Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 9h

Brilliant. So clear on the real agenda, which is “othering”. Creating a virtual ghetto (sic) which blurs the lines between illegal migrants, asylum seekers and millions with ILR, who are contributors to society, with their skills (NHS/care often), their labour and (lest we forget) their taxes.

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Reposted by Peter Foster

James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 9h

Lords Heseltine & Kinnock seem more alive to these self-evident truths than most members of the Commons. Similarly, I find thinkers with direct lived experience of far right dictatorship, Greeks of a certain age for example, crystal clear about what’s happening now.

BBC Newsnight @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social · 22h

“You described Reform and other parties across Europe today as among the 'right wing equivalents of the fascists in the 1930s'. Why?”

“Because that’s what they are”

@vicderbyshire.bsky.social asks Lord Heseltine about remarks he made at Conservative Party Conference.

#Newsnight

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 1d

AI pushers talk about it "augmenting" capacity, but that ignores human nature. Why walk or bike, when you can drive? It's easier, so most of us do, but you get fat & lazy. AI will do the same to a lot of people's brains, I fear. Via @financialtimes.com piece on AI habits
ig.ft.com/ai-personal-...

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A Reader of the FT @a-reader-ft.bsky.social · 1d

WTO clings to signs Donald Trump still needs it — sometimes—While the US President’s unilateral tariffs have ridden roughshod over the WTO’s core principle of reciprocity in trade, diplomats argue… www.ft.com/content/15a9... @pmdfoster.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

WTO clings to signs Donald Trump still needs it — sometimes

US takes ‘à la carte’ approach to global trade body, suggesting it has not completely turned its back on rules-based order

www.ft.com

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 3d

Brutal BBC piece on how fast Switzerland’s glaciers are melting.

Drill baby drill. 🎶🎵

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 4d

Magnificent peroration to Simon Schama’s @financialtimes.com weekend essay on defending freedom of speech in the era of Trump - with help from Milton, Jefferson et al.

on.ft.com/4gSqvDw Simon Schama: What America’s Founders can teach Trump about liberty

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 6d

Living. Working. Paying taxes. Contributing. This is a desperately poor editorial.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 6d

The Times finds it "unacceptable" that people who came here legally in 2021 and have been living and working here since should allowed to stay.

The sad decline of a once great newspaper into ignorant xenophobia and casual racism

archive.ph/TFZY9

There is a more pressing issue. Ministers must ensure that the vast numbers of immigrants who arrived in the so-called Boriswave of 2020-21 are not automatically absorbed into the permanent population. They are about to cross the the five-year threshold into ILR, yet Labour continues to dither. Ms Mahmood must freeze the status of this huge cohort while a new residency regime is finalised. A million or more extra permanent residents in these islands, let in on the nod, is simply unacceptable. Finally, the home secretary must acquaint herself, and the public, with an accurate estimate of the actual number of foreign nationals living here, what taxes they pay and what services they consume. Without hard data, all the political parties are fumbling around in the dark.

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 6d

The Times finds it "unacceptable" that people who came here legally in 2021 and have been living and working here since should allowed to stay.

The sad decline of a once great newspaper into ignorant xenophobia and casual racism

archive.ph/TFZY9

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 12d

Brutal new MRP poll out today showing Reform at 311 and Labour support collapsing.

Worth reading steaming @financialtimes.com column on Starmer by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social

“Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode”

on.ft.com/3VxxCaR

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Thomas Aubrey @thomasaubreycca.bsky.social · 15d

Financing infrastructure without unnerving the bond market @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social @tonytassell.bsky.social @pickardje.bsky.social @marymcd.bsky.social @pmdfoster.bsky.social @greenmirandahere.bsky.social

Thomas Aubrey @thomasaubreycca.bsky.social · 15d

My latest @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk piece on how the Chancellor can finance the next wave of infrastructure without unnerving the bond market. The Chancellor’s attempt to increase capital investment resulted in a negative reaction from the bond market. As www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/blog/financi...

Financing infrastructure without unnerving the bond market - Bennett School of Public Policy

The Chancellor’s attempt to increase capital investment in her first budget resulted in a negative reaction from the bond market. As growth slows, the Chancellor needs to fundamentally rethink her app...

www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Peter Foster

Kinlika @kinlika.bsky.social · 16d

'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol

2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.

news.ki.se/no-link-betw...

No link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children

In the largest epidemiologic study to date of the risk of giving birth to a child with autism, ADHD or intellectual disability following acetaminophen use during pregnancy, researchers found no associ...

news.ki.se

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Reposted by Peter Foster

Paul Lomax @paullomax.co.uk · 15d

I use this graph a lot.

This chart shows the history of left-handedness in the United States, plotting the percentage of left-handed people by year of birth from 1880 to 2000. The rate begins around 5% in 1880, dips to about 3% by 1900, then rises steadily through the early 20th century. By around 1950, it levels off at about 11–12%, where it remains through 2000. A speech bubble on the chart humorously states, “Left-handedness is over diagnosed,” pointing to the sharp rise during the mid-20th century. The trend reflects how left-handedness was suppressed in earlier generations but became more accepted over time.

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Reposted by Peter Foster

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 15d

I see the CPS is desperately trying to repair the damage.

The claim that their clear errors were down to "changes in definitions" is a lie. Journalists should treat any new estimates with appropriate scepticism.

archive.ph/JSo7O#select...

Using the OBR data, the CPS attempted to put a figure on what this could mean for the fiscal cost to Britain of 801,000 migrants being granted ILR. Erring on the side of caution, it estimated the net cost at around £234bn to the UK – a figure cited by Mr Farage.
However, the CPS said that changes in some of the definitions meant that these cost estimates should no longer be used – although its estimate of 800,000 being granted ILR remained intact.
The think tank will now publish an updated estimate, which is still expected to reveal a significant net cost of tens if not hundreds of billions of pounds to the economy. Newly published Home Office figures bear out the argument.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18d

The data is in -- tourism to US dropped after Trump came in, while tourism recovered in rest of world...foreign arrivals at American airports down 3.8% compared with 2024, or 1.3m fewer people. With more Americans going the other way. See charts via @economist.com

www.economist.com/graphic-deta...