MHCLG SoS in his “build baby build” cap at conference

Good reshuffle

the scolding will continue until the user base increases

One of two very good threads by Adam on this. A startling number of people - responding, in part, by the tone set by their government - just have this very complacent 'oh, no, this plan will never work'. I mean, 1) it could but also 2) they will definitely try.

Essentially every core understanding a Labour leader needs to follow to succeed is contained within Tony Blair’s 2011 foreword to the Unfinished Revolution.

People being remarkably dismissive of the possibility of extensive riots given they last occured a whole 12 months ago

Need a serious unserious big things small things political compass

This stuff is so maddening. The top part says 10b litres *a year* and then later there is a 5bn/a day shortfall. Ie data centers are irrelevant. 10b litres a year is trivial! A single reservoir will be 100-150bn litres! Later it says we don’t even know if the data center one is solid!

incredibly funny watching the americans drive themselves insane debating the ethnicity of a ugandan asian

[posts same tweet but with positive connotation]

Seems fine. Nothing to worry about whatsoever

if you cant find anything interesting to talk about with Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos then I think the reflection should be directed inwards

Air conditioning is an absolutely vital life-saving technology on a swiftly-warming planet, and people who claim it's somehow more shameful to cool a home than it is to heat one are idiots. I wrote this a few years ago and still stand by it: foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/16/c...

It's time to get over the eco-austerity mindset and embrace the technology of air conditioning. On hot, sunny days, the grid runs almost carbon free. We have the power to stay cool, you just have to get over yourself.

Progressives not using and not supporting the proliferation of AI is not going to end well I fear

V interesting from @dantomlinson.bsky.social and @jakerichardsmp.bsky.social on reform of the ECHR - very much coming onto the radar of Labour MPs www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

embarrassing

counting is very important but so is public perception and telling people that actually they should be satisfied with a certain level of crime... well, good luck I guess

So only thing you can do is improve people’s experience of the status quo to the extent they don’t think system needs tearing down - show government can deliver on cost of living, nhs, immigration and also address regional inequality and community neglect/decline.

I'd love people to try this on the doorstep

tbf without Brockwell Park there is no local green space for families to use

Our latest report looks at five 'anti-supply measures' that are a major bottleneck on urban housebuilding and the 1.5m new home target - a quick thread below on what they are, why they're a problem, and how to fix them:

an additional 100k is loads!

it better be Cardinal Pizzaballa Stromboli or I'm going to kick off

fascinating piece

My column this week is on Charles Kindleberger and the economics of when a hegemon falls. www.economist.com/finance-and-...

Here's Gary Stevenson calling for a return to the 1970s, when the top rate of tax was 98%. But did the rich ever pay it? We spoke to 1970s tax dodgers and ex-HMRC staff & and crunched the data. A 🧵, but here's a spoiler: the rich pay more tax *now*.

the idea that AI is "completely useless" for doing research is, if not a minority opinon among professionals, at least highly contested

trolling Bluesky is like those videos of Lionel Messi taking on some children in a game of street football

I adore Bluesky

Great article - You help "left behind" areas by helping the nearest big city. Our problem is the relative economic weakness of our big cities outside London.

Continue to think there is so much sticking heads in the sand around this in left-of-centre discourse which is going to look painfully outmoded within months let alone years

a very bad regression www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I cannot believe so many Dems seem to be seriously considering running Bernie or AOC in 2028. It's like the party has a death wish or humiliation fetish.

If you look closely, you can see an America First bro in the doorway yelling, "why aren't you wearing a suit?" and "did you say thank you?"

good and important thread. gets to the one of the critical flaws of Starmer as a politician

Delays aren't free—they increase the cost of housing, and delay its availability. NIMBYs should have to pay when they use frivolous litigation to delay projects.

Good thread here on why GenZ think they're worse off than their parents but mostly aren't. But measuring housing by the proportion of income spent on it isn't the right approach. You need to look at what that buys you - and it's buying less today (eg a room in a shared house, not a flat).

I think Shapiro is completely wrong here. Europe is not “necessary” only if aim is to cut & run at all costs. If the aim is to build & use leverage towards a good deal, then you do in fact need the bloc which is providing 60% of aid to Ukraine & which would provide key part of future guarantees.

interesting that I'm not the only one hearing this

Our new briefing sets out how to make the Government's planning reforms big enough to get 1.5 million houses built. The three essential steps are below - together these could be used to replace our discretionary planning system with a brand new flexible zoning system:

"The British state enforces the obligations of a rich country with the means of an increasingly poor one" Brilliant line by @duncanrobinson.bsky.social His piece is on Leeds, but that line applies more broadly to our welfare state. www.economist.com/britain/2025...

This is a good piece although I dont agree with all of it. Take the USAID cuts as an example. If Dems arent able to win the political argument for USAID on its own merits then they're stuffed regardless

You know what we need to build, build, build? The grid, pylons, wind farms, solar farms and the rest that are essential to decarbonising our economy. If you’re serious about tackling climate change you have to be serious about building (not something the Green Party seem to have noticed)

Orban had a huge legislative majority and popular backing when he arrived. Trump...not so much. He is doing authoritarian things but not in a way that consolidates support or increases state capacity so not sure how durable this will be.

funny thread

Impeccably timed article from the man @hern.bsky.social www.economist.com/briefing/202...

not great if Trump engineers one of his allies to buy TikTok and then they control the algorithms of two major social networks. Would be a huge own goal by the Dems