EricaRhubarb
@ericarhubarb.bsky.social
Writer,reader,gardener,cook,dog walker. Medieval history,Anglo French alliances,Guernsey,C.I.Anti Brexit,known to rant about this,known to have mini obsessions from time to time. Cancer survivor. Author: Isabella of Angoulême, The Tangled Queen,a trilogy
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
'How decisions are made, and by whom, is another key factor in generating support for PSM. The current model means the BBC, built over 100 years, could be dismantled in one Parliament by one political party.' 3/3
December 9, 2025 at 10:41 AM
'How decisions are made, and by whom, is another key factor in generating support for PSM. The current model means the BBC, built over 100 years, could be dismantled in one Parliament by one political party.' 3/3
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
'Our comparative study makes a strong case for a publicly-funded BBC....Across Europe and Australia, we find that trust and support are higher for PSM when the funding model is healthy and stable. When trust is strong, support largely crosses political lines.' 2/3
December 9, 2025 at 10:41 AM
'Our comparative study makes a strong case for a publicly-funded BBC....Across Europe and Australia, we find that trust and support are higher for PSM when the funding model is healthy and stable. When trust is strong, support largely crosses political lines.' 2/3
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Ukrainian law means Zelensky cannot cede land without consent from his people.
Ukraine made a previous deals with Russia for land, ceding Crimea* after an earlier Russian invasion
Russia invaded again
Putin cannot be trusted
*Russian-backed forces also shot down passenger plane MH17 over Crimea
Ukraine made a previous deals with Russia for land, ceding Crimea* after an earlier Russian invasion
Russia invaded again
Putin cannot be trusted
*Russian-backed forces also shot down passenger plane MH17 over Crimea
a field of sunflowers with the words eclipse moon written on the bottom
ALT: a field of sunflowers with the words eclipse moon written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Ukrainian law means Zelensky cannot cede land without consent from his people.
Ukraine made a previous deals with Russia for land, ceding Crimea* after an earlier Russian invasion
Russia invaded again
Putin cannot be trusted
*Russian-backed forces also shot down passenger plane MH17 over Crimea
Ukraine made a previous deals with Russia for land, ceding Crimea* after an earlier Russian invasion
Russia invaded again
Putin cannot be trusted
*Russian-backed forces also shot down passenger plane MH17 over Crimea
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Just for once I wonder if the UK might like to take pride in our remarkable Research and Developments strengths rather than undermining the universities that help produce them and bemoaning the things (scaling up) where we clearly don't have such a comparative advantage.
December 9, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Just for once I wonder if the UK might like to take pride in our remarkable Research and Developments strengths rather than undermining the universities that help produce them and bemoaning the things (scaling up) where we clearly don't have such a comparative advantage.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
We’ve got a significant publication out today - a review of how 10 countries around the world organise their public service media, and what lessons can be drawn for the renewal of the BBC Charter
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/g...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/g...
December 9, 2025 at 9:57 AM
We’ve got a significant publication out today - a review of how 10 countries around the world organise their public service media, and what lessons can be drawn for the renewal of the BBC Charter
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/g...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/g...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
🍓 Jam is one of the most-requested items because it helps families stretch simple breakfasts: bread, porridge, crackers.
This Christmas, your donation can spread more than sweetness,
it can spread hope 👉 bankuet.co.uk/christmas
This Christmas, your donation can spread more than sweetness,
it can spread hope 👉 bankuet.co.uk/christmas
December 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
🍓 Jam is one of the most-requested items because it helps families stretch simple breakfasts: bread, porridge, crackers.
This Christmas, your donation can spread more than sweetness,
it can spread hope 👉 bankuet.co.uk/christmas
This Christmas, your donation can spread more than sweetness,
it can spread hope 👉 bankuet.co.uk/christmas
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
I do like the way that in Oxford, every so often, people find things that have been stuck down the back of the sofa for 500 years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Flemish masterpiece resurfaced at University of Oxford hall
Christ Blessing by Quentin Massys has now been moved from Campion Hall to the Ashmolean.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I do like the way that in Oxford, every so often, people find things that have been stuck down the back of the sofa for 500 years.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
“The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.”
(Emily Brontë)
🎨 Dandrey
#owlishmonday
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.”
(Emily Brontë)
🎨 Dandrey
#owlishmonday
December 8, 2025 at 11:45 AM
“The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.”
(Emily Brontë)
🎨 Dandrey
#owlishmonday
Their bare boughs weighed with snow;
The storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.”
(Emily Brontë)
🎨 Dandrey
#owlishmonday
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Part of Climate Storytelling, a series exploring how arts and science can join forces to spark understanding, hope and action.
December 8, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Part of Climate Storytelling, a series exploring how arts and science can join forces to spark understanding, hope and action.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
New analysis shows:
That there are now more people alive in the UK that voted Remain in 2016 than those who voted Leave in 2016.
The "will of the people" expressed by direct vote in 2016... has changed.
That there are now more people alive in the UK that voted Remain in 2016 than those who voted Leave in 2016.
The "will of the people" expressed by direct vote in 2016... has changed.
The majority opposed to Brexit has reached eight million
Ministers need courage to keep it that way
kellnerp.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:53 AM
New analysis shows:
That there are now more people alive in the UK that voted Remain in 2016 than those who voted Leave in 2016.
The "will of the people" expressed by direct vote in 2016... has changed.
That there are now more people alive in the UK that voted Remain in 2016 than those who voted Leave in 2016.
The "will of the people" expressed by direct vote in 2016... has changed.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
French President Emmanuel Macron’s new security plan is expected to include a voluntary 10-month service stint.
🔗 politi.co/48kNTWi
🔗 politi.co/48kNTWi
November 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
French President Emmanuel Macron’s new security plan is expected to include a voluntary 10-month service stint.
🔗 politi.co/48kNTWi
🔗 politi.co/48kNTWi
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
My column on the secret of falling immigration
bsky.app/profile/sund...
bsky.app/profile/sund...
"What is the best kept secret in British politics? It must be falling immigration"
My Eastern Eye column this week on the noise and nuance of how we talk and think about immigration
www.easterneye.biz/uk-immigrati...
My Eastern Eye column this week on the noise and nuance of how we talk and think about immigration
www.easterneye.biz/uk-immigrati...
‘Whisper it, migration numbers have fallen’
Expert says political rhetoric is in contrast to public attitudes
www.easterneye.biz
November 27, 2025 at 10:39 AM
My column on the secret of falling immigration
bsky.app/profile/sund...
bsky.app/profile/sund...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Wow the right-wing papers are really on a three line whip today
The predictable crushing uniformity of the coverage of this Budget tells you an awful lot about the priorities of those papers, and also why there's actually quite a lot to praise in it bylinetimes.com/2025/11/26/t...
November 27, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Wow the right-wing papers are really on a three line whip today
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
I am the same age as the Fag Ash Fuhrer. That word has never been used in a 'nice' way in my life time.
Nigel Farage asked about Reform MS Laura Anne Jones (who the Senedd Commissioner found had used a racist term in a staff WhatsApp chat in August 2023 while discussing TikTok writing: “No chinky spies for me.”)
"Well, she used a word that colloquially, probably was meant in a nice way 20 years ago."
"Well, she used a word that colloquially, probably was meant in a nice way 20 years ago."
November 26, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I am the same age as the Fag Ash Fuhrer. That word has never been used in a 'nice' way in my life time.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
New analysis by the politically neutral House of Commons library says that Brexit:
- cost the average Briton between £2,700 and £3,700
- lost the Treasury up to £90bn a year tax revenue.
Rachel Reeves budget options could have been very different!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
- cost the average Briton between £2,700 and £3,700
- lost the Treasury up to £90bn a year tax revenue.
Rachel Reeves budget options could have been very different!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Brexit costing UK up to £90bn in lost tax revenue , new analysis shows
Exclusive: Britons also up to £3,700 worse off, leading to calls for the Labour government to improve relations with the EU
www.independent.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 7:08 AM
New analysis by the politically neutral House of Commons library says that Brexit:
- cost the average Briton between £2,700 and £3,700
- lost the Treasury up to £90bn a year tax revenue.
Rachel Reeves budget options could have been very different!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
- cost the average Briton between £2,700 and £3,700
- lost the Treasury up to £90bn a year tax revenue.
Rachel Reeves budget options could have been very different!
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
I love this book, and love also that it was a major inspiration to Virginia Woolf for her thinking about time and structure in her later novels (& she wrote a fan letter to Stapledon to tell him so!)
New episode up now. Last and First Men (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, with guest Matthew De Abaitua in conversation with Andy Miller and Una McCormack. @mdeabaitua.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social www.backlisted.fm/episodes/253...
253. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon — Backlisted
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The...
www.backlisted.fm
November 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I love this book, and love also that it was a major inspiration to Virginia Woolf for her thinking about time and structure in her later novels (& she wrote a fan letter to Stapledon to tell him so!)
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Only 16% of Trump voters support Ukraine making territorial concessions to Russia and 72% are in favor of selling Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, according to a new poll by The Vandenberg Coalition.
72% of Trump voters also believe the US should help Ukraine and hold Russia accountable.
72% of Trump voters also believe the US should help Ukraine and hold Russia accountable.
November 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Only 16% of Trump voters support Ukraine making territorial concessions to Russia and 72% are in favor of selling Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, according to a new poll by The Vandenberg Coalition.
72% of Trump voters also believe the US should help Ukraine and hold Russia accountable.
72% of Trump voters also believe the US should help Ukraine and hold Russia accountable.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
What Trump has made me realise is how much the post-Cold War relationship hinged on shared values rather than shared interests. Trump is illustrating how, whether on Ukraine and Gaza, our interests diverge and, absent those values, there's not much holding us together.
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 AM
This is so important. People who study international relations love to fight over whether interests or values define relationships. It is both. An interest is something you define. And your values come into the equation. It is not either or.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
NEW: Keir Starmer says Nigel Farage should have “courage” to launch inquiry into Reform's links to Russia after Nathan Gill sentencing.
“It is shocking that a senior Reform official, the leader in Wales, has been jailed for over 10 years, a very significant sentence for taking pro-Russia bribes.
“It is shocking that a senior Reform official, the leader in Wales, has been jailed for over 10 years, a very significant sentence for taking pro-Russia bribes.
November 25, 2025 at 1:12 PM
NEW: Keir Starmer says Nigel Farage should have “courage” to launch inquiry into Reform's links to Russia after Nathan Gill sentencing.
“It is shocking that a senior Reform official, the leader in Wales, has been jailed for over 10 years, a very significant sentence for taking pro-Russia bribes.
“It is shocking that a senior Reform official, the leader in Wales, has been jailed for over 10 years, a very significant sentence for taking pro-Russia bribes.
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
The former Conservative Levelling Up Secretary and now editor of the Spectator, Michael Gove, has been selected as a judge for the 2026 Orwell Prize awards, despite his record of dodging media scrutiny and allegations of ‘stifling’ critical journalists
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The former Conservative Levelling Up Secretary and now editor of the Spectator, Michael Gove, has been selected as a judge for the 2026 Orwell Prize awards, despite his record of dodging media scrutiny and allegations of ‘stifling’ critical journalists
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Reposted by EricaRhubarb
The show aired on Sunday morning, Australia time, which was before midnight here. Nemo fell asleep while I listened to Julian Morrow’s phrase, “the only sea librarian in the world.” At the end, I had to choose a song to close the show with. Julian is such a clever, witty, lovely person to talk to.
November 23, 2025 at 9:14 AM
The show aired on Sunday morning, Australia time, which was before midnight here. Nemo fell asleep while I listened to Julian Morrow’s phrase, “the only sea librarian in the world.” At the end, I had to choose a song to close the show with. Julian is such a clever, witty, lovely person to talk to.