Canceling the northern leg of HS2 was an act of insane self-harm

I'm thrilled to announce I'm returning to the New Statesman as Political Editor in November. 🥳 An honour to step into @andrewmarr.bsky.social's legendary shoes as he becomes editor-at-large. Can't wait to get started with @tommctague.bsky.social and the whole team!

I’m only 2 chapters in but no hesitation in saying this is a must read for anyone invested one way or the other with UKs tortured relationship with Europe since the end of WWII and its ongoing cherry picking. Terrifically detailed stuff @nialloconghaile.bsky.social @markpurch.bsky.social

Huge congrats to @tommctague.bsky.social whose brilliant #BetweentheWaves was launched last night, is published today & longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize. *proudretirededitorface*

Happy publication day @tommctague.bsky.social! With a raft of rave reviews, BETWEEN THE WAVES has just been Baillie Gifford Prize-longlisted: ‘Even the most passionate Remainer — or Leaver — should enjoy it enormously... lucid, thoughtful & richly provocative’ Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

Tanjil’s essay is now live. If you’re worried about the direction our politics now seems to be headed, please read and share this piece: newstatesman.com/politics/uk-po…

I’m v proud to have published this beautiful, but mournful essay by the inestimable Tanjil Rashid. The age of migration is coming to an end. The age of deportation is upon us — threatening the essence of what it means to be British. You won’t read anything better this week👇

“Lucid, thoughtful & richly provocative… [McTague] tells his story with such dry and fair-minded intelligence that even the most passionate Remainer or Leaver should enjoy it enormously.” Delighted with @dcsandbrook’s review of my book, Between the Waves www.thetimes.com/article/fa75...

Exciting times for me as my book arrives! ‘Profound and intellectually scintillating’ —Anthony Seldon ‘A tour de force’ —Matthew d’Ancona ‘Political history at its finest’ —Peter Foster ‘Will stand for many years as the authoritative political history’ —David Kynaston

I'm now looking forward to @tommctague.bsky.social's book on the history of euroscepticism in Britain.... www.economist.com/britain/2025...

UK government needs to get a grip of the public finances. It's all looking a bit Truss-like (magnitudes smaller, but these are UK-specific moves)

Read our cover story today, from the great @willdunn.bsky.social. Reeves is painfully aware that reforming the tax system will require a major political battle. But she’s already being battered by endless squabbles as it is. This is the fight she needs to have. newstatesman.com/politics/econo…

New Statesman cover this week. Online tomorrow. On newsstands Thursday.

🚨 🚨 🚨 This week’s @NewStatesman online now! @AndrewMarr9 on a set of crises this government — and perhaps British social democracy itself — can no longer afford. The sirens are beginning to sound🚨 🚨 🚨

@robertsaunders.bsky.social hi Robert. Do you have a second to chat?

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202... 💥 EXC: For my first edition of the New Statesman as editor, I went on the road with Keir Starmer, discovering a man far more emotional than I expected, struggling to articulate his deepest feelings — and those of the country he leads👇

I know I'm repeating myself nearly every week, but can I just say once again that this show - These Times with @tommctague.bsky.social and Helen Thompson - has become completely necessary to understand and gain perspective on what is going on at the moment. podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/t...

Ever heard of the #MaraLagoAccord? When you stop hyperventilating, here’s a great conversation between Prof Helen Thompson and @TomMcTague.bsky.social… on Trump’s plan to bring trade and security into a single foreign policy space in order to restructure US debt. open.spotify.com/episode/3R14...

EU members are squabbling over whose defence industry should benefit from new funds on.ft.com/43xIlHl

Me: trade policy is nuanced and we shouldn’t rely on national stereotypes to predict wha- The French: BONJOUR

Trying to stay sane amid the madness. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Strategic sovereignty for Europe (as France has long demanded, and Germany suddenly seems to want) makes plenty of sense ... until you ask the questions: Who's the sovereign? What is "Europe"? And what are their interests? Good piece from @tommctague.bsky.social: unherd.com/2025/02/are-...

🚨 Early Ep Release! "The German Election: Friedrich Merz, “Independence” from America, and the Rise of the Far Right" 🇩🇪 Helen Thompson and I discuss the implications of Germany's seismic election. Listen now! 🎧 pod.link/1685475850

In this week’s episode of These Times, Helen Thompson and I look at the history of American protectionism to try to understand Trump’s tariff war podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

On Trump, tariffs and Europe’s extraordinary dependence podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Thoroughly enjoyed this week’s episode looking at Trump shock now being felt by Europe👇 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Listening to the latest These Times podcast from @tommctague.bsky.social and Helen Thompson. It lets you see Trump’s approach to Europe as a continuation of longstanding US ambitions interrupted by the Cold War. Equally, Europe’s ambitions for itself were interrupted in the same way. 1/n

Who is Elon Musk — and what does he want? Myself and Helen Thompson dig into the man shaping the future of humanity👇 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

🇫🇷 France: 37g CO2/kWh 🟢 ⚛️ 71% Nuclear 🌊 10% Hydro 💨 9% Wind 🇬🇧 Britain: 160g CO2/kWh 🟡 💨 36% Wind 🔥 26% Gas ⚛️ 16% Nuclear Data: Electricity Maps (11:00 UTC)

Geopolitical chaos of 2024 - good episode @tommctague.bsky.social & Helen Thompson but I am missing the role of the natural resources and energy dimension in their thorough analysis of the geopolitical year open.spotify.com/episode/4xnX...

The car industry by @tommctague.bsky.social & Helen Thompson via @ianleslie.bsky.social www.ian-leslie.com/p/maybe-your...

This is vg by @tommctague.bsky.social on Starmer’s prosaic ambitions unherd.com/2024/12/keir...

This was written by @tommctague.bsky.social before Starmer delivered his "Plan for Change" speech this morning but captures precisely how I felt whilst watching it... unherd.com/2024/12/keir...

Blair as the key mediator between Starmer and Trump... via Musk of course

Very good. This chap hitting levels I didn’t think possible. vm.tiktok.com/ZGdjcnuRh/

On Elon Musk, Tony Blair and the fragility of the British state unherd.com/newsroom/elo...

Important to note that new elections cannot be held until July. So even if the no-confidence vote passes and the government falls, the current parliament stays. Perma-crisis for another eight months, at least

Exit poll drops in Ireland… and looks very very similar to last election

A remarkable stat: Heidi Alexander’s appointment as Transport Secretary means the cabinet is now 100% state-educated for the first time in history.

Wow. Here is one to brighten up your morning. The first images of the restored interior of Notre Dame cathedral. Breathtaking. In just five years France did it

On the strange effect Ireland has on the English. “A fantasy land so near and yet so far; at once foreign and, in some intangible sense, never entirely so. ‘Lonely in Ireland, since it was not home,’ wrote Larkin. And yet, ‘strangeness made sense…we were in touch’. Quite.” unherd.com/2024/11/irel...

Just to be clear, this piece, by my colleagues, was about *Ukrainian* casualties, not Russian ones. And rather than give a single figure, it laid out a series of different estimates over time, in recognition of the significant uncertainty around such estimates. www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

Notable in the immigration stats: for all the talk of Britons emigrating in large numbers to Australia/Dubai etc, emigration by UK nationals is way down on long-term trends. 79k in year to June 2024 vs trend of 145-165k each year in the decade before covid.

Could be a new podcast. Rivals: Why life was better before that horrible Djok came along to ruin everything.

this is simply not appropriate clothing for the terrain and conditions

"As for Hizbullah, its leadership has been largely wiped out this year, including Hassan Nasrallah, its charismatic boss for more than three decades. It has lost much of its advanced missile arsenal and its military infrastructure in south Lebanon" www.economist.com/middle-east-...

A eulogy for John Prescott unherd.com/newsroom/pol...

Really interesting, thank you. I think it's notable that previously when we talked about pop culture's involvement in politics, we meant endorsements by Taylor Swift, Springsteen, Hollywood etc. But they appear less relevant today, perhaps b/c the relationship is less intimate - they are 'up there'.