# house commons (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 2 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover house commons. Page: Feed: --- ## [Anger in the public arena (2): Harold McCusker, 1985](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/anger-in-the-public-arena-2-harold) _2026-08-26 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ In November 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed. The House of Commons debated a motion to approve it on 26-27 November; Ulster Unionist MP Harold McCusker denounced it with quiet, powerful fury ## [Sunday round-up 23 August 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-23-august-2026) _2026-08-23 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Birthdays for Sir Roy Strong, Edwyn Collins, Louis XVI, Gene Kelly and Keith Moon, and the beginnings of the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre steep France in blood once again ## [Sunday round-up 16 August 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-16-august-2026) _2026-08-16 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Birthdays for Julie Newmar, Madonna and the late T.E. Lawrence, on the anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, the Battle of the Spurs and the inaugural British Empire Games ## [They haven't gone away, you know: the House of Commons and control of the executive](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/they-havent-gone-away-you-know-the) _2026-08-15 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ The executive does not completely dominate the legislature, nor is it wholly controlled by it. There is a complex symbiotic relationship but the House of Commons could be more assertive ## [The lessons from Clacton](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/the-lessons-from-clacton) _2026-08-15 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ What can we learn from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's re-election as MP for Clacton on Thursday? ## [Anger: the most difficult emotion to exploit in public speeches](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/anger-the-most-difficult-emotion) _2026-08-11 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Oratory feeds on emotions but has to master and control them: the uninhibited nature of real anger makes it the most difficult of all to channel in a persuasive way ## [Sunday round-up 9 August 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-9-august-2026) _2026-08-09 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Birthdays for Rod Laver, James Naughtie, Philip Larkin and Whitney Houston; (only) 30 years since Frank Whittle, jet engine inventor, died; and the (Second) Battle of Adrianople ## [Sunday round-up 2 August 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-2-august-2026) _2026-08-02 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Born this day Isabel Allende, Sir Anthony Seldon, Kevin Smith and Peter O'Toole; the Government of India Act 1858 was granted Royal Assent; it is the Day of Azerbaijani Film ## [Sunday round-up 26 July 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-26-july-2026) _2026-07-26 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Birthday big hitters include John Howard, Helen Mirren, Sandra Bullock, George Bernard Shaw and Carl Jung; and the anniversary of the Erfurt Latrine Disaster ## [First field notes on the Burnham government](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/first-field-notes-on-the-burnham) _2026-07-25 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ This week, the seventh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on six years took office; those granted an audience with the King to kiss hands must wonder if the car should wait ## [Home Internet From Space (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/eGd4EAkmNoZG) _2026-07-25 · **Sponsored**_ Residential satellite internet that brings connectivity to homes beyond conventional networks ## [On waiting, digital and where the state chooses to operate - an extended version of the preface to Platformland](https://richardpope.org/2026/07/20/on-waiting-digital-and-where/) _2026-07-20 · Richard Pope_ Below is a slightly longer version of what became the preface to my book Platformland . I started writing before the book even existed, when I just needed to start writing something, and ended up writing about standing in queues as a kid. I’ve always meant to publish it somewhere, and given the coming debate about the bounds of state ownership and public infrastructure now feels like a good… ## [Sunday round-up 19 July 2026](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/sunday-round-up-19-july-2026) _2026-07-19 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ Birthday wishes to Sir Brian May, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Vitali Klitschko, Lizzie Borden and George McGovern, on the anniversary of Ted Kennedy's car crash at Chappaquiddick ## [Government doing business, now Burnham will have a go](https://theideaslab.substack.com/p/government-doing-business-now-burnham) _2026-07-19 · Eliot Wilson · The Ideas Lab_ The incoming Prime Minister has big plans for the Department of Business and Trade, but what could they mean and will they work? ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/06/23/platformlanding-with-defra-and-esynergy/) _2026-06-23 · Richard Pope_ Platformlanding with DEFRA and e-synergy today ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/06/17/as-someone-who-failed-gcse/) _2026-06-17 · Richard Pope_ As someone who failed GCSE English (and got a full grant) this is mildly triggering: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/jun/17/students-pass-gcse-english-university-loans-proposals ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/06/16/published-today-with-kinshipworks-nhs/) _2026-06-16 · Richard Pope_ Published today with @kinship.works NHS Operating Patterns - Ways to do good work together, in a decentralised system ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/27/160948/) _2026-05-27 · Richard Pope_ Elderflower lemonade ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/21/what-have-drawings-of-peas/) _2026-05-21 · Richard Pope_ What have drawings of peas got to do with prototyping digital services? www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-d… ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/14/why-its-important-to-thinking/) _2026-05-14 · Richard Pope_ Why it’s important to thinking of public sector super apps from the viewpoint of ‘the system’, not just ‘the citizen’ https://www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-doing/public-sector-super-apps-are-system-facing-products-not-just-citizen-facing-ones/ ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/13/lobster-pots-complexity-and-starting/) _2026-05-13 · Richard Pope_ Lobster pots, complexity and starting small in the right way Or the case against use-cases https://www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-doing/lobster-pots-complexity-and-starting-small-in-the-right-way/ ## [AI QA that opens fix PRs (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/pNu3hdYsbkbl) _2026-05-13 · **Sponsored**_ Run a browser QA from plain-English instructions; get GitHub issues and optional fix PRs. ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/12/i-cant-tell-isnt-was/) _2026-05-12 · Richard Pope_ I can’t tell isn’t was just a late 80s early 90s blip (or age induced nostalgia), but it seemed when I was younger questions of ‘confidence’ played out in the House of Commons, at least initially. Now they play out passively within internal party systems and are worse for it? All a bit ‘use your words’ Why doesn’t Starmer just call a confidence vote, or… ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/05/06/in-ish-at-harvard-kennedy/) _2026-05-06 · Richard Pope_ In 2018 (ish) at Harvard Kennedy School I saw a talk about cyber (my poor filing system means I can’t find the notes) that included the proposition: how you think about cyber depends if you believe vulnerabilities in software are common or sparse. I wonder if the people panicking about Mythos + open source are experiencing a rapid transition between ‘sparse’ and… ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/30/160816/) _2026-04-30 · Richard Pope_ Popped in to see Larry ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/28/given-generative-ai-is-all/) _2026-04-28 · Richard Pope_ Given generative AI is all about predicting next words, when do I get a better spell check!? (I regularly have to Google words because my dyslexia induced misspellings are so bad my computer just shrugs). ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/28/good-thoughts-from-edenttel-on/) _2026-04-28 · Richard Pope_ Good thoughts from @edent.tel on closing open-source repos because Mythos: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/04/does-mythos-mean-you-need-to-shut-down-your-open-source-repos/ I would strongly recommend reading the UK’s AI Safety Institute’s evaluation of Claude Mythos Preview’s cyber capabilities and the NCSC’s advice. Neither of them recommend closing down Open Source code. ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/23/keep-coming-back-to-this/) _2026-04-23 · Richard Pope_ Keep coming back to this video in the context of AI-based public services: \[ www.youtube.com/watch If mentalizing / epistemic trust is the key to learning some things, is it ever OK for machines to fake it, or should machines only be in a supporting role to human relationships. ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/20/the-palintir-mini-manifesto-at/) _2026-04-20 · Richard Pope_ The Palintir mini manifesto at least makes it clear that if you buy their software you are buying it to a transnational political, military and economic project. The problem is public procurement officers are not exactly best placed to make that sort of decision. Software is politics! ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/15/this-is-beginning-to-feel/) _2026-04-15 · Richard Pope_ This is beginning to feel like an inevitability: Davey says war bonds would help to speed up UK defence spending ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/15/kingsdown-kent/) _2026-04-15 · Richard Pope_ Kingsdown, Kent ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/04/13/stop-searching-for-ai-usecases/) _2026-04-13 · Richard Pope_ Stop searching for AI ‘use-cases’. Design AI into services… https://www.platformland.xyz/ways-of-doing/stop-searching-for-ai-use-cases-design-ai-into-services/ ## [AI publishing with human taste (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/nAbKhQnh7lXx) _2026-04-13 · **Sponsored**_ Convert AI research into blogs, podcasts, and newsletters with optional human review. ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/26/at-the-british-academy-for/) _2026-03-26 · Richard Pope_ At the British Academy for a day long policy lab Noted on the way in: the dedicated Champaign cork recycling box ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/24/114341/) _2026-03-24 · Richard Pope_ Positioning AI https://www.rpp.works/ways-of-doing/positioning-ai/ ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/17/103300/) _2026-03-17 · Richard Pope_ Captcha aesthetics are getting weird ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/10/more-of-this-ministers-showing/) _2026-03-10 · Richard Pope_ More of this ministers showing prototypes please https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62d1ql5w0vo ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/10/in-the-search-for-calm/) _2026-03-10 · Richard Pope_ In the search for calm things to play while kids are having breakfast, I stumbled across David Bowie doing Peter and the Wolf: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davi… It’s mostly very Jackanory, but with occasional very Bowie pronunciations of things like “the wolf ^jumped^” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David\_Bowie\_Narrates\_Prokofiev%27s\_Peter\_and\_the\_Wolf… ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/10/i-have-literally-no-idea/) _2026-03-10 · Richard Pope_ I have literally no idea if I have verified my identity with Companies House or how to check. I thought I had done it early on and felt very smug, but it matched on my GOV.UK One Login email address, which was different. Then I thought I did last month. Still getting emails saying it’s not been done. There’s a 14 day window for an additional step, which falls bang over Easter School… ## [(untitled)](https://richardpope.org/2026/03/04/the-house-of-commons-library/) _2026-03-04 · Richard Pope_ The House of Commons Library on the concept on impeachment\* Impeachment is considered obsolete, as it has been superseded by other forms of accountability, and the rules underpinning the procedure have not been adapted to modern standards of democracy or procedural fairness commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-… \* in English/UK context