Emeritus Prof. Christopher May

https://mastodon.me.uk/@ChrisMayLA6

Retired Professor of Political Economy; now enjoying the fediverse.

Previous Lives: Record industry; bookseller; Charter 88
Interests: politics & economics, music, art
Previous Mastodon: This account was previously @[email protected] has moved (npub12pw…zvxn) but moved after that instance became compromised

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Last Notes

2026-07-28 17:39:03 UTC

And so we find ourselves where we knew we'd end up... the Home Office using AI-generated slop (a document that doesn't;t exist) to refuse an asylum claim.
AI & its associated technologies are having clear & consequential effects, yet they no doubt will allow Home Office officials to escape censure for lying & misrepresentation;
'it was the machine what done it, M'lud'.
Court's will need to be more sceptical of HO claims from now on!
#HomeOffice #refugees #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/28/home-office-used-ai-hallucinated-information-to-refuse-asylum-claim-judge-suggests

2026-07-28 17:08:49 UTC

And it just gets worse.... it now transpires that NHS England, in its original data protection impact statement, failed to reveal the under the Palantir contract the firm's operatives would be given potentially unlimited access to identifiable patient data....
And so NHSE has lied about the success of the software project (see previous posts) & lied about its impact; if NHSE was not about the be dismembered this would be a good reason to do so.
#NHSE #Palantir #politics
h/t FT

2026-07-28 09:02:48 UTC

Andy Burnham may not be overly concerned with constitutional changes, but @npub1uqn…lhdy argues, pretty convincingly, that he should be.... a robust constitution would be (is) a prophylactic against the worst excesses of a Far Right govt.
Leaving constitutional action to limit such political excess(es) cannot wait until its imminent or arrived!
#politics #RuleOfLaw
https://theemptycity.com/blog/2026/07/the-best-time-to-fix-a-roof-is/

2026-07-27 21:39:31 UTC

Given all the interest in Palantir, its likely a good time to post this map of their UK network of contracts, as researched & prepared by the Nerve six months ago....
The Nerve's full story is here:
https://www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-technologies-uk-government-contracts-size-nuclear-deterrent-atomic-peter-thiel-louis-mosley
with links to their ongoing investigation(s) into Palantir's contracts with the UK public sector.
#palantir #politics #NHS
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/994/096/157/761/974/original/59d4fab62b724db0.jpg

2026-07-27 17:59:04 UTC

Well, well, well, after often telling people that X cannot take down content, or quickly suspend accounts for various reasons (because......), I notice that when a high quality bootleg go the Odyssey appeared on X on Saturday, it only took X two hours to shut down the account....
therefore demonstrating it is possible.... that is if the aggrieved party is a major Hollywood studio, of course.
#SocialMedia #copyright #politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m1ev5j3m2o

2026-07-27 17:12:55 UTC

Austerity has come to astrophysics, with The Science & Technology Facilities Council (distributor of public research funds) pulling *all* funding from the e-Merlin a group of 7 UK radio telescopes, including the Lovell at Jodrell Bank, which (as The FT notes) 'make up one of the world’s most powerful networks for astronomical observations'....
To be fair to Andy Burnham its likely this decision was made before his coronation, but its not a good look (not good for science)
#science #politics

2026-07-27 05:31:11 UTC

So, after NHS England's claims that Palantir's technology had raised patient discharges de-clogging hospital handling capacity were queried for being based (largely) on one London hospital's experience (incidentally with good links with the tech firm), now the Health Foundation in independent research on the issue has concluded (confirmed) the deployment of Palantir's software has made 'no meaningful difference' to discharge delays across the NHS!
Its a con!
#NHS #Palantir #politics
h/t FT

2026-07-27 05:15:32 UTC

Having succeeded in getting protestors to be sentenced under terrorism guidance having only been convicted of criminal damage once, prosecutors are trying to pull this off for a second time - this time for five (more) Palestine Action protestors who vandalised a Barclays Bank branch & were convicted of criminal damage.
The Rule of Law in the UK is being dismantled through the manipulation of sentencing rules.
Andy Burnham needs to stop this, now!
#politics #protests #PalestineAction
h/t FT

2026-07-26 08:48:33 UTC

For those interested in the financial dealings of the Fascist Frog, the chief funder of ReformUK Ltd's political activity, Christopher Harborne, while being self-avowedly based in Thailand, has significant holdings in Guernsey, including owning the island's biggest private plane operator... much of this is owned through holding & shell companies registered elsewhere to obscure his involvement....
So, what is Harborne hiding? Money laundering?
#ReformUK #NigelFarage #corruption
h/t Observer

2026-07-26 08:36:04 UTC

Hmmm... out of control wildfires across the world (in France, Spain, the UK, Canada... and that's just this week), might indicate that the warming world has reached the point where plant substance(s) from ground cover to trees are in a state of frequent potential combustion.
If the world *does* catch fire , what next; certainly imposing tariffs on those effected doesn't look that effective... I know, how about re-thinking objections to environment-focussed policy making?
#ClimateChange #Fires

2026-07-24 06:18:19 UTC

As Andy Burnham & his cabinet grapple with the various problems inherited from the previous Labour administration (and the Tories before them), perhaps the most important shift they need to make is to no longer focus on the cost of transforming social & personal care provision... but rather to consider the continuing costs of doing nothing!
More reviewing of care will tell us nothing new, and will (rightly) be seen by many voters as yet more delay.
Its time to act on care!
#care #politics

2026-07-24 05:52:31 UTC

If building is part of the solution to the housing crisis (some here would disagree with that) and construction remains dominated by the private sector, then the decline profitability of housing firms may be a signal of why building of new homes remains well behind Govt. targets (possibly) contributing to a housing shortage.
[Although one might also wonder whether profits have been shifted into land-holding operations?]
This is why public sector building is needed!
#Housing #politics
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/973/385/909/851/948/original/a5e02a0a132d80a9.png

2026-07-23 07:49:14 UTC

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I think both things can be true - in general it is within all of use, but in particular there can be (is) collision amongst the worst of us

2026-07-23 06:05:25 UTC

Another week, another violent offender hiding in plain sight (as a police officer)... (this one has killed himself while suspended & finally under investigation).
Its not hard to see why women still mistrust the police, do not expect them to investigate violence against women & girls properly, and generally are reticent to report crimes against the (female) person.
#police #politics #VAWG
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v0rq66q3no

2026-07-23 05:34:10 UTC

As inflation drops to near the Bank of England's 2% target, already hawks are out warning inflationary pressures are mounting & inflation will quickly rise again, and of course, therefore the BoE should not reduce interest rates, but rather consider raising them in the Autumn.
The problem remains, interest rates target domestic inflationary pressures (highly imperfectly in any case), but the UK's inflation is mostly imported & thus this policy instrument is ineffective!
#inflation #politics

2026-07-23 05:17:34 UTC

As Andrew Marcinko (DurhamU) points out too often organisations (both public & private/commercial) espouse values publicly that their actions betray:
'Employees notice that gap. They remember it. It's hugely impactful. And the costs — trust, commitment, goodwill, retention — outlast whatever the numbers were meant to justify'!
Management's organised hypocrisy has long term costs; a key aspect of both the UK's rubbish management & our economic travails!
#economics #politics
h/t LinkedIn

2026-07-22 20:19:41 UTC

You'll likely of guessed this but China now accounts for just under 30% of the global value added from manufacturing; measuring value added reveals where the surplus from innovation & proprietary technologies accrue; where in global supply chains the real profit is made.
You'll see China has trebled its share over the last two decades, while other manufacturing regions have seen their share decline (especially Japan).
The eastwards pivot has been happening for some time!
#China #economics
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/965/461/149/318/709/original/0afc5f881665cf03.png

2026-07-21 17:32:40 UTC

Well, as the BBC points out, its all very well reducing the VAT from energy bills, but VAT is not one of the key reasons for our high energy bills in the UK, rather they are high because of:
how the energy prices are set (the link to the gas price);
the energy mix (we still need to expand renewable further); and
the costs of network build out being passed to consumers.
These are all policy choices, so should Andy Burnham's cost of living focus start here?
#politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8n5vnmjlzo

2026-07-21 06:00:17 UTC

While many have predicted over the years that water would be the key resource that sparked global conflicts, perhaps few in the past expected the threat over water use to come not from population use pressure but rather from the build-out of data centres to support BigTech's AI-related technological developmental demands.
In the UK, this is likely to put data centre developers directly at odds with local populations - it could get very nasty!
#water #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/21/not-enough-water-for-uks-datacentre-plans-trade-body-says

2026-07-21 05:13:06 UTC

So, Andy Burnham's choices for top cabinet roles are a picture of continuity & change... but perhaps not the continuities or changes we wanted.
Many wanted Shabana Mahmood out of the Home Office... she's still there;
Many wanted Ed Miliband to stay at Energy as he's been pretty focussed on the climate change agenda... but he's been moved.
And of course, many just wanted rid of Wes Streeting, but he's popped up at Defence, while Protestors' nemesis Yvette Cooper goes to health...
#politics

2026-07-20 17:32:52 UTC

I think Andy Burnham has immediately lost one good minister in (Lord) James Timpson who has stood down today... while he is reported as believing he has done as much as he can, for many his continued role as Minister for Prisons would have allowed for continuity & for him to continue to oversee the slow but sure improvement of the Prison service he has set in train.
It will be a real pity if his successor does not show the diligence & care Timpson has in the role.
#politics #prisons
h/t BBC

2026-07-20 05:56:36 UTC

Bite Size Economics No.39
'High executive pay reflects a mistaken model of individuals' contribution to business success'
High pay of business executives (related to the general workforce) emphasises the contribution of management & leadership to corporate success.
But this misunderstands how organisations succeed; leadership *does* matter, but so do the effort, tacit knowledge & work of all workers.
Managers have unjustly skewed rewards towards themselves.
#BiteSizeEconomics #workers

2026-07-19 17:26:52 UTC

If you're in Manchester & are wondering what Geraldine Coggins' manifesto for the Mayoralty might be, here it is in the form of a Green Party of England & Wales press release.
You know ReformUK are going to be focussing on Clacton, while the Labour Party is going to be pretty caught up in the coronation & initial moves of their new PM.... The GPEW however, are pretty clearly focussed on Manchester.
#Manchester #Greens #Politics
https://greenparty.org.uk/2026/07/17/housing-buses-high-streets-geraldines-manifesto-for-greater-manchester/

2026-07-19 17:19:57 UTC

Its a classic case of false economies:
the engineered crisis in the NHS (which has both boosted private health care, there's a surprise, *and* widened health inequalities) is actually a key element in holding back the UK's economic potential.
Not only are there good humanistic arguments for sorting out the crisis in the health services, there is also a good national 'business case'; resolving the NHS's crisis is both pro-business *and* pro-worker!
#NHS #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/19/restoring-britains-health-to-2014-levels-could-add-2-to-gdp-thinktank-says

2026-07-19 08:43:48 UTC

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I'm hoping that is sarcasm....

2026-07-19 08:15:38 UTC

The madness of NHS workforce planning continues;
newly qualified nurses (having graduated) are finding it increasingly difficult (or impossible) to get jobs as nurses as the NHS has a recruitment freeze on; it also reflects some good news in that nurse retention (another focus of planning) is rising reducing vacancies in a workforce constrained by budget limitations.
But, to train nurses & not be able to employ them when there's a shortage of nurses is madness!
#NHS #nurses #politics
h/t FT

2026-07-19 07:27:24 UTC

Meanwhile in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation warns that the current Ebola outbreak is spreading faster than any previous incidence of the disease.
Of the 2,000 known cases, 800 have been fatal & perhaps more worryingly 80% of cases are appearing outside the contact lists of known patients - leaving tracking & prevention stifled by unknown vectors of transmission.
The news cycle may have moved on but this looks increasingly serious.
#ebola #health
h/t Observer

2026-07-19 06:52:05 UTC

The crisis in the UK's universities includes attrition by management on its key resource & asset, the staff.
Bethan Evans suggests while staff with 'energy limiting conditions' are most effected by these problems, all staff suffer are impacted by:
an Intensified & unmanageable workload;
materialising overwork in campus spaces;
a culture of overwork & exclusion;
'survival of the fittest'; and
hypercompetition.
Academic staff are burning out
#universities
https://isrf.org/blog/the-exhaustion-economy-seven-illustrations-of-life-at-uk-universities

2026-07-18 17:14:42 UTC

I don't usually link to articles in the FT because they are behind an (albeit permeable) paywall... however, this great piece in the FT Magazine today by Jinu Koola on the case for Norwegian mediocracy, as a preferable alternative to US 'meritocracy', is well worth a read.
[If you have 'reader view', or similar, on your browser, you'll be able to access it without the images (which you don't need)]
Enjoy & (likely) nod as you read.
#Norway #politics #meritocracy
https://www.ft.com/content/0fe0455d-8633-4e1a-ab8f-f8cd94d60035

2026-07-18 12:23:37 UTC

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I tried do this with my economics course for non-economists & was roundly detested by the university's Economics Dept, for having the temerity to teach a heterodox version of economics to under-graduates - I was not popular (with them; the students loved it, every year)

2026-07-18 10:49:34 UTC

As the political class continues to sanctify Anne Widecombe (despite her long record of inhumanity, false religious fervour & general callousness), we should rather share a thought for the other older women killed by men in their own homes - Widecombe's death was not an isolated incidence....
#politics #AnneWidecombe #crime
https://www.opendemocracy.net/100-elderly-women-killed-by-men-since-2020-uk/?ref=weekly-newsletter

2026-07-18 08:49:30 UTC

Bite Size Economics No.37
'Economics is not value free'
with its scientific pretension(s), economists often suggest economics is value free in its analysis, merely describing a world that exists... but, given its focus on optimal outcomes & efficiency (defined in mathematical terms), economics just smuggles in values that are built on the privileging of the capital (and employer) interest.
The first move is to recognise economics' values & then ask if they are appropriate?
#BiteSizeEconomics

2026-07-18 07:37:38 UTC

No-one will be surprised the Fascist Frog has (again) played the victim card over the investigations into his finances... hilariously his complaint is that he has been 'dehumanised in the most extraordinary way', which is a bit rich coming from a man who leads a party whose entire political platform is built on the dehumanisation of migrants...
Like by the sword, Nigel, die by the sword!
#ReformUK #politics #NigelFarage
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/17/nigel-farage-questions-finances-coordinated-pile-on-reform-uk

2026-07-17 05:37:19 UTC

There's a lot of speculation (here & elsewhere) about when the AI-related boom in the stock markets might be revealed to be an unsustainable bubble, leading to a financial crisis?
The key trigger will be an event that violently shifts the balance between investors' 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) and their (currently relatively down-played) view of global geopolitical risk(s).
Surprisingly, the US ongoing attrition against Iran hasn't done this, so what will?
#AI #geopolitics #politics

2026-07-16 05:18:03 UTC

Across the private sector business leaders & lobbyists are complaining they cannot establish contact with the team around Andy Burnham as they prepare to set up his administration as PM.
Of course, having been used to relatively un-fettered access to the Govt. for decades, business figures are now starting to panic about Burnham having other priorities.
They're likely shocked that for once they are *not* at the front of the political queue - tiny violin time!
#business #politics
h/t FT

2026-07-16 05:10:02 UTC

Tomorrow the EU Commission will present revisions to the EU's Emissions Trading System, and after heavy lobbying we can expect:
an expansion of ETS 'holidays' for firms who invest inside the EU;
a shift of the outright ban on emissions from 2039 into the next decade (at least);
relaxing the ratchet requiring annual lowered emissions from ETS permit holders....
There may be some good news on flights but overall, its likely to be a step backwards on Net Zero.
#NetZero #emissions #EU
h/t FT

2026-07-15 20:50:58 UTC

And so the SpaceX share price has now dropped below the IPO price suggesting initial investors may have cashed out, selling on to those taken in by the AI hype.
Did Elon Musk organise a Pump & Dump strategy to monetise his holdings in SpaceX (alongside his familiars), while claiming that 'retail' investors could share in the future profits?;
yes it the classic case of finding the fool(s) to sell to before the price drops.
Elon says: 'ha ha, you've been had'!
#SpaceX #ElonMusk #investment
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/925/955/321/838/737/original/1386f11ce6e64df5.png

2026-07-15 20:40:19 UTC

And in the USA, deaths by ICE agent continue to rise, as the extrajudicial executions on the street continue.
On one level, the African American community will tell you this is nothing knew, but perhaps what is, is the extraordinary brazen way that ICE agents act with impunity.... something that is sparking a growing resistance to ICE presence on the streets at all.
As I've said before, If you think this looks like a fascist state, you'd not be alone
#ICE #USPol #Trump
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/15/remove-ice-us-streets-joan-sebastian-duran-guerrero-lorenzo-salgado-araujo

2026-07-15 17:11:09 UTC

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Of course, some of you might observe that Rachel Reeves was both a woman & an economist but really that didn't help... so Mahmood's move to the Treasury, will be another test of whether having a woman as Chancellor makes any material difference (after Reeves already that logic looks doubtful, a second 'exception' would likely sink it)....
But more worryingly given Mahmood's Blue Labour background we can expect more of the dysfunctional household metaphor to pattern fiscal policy
2/2
#politics

2026-07-14 20:42:10 UTC

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Karma... a karmic balance

2026-07-14 20:28:36 UTC

The US interference in European politics has just taken a new turn;
the State Dept. is re-purposing some of the Foreign Aid budget to offer grants of between $1-3mn to civil society & non-government organisations that 'address national sovereignty, migration, censorship & lawfare challenges in line with shared political philosophy, law, and our common Western civilizational heritage'... to make up for the Tangerine Tyrant alienating so many existing European political allies?
#politics
h/t FT

2026-07-14 20:07:59 UTC

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The problem is we seem to have gone from Orwell's 1984 being a warning to being an instruction manual

2026-07-14 18:41:18 UTC

Today Microsoft finally disabled my old version of Word making it read-only because I refuse to spend money on a new MacBookAir, now that my old one will no longer update its MacOS.
Anyone out there have any recommendations for a (preferably free) simple word processor that would allow me to produce new documents that are readable (happy if that means I have to concert them to PDFs for distribution) & to edit old Word files (less need).
thanks in advance
#technology #WordProcessing #software

2026-07-14 17:40:19 UTC

Guardian reporting on a shift in the police's investigation into Anne Widecombe's murder, indicates a focus on whether it was prompted by leftwing, anarchist & single-issue terrorism (LASIT)
This acronym is new to me, but it demonstrates a worrying move to link 'terrorism' in a single term to left-wing or anarchist views.... which is a worryingly broad designation and may signal a new state attempt to label a much wider range of views 'terrorism'!
#politics #terrorism
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/14/ann-widdecombe-killing-police-investigating-possible-leftwing-motivation

2026-07-14 05:53:21 UTC

And so the denial of climate change continues;
analysis of media reporting on the heatwave(s) in June concludes that three-quarters failed to mention any link with climate change.
Given the scientific consensus is firmly that human actions have caused the accelerated change in the world's environment, the media's denial looks (once again) like the interference of Right wing climate change denying owners in the operations of their media outlets.
#environment #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/14/most-coverage-june-heatwave-did-not-mention-climate-crisis

2026-07-14 05:36:56 UTC

Meanwhile over at the UNITE union, Sharon Graham is up for re-election & is being challenged by Simon Dubbins whose platform includes a commitment to (re)engage with the Labour Party, with whom Graham has often been in conflict.
For Labour moving away from Graham's approach (which has focussed more on workers' pay & conditions) than support for the party, Dubbins would like be preferred, but that in itself may not do him much good with union members.
#unions #UNITE #politics
h/t FT

2026-07-13 21:34:08 UTC

No-one should die in the way Anne Widecombe did, and that rightly is an outrage (although to be frank no more an outrage than any number of other women killed in their own homes).... but what I really am getting tired of is the way she is now being presented as a lovable eccentric who made us laugh on Strictly.
No she was an evil, callous and vindictive woman whose politics are part of the poison visited upon us by the Right... not the woman currently being 'celebrated' in death.
#politics

2026-07-13 05:30:01 UTC

Again in the UK/EU reset negotiations, the UK's position has failed to recognise the needs of EU members, and by doing so has paused talks as the UK deals with outright refusal of its proposal(s).
In this case, a proposed cap of 50k on annual places on a (renewed) youth mobility scheme is too low to allow smaller EU members any more than token places & as such is unacceptable to the EU side.
Once again, too little appreciation of the EU interests is compromising talks...
#EU #Brexit
h/t FT

2026-07-09 17:19:11 UTC

Once again benefits payments for the disabled are in the firing line for cuts to public spending, with the rise in the benefits bill be largely blamed on a rise in mental health linked payments.
Really the Q. is not whether as some suggest this is a diagnosis issue (its pretty clear its not), rather it is:
What is is about British contemporary society that is driving this expansion in mental health difficulties?
(I'm not suggesting there's an easy answer!)
#disability #benefits #politics

2026-07-02 05:30:36 UTC

The cost of the deal with the Tangerine Tyrant to increase the costs of US manufactured/owned pharmaceuticals will be measured in additional deaths in the UK, as the NHS diverts money from other budgets to pay for increased medical costs....
This is because while the Govt. made the 'deal' the Dept. of Health & Social Care budget is where the money is coming from;
essentially this is a tax on health care being paid to a foreign aggressor.
#NHS #health #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/01/us-uk-drug-deal-could-result-in-229000-excess-deaths-in-england-analysis-suggests

2026-06-30 05:47:51 UTC

The slow wheels of the UK's justice system grind on:
both Former Conservative MP Craig Williams & Amy Hind, wife of the party’s deputy digital director Anthony Hind pled guilty to using insider information to bet on the date of the 2024 General Election; another 12 people have pled not guilty to similar offences & will be tried later this or into next year.
These cases will (again) remind you of the various forms of corruption that characterises our political class....
#politics
h/t FT

2026-06-21 17:08:44 UTC

I'm imagining many of you may agree with the implied criticism of Andy Burnham in this cartoon from Stephen Lillie (Guardian).
#politics #AndyBurnham #KeirStarmer
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/789/188/712/867/845/original/92b11fabc7f9f41a.png

2026-06-19 11:43:11 UTC

Now that Andy Burnham is moving on from the Manchester Mayoralty; clearly benefitting from the Green Party of England & Wales sitting on their hands in Makerfield, will the Labour Party will make a reciprocal gesture in Manchester?
Its a good chance for the Labour Party to mark their commitment to some form of popular front against ReformUK Ltd, but my guess is they'll stand someone up & campaign as normal showing that they cannot be really trusted by other parties.
#politics #Manchester

2026-06-13 21:38:44 UTC

Well, it looks like the arrival of James Murray at the Dept.of Health *may* have produced a deal which will end the on-going dispute with the Resident Doctors.
No more money this year but accelerated rises in forthcoming years (if kept to) may do it, and has led to next week's strike being called off.
Now much will depend on whether the RDs actually trust Murray more than Streeting?
#NHS #ResidentDoctors #health #SaveOurNHS
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9g1wgxng2o

2026-06-13 11:23:50 UTC

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Yes, of course: voting is terrorism = no elections... for whoever makes the connection (Labour now, or ReformUK later?)

2026-06-13 10:04:08 UTC

Some time ago I posted about Palantir taking Republik (a Swiss magazine) to court to force it to publish a series of counter statements (under Swiss law) to passages in the magazine's account of why the Swiss Govt. had repeatedly rejected the use of Palantir's technology.
Well, the court dismissed all but one of the claims & awarded the bulk of costs to Republik, noting that many of Palantir's proposed counterstatements in any case exceed what was permissible.
#palantir #technology
h/t FT

2026-06-13 08:46:47 UTC

The problem with having lawyers in the top tiers of politics (i.e. Keir Starmer) is by profession they're used to taking a brief & making the most of it, while pushing down (or even denying) any personal perspective(s) they may have...
But when you have a leader who is waiting to briefed on what direction to take, they become beholden to either the people who donate, or the people who speak the loudest (and/or exclude other speakers from the debate).
And that is where we are!
#politics

2026-06-13 08:08:29 UTC

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Which is also why I use the term 'AI & associated technologies'.... I'll be interested to see if we really are a generation away from AI sentience (25 years seems like a long time in technological development terms)

2026-06-13 07:32:20 UTC

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Yes, although the tech-folk here on Mastodon still mobilise some good arguments for why its overly alarmist....

2026-06-13 07:23:54 UTC

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Well, we're back to the Terminator meme, I guess....

2026-06-13 07:23:07 UTC

As Jason Okundaye argues (drawing examples from Northern Ireland's rioting this week), the Right has deployed images to stoke responses across social media in a ways that has so far received no clear counter strategy from the centre or Left.
Its certainly true that we live in an age of visual politics (and have done for some time), but while in this case its clearly advantaged the right, it doesn't to be that way, but we *do* need a better (visual) response!
#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/13/right-false-reality-toxic-images-riots-belfast-southampton

2026-06-13 07:16:01 UTC

And so it begins:
In Derbyshire a policeman has been discovered using AI * associated technologies to 'create evidential material in a number of cases'....
And you can bet across the UK's numerous police forces there are more cases of evidence manipulation & generation by AI that have gone un-noticed or been quietly ignored.
This may not be new (Police have fabricated evidence in the past) but AI makes it much easier & more difficult to detect!
#AI #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/12/police-officer-under-criminal-investigation-over-alleged-use-of-ai

2026-06-13 07:07:46 UTC

How do we know the Right is worried about the Green Party of England & Wales?
Because the Torygraph is telling more lies about Zack Polanski.
And just in case you think that's an exaggeration, here's Emma Monks doing her debunking on the claim Polanski said 'Food is too Cheap'... actually he said a lot of interesting things, but focussed on the cost-of-living & workers' pay in the light of our current supermarket dominated food system.
#food #greens #Politics #media
https://monkdebunks.substack.com/p/no-zack-polanski-didnt-say-food-is

2026-06-13 07:03:46 UTC

Four Palestine Action activists have been sentenced not on the basis of the convictions for criminal damage (through a jury trial) but on the basis their crime *really* was terrorism (a subsequent decision by the presiding judge).
This not only violates the sanctity of jury trials (the jury was not informed of this possibility), it also is a retrospective legal decision, essentially violating the Rule of Law.
Its a direct attack on civil liberties!
#politics #protest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce950111xk7o

2026-06-12 14:52:12 UTC

The UK is in many ways a rich country, but it seldom feels lie that to most of, rather other experiences of the UK's political economy are more that its a poor country with a concentration of very rich people.
Stewart Lansley agues that this is because there's been 'a shift from democratic & social control over the economy to elite & unaccountable financial institutions & individuals' who help shape the economy *for* that rich elite!
#economics #inequality #politics
https://progressiveeconomyforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/01-SteeringTheShip-DIGITAL.pdf

2026-06-12 10:05:54 UTC

RIP David Hockney
David Hockney has died aged 88 (smoking until the end no doubt).
Few artists have managed to bridge the art world & popular culture so well as Hockney; his work was often both innovative *and* popular.
He will be missed, but his work will live on and be enjoyed by future generations.
I salute a truly great experimental artist.
#art #painting #DavidHockney
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/736/564/579/523/654/original/6c508ddc0fe9bf46.webp

2026-06-12 06:08:18 UTC

As a political idea, social mobility is based on an acceptance of hierarchical depiction of society.... which builds into its politics almost inevitable resistance.
In a hierarchy, for people to move up (upwards social mobility), others must by definition move down (relative downwards social mobility) to make 'room' for those rising.
People & families have always moved downwards in such hierarchies, but resistance to an accelerated (forced) fall can hardly be unexpected!
#SocialMobility

2026-06-12 05:57:02 UTC

A key element to the social sentiment(s) that keep capitalism working is a belief that hard work will be rewarded.... it also underpins consumer sentiments about spending (which drive 'effective demand').
But when young people increasingly don't believe this central (ideological) claim of the capitalist system, trouble for the economic status quo is coming!
If the young see no future for them in capitalism, then capitalism's future will change.
#capitalism #economics
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/12/young-people-fear-long-term-unemployment-work

2026-06-12 05:43:55 UTC

More the DWP undermining disabled people;
its management of the Access to Work scheme (which pays for support to help disabled people gain & maintain employment) has a massive backlog of claims, leading many applicants to either lose job offers, or finding that previously funded support has been effectively withdrawn (again causing loss of work).
As usual, the underlying problem is the DWP treats *all* claims as potentially fraudulent delaying processing!
#disability #politics
h/t FT

2026-06-12 05:37:49 UTC

A KPMG report intended to show how businesses were successfully adopting AI, was partly written with the aid of AI, and (yes you know this was coming) included a range of fictional case studies that emphasised the success of AI adoption based it would appear on AI 'hallucinations' not spotted by the report's human authors.
This seems emblematic of the problem we may have increasingly with AI; it tells us about how successful it is by degrading the information on which we rely.
#AI
h/t FT

2026-06-12 05:11:09 UTC

More evidence of the Department of Work & Pensions 'management' of disability support & its role in the deaths of disabled people.
As I've suggested before, its difficult to know whether callous, inhumane people are drawn to work in the DWP or the DWP inculcates them into a lack of compassion & humanity (or, of course, both).
The DWP is need of major reform, but our political class see the disabled as the *problem* not the DWP!
#disability #politics
https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-deaths-overshadow-every-other-british-scandal-for-decades-mps-are-told/

2026-06-11 17:43:01 UTC

Here's the testament of a long-time NHS nurse on the current crisis that is engulfing the health service... as she says, it doesn't have to be this way & up to ten years ago really wasn't.
Of course, we know this crisis was engineered by the last Govt,, against background conditions that made it almost inevitable inherited from previous Govt.s.
But the key thing is to *actually* listen to NHS staff & not assume politicians have the answers!
#NHS #health #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/11/accident-emergency-long-waits-nurse

2026-06-11 08:10:31 UTC

As Roy Lilley (NHSManagers.net) points out:
'Patients do not experience separate targets. They experience one NHS.
Success should be measured by whether it becomes easier & faster for patients to move through it'.
This is right on the button; while seeming to offer a strategic handle on the NHS actually targets often distort & compromise the patients' actual experience of health care.
Too often targets are used to obscure a lack of understanding to the real problems!
#NHS #Health #politics

2026-06-11 05:52:04 UTC

Hmmm.... so in the BBC's quite useful overview of the Makerfield constituency ahead of next week's by-election, it is unsurprising that Andy Burnham (the Labour candidate) and ReformUK Ltd get the most coverage;
but in a lengthy survey only including ONE sentence on the Green candidate Sarah Wakefield hardly seems really to serve the interests of 'impartiality' or political balance (given the Green Party of England & Wales surge in national polling)?
#greens #politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg4dywykjeo

2026-06-11 05:41:24 UTC

Often when we talk about NEETs (young people Not in Employment Education or Training) as a 'problem' they are treated as an amorphous group (although we likely all know young people in this broadly defined group).
So, here is a series of case studies of a range of *actual* NEETs if you have the time & inclination to read; its a story fo a generation betrayed by austerity, technological shifts & (often) practical political indifference.
#workers #NEETs #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/11/young-ambitious-out-of-work-unemployment

2026-06-11 05:31:11 UTC

You'll be unsurprised that Tory & ReformUK Ltd MPs have increased their use of X (formally Twitter) while Left of centre MPs (including Labour MPs) have been moving to Bluesky; although interestingly Zack Polanski (the newish leader of the Green Party of England & Wales) has actually increased his posts on X.
Many would like to see the Left use Mastodon more but the issue here may be scale of audience (for MPs we likely represent a minor constituency).
#SocialMedia #politics #Mastodon
h/t FT

2026-06-11 05:15:45 UTC

What has been the result of the attrition against unions in the last half century?
Well, one clear answer seems to be that wages have declined as a share of GDP, which is the background to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis across many countries' workforce(s).
Some might argue the decline of unionisation is a correlation, not a cause, but if so they need to identify other major structural shifts to explain the reduction.
#workers #unions #economics
h/t Ian Hutcheon/LinkedIn (for chart)
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/729/741/730/210/202/original/7908e9632cfb02f6.jpeg

2026-06-11 05:06:20 UTC

- reply

Enclosure of energy?

2026-06-10 21:27:10 UTC

As women voters are identified as a key group disenchanted with Labour & trying out the Green Party of England & Wales for size, aspiring MP & Labour Party Leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has come out backing the WASPI women's claim for recompense for the accelerated change in pension age which caught them out (costing significant shortfalls in expected pensions).
The only Q. is while this is easy to say before he's even an MP, would he actually spend the £10bn once in power?
#politics
h/t FT

2026-06-10 17:27:44 UTC

Normally, there is a clear norm against retroactive application of the law.... but the Q. is whether this also can be regarded as applicable to sentencing?
Four Palestine Action activists who have been convicted on criminal damage will find out on Friday whether the judge has decided that their actions had a 'terrorist connection' that should be reflected in sentencing (a possibility not revealed to the jury in the trial).
#politics #RuleOfLaw #PalestineAction
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/10/four-palestine-action-protesters-terrorists-constitutional-threat

2026-06-10 17:21:55 UTC

The New Economies for Eradicating Poverty website is a useful resource for the rethinking of economics.... which has been gaining quite a lot of attention.
This is (rightly) predicted on the idea that poverty is a choice (see earlier post of @npub1qeq…58yu latest blog), and a such offers a very different way about thinking of economics from the one that sees poverty (ultimately) as an economic incentive (on the poor to work harder).
#economics #politics #inequality
https://www.neep-poverty.org

2026-06-10 10:00:02 UTC

as @npub1qeq…58yu concludes:
'To a considerable extent levels of inequality & poverty are what societies choose them to be. But in democracies inequality & poverty are rarely major election issues, so perhaps it is more accurate to say that levels of poverty and inequality are what political elites and their influencers want them to be'!
Our political class have chosen this level of inequality - it is *no* accident!
#economics #politics #inequality
https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/06/trends-in-uk-inequality-and-poverty.html?utm_source=follow.it

2026-06-10 06:13:53 UTC

Whatever is happening in Belfast, we can be sure that the Far Right has its hands in it one way or the other.... I'll leave it to others with more knowledge of NI to comment on the underlying issues & links to other local political tensions, but the very fact that is happening anywhere in the UK seems to me to be a warning about how ReformUK's increasingly malign influence on our lives will play out.
#politics #Belfast
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr47x99k5n6t

2026-06-10 06:04:09 UTC

Bite Size Economics No.9
'Corporate legal personality is a privilege not a right'
The origins of corporate legal personality (CLP) lie with the development of monasteries with a legal existence separate from their transitory members. CLP was granted by the state in exchange for a perceived public good.
This bargain has become obscured with CLP now seen a right; really it should be seen as conditional with an option of removal. Now that would be interesting!
#BiteSizeEconomics #corporations

2026-06-10 05:46:47 UTC

As Zoe Williams argues the World Cup is already revealing (or perhaps confirming) the pathology of the Tangerine Tyrant's administration and specifically its attitudes to non-US citizens....
Having a world look at how you deal with an international event like the World Cup may in the end be less positive than Trump hoped?
Not that many of us will be surprised!
#WorldCup #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/09/football-world-cup-pathology-trump-regime

2026-06-09 21:08:04 UTC

It time to say again:
THE ONLY DANGEROUS MINORITY ARE THE RICH
#politics #inequality

2026-06-09 20:25:12 UTC

Natasha Walter's column for The Nerve this week takes the Labour Party to task for their lamentable willingness to crack down (further) on protest.... and their habit of presenting this as a response to 'intelligence' they cannot share with us.
The current Govt.'s attitude to protest is one of the key aspects of the Labour Party's threat to democracy & one of the reasons their support is swiftly ebbing away.
#politics #protest #democracy
https://www.thenerve.news/p/natasha-walter-column-protest-palestine-action-sentencing-terrorist-connection-elbit

2026-06-09 17:34:49 UTC

Anyone who is the primary carer for a relative will have some recognition of the despair that drove Stefania Glowka to kill her mother (now convicted of manslaughter with diminished responsibility).
The pressures of full time primary care are sometimes almost unbearable, and while not condoning her actions, I have a lot of sympathy for why Glowka thought this was the only way out (she also attempted suicide).
Carers need better support, before this point!
#politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8re26zl7do

2026-06-09 17:25:09 UTC

As you can see Amazon is running rings round the UK tax authorities, maximising tax reliefs for building the infrastructure it actually needs to function, while also channelling much of its service income to off-shore divisions of the business (using perfectly legal, I should add, transfer pricing protocols).
So, of course they are price competitive; they're paying a lot less tax than your local retailers or even UK based on-line businesses....
#Amazon #tax #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/09/amazon-uk-arm-tax-credit-profits-tech-company

2026-06-09 17:07:19 UTC

Perfectly logically, but perhaps unpredicted by the virtual economy boosters, a range of construction & equipment corporations are seeing a real bump in their share prices as investors realise that.... yup, someone has to actually build all those data centres!
And so, once again (like the cloud) the services & technologies of the information age, are (of course) grounded in physical infrastructure and investors want a bit of that.
#infrastructure #investing #politics #AI #DataCentres
h/t FT

2026-06-09 11:47:23 UTC

Meanwhile in Makerfield a range of claims are being made by & about candidates seeking to win the by-election...
@npub1gpm…ajeu looks at some of these and quickly debunks them.
A small (but vital) service to democracy
#politics #Makerfield
https://northwestbylines.co.uk/politics/fact-checking-makerfield-by-election-campaign-statements/?fsp_sid=4668

2026-06-09 10:19:03 UTC

As Labour considers a ban on social media use for the under-16's, so @npub1uqn…lhdy points out:
'A prohibition in & by itself is not a policy. It may be part of a (wider) policy, alongside the allocation of resources, administrative priority, guidance & “soft” law, publicity, and political leadership.
But to make a law against something is often just as effective as casting a spell against something'!
Its just Declaratory Politics (my term)
#politics #SocialMedia
https://theemptycity.com/blog/2026/06/law-is-not-magic-and-prohibitions-are-not-spells/

2026-06-09 06:02:08 UTC

Hyper-local intensive support for those 'some distance' from the job market seems to be having some positive improvement in the areas in which 10 pilot schemes have been run.
While this sort of intensive support is useful when done properly, what experience tends to suggest, is as (or if) this programme is rolled out, the level of funding will decline (as will its effectiveness as support is likewise scaled back) undermining its claimed benefit(s).
#unemployment
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/09/pilot-hyperlocal-job-support-scheme-jobsplus-england

2026-06-08 21:38:31 UTC

Nationwide is having a bit of trouble keeping its reputation as customer focussed, mutually owned building society in the face of the ability of its top executive to nearly double her salary while holding the regular staff's wages rises to under 4% this year.
Of course this is justified by bonuses & incentive payments, but once again is a disappointing picture of a management elite who over-emphasise their contribution to success & care little for inequality.
#politics
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/08/nationwide-ceo-pay-package-bonus-debbie-crosbie-virgin-money

2026-06-08 17:29:00 UTC

The thing about free speech is that if you don't support it for your opponents then you have no argument for free speech...
While free speech should not be absolute (as is often noted there is no right to erroneously shout 'fire' in a crowded cinema) but it you think the limits are drawn by (and around) your own beliefs then you are not interested in free speech, you are interested in oppression & are no democrat (with a small 'd').
Without free speech there is no democracy!
#politics

2026-06-08 17:17:07 UTC

Last week, President Javier Milei of Argentina announced he plans to allow AI (non-human) corporations legal personhood, allow them to hold property & enter contract(s) as a legal individual (as 'normal' corporations now do).
Its already pretty clear that corporate legal personality (originally a privilege extended to enterprises contributing to the pubic good, but now seen as a business 'right') should be constrained not expanded, so, this is a worrying development!
#corporations #AI
h/t FT

2026-06-08 08:44:28 UTC

- reply

yes fair comment; but if (and this is a big if), AI turns out to be a general purpose technology (like electricity), then these prospective advances will be further in the future as it will not be existing industries that harvest them but rather new (as yet unknown, or at least unexpected) businesses that actually find the 'real' productivity up-step

2026-06-08 06:14:11 UTC

- reply

Bite Size Economics No.7
'intellectual property imposes scarcity'
Material property rights recognise & legalise an existing physical scarcity, allowing ownership to be recognised & transferred, but IP rights *construct* a scarcity that doesn't exist, to allow economic exploitation.
This means that without the law markets in IP really don't exist, but this also confirms the facilitative role of law in markets more generally. No law, no market (see also BSE 3)!
#BiteSizeEconomics #economics

2026-06-08 05:53:23 UTC

Be prepared for the Labour Party's approach to expanding military expenditure in response to a changing external security environment; we may be swinging from a form of Military Keynesianism to a more explicit Military Austerity.
It seems to jump-start the Govt.'s delayed plan(s) to expand defence expenditure, other state depts are being required to cut budgets (further).
Which just confirms that austerity will deepen not ease as this Govt. continues in office.
#austerity #politics
h/t FT

2026-06-08 05:42:33 UTC

Unlike previous technological revolutions, the AI 'revolution' is not just immediately impacting low-paid workers; while the evidence remains unclear there is a widening suspicion among the professional cases & service workers that AI is coming for their jobs.
This may shift the politics of regulatory response as politicians see more of their voters demanding some insulation/protection from the onslaught of AI & its associated technologies.
The AI backlash may be coming?
#AI #politics
h/t FT