Oh dear @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Big scoop by my colleagues, this:

Extraordinary story

Brexit reduced the UK’s GDP by between 6% and 8%. That is MASSIVE. #ProjectFear #wetoldyouso www.nber.org/papers/w3445...

So tired of all the raiding

Out for the Count: my SKETCH of James Cartlidge failing at DPMQs so spectacularly that he managed to overshadow David Lammy's TREASONOUS lack of a poppy.

Intriguing detail from @katie0martin.ft.com - was this appreciated in Downing Street?

Excellent choice www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/julia-u...

Woodward & Bernstein, your legacy is secure @thetimes.com

Car crash of an interview with R4 comedy commissioning ed Julia McKenzie on her scheduling of Call Jonathan Pie at 6.30pm. Apparently the family audience at that time is ‘minuscule’. That’s all right then. ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002lff0

Crying Wolfson? @financialtimes.com

It’s new Private Eye day, thank the lord

Knave of Clubs pub, London E1, by Marketa Luskacova. More of her fab 1976 photos are on display at the gloriously revived boozer

Heart goes out to anyone who followed this crumble recipe in last week’s @theobserveruk.bsky.social

The Pentagon announces they are replacing The New York Times’ press credentials with the MyPillow guy’s media outlet.

Boris’s Children: my SKETCH of Today in subjects he loves to forget.

Number of people aged 100+ in UK doubled since 2004. Most per head in Wales. Must be the laverbread. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

Ordered Tuesday (standard service) delivered Saturday 👏 If only all public services …

High time for Vol II, Ivor

Lots of @bbc5live.bsky.social listeners seemingly less than impressed by 2 hours 20 mins of unmoderated Trump/Netanyahu love-in

Hammersmith & Fulham continues to be the only local authority in England with a policy of free personal care www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

You couldn’t make it up … @hsj.co.uk

The social care system is not fit for purpose. Many people can't access the care and support they need and others are left facing catastrophic costs. Our new long read outlines the six key issues and the options cited to tackle them. https://bit.ly/3VPOdH3

‘The current figures look too tight’ - informed & dispassionate analysis of the government’s social care pay plan from Andy Harrop open.substack.com/pub/cradle2g...

‘I think it’s going to be 5%’ - Diane Morton, Reform’s lead member for social care, on Kent county council’s likely council tax rise next spring

Turning out some old files and came across this Valuing People Now press pack from 2009 promising support for people with learning disabilities ‘in every aspect of their lives’

Some acronyms just leap off the page. Others not so much … LEMONADE (An incLusivE coMmunity fOod model for health wellbeiNg and sociAl connectedness of olDer pEople)

Reserving judgment pending details on the £500m pay boost for care workers (in 2028!) but pleased with this image being used by government

political reporters: "who's to say which side is right? I'm just reporting what they say!" science & health reporters: "me! I can say who's right! can anyone hear me?"

Peerless reporting by Sue Mitchell on File on Four. Might as well call all the 2025 journalism awards now. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Curious consequence (apparently) of VAT imposition on private schools

NHS guidelines stand In the UK, paracetamol (acetaminophen in USA) is the first choice of painkiller if you're pregnant. It's commonly taken during pregnancy and does not harm your baby www.nhs.uk/medicines/pa...

Quite the week for the family

Confirmation today that Exercise Pegasus starts on Thursday to assess the UK’s readiness for another pandemic arising from ‘a novel infectious disease’. Hoping someone remembers care homes this time …

‘I happen to think the prime minister is a decent, honest and competent man. But I’m beginning to wonder if he’s not a little unworldly’ 🎯

‘[I] could no longer lead the sector when the political leadership don’t want to engage with me’ - Claire Murdoch per Health Service Journal (£)

Peter Mandelson Sacking Day seems to come around sooner every decade. My SKETCH of Today in "No! Not Peter! Not again?"

Small point but why ‘Boris Files’ not ‘Johnson Files’? Just fuels the charming rogue myth.

We're looking for organisations to host IMPACT projects in 2026-27 We're looking for sites of all sizes, from individual services to whole regions View the long list of possible topics here: impact.bham.ac.uk/contact-us-2...

Judicious advice for corporates thinking of cosying up to Reform from top comms strategist Rutherford Hall (aka @robertshrimsley.bsky.social) 😁

Happy transfer deadline day to all who celebrate

Viewed from Cowdenbeath, I guess 60 miles might conceivably seem ‘near’ @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Thanks but I’ll take no lectures on restraint from this past master

The govt's commitment to adult social care reform procrastination is truly impressive. First it commissioned Louise Casey to publish a review in 2028, then it decided she should first review grooming gangs, and now it is considering appointing her to a full time role in No.10

It’s clear there are too many charities (170,000 registered in England & Wales) but numbers continue to rise. More than 1,000 applications in July, the highest ever monthly figure. This has to stop. charitycommission.blog.gov.uk/2025/08/26/a...

Superb by Ben Jennings @theipaper.com

On a day when optimism feels in sort supply, check out Hope for All Ages - 50 ideas from ‘changemakers’ that just might leave us in a better place by 2050 www.unitedforallages.com/news

This is what happens when the influence of British Cycling meets one of the UK’s biggest social care charities - a groundbreaking day of inclusion and social impact for people who draw on care and support! 🚴‍♂️✨ 🎥 youtu.be/XkiiK-Yzdvk @britishcycling.org.uk

Profound apologies to the person to whom I have just mailed a letter (sic) with an old 1p stamp found in the back of a drawer thinking it a 1st class. So out of practice …

A great friend and colleague to many people at this Unit: www.kcl.ac.uk/news/in-memo...