Pharmacist told me the symptoms are all in my head.

What Nancy Pelosi understood about power. (Hint: the purpose of winning elections is to pass laws.) My newsletter, out now.

Obviously, it's up to the EU to decide who it wants to have access to its market and on what terms. But this suggests to me they're rowing back on commitments made in the Common Understanding agreed at the May summit 1/3 www.ft.com/content/8963...

What Nancy Pelosi understood about power. (Hint: the purpose of winning elections is to pass laws.) My newsletter, out now.

During the Corbyn years, there was lots of "I can't believe the Blairites and Brownites fought when their ideological differences were nil!" and ok, sure, but also it was about positioning and personal ambition and that's way more normal than being led by someone far outside your political tradition

I wrote about muting certain words on Bluesky in an attempt to make the news feel more like an invited guest and less like one who barges in unannounced, demanding attention and a hot dinner. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/social-med... My newsletter — out now.

My favourite thing about road pricing is that we already do road pricing. It's called fuel duty and the more you drive, the more often you need to fill up.

I wrote about muting certain words on Bluesky in an attempt to make the news feel more like an invited guest and less like one who barges in unannounced, demanding attention and a hot dinner. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/social-med... My newsletter — out now.

Breaking manifesto promises is bad. But I’m not convinced getting to 2029 saying "yes public services are still on their knees but at least we didn’t raise the basic rate of income tax" is a winning strategy either.

Read my lips: no good options. Labour will pay a price for breaking its tax promises — it deserves to. But short of a time machine, what's the alternative? My newsletter, out now.

Breaking manifesto promises is bad. But I’m not convinced getting to 2029 saying "yes public services are still on their knees but at least we didn’t raise the basic rate of income tax" is a winning strategy either.

I was always on Basil's side (context: I consider King Lear to be the most sympathetic character in Shakespeare). Nevertheless, loved this from @theguyliner.bsky.social.

*Me when I deposit some money into my NS&I*

Read my lips: no good options. Labour will pay a price for breaking its tax promises — it deserves to. But short of a time machine, what's the alternative? My newsletter, out now.

What if Jeremy Hunt* actually had to deliver on his pre-election spending plans? *Out of an abundance of caution, my lawyers have advised me to state I am in no way accusing him of murder. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/budget-tax... My newsletter, out now.

What if Jeremy Hunt* actually had to deliver on his pre-election spending plans? *Out of an abundance of caution, my lawyers have advised me to state I am in no way accusing him of murder. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/budget-tax... My newsletter, out now.

In defence of the old boys (and girls) network. The UK political class is famously narrow. Everyone knows everyone, often since university. This has its flaws, but also creates the kind of guardrails no law or constitution can provide. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/spectator-... My newsletter, out now.

In defence of the old boys (and girls) network. The UK political class is famously narrow. Everyone knows everyone, often since university. This has its flaws, but also creates the kind of guardrails no law or constitution can provide. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/spectator-... My newsletter, out now.

Memory of the Second World War and genocidal Nazi crimes is now as distant to Zoomers as memory of trenches at the Somme and Verdun was to my Xennial generation born in the late 1970s and 1980s. The battle against myths of Nazism can no longer rely on lived experience of its catastrophic realities

Does anyone get random names stuck in their heads and only days later it turns out they’re podcast producers who get a shoutout at the end of episodes?

Sad to see such a bad take from Stephen. Notwithstanding the scramble for overhead bin space, there's the joy of settling in, gazing out of a smaller, different window, perusing the buy onboard options. The gate area is an interstitial void — no one should choose to dwell there!

I know I live chronically in the late '90s, but the Peter Mandelson/Geoffrey Robinson private loan affair is genuinely wild. Reeves' little licensing snafu as good a reason as any to dive into the archives. My newsletter, out now.

I'd never really thought explicitly about writing, how I do it, and why I do it, til this conversation with @catherinedevries.bsky.social Who makes it sound like I've thought it all through much better than I have... catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/etched-in-...

What if we treated political careers like other high-pressure professions, and actually invested in our leaders to help them thrive? howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/political-...

We haven't had a poll of London recently but based on MRPs + nationwide moves I would guess VI here is something like Lab 26, Green 19, Reform 19. Would be a huge swing from the 2022 local elections if it holds until May

Sad to see homophobia given greater legal force.

I know I live chronically in the late '90s, but the Peter Mandelson/Geoffrey Robinson private loan affair is genuinely wild. Reeves' little licensing snafu as good a reason as any to dive into the archives. My newsletter, out now.

I wrote about what it's like to never not be hungry. And what I learned when my appetite suddenly vanished. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/never-not-... My newsletter, out now.

My Trade Secrets today. The Supreme Court must decide if it will back Congress’s right to set tariffs over Trump’s. If only the actual Congress had the guts to do it. For now Chinese retaliation and the equity markets are the only real checks on the presidency here. 1/2 as.ft.com/r/a02c1173-e...

Thought the Times had been hoaxed. Turns out to be so much better than that

I wrote about what it's like to never not be hungry. And what I learned when my appetite suddenly vanished. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/never-not-... My newsletter, out now.

Wikipedia vs Elon Musk In a world of algorithms and AI slop, the simple joy of aimlessly wandering through a website of ideas is worth preserving. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/wikipedia-... My newsletter, out now.

By mix-up do we mean it set sail instead?

Little known fact: "We’re asset-rich but cash-poor" is the second verse of the national anthem.

Wikipedia vs Elon Musk In a world of algorithms and AI slop, the simple joy of aimlessly wandering through a website of ideas is worth preserving. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/wikipedia-... My newsletter, out now.

7 reviews in the thread now (FT, Foreign Affairs, Economist, Kirkus, Spears, Spectator, Irish Independent). Out now in the UK and available to order (Jan 6th release) in the US.

Hard mode: activated. A stagnant economy makes every policy choice feel like it comes with impossible trade-offs. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/keir-starm... My newsletter, out now.

Hard mode: activated. A stagnant economy makes every policy choice feel like it comes with impossible trade-offs. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/keir-starm... My newsletter, out now.

The median voter isn’t a Labour–Reform switcher. And that means Farage isn’t Starmer's biggest threat — appearing toxic to liberal voters is. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/the-median... My newsletter, out now.

I think this is absolutely right. Also, so many of these guys do actually understand that 'a mixed-race family in an advert' is there to sell people things. They absolutely cannot stand that some minorities are successful. It is resentment all the way down.

Enjoyed chatting to The Westminster Hour about our PMP research on party membership, as well as about the UK's increasingly crowded party system. Just in case you're interested, that bit starts at just over 34 mins in over on BBC sounds. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The median voter isn’t a Labour–Reform switcher. And that means Farage isn’t Starmer's biggest threat — appearing toxic to liberal voters is. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/the-median... My newsletter, out now.

At a Halloween party. Someone [not me, but fair] has come as inflation.

Fear (and tactical voting) in Caerphilly. Yesterday's by-election shows voters don’t *need* electoral reform to get the outcome they want (or, at least, prevent the one they most want to avoid). ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/fear-and-t... My newsletter, out now.

NYT covering a Senedd by-election has strong UK politics Bluesky checking the cross tabs on a Wisconsin state supreme court poll vibes.

Caerphilly was a two-party race. Just neither of the usual 'two parties' featured. You *could* have a situation where Reform come second in lots and lots of two party races to different parties (of course equally you could have a case where this happens to Labour)

This is why I wouldn’t put too much stock in current MRP results showing reform majority - voters can and do tactically co-ordinate as we saw last July with anti-Con tactical voting. Indeed, strong MRP results for Reform may help inform and encourage anti-Farage tactical voting.

Fear (and tactical voting) in Caerphilly. Yesterday's by-election shows voters don’t *need* electoral reform to get the outcome they want (or, at least, prevent the one they most want to avoid). ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/fear-and-t... My newsletter, out now.

You can’t display Thatcher's clothes at your party conference on the Monday and ditch the core of her political philosophy by the Tuesday! (I mean, you can, but you'll look ridiculous/venal.)