The Witkoff-Dmitriev plan is even more amateurish than I imagined. It favours Russia although does contain elements that Russia will not like. Premature leaking means that it is no more than work in progress. Here is an annotated version (This is free). open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?

One of the under appreciate aspects of dealing with crises is the having the information and the ability to tailor the response to changing circumstances and that requires better use of networks. Another way in which the underfunding of local government and regulators has long term costs.

Thought provoking piece. Classic example is NHS dental treatment, which is not available to many people and, even when it is, free treatment is only available to a limited - but very precisely specified - range of people.

Elon Musk > Shakespeare

Strong recommendation for Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos on Now TV.

A sighting of the Fabian conspiracy in the wild.

I was more traumatised by a road rage attack nearly 8 years ago than I thought I would be. Having someone try and inflict serious injury for no apparent reason doesn’t half shake your faith in human nature.

Great piece on Municipal Bonds from Morgan Wild. I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...

I asked grok who was the better role model for humanity, Jesus Christ or Elon Musk. GUESS WHAT.

*Pops over to X* Has he? Has he been? YES! He's published an 1,835-word tweet rebuttal of a report he hasn't read!

There was never a good time for Brexit and the Brexiters chose the worst. Drinks all round for a job well done.

Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage. www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...

Really?

Sounds to me like there's a strong case for that state to get back to building houses, rather than relying on the private sector which builds out to maximise the return to shareholders, not to deliver government targets

Remembering the (disputed) origins of "three dog night", this is a one (very large) dog day

A thing that I remember vividly from GE2015 is when you'd knock on the door of a never-gonna-be-hit-by-the-mansion-tax house that was never going to be hit by a mansion tax who really thought their house's inflated price meant it might be close to it. Turns out that has spread to officials!

Is this the same Jeremy Hunt who set out fictitious spending and tax plans to lure her into the trap that has doomed this government? That Jeremy Hunt?

Another reason why the underfunding of local government and the inexorable centralisation of decisions on housing is going to cause problems.

I would hope now that the government has finally enacted a review after two-and-half years that it chooses to vacate a platform which is so blatantly breaking the law, promoting extremism and encouraging violence. On the other hand, the government will probably publish the report on X and ignore it

I wish I could stop my subconscious seeing Robin, instead of Robbie, Gibb.

So… the Epstein File Transparency Act has this exception. What can go wrong….

If I think it’s a bubble, you think it’s a bubble, everyone thinks it’s a bubble and the Fed is warning of the possibility of disorderly fall in equity prices … does that still make it a bubble?

Agree with all this. Indeed some of us are old enough to remember Will Alsop’s Supercity and Prescott’s northern “land bridge” This will yield far more benefits to these cities than HS2. static1.squarespace.com/static/55e97...

Have we had the budget and I've missed it? Rachel Reeves under pressure to scale back Budget raid on expensive homes - on.ft.com/44azcE6 via @FT

These classical liberals seem nice.

Without a fundamental change in housing/planning system logic we will just get more of this. It's just the easiest option for the market players to pursue this type of development.

Watching the film of Tinker, Tailor reminded me that when I first joined the civil service we all had those big safes with combination dial locks. None of this modern keypad nonsense.

Russia has once again come forward with a "peace proposal" that is no different from the previous ones. The Russian side’s proposal is essentially a demand for Ukraine’s capitulation. American journalist Michael Weiss also commented on this, citing a source in the U.S. government.

The government's neglect of local government and its apparent desire to kick, rather than work with, its local activists is going to cost it dear.

This made me chuckle (and there really isn't much to chuckle about at the moment)

Your relatives are everywhere 😬 @radiobeartime.com

Imagine believing that this should be the policy of a Labour government

Points out that Starmer’s wooing of Trump has largely been “empty calories” and that paying higher prices for patent medicines might well be necessary to keep key companies in the UK but it’s going to cost the NHS a lot of money open.spotify.com/episode/6l7o...

A little snow at what claims to the highest village in England.

My blog from February on the government's lack of a clear strategy for housing

Articulates the problem facing Labour: Starmer has the skills to become PM but not to be PM; and there is no underlying strategy because the years in opposition were wasted. Difficult to see this being turned around before 2029 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ouch

No **** Sherlock www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

"Some of what looks like parliamentary discipline is really disdain – an acceptance among MPs and even ministers, after months of trying to decrypt the purpose of Starmer’s leadership, that there is none."

Turns out competition is important after all.

Noah Smith is doing Judeo-Bolshevism but about Muslims and Arabs

We are doing our best not to dismember any more journalists with bone saws www.ft.com/content/dc11...

What a bizarre piece of briefing.

"Trump’s aim is to raise the cost of telling the truth about his attempt to overturn an election." Another v good piece by @edwardluce.bsky.social

My Times piece: We need an independent fiscal watchdog like the OBR, but asking it to judge whether fiscal rules will be met in five years’ time, and raising taxes if not, is eccentric: Our obsession with the fiscal rules is a very British problem www.thetimes.com/article/c797...

One to bookmark. His presence on social media seems all a bit leaden.

Fresh from advising Morgan McSweeney last week, Labour peer Maurice Glasman addressed the annual conference of a pro-Reform group that has spread myths about the Covid vaccine and has claimed Starmer is "destroying Britain". 📝 New @desmog.com story 👇

Something I got involved in thanks to @municipaldreams.bsky.social 100 years of #socialhousing in #StokeonTrent youtu.be/Eo5JCOu0P4c?...

Entirely predictable rather than deeply shocking?