@webberross.bsky.social quiz idea for a future pod. How many Reading players with a royal connection can Ben name (eg names of Kings like George Puscas, etc). Shamelessly stolen from BBC Commentator View pod.

@thetilehurstend.bsky.social question for the pod. More injury worries this week with R Williams and Dorsett.

Are we just unlucky, is an issue with our playing style or something else?

What is Think Tank impact? (And what is it not?) Why no one should care about your 18 reports

Relevant to lots of policy NGOs as well…

open.substack.com/pub/toddmoss...

Great pods over Christmas - and a great start to 2026 for Reading.

Two questions:
- Who do you start as CBs when D Williams is back fit. Burns been excellent. Good selection problem to have.
- Has R Williams done enough to get a contract extension to the end of season?

Morning Call: Inside Labour’s five families The rival tribes that could shape the party’s future.

I bang on about understanding inside political parties - so this is good on the factions/families in Labour

The TL;DR:

Soft left
Soft right - the Blairite wing
“old right”
Blue Labour
Socialist Campaign Group

morningcall.substack.com/p/morning-ca...?

"campaigners make things possible, politicians make things happen”

This is huge news, which will make a big difference to the lives children across the UK.

Kudos to those in Government for taking this bold action.

We welcome this bold action by the Chancellor to scrap the two-child limit. By the end of this Parliament, 450,000 children across the country will have been lifted out of poverty. Scrapping this unjust policy is the single most powerful step to reduce child poverty in a generation.

1/3

Praise where praise is due: scrapping the two-child benefit cap is an excellent move. And the most consequential of any of the measures announced today.

How do public perceptions of government spending match with reality?

A YouGov experiment put a series of govt spending areas as head to head match-ups and asked Britons to say which they thought more was spent on

Read more here: yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

5. Trust in "The Media" is declining - although in the UK we have a less fragmented media market.

bsky.app/profile/jbur...

4. Growth among independent creators in the US (who are increasingly important for where people get news) HAS SKEWED RIGHT-LEANING

More here - www.mediamatters.org/google/right...

3. We are increasingly split between News Seekers and News Receivers

"Active consumers deliberately seek out information and build routines around news, while passive consumers encounter it incidentally—as they scroll, swipe, and stream".

1. Younger generations aren’t actively seeking out political news — IT IS COMING TO THEM

2. Social media is also disrupting the search industry – Gen Z is increasingly turning to apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube over traditional search engines like Google

Media Consumption Insights 2025: Key Trends for Communicators Streaming has surpassed traditional TV. Social media is now a primary news source for millions. And trust in mainstream media is falling.

Understanding the New Media Reality: Key Trends for Communicators in 2025

5 takeaways from this research which I think are relevant in the UK

globalstrategygroup.com/2025/04/15/u...

Digital First, People Focused: How Mamdani Reframed Political Engagement — 5654 & Company Ultimately there are many reasons why Mamdani’s campaign was successful: message discipline, a strong ground game and a clear contrast to his opponents, but one of the most successful elements of his ...

Enjoyed these 5 quick lessons from Mamdani’s campaign from 5654 & Company

- Be present in the right spaces
- Be proactive with your narrative
- Build community, don’t just broadcast messages
- Use cultural and format fluency
- Link message to action

www.5654.co.uk/our-perspect...

Excited that at @savechildrenuk.bsky.social we've opened our Young People Climate Fund

It's there to fund youth-led and climate-focused activities in London, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

Grants from £1k to £3k - deadline 30/11

More at - www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-...

Spotted these @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social campaign posters on a recent visit to Birmingham.

Love the bright and bold design. Stood out at a busy junction.

#ArtOfActvisim

It's not just us that wants you to scrap the two-child limit to benefits Rachel Reeves, over 40 economists, academics & policy experts back us too.

Removing this cruel policy at the Autumn Budget in full doesn't only make moral sense, it makes economic sense.

Read our open letter: bit.ly/4hBHpqs

Ahead of Budget, where do voters stand on tax and the dilemmas facing government?

Big new @persuasionuk.bsky.social report out today on this.

TL;DR as risky as breaching the manifesto is for Lab - failing on public services, cost of living and child poverty is *far riskier* for Lab.

🧵

@thetilehurstend.bsky.social we currently have 8 first team players out injured (Pereira, Garcia, Fraser, Kyerewaa, Elliot, Camara, Marriott, perhaps Rushesha) is that just bad luck or a sign of something else when it comes to conditioning/rehab?

Image of a Statement from Lucy Powell taken l from https://lcid.org.uk/deputyleadership-election-2025/

Lucy Powell’s statement during Deputy Leadership election to @labourcid.bsky.social included a commitment to push the government for a timetable for a return to 0.7% ODA.

lcid.org.uk/deputyleader...

“Our analysis has found that major government policy announcements fade from public attention after 24 hours, raising questions over how effectively Whitehall communicates beyond Westminster”

Fascinating research from New Britain Project ->> www.newbritain.org.uk/cananybodyhe...

Good performance against Cardiff. Let’s hope the tactical changes aren’t just a one-off. Tuesday night is an important match. Play again like Saturday and hopefully we get a win.

My question. What does Ben Elliot need to do to get on the pitch.

Look forward to the pod.

Text which reads: While Republicans are scripting, recording, and posting, Democrats are stuck in an approvals email chain waiting for a fifth sign-off. By the time our content goes live, the moment has passed. They’ve ripped countless long and short-form videos, shaping the narrative, and we’re playing catch up. And when our content finally goes live, it’s often a recycled TV ad, stump speech, or one-off explainer — content designed for the Obama-era, not the Trump-era algorithm.

Replace Republican for Radical Right, and NGO/Charities for Democrats - the same is true..

Time for us to change our approach - www.fwiw.news/p/democrats-...

WhatsApp message from June 2025 saying: Agreed - I have a whole ‘vibes’ theory of what makes an issue politically salient that I’ve been kicking around in my mind that the individual polling often misses that.

Just saying. Been talking about the ‘politics of vibes’ before it was cool…

Britons believe the UK is seen by the rest of the world as ‘weak’ and ‘soft touch’ Just one in four Brits think the UK is viewed positively on the world stage, with most wanting their country to play a large role in international affairs, exclusive poll shows

Just one in four Brits think the UK is viewed positively on the world stage, with most wanting their country to play a large role in international affairs

New @moreincommonuk.bsky.social polling for @savechildrenuk.bsky.social out today >

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Image of a billboard in Liverpool which says ‘wasn’t the point of winning to lift kids out of poverty’

Our message to everyone arriving for Labour Party Conference - it’s time to scrap the two child limit.

Pro-leadership MP groups, ministers and PPS' back Phillipson, analysis reveals - LabourList Bridget Phillipson's bid to become the next deputy leader of the Labour Party has received support from the majority of ministers and parliamentary private secretaries – and many MPs in pro-leadership...

and this is excellent on where different Labour 'factions'/'tribes' ended up in the nominations - labourlist.org/2025/09/labo...

Labour Deputy Leadership MP Nominations

Super useful spreadsheet for UK political nerds like me..

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Text which reads: The first thing I learned in polling is that there is a silent majority out there who are often very different from the noisy people that you hear from. Newspaper headlines do not represent the public view. My email inbox does not represent the public’s views. Planning consultations, which mostly hear from people who are opposed to projects, do not represent the views of the public who often appreciate, for example, the importance of building new homes or energy infrastructure. The second thing I learned is not to sweat the small stuff. Ultimately, there may be an issue here that seems like it's really big, it seems like it's the end of the world, it seems like it's the only thing everyone ever cares about. But most voters are getting on with their lives, trying to look after their families and do their day job. They're not getting obsessed with what we're getting obsessed with.

"But most voters are getting on with their lives, trying to look after their families and do their day job. They're not getting obsessed with what we're getting obsessed with"

Useful reminder from @chriscurtis94.bsky.social in latest Policy Unstuck > policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk/p/i-m-not-go...