Marc Smith

@marcxsmith.bsky.social

708 Followers 2376 Following

Writer, chartered psychologist, semi-ex-teacher. Slower than average runner. Fiction dabbler. Smarter: Lessons from the New Science of Learning, out now. Leeds, UK https://linktr.ee/marc1857

Employers’ biggest complaint about young people is their ‘work readiness’, Milburn continues, emphasising the importance of work experience. He tells Radio 4: Just a few days ago, we were talking to Marks and Spencers, to John Lewis, to all of these employers. And the biggest complaint that people have is about what work readiness. They know that the young people have got qualifications. What they worry more about is whether schools have gifted them the attributes that are needed for the workplace. And that is all about communication, collaboration, agility, adaptability, skills. We do badly internationally when it comes to work experience. We’ve got to change it.
Poll results: Andy Burnham (Labour) 43; Robert Kenyon (Reform UK) 40; Rebecca Shepherd (Restore Britain) 7; Jake Austin (Lib Dem) 4; Chris Kennedy (Green) 3; Michael Winstanley (Conservative) 2; Other 1.
Harborne, 63, has lived in Thailand for nearly 30 years. Many of his companies are based in countries where obligations to report profits, revenues and other financial information are less onerous than in the UK. This has long posed significant challenges for anyone trying to assess his personal fortune. His easiest to identify asset in the UK is his holding in QinetiQ, a Hampshire-based defence contractor listed on the London stock market and a member of the FTSE 250 index. Harborne is the biggest shareholder in the company, owning a 14.2 per cent stake that was worth £357 million when the Rich List was compiled.
Text reads: Trump says he still believes the US can negotiate with Iran's leadership When asked, Donald Trump said he still felt that the US could reach a peace deal with Iran’s current leadership. “You have the moderates, you have the lunatics. And I think the moderates are more respected. The lunatics want to fight till the end. It’ll be a very quick fight,” Trump said. He continued: “Just like our country, we have lunatics too. I call them lunatics, I call them stupid people too. In Iran, they have their moderates who are dying to make a deal and then they have the lunatics.”
Trump says 'a whole civilization will die tonight' if Iran does not make a deal US president Donald Trump once again warned Iran to make a deal on Tuesday, saying a “whole civilization will die tonight” if an agreement is not reached to end the conflict. Writing on Truth Social, he said: A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
3. Autocratizing Countries Nearly a quarter of the world’s nations are now on the list of autocratizers: 44 countries. 44 autocratizers divide into 24 stand-alone autocratizers and 20 Bell-turns. 10 new autocratizers identified in 2025. Among the new autocratizers are five European countries: Croatia, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the UK. Media censorship remains the most common tactic among autocratizing governments with 32 countries (73%) resorting to it. Repression of civil society has surged to affect 30 autocratizing countries (68%).
Happiest countries top ten: 1. Finland 2. Iceland 3. Denmark 4. Costa Rica 5. Sweden 6. Norway 7. Netherlands 8. Israel 9. Luxembourg 10. Switzerland
Peter Capaldi in dark glasses and a snazzy suit singing below a glitter ball at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, UK.
Bar chart displaying the results of the Gorton & Denton by-election: Green 14,980; Reform UK 10,578; Labour 9,364; Conservative 706; Liberal Democrat 653.
Promo poster for the 2017 film Mother! Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem.
Cover photo of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
The image shows RAF pilots (including Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu) who fought during the Battle of Britain.