Halbert Jones
@halbertjones.bsky.social
Historian of Mexico and US-Latin American relations. A North Carolinian in 🇬🇧. Following US and UK politics, academia and higher education, and UK borders and immigration.
I only spotted this next rate increase was happening because, having bought stamps online from Royal Mail in the past, they have me pegged as a collector, so they wrote to me, thinking I might be excited to “be among the first to secure the October 2025 Tariff Definitive Stamp”!
September 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I only spotted this next rate increase was happening because, having bought stamps online from Royal Mail in the past, they have me pegged as a collector, so they wrote to me, thinking I might be excited to “be among the first to secure the October 2025 Tariff Definitive Stamp”!
More comparisons — postage rate for int’l letters:
UK: £3.40
Netherlands: €2.00 = £1.73
New Zealand: up to NZ$4.70 = up to £2.06*
Spain: up to €2.40 = up to £2.08*
Switzerland: up to CHF2.50 = up to £2.32*
Australia: up to A$4.80 = up to £2.35*
*varies by destination, lower within region
UK: £3.40
Netherlands: €2.00 = £1.73
New Zealand: up to NZ$4.70 = up to £2.06*
Spain: up to €2.40 = up to £2.08*
Switzerland: up to CHF2.50 = up to £2.32*
Australia: up to A$4.80 = up to £2.35*
*varies by destination, lower within region
September 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
More comparisons — postage rate for int’l letters:
UK: £3.40
Netherlands: €2.00 = £1.73
New Zealand: up to NZ$4.70 = up to £2.06*
Spain: up to €2.40 = up to £2.08*
Switzerland: up to CHF2.50 = up to £2.32*
Australia: up to A$4.80 = up to £2.35*
*varies by destination, lower within region
UK: £3.40
Netherlands: €2.00 = £1.73
New Zealand: up to NZ$4.70 = up to £2.06*
Spain: up to €2.40 = up to £2.08*
Switzerland: up to CHF2.50 = up to £2.32*
Australia: up to A$4.80 = up to £2.35*
*varies by destination, lower within region
… and anyway, other postal services manage not to rip their customers off to the same extent on international letters:
UK: £3.40
Germany: €1.25 = £1.08
USA: US$1.70 = £1.25
France: €2.10 = £1.82
Canada: C$3.65 = £1.94
Ireland: €2.65 = £2.29
4/4
UK: £3.40
Germany: €1.25 = £1.08
USA: US$1.70 = £1.25
France: €2.10 = £1.82
Canada: C$3.65 = £1.94
Ireland: €2.65 = £2.29
4/4
September 14, 2025 at 9:59 AM
… and anyway, other postal services manage not to rip their customers off to the same extent on international letters:
UK: £3.40
Germany: €1.25 = £1.08
USA: US$1.70 = £1.25
France: €2.10 = £1.82
Canada: C$3.65 = £1.94
Ireland: €2.65 = £2.29
4/4
UK: £3.40
Germany: €1.25 = £1.08
USA: US$1.70 = £1.25
France: €2.10 = £1.82
Canada: C$3.65 = £1.94
Ireland: €2.65 = £2.29
4/4
As recently as 2012, the international letter rate was just £1.10. The (no longer available) “worldwide” stamps sold back then will have been a great investment; they have tripled in value.
There were cheaper rates for Europe (68p) and lighter items (like postcards) (76p). Those are gone now.
2/X
There were cheaper rates for Europe (68p) and lighter items (like postcards) (76p). Those are gone now.
2/X
September 14, 2025 at 9:29 AM
As recently as 2012, the international letter rate was just £1.10. The (no longer available) “worldwide” stamps sold back then will have been a great investment; they have tripled in value.
There were cheaper rates for Europe (68p) and lighter items (like postcards) (76p). Those are gone now.
2/X
There were cheaper rates for Europe (68p) and lighter items (like postcards) (76p). Those are gone now.
2/X
One of my occasional rants about the UK’s increasingly extortionate international postage rates:
After a big hike in April — the point in the year when rate changes are usually made — Royal Mail will next month again raise the price to send a letter or postcard abroad, to £3.40.
1/X
After a big hike in April — the point in the year when rate changes are usually made — Royal Mail will next month again raise the price to send a letter or postcard abroad, to £3.40.
1/X
September 14, 2025 at 9:20 AM
One of my occasional rants about the UK’s increasingly extortionate international postage rates:
After a big hike in April — the point in the year when rate changes are usually made — Royal Mail will next month again raise the price to send a letter or postcard abroad, to £3.40.
1/X
After a big hike in April — the point in the year when rate changes are usually made — Royal Mail will next month again raise the price to send a letter or postcard abroad, to £3.40.
1/X
The framing here is (as so often) exasperating.
The headline: “Trump threatens to strip Rosie O’Donnell of U.S. citizenship”
Not until 9 paragraphs in: “Experts said the president does not have the power to take away the citizenship of a U.S.-born citizen.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/u...
The headline: “Trump threatens to strip Rosie O’Donnell of U.S. citizenship”
Not until 9 paragraphs in: “Experts said the president does not have the power to take away the citizenship of a U.S.-born citizen.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/u...
July 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM
The framing here is (as so often) exasperating.
The headline: “Trump threatens to strip Rosie O’Donnell of U.S. citizenship”
Not until 9 paragraphs in: “Experts said the president does not have the power to take away the citizenship of a U.S.-born citizen.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/u...
The headline: “Trump threatens to strip Rosie O’Donnell of U.S. citizenship”
Not until 9 paragraphs in: “Experts said the president does not have the power to take away the citizenship of a U.S.-born citizen.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/u...
The media is really hitting the key points in its coverage of the move to strip Harvard of its ability to enrol international students …
May 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The media is really hitting the key points in its coverage of the move to strip Harvard of its ability to enrol international students …
Hmm. I suppose knowledge of history might be a bit of ‘spoiler’ here …
May 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Hmm. I suppose knowledge of history might be a bit of ‘spoiler’ here …
Spotted in the city centre today: a reminder that Oxford is home to a significant East Timorese community … and that East Timor is one of handful of countries (along with El Salvador, Panama, and Ecuador to use the US dollar as its official currency.
May 5, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Spotted in the city centre today: a reminder that Oxford is home to a significant East Timorese community … and that East Timor is one of handful of countries (along with El Salvador, Panama, and Ecuador to use the US dollar as its official currency.
A sample of the new designs:
January 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A sample of the new designs:
Interesting that Politico yesterday reported the UK move on reinstating the visa requirement for Colombians was opposed by four other government departments (clearly concerned about diplomatic fallout and economic impact) but the Home Office position won out.
www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...
www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...
November 27, 2024 at 11:12 AM
Interesting that Politico yesterday reported the UK move on reinstating the visa requirement for Colombians was opposed by four other government departments (clearly concerned about diplomatic fallout and economic impact) but the Home Office position won out.
www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...
www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...
Traces of a once-greater Great Western Railway, in the West Midlands (beyond where the GWR network now ends, at Banbury)
November 21, 2024 at 4:32 PM
Traces of a once-greater Great Western Railway, in the West Midlands (beyond where the GWR network now ends, at Banbury)
Looks like the Home Office ad campaign to promote awareness of the transition to eVisas is live …
October 18, 2024 at 1:38 PM
Looks like the Home Office ad campaign to promote awareness of the transition to eVisas is live …
There is a hilarious bit of dialogue in Charles Portis’s “The Dog of the South” in which the narrator — who studied the Civil War at Ole Miss — takes umbrage at the suggestion that Bragg “lost the war.” He keeps coming back to it, pushing back. Maybe Trump also has strong views on CW generalship?
October 5, 2024 at 11:05 AM
There is a hilarious bit of dialogue in Charles Portis’s “The Dog of the South” in which the narrator — who studied the Civil War at Ole Miss — takes umbrage at the suggestion that Bragg “lost the war.” He keeps coming back to it, pushing back. Maybe Trump also has strong views on CW generalship?
If implementation of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) goes ahead as planned this autumn — admittedly, a big “if”, in light of past, and rumoured future, delays — then I have likely had my last passport stamp from a Schengen zone country, very sadly.
September 24, 2024 at 5:14 PM
If implementation of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) goes ahead as planned this autumn — admittedly, a big “if”, in light of past, and rumoured future, delays — then I have likely had my last passport stamp from a Schengen zone country, very sadly.
The reference to satellite pics of baseball diamonds reminds me of Ollie North presenting similar images from Nicaragua as evidence of Cuban infiltration, blithely unaware that Nicaragua’s love for baseball was a legacy of prior US occupation of the country. (From LeoGrande, “Our Own Backyard”)
September 18, 2024 at 10:49 AM
The reference to satellite pics of baseball diamonds reminds me of Ollie North presenting similar images from Nicaragua as evidence of Cuban infiltration, blithely unaware that Nicaragua’s love for baseball was a legacy of prior US occupation of the country. (From LeoGrande, “Our Own Backyard”)
Just saw the poster again, and noticed an important qualification on the reintroduction of an Oxford-Bristol train service — it’s a direct *Saturday* service, which is rather less useful than one that runs every day … Hopefully more frequent trains, on more days, will follow?
September 16, 2024 at 6:05 PM
Just saw the poster again, and noticed an important qualification on the reintroduction of an Oxford-Bristol train service — it’s a direct *Saturday* service, which is rather less useful than one that runs every day … Hopefully more frequent trains, on more days, will follow?
Happy 16 de septiembre to those who celebrate! 🇲🇽
September 16, 2024 at 5:22 AM
Happy 16 de septiembre to those who celebrate! 🇲🇽
Um … no, thanks?
September 12, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Um … no, thanks?
And the number of places available to applicants from places like Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and Iceland would absorb quite a large proportion of the 18-30 year old population of those countries if they were all minded to come to the UK!
(From www.gov.uk/guidance/imm...)
(From www.gov.uk/guidance/imm...)
August 28, 2024 at 6:43 PM
And the number of places available to applicants from places like Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and Iceland would absorb quite a large proportion of the 18-30 year old population of those countries if they were all minded to come to the UK!
(From www.gov.uk/guidance/imm...)
(From www.gov.uk/guidance/imm...)
In some cases, the schemes are set up in such a way that the definition of “youth” is stretched quite a bit! (As seen in this screenshot from www.gov.uk/youth-mobili..., Australians, Canadians, Kiwis, and South Koreans can take part in YMS’s up to age 35.)
August 28, 2024 at 6:37 PM
In some cases, the schemes are set up in such a way that the definition of “youth” is stretched quite a bit! (As seen in this screenshot from www.gov.uk/youth-mobili..., Australians, Canadians, Kiwis, and South Koreans can take part in YMS’s up to age 35.)
Kew Gardens being awfully coy here about how it came to pass that rubber, “although … native to Brazil,” now is grown “mostly on plantations” in SE Asia.
(Rubber seeds smuggled out of the Amazon, cultivated at Kew, and taken to the British colony of Malaya may have played a part.)
(Rubber seeds smuggled out of the Amazon, cultivated at Kew, and taken to the British colony of Malaya may have played a part.)
August 23, 2024 at 8:44 AM
Kew Gardens being awfully coy here about how it came to pass that rubber, “although … native to Brazil,” now is grown “mostly on plantations” in SE Asia.
(Rubber seeds smuggled out of the Amazon, cultivated at Kew, and taken to the British colony of Malaya may have played a part.)
(Rubber seeds smuggled out of the Amazon, cultivated at Kew, and taken to the British colony of Malaya may have played a part.)
And, as we know, some bears are smarter than the average bear …
August 20, 2024 at 7:29 AM
And, as we know, some bears are smarter than the average bear …
Mentioning as I learned about the book here: Just finished @eriklinstrum.bsky.social ‘s ‘Age of Emergency’. To say I ‘enjoyed’ a work centred on colonial violence doesn’t feel quite right, but it does a great job showing how awareness of that violence permeated UK culture & society at the time.
June 25, 2024 at 4:56 PM
Mentioning as I learned about the book here: Just finished @eriklinstrum.bsky.social ‘s ‘Age of Emergency’. To say I ‘enjoyed’ a work centred on colonial violence doesn’t feel quite right, but it does a great job showing how awareness of that violence permeated UK culture & society at the time.
Having spent a lot of time in Mexico’s Archivo General de la Nación, I was fascinated to see during a recent visit to Spain that the regional authorities in Asturias *also* had the idea the idea of turning their surplus-to-requirements turn-of-the-20th-century panopticon prison into an archive. 🗃️
April 7, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Having spent a lot of time in Mexico’s Archivo General de la Nación, I was fascinated to see during a recent visit to Spain that the regional authorities in Asturias *also* had the idea the idea of turning their surplus-to-requirements turn-of-the-20th-century panopticon prison into an archive. 🗃️