🚨NEW BLOGPOST 🚨 The Hormuz crisis has a real chance of causing energy shortages in the UK. The government is insisting it's business as usual, and opposition parties are arguing for fiscal measures that will stoke shortages. Neither is serious. open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...

British politicians can't be trusted with "emergency" fuel duty cuts: they're never brave enough to reverse them when fuel prices drop back to normal levels. They're also not brave enough to change how fuel duty works to make it stabilise prices. So that makes short term cuts unaffordable. Sorry.

Changed Elec/gas supplier within the last 49 days. Old supplier added early exit fee - but removed when challenged. I wonder how many charges don't get spotted.

Reform on @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social again

The French are taking digital sovereignty really seriously. They've made huge progress with their own digital collaboration suite in the last year, so they can strip out Office365 and Google Workspace: lasuite.numerique.gouv.fr Email, chat, docs, sheets and even video meetings!

It's getting very emotive this New Forest DC split. Govt has now managed to get lots of people fired up about local govt reorganisation. Not sure people have clocked that there won't be a NFDC anyway - and the entity that provides local services needn't be your focus of identity.

Brexit has likely done more economic damage than feared. Recent evidence suggests the economic cost of Brexit may be approaching twice the 4% impact assumed by the OBR

Well I'd never heard the term 'ear curation' before. "is the intentional, artistic styling of multiple piercings using a combination of studs, hoops, and charms designed to complement your ear anatomy, skin tone, and personal aesthetic."

After YouGov retracted their poll on young people going to church more, I wrote about why polling young people, especially young men, has become increasingly challenging. It's a growing problem, and the market research industry needs to respond. chriscurtismk.substack.com/p/young-men-...

Labour's decision to move Waterside parishes from the what will be mid-Hampshire UA (incl New Forest) to SW Hampshire (centred on Southampton) has triggered a lot of anger and passion - seemingly beyond 'who empties my bins', but tied to historical loyalties and some hatred of Southampton.

Royal Mail is exhibit A for the idea that economists should take technical regress seriously (management is, among other things, a technology): chrisdillow.substack.com/p/technical-...

Dodged the showers

Mental Health funding for NHS services is being cut. Again. It is time to start treating mental health with the same seriousness that we treat physical health. That is why @libdems.org.uk are calling for the Mental Health Investment Standard. Find my explainer here:

UK government admits Capita pension portal was crapita at launch

This one roundabout will cost ~40% of what the UK government spent on supporting local bus services outside London in 2025.

This is incredibly cool.

Might be the greatest opening paragraph of anything ever.

#MHCLG has announced decisions of several shire county reorganisations today. But it's not "featured" on the ministry's GOV.UK page. Kind of important, I would have thought.

If I was rich enough I'd take out full page ads in every paper explaining once and for all that the term "fair dos" should be spelled "fair dues" because you are giving someone the credit they deserve. Fair dos was what we used to run PCs before Windows.

Busy day yesterday. 1. Triple Trouble show at newportstreetgallery.com 2.Crip Canada: A Decade of Political Engagement at High Commission of Canada 3.Summerfolk at National Theatre

It’s windy and sunny 🌞 Right now renewables are producing 71% of UK electricity. Fossil fuels only 6%. grid.iamkate.com

2 things the Tories never mention about defence. 1. They failed to keep Armed Forces pay inline with inflation. This does much to explain the recruitment crisis. 2. Brexit devalued the £ by one sixth. Most defence contracts are in $. Brexit was catastrophic for defence.

So your boss built a prototype on the train... mynameismartin.co.uk/blog/your-bo...

One of the Netherlands best daily spectacles is the school run: every weekday at around 08:00, streets in cities, towns, villages, as well as in the countryside, fill up with children cycling to school. Made possible by safe, seamless bike infrastructure and plentiful school bike parking.

Mudeford Sandbanks and those expensive beach huts.

My excellent colleague @katiedd.bsky.social has just published this remarkable investigation into rampant book banning in a Greater Manchester secondary school library. 193 books including The Da Vinci Code, Twilight, White Teeth and 1984 Graphic Novel www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...

On a CrossCountry train from Bristol Parkway. Unusual route for me, but still the usual overcrowding

A new essay from me!

This is beautiful. Don't think I'm wearing my "smart" watch to bed tonight.

Why is @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social letting Jenrick talk over the two women on the panel?

The chatbots writing your emails and telling you what to make for dinner are now deciding who lives and who dies

It's not a political or environmental position to point out that geometry shows storing 10 sq m of metal in a city centre is an inefficient way to bring potential customers and workers into a city centre; especially when the true cost of renting that space for up to 8 hours a day is factored in.

Despite the cycleway linking them, the Beryl bike hire schemes in Leeds and Bradford are not interoperable.

The UK has fallen from 1st to 22nd within Europe, on LGBTQ-focused protective legislature. It's narrowly ahead of Albania - a Muslim country - and dead last in western Europe. This is owing to a surge in anti-LGBTQ sentiment that needs FAR more attention than you or your party have given it.

Studies have shown that SUVs are approximately 44% more likely to cause fatal injuries to pedestrians compared to smaller, conventional passenger cars. If you choose to drive one, you are clearly callous and self-centred.

What a load of bull. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Am I the only one who wonders why #Reform decided to go with "Reform will Fix It" as its new strapline. The majority of its potential voters will recall a certain TV show that ended in 1994.

Here's the consultation link consult.defra.gov.uk/domestic-bur...

Quite a neat visualisation of French municipal elections www.liberation.fr/politique/el...

Joseph Binder, 1950

I realize that it’s ancient history for most of today’s journalists, but they better start reading up on the Vietnam War pretty damn fast.

Brilliant news! The UK's Labour Government are going to make "plug in solar" legal. Grab some panels from Lidl, hang them off your balcony or out your window, plug them in to your mains. Done! https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-go-further-and-faster-in-becoming-energy-secure #solar

www.maptap.gg March 15 85🎓 99🎯 99🎯 100🎯 73🤗 Final score: 901

"...his property company paid nothing in corporation tax on its multimillion-pound profits for most of 2018 to 2021." It's incredibly clear who Reform UK really fight for and it's not the British people.

Don't copy your driving licence ... When the driving licence is the ID you're routinely asked to upload to prove your identity

Don't copy your driving licence ... When the driving licence is the ID you're routinely asked to upload to prove your identity

How Paris beat the car www.ft.com/content/882e...

To openly admit the ‘benefit’ is to disenfranchise disadvantage women and you still get govt contracts globally.

North Lincs Council getting excited about 'major AI data centre'. Where are all those post-construction jobs supposed to come from?

Great explanation and not one I’ve heard put so succinctly before