Thomas Pink
@leonard33.bsky.social
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, King’s College London
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Unless someone in the Treasury reassures the markets pretty soon, there’s every chance the UK will need to raise *more* tax for less in return. Total clusterfuck in the making, this.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
November 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Unless someone in the Treasury reassures the markets pretty soon, there’s every chance the UK will need to raise *more* tax for less in return. Total clusterfuck in the making, this.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
Having a budget fall apart more than a week before it’s actually be delivered might be a new record.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
The niche moment I'm waiting for is Kemi Badenoch denouncing whichever government was in charge when Davie was appointed.
November 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The niche moment I'm waiting for is Kemi Badenoch denouncing whichever government was in charge when Davie was appointed.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
She's thinking of a poppy tax isn't she
November 9, 2025 at 12:29 PM
She's thinking of a poppy tax isn't she
Reposted by Thomas Pink
There’s nothing wrong with it as a policy, other than it just raises much, *much* less money than just raising income tax. And Labour needs to be one and done with tax rises. The way they’re doing this…won’t raise enough.
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...
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...
November 8, 2025 at 12:08 PM
There’s nothing wrong with it as a policy, other than it just raises much, *much* less money than just raising income tax. And Labour needs to be one and done with tax rises. The way they’re doing this…won’t raise enough.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Genuinely the greatest trick the aviation industry has ever pulled to convince people that “sitting on a stationary plane for longer” is something worth paying for.
November 1, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Genuinely the greatest trick the aviation industry has ever pulled to convince people that “sitting on a stationary plane for longer” is something worth paying for.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
I'd somehow missed this fascinating study. Anyway, here it is:
Research Study: Decoding Populism - Who Are Reform UK's Voters?
Who are Reform UK's Voters? A new study has identified 5 distinct groups among those thinking about voting for Reform at the next GE. Research shows these voters share feelings of frustration but hav...
www.bestforbritain.org
November 1, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I'd somehow missed this fascinating study. Anyway, here it is:
Reposted by Thomas Pink
You simply cannot successfully integrate into British society unless you can write 800 words on the role of gender in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
October 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
You simply cannot successfully integrate into British society unless you can write 800 words on the role of gender in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Do homework before PMQs. Pick some areas where Labour might be seen to be doing badly but Reform are less comfy (education, benefits, foreign policy) and highlight those instead of being Nigel's warm up act.
None of those guarantee a win, but they leave you in an OK place for something to turn up
None of those guarantee a win, but they leave you in an OK place for something to turn up
October 8, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Do homework before PMQs. Pick some areas where Labour might be seen to be doing badly but Reform are less comfy (education, benefits, foreign policy) and highlight those instead of being Nigel's warm up act.
None of those guarantee a win, but they leave you in an OK place for something to turn up
None of those guarantee a win, but they leave you in an OK place for something to turn up
Reposted by Thomas Pink
For a start starting a fight with Jenrick to kick off a leadership challenge on the subject of 'gutter racism: yes or no' and hopefully winning an extra year. Then wait for Reeves to raise taxes at the Budget, condemn, propose some mindless but plausible benefit cuts instead. Be nice to journalists.
October 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
For a start starting a fight with Jenrick to kick off a leadership challenge on the subject of 'gutter racism: yes or no' and hopefully winning an extra year. Then wait for Reeves to raise taxes at the Budget, condemn, propose some mindless but plausible benefit cuts instead. Be nice to journalists.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
I’m gonna defend Liz Truss, because I like to be blocked by two or so people every day, and say that her plans were 100 times more reasonable than these, in that she thought she would have enough time to bounce Tory MPs into backing spending cuts. Much less daft than anything Badenoch has said.
There's a touch of the Liz Truss about Kemi Badenoch. Both in the tax cut paid for by fantasy figures and also a belief there's This One Special Trick The British State Doesn't Want You To Know About! that will somehow solve everything.
Be rude to some civil servants and the UK's problems vanish!
Be rude to some civil servants and the UK's problems vanish!
October 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I’m gonna defend Liz Truss, because I like to be blocked by two or so people every day, and say that her plans were 100 times more reasonable than these, in that she thought she would have enough time to bounce Tory MPs into backing spending cuts. Much less daft than anything Badenoch has said.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
In recent decades, scholars have examined various facets of Avicenna’s #logic. But how did Avicenna himself conceptualize logic—its definition, status, and purpose? PhD student Shahab Khademi explores this question in a new paper! 👇📃 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #philsky #histphil #HPS
Avicenna on the Meaning of Logic: Revisiting Five Major Works
Avicenna's logic has gathered much interest in recent decades. However, one significant point that has hitherto been frequently neglected is what logic means to Avicenna in the first place. Conside...
www.tandfonline.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:24 PM
In recent decades, scholars have examined various facets of Avicenna’s #logic. But how did Avicenna himself conceptualize logic—its definition, status, and purpose? PhD student Shahab Khademi explores this question in a new paper! 👇📃 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #philsky #histphil #HPS
Reposted by Thomas Pink
"While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," says Kemi Badenoch.
I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related
I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related
October 8, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"While Britain was redefining what a woman is, China was building five nuclear reactors," says Kemi Badenoch.
I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related
I cannot be the only person curious about how these two things are related
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Wondering how Kemi Badenoch can stand up and complain that no one can get a GP appointment? She's taken SUPER MAGIC DEFEAT-O! thecritic.co.uk/super-magic-...
Super Magic Defeat-O! | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
Are YOU a politician struggling with the big challenges facing twenty-first century economies? Are you UNCERTAIN how to satisfy an aging population that wants to be looked after but doesn’t want to…
thecritic.co.uk
October 8, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Wondering how Kemi Badenoch can stand up and complain that no one can get a GP appointment? She's taken SUPER MAGIC DEFEAT-O! thecritic.co.uk/super-magic-...
Reposted by Thomas Pink
It’s such a weird level of non-rigour, at the point you are going to “cut the civil service, actual roles to go TBC”, why stop there? Why not just go “the stamp duty replacement (tbc) will actually raise double the money!”
"Properly costed" in the sense that the spreadsheet adds up, not that it reflects what anything actually costs.
October 8, 2025 at 5:01 PM
It’s such a weird level of non-rigour, at the point you are going to “cut the civil service, actual roles to go TBC”, why stop there? Why not just go “the stamp duty replacement (tbc) will actually raise double the money!”
Reposted by Thomas Pink
The "line to take" for Badenoch's supporters seems to be "we've changed leaders too often in the past".
So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed?
Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament?
The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else
So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed?
Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament?
The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else
October 8, 2025 at 8:13 AM
The "line to take" for Badenoch's supporters seems to be "we've changed leaders too often in the past".
So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed?
Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament?
The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else
So which of those leaders should *not* have been removed?
Liz Truss? IDS? May, after those huge defeats? Johnson, despite lying to Parliament?
The problem isn't the firing. It's everything else
Reposted by Thomas Pink
A Tory party under Jenrick might take a few of the racist votes from Reform, but they’d haemorrhage bucketloads to the Lib Dems.
So, on balance…
So, on balance…
October 7, 2025 at 11:52 AM
A Tory party under Jenrick might take a few of the racist votes from Reform, but they’d haemorrhage bucketloads to the Lib Dems.
So, on balance…
So, on balance…
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Treason never prosper, for if it prospers, none dare call it treason.
I think the historiography is changing but it used to be taken for granted that England had never been successfully invaded since 1066. London was occupied by Dutch troops for a year and half!
October 7, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Treason never prosper, for if it prospers, none dare call it treason.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
All these people really want is to pay no taxes and be treated with floor scraping deference. Everything else is just bullshit in pursuit of that goal.
Party donor Nick Candy says "I cherish the values we grew up with here in the West. But today you are more likely to find the values we grew up with in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.’
Via Sam Leith in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
Via Sam Leith in the Spectator
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
October 7, 2025 at 8:50 PM
All these people really want is to pay no taxes and be treated with floor scraping deference. Everything else is just bullshit in pursuit of that goal.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
October 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
Reposted by Thomas Pink
"The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something." Absolutely fantastic sketch by @roberthutton.co.uk. Every line is a banger:
Rob whistle | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something. Some of us remember Jenrick as a chubby-cheeked fan of David Cameron fighting…
thecritic.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something." Absolutely fantastic sketch by @roberthutton.co.uk. Every line is a banger:
Reposted by Thomas Pink
I have heard about this issue for some time. I had an undergraduate professor and a colleague (now sadly died) from Argentina, and both reported their frustration with this fact to me.
I think the value of having a lingua franca is probably worth it, but it's also good to acknowledge the loss.
I think the value of having a lingua franca is probably worth it, but it's also good to acknowledge the loss.
September 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I have heard about this issue for some time. I had an undergraduate professor and a colleague (now sadly died) from Argentina, and both reported their frustration with this fact to me.
I think the value of having a lingua franca is probably worth it, but it's also good to acknowledge the loss.
I think the value of having a lingua franca is probably worth it, but it's also good to acknowledge the loss.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
It's obviously true unless something unexpected happens, but a) the incumbent government needs to actually have *delivered for its coalition* to lead a republican front b) the leader needs to be a plausible leader of it and c) they do need to actually be able to say 'Vichy was bad'.
I hate to admit it but I suspect McSweeney is right that the 2029 election will be a ‘republican front’ vs Farage. Farage veering further right makes that easier to do. Whether McSweeney’s own advice over the past year has made this situation more likely is another question…
September 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
It's obviously true unless something unexpected happens, but a) the incumbent government needs to actually have *delivered for its coalition* to lead a republican front b) the leader needs to be a plausible leader of it and c) they do need to actually be able to say 'Vichy was bad'.
Reposted by Thomas Pink
That address from Pope Leo XIV has absolutely shredded the public/private distinction in matters of religion that has become the hallmark of polite western liberal norms. Complete and utter rejection
August 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
That address from Pope Leo XIV has absolutely shredded the public/private distinction in matters of religion that has become the hallmark of polite western liberal norms. Complete and utter rejection
Reposted by Thomas Pink
Newton and Nature does nothing in vain, pt. 4 open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
Newton and Nature does nothing in vain, pt. 4
Back in 1966 J.
open.substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Newton and Nature does nothing in vain, pt. 4 open.substack.com/pub/digressi...