Colm Murphy
@colmpm.bsky.social
Historian of UK and ROI politics and political economy. Senior Lecturer at QMUL and Deputy Director of Mile End Institute (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/politics/staff/profiles/murphycolm.html). Book on Labour and 'modernisation' (https://tinyurl.com/37tzatvk).
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Delighted to publish Colm and Patrick's eminently sensible pre-budget intervention:
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Delighted to publish Colm and Patrick's eminently sensible pre-budget intervention:
Reposted by Colm Murphy
This is very clear, sensible and balanced.
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:38 AM
This is very clear, sensible and balanced.
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
The key is to raise taxes enough to actually be able to do something with it, beyond placating the OBR and bond markets
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 AM
The key is to raise taxes enough to actually be able to do something with it, beyond placating the OBR and bond markets
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Great piece by @colmpm.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond on Labour’s need to make a strong and cogent social democratic case for tax rises.
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Great piece by @colmpm.bsky.social and Patrick Diamond on Labour’s need to make a strong and cogent social democratic case for tax rises.
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
This is key. There is a huge difference between calculating how to raise tax revenue on the basis of numbers alone, and on the story your choices tell. It has to add up politically, not just mathematically.
November 10, 2025 at 7:55 AM
This is key. There is a huge difference between calculating how to raise tax revenue on the basis of numbers alone, and on the story your choices tell. It has to add up politically, not just mathematically.
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
🚨We’re hiring a Junior Research Fellow in Economic History (Sept 2026–Aug 2029) at Wadham College, University of Oxford. It’s a genuinely supportive place to work. Happy to answer any questions. Spread the word!
www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/about/the-da...
www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/about/the-da...
The David Richards Junior Research Fellowship in Economic History
Wadham College invites applications for a fixed-term Junior Research Fellowship in Economic History, named the David Richards Fellowship, September 2026 – August 2029.
www.wadham.ox.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 11:43 AM
🚨We’re hiring a Junior Research Fellow in Economic History (Sept 2026–Aug 2029) at Wadham College, University of Oxford. It’s a genuinely supportive place to work. Happy to answer any questions. Spread the word!
www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/about/the-da...
www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/about/the-da...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
I've now written up this take for @renewaljournal.bsky.social - along with four (4) other competing Marxist explanations of Zohran's PMC-led historic bloc
November 7, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I've now written up this take for @renewaljournal.bsky.social - along with four (4) other competing Marxist explanations of Zohran's PMC-led historic bloc
Reposted by Colm Murphy
I’m old enough to remember when I got scolded on this here website by people who claimed a 3% false positive rate was good actually and well now it turns out to be an order of magnitude bigger! Still good guys?
HMRC trial of child benefit crackdown wrongly suspected fraud in 46% of cases
Exclusive: Almost half of families flagged as emigrants based on Home Office travel data were still living in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I’m old enough to remember when I got scolded on this here website by people who claimed a 3% false positive rate was good actually and well now it turns out to be an order of magnitude bigger! Still good guys?
I feel very vindicated in saying for years that my least favourite archive, in terms of their rules of access and the gatekeeping of researchers, is the BBC Written Archives Centre.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I feel very vindicated in saying for years that my least favourite archive, in terms of their rules of access and the gatekeeping of researchers, is the BBC Written Archives Centre.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
BBC really burying the lede there
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC really burying the lede there
Reposted by Colm Murphy
A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?
China has made cheap, clean energy available in huge quantities. The world should take the win econ.st/4oqFszB
Photo: Eyevine
Photo: Eyevine
November 7, 2025 at 7:10 AM
A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?
The inescapable logic of Labour’s choices - on.ft.com/3XeDTc5 via @FT
The inescapable logic of Labour’s choices
Starmer and Reeves should lean in to what the Budget reveals about this tax-and-spend government
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM
The inescapable logic of Labour’s choices - on.ft.com/3XeDTc5 via @FT
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Reposted by Colm Murphy
For anyone who is interested in an extensive discussion of what “social democracy” means, we asked the current & former editors of @renewaljournal.bsky.social to proffer their definitions & thoughts:
renewal.org.uk/blog/renewal...
renewal.org.uk/blog/renewal...
Renewal editors reflect on the meaning of social democracy
Renewal is a journal of social democracy, but social democracy has always been a contested concept - and one understood variously as an ideology, a movement, a historical phenomenon, or even a desired...
renewal.org.uk
November 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM
For anyone who is interested in an extensive discussion of what “social democracy” means, we asked the current & former editors of @renewaljournal.bsky.social to proffer their definitions & thoughts:
renewal.org.uk/blog/renewal...
renewal.org.uk/blog/renewal...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food)
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics - Nuffield College Oxford University
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food)
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
My Bluesky feed is almost perfectly polarised on whether @duncanrobinson.bsky.social should be garlanded or executed.
Enjoy the discourse, comrade.
Enjoy the discourse, comrade.
November 6, 2025 at 1:38 PM
My Bluesky feed is almost perfectly polarised on whether @duncanrobinson.bsky.social should be garlanded or executed.
Enjoy the discourse, comrade.
Enjoy the discourse, comrade.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Yes. Ironically the MMT many on the left once supported tells us just this. We need taxes not to raise money but to control inflation. To do this, we need to cut spending rather than saving - which means taxes on the middlingly well-off.
November 6, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Yes. Ironically the MMT many on the left once supported tells us just this. We need taxes not to raise money but to control inflation. To do this, we need to cut spending rather than saving - which means taxes on the middlingly well-off.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
I love that British people call clueless people a 'donut'. how many other pastry based insults are there (in English or any other language)?
November 6, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I love that British people call clueless people a 'donut'. how many other pastry based insults are there (in English or any other language)?
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Thursday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...
November 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Thursday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/morten-morla...
Reposted by Colm Murphy
A 34-year-old as a politician: My god he's like a baby. It's like they just elected an infant to be their mayor.
A 34-year-old as an athlete: You have to admire the bravery of him attempting that dunk, knowing full well the grim reaper is right behind him.
A 34-year-old as an athlete: You have to admire the bravery of him attempting that dunk, knowing full well the grim reaper is right behind him.
November 5, 2025 at 5:45 AM
A 34-year-old as a politician: My god he's like a baby. It's like they just elected an infant to be their mayor.
A 34-year-old as an athlete: You have to admire the bravery of him attempting that dunk, knowing full well the grim reaper is right behind him.
A 34-year-old as an athlete: You have to admire the bravery of him attempting that dunk, knowing full well the grim reaper is right behind him.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
It's obviously a bad thing if any prisoner is released by mistake, but why is it worse if it's an asylum-seeker?
It seems just to be taken for granted now that someone is more dangerous because they're an asylum-seeker than because they're a criminal.
Something very dangerous is building here.
It seems just to be taken for granted now that someone is more dangerous because they're an asylum-seeker than because they're a criminal.
Something very dangerous is building here.
Well, that was a very weird deputy PMQs. James Cartlidge asking the same question five times – could David Lammy guarantee no other jailed asylum seekers have been accidentally released rather than deported – and Lammy each time instead condemning the Tories' record on prisons and justice.
November 5, 2025 at 1:26 PM
It's obviously a bad thing if any prisoner is released by mistake, but why is it worse if it's an asylum-seeker?
It seems just to be taken for granted now that someone is more dangerous because they're an asylum-seeker than because they're a criminal.
Something very dangerous is building here.
It seems just to be taken for granted now that someone is more dangerous because they're an asylum-seeker than because they're a criminal.
Something very dangerous is building here.
Reposted by Colm Murphy
Andrej Zaslove and I wrote down our thoughts on the recent Dutch election results, noting the continuing relevance of the far right and the hollowing of the (liberal) centre. 👇 @qmul-sse-cgd.bsky.social @qmulsse.bsky.social
The Dutch election results came as a relief to many centrist voters, but this was not quite the triumphant "return to the centre" it has been portrayed as.
✍ @stijntvankessel.bsky.social & Andrej Zaslove blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
✍ @stijntvankessel.bsky.social & Andrej Zaslove blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
The Dutch parliamentary election – not quite a “return to the centre”
Rob Jetten’s victory at the 2025 Dutch election was a blow for Geert Wilders, but far-right policies remain firmly in the mainstream of Dutch politics.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Andrej Zaslove and I wrote down our thoughts on the recent Dutch election results, noting the continuing relevance of the far right and the hollowing of the (liberal) centre. 👇 @qmul-sse-cgd.bsky.social @qmulsse.bsky.social