Call me old fashioned but the ability to read and comprehend is something I'd expect as standard in a US President.

144 years and not a bat tunnel or fish disco in sight. Sometimes things are expensive and difficult to build because of the way they're specified. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Come work with me! We are recruiting for a Head of Comms and Marketing to help us communicate the work of @britishacademy.bsky.social and the power of the humanities and social sciences in making sense of our changing world app.loxo.co/job/MzM2MzQt...

An amusing headline/poll when you remember the most straightforward way for him to do so is "become a Roman Catholic"

Going to pitch a new idea for a blockbuster The Paradox View, a thriller about a plot to destroy the world trading system starring Kevin Hassett.

Via @mtkonczal.bsky.social , another paper finds that Ricardo's Law of Rent still works, and that for the most part housing costs are measuring human capital rather than anything to do with supply and demand. www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...

This is such an astute point from @stephenkb.bsky.social Not only did Brexit blow up our trading and political relationships with predictable, and predicted, consequences but it also cemented magical thinking in British politics, although Cameron started that process.

Here's Lowe going full on libertarian. It's all here - bad cold, dodgy science, vaccine scepticism plus the obligatory reference to Sweden. Surprised he hasn't invited RFK Jr to review the science.

Turns out (says @jburnmurdoch.ft.com) it's not so much an oversupply of graduates in the UK (the same would be true of other similar countries but it's not) as an undersupply of the kind of jobs that a better-performing, more productive economy would supply.

Remembering TV presenter and music impresario Tony Wilson, born on this day 1950 in Pendleton, Salford.

Spoiling a lot of takes but begging a large number of other questions... "Worsening graduate fortunes, it turns out, are a particularly British problem" www.ft.com/content/649d...

Victim-blaming never helps. We’re rightly appalled when it happens in crime such as sexual assault — and we should be equally horrified when it happens in road danger. Stop blaming those harmed. Focus on dangerous drivers & build a culture that respects cycling & the wider benefits of active travel.

Without a doubt the worst crisis since the abdication. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

Soaking up attention at the vets. 13 weeks and 15.3 kilos.

Of course you could equally argue that the Cabinet Secretary is paid a pittance for a post of this scale, but that wouldn't fit the dominant narrative in British political discourse.

Just found this wonderful quote from the late Robert Solow "Everything reminds Milton Friedman of the money supply. Everything reminds me of sex, but I try to keep it out of my papers".

All I would say is that the man formerly known as Prince Andrew needs to be wary of mayors from the north.

Only once people admit that the entire Ukraine-Russia negotiations process being orchestrated by the USA/Trump is first and last a sham designed to help Putin as much as possible (and provide massive payoffs to the administration), will people be able to discuss it honestly.

Trying to imagine what it would be like to be Andrew's custody sergeant, as he brings all his trademark ahem grace to the process of being treated like any other punter who has just been nicked.

It is notable that Andrew has been arrested for "misconduct in public office", which is precisely what the US Supreme Court decided no American president can ever be charged with.

It is curious, but it appears to be true, that Britain's centuries old constitutional monarchy is trying, eventually and belatedly, to find some cathartic route to how to ensure that nobody is above the law than the American Republic will attempt with the President himself.

Good piece. The OBR has raised the quality of economic discussion, politicians are free to ignore it if they can persuade the markets that they have a good case (personally I always sigh when politicians refer to “dynamic benefits”) and criticising the OBR is easier than making policy choices.

To reinforce Will’s point, what I find immensely frustrating about the BBC’s framing, is that it implies that I wasted 20 years of my life. This is the NW Regional Plan, junked by the Coalition. It might not have worked but that’s a different - and important - discussion to saying disadvantaged…

It’s remarkable how slow so many people have been to recognise the malevolent and disruptive behaviour of Elon Musk towards British politics. This was clear from the time of the riots in the summer…

A public briefing war around the appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary shows just how politicised the civil service has become.

It's Hassett's analysis that wouldn't be accepted in a first semester econ class. The war on truth, facts and reasoned analysis continues unabated.

This sort of framing of stories about 'left behind' places is getting very tired. How have they been 'failed' by politics? They are the product of political choices - which organisations like the BBC have often failed to explain to people.

To give him his due, George knows an awful lot about leaving a country (if not himself) weaker and poorer. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Interesting piece and challenge from @chrisgiles.ft.com in the FT. One of the most depressing legacies of the last two decades has been the desire to complicate and reduce the transparency of a tax system that was never simple or transparent to begin with

Something very British about our wannabe fascist dictator being the guy who messed up running Southampton football club.

I can’t believe you lefty Luddites hate tech so much that you embrace mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, electric bikes, hybrid work, renewable power (and awesome advancements in storage), space telescopes, and hot/cold running water but reject the planet destroying plagiarism enrich the worst people bots!

“We’re going to keep the OBR but insist that it agrees with our policies” might not be entirely reassuring to the markets.

Thirteen weeks old today. Getting bigger, and entering the rebellious phase.

The basic line between Restore Britain and Reform UK is simple: Restore is openly racist, Reform veils its racism. Even the BNP wasn't as openly racist as Restore; for them to have Parliamentary and significant local govt representation feels a Rubicon crossed.

That Goodwin would attract like-minded racists, bigots and neo-Nazi adjacent lowlifes was predictable. That the BBC, Times, etc would entirely ignore this...was also predictable.

Inspired by @t0nyyates.bsky.social, I'm organising Bluesky drinks in Bristol on Wednesday 18th March at 7 pm at a pub between the city centre and Temple Meads. DM me for the details.

For people who love pre-ordering paperbacks. There's a discount on my book until Friday--enter code FEB26. Essential reading for the UK local elections in May, when much nonsense will be said and written about white working-class people. www.waterstones.com/book/underdo...

You know what helps make the streets safer? Paying your taxes

It's very hard to read this and imagine that the government's approach to data centres and AI won't prompt a similar response here and that any attempt to regulate the industry will incur the wrath of Trump. AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands - www.ft.com/content/0c9e... via @FT

Lots of lessons for the UK here: GDP not reliable indicator of how people view their quality of life; a focus on knowledge intensive workers and industries risks exacerbating class divisions; there are risks to relying on FDI as a source of investment; and housing financialisation benefits rentiers.

Lowe is radicalising in real time and potentially splitting the vote on the right three ways.

Hannan has dropped any pretence that he isn't an out and out racist. Perhaps those are the sentencing guidelines?

It appears that the Government is finally waking up to the harm from misinformation and disinformation, at least for public health and measles vaccination.

You just have to hope that he was simply scared at the consequences if he didn't. Otherwise...

Yeah - I think that broadly speaking very few of the problems of social media are not consequences of “we chose to forget all of the lessons of broadcast and traditional media regulation…what happened next will not shock you!”

Why do people think that things aren’t working? Drive anywhere and it’s obvious. This is excellent on how austerity and the squeeze on local government finances has damaged the fabric of the nation and how the current government has done little to address it open.substack.com/pub/cllrdrna...

"Commies and Islamists" and I'm not sure that he intends "sandal wearing hippies" as a compliment.

Lowe is not even bothering to disguise what he's about. "Legal migration has done far more damage than illegal migration". This isn't - and never was - about "stopping the boats".

“History might look back on the Trump years as the moment Silicon Valley’s broligarchs took control of our future. Newsom is uncomfortably close to the tech billionaires. Middle America on the other hand seems to be ripe for AI populism.” Me on the Dem early front runner. as.ft.com/r/60533d91-8...