Jonathan Portes

@jdportes.bsky.social

66K followers 730 following 7.7K posts

Professor of Economics and Public Policy, King's College London; Senior Fellow, UKICE. Immigration, economics, public policy. Personal views only; usual disclaimers apply. https://jonathandportes.github.io/

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Jonathan Daniel Portes is a professor of Economics and Public Policy at the School of Politics & Economics of King's College, London and a senior fellow at UK in a Changing Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

Political science 31%

Economics 28%

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 2h

??? This has been in the public domain for some time.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 3h

I think this is pretty hard to justify. The education reporters might I suppose argue that the Orr story is a politics one and hence goes to that desk. But we also have the student complaints, mentioned in the FT long read and apparently reopened this week.

Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 6h

'New analysis on UK media: British media is not delivering the news to its readers. They are delivering an agenda.

The seven days after Channel 4 filmed James Orr are a damning indictment of the British press. Orr is a Cambridge associate professor.'

via @newscord.org

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 4h

Damage control: me on Trump-Burnham meeting (translated version)

"Trump is increasingly delusional and disconnected from reality. Unfortunately, since the US political system and Constitution are in crisis, we in Europe must manage the situation as best we can."

www.adnkronos.com/internaziona...

Burnham-Trump, oggi incontro a New York: i temi sul tavolo e l'analisi

Portes (King's College) analizza il primo incontro in presenza tra i due leader a New York

www.adnkronos.com

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 4h

Not to be a borough tribalist (OK, to be both a tribalist *and* a pedant) but Camden and Hackney do not have a border. We are right here, and moreover unlike Camden and Hackney we are actually a real place..

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers

Jay Zedbee @jayzedbee.bsky.social · 4h

i genuinely think about this every time theres any mention of narnia. one of the funniest things that have ever happened

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 6h

Is it? I always thought the propaganda purpose was to reduce the salience of immigration as a political issue by arguing that (economic) migrants are"paying their way". Hard to argue that has worked for any government as a political strategy.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Ben H. Ansell, Christopher McCabe , and 1 more Jonathan Portes, Ben H. Ansell, Christopher McCabe, Rebecca Sear

Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 6h

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Christian Odendahl, Jill Rutter , and 1 more Jonathan Portes, Christian Odendahl, Jill Rutter, Steven H. Seggie

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 6h

Will keep boringly saying this (no disrespect to OP): it's not a health surcharge. It's not hypothecated to the NHS; you can't choose not to pay it and thereby eschew healthcare. You could equally call it an education or roads surcharge. It's using the NHS's sanctified status to rip off immigrants.

Emiliano Mellino @mellino.bsky.social · 7d

The UK government is making upwards of £4.9bn in profit from visa fees, citizenship fees & the immigration health surcharge. Meanwhile, people are getting into thousands of pounds of debt or going without food just to afford to these immigration fees.
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...

Government makes £5bn a year from immigration fees while applicants…

Home Office’s fees are up to 10 times the processing cost – and rising every year

www.thebureauinvestigates.com

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 6h

I would genuinely like someone at RF or IFS ( @benzaranko.bsky.social ? ) to tell me what, if anything, they take away from this chart.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Nandita Sharma, Steve Peers

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 7h

“The rise of anti-migration neofascism is more threatening than anything I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

Good piece by @pollytoynbee.bsky.social challenging Burnham to confront the rise of the far right in his conference speech next week. Features @hopenothate.org.uk

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There is a racism and cohesion crisis in Britain, and someone needs to lead us out of it. His name is Andy Burnham | Polly Toynbee

I want him to start the fightback next week against extremists who peddle hate and those who despise this country. That would be true patriotism, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 7h

Borrowing surge latest.

Chart shows the level of public sector net debt *as reported by ONS at the time*.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 8h

how much has Trump's war in the Middle East cost British home-owners in higher mortgage payments?

"British homeowners are paying an average of £840 a year more when they refinance their mortgages, as the rising borrowing costs triggered by the Iran war start to impact"

www.ft.com/content/789c...

UK homeowners take £840-a-year mortgage hit from Iran war

Rising borrowing costs triggered by conflict in Middle East start to impact consumers’ spending power

www.ft.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Starfire’s Deranged Neocon Foreign Policy Podcast @irhottakes.bsky.social · 12h

Okay, so I have a plan to get everyone on our side. First, we be absolutely as viscerally unpleasant as possible. Next, we downplay any time we get what we want, say it's the bare minimum and so forth. Finally, if anyone gives up and says we win or apologizes, we belittle them.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 20h

agree with the signal but if we reinstate the old cumbersome methods while EU countries have moved to a simple, user-friendly system then word will get out pretty quickly. Chinese international shoppers are not exactly an easy mark.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Alan Clarke, Margot C. Finn

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 21h

On the BBC News Katya Adler has just described Germany, where the far right AFD keep winning elections, as entering 'uncharted political territory'. Hmmm. Where Germany is concerned I think that territory is pretty well charted.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 21h

counterpoint: came back from Venice 2 weeks ago. Shop gave us a form. Filled it in - very simple. Went to Global Blue desk at airport. They scanned the barcode (so didn't even need the form filled in) and swiped my card. Payment a week later.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 22h

but Bicester is doing just fine?

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 22h

some of us don't have that luxury. I'd quite like to carry on being middle age for some time yet...

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 22h

@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's metric sounds appealing until you realise that she'll be old by 46, which is...sub-optimal.

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 23h

I think this line of argument entirely misses the point, as I argued here. No, the ethnonationalists don't mean Boris Johnson isn't British/English. They mean Sunak and Marcus Rashford, etc, aren't.

bsky.app/profile/jdpo...

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 5d

..this is why, incidentally, I think while it's understandable, it misses the point/is actively counterproductive to respond by referring to Boris Johnson etc (or indeed for @katherineschof8.bsky.social to refer to herself. Everyone to who this dog whistle is addressed knows it doesn't mean them!

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

brussels airport or train (I'm going on Thursday..)

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers

Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 1d

Quite remarkable for a party leader to say this of a man arrested on suspicion of assault & coercive control. Or should be...

Farage: “I am sorry for his personal difficulties that he is going through. No one’s life is ever seamless and I am quite sure he will come out of these before too long."

Helen Jenner unveiled as Reform UK’s new leader in Wales after arrest of Dan Thomas

Nigel Farage dismisses loss of previous leader as ‘bump in the road’ and says party will ‘carry on as if nothing has happened’

www.theguardian.com

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

Perfect! I had forgotten that.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

SpinningHugo @spinninghugo.bsky.social · 1d

Burnham is, observably, much better at the job of being PM than Starmer. A bit like Cameron, you feel that he himself wants to do it and thinks he is good at it.

But the policy gap is still there.

/1

Reposted by Jonathan Portes

Ian Bright @econib.bsky.social · 1d

Tom Lehrer had a nuance on this ....

Lyrics of second verse of Tom Lehrer's sng " We will all go together when we go"

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

Wrong again (figure 1). Really, do a little homework before making confident assertions on topics on which you evidently are not well-informed.

politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/unlocki...

Unlocking the Pensions Debate: The Origins and Future of the ‘Triple Lock’

The triple lock isn't perfect; but, alongside other policies, it has boosted pensioner incomes and helped make the broader UK pension system more sustainable.

politicalquarterly.org.uk

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

??? That is because the "state pension" is too low to live on so many rely on (state) pension credit and (state) housing benefit. Try "looking at the numbers"

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

There may be a moderation in tone but the claim that if Sunak/you/me(?) identify as English we are denying the "real" English their own identity and hence "playing into the hands of the ethnonationalist right" does not strike me as moderate in substance

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

As @sundersays observes most 1st gen migrants identify as British not English, as indeed do plenty of others. It's fine!

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, but as you say Braverman clearly hasn't thought this through/is incapable of so doing. Kisin presumably has?

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