Harry Metcalfe
@harrym.com
Entrepreneur, problem solver, technical person. Believer that tech can and should make things better. Erstwhile prodder of government. PhD dropout. Founder of dxw, advisor to Tradecraft. Quietly poly 🐦
harry_m on Mastodon.social.
harry_m on Mastodon.social.
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
NEW
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
What did the judgment say and not say, and what has changed and not changed. And what happens next.
Quick explainer by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
What did the judgment say and not say, and what has changed and not changed. And what happens next.
Quick explainer by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful. What next?
This is a big judgment. But not everything has changed
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
February 13, 2026 at 12:46 PM
NEW
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
What did the judgment say and not say, and what has changed and not changed. And what happens next.
Quick explainer by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
The High Court rules the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
What did the judgment say and not say, and what has changed and not changed. And what happens next.
Quick explainer by me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
👇Just an hour left to go on this! Go on and pop a quick response in before bed. Every little helps.
I've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
gov.uk
February 12, 2026 at 10:49 PM
👇Just an hour left to go on this! Go on and pop a quick response in before bed. Every little helps.
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
If you haven’t quite yet found the time to do this, please scrape together a few minutes this evening - the consultation closes just before midnight UK time.
If time is tight, skip the 200-word open answers. Your votes on closed answers matter.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
If time is tight, skip the 200-word open answers. Your votes on closed answers matter.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
February 12, 2026 at 6:47 PM
If you haven’t quite yet found the time to do this, please scrape together a few minutes this evening - the consultation closes just before midnight UK time.
If time is tight, skip the 200-word open answers. Your votes on closed answers matter.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
If time is tight, skip the 200-word open answers. Your votes on closed answers matter.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
I've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
gov.uk
February 12, 2026 at 5:56 PM
I've just responded to the Earned Settlement consultation. It closes tonight. The whole idea is dreadful but what stuck with me most is the gross arrogance of the whole exercise. A (cross) thread 🧵
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
February 12, 2026 at 7:38 AM
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
@garycp.bsky.social Hello, I notice that you were the first person to post about holdtheline.org.uk on here and Twitter, is it yours? If so please could you follow back for a DM?
February 6, 2026 at 5:01 PM
@garycp.bsky.social Hello, I notice that you were the first person to post about holdtheline.org.uk on here and Twitter, is it yours? If so please could you follow back for a DM?
Fun new problems for 2026: Claude Code puts API keys in its plan, and then puts its plan on Github/Gist
January 31, 2026 at 10:03 AM
Fun new problems for 2026: Claude Code puts API keys in its plan, and then puts its plan on Github/Gist
Rather gratifying, mid-debug on an annoying problem and having asked Claude Code "Is this just stupid Windows bollocks" when it replied "Yes, this is just stupid Windows bollocks"
(I have learned my lesson and moved to Ubuntu)
(I have learned my lesson and moved to Ubuntu)
January 24, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Rather gratifying, mid-debug on an annoying problem and having asked Claude Code "Is this just stupid Windows bollocks" when it replied "Yes, this is just stupid Windows bollocks"
(I have learned my lesson and moved to Ubuntu)
(I have learned my lesson and moved to Ubuntu)
I hope all the UKGC26 folks have a great time tomorrow! I'll be looking out for the highlights
January 16, 2026 at 8:56 PM
I hope all the UKGC26 folks have a great time tomorrow! I'll be looking out for the highlights
Quietly amused that the Substack article reader pronounces Badenoch "Baddy-knock"
January 16, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Quietly amused that the Substack article reader pronounces Badenoch "Baddy-knock"
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
New writing! On realism and antirealism and their mutual unhelpfulness
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
Realism, antirealism and the middle way
I'm calling it Demirealism, but that's mostly an in-joke
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:06 PM
New writing! On realism and antirealism and their mutual unhelpfulness
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
Sorry to hear of Mark's passing 😔
January 15, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Sorry to hear of Mark's passing 😔
I don't think any TV people follow me except James, but if you're a TV person who isn't James, you should hire James and also watch his shows. He's rather good.
One week into 2026, Murder for Dummies won "Best Series" at the Utah International Film Festival!
You should watch and/or hire me to write for you!
murderfordummies.com
You should watch and/or hire me to write for you!
murderfordummies.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:08 PM
I don't think any TV people follow me except James, but if you're a TV person who isn't James, you should hire James and also watch his shows. He's rather good.
New writing! On realism and antirealism and their mutual unhelpfulness
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
Realism, antirealism and the middle way
I'm calling it Demirealism, but that's mostly an in-joke
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:06 PM
New writing! On realism and antirealism and their mutual unhelpfulness
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
AI code reviewer just told the other AI code reviewer, which is itself in another tab, that it was bikeshedding. Quietly amused
January 8, 2026 at 11:32 AM
AI code reviewer just told the other AI code reviewer, which is itself in another tab, that it was bikeshedding. Quietly amused
Snow in N19! Which of course now means snowy hens 🐔🥰
January 6, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Snow in N19! Which of course now means snowy hens 🐔🥰
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
Life is just one endless round of saying "both of those things can be true at once" and sobbing quietly into a beverage
December 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Life is just one endless round of saying "both of those things can be true at once" and sobbing quietly into a beverage
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
Juries are not perfect.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Juries are not perfect.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
Many of the worst miscarriages of justice have followed jury trials.
But the merit of juries is not so much the power they have, but the power they prevent others from having.
They mean a judge cannot just nod-along with prosecution evidence and give a guilty verdict.
👏👏👏
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 11, 2025 at 8:12 AM
👏👏👏
1/ It's interesting, and I am fairly sure good, that the prompts for analysing consultation responses are open source
github.com/i-dot-ai/the...
github.com/i-dot-ai/the...
themefinder/src/themefinder/prompts at main · i-dot-ai/themefinder
A topic modelling Python package for analysing one-to-many question-answer data. - i-dot-ai/themefinder
github.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM
1/ It's interesting, and I am fairly sure good, that the prompts for analysing consultation responses are open source
github.com/i-dot-ai/the...
github.com/i-dot-ai/the...
I blogged - about problems, answers, plans and the illusion of control
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
The Answer and The Plan
Problems, answers, planning, and the illusion of control
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I blogged - about problems, answers, plans and the illusion of control
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
open.substack.com/pub/harrymet...
Gosh. Someone working on One Login should reealllly take another look at these 👀
signin.account.gov.uk/terms-and-co...
signin.account.gov.uk/terms-and-co...
October 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Gosh. Someone working on One Login should reealllly take another look at these 👀
signin.account.gov.uk/terms-and-co...
signin.account.gov.uk/terms-and-co...
👏👏
"When you’re trying to bring about significant change in any complex system, it’s impossible to know up front exactly what’s going to work, how the various risks are going to pan out or how the context is going to change."
'Being a leader isn’t about becoming great at everything': Civil service reform DG Janet Hughes sets out her priorities
Hughes, who became Cabinet Office DG for civil service reform and efficiency in June, on bringing the spirit of One Team Gov to her new role, test ...
www.civilserviceworld.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:18 PM
👏👏
Life (and the school tea) finds a way
Kid’s school banned downloading games onto school laptops. Then social media on campus. Then phones. Then VPN’s.
Anyway, the students are still chatting during class. Using a shared Google doc
Anyway, the students are still chatting during class. Using a shared Google doc
September 29, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Life (and the school tea) finds a way
Reposted by Harry Metcalfe
Using AI to automate and accelerate what government currently does replicates the same mistaken approach as the “website government” mindset of the past three decades: it’s “faster horses” instead of improving how government — and democracy — works
September 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Using AI to automate and accelerate what government currently does replicates the same mistaken approach as the “website government” mindset of the past three decades: it’s “faster horses” instead of improving how government — and democracy — works