James Ball
Tech, policy, politics. Pol ed @ the New European, fellow @ Demos, writer in various other places. Latest book: The Other Pandemic – How QAnon Contaminated The World
jamesrball.com
- Journalism was something of a leading indicator here, given that more than one local newspaper seems to have advertised reporter jobs on salaries *below* minimum wage (presumably because they hadn’t checked the hourly equivalent). IIRC one role required a full NCTJ plus driving licence and car.
- In Britain, the fast-rising minimum wage is catching up with the bottom rungs of white-collar work. In fact, it appears that a rising number of people who earn annual salaries & don't work in low-paid sectors are now being paid below the legal minimum... www.ft.com/content/5f69...
- Central Bradford is also just a *much* nicer place to be now than it was ten years ago. Got a good book festival now, the park’s been regenerated, the pit is gone…so why’s it a problem if 50% of people were born overseas precisely?
- 🚨 NEW: Robert Jenrick backs PM with claim UK already an ‘island of strangers’ in some places “Aggressive levels of mass migration have made us more divided... for example central Bradford - 50 per cent of people were born outside of the UK”, he said Full story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...
- There is something bordering on abusive in the way ministers today are talking about public services – Jacqui Smith on universities, and Yvette Cooper on care homes. They are blaming institutions for decisions forced on them by government, without admitting they or changing anything.
- Reposted by James BallSoon after firing the Librarian of Congress, Trump has fired the nation’s top copyright official as well. Rep. Joe Morelle says Trump acted after the copyright official “refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models.”
