Thomas Prosser
@prossertj.bsky.social
Professor of European political economy, Cardiff University. Essayist. Dislikes partisans, likes paradoxes. Author of two books with Manchester University Press.
This is a very thought-provoking piece and I'm looking forward to reading Alexander's book. I'd also like to see a debate between @polphilpod.bsky.social and Alexander.
My pro-immigration misinformation piece that will probably annoy almost everyone is finally out. If you care about democratic trust or are just curious what liberal elites don't want to say out loud, this is for you.
Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/the-uncomf...
Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong.
alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/the-uncomf...
January 23, 2026 at 10:39 AM
This is a very thought-provoking piece and I'm looking forward to reading Alexander's book. I'd also like to see a debate between @polphilpod.bsky.social and Alexander.
Reposted by Thomas Prosser
Still one of my favourite quotes about the Polish people
January 21, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Still one of my favourite quotes about the Polish people
The way certain high-profile accounts use Grok to humiliate transgender people is also extremely distasteful.
I wrote about Grok, a picture a Nazi once made of me with a little rat on my shoulder, and the constant desire of some internet users to degrade, abuse and deface images of women. I also talked to very smart people about what they think we should do about it: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Grok’s leering AI images are the newest version of an old problem
Image-based abuse predates Elon Musk's latest sleazy bot, but AI is making it worse.
www.motherjones.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:35 PM
The way certain high-profile accounts use Grok to humiliate transgender people is also extremely distasteful.
Reposted by Thomas Prosser
🚨New article in @electoralstudies.bsky.social🚨
New method using open-text survey, parliament speech analysis & conjoint experiment to detect policies/issues where all of:
1) bottom-up public demand
2) elites are neglecting it
3) would motivate vote choice if party adopt it
tinyurl.com/44ryyybc
🧵
New method using open-text survey, parliament speech analysis & conjoint experiment to detect policies/issues where all of:
1) bottom-up public demand
2) elites are neglecting it
3) would motivate vote choice if party adopt it
tinyurl.com/44ryyybc
🧵
January 19, 2026 at 9:28 AM
🚨New article in @electoralstudies.bsky.social🚨
New method using open-text survey, parliament speech analysis & conjoint experiment to detect policies/issues where all of:
1) bottom-up public demand
2) elites are neglecting it
3) would motivate vote choice if party adopt it
tinyurl.com/44ryyybc
🧵
New method using open-text survey, parliament speech analysis & conjoint experiment to detect policies/issues where all of:
1) bottom-up public demand
2) elites are neglecting it
3) would motivate vote choice if party adopt it
tinyurl.com/44ryyybc
🧵
Reposted by Thomas Prosser
Solidarity with Professor David Gordon. The way he has been treated by University of Bristol management is a scandal. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Academic suspended after defending gender-critical speaker
Prof David Gordon is accused of breaking rules by replying to an email from the University of Bristol’s LGBTQ+ Staff Network
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Solidarity with Professor David Gordon. The way he has been treated by University of Bristol management is a scandal. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Would anyone know of a good guide on the ethical use of GenAI in social science publishing? Given the rapid rise of GenAI, this issue is so confusing!
January 18, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Would anyone know of a good guide on the ethical use of GenAI in social science publishing? Given the rapid rise of GenAI, this issue is so confusing!
OK, after using it for a few hours I'm starting to have my 'born-again' experience with Claude Code 🤣🤣🤣
Trying Claude Code. Early days, but I'm a long-term user of Claude and CC just seems to streamline Claude's abilities, rather than doing anything revolutionary?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
January 18, 2026 at 10:37 AM
OK, after using it for a few hours I'm starting to have my 'born-again' experience with Claude Code 🤣🤣🤣
Trying Claude Code. Early days, but I'm a long-term user of Claude and CC just seems to streamline Claude's abilities, rather than doing anything revolutionary?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
January 17, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Trying Claude Code. Early days, but I'm a long-term user of Claude and CC just seems to streamline Claude's abilities, rather than doing anything revolutionary?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
More broadly, gen AI is an excellent research assistant but, in terms of conceptual ability, still seems to fall far short of humans?!?
'If he goes in and annexes Greenland, all our alliances will also be finished. Generations of work, hundreds of thousands of heroic sacrifices: all thrown away by the insatiable needs of one man’s vanity.'
andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/greenland-...
andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/greenland-...
Greenland Is A Red Line
Cross it, and our Constitution and collective security are finished.
andrewsullivan.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:39 PM
'If he goes in and annexes Greenland, all our alliances will also be finished. Generations of work, hundreds of thousands of heroic sacrifices: all thrown away by the insatiable needs of one man’s vanity.'
andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/greenland-...
andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/greenland-...
Recent talk of scholars producing hundreds/thousands of papers every year in the age of gen AI implies that the AI will do the writing. Yet isn't this, ahem, against the rules?
January 15, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Recent talk of scholars producing hundreds/thousands of papers every year in the age of gen AI implies that the AI will do the writing. Yet isn't this, ahem, against the rules?
This issue is only increasing in importance!
I broadly agree with the argument that Reform won't pay an electoral price for absorbing many MPs and former ministers from the Conservatives, but I am less sure that will hold if they eat up the Conservative Party completely. At some point voters may ask 'are we voting for the same lot as before?'.
January 15, 2026 at 12:49 PM
This issue is only increasing in importance!
To think that we may be living through the demise of the Conservative Party and NATO 😱😵💫
January 15, 2026 at 12:44 PM
To think that we may be living through the demise of the Conservative Party and NATO 😱😵💫
This piece doesn’t land any blows. I wouldn’t be impressed by a piece which identified the funders of a trade union and indicted the union on that basis. Rather, the left should ask itself why it allowed the FSU to assume ownership of some of its traditional causes.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Who funds the Free Speech Union?
Toby Young’s outfit went to court to hide its donors. Today we reveal that funders include US anti-abortion groups, Brexit politicians and Tufton Street insiders.
substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM
This piece doesn’t land any blows. I wouldn’t be impressed by a piece which identified the funders of a trade union and indicted the union on that basis. Rather, the left should ask itself why it allowed the FSU to assume ownership of some of its traditional causes.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
43 today and must be halfway there now 😱😵💫🥳
January 15, 2026 at 8:54 AM
43 today and must be halfway there now 😱😵💫🥳
In Polish communism, they recruited people according to the BMW principle: bierny (supine), mierny (mediocre) ale wierny (but loyal).
Perennial reminder of this excellent paper about how secret police forces are swamped with underachievers
“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”
(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”
(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
January 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM
In Polish communism, they recruited people according to the BMW principle: bierny (supine), mierny (mediocre) ale wierny (but loyal).
Reposted by Thomas Prosser
Still buzzing from yesterday’s Oxford Social Policy Conference!
Wonderful papers, generous discussions, and such a great atmosphere 💬
Thanks to everyone who joined us 🙌
@ox.ac.uk @prossertj.bsky.social @dspi-oxford.bsky.social @silv-naydenova.bsky.social
Wonderful papers, generous discussions, and such a great atmosphere 💬
Thanks to everyone who joined us 🙌
@ox.ac.uk @prossertj.bsky.social @dspi-oxford.bsky.social @silv-naydenova.bsky.social
January 14, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Still buzzing from yesterday’s Oxford Social Policy Conference!
Wonderful papers, generous discussions, and such a great atmosphere 💬
Thanks to everyone who joined us 🙌
@ox.ac.uk @prossertj.bsky.social @dspi-oxford.bsky.social @silv-naydenova.bsky.social
Wonderful papers, generous discussions, and such a great atmosphere 💬
Thanks to everyone who joined us 🙌
@ox.ac.uk @prossertj.bsky.social @dspi-oxford.bsky.social @silv-naydenova.bsky.social
January 13, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Great keynote on social policy and social democracy from Jane Gingrich at our @psasocialpolicy.bsky.social event in Oxford
January 13, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Great keynote on social policy and social democracy from Jane Gingrich at our @psasocialpolicy.bsky.social event in Oxford
Can't be long until Reform announce 96 Senedd candidates. If they manage to do this without a massive (social) media feeding frenzy, I shall be surprised.
January 12, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Can't be long until Reform announce 96 Senedd candidates. If they manage to do this without a massive (social) media feeding frenzy, I shall be surprised.
I do hope that results like today's attract more people to non-league football. Recently, I've got into Cardiff Met/the Cymru Premier and, imho, it's a much better experience than elite football.
January 10, 2026 at 3:54 PM
I do hope that results like today's attract more people to non-league football. Recently, I've got into Cardiff Met/the Cymru Premier and, imho, it's a much better experience than elite football.
Broke: Crystal Palace/EPL
Woke: Macclesfield/English Non-League
Bespoke: Cymru Premier ;-)
Woke: Macclesfield/English Non-League
Bespoke: Cymru Premier ;-)
January 10, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Broke: Crystal Palace/EPL
Woke: Macclesfield/English Non-League
Bespoke: Cymru Premier ;-)
Woke: Macclesfield/English Non-League
Bespoke: Cymru Premier ;-)
Reposted by Thomas Prosser
Trying to explain to students the state of radical right-wing politics in England, though these parties are also active in Wales and Scotland.
January 9, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Trying to explain to students the state of radical right-wing politics in England, though these parties are also active in Wales and Scotland.
Even a decent McDonald's breakfast is now over £5 😵💫😱🤬
January 10, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Even a decent McDonald's breakfast is now over £5 😵💫😱🤬
I recall my outrage on first paying £3 for a cake - now routine!
8:20 for two coffees.
Going to cry.
Going to cry.
January 10, 2026 at 9:01 AM
I recall my outrage on first paying £3 for a cake - now routine!
I had high hopes, but that was such a disappointing Ashes! If England's batters had played properly in the afternoon of the second day of the first Test, that could have been a completely different series...
January 8, 2026 at 1:51 PM
I had high hopes, but that was such a disappointing Ashes! If England's batters had played properly in the afternoon of the second day of the first Test, that could have been a completely different series...