a restoration of the Stuart line obv

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s. Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

Strong recommend. The sheer scale of the history - Troy beginning around 1500BC, the war maybe around 1250-1200BC, Homer creating his epic five hundred years later - boggles any reasonable mind

Nick Robinson on #r4today interviewed some Tory on tackling immigration this morning. After the usual horseshit about Rwanda, he honked out the desperate idea of just rounding up everyone in migrant hotels and deport them. He got laughed at. The Tory party is dead. A pointless Reform tribute act.

"Struggling crypto-hoarding companies are launching share buybacks in an attempt to boost their stock prices in the latest sign that this year’s “crypto treasury” craze is unravelling" on.ft.com/4gBRqTS Apparently investors are"raising questions about the business model" Yes. I have questions too

Our event on Boosting trade and unlocking investment in an uncertain world is starting in 30 minutes!⏰ 📍Meyrick Suite, Bournemouth International Centre With @clivejonesmp.bsky.social Helen Bower-Easton CBE, Joanna Cound, Chris Hayward @gilesyb.bsky.social @jillongovt.bsky.social

An obvious reflection on these: they sit in two categories. One, the "growth option" is obvious but the politics is hard. I'd say that raising bills to fund underinvestment in utilities is one of those. Two, the right choice isn't 100% obvious, and the politics is hard no matter what you do.

Really good response from Paul, an economist worth a follow

about.bnef.com/insights/cle... Michael Liebreich on the entire transition. A more optimistic read than you might expect

In which, remarkably, while talking about the fiscal bind, and even after Jeremy Hunt goes on about acting in the interests of the country, no one brings up the TWO NI cuts carried out largely if not solely for narrow party political ends. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

I know this will seem callous, and it's not meant that way, but 1. this story suggests employers are demanding less labour/fewer workers on.ft.com/42H4Yrs And the stats suggest 2. NGDP growth is still motoring at 5.2% (real 1.2%) which together suggest 3. long awaited productivity growth?

Labour Party falling into ‘one moral void after another’ apparently. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Oh, do give over, for heaven’s sake. If these people had any sense at all, or any genuine concern for the country, they would support THIS present government, and yes, debate it, rather than this ludicrous endless carping.

One of my great indulgences is the Henry Oliver podcast, The Common Reader. His conversations with James Marriott and Tyler Cowen are really nice. Not for anyone annoyed or depressed by realising how much more reading someone else has managed than you ever will. pca.st/podcast/d60a...

Since the 70s growth has hidden lots of difficult choices. There is not enough growth. Politics hasn’t had to work hard for decades.

Maybe - just a crazy idea, but bear with me for a moment! - the reason why the Lib Dems should not “get serious“ is that the UK’s most important media organisation covers politics in babytalk so much of the time?

Good 🧵on industrial strategy 👇. Personally l would add 5. Reducing dependency on US technology & ensuring UK tech & data stays sovereign 6. UK Defence industry & global rearmament challenges 7. University sector decline & threat to the IP value chain Views @gilesyb.bsky.social ?

Running thread of difficult high level industrial strategy issues the government is expected to get a grip on 1. Energy and AI. Should they prioritise the data centre industry's needs when it comes to new nuclear, restarting gas etc? newsroom.observer.co.uk/cr/AQjcjBUQw...

Which movie do you consider "perfect" ?

“Voting for a populist party is like diving headfirst into an empty swimming pool, because you’re angry that there’s no water in it” - sleuthfortruth

I regret not making clearer one point: Driverless cars won't just replace taxis much in the same way email didn't just replace letters, and mobiles didn't merely displace landlines. The new tech gives rise to new possibilities that we can't fathom. Making taxis 20% cheaper is not really the point!

One of the great ironies of the immigration problem is that the people trying to come here think Britain is brilliant, the people most furious about them trying to come here pretend they think it's a crime ridden dump www.economist.com/britain/2025... From The Economist

This letter to The Economist makes a decent point. The case for robo taxis probably feels overwhelming in a country where the urban design means you're utterly screwed without a car. It's like how higher crime rates presumably boost the car for security solutions. Not entirely enviable

"if the hypocrisy is natural, it is still epic. For decades, the right said the nation state was the sacrosanct unit of world affairs, as the family is of the nation state. If that line has changed, conservatives shouldn’t mind if liberals go ahead and question their patriotism" on.ft.com/3KfOaS6

How Number 10's strengthened economics team can work for Keir Starmer @gilesyb.bsky.social identifies four key steps to help No10's new economics team succeed. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/numb...

Very good piece from Meg Hillier on the dangers of political attacks on independent institutions like the OBR on.ft.com/3VV7p5Y The OBR is not to blame for weak growth

Samuel Johnson was born OTD in 1709. Selecting one quote from my notes was a challenge, but here goes: “Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.” #PhilSky

"the hard data suggests that the largest of the UK’s very real problems are no more being caused by mass immigration than they are by a group of charity fundraisers rowing past Great Yarmouth" on.ft.com/3IsyVVu @timharford.ft.com with his facts and reasonableness

I'm genuinely confused as to how this is a story in a national newspaper

I have written a short comment on Downing Street beefing up its economic team, and how this might be good. Might. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/numb... Some points I am hoping to land:

The key fact that the racist right really hates: multiculturalism works

Good story about the real attractions of small language models www.economist.com/business/202... From The Economist

"Overseas sales of Fortnum’s goods, including its signature hampers, amounted to £12.5mn in the year to July 2024" on.ft.com/48jOwkA The JLR stoppage is costing that every 30 hours, I believe

"When I became Prime Minister I took the view that it was time to understand a little less and condemn a little more. By that I meant that we shouldn’t explain away why people commit crime. We should just say bluntly: “it’s wrong”." - John Major, 1995

The ur-text for this is the Simpsons episode where Homer is elected sanitation commissioner, and is wildly popular until he runs out of money after a month. Governments always have options for short-term popularity at long-term cost.

Some wrongness has been committed: "Given this sectoral mix, you would have to believe eight impossible things before breakfast to think uplift in the superstar sectors *alone* would be sufficient to generate strong, inclusive growth." www.ft.com/content/3a91... They are not claiming that! 1/

You misunderstand me. UK isn’t going to have a good welfare state till many on more modest incomes more contribute more, as in Europe. ‘The rich’ are few. They already pay most of the income tax levied in UK.

Yeah and to some extent it was ever thus (at least since universal suffrage) but growth bails politicians out of the worst parts of the trade offs.

Very much agree, but I wonder if this is also because we have had poor communicators at the top of politics for several years.

<cries in climate change policy>

Good thread - but I don't see how it turns you sympathetic to governing politicians. What you're describing is a policy and political ratchet that ensures decline. Those who promote themselves as capable leaders are claiming they have the ability to arrest that decline - so lead!

Immortal game. Worth ten minutes for the finish youtu.be/x69V-MoO8I4?...

My most centrist dad take is that most governing politicians deserve sympathy because almost every policy that's actually any good for the country is unpopular, and almost every popular policy is probably bad. Johnson's Brexit approach was far worse than Chequers IMHO but 20ppts more popular 1/

Get off twitter then.

"It should be obvious that a march whose organising principle is that the mere existence of Badenoch is a crisis and that Starmer needs to be overthrown can’t be beaten by either politician equivocating on whether they are wrong or not"

This times 100. Not wishing to sound like a member of Dad's Army, there were Britons struggling 100 years ago who suffered from real economic anxiety. And when they were called upon, they went off and fought fascists, rather than marched for them.

UK nuclear plant to add £200,000 a year to large businesses’ energy bills, analysts say - on.ft.com/4gojlXi It would have used fewer characters to type "2%", but for some reason we're going with the absolute figure

Am underrated heresy: furlough was a massive mistake

marcusnunes.substack.com/p/policy-des... "By not acting to “lock-in” labor like in Europe, the US fiscal deficit led to a substantial increase in new business formation, an important driver of productivity."

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