Mark Robinson
LightNews LightNews
banner
mr.place
Mark Robinson
@mr.place
1.6K followers 420 following 2K posts

Aspiring urban fixer - was UK High Street Czar -think tank wonk - ABI survivor - OSP student @lse - Making Hartlepool Great Again

Writing about later life learning and being a padawan "pracademic" https://markisalwayslearning.substack.com .. more

Videos
Public Health 43%
Medicine 22%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Mary Corcoran, Mark Robinson , and 1 more

stevepeers.bsky.social
Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 10h
Two paragraphs from the article, pointing out Telegraph hypocrisy

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 17h
We paraded a monkey once in Hartlepool, and people have never let us forget it.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Ben H. Ansell, Steve Peers , and 8 more

robertshrimsley.bsky.social
Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 17h
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 17h
Less about politics than it would appear, more about people. Whole people. Whatever that means.

open.substack.com/pub/markisal...
Like a stuck clock, Nick Clegg is occasionally right about something, it would appear…
What happens when you cross streams between academia and what your contemporaries in the workplace think in practice. Plus a pre-goth Roberts Smith singing about urbanism.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Mark Robinson

jollyjourno.bsky.social
James Cracknell @jollyjourno.bsky.social · 17h
Most of the print media is owned billionaires, who have used their papers to distract people from the real causes of social problems by instead focusing public anger towards immigrants and minorities.

Now the billionaire owners of social media giants are doing a similar thing with their algorithms.

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Michelle Everson, Mark Robinson , and 3 more

eddavey.libdems.org.uk
Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 1d
The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf, rebuild trust and resist those like Nigel Farage who want to destroy it

We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.

Reposted by Mark Robinson

benansell.bsky.social
Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 1d
This might be the first spy who appears to be literally wearing one of those 'spy disguises' you could pick up in a joke shop in Newquay in 1993.
Russian activist held in Poland admits he worked as FSB agent, court papers say
Igor Rogov, who left Russia in 2021, due to go on trial accused of informing on other Russian opposition activists
www.theguardian.com

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 1d
Meanwhile tax for many wealthy is voluntary….

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 1d
If you don't believe that the current Trump administration is a racist project, then read this fantastic, but heartbreaking thread
chriso-wiki.bsky.social ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 1d
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 1d
Which museums do you get drugs in #askingforafriend

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Anna O. Law, Kim L. Scheppele , and 40 more

chriso-wiki.bsky.social
ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 1d
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
"Seasoned professional" - is it my salt and pepper beard?

Either way, it's probably an improvement on "veteran" or simply "old".

Nice of the the @lsepbs.bsky.social department to pick up on my Substack, cheers!

markisalwayslearning.substack.com

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
I think you will find it does @patmillsuk.bsky.social!

Reposted by Mark Robinson

columnist.bsky.social
Dr Stylite @columnist.bsky.social · 2d
This is quite the graph and reinforces my view that Bluesky is actually quite revolutionary.
FT graph

Reposted by Mark Robinson, Thomas Pink

duncanweldon.bsky.social
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d
I’m with Vince.

And 2p on income tax plus 2p off NICS to raise £6bn feels like being hung for half a lamb.

www.ft.com/content/9e56...

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
🙏

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
I'm getting to the age/stage where my winter beard opens up the opportunity for work as a mall Santa.

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
Anyone else I should be following on @bsky.app in this field?

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 2d
Glad to have found you! Just started studying OSP Msc at LSE👊 open.substack.com/pub/markisal...
Mark Is Always Learning | Mark Robinson | Substack
Reflections on when 35 years at the university of life meets OSP at LSE. Click to read Mark Is Always Learning, by Mark Robinson, a Substack publication. Launched 2 months ago.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Mark Robinson, Ian Loader, Guillaume Allègre

danneidle.bsky.social
Dan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 2d
This video is brilliant: buff.ly/1zyTWmM

Seems a total slam dunk that owners of private jets should pay fuel duties. Doesn't it?

The answer is annoying.

Thread:
Private jets don't pay fuel tax. Now I don't either.
You pay fuel duty. Why don’t billionaires? This week, we launched WeWingAnyCar.com to help you qualify for the same tax breaks that private jets get. Because tax loopholes shouldn’t just be for…
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Mark Robinson

mikegalsworthy.bsky.social
Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 2d
13 East Anglian neighbourhoods are among England’s most deprived 1%. Every one lies on the coast. The poorest voted Reform. A warning about what happens when seaside towns are left behind.
East Anglia: home to the richest and poorest
The Office for National Statistics has just published a report on deprivation in communities across England. What does it tell us about our deeply divided region?
eastangliabylines.co.uk

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio , and 17 more

thedailyshow.com
The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 3d
New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009

Reposted by Mark Robinson

josiah.writes.news
Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 3d
Angela Rayner's work is starting to pay off, after leaving office (as is often the way)
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Mayors to lead the charge for thousands of new social homes
Mayors outside of London to be given greater influence over the government's historic £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
www.gov.uk

Reposted by Mark Robinson

aestivator.bsky.social
Aestivator. @aestivator.bsky.social · 3d
I joined HMPS in 1995 and retired in 2019. Underpinning every failing in HMPS is AUSTERITY. From Purging experienced staff, overloading operational managers with admin, privatizing works depts and trying to nail jelly to walls. Torys f'd the organisation irreparably. Kudos to those who had to stay.

Reposted by Mark Robinson

lowwintersun.bsky.social
Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social · 3d
The right's arguments against the clean energy transition make no sense in this context.

China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels.
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics
The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising
www.economist.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings , and 6 more

peterwalker99.bsky.social
Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 4d
For anyone still tempted to take Dominic Cummings at all seriously, he's now an advocate of Donald Trump-style open racism.

Reposted by Mark Robinson

dawnbritten.bsky.social
Dawn B @dawnbritten.bsky.social · 4d
And for Lib Dem’s and all other parties to leave? Please.

Reposted by Christian Odendahl, Mark Robinson, Nicolai von Ondarza

tokarski.bsky.social
Paweł Tokarski @tokarski.bsky.social · 4d
Bardella wants the ECB (read: Banque de France and other Eurosystem banks) to buy an unlimited amount of French debt.

Other eurozone countries will be delighted at the opportunity to co-finance one of the most generous pension systems in Europe.

www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Jordan Bardella starts to lay out his plans
The 30-year-old French populist who is preparing for power
www.economist.com

Reposted by Mark Robinson

theifs.bsky.social
The Institute for Fiscal Studies @theifs.bsky.social · 5d
NEW PODCAST: How to fix VAT

Why is chocolate-covered shortbread taxed differently from plain? In the final episode of our tax mini-series, we unpack what makes the UK’s VAT system so complex, inefficient and unfair.

🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/how...

mr.place
Mark Robinson @mr.place · 7d
This, more than any other question, is the precondition for a lurch towards authoritarianism.