Paul Nightingale

Your regular reminder that the UK is in fact a high trust society and anyone who implies it isn’t is either selling you a pup or has bought one.

This is important for understanding the UK now and in the future and the prospect of a new zero sum politics.

Chart showing lifetime average GDP growth for Brits by year of birth. 20-year-old Brits have experienced an average of 1.4% growth, compared with 2.4% for 75-year-olds

Part of the issue is a lack of growth. A recent study showed that cohorts who experience more GDP growth in their lifetimes are more likely to trust the government and have positive perceptions of their living standards. academic.oup.com/qje/advance-... In Britain, such voters are dying out

Interested in research policy, supporting early career researchers or helping research potential donors for Humanities and Social Science research? Check out these positions at the British Academy. #Skystorians

The EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act marks a break with the old reflex of openness at any price? Brussels wants demand steered toward low-carbon goods made in Europe—using procurement and subsidies not just to decarbonise, but to defend industrial capacity. 1/2

Journopoclypse! Yeah, na. I don't think so

Good post by @joshgans.bsky.social on why the scientific publishing system will not collapse from the rise of AI-supported research. open.substack.com/pub/joshuaga...

Partner of sitting Labour MP among three arrested on suspicion of spying for China Exclusive: Trio arrested by counter-terrorism police understood to also include partner of a former Labour MP

Concerns with China's approach to political engagement here in the UK, and vulnerabilities to it in our political system, just aren't going away:

Interesting thing about the UKRI funding diagram: the research councils are invisible with their programmes now (maybe?) inputs to funding bucket outcomes. Disciplines not the organising principle, but pieces of delivery channels. That’s the enormous structural shift. Universities better catch up

Full house for David Byrne.

Highgate must be empty.

NEW: Haowen Zheng, Robert Andersen, Anders Holm, Kristian Bernt Karlson, "Is College Really “the” Equalizer? New Evidence Addressing Unobserved Selection." sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...

Can drones be stockpiled? Europe wrestles with weapons dilemma Finland struggles to replicate cold war-era artillery depots for high-tech weaponry that rapidly turns obsolete

Recommend this piece on drones. The speed of innovation/obsolescence means you can’t take a traditional stockpiling approach. So how do you build supply chains that could deliver huge numbers of the latest drones at speed when you need them?
What is the UK approach?
www.ft.com/content/b5ee...

And here it is! LEO data.

Data journalists do your thing!

As Maria Sobolewska and I first said in Brexitland, the legacy parties under FPP are like Tinkerbell - they need belief to survive. if people cease to believe they see the best and only options, they can die fast. Is this the moment Labour’s Tinkerbell dies?

Excellent!

On lead, Britain is the laggard of the developed world The UK’s exposure surveillance system for this public health menace is reactive — unlike elsewhere

Lead is a hidden problem, easy to ignore, and potentially costly to address. That creates a toxic political dynamic: it is much easier to leave the issue to some future government than confront it head on.’
@aveek18.bsky.social excellent on this massively overlooked issue
www.ft.com/content/bbd5...

Data Analyst We are looking for a highly capable Data Analyst to join our policy research team. You will source, clean, and analyse data to produce compelling visualisations and written output that supports our wi...

🚨 We’re hiring: Data Analyst 🚨

Join
@britishprogress.org
to analyse UK policy data, produce clear charts and support high-impact research. Are you AI-native, quantitatively rigorous, and policy-curious? Apply!

£33,000-38,000 | 80 Strand, London

👉 britishprogress.org/opportunities/data-analyst

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust About us

The great charity that used to be called Sustrans (and now has a name that I find harder to understand) that focuses on sustainable travel is looking for a new CEO. Overseeing 500 staff and 2000 volunteers. £160k. Apply by 15 March
micro.green-park.co.uk/walkwheelcyc...

Farewell to William E. Connolly We are very sad to learn of the death of William E. Connolly earlier this week at the age of 88. Connolly was the author of six books with Duke University Press, the subject on an edited collection…

We were very sorry to learn of the death of political theorist William E. Connolly this week. He published six books with us. Here is our appreciation.

Video: Helicopters of the French Navy seize a Russian shadow fleet tanker overnight.

Have stumbled upon a plan in 1804 to stop Napoleon's planned invasion of Britain by "stopping up" the harbour the invasion fleet was preparing in. The proposal was simple: build an invincible fortress, sail it right up to the port, then rapidly construct a foundation for it. Within 60 minutes.

DSO, MC and VC!

The local election result might well be a very positive result for UK universities.

Post old memes to confuse young people...

youtu.be/FbYtASAakAI?...

Post old memes to confuse young people
youtu.be/EIyixC9NsLI?...

HMRC collects extra £16bn from big business with more ‘hands-on’ approach Extra tax obtained from the 2,000 largest businesses doubles in three years

You don’t hear much about efficient and effective govt so here’s a good news story in our latest @nao.org.uk report - HMRC collected an extra £16bn from the biggest businesses last year after it took a “more hands-on approach”
www.ft.com/content/c96d... (Full report: www.nao.org.uk/reports/taxi...)

Europe v America: Who’s Really Winning? A wonkish but important discussion

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Useful post with useful model. Being great at something that's collapsing in price doesn't necessarily advantage you

Same in the UK

Aberdeen Hydrogen bus fleet to be sold off - Aberdeen Business News Aberdeen City Council is set to sell its entire fleet of 25 hydrogen double-decker buses and exit a £20 million joint venture with oil giant BP, marking the

I've largely stopped posting #HydrogenSoufflé because it seems distasteful to dance on the graves of so many dreams. But... Aberdeen is flogging its hydrogen bus fleet for scrap.

How much money was wasted on this 100% predicable outcome? Will heads roll?
aberdeenbusinessnews.co.uk/aberdeen-hyd...

How HR’s expansion strangled British businesses A think tank says cutting human resources workers would boost the economy by £10 billion but focusing on performance not ‘behaviours’ would be a start

Here’s my column on the problem with HR in the UK.
And why policing behaviour is the workplace is a slippery slope…

www.thetimes.com/article/6dd8...