tendencies together, but being ambitious enough to try to unite the whole liberal-green-left from Corbyn/Sultana to the Lib Dems under a single coalition of some kind. There’s a huge prize waiting.

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 29

The slogans write themselves:

Vote Reform: Keep Getting Poorer

Vote Labour: Growth, Opportunity, Dynamism

Who doesn't want their kids to be able to work freely across the continent again, or be able to export easily to it, or have the prospect of retiring to the Costas once more?

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 29

Literally the only way to defeat Reform is to renounce actually-existing Brexit, bang on about the costs, and force Farage to go into the election defending ongoing economic stagnation while Sterling is rising and business is clamouring to get back into the EU

Edwin Hayward @edwinhayward.com · Aug 28

If Labour begin preparations for negotiating to rejoin the EU, we could be back in by around 2030-2031, turbocharging Labour's second term.

If they stick to their Brexit maximalist stance then we're not going to be rejoining until the 2040s or later, after the horror of a 2029 Reform government.

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 29

Mourinho back to United in a firefighting role - heard it here first!

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 27

Increasingly thinking that sacking Dan Ashworth because he fancied Thomas "multiple systems in the same game" Frank maybe wasn't the masterstroke Ratcliffe thought it was at the time. United fans will be apoplectic if Mainoo goes because of Amorim's rigidity and refusal to coach players.

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 27

Not only that, but he is never forced to justify the price of that fiasco: an economy 4% smaller with £100bn in lost output and £40bn in foregone taxes, every year

Gavin Esler @gavinesler.bsky.social · Aug 27

I’ve often wondered why Nigel Farage, who as godfather of the Brexit fiasco engineered the biggest British foreign policy disaster since Suez is continually offered so much space in some newspapers and broadcast media. Serious question. Thoughts welcome.

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 21

Does the BBC actually report on any news other than the "small boats crisis" these days?

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 21

School uniform gouging is a disgrace. If we must have it, then a government could pass a law tomorrow limiting it to a badge and tie sold at cost price to parents, with the rest of it made up from widely available basic supermarket items www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

School uniforms were meant to be the great leveller – how does a £400 bill do that? | Lucy Pasha-Robinson

The cost of a suit, tie and PE kit is simply too much for many parents. Something practical, sustainable and affordable shouldn’t be too much to ask, says Guardian Opinion assistant editor Lucy Pasha-...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Matt Bishop

Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · Aug 7

Blogged: there is a problem with political communication - but it's not the one Starmer thinks it is: stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_an...

The political communication problem

Sir Keir Starmer thinks the government has a communications problem. He's right, but not in the way he thinks. James Austin summarized succinctly what many believe Starmer's problem to be: There simpl...

stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 7

Every company these days:

Today: "LAST CHANCE to get the amazing 10% offer off the thing that you don't need that we've emailed you every single day about for weeks, ends midnight!"

Tomorrow: "NEW OPPORTUNITY to get 10% off the thing you don't need, ends soon, hurry hurry"

#unsubscribe

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 5

If Brexit has indeed been a resounding disaster, why isn't Ed Davey actually demanding that we seek to join the EU and making the pursuit of full membership Liberal Democrat policy?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Brexit has been a resounding disaster. Starmer must find the courage to change course | Ed Davey

Poll after poll shows most voters think leaving the EU has been a failure. Closer ties with Europe would bring huge rewards, says Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey

www.theguardian.com

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 4

No, exactly. What if a bouncer had hit his already-hurt shoulder and done really serious damage?

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Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Aug 4

Yes, definitely many problems in a sport where everyone is always looking for an edge - including feigning injury - but today's situation with Woakes is surely suboptimal?

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