Miranda Green

erm ... hello?

A growing anti-data centre campaign in Slough has pushed the council to demand more money from data centre operators to fund local improvement projects. I suspect more UK council's will have to grapple with this - and there's no guarantee they can get residents onboard. as.ft.com/r/09375e0e-b...

There's a lot of talk about whether we can trust PISA scores or not. PISA is not the only international test. TIMSS & PIRLS test reading, maths, science too. England is the only country outside East Asia to come in the top 10 on them. More here. substack.nomoremarking.com/p/what-is-go...

Andy Burnham: straight-talker or loose cannon? On the FT’s Political Fix podcast this week, we discuss the PM’s troublesome penchant for off-the-cuff remarks, Labour’s youth welfare reforms, and the Lib Dem coup that’s fizzled... for now Check it out here! 👇 podcasts.apple.com/sn/podcast/b...

Katie Zacharia's next move ...

Zelensky is asked if Trump is scapegoating him because the USA is in such deep shit back home due to the disastrous Iran War. Watch Ze's response.

so this coming Tuesday I have written 2.15 Thucydides It's my handwriting, illegible of course. Putting up this humiliating message in case it jogs anyone's mind and you are Thucydides

I love it when somebody points out something “bleedin’ obvious” that nobody has noticed. Good piece by @pollymackenzie.bsky.social on saving the the high street. www.ft.com/content/f438...

I got about 4 times the responses on this in reaction to the short par on James Joyce's The Dead than the main section on the Lib Dem rebellion-that-wasn't. Make of that what you will. www.ft.com/content/51aa...

Insightful post …well worth read. I would add Davey’s promises more realistic than Burnham’s “good growth in every postcode” .With Tories embracing English nationalism, Burnham disinterring cloth cap Labour, and Greens forsaking environment for Corbynism, Lib Dems now own progressive centre

When @stephenkb.bsky.social is off we all get a go at the newsletter - mine today on the Lib Dem discontent - think the Ed Davey strat, dull as it is, will probably be vindicated, but this hasn't been about nothing www.ft.com/content/51aa...

It drives me absolutely mad that Hunt has never been forced to account for this. Interviewers never say "But isn't this your fault?" (It is.)

Late to this great piece on electoral reform prospects and options from @alanrenwick.bsky.social - including this top election trivia nugget: We have had seven by-elections so far this Parliament & every one has featured a different combination of parties in the top two: www.ft.com/content/b35a...

It's not even November and I'm already feeling panic and emptiness at the onset of winter - then I remembered how much I enjoyed writing this last year for @cordeliajenkins.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/2ca1...

we don't often have 16 year old grandmasters writing for us - or defenders of AI in education - so here you go www.ft.com/content/8267...

Green Party split widens after deputy leader says controversial vote must be ‘respected’ ft.trib.al/5SsmL4i

Oh man, they're going to be USELESS at parties now

Wow.

Yes and her speech at the count was really really good too to the wider audience

Ok so this did raise a chuckle

❗ There's a permanent, research and teaching lectureship over at the University of Surrey in the broad area of behaviour, attitudes, parties, etc. jobs.surrey.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Sorry at what point do the government feel the need to do something about BBC funding, or are they just going to watch it be salami-sliced to extinction?

Again what exactly does Nandy do all day?

A Kremlin-backed fintech company used old-fashioned money laundering to bypass western sanctions and funnel almost $7bn through major international banks, including Standard Chartered, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. Read today's excusive investigation 👉 ft.trib.al/POYpdNe

The people nitpicking the welcome change (or clarification) of tone/position are fundamentally unserious about the threat and the extent of the drift to this point. We 100% need conservative politicians to start speaking like this, and any objection as to the form is a nth order concern right now

Yes Kemi has spoken. But so has Janan.

Agree. I also think in general, politicians should always argue as if yesterday was slightly better than it was and that tomorrow will be even better. Particularly if you are actually a minority politician.

Kemi Badenoch attacks Reform UK: “I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing. Nobody was questioning whether they were English. We certainly didn't have sitting MPs question whether they were English. We must not let these people take us backwards.”

I see lots of suggestions Reform figures are suing/going to sue various organisations and individuals but I dont recall ever seeing details of one of the cases in court or settled? Do they just get settled quietly? It seems unlikely that they wouldn't want to make something of a successful case?

the tech industry is about to invent books

Amazing piece by @christinalamb.bsky.social - what a female war reporter sees when looking at the Bayeux Tapestry www.thetimes.com/uk/history/a...

Former German spy chief arrested for treason ft.trib.al/vePDUVk

I'm sorry but our Bayeux Travesty was better so there and we had Healey's Comet and everything #SketchyPoliticsRuleth @financialtimes.com

Late to posting this as I’ve been walking round a reservoir in Lancashire in pissing rain, apparently trying to be as northern as possible The prime minister is a conscious user of language, but possibly also an unconscious one as.ft.com/r/d9b8ea73-3...

it's the knitwear

Apply for our fantastic global innovation fellowship where you could be based at @carnegieendowment.org (in Washington DC, Brussels, Berlin, Beirut or Singapore). Awards are for up to £150k www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

What can Burnham learn from Scotland’s social care system?

What was the moment you realised you had no grasp of the world anymore? This did it for me www.ft.com/content/f109...

Dept of Seeking Comfort latest announcement from @elainemoore.bsky.social - AI can't smell. All hail the human nose. www.ft.com/content/dd33...

If Reform did something like this with mosques we might think they were a bit racist. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

My second visit to #Battle church. Hadn’t seen this @GreenMan before. Neither had locals. #Lookup!

This is a sublime piece www.ft.com/content/1849...

Happy to be proved wrong (if, that is, I am proved wrong).

They should come on Bluesky and get most of the FT for free

Was curious about the whole going "we need to be where we were 40 years ago" thing. Found this from the ONS - real disposable incomes today are almost twice that of 1986. Obviously there's a lot that needs fixing (housing!). But I feel like this is relevant...? www.ons.gov.uk/economy/gros...

You must forgive me for not writing for so long, but I just wanted to be on my own for a couple of years or so.

My five year old has the soul of Orson Welles. We were outside school and he 'put a kiss in my pocket for later.' Extremely touched by this, I gave him two back. He dug out the second one, THEATRICALLY CRUSHED IT IN HIS FIST and said 'one is enough.'

The Right to Roam Print Shop is closing soon! Every print helps fund our campaign to open up more of the countryside and improve access to nature. If you’d like to support the push for a Right to Roam, now’s the time to grab yourself a print. www.righttoroam.org.uk/category/all...

The 'thrift flip' to end all thrift flips

Is it really 5 party politics or a load of 2 party politics in every area (and crucially a battle to be 1 of those 2)? Great piece based on new research from @martamiori.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social of Nuffield College - www.ft.com/content/28ea...

wtf went on here? Did somebody accidentally support a wind turbine