Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tom Clark

@tom-clark.bsky.social

10K followers 950 following 650 posts

Contributing Editor at Prospect Magazine; Principal Editor at Resolution Foundation

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · Apr 20

Grief, John & Paul — 1957-1980

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6962...

What turned John and Paul into Lennon & McCartney

Their miraculous partnership was founded on—and strengthened by—grief

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

1 4

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

V much hope the freak accident possibility is borne out

Either way, sadly, the signs of orderly liberal democracy is rapidly unravelling in the US remain pervasive… from state force being mobilised on cities run by one party, to presidential denunciation of violence from only one political fringe

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Worth keeping an eye on

In 2nd post of mini-thread yesterday I acknowledged that coincidental accident was possible. But as the 1st post was more shared & so more widely seen i’m replacing with this to ensure those provisionally reassuring words from investigators aren’t missed

1 4

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Guardian write-up states that the investigation ongoing, but hasn’t thus far turned up evidence of arson www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

1 3 3

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Reposting this extraordinary story while deleting my original quote post due to some subsequent reporting I want to thread in …

bsky.app/profile/davi...

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 1d

Over the weekend, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller repeatedly attacked judges, calling them part of an "organized terrorist attack" on the US government....

On Saturday, the home of a judge who ruled against Trump, went up in flames

time.com/7323442/sout...

House of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Administration Set Ablaze

Authorities are investigating a fire at the home of a South Carolina judge who had reportedly received death threats in what could be the latest incident of political violence across the country.

time.com

1 5 16

Reposted by Tom Clark

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 1d

There's a fascinating case study to be done on the different strategies of Macron and Sánchez. Both emerged, against the odds, from centrist milieux in the mid-2010s to lead their countries since 2017/18. But their fates are totally different.

5 45 130

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Context

bsky.app/profile/spar...

James Sparrow @sparklyjed.bsky.social · 1d

Here's the judgement concerned from South Caroline Circuit Court. For anyone tempted to believe it's all made up. Also look up the trump officials criticizing the judgements.

www.fitsnews.com/wp-content/u...

www.fitsnews.com

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

www.sccourts.org/courts/trial...

Diane Schafer Goodstein - South Carolina Judicial Branch

www.sccourts.org

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Am duty bound to delete if the essentials are wrong of course, but it’s in all sorts of places — CNN, Newsweek etc www.newsweek.com/judge-diane-...

Judge Diane Goodstein’s home burns to ground after ruling against Trump

Judge Diane Goodstein's husband was among those injured after he jumped from the burning house.

www.newsweek.com

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, it could still be accident but some coincidence if so:

"The 69-year-old judge had received death threats in the weeks leading up to the fire, multiple sources told FITSNews"

1 1 12

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 1d

France is going full Fourth Republic -- and the self-styled saviours this time are a lot more sinister than De Gaulle

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

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigns after less than a month

The shock move comes 26 days after his appointment following the collapse of the previous government of François Bayrou.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Tom Clark

Heather Stewart @guardianheather.bsky.social · 2d

Here’s this week’s column - if there are chunky tax rises coming, Labour needs a coherent story about who should contribute more - or the Budget risks falling as flat as the winter fuel cut. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Rachel Reeves’s second budget needs a narrative of fairness to justify tax rises | Heather Stewart

The chancellor should reach for the language of solidarity and social justice that this government tends to recoil from

www.theguardian.com

1 7 7

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

A provocative & unsparing look at the difficulties of confronting national-chauvinism around the world by Ivan Krastev

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/lib...

3 2 5

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

The week everything changed for Labour — and then changed back

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/712...

Keir Starmer’s fleeting moment of clarity

The prime minister sounded like he was setting out a new Starmer doctrine on Tuesday. It was diluted within 24 hours

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

1 2 7

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

Badenoch commits to leaving ECHR

Only 2 precedents exist: the Greek junta in 1967 & Vladimir Putin in 2022

Sharper response just to name them?

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

5 24

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

Some searching reflections on this week’s horror in Manchester from
@jonathanfreedland.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In a time of hate and rancour, two Jews sought to pray – and were killed. Let Manchester be a turning point | Jonathan Freedland

This was a horror but with so much intolerance and antisemitism, no one can say it was a surprise. There are lessons to learn, and that must start now, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

www.theguardian.com

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

This week brought the Starmer doctrine — and yet it disappeared as suddenly as it arrived

Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 4d

The prime minister sounded like he was setting out a new Starmer doctrine on Tuesday. Yet it was diluted within 24 hours, writes @tom-clark.bsky.social.

Keir Starmer’s fleeting moment of clarity

The prime minister sounded like he was setting out a new Starmer doctrine on Tuesday. It was diluted within 24 hours

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 4d

The PM this week set out a new "Starmer doctrine" of "principle tempered by pragmatism"

And yet on multiple fronts his punchy new message was fading within 24 hours www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/712...

2 6

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 6d

2 child limit—Excellent thread giving chapter & verse on the poverty & financial effects that would flow from any attempt merely to half-restore the old principle of entitlements based on the number of mouths a family has to feed

Alex Clegg @alexclegg.bsky.social · 6d

Very encouraging to read that the Government is preparing to lift the two-child limit as part of its child poverty strategy, but it is disheartening that options short of scrapping it entirely are still being considered. Thread on why this would be the wrong choice for an ambitious strategy:

Rachel Reeves to lift two-child benefit cap in November budget

Exclusive: Officials exploring options to change rule that affected 1.7 million children in Great Britain last year

www.theguardian.com

1 2 5

Reposted by Tom Clark

Resolution Foundation @resfoundation.bsky.social · 7d

There's good news and bad news on household incomes.

While we've seen healthy income growth in the past 18 months, incomes have yet to recover from the cost of living crisis.

⬇️

1. the good news
Real Household Disposable Incomes (RHDI) have grown by a healthy £1,100 over the past 18 months (between the end of 2023 and mid 2025).

2. the bad news
So why don’t we feel richer?

Because incomes this summer were still £110 lower than they were in 2021, just before the cost of living crisis started.

3. beneath the averages

RHDI tells us about averages, but this recent growth will not have been shared evenly.

Food prices are rising sharply. Energy bills are going up right when the temperature is going down. Private rents are out-pacing wages.

Many families are still feeling the pinch.

4. lots of ground to make up

Over the past twenty years, Britain's living standards slowdown has cost families £20,000 a year in lost income.

Lifting living standards is the defining challenge facing Britain today.

4 4

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

“Providing for every child due to its existence” —>> a fairer start for all

“Providing for every child so long as its parents work” —>> some starts more equal than others

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

1 2 7

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

“Providing for every child due to its existence” = clear

“Providing only for children who are one of 4 (instead of 2)” = confusing

Financial difference = modest

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

1 4 12

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

1 1 5

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

Listening to PM talk about "our world of insecurity" I'm struck at how much easier it is to give a speech from opposition these days

Opposition politicians feel less inhibited about bluntly laying the blame for so much of that insecurity to the White House

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

2-child argument moves to Budget

Arguably that’s more logical

But v odd not to have made much clearer in the run-up to today that there was no announcement on this today

1 2 7

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 7d

PM has 10 times more Farage/Reforms than Tories/Conservative

Chancellor yesterday the opposite ratio

Presumably they agreed to divvy it up like that?