Philip Lewis
Head of Global Strategy, Policy & Engagement at The British Academy. Previously at the European Parliament and the UK House of Lords.
- Reposted by Philip Lewis2) it also forgets that it is past Government policy that strongly encouraged universities to go down this road of building the business model around international students
- Reposted by Philip Lewis‘Lady Smith also accused universities of neglecting their central purpose of providing higher education to young people in Britain amid concerns that too many had become hooked on foreign money.’ Betrays a lack of understanding that 1) international students cross subsidise domestic students and…
- Reposted by Philip Lewis‘The Government is expected to urge universities to shake up their business models to make them less reliant on foreign students’ OK, so what is the business model you’ve got in mind? Are you planning to raise tuition fees? Plus you know research is not fully funded and is cross subsidised?
- Reposted by Philip LewisEven if that is true this piece still suggests they are nowhere near grasping the threats to HE sustainability, and consequently to UK research.
- Reposted by Philip LewisDSIT is now alive to the threat to research, but the structures make it much harder to respond. And the lack of data and strategy means individual decisions by universities to cut provision could add up to collectively stupid outcomes. Eg who will ensure we still have Russian language teaching?
- Reposted by Philip LewisI have always argued that splitting the policy portfolios of HE and research (they used to sit together but now split to DfE/DSIT) was a big mistake. I remember asking a DSIT official 18 months ago what the crisis of HE funding meant to them. Answer was it was DfE’s problem not theirs…
- Reposted by Philip Lewis‘Baroness Smith, the universities minister, said many institutions were failing to rein in spending despite demanding financial support from the government.’ Which institutions are these? We’ve seen absolute carnage in redundancies across the sector, so I’m curious which she is thinking of
- Reposted by Philip LewisAs most unis are already in deficit I'm not sure how they're going to pay a levy of any meaningful size.
- Reposted by Philip LewisOn universities the white paper only reduces the graduate visa from two years to 18 months (which is a win for the DfE). The bigger thing universities will be worrying about is this little timebomb.
- Reposted by Philip Lewis'The funding from the British Academy was pivotal in unifying our cross-border consortium' We are offering £10k grants to pump prime applications to Horizon Europe. They've been hugely successful so far and we'll be opening the next call later this month www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/pivotal...
- Reposted by Philip LewisWith @raeng.org.uk @royalsociety.org @acmedsci.bsky.social and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, the Horizon Europe Pump Priming Collaboration grant has helped forge successful futures for UK researchers. Read about its success and the next funding call: buff.ly/SYSu7Xe
- Reposted by Philip LewisWhat Labour should be doing is creating a new narrative about immigration - about welcoming people who make a contribution but reducing the numbers who don't. Pretending to be super tough pisses off liberals and won't be believed by Reform voters.
- Reposted by Philip LewisThis has been known for literally decades now - since at least the Dilnot review was commissioned. And yet nothing meaningful has been done. And there is no sign it will soon either, with this govt kicking it all into the long grass with another pointless “review”.
- Reposted by Philip LewisIt's hard to overstate the extent to which high government debt can bend politics out of shape. The reform crisis in the 1830s, Chartism in the 1840s, the General Strike in the 1920s, austerity and rationing after 1945 - all were linked to the politics of public debt.
- Reposted by Philip LewisGoverning is harder when debt interest has jumped as a share of GDP and tax revenue. Debt interest payments are now about twice as high as in the decade before the pandemic.
- Reposted by Philip Lewis"These $25,000 grants are for activities to address immediate needs following grant cancellations, including completing a wave of data collection, analyzing already collected data or writing, thoughtful project closure with community partners, or preparing grant proposals to continue the research."
- Reposted by Philip LewisAs we enter a period of major global instability- what The Economist termed ‘the Age of Chaos’ we need new thinking. So I’m delighted to announce this major new programme on Global Disorder, in partnership with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/british...
- Reposted by Philip LewisCarnegie & @britishacademy.bsky.social are launching a partnership! The Global (Dis)Order international policy program will foster innovative thinking about the past, present, and future of the global order – and feature a leadership team including Carnegie’s Stewart Patrick:
- Delighted to be announcing this partnership with @carnegieendowment.org today on a new international policy programme on Global (Dis)Order. Looking forward to taking forward all our activities together! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/british...
- The British Academy and the @carnegieendowment.org have announced an ambitious, multi-year partnership to examine the fragmenting international system and competing power aspirations. Find out more: buff.ly/r00mbuW
- Reposted by Philip LewisBad news for the American historical profession in this new data from @rbtownsend.bsky.social - appears that history departments are only replacing a little over 1/2 of faculty who retire or leave www.amacad.org/sites/defaul... 🗃️
- Reposted by Philip LewisI am not an economist, but as a secdef person it definitely struck me that as there already so much war/conflict relevant stuff we no longer produce, shutting down steel production completely is not a great idea… edconway.substack.com/p/the-strang...
- Reposted by Philip Lewis"The EU should thus move to fund the entire cost of its planned rearmament with EU debt, similarly to NGEU." @smerler.bsky.social on the global role of the euro in light of American chaos. www.bruegel.org/first-glance...
- Reposted by Philip LewisNew story from @dangaristo.bsky.social on the NSF grad fellowship cuts: A key point: “GRFPs are one of the most cost-effective ways for NSF to give out money,” Evans says, because the outcome is a trained, promising young scientist and it’s relatively inexpensive.
- Reposted by Philip LewisTrump's NEH has, it seems, just cancelled a bunch of fellowship programs with deadlines in the next couple of weeks. A brief thread: 1/ Awards for Faculty at Tribal Colleges and Universities has been cancelled for FY 2026 www.neh.gov/grants/resea...
- Reposted by Philip LewisSome interesting discussion around here is making me think I (and others) need to hurry our thinking in what Trump's tariffs mean for the UK and Europe. I suppose I have 3 scenarios - mid-case a 0.5%ish GDP hit. Better, Trump partial retreat. Worse, global contagion.
- Reposted by Philip LewisThe reason a lot of very poor countries have higher tariffs is in part because they lack the state capacity to collect other taxes, or the affluent citizens to pay them. It's easier logistically to collect revenue at a few border crossings than from every business or employee in the country.
- Reposted by Philip Lewis"globalisation has come to an end" is an insane take from anyone not trying to pander to the US delusion that they can singlehandedly stop *everyone else* from also trading. Case in point, you don't hear Nintendo saying they're not launching the Switch 2 *anywhere*!
- Reposted by Philip LewisBad news (h/t @emmafarge.bsky.social): The US is suspending its WTO contributions. After the EU member states (together 31.1 %) it was the second largest contributor (11.4%). China contributes 11.2, U.K. 3.7%. www.reuters.com/world/us-sus...
- Reposted by Philip LewisI think it’s time I read this! (I’ll do my best @explaintrade.com)
- Reposted by Philip LewisFrance's finance minister says he "won't cut spending nor raise taxes" if deficit widens due to the trade war. Very instructive for two reasons: First, deficits don't matter under the new rules, only compliance with the expenditure path - and that one is not sensitive to revenue shortfalls. 1/3
- Reposted by Philip LewisWhat ethical responsibilities do we bear when we write about war? This is one of the questions we’re posing in our June colloquium on early modern war narratives. CFP here and the deadline is 11th April! Please share widely and consider submitting an abstract! kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/lamen...
- Reposted by Philip LewisThere seem to me to be at least two logical ways of retaliating against the Trump tariffs. The first is the Chinese method which has the great advantage of complete transparency and understandability. It is also self-evident what any subsequent negotiations would involve.
- Reposted by Philip LewisRead the President of the British Academy, Professor Julia Black's full speech in defence of the humanities and social sciences, and freedom of academic enquiry here: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/julia-b...
- Reposted by Philip LewisThe standout madness in the general madness are the enormous tariffs on South East Asia which, if these stick, is going to magnify China's sphere of influence. Geopolitical lunacy.
- Reposted by Philip LewisOK so the baseline is you get at least a 10% tariff no matter what and then it's higher according to his bogus reciprocity. So it's a sort of hybrid between across-the-board and fake reciprocal.
- Reposted by Philip LewisThe economist's answer is don't retaliate, but this is really a question of strategy: do you have the power to hurt Trump politically? (Btw, that explains why the EU gets a lower tariff than, for example, Vietnam, despite its trade surplus being far larger in dollar terms.)
- Reposted by Philip LewisJust arrived from Berlin to an empty Dulles airport in DC. Assumed because Heathrow outage. “No,” says my WashFlyer cabbie, the past month has been super slow. “Fewer tourists, fewer business people. This is not normal, believe me.” Says he’s looking for a new job because he needs to pay his bills.
- Reposted by Philip LewisSCOOP: Canada is in advanced talks to participate in the new EU military industry project, highlighting how traditional US allies are teaming up to Trump-proof their military production. The budding deal would see Canada get EU contracts to build in Canadian factories.
- Reposted by Philip LewisNew post just out Ten books to help understand the world we're now in. Five recommendations on the US/Trump/Musk and five on Europe and the rest of the world. (This one is free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
- Reposted by Philip LewisSouth Sudan is slipping toward renewed conflict & political upheaval. Risks merging with war in Sudan. African heads of state with influence, esp Kenya, Ethiopia & South Africa should step in & calm alarming situation before hostilities escalate. www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-...
- Reposted by Philip LewisAn interesting discussion here, raising the question - out of the UK, France and Germany, which can more easily correct the mistakes of the past? - the UK is in a tight fiscal spot, partly because of Brexit and partly failed energy policies. Has little technological independence from the US
- Reposted by Philip LewisA single chain of political command will be an issue for any European military operations, not only nuclear deterrence. No dominant political-military equivalent like US leadership at NATO before Who will be the Deutschmarks of European defence? Minimum is France, Germany, UK working well together
- Reposted by Philip LewisI cannot say much about the technical discussions on nuclear deterrents. But from a European integration perspective, it puts a laser focus on decision-making problems. A nuclear deterrent can only work if there is a single decision-maker who can decide quickly and without committee or veto.
- There clearly is a need for a European nuclear umbrella independent of the US given panicked discussions in the U.K., Poland, Germany, France. The choice is as always: a national approach risking proliferation. Or working together. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
- Reposted by Philip LewisThere clearly is a need for a European nuclear umbrella independent of the US given panicked discussions in the U.K., Poland, Germany, France. The choice is as always: a national approach risking proliferation. Or working together. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
- Reposted by Philip LewisAccording to this @zdfde.bsky.social Politbarometer poll, 76% of Germans are in favour of more defence spending with new debt. This includes 90% of CDU voters, 52% of Die Linke voters and even 70% of FDP voters. A fiscal public opinion revolution.
- Reposted by Philip LewisThe British Academy hosted the First Conference on Equitable Partnerships and the Call to Action from participants identifies principles and actions for further steps for all stakeholders. Find out more:
- Reposted by Philip LewisIf you are thinking about global (dis)order this morning then do think about sending @britishacademy.bsky.social a short abstract with CV of your idea for a discussion paper by 14 April www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/internationa...
- Reposted by Philip LewisHow do we respond to these times of global disorder? We are offering £2,500 for discussion papers of around 4,000 words on this topical theme. Deadline for proposals: 14th April. Please pass on to interested networks www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/internationa...
- Reposted by Philip LewisNot only was the latest funding round cancelled but some research projects that were already approved are being stopped. I'm quoted in this piece on what Minerva meant to us as early stage assistant professors and how it was a big break for many of us.
- Reposted by Philip LewisNEW: The Minerva Research Initiative, established by the Pentagon to fund social science relevant to national security, is being gutted. Dozens of researchers studying threats from extremist groups, misinformation or climate change have received notices that their grants are being terminated. 🧪
- Reposted by Philip LewisMy response to yesterday's shambles in the Oval Office, the latest stage in Trump's soap opera. Relations between Trump & Zelensky might be restored but peace deal will be elusive. The US is becoming a very different power. (£/free trial). Will update as necessary. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?
