In light of today's new mansion tax, re-upping my piece from last year on council tax. Why Buckingham Palace, valued at around £1bn, pays less tax than an average three-bedroom semi in Blackpool: www.economist.com/britain/2024...

What happens when you stick 61 budget speeches into OpenAI? www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Tax avoidance schemes, such as snail farms, can be brazenly amusing. But they have serious impacts on government coffers. The £24bn tax yield from commercial property has fallen in recent year, as landlords and their tenants take advantage of carve-outs. My latest: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Britain's biggest political party...

I'm calling it: peak Nigel. Reform UK hitting their ceiling at 30%; Tories and Labour bottoming out, too. Just updated: www.economist.com/interactive/... [no paywall]

Gen Z, a much maligned and panicked-about generation, are behind a remarkable collapse in weekend violence. Great reporting from @fransham.bsky.social www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Why Brits love gas boilers...

🗳️🇩🇪 We have launched our German election forecast! The hard-right AfD is 2nd in the polls and has been gaining ground on the centre-right CDU/CSU. But none of the other parties want to work with it. Which coalitions will be possible? Follow the runners & riders: www.economist.com/interactive/...

Every day around five people die on roads across Britain. We accept 1,600 deaths a year as simply the cost of going about our daily lives. But if the same happened for planes, trains or ships then these modes of transport would be at a standstill. www.economist.com/britain/2025...

The UK government has set a lofty goal of "ending homelessness for good". But homelessness in England has increased by 26% over the past five years. My reporting from the streets of Manchester demonstrates how difficult it will be to tackle. www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Which company should you work for if you want to get ahead? To find out The Economist has created a new index with the Burning Glass Institute, a think-tank. Explore how 151 of Britain's biggest and most well-known firms are rated, here: www.economist.com/opportunity-...

Excellent piece by @fransham.bsky.social about Britain's pathetic mobile service. Download it on wifi if you're in central London www.economist.com/britain/2024...

It has long been a pioneer in telecoms: the first commercial telegraph in the 1800s; the first transatlantic telephone call in the 1920s; and the first text message in 1992. But today this country has the rich world's worst mobile service: www.economist.com/britain/2024...