This is something. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/a...

I’ve watched their role in Greater Manchester’s growth. It isn’t a sufficient ingredient on its own: it hasn’t brought economic boom times to places here that lacked other qualities, and it’s not the be all and end all. But it has been an enabler, in conjunction with other enablers.

This is well worth your time, including HvB's observation that the common UK view that "if a lot of people think something it's no longer extreme" would be hard to explain to a German person, given Germany's history.

Very informative thread:

One of the more troubling discoveries I made during research. The number of times someone has told me: “But that isn’t a radical position. Plenty of people think that.” Well.

This is well worth your time, including HvB's observation that the common UK view that "if a lot of people think something it's no longer extreme" would be hard to explain to a German person, given Germany's history.

I don't understand this headline at all. The Earth itself is in the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence... www.rte.ie/news/world/2...

This 1969 documentary about London, presented by James Mason, was linked to on here a few weeks back. I only just got round to watching it. Bloody hell. It is extraordinary. The poverty, filth and life it records are so true to my hazy memories. The last few minutes are heartbreaking. Watch it!!

From today, statutory sick pay is paid from the first day of illness And it’s paid to every worker, including the lowest paid, who previously got nothing Long held goals of the labour movement - realised by a Labour government

frustrating that this had to be spelled out to this extent, tbh, but this is good on why you should care that Bluesky isn't growing:

This is correct of course, but *why* people refuse to believe it is interesting/important. Very good discussion of the issues in the comments here.

QT responses to this are quite revealing. *Lots* in common with the responses I used to get when posting on Twitter/X about migration - just a basic denial of economics/logic, combined with abuse (obviously, thankfully, without the racism). BUT despite that, I'm quite sympathetic. (1/n)

Honest Bob doesn't appear to know that the LGPS is actually a fully funded DB scheme. Nor is it true that the 'old parties' have ducked the issue for years. The Coalition commissioned the Hutton Review and made changes to non funded DB schemes in response to its recommendations.

..what does "ordinary people should not pay for this crisis" mean? A rise in oil/energy prices makes the UK, collectively, significantly poorer. There is just no way that government can, or should, insulate 99%(or whatever) of the population from the impact of that.

Deeply depressing. Just lazy soundbites and bad economics. Populism without racism is infinitely preferable to the combination. But Greens badly need something that actually resembles a coherent economic strategy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

First despatch from @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social’s current trip to Cuba open.substack.com/pub/jamesblo...

This is right And political "experts" will respond: ahh, but let me explain politics, you'll be really unpopular if you don't do <insert stupid political idea> instead And my answer is: you xxxxing "experts" have been having your way for years & none of you are popular either So do as James says

What strikes me here is the failure to understand that a lot of energy providers are not upstream oil and gas suppliers, so they're passing on their own costs to consumers rather than engaging in "reckless profiteering"

This sort of facile populism is really damaging to trust in politics. Most British MPs are highly attuned to the cost of living crisis and challenges faced by their constituents.

This is such incredible abject nonsense. If the straight stays closed ordinary people will have to use less oil and gas. Price is the fairest rationing mechanism that incentivises people who can to switch and to reduce consumption.

“I’m different” Says Zack… Yet he hasn’t got the full story as no decision has been made, but that doesn’t sound as good as “bought and paid for”.

Did BBC radio 4 #Today programme really just do a whole package about drilling in the N Sea without once even mentioning #climate change? And not having anyone challenging the one-sided claims of former BP boss? So irresponsible #bbcr4today

If you're interested you can read our article about it, published this past Monday, here. :) ourworldindata.org/battery-pric...

In batteries we trust. Very encouraging post by @pkrugman.bsky.social: open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug... (yes, that's a log scale on this @ourworldindata.org chart of inflation-adjusted cost per kilowatt-hour of battery storage)

Larry Elliott in the Guardian and James Dyson in the Times agree. They are also both very wrong. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Trump has insulted and tariffed his European allies, persuaded Denmark to prepare for a US invasion and, by pressuring Ukraine and not Russia, encouraged Putin to keep fighting. All of which he has forgotten. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

*stares in actual government policy* Yes, thats us as the second best performing nation globally on climate. We were in 17th when the govt took over.

In batteries we trust. Very encouraging post by @pkrugman.bsky.social: open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug... (yes, that's a log scale on this @ourworldindata.org chart of inflation-adjusted cost per kilowatt-hour of battery storage)

Those imports presumably including all those Dyson products which are now manufactured in SE Asia.

One of the national tragedies of Thatcher winning the 1979 election is that Labour was planning to use the receipts from oil in a more productive and strategic way, instead we got tax cuts and mass unemployment - and now here we are.

👨‍⚖️ Court of Appeal judges have ruled in favour of Colchester Institute in a landmark VAT dispute with HMRC, paving the way for colleges to reclaim tax on pre-2010 building projects https://feweek.co.uk/colchester-college-wins-court-of-appeal-vat-fight/

Hold down the price of something that’s running out. Great idea.

‘Unable to tell if I am in the presence of somebody so intelligent I may as well be a labrador talking to Archimedes, or somebody so stupid I may as well be Archimedes talking to a labrador’ @mrhenrymorris.substack.com talks to Dominic Cummings mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/dominic-cu...

A thread by someone who understands the how and why of governments wasting money on poor IT systems. Well worth reading in full.

A pithy summary by @chrisgiles.ft.com of different political parties' policies on the energy crisis: tinyurl.com/y4n8nvmw

This ignores the fact that the Con/Reform position of slashing clean energy also means that we will all keep paying more in the future.

A pithy summary by @chrisgiles.ft.com of different political parties' policies on the energy crisis: tinyurl.com/y4n8nvmw

Gorse - off Lightwood Lane, Sheffield.

There's a group of heavily armed countries with large numbers of servicemen, exceptional regional knowledge and invested national interest who are ideally placed to take action on Hormuz. But they won't. I'm talking about the GCC, of course. arthursnell.substack.com/p/the-gulf-b...

Dramatic scenes at BBC Breakfast.

I'm a big fan of the triple lock. But this defence of it is stupid: there's no need to play off old against young (quite the opposite; the thing about the lock is that it benefits younger people more), nor to pretend that the lock is only affordable if we cut other benefits.

This is really interesting

UK politics now in a bidding war of universal fuel subsidies (sorry, "support") to, per ed davey "keep britain moving". The reality - that consumption must fall - is going to be a nasty surprise

This week, Brexit finally killed our family business. We cleared out our warehouse, handed back the keys, paid the final bills and said goodbye to our last employee. What was once a thriving firm died a slow, sad death, all thanks to Farage, Johnson and the gullible idiots they conned. 1/18

Largely true but I can think of policies, for example the decision of the Cameron administration not to support gas storage facilities, that don’t look great with hindsight.

Clear piece by @sundersays.bsky.social, focusing on the underlying moral wrongness of retrospective changes to the rules, and (extract below) on the unfair impact of proposed future changes that would bear differently depending on a potential citizen's ethnicity/income: ukandeu.ac.uk/unsettled-st...

Clear piece by @sundersays.bsky.social, focusing on the underlying moral wrongness of retrospective changes to the rules, and (extract below) on the unfair impact of proposed future changes that would bear differently depending on a potential citizen's ethnicity/income: ukandeu.ac.uk/unsettled-st...

I don't see this said enough: the widespread use of generative AI is not only making our jobs as educators harder logistically, but also emotionally. It is genuinely sad to be suspicious of students when you have spent so much time building a pedagogy based on trust and not being a cop. It sucks.

These articles are always beset with the same logical fallacies. Pointing out problems with the NHS in no way suggests that another model would perform better. The fact that some countries have other models that do perform better does not suggest causation.... spectator.com/article/is-i...

BREAKING: “It is increasingly clear that as the world continues down this volatile path our long term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union.. Brexit did deep damage to our economy” Prime minister Keir Starmer 👏