The idea of two groups within the “struggling many:” one is locked out of the economy, the other struggling in it. Policy interventions would differ for the two. And socially, how helpful is to deduce a “working class” position on cultural values when it covers two very different groups?

@labour4transrights.bsky.social is doing very important work now more than ever. Really excited to see what is to come.

On aggregate, direct taxes in the UK *are* progressive. The very richest pay more than five times more in income tax than the poorest. Council Tax is the big exception. It absorbs only about 1 per cent of income at the very top, but nearly 5 per cent at the very bottom.

This is a frustrating column by Martin Wolf - which is sadly typical of a lot of economics commentary on GB energy. It does identify some of the key causes of high electricity prices - including Britain’s high exposure to gas prices and rising network costs. But there’s a lot it leaves out…

My blog today on three steps the Government should take to put the local gov reform agenda back on track: #1 Create their own map #2 Adopt the "Cornwall solution" in the shires #3 Leave straggler local authorities with chaotic local politics behind

How is limiting political influence to a small and arbitrary group of people strengthening democracy or accountability exactly?

My home state of Minnesota just won the most medals (13!) out of any U.S. state at the Winter Olympics. That's Minnesota nice on the ice for Team USA 🇺🇸

Stunned to learn that when people move into expensive flats they don’t blow up their own homes in turn

📅 In conversation with @mayorofgm.bsky.social Joins us to hear from the Mayor on Greater Manchester’s journey so far, lessons for other mayoral strategic authorities, his ambitions for Greater Manchester and the English devolution agenda more broadly👇 www.centreforcities.org/event/manche...

for the vast majority of people alive or who have ever lived, the single best thing you could do to improve their lives is give their country a few more percentage points of GDP growth (or allow them to move to a country that already has a higher GDP) any other suggestions pale in comparison

basically all of this discourse stems from the fact that America has solved all of the problems that can be solved with economic growth and from this Americans conclude that economic growth doesn't solve any problems

PLEASE ASK HIM - will there be refunds - what about the existing deals - will the US still give preferential access to the countries that have done deals - which countries will face investigations?

This is a great read. Have always thought that we underestimates the importance of graduate professionals in the labour markets and in politics. That is increasingly untenable.

“Let’s blame the culture/stigma around X” is the default response when the answers r hard or difficult to hear.

The thing is a "50% should go to university" target is at least a statement of aspiration "half of you should be tradeys" is the sort of thing you can only really say if you've not actually thought about it.

At the moment, the closer one looks at some indicators, the less certain they become about what is going on with the economy. A bit concerning to say the least.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." -- Mark Twain

Well this is utterly depressing How London unwittingly killed housebuilding - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

There were days when it didn’t feel like this would happen. Can’t wait to be back in the Twin Cities soon.

My attempt to bring together findings from @centreforcities.bsky.social Cities Outlook 2026 with @drjennings.bsky.social recent excellent report Perspectives on Place www.centreforcities.org/blog/growth-...

It is terribly sad that the former PM feels the need to say this in the face of low life blowhards. We cannot allow this to even be a question. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Really fun read! The U.S. results seem promising and hopefully a sign for what is ahead for the UK. How it diffuses across the country and UK cities is something to look out for. Historically, other cities are a lot slower than London with innovation adoption.

The cutting edge of the economy is bigger than the IS-8 sectors alone. This blog looks at the firms outside the IS-8, where they locate, and how they connect to priority sectors👇 buff.ly/pxACTgM

If only reports could contain GIFs

“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

We need all our cities to be a little more like Croydon. A local planning reform that allowed developers to replace suburban homes with small blocks of flats that looked like suburban homes led to an unprecedented building boom in Croydon (until it was cancelled):

I had a good reaction to last month's piece on Dutch digital ID and the risks of takeover by US tech - turns out a lot of people care! In this latest post I look further into whether digital sovereignty for Europe is achievable and what's happening now. georginasturge.substack.com/p/the-dream-...

Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month 🌈 This month is filled with amazing events happening throughout the borough that shine a light on the stories and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s an issue close to my heart, and I’m proud to represent a constituency that embraces inclusion.

To conclude, there is a lot to play for here. Ian Chapman says ‘Speed is imperative to deliver against our mission, so we need to move quickly.’ This means they are building as they go. This hopefully gives an opportunity for the community to feed in thinking to make things work effectively

Hot off the press - a letter from the Exec Chair of @ukri.org explaining his plans and in particular the financial position of STFC. It notes curiosity driven research is protected and will make up around half of UKRI spend over the coming period www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

An experiment: A wonkish post that isn't emailed out to subscribers paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-wonkish-...

The “picking winners” strategy does, of course, create losers. UKRI seems quite strict with what counts in their new priority sectors/focuses.

I’ve never been prouder to be a Minnesotan.

Want to understand the economic picture across urban Britain? Come see me and colleagues discuss how the government can raise living standards across the country at midday today, where I explain what's happening in this chart: www.centreforcities.org/event/cities...

Amazing work by @centreforcities.bsky.social and @rjson.bsky.social. Higher living standards depend on faster growth

The land where the water reflects the skies💜💜💜

The greatest state of the union, doing the right thing and standing strong.

They expect - they NEED - the people they threaten to fall in line, like the law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress did. If you say “No, make me,” they simply do not have a Plan B. TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO MAKE YOU.

Less than a year on, tariff discussions r back. Even if this can be defused, the government has to operate under the assumption that tariff could restart any time. We know the most exposed places and sectors, and we need to prepare accordingly (even if there r no good options).

New at Can We Still Govern? "I am writing as an ordinary citizen of Minneapolis/St Paul...to share with the outside world what is really going on ─ the terror being inflicted upon a U.S. city and state by our federal government." Please read, share, help. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/dispatch-f...

Successful places (culturally and economically) attract talents and energy from everywhere. And everywhere does mean *everywhere*.

LOVED THIS by @paulswinney.bsky.social ! Worth noting that the GVA anomalies probably exist across geographies. This one surfaced because it happened at the right time and in the right place (a fast-growing Manchester), and thus received attention. Important context for local decision makers.

A couple of promising things in the ONS’s 2026 plan. LFS response rates have recovered. Some sensible choices with TLFS, meant to replace LFS (and APS?). The key thing is how both will perform at the local level. blog.ons.gov.uk/2026/01/12/d...

The (wrong) perception of London as both having too much wealth and being undesirable has consequences. A successful UK needs a successful London. And right now, the city, while still prosperous, is facing slow growth. We should not take London for granted, and the bad perception is not helpful.

Obviously, people will say this is Panglossian nonsense… .. I prefer, “factual” as.ft.com/r/f040c3e5-9... The UK economy is not nearly as bad as you’ve been told

I called Minneapolis-St Paul home for 4yrs. The city has suffered: George Floyd, Speaker Hortman and now Renee Good. But the city rebuilt. Its organizing capacity grew bigger. These responses r 5yrs of learning from pain and tragedy. I hope the next chapter of the city is a brighter one.

Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life The Minnesota Speaker’s closest friends and family open up for the first time. Read @stephenrodrick.bsky.social's exclusive: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Want to compare how dense cities are in Britain, France and Japan? You're in luck! @centreforcities.bsky.social just released our data As you can see, British big cities are very flat compared to their international peers. ... 🧵

A good policy hidden in the recent Budget is the Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund (MRGF), a part of the Government's Industrial Strategy. In short, this is a good place-based policy because it targets the right problems in the right way: shorturl.at/X8sDx

The ONS is taking a ‘quality over quantity’ approach in its ongoing reform. This is not itself an issue. But the current signs are that a lot of local/regional data could be at risk. This has big implications for policymakers at all levels and deserves more attention. A short thread: