Ok. My understanding of the electoral fraud situation is this.
1. Democracy volunteers put out a statement at one minute past poll close. They said this was at a level they’d not seen before
What I do think, though, is own it: you’re the ones that made a huge political debate happen, so you should be able to fill in the gaps. Don’t light the match then walk away from the firework. These are real places and communities that are being wound up.
At @promarket.bsky.social, @samuel-bagg.bsky.social and Shai Agmon argue that competition policy should pay greater attention to friction between competitors, an insight that favors the neo-Brandeisian approach over the traditional consumer welfare approach.
Democracies today face a paradox: competition feels both too intense and too weak. Polarization is rising at the same moment oligarchs strengthen their hold over the entire political system. How can both be true?
That's the question @alfredmoore.bsky.social and I ask in the intro to our volume.
The full text version of Rayner's comments on Mahmood's "earned settlement" proposals is very good indeed.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What kind of "competition" should competition policy promote? In a new post, @shaiagmon.bsky.social and I argue that friction btw competitors is key to realizing the social benefits of competition. Yet we routinely ignore it when designing competitive institutions. www.promarket.org/2026/03/18/e...
Hey #poltheory and #polisky folks, check out this new book on Democracy and Competition from @britishacademy.bsky.social and @livunipress.bsky.social, which I edited with @alfredmoore.bsky.social - www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Democracy and Competition, ed with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social is out now! Many thanks to @BritishAcademy.bsky.social, @ycpt.bsky.social, @martinoneill.bsky.social and above all our great contributors: @simonechambers.bsky.social, @shaiagmon.bsky.social, @lisamherzog.bsky.social tinyurl.com/3rc8mbx3
Democracy and Competition, edited by Alfred Moore and Samuel Bagg, sets out to reframe the role of competition in democratic theory.
@alfredmoore.bsky.social
@samuel-bagg.bsky.social
Now 20% Off:
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
"would otherwise receive immediate access to welfare and social housing" is BS.
Correct: "after 5 years working in a care home, would be eligible to apply for welfare and social housing on the same basis as the rest of us."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Deliberately misleading/disingenous.
… Emilee Chapman, Andre Bachtiger, Alex Kirshner, Natasha Piano, James N Druckman, Fabio Wolkenstein, and Mark E Warren - all wonderful contributors who made Democracy and Competition possible! tinyurl.com/3rc8mbx3
Democracy and Competition, ed with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social is out now! Many thanks to @BritishAcademy.bsky.social, @ycpt.bsky.social, @martinoneill.bsky.social and above all our great contributors: @simonechambers.bsky.social, @shaiagmon.bsky.social, @lisamherzog.bsky.social tinyurl.com/3rc8mbx3
Looks like us ‘bloc politics’ people were on to something after all ;)
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...
It's out! Delighted to have a chapter in this, along with, inter alia
@jowolff.bsky.social @alfredmoore.bsky.social @sarahafisher.bsky.social @mgerver.bsky.social @hlandemore.bsky.social @humeiraiqtidar.bsky.social @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @mirandasimon.bsky.social global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Can We Criticize Experts and Keep Taking Their Advice? My part of a series for Zocalo Public Square. www.zocalopublicsquare.org/can-we-criti...
I feel much safer this morning, knowing that all those sign-wielding Quakers and nuns are behind bars where they belong.
There were plenty of measures that would’ve made it harder for Palestine Action to damage military infrastructure without criminalising statements of support for them.
As it stands the Home Office seems to be the best recruiter/promoter for Palestine Action in the organisation’s history.
‘The country has reached boiling point’ latest
Hilarious and disturbing
Another 300 clicks here 🎁! on.ft.com/4ozyZmK Sunday at the garden party for Curtis Yarvin and the new, new right
I spent the day with Curtis Yarvin and the "dissident right" at a garden party in Surrey and wrote quite a few words about it.
My cover story for today’s FT Magazine
on.ft.com/4ooXS4t [GIFT LINK! 🎁]
"It is time to ensure that the legitimate concerns of ethnic minorities in Britain – about a concerted effort to dissolve foundational social norms against racism, and to deny our status as equal citizens – are heard too"
www.easterneye.biz/british-ethn...
These are the top replies, being financially rewarded for posting this stuff, and the explanation offered by the site’s own AI for why it’s like that.
Anyway just flicking through the Sunday newspapers reading about some minor content infractions that Ofcom might look into at the BBC/Channel 4.
Government doing no review at all of its use of twitter/x for public comms since 2023 (see last RT) is completely demented. Dismiss what we here think of the platform as partisan bias, but like, the fact is: major corps have stopped advertising there and haven't returned
I think @robertshrimsley.bsky.social is much too kind to Jeremy Hunt here. In time, Hunt will come to be reviled as second worst chancellor in modern times after Kwarteng. In 1997, faced with similar circumstances, Ken Clarke put the national interest first. Hunt salted the earth. Shame on him
Some quick thoughts on reports that the government plans to abolish Ofwat, the water company regulator.
I think bringing together Ofwat (the economic regulator) and the environmental regulator (part of the Environment Agency) probably make sense...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Just make ensure they have time, space and permission to play throughout their everyday lives. Oh, and enable them to walk and cycle for everyday journeys too.
Killer bloody point
