Idea for a comedy where a political opponent of Andy Burnham, who takes the opposite stance on every issue, is revealed in the final act to be Andy Burnham wearing a fake moustache

Youth unemployment was falling through the late 2010s when net immigration was higher than today and economies are dynamic, negative net migration will impact demand which can stifle employment opportunities

This is exactly right, those blaming education or welfare should explain what reforms they think have happened in recent years which are responsible, because not long ago youth unemployment was falling sharply There is a real risk the actual drivers of youth unemployment are being missed entirely

Phew I was worried that the bit of the electorate wanting welfare spending cut for people and increased for corporations would not be adequately represented for a second

A European trophy, a succulent European trophy

Never get tired of saying Jean Philippe in a slightly exasperated tone

The likability of Ed Balls

Crystal Palace on the cusp of a European cup and Scott McTominay almost certainly guaranteed to score an overhead kick against Brazil, a truly glorious year for my teams

In the future, every former politician will have 15 minutes of telling us the welfare system needs reform

This is a pretty good thread rebuking the Blair stuff from govs perspective, but think this is important because I get the sense the major shortcomings of Blair stem from him never having had to reckon with the consequences of the financial crisis and the limitations of his own economic agenda

All pensions, including private ones, are paid for by working people The triple lock is a distraction from the conversations we need to be having on managing population ageing, improving health outcomes, and the need to raise broad taxes that support a fairer redistribution of income

Cheers British taxpayers, Tony Blair is crying now...

Wonder if Blair goes down the same path if he had served the full third term and is held more responsible for the 2008 financial crisis

Think it's fine to say the government are a bit incoherent on policy, but you can't be following that up with a call to massively slash welfare spending and going full steam ahead to adopt technology which promises to automate millions of jobs out of existence as a key feature

All that money into his own research focused think tank and all he has is the most boiler plate, lacklustre right wing rhetoric going You have to question whether the free market really is allocating resources efficiently here

If the the welfare system is responsible for rising youth unemployment, then why was youth unemployment on a downward trend until late 2022 (bar a short period during the early lockdowns)

Every day a new story that suggests the government might not be fully aware of the powers in their grasp

Setting out to revive Britain's Christian traditions by making thousands of people mutter "Jesus Christ"

A lot of people dunking on this event, but what if they offer a truly unique and visionary policy platform like tax cuts, deregulation and harsher controls on immigration

I mean fine, addictive smartphone habits should be tackled, but find it hard to believe its role is greater than things like the impact of the pandemic, declining job vacancies, higher education funding cuts, the rise of AI and emphasis, including from gov, on the need for greater automation

Sat in my intro to economics lecture, loudly laughing and shaking my head so the other students know that I think moving the lines on the supply and demand curve is utter gibberish

Obviously it's a ridiculous caricature of modern office work, but I also find it so strange that technological advances that have managed to reduce working pressures and make remote working possible are portrayed as a bad thing when it should be properly regarded as a miracle

Government ministers should keep telling people that the increasingly low net-migration figures means there is still a lot of work left to do and make sure that their controversial reform package, which concedes a lot of points to their main political opponents, is being talked about constantly

Let them eat custard creams

The proposed changes would prevent children from establishing independent lives as they enter adulthood without risking being deported to a country they will have no memory of Might be worth explaining exactly how that chimes with your moral stance

Starmer has had so many opportunities where events beyond his control would have allowed his government to make the case for positive change, end every time he has let it slip through his fingers

Guess Harold Wilson or Richard Nixon would not have had the same oomph he was going for

Guardiola and Klopp joining the likes of Batman and the Joker, and Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty as people that really needed one another to push them further

Something spectacular about the way the current Labour leadership hammered their left flank, significantly slashed health-related benefits and committed to deeply unserious pledges on tax to re-assure everyone of their mainstream economic credentials only to end up calling for price caps

The leaked NHS workforce plans are very concerning, I'm sceptical AI can deliver substantial productivity gains for healthcare without inducing demand, especially when we are already struggling to deal with population ageing and stalling healthy life expectancy www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-ce...

This is why I don't think it's helpful to concede the welfare budget is rampantly unsustainable, there are no reforms that would satisfy these people, you have to push back on their arguments and promote an alternative that recognises the importance of the safety net for our economy

The hope of a memorable last day of the season is very much undermined by the fact Palace have a mid-week European final

Starting to think that the we must slaughter the sacred cows of our party line was strategically short sighted

Am a broken record on this, but the "Brexit was bad because it led to higher immigration" argument is so frustrating It's not true for a start, frames immigration as inherently bad, and is a totally unconvincing argument for people who are either voting or considering voting for Farage...

I don't think it's helpful to see the welfare system as some sort of quid pro quo deal with the public, but rather an important fiscal tool that can help maintain economic demand in downturns and preserve a basic standard of living which creates external benefits across society

Sad to report that the Hearts top my Grandad gave me when I was 14 is not fitting the way I had hoped

Feel that much of the self congratulations over waiting lists, which have very slowly over 2 years, largely thanks to people being removed before treatment is complete, helps explain a fair bit of public dissatisfaction with this government

One boy, two bills, a fry up and 81 definitely supportive Labour MPs

Looks like the £120 million short-term funding boost has had a positive impact on the NHS Confirms that more resources means more activity, but raises questions over how this is sustained given the more limited budget that is currently planned www.england.nhs.uk/2026/05/heal...

Wouldn't the best time to launch a leadership challenge would be when there is a lot of volatility around the current leader

I guess politicians have little choice but to seize on these figures as a sign everything is working, but it does look like another strong seasonal effect, presumably as people move activity forward ahead of the new financial year www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Not the main thing here, but I'm not sure anyone is afraid of a starting gun

Great transport policy for the coming fuel shock

"My government will remain a leading advocate for tackling climate change and achieving a world free from poverty" Thousands of children are expected to die from preventable disease as a consequence of this governments decision to cut the international aid budget

I think if Starmer had been a bit more on top of policy and had been willing to take the steps to ensure DHSC got what it needed, then Streeting's actual record might have been a bit closer to what he portrays it as, and Starmer would be benefitting from wider satisfaction with the NHS

Was struck by how Starmer doubled down on his attempt to bridge the divide yesterday by claiming a failure of Brexit had been soaring immigration, not just a statement with very little electoral value, but especially grating given the valid reasons that did drive higher migration

Overcorrecting from a PM that maybe should have spent more time at international events, to one who only wants to be PM to attend international events