Michael Higham
@michaelhigham11.bsky.social
European Politics PhD candidate at King's College London. Researching political myths and legitimacy in the EU.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/michael-higham
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/michael-higham
Reposted by Michael Higham
Good, non-alarmist piece by Georgina Mcnamara about rising emigration from the UK.
www.ft.com/content/744e...
www.ft.com/content/744e...
Why more young workers are leaving the UK behind
The gap between Britons leaving and returning has grown every year since 2022 — but claims of a ‘brain drain’ overstate the problem
www.ft.com
August 23, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Good, non-alarmist piece by Georgina Mcnamara about rising emigration from the UK.
www.ft.com/content/744e...
www.ft.com/content/744e...
Reposted by Michael Higham
My views on the manufactured Ceuta migration crisis www.cnn.com/2026/08/04/t...
Migrant crisis in Spain was ‘a manufactured political crisis,’ says analyst | CNN
Bianna Golodryga speaks with Nathalie Tocci a former adviser to tje EU Foreign Policy Chief, about the recent influx of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta las...
www.cnn.com
August 4, 2026 at 9:16 PM
My views on the manufactured Ceuta migration crisis www.cnn.com/2026/08/04/t...
Reposted by Michael Higham
Let it be clear: you are wanted here.
May 17, 2026 at 6:20 AM
Let it be clear: you are wanted here.
Reposted by Michael Higham
I'll go nation by nation now. In England, why did people not vote Labour? Interesting split here where non-Labour voters overall cite competence/cost of living/migration BUT Labour 2024 defectors talk about values - Lab as 'Tory lite', uncertainty over what they stand for. (sorry for small graph)
May 14, 2026 at 8:17 AM
I'll go nation by nation now. In England, why did people not vote Labour? Interesting split here where non-Labour voters overall cite competence/cost of living/migration BUT Labour 2024 defectors talk about values - Lab as 'Tory lite', uncertainty over what they stand for. (sorry for small graph)
Reposted by Michael Higham
Britain "at the heart of Europe", 2026 edition:
May 11, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Britain "at the heart of Europe", 2026 edition:
This is truly important work by @hopenothate.org.uk.
Reform UK claimed to have the “best vetting in the country”.
Their candidates told a different story.
Here are some with records of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, conspiracy theories and links to far-right groups.
They are now in office and must be held to account. 🧵
Their candidates told a different story.
Here are some with records of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, conspiracy theories and links to far-right groups.
They are now in office and must be held to account. 🧵
May 11, 2026 at 6:48 PM
This is truly important work by @hopenothate.org.uk.
Reposted by Michael Higham
Exclusive: Sadiq Khan calls for “very talented” Andy Burnham to be allowed to return as an MP and says the UK should rejoin the EU without a second referendum. www.arguably.uk/p/sadiq-khan...
Sadiq Khan on how to rejoin the EU
The mayor on why Andy Burnham should return and why we don’t need a second referendum
www.arguably.uk
May 11, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Exclusive: Sadiq Khan calls for “very talented” Andy Burnham to be allowed to return as an MP and says the UK should rejoin the EU without a second referendum. www.arguably.uk/p/sadiq-khan...
Reposted by Michael Higham
On 7 May 2026, Britain ran a PR experiment:
Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system
Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system
Same day, same political context, different outcomes.
Which version of PR would be better for Westminster?
🧵
Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system
Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system
Same day, same political context, different outcomes.
Which version of PR would be better for Westminster?
🧵
May 10, 2026 at 9:08 AM
On 7 May 2026, Britain ran a PR experiment:
Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system
Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system
Same day, same political context, different outcomes.
Which version of PR would be better for Westminster?
🧵
Scottish Parliament: a Mixed-Member Proportional system
Welsh Senedd: a (new) Low-Magnitude Party List system
Same day, same political context, different outcomes.
Which version of PR would be better for Westminster?
🧵
Reposted by Michael Higham
Happy Europe Day! 🇪🇺❤️
Unity. Solidarity. Cooperation.
Let’s celebrate what Europe has achieved.
Looking back to 9 May 1950, when Europe turned a corner, shaping the EU we know today.
Unity. Solidarity. Cooperation.
Let’s celebrate what Europe has achieved.
Looking back to 9 May 1950, when Europe turned a corner, shaping the EU we know today.
May 9, 2026 at 6:45 AM
Happy Europe Day! 🇪🇺❤️
Unity. Solidarity. Cooperation.
Let’s celebrate what Europe has achieved.
Looking back to 9 May 1950, when Europe turned a corner, shaping the EU we know today.
Unity. Solidarity. Cooperation.
Let’s celebrate what Europe has achieved.
Looking back to 9 May 1950, when Europe turned a corner, shaping the EU we know today.
Reposted by Michael Higham
Labour has done a great deal of damage to itself and the country by making “win over a caricature of Reform voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” its only governing priority. Time to make “win over a caricature of Green voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” the aim instead.
May 8, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Labour has done a great deal of damage to itself and the country by making “win over a caricature of Reform voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” its only governing priority. Time to make “win over a caricature of Green voters” and “panicked stakeholder management” the aim instead.
Reposted by Michael Higham
From the outside, there are indeed funny aspects to Brexit. The fact that migration went heaps up is certainly the funniest bit.
May 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM
From the outside, there are indeed funny aspects to Brexit. The fact that migration went heaps up is certainly the funniest bit.
Reposted by Michael Higham
In a recent interview, French political analyst Nicolas Tenzer explains why many political leaders avoid addressing Russia’s crimes despite overwhelming evidence. Here’s what he said 👇
April 30, 2026 at 11:49 AM
In a recent interview, French political analyst Nicolas Tenzer explains why many political leaders avoid addressing Russia’s crimes despite overwhelming evidence. Here’s what he said 👇
Reposted by Michael Higham
Europeans have to step up and defend their own interests because the U.S., China and Russia are now all “dead against” them, French President Emmanuel Macron warned today.
Europeans must recognize US, China and Russia are ‘dead against’ us, says Macron
French president also said he expected tensions with the U.S. to outlast Trump
www.politico.eu
April 24, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Europeans have to step up and defend their own interests because the U.S., China and Russia are now all “dead against” them, French President Emmanuel Macron warned today.
Reposted by Michael Higham
The key question is why? Why is the EU a target for Trump and the US? The answer is neo-royalism. The EU is a rules based system that puts constraints on personalist leaders. This is not simply a beef or spat. It is a competition between orders.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
March 13, 2026 at 11:29 AM
The key question is why? Why is the EU a target for Trump and the US? The answer is neo-royalism. The EU is a rules based system that puts constraints on personalist leaders. This is not simply a beef or spat. It is a competition between orders.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Michael Higham
Exceptionally grim @financialtimes.com essay by Keir Giles of @chathamhouse.bsky.social: archive.ph/287LE
February 15, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Exceptionally grim @financialtimes.com essay by Keir Giles of @chathamhouse.bsky.social: archive.ph/287LE
Reposted by Michael Higham
Perhaps a good time to bring up again our proposal with @dimitrispieker.bsky.social and Ulrich Karpenstein on how to suspend Hungary’s voting rights based on a breach of solidarity in CFSP: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...
A Matter of Solidarity: A New Approach to Revive Article 7 TEU Against Hungary
Viktor Orbán increasingly undermines the EU’s collective interests. The Hungarian government systematically uses its veto powers to block Ukrainian military aid and accession negotiations and to dilu...
www.delorscentre.eu
February 20, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Perhaps a good time to bring up again our proposal with @dimitrispieker.bsky.social and Ulrich Karpenstein on how to suspend Hungary’s voting rights based on a breach of solidarity in CFSP: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...
Reposted by Michael Higham
This is what electoral interference in European elections looks like - per the USG NSS strategy last year
February 16, 2026 at 12:47 PM
This is what electoral interference in European elections looks like - per the USG NSS strategy last year
Reposted by Michael Higham
I never really sign stuff. But this was different. It's not about trying to facilitate or block a particular party's route to power. It's about an electoral system that's unsuited to the political realities we face today and risks giving us government after government with no convincing mandate.
Over 50 Academics Warn That Voting System Is Not Fit For Multi-Party Politics
Dozens of academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an 'unprecedented' s...
www.politicshome.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:25 AM
I never really sign stuff. But this was different. It's not about trying to facilitate or block a particular party's route to power. It's about an electoral system that's unsuited to the political realities we face today and risks giving us government after government with no convincing mandate.
Reposted by Michael Higham
Lack of a common foe enfeebled Europe — but not any more, says Simon Kuper ft.trib.al/DSHzkRZ
February 7, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Lack of a common foe enfeebled Europe — but not any more, says Simon Kuper ft.trib.al/DSHzkRZ
Reposted by Michael Higham
On Brexit, are there “glimmers of hope that the UK may be preparing to turn the page of this costly national psychodrama” asks Martin Leng:
big-europe.eu/publications...
big-europe.eu/publications...
Brexit Britain has one viable option left: Europe
Almost ten years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the Brexiteers’ pilgrimage to ‘sunlit uplands’ has instead become a national Via Dolorosa – a painful procession of...
big-europe.eu
February 6, 2026 at 9:27 PM
On Brexit, are there “glimmers of hope that the UK may be preparing to turn the page of this costly national psychodrama” asks Martin Leng:
big-europe.eu/publications...
big-europe.eu/publications...
Reposted by Michael Higham
One of the most depressing things about Carney’s brilliant speech is the certain knowledge that neither Keir Starmer nor any other senior British politician of any party could have given anything like it - even if they understood the arguments.
“Principled and pragmatic: Canada’s path” Prime Minister Carney addresses the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
Thank you, Larry.It’s a pleasure – and a duty – to be with you at this turning point for Canada and for the world.Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story, and th...
www.pm.gc.ca
January 21, 2026 at 10:02 AM
One of the most depressing things about Carney’s brilliant speech is the certain knowledge that neither Keir Starmer nor any other senior British politician of any party could have given anything like it - even if they understood the arguments.
Reposted by Michael Higham
European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela
Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)
Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)
January 3, 2026 at 7:43 PM
European weakness on full display by these horribly contorted responses from Merz, Macron and Starmer - neither condoning nor condemning US actions in Venezuela
Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)
Such weakness only risks making the Europeans more vulnerable (ie Greenland)
Reposted by Michael Higham
Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13
December 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13
Reposted by Michael Higham
If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them?
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Longest Suicide Note in American History
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy targets liberal democracy itself.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:59 PM
If we can't even identify our enemies then how can we fight them?
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump's National Security Strategy is the longest suicide note in American history
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...