Simon Usherwood
Researcher of UK-EU relations, euroscepticism and learning & teaching. Open University and formerly UK in a Changing Europe. Renowned for my bubbly personality, I imagine.
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- The only way Labour can win the next election is by governing well. That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum. The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?” Not “do they currently poll well?” Or “can they handle a media round?”
- yup
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- OK this makes me extremely angry. Has everyone forgotten the massive profiteering from thousands of avoidable pandemic deaths?? The unconstitutional suspension of parliament to force through an act of nationalist destruction that cost our children their future??
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- Cartoon on Washington Post‘s mass layoffs
- 'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3
- Best not to think too hard about what the rise of AI tools will ultimately mean for academia, because it is too depressing. We must change the ways in which we measure academic success, which must be more in terms of quality and originality, and less in terms of sheer quantity of academic outputs.
- Just added “nape” to my list, originally a #Top10, of Words Used Only With One Other Word
- was looking up bars in Mayfair and I mean that's not specifically what I had in mind, but with such good reviews
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- I can't help thinking Mandelson was appointed *because* he was The Prince of Darkness - an alleged master of the dark arts, which, back then, was arguably going to be needed in spades in the Court of King Trump.
- Greenland effect on Eurobarometer? Asked if they would feel more worried if their country were not an EU member, Danes tops the list (76%). Views of the US are bleak too: 91% of Danish respondents say things are going wrong there, versus just 4% who think they’re going right
- It's almost as if making key political and cultural institutions dependent on the erratic largesse of a handful of oligarchs means that democracy dies in darkness
- EU member states have found the agreement on the Ukraine loan facility, of which €60bn will be earmarked for defence. Outside of important support for Ukraine, this will also have an EU-UK dimension, as this money should be spent on weapons from the EU, EEA or Ukraine.
- The EU continues to act decisively in support of Ukraine. The Council agreed its position on the legal framework to provide €90 billion in financial support to Ukraine. The loan aims to support Ukraine's general budget as well as its defence needs. More: www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...
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View full threadOriginally the UK would share the cost by also using our part of frozen assets. Since that idea was put aside, I haven't seen anything else on how the UK could contribute, so joining in with this loan makes sense
- It would at least address the argument of then also the UK tax payer covering part of the costs. On balance, it looks sensible to me, if (unfortunately still an if) that fair and reasonable contribution is indeed fair and reasonable.
- Here's two of the three legal texts agreed today re EU financial support for Ukraine - still subject to negotiation with or consent of the European Parliament - 1 data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document... 2 data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...
- Full story: We have a deal on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine, funded through joint debt.
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- House of Lords
- BREAKING: Peter Mandelson expresses remorse and vows to atone for past lies, by walking the Salt Path.
- When people talk about the idea that some universities must go under, there’s a certain tendency to behave as if these smaller local campuses are negligible- regrettable casualties perhaps but not ‘real’ universities. This report does a great job of illustrating why that’s wrong.
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- Just a quick note to @greenparty.org.uk and @greenpartyhan.bsky.social - I was not consulted on being quoted on your leaflets and I have not endorsed your campaign (or any campaign in this seat). I think this note, like the bar chart next to it, is misleading and out of context.
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- 🚨NEW EVENT🚨 📈UK-EU regulatory divergence has increased in the financial services sector, despite aligmnent in other areas 🇬🇧🇪🇺 To make sense of where the sector fits into the UK-EU relationship, we've assembled a team of UK and EU experts 📆Tue 24 Feb, 1pm GMT 💻Online ukandeu.ac.uk/events/ukice...
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- Update: Found it!
- Picked a truly excellent moment to lose, and thus need to replace, my wedding ring. www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/s...
- So let's get this straight. You "lost" your ring when metals prices were at a historic high and "found" it again after they had plunged. Sell high, buy low. There's no shame in shorting your wedding ring, Sam. Put the profits in Junior ISAs for the kids and tell them the story when they've grown up.
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- New Swingometer! With nominations now closed, and a few surprises in candidate selection, here's my first update on the Gorton & Denton by election. Also featuring a polling spat, dodgy bar charts, and Jason Momoa swingometer.substack.com/p/gorton-and...
