Piali Das Gupta

Friendship is magic. Lessons for No10 from the My Little Ponyverse

What can No 10 learn from My Little Pony?

A lot, it turns out - you need Applejacks, Raritys, Fluttershys, Rainbow Dashes & Twilight Sparkles as well as Pinkie Pies...

Great blog by @pollymackenzie.bsky.social on @futuregovforum.bsky.social substack:

futuregovforum.substack.com/p/friendship...

When exactly did the concept of "deportation" become one to throw around casually? Not sure if it would be worse for it to be performative cruelty or genuine policy. Is this *really* the kind of country the UK wants to be?

Human history set to be rewritten after a groundbreaking finding at a Kenyan archaeological excavation Small stones, long walks, and a hint of early foresight. New data from a Kenyan site indicates that our ancestors hauled specific stones across the

Blows my mind how much we're learning about our earliest history. www.fossewaytreeservices.co.uk/10-11-2025/1...

This Inca Building—the Only Surviving Structure of Its Kind—Might Have Been Designed to Amplify Sound and Music Researchers will use 3D modeling to assess what the "carpa uasi" in Huaytará, Peru, originally looked like and how sound traveled through it

Everything we learn about the Inca impresses me more and more. And I find myself fuming (futilely) about the records and knowledge Spanish colonisers destroyed and suppressed. share.google/mJD7Hzc9dn5Z...

Ok @torontobluejays.bsky.social I'm thrilled you've got 2 shots to win the World Series but please get it done tonight. I could really use an unbroken night's sleep soon.

a graphic showing the pantone numbers for the two core colors of the toronto blue jays. they are skydome blue (pantone 293) and Stieb Navy (pantone 282)

a hat and canvas tote with the pantone number for Dodger Blue (294 C)

I regret to inform everyone that my pedantic brain couldn’t let me live until I knew whether or not dodger blue and blue jays blue are the same blue. They are ONE PANTONE NUMBER APART.

#NosAmours. 😭

The $500m slugger who is taking Canada to the World Series For the first time in 32 years, the Toronto Blue Jays are competing in the World Series, and they have Vladimir Guerrero Jr to thank.

The thin thread to my beloved Expos via Vladimir Guerrero Jr feels unbelievably precious. Let's go @torontobluejays.bsky.social! #NosAmours www.bbc.com/news/article...

92 WS, GM 6, TOR@ATL: Blue Jays win the World Series YouTube video by MLB

My body is in London, sure, but my spirit is in Toronto. Conjuring up 1992 vibes...let's go @torontobluejays.bsky.social! youtu.be/U9pCrFxwjeo?...

When Kawhi Leonard Hit "The Shot" 🏀 YouTube video by SPORTSNET

With Toronto very much on my mind right now, I'm assuaging the loneliness of being an ex-pat at a time like this by plunging down a YouTube vortex. youtube.com/shorts/LYlKl...

The George Springer Home Run That Sent The Blue Jays To The World Series 💣 YouTube video by SPORTSNET

Not gonna lie - I wept with joy. Go @torontobluejays.bsky.social go!
youtube.com/shorts/g5zXI...

London Councils Face Losing Half Their Share Of Children's Services Funding Some of London’s poorest areas could see their share of funding for children’s services halved under Labour’s plans to reform local government gran...

Scoop from @cjayanetti.bsky.social - Some of London’s poorest areas could see their share of funding for children’s services halved in under local govt grant reform plans www.politicshome.com/news/article...

English councils’ temporary accommodation bill rises to £2.8bn Councils in England spent a record £2.8bn on temporary accommodation last year, with the annual bill rising by 25% as the homelessness crisis deepens.

Can't think of many better illustrations of how badly we have botched housing policy than the fact that our bill for housing homeless families (£2.8bn pa) is now higher than the money we spend each year on new affordable housing (£2.3bn)

www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/english...

I was confident that I had a lot to contribute to the UK alongside my own fulfillment. But I would never have taken the risk if I felt I could be in limbo. Maybe that's what's intended with the indefinite leave to remain proposal. But the impacts of such signals are hard to reverse. (2/2)

I was 38 when I decided to move from Canada to the UK on a highly-skilled migrant visa. I knew I was taking a risk leaving behind a secure job with potential for progression and the option to live in cities with a lower cost of living than UK cities. (1/2)

DWP will take over apprenticeships policy, minister confirms Shifting adult skills and apprenticeships will give "bigger emphasis on skills", Jacqui Smith claims

🚨Breaking: Apprenticeships will shift to the Department for Work and Pensions in the Whitehall skills policy shakeup, Jacqui Smith confirms

feweek.co.uk/dwp-will-tak...

Not sure which emoji to respond with, Chris, so opting for 🤣 🙄 AND 😭.

Thinking about all in #localgov waiting on ministerial decisions. Another drawback of a centralised state. Reshuffles and stasis afterward obvs can happen anywhere and at any tier. But in most OECD countries you wouldn't see this many decisions about local matters held up after political churn.

I grew up watching baseball - the crack of a bat hitting the ball and the low murmur of the crowd are the soundtrack to my childhood. Watching @bluejays.com live on BBC as I eat supper feels like time travel. Normally I huddle in bed with my app, hoping the game finishes by 5 am. #basescoveredlive

Hurricane Katrina: from first warnings to chilling aftermath Twenty years on, we recount one of the worst natural disasters in US history, which left a death toll of more than 1,800 and caused billions of dollars of damage

www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

The Handmaid's Tale among more than 200 books to be pulled at Edmonton public schools | CBC News A list confirmed by CBC News shows titles like The Handmaid's Tale and Brave New World are among books to be pulled. The development comes after a policy from Alberta's education minister outlines new...

I will be incredibly disappointed if this turns out to be true. When I was growing up, my hometown #yeg was an oasis of sanity in a rabidly redneck province. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

And breathe...

The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow is such a little gem. The current Morris Mania exhibition is well worth catching.

Right to buy in England ‘fuelled housing crisis and cost taxpayers £200bn’ Common Wealth report calls discounted sales of council homes one of the ‘largest giveaways in UK history’

Right to buy in England ‘fuelled housing crisis and cost taxpayers £200bn’ www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

What amazes me about Stockholm is not the excellence of its public transport system nor its residents' willingness to commute by active travel measures. It's how badly its city centre is still scarred by the legacy of motorway-enthralled planners.

Damn it's hard to leave a job you love, even when you know it's time to seek a new challenge. Cannot thank London Councils colleagues, members and officers at boroughs, and partners across the capital enough for a magical three years. Getting to serve a place you love truly madly deeply is 🤩.

Ha! If your interest is in #localgov, you may also deploy a league table that provides no contextual analysis and call for a) a new statutory duty but be suitably vague about how it would be funded, b) x profession to have a seat at the top table and/or c) a very niche ring-fenced pot of funding.

I ❤️ London

Explaining Canada Day To Americans