Urban and Regional Economics Research Seminar Group

Today's Dusk by the River, Kyoto

The thing is that Roger and I are contemporaries and it doesn’t for me because the challenges of the mid 1970s aren’t the challenges we face today. I also happen to think that Healey was a good Chancellor in difficult times

ONCE MORE, THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. At no point does Reynolds say it is. What is more, a 'government spokesperson stressed there were no current discussions on freedom of movement'. So how does the BBC arrive at this headline?!! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Something horribly Dickensian about this. The weight of the world.

Number crunching: Royal Mail From the latest Private Eye, out now.

Of course it isn't. The question is who has the courage to rein him in? From the consistently excellent nixons.substack.com/p/musks-powe...

So here it is, why Made in Europe and the general air of major power coercion are key to Andy Burnham's rejoin and free movement talk. A world about as far as possible away from the Brexit vision as it could be - and an incentive for the pro-EU side. rejoinrejoin.substack.com/p/made-in-eu...

To everyone getting their knickers in a twist… All because @andyburnham.bsky.social suggested a sensible conversation about freedom of movement …do you perhaps need reminding of this?

Interesting to hear about the “right to speak to a human” law in California and the idea that people might get frustrated by their inability to get beyond the FAQs and chatbots that characterise so many businesses.

This is just dreadful stuff from Kuenssberg: "What has the government done to cut the national debt?" ONS: "Public sector net debt was provisionally estimated at 94.0% of GDP, 0.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier"

THANKS TO SHARIA

Politicians should look at the UK economy as a CEO would, says Lloyds Bank CEO From a bank that hasn't investigated HBOS frauds. No thank you. Companies enrich shareholders. Countries have entirely different purpose, governance, accountability. Must not be treated as corporations. archive.ph/lj45s

Personally absolutely in favour of a pedestrianised Oxford Street and it is likely to mean I go there more often. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

And that, Rupert old son, is precisely the problem.

Putting place first: towards a new vision for UK industrial strategy’ latest paper with Paul Hildreth just out @regionalstudies.bsky.social @regstud.bsky.social @rsaeurope.bsky.social @rsablog.bsky.social @prt1969.bsky.social @uresg76.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I guess that, unlike with Brexit where daft fantasy seems endlessly sustainable, Trump’s awfulness becomes objectively undeniable at some point. Notable how many reverse ferrets involve zero self-examination or remorse. This is very good…

On this day in 1956, two British diplomats travelled in great secrecy to Paris for a meeting which had far-reaching consequences. Patrick Dean and Donald Logan returned with a signed a document setting in motion the invasion of Egypt - the Suez crisis which brought down Eden 1/10

A morning note of caution. The usual suspects are out and about with their geography denial (we must have nothing to do with neighbours we inevitably have to deal with) but I don't yet see Burnham's political outriders on the EU - it is him making the weather alone.

Mount Haguro, Yamagata, Japan

The absolute bastards. Is there no end to their desire to make life intolerable?

The kindest thing to do now would be to ignore her, but she makes it very difficult.

some space images never stop taking my breath away, no matter how many times i’ve seen them. space is art.

In the UK, British Summer Time is coming to an end. I hate it when the clocks go back. Winter is approaching and with it, long, dark days... 😢 "When the lights come on at four At the end of another year. Give me your arm, old toad; Help me down Cemetery Road". Philip Larkin - "Toads Revisited".

Captured by Austrian photographer Patrick Vierthaler, this serene winter image depicts the snowy grounds of Matsugasaki Daikokuten (Myōen-ji Temple) in Sakyō Ward, northeastern Kyoto.

Did he say this with a knowing wink? Grimes gives immaturity a bad name.

Paradox: everyone understands opportunity cost in their own lives (if you want a new car you can't have the fancy holiday this year), but politicians don't want to explain such a basic idea to voters.

2026: David Frost criticises Labour for believing the 'propaganda' that GDP has shrunk 4-8% 2015: David Frost says being in the EU has raised GDP 5-8%

“There is a straightforward alternative. Fund care properly, improve pay and conditions, and make it a sector in which people want to build a career.”

Me on the Home Office's latest contorted and contradictory attempt to justify an intellectually and morally bankrupt set of proposals.. ukandeu.ac.uk/unaffordable...

The midterms are at best going to be a cluster fuck, at worst a clear signal that the US is not remotely a functioning democracy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Billionaire Reform UK donor was in business with foundation linked to Iranian regime. He is moving his tax residency from Switzerland to the UK to make “regular payments” of more than “one or two million” to the party. Reform for sale to foreign money, made from dubious dealings.

No idea why this sentence starts with ‘even’.

Serialized by Mademoiselle Yulia, who is active as a DJ / kimono stylist.

Have now written about this at greater length ukandeu.ac.uk/unaffordable...

You would hope so. The question is how, and what does it mean for our relationship to the big tech platforms owned by American sociopaths?

Is Europe the key that will help Labour unlock Scotland? Fascinating reflections for PF Global by Tim Rhydderch pfglobaldata.substack.com/p/king-of-th...

What frankly is the point of government publishing this sort of statement on trade negotiations with absolutely no useful content? Compulsive secrecy to the point of parody. For no good reason whatsoever. www.gov.uk/government/n...

If this is news that you haven't been paying attention to what Trump has been saying since the start of his second term. He's desperate for a modern Yalta. It's also why no one will ever believe security guarantees given to Ukraine. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The warzone that is King's Cross Station at 10pm. Oh the humanity. I expect 15 Tweets before bedtime saying how you can't venture out on London's streets in safety after sunset.

In these dismal times it is a constant joy to witness the BBC standing up to an American president who is no better than a gangster running a protection racket

This mystical shrine called Aritagawa-cho known as the crude shrine. Lost in the mountains of Wakayama prefecture, Japan. This shrine is 989 years old.

Rent-free!

This article fails to ask the question of whether we actually need this bridge for cars www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The immigration doom loop, summed up here by @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🔴 REVEALED: Palantir led closed-door review of how MoD buys software The review was presented to defence minister Luke Pollard by Palantir UK boss Louis Mosley in Feb and has mostly been implemented None of this was made public New investigation🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-p...

The most Manhattan thing in London. Ideal House by Raymond Hood. 1928-29.