I find myself looking back to the Tory government of 1924-29 as a comparison. And possibly the Liberals in 1880-85 although they did manage a substantial amount of legislation. As will this one, to be sure, although at this rate much will be washed away post-2029.

Beautiful piece by @TimAdamsWrites on the brilliant Observer journalist Rachel Cooke who could write wonderfully about anything, has died tragically young and will be hugely, hugely missed by so many people. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

This is very sad. Rachel Cooke gone much much too young. A lovely touching tribute from @timadamswrites.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Labour seem to have decided, this week, that the electoral punishment for breaking a promise no one much expected them to keep when they made it will be bigger than the punishment for failing to deliver on the core premise of their whole campaign (the slogan was "Change"). I'm not so sure.

Ultimately it comes down to what you're going to say at the next election. Would you rather say "we broke our pledge but at least things are better" or "everything's still shit but at least we kept our pledge"?

I just don't think "reject rises in income tax rates, but pay for that in part by freezing the thresholds for so long that millions fall into the higher rate" is going to end well for the govt. The jump in tax paid is noticeable and people will notice it. "Your taxes didn't go up" won't be credible.

NEW - we've data showing huge numbers of people reducing their income to avoid high marginal income tax rates. Not just at the £100k point (as previously reported). But at the £50k point:

I know its just a council by-election but hard to square "25 point Labour to Green swing", "Labour in fourth behind two parties both advocating for tax increases to pay for public services" with "here's an electorate that won't stand for tax increases to pay for public services"

Is it even possible to split from a party that technically hasn't formed yet?

If you’re going to make your entire political pitch ‘only I can keep the bond market in check’, you sort of have to keep the bond market in check.

Excessive levels of Budget kite-flying risk exacerbating market uncertainty @ruthcurtice.bsky.social responds to latest rumours that the Chancellor is no longer planning to increase Income Tax rates in her upcoming Budget, following rumours last week that this would be the centrepiece of the Budget

I know it’s always like this. But one striking thing from the budget kite flying and kite pulling back in, is how major policy decisions are constantly being buffeted around by iterative forecast changes. All feels a bit of a silly way to be making major economic policy & political decisions.

For #FossilFriday & in honor of @alinemghilardi.bsky.social & colleagues' fantastic discovery of a new Cretaceous pterosaur in Brazil in a dinosaur regurgitalite ("fossil vomit"), here's a diagram I made for my book 'Dinosaurs Without Bones' (2014) showing the physics of a puking brachiosaur. 🧪🦕🤮🪨

Who supports Reform and why? Really interesting research by ⁦‪@hopenothate.org.uk‬⁩ with charts that show who favours Farage’s party, what their contradictory concerns & attitudes are, where different types of Reform voters live, & how they might be beaten www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“The political strategy, at its core - get into power and instead of looking after your base, devote the first year to p***ing off your base, in favour of voters who will probably never come to you - is so poor and predictably disastrous that I don’t understand how McSweeney is still in Downing St.”

Well argued counter by @steverichards.bsky.social to my view that key to getting the BBC back on track is getting rid of Robbie Gibb who Steve values as a rare confident board member, though openly right-wing, which he feels needs balancing with other strong wills podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...

Good to hear that both MPs (publicly) and BBC staff (anonymously) are now calling for Robbie Gibb to leave broadcaster’s board www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Great piece by David Allan Green on his Empty City law & policy substack, that gives me much welcome confidence that Trump’s threat of a libel claim against The BBC is not a strong one, but balanced by concern that BBC is a weak & unconfident defener open.substack.com/pub/emptycit...

This is superb & makes me more & more convinced that this is a Coup at the BBC by the illiberal populist far-right & these 3 hugely respected ex-BBC journalists of unimpeachable standards, Maitlis, @jonsopel1.bsky.social & @lewisgoodall.com know of what they speak! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

The Netherlands’ floating futures – Photographer Alessandro Gandolfi looks at how sustainable floating neighbourhoods in the Netherlands offer a way forward as the sea rises, by embracing the philosophy of meebewegen: learning to live with the water www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

@bjennings90.bsky.social absolutely nails it. (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...)

‘Governments failing to shift to a low-carbon economy will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, will face stagnation and rising inflation at home, & will never be forgiven’: UN climate chief warns (& that means YOU, Trump!) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Superb piece on the latest BBC Shenanigans by ⁦‪@lewisgoodall.com‬⁩, bringing his personal experience from within to shine a light on the right-wingers who think they’re impartial, Gibb & Grossman, blowing up trivial issues into threats to the BBCs future open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

Superb piece on the latest BBC Shenanigans by ⁦‪@lewisgoodall.com‬⁩, bringing his personal experience from within to shine a light on the right-wingers who think they’re impartial, Gibb & Grossman, blowing up trivial issues into threats to the BBCs future open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

Great by ⁦‪@janemartinson‬⁩.bsky.social on the bind the BBC has got itself into by not promptly apologising for minor errors & at the same time pushing back robustly again unreasonable extreme demands from a small number of right-wing haters! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA

The BBC: quite a big deal.

The key is to raise taxes enough to actually be able to do something with it, beyond placating the OBR and bond markets

Oh, couple of other things I meant to include: - juice housing demand. no, really. people can't afford to buy, so builders have stopped building and the whole system is gummed up, planning reform or not. they're going to have to do something to substantively help buyers.

Just absolutely classic BBC. You've just broadcast the most successful programme of the year, uniting Gen Z kids online and Boomers on broadcast in a return to appointment television. And instead of celebrating, your DG reigns due to a made-up right-wing scandal.

This is the most abysmal, pathetic thing. The BBC head resigning because the corporation is not supine *enough* to the far-right.

the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever

it is very strange that BBC chair Samir Shah is hiding this morning. He should by rights be on the Today programme presenting himself as in charge and hands on the tiller. I wonder if he is frightened for his position

Depressing that the BBC has so little inherent institutional strength, it is kicked about so easily. This is not good sign for our polity.

Extraordinary & grim that criticisms only in Britain’s 2 most right-wing newspapers (& by a far-right foreign leader) leads to resignation by Davie, a BBC boss criticised occasionally for right-wing bias himself, presumably for being not right-wing enough! www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

Tax Wealth not work. Work is already fairly taxed, the wealthiest pay a tax rate not even half of yours. It's time to end the unfair culture where the wealthiest contribute the least.

I don't know what is more depressing. That the BBC seems to have no clue what democratic socialism is or that someone who comments on politics for a living thinks it's the same as communism. Jesus wept, indeed. GCSE, Introduction to Politics, Chapter 1, stuff.

The ‘pavement vigilante’: why Cameron Roh is naming and shaming bad walking etiquette - I do relate to this (a real London thing, admittedly)! www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

+ is currently in the initial stages of deportation + commited a sex offence in Mar 2024 + was convicted in Nov 2024 to 18ms in prison + was incorrectly released on 29 Oct 2025 But why was he still in the UK to commit these offense - 4yrs after his case opened? Tories have a lot to answer! 2/2

A complaint I’ve made before, but I really don’t think Tarmac Ltd should refill the diesel tanks of their cement mixers in ordinary domestic petrol stations in residential areas like the one opposite my home, photographed earlier this evening; they should refuel in their depots!

Lots of commentary saying that it's not clear what the point of the speech is. Seems pretty clear to me. It's pitchrolling broad based tax rises in the Budget and making sure - as Reeves did with the fiscal rule change in 2024 - that it doesn't surprise the markets on the day.

One of the crazy aspects of modern broadcast media is reportage, commentary & interviews about a speech whilst the speech is still going on, often from within the same room!eg BBCr4 Today on Rachel Reeves right now!

Noted this at the time - many of the most enthusiastic proponents of Brexit had oddly imperial childhoods that wouldn't "look out of place if you read in a biography that it had happened in the 1890s" www.newstatesman.com/politics/201...

Britain First are now campaigning, trolling. shitposting for British rule of India, the restoration of apartheid in South Africa, the Christian conquest of the holy land and Constantinople.

We're now at "black people aren't British". Open sewer racism. Look forward to seeing him on QT again soon.

The sheer greasy desperation from these bastards that any violent crime is committed by an immigrant so they can continue their grift. Even when they know it isn't true. Foul.

Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC

The Grand Egyptian Museum, completed at last, nevertheless looks utterly stunning, a magnificent place to display its worthy treasures, & a triumph for its Irish architects, Heneghan Peng www.dezeen.com/2025/10/29/g...

Amid all the fuss, remember that for much of the 1960s and 1970s, "the Spare" Andrew Windsor was just one unfortunate incident away from being the next king. Hopefully, this appalling saga will lead to a proper national debate on our hereditary monarchy. Long, long overdue.

They’ve noticed the defenestration of Andrew Windsor on the other side of the pond, & this @nytimes.com reporter has a particularly delicious nugget: “When the palace stripped Andrew of the use of the title Duke of York this month, officials said he would no longer be invited…