Hoping it’s a good one.

A really rewarding read by @martinsandbu.ft.com giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Why your AI companion is not your friend

As a lifelong severe asthmatic I can testify that 'life changing' isn't hype. Biologic treatments are transformative. Really troubling that only 21k of the estimated 58k 'severe' group currently receive them. www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Incredible social science & data use here. The immediate story is about how the opioid epidemic (pushed by pharma in high cancer areas), resulted in major opioid death & economic hardship which - through various media/political channels - resulted in a sustained rise in support for the Republicans

15% of us think 2026 will be a bad year for us personally, 52% think it will be bad for the country. Private optimism & public pessimism makes for turbulent politics.

The Council for Science & Technology which advises the PM is looking for a new member ‘with social & behavioural science expertise’. Great opportunity to bring a social science perspective to the heart of policymaking. Apply by 19 Jan apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9075

Here comes the sun: ‘A London day will last 7 hours and 53 minutes on December 21, compared with a whopping 16 hours and 38 minutes on June 21.’ giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Here comes the sun: ‘A London day will last 7 hours and 53 minutes on December 21, compared with a whopping 16 hours and 38 minutes on June 21.’ giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

New substack: why so many people are content with economic stagnation: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/wallowing-...

Top Christmas card just arrived…

Good piece by @chrisgiles.ft.com on the continued theme of the unreliability of key UK economic statistics & why this really matters. Here's a nugget on debt. www.ft.com/content/5aff...

Because it happens in slow-motion we (still) tend to underappreciate the scale of demographic change & its profound implications for society. Compare (expected) UK child population in 2035 to that in 1971. Scotland = 44% lower, Wales = 30% lower, Northern Ireland = 34% lower & England 16% lower

People sometimes question whether social/economic research improves lives. This report on the enduring impact of Sure Start has the power to do that. Glad @nuffieldfoundation.org funded it.

By 2029/29 there is expected to be a £6bn gap between levels of SEND spending and the funding available. And councils’ cumulative SEND deficits will be £14 bn. Really important @theifs.bsky.social briefing on this funded by @nuffieldfoundation.org

Something that is likely to be overlooked in all this: Richard helped broaden fiscal thinking on public investment, the wider balance sheet & the crucial implications of health/disability for growth, spending & revenues. Hope that thinking continues. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Heartening to see this level of intellectual ambition & breadth in the new 'London Consensus' agenda set out by Tim Besley & many colleagues at the LSE (& beyond). www.lse.ac.uk/school-of-pu...

How the broken social contract for Gen Z encourages financial nihilism. On the nose from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/c17a...

A small, welcome step on the fiscal devo journey. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Child poverty remains a persistent challenge in the UK. At Wednesday's Budget, attention will be on the Chancellor & whether she will scrap the two-child benefit limit. The Foundation's @amiddletonbeer.bsky.social assesses the evidence for this necessary, but not sufficient, policy. bit.ly/3XhNsHr

Want to help some of the most vulnerable young people in society get on in life? Then extend the age at which young adults leave foster care, says this fascinating new US study by @khmusen.bsky.social The effects - particularly on employment rates - are significant. katemusen.com/uploads/jmp....

Want to help some of the most vulnerable young people in society get on in life? Then extend the age at which young adults leave foster care, says this fascinating new US study by @khmusen.bsky.social The effects - particularly on employment rates - are significant. katemusen.com/uploads/jmp....

The ethics council to the vast Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (largest in the world) has been suspended by the Norwegian government. Important & troubling piece by @martinsandbu.ft.com www.ft.com/content/f6b3...

Here's Denis Healey when the basic (+ higher) rate of income tax was last raised 50 years ago (BR went up by 2p to 35%). Note the desire to avoid a *100%* marginal rate at the very top.

Here's Denis Healey when the basic (+ higher) rate of income tax was last raised 50 years ago (BR went up by 2p to 35%). Note the desire to avoid a *100%* marginal rate at the very top.

📣Closing this week: We're hiring an Associate Director to lead our Emerging Technology & Industry Practice research domain. It's an exciting time to join Ada as we begin our new strategy period. Deadline: 23:59 GMT, 16 November 2025. www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/job/associat...

So many issues Today programme could have asked Charlie Mayfield about on his new report. Very odd to pursue a line of enquiry about whether the UK statutory sick pay is too generous (we have one of the least generous systems in the OECD).

Don’t think a 0.3% downgrade is especially surprising (regardless of analysts’ expectations). As brutal as the Budget will be for HMT, I expect they’d prefer this to 3 years of consecutive small downgrades. on.ft.com/3WWvlq6 Reeves faces £20bn hit to UK public finances from productivity downgrade

Utterly brutal but completely necessary. Should never have been allowed to go on this long. Hope the fans now go in numbers to support & spend.

Delighted to see NELI, the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme, described as an ‘education silver bullet’ by @beckyfrancis.bsky.social in @schoolsweek.bsky.social. NELI is a programme for reception pupils in England who need extra support with speech & language development. bit.ly/47CEtq3

Yikes.

Crucial scene-setting by @theifs.bsky.social in its Green Budget which @nuffieldfoundation.org is pleased to support.

All Budgets are billed as important but this one is set to be especially challenging. Pleased @nuffieldfoundation.org supports @theifs.bsky.social Green Budget which illuminates the key choices & trade-offs. Here's the chapter on options for tax increases. ifs.org.uk/publications...

Being clear about what is happening to graduates in the jobs market is important in its own right - but also because simplistic analysis just feeds the beast of suspect narrative (it's all AI etc) More clear thinking from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them

Well worth reading this thoughtful interview on race, identity and much else with the optimistic realist @sundersays.bsky.social

I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of this.

Some of the most thoughtful social commentary atm is coming via @manchestermill.bsky.social manchestermill.co.uk/jews-and-mus...

When should (& shouldn’t) political differences be bridged? A rich and timely conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates & @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/4jQE...

Somewhere free, quiet, and right next to Liverpool Street? 👀 Whether you’ve got a deadline looming, are polishing off a chapter on your lunch break, or hunting for a calm spot to do some work, our new Reading Room is open to you. 👋 https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/whats-on/activity/reading-room/

Thoughtful provocation from the always interesting Geoff Mulgan on the urgent need for future-facing exploratory social science. geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/an-aria-fo...

Pleased that @nuffieldfoundation.org support @fullfact.org & their important work.

Good to see the commitment to a job guarantee for young people long-term excluded from work or learning. Vital step. Lots of other elements needed to get this right. My recent thoughts. on.ft.com/3ILpb8T Let’s not forget the young people without GCSEs

It’s time to think about the connection between the social & economic, not as unilateral, but as a two-way relationship.   This was the theme of our recent event, where we asked a room of experts, ’How can the strength of our social foundations make, or break, our economic fortunes?’   Link below👇

Listening to @gavin-kelly.bsky.social talking about @nuffieldfoundation.org new strategy - using the power of evidence to change lives. Pleased to hear the two challenges of: - young people not earning or learning and - working age ill health are both squarely in his sights. ☺️

Big congratulations to Kim Darroch on his appointment as new Chair of @orwellprize.bsky.social. Kim takes over from Ken Macdonald who has been a superb Chair over the last decade. www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-f...

‘My name is Lewis Capaldi and I’m back’.

Really pleased to see this - congratulations to the excellent @louisemarston.bsky.social

I regularly come back to this graph when talking to people about how we’re in a really different world now. And important to note that these are for EHCP only. There will be many more young people with SEND for these conditions, but no EHCP

Essential @nuffieldfoundation.org funded note by @theifs.bsky.social on England's SEND system - highly topical this autumn. Here's the growth in the number of EHCPs over the last decade+. ifs.org.uk/articles/eng...

Care of highly vulnerable children in England: ‘The lack of suitable residential care places meant four out of five councils placed children with complex needs in illegal care facilities, the NAO said.’ www.theguardian.com/society/2025...