@stephenph.bsky.social
Scottish. Dad. Husband. Militant Centrist.
Reposted
Not just on here - hasn’t really been absorbed by most in government either.
Another bad set of labour market data today. Don’t think it’s quite entered the public consciousness on here how badly the NICs rises plus soaring minimum wage is affecting employment. Uk labour market very soft now.
December 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Not just on here - hasn’t really been absorbed by most in government either.
Reposted
Koitsu Tsuchiya (Japanese, 1870-1949)
"Floating Pavillion at Katada in the Snow," 1934
Color woodcut print
36.5 x 24.4 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Floating Pavillion at Katada in the Snow," 1934
Color woodcut print
36.5 x 24.4 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
December 14, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Koitsu Tsuchiya (Japanese, 1870-1949)
"Floating Pavillion at Katada in the Snow," 1934
Color woodcut print
36.5 x 24.4 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Floating Pavillion at Katada in the Snow," 1934
Color woodcut print
36.5 x 24.4 cm
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted
Frits Thaulow (Norwegian, 1847–1906)
"In the Pine Forest, Kragerø", 1882.
Oil on Board, 55 × 40 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"In the Pine Forest, Kragerø", 1882.
Oil on Board, 55 × 40 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
December 9, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Frits Thaulow (Norwegian, 1847–1906)
"In the Pine Forest, Kragerø", 1882.
Oil on Board, 55 × 40 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"In the Pine Forest, Kragerø", 1882.
Oil on Board, 55 × 40 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted
Alfred Sisley (French, 1839–1899)
"Snow at Louveciennes", 1878.
Oil on Canvas, 61 × 50.5 cm.
Musée d'Orsay Paris, France.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Snow at Louveciennes", 1878.
Oil on Canvas, 61 × 50.5 cm.
Musée d'Orsay Paris, France.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
December 5, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Alfred Sisley (French, 1839–1899)
"Snow at Louveciennes", 1878.
Oil on Canvas, 61 × 50.5 cm.
Musée d'Orsay Paris, France.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Snow at Louveciennes", 1878.
Oil on Canvas, 61 × 50.5 cm.
Musée d'Orsay Paris, France.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted
We'll be needing that back soon.
I just realised there is this little souvenir located in a park in Chelmsford UK - good reminder that Russia can be defeated ( my dogs just posing there )
November 28, 2025 at 8:12 PM
We'll be needing that back soon.
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Day 1275 of my 3 day war. Ukraine seems to carrying out its own sanctions on my shadow fleet.
November 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Day 1275 of my 3 day war. Ukraine seems to carrying out its own sanctions on my shadow fleet.
Reposted
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
Reposted
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
A quick reminder of who Nigel Farage was most concerned about when Putin's tanks first rolled into Ukraine
Reposted
"Over the past 100 years, Russia has attacked 19 different countries — some of them 3-4 times — and none of these countries, including Ukraine, has ever attacked Russia." - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
November 27, 2025 at 7:02 PM
"Over the past 100 years, Russia has attacked 19 different countries — some of them 3-4 times — and none of these countries, including Ukraine, has ever attacked Russia." - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
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Britain:
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
having gone to university as the last cohort of the 3k/year system never fails to give me a brief taste of that "last chopper out of Saigon" feeling boomers and, to an extent, Gen Xers have been getting for most of the past fifteen years or so
Student loan repayment thresholds frozen for a further three years.
More debt burden falling on graduates.
And even more reason to cut university places by 20-30%.
More debt burden falling on graduates.
And even more reason to cut university places by 20-30%.
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Britain:
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
American taxes and Scandinavian public services for the old.
Scandinavian taxes and American public services for the young.
Reposted
it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Labour is managing the macroeconomy via individual policy polling
With Rachel Reeves reportedly set to apply a new tax on tuition fees paid by overseas students, most Britons support such a move at the previously mooted level of 6%
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
November 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Labour is managing the macroeconomy via individual policy polling
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<labour post election meeting>
-ok guys we won and the economy is a basket case but we promised not to raise taxes and that puts us in a real bind with a low growth medium inflation economy
-what if we just keep coming up with stupider and stupider ideas until we're not in charge anymore
-ok guys we won and the economy is a basket case but we promised not to raise taxes and that puts us in a real bind with a low growth medium inflation economy
-what if we just keep coming up with stupider and stupider ideas until we're not in charge anymore
Trevor Phillips proposes banning "remittances" (ie: imposing currency/exchange controls on international cash transfers by foreign nationals from Britain). He says this would disincentivise immigration, in a Times piece saying the Home Secretary needs to go [much] further
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 24, 2025 at 10:57 PM
<labour post election meeting>
-ok guys we won and the economy is a basket case but we promised not to raise taxes and that puts us in a real bind with a low growth medium inflation economy
-what if we just keep coming up with stupider and stupider ideas until we're not in charge anymore
-ok guys we won and the economy is a basket case but we promised not to raise taxes and that puts us in a real bind with a low growth medium inflation economy
-what if we just keep coming up with stupider and stupider ideas until we're not in charge anymore
Reposted
🔥 Rachel Reeves says there’s a “hole” in the public finances.
A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it:
A 6–8% hit to GDP
That's £180bn-£240bn a year
It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything.
Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.
A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it:
A 6–8% hit to GDP
That's £180bn-£240bn a year
It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything.
Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.
New: Boris Johnson’s ‘Brexit Titanic success’ was half right
Nearly ten years on, the first full assessment of Brexit confirms what millions warned: Britain made itself poorer
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 6:56 AM
🔥 Rachel Reeves says there’s a “hole” in the public finances.
A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it:
A 6–8% hit to GDP
That's £180bn-£240bn a year
It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything.
Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.
A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it:
A 6–8% hit to GDP
That's £180bn-£240bn a year
It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything.
Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.
Reposted
Ukraine won’t be defeated. Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian identity, Ukrainian dignity have only increased since I last visited Kyiv just after the Euromaidan 11 years ago.
The Poles were subjugated for 200 years, and yet military might and the betrayal of allies, could not crush them either
The Poles were subjugated for 200 years, and yet military might and the betrayal of allies, could not crush them either
November 22, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Ukraine won’t be defeated. Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian identity, Ukrainian dignity have only increased since I last visited Kyiv just after the Euromaidan 11 years ago.
The Poles were subjugated for 200 years, and yet military might and the betrayal of allies, could not crush them either
The Poles were subjugated for 200 years, and yet military might and the betrayal of allies, could not crush them either
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Think of steel as flour for the manufacturing economy. A tariff is like a flour tax: the mill might add 1,000 jobs, but factories using flour cut around 75,000. That’s what happens when you tax an input instead of solving the real problem.
November 22, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Think of steel as flour for the manufacturing economy. A tariff is like a flour tax: the mill might add 1,000 jobs, but factories using flour cut around 75,000. That’s what happens when you tax an input instead of solving the real problem.
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Get serious, Europeans. You are your only hope.
"EU imports from Russia worth €124 billion have exceeded the amount of aid provided to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion." - stated Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.
censor.net/en/news/3586...
censor.net/en/news/3586...
November 23, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Get serious, Europeans. You are your only hope.
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“Did Nathan Gill ever say anything you disagree with in return for his bribes from a Kremlin stooge?”
“Did you, in your roles as his boss, friend, mentor & party leader, ever question his full-throated support for an enemy of the UK and if not, why not?”
You can have those for nothing, lads.
“Did you, in your roles as his boss, friend, mentor & party leader, ever question his full-throated support for an enemy of the UK and if not, why not?”
You can have those for nothing, lads.
November 22, 2025 at 11:23 AM
“Did Nathan Gill ever say anything you disagree with in return for his bribes from a Kremlin stooge?”
“Did you, in your roles as his boss, friend, mentor & party leader, ever question his full-throated support for an enemy of the UK and if not, why not?”
You can have those for nothing, lads.
“Did you, in your roles as his boss, friend, mentor & party leader, ever question his full-throated support for an enemy of the UK and if not, why not?”
You can have those for nothing, lads.
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Here's a seven-point peace plan:
November 23, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Here's a seven-point peace plan:
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I agree with much of what @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social says, but I’m a little befuddled by the persistence in the UK of the perception that a customs union is somehow an easier, smaller step than joining the single market for goods. Quite the opposite I’d say,
November 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I agree with much of what @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social says, but I’m a little befuddled by the persistence in the UK of the perception that a customs union is somehow an easier, smaller step than joining the single market for goods. Quite the opposite I’d say,
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The Russian leader is said to have been impressed with the disgraced ex-Reform politician who was asked to persuade politicians to appear on a pro-Kremlin TV channel
Putin ‘praised Nathan Gill’s recruitment of MEPs for interviews’
The Russian leader is said to have been impressed with the disgraced ex-Reform politician who was asked to persuade politicians to appear on a pro-Kremlin TV channel
www.thetimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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Can anyone explain why Farage gets wall-to-wall news coverage for announcing policies that he may or may not do in four years time, but when his long-term colleague & Brexit partner is jailed for spouting EXACTLY the same pro-Kremlin propaganda as him....
a dirt road going through a desert landscape with mountains in the background
ALT: a dirt road going through a desert landscape with mountains in the background
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Can anyone explain why Farage gets wall-to-wall news coverage for announcing policies that he may or may not do in four years time, but when his long-term colleague & Brexit partner is jailed for spouting EXACTLY the same pro-Kremlin propaganda as him....
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This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
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Hi All, just released my free weekend update. Its fascinating who backed the Trump-Putin 28 point plan, and what it means about the US government being a mouthpiece for Russia. Plus, you cannot back Trump and Ukraine--if you back Trump, you can only have one master open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Weekend Update #160: The US Becomes A Mouthpiece To Pass On Putin's Demands
Vance To The Fore; The 28 Points—Is It More Interesting Who Backed Them?
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Hi All, just released my free weekend update. Its fascinating who backed the Trump-Putin 28 point plan, and what it means about the US government being a mouthpiece for Russia. Plus, you cannot back Trump and Ukraine--if you back Trump, you can only have one master open.substack.com/pub/phillips...