📊 A few interesting charts I made to help visualise Gordon Rayner's weekend essay on the country's untouchable £300bn welfare bill. By 2029, the Winter Fuel Payment will save £1.7bn a year. In the same period, the pensions bill will go up 10x that figure.

🧑‍🎓🇨🇳 In 2023, the Office for Students warned a number of universities about the risk of over-relying on Chinese students. My and @poppywood.bsky.social's analysis shows that up to an estimated 55pc of all fees income is from Chinese students at some unis bit.ly/44qith6

⛪️ Quickly read this article before it's entirely irrelevant - a run through of the makeup of the papabilli with some nifty analysis. Tldr - perception of liberalism after Francis overstated, Vatican represents a very diverse base

🧑‍🎓 We've been through the annual reports and the numbers are shocking - 61 universities recorded a deficit last year - 43pc of ttotal. That's 43pc. Read mine and Poppy Wood's analysis, and see the unis which are now entering their sixth year in the red bit.ly/4kaSBdL

🧑‍🎓 We've been through the annual reports and the numbers are shocking - 61 universities recorded a deficit last year - 43pc of ttotal. That's 43pc. Read mine and Poppy Wood's analysis, and see the unis which are now entering their sixth year in the red bit.ly/4kaSBdL

🇵🇰🇮🇳 The context before the clash, as provided by @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social Violent events across the border regions of Pakistan and India had been increasing significantly in the build up to last nights event. April saw four times more deaths than the previous month.

🌎 Accountants from South Africa, care workers from Zimbabwe, horticulturalists from Kyrgyzstan. Each immigrant to the UK comes for a different reason, but data lets us spot the trends in the specialisms they bring... - with @emily_retter bit.ly/4kbN1b9

🗳️ Now all the results are in, our piece takes a step back and its puts in context how catastrophic last night was for the Tories. 5 years ago, they controlled over half of councillors in contested elections. Today less than 20%. Reform have 40% 🧵 - @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social bit.ly/42YaFAR

🚨🤝 Trump's liberation day has pushed average tariffs to their highest point in over 100 years, redefining global trade policy that has existed since the second world war. Last year, avg. tariffs were just 2.5pc/after yesterday's announcements, they have soared to ~22pc.

🚨 If Keir Starmer wanted to prove that a new approach to small boats would pay dividends, the first few months of 2025 have not helped. So far, there have been 6,642 crossings - far higher than this time last year. @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social + @charleshymas bit.ly/3DNj1CY

🚨🧑‍⚕️ Another week, another incredibly helpful tool. We wanted to reflect the metrics people actually care about with GPs: waiting times, ease of reaching them and confidence in staff. We then weight it to help you find the best surgery in your area bit.ly/3Y9WVkI

🚨🧑‍🎓 There has been a 40pc increase in children expelled or suspended for violent behaviour in a single year, our analysis shows Some 25k pupils were excluded in Autumn '23 our analysis shows, including some as young as five - with @poppywood.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...

🚨✂️ A cut of 10k civil servants sounds like a lot - but that only takes us back to levels seen in...December 2023. Civil service headcount has exploded since the pandemic - it is now at its highest since 2006. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🚨💳 We looked at three-months of departmental procurement card spending. It's not all ice cream trucks (£500), personality test apps (£859) and Belgian Adventure Parks (£2k), but it is certainly a bit of it... - with Eleanor Steafel www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...

👶 What does St Margarets in Richmond-upon-Thames tell us about the looming fertility crisis? Some 75pc of babies are born to geriatric mothers - as middle-class mothers push back motherhood due to costs, careers and lifestyle - with Melissa Lawford bit.ly/4206AM3

🚨🤒 This time five years ago, the country woke up to world of social distancing, face-masks and WFH. It was a moment that saved lives - but began 5 years of pain. Now, at a local level we tell you at how lockdowns ruined your area - fives years on... www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...

🤑 The results are in: @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social has crunched the numbers from every council across the UK to reveal that Labour councils are increasing council tax at a faster rate than any other party...just www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🟥🤒 Between Sep+Nov 2024, 175,789 people were judged to be too sick to work and were placed on the highest rate of UC. This compares with 103,579 over the same months of 2023, when the Tories were still in office. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🚨👴 Who had it best from the state? Despite constant headlines going on about the bloated state of welfare, analysis from @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social shows that boomer pensioners are benefitting from the state more than Gen Z ever will... www.telegraph.co.uk/money/why-bo...

As trade tariffs kick in - worth reminding yourself of the winners and losers, both countries and trades

🚨 🚅 As season tickets jump 4.6pc, we analysed the combined mortgage-season ticket cost for London commuters across 168 towns. Almost 60pc of the average London salary would be swallowed this, compared to less than half a decade ago. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03...

🚨📽️ We asked the data science team to see if they could set up a model to predict the #Oscars - and beat our in-house critic. Their predictions - they got 4/6 main categories right and just beat the critic... www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/0...

🚨💑 Want to save yourself a tenner a day? Get yourself a partner! Another nifty journey through the stats by @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social, as he explores the how much couples save on rent, tax and bills... www.telegraph.co.uk/money/reveal...

🚨📄 From a £100k golf course refurb to murals in Enfield, we scoured through a month of government procurement contracts to see just how well our money is spent. Some is not as mad as it seems, other stuff less so! - with Rosa Silverman www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

🚨📽️ Our first collab this year with our data science team - can the data predict the #Oscars better than our film critic Robbie Collins Model pulled together by Irini Economides - and they agree on 4/6 main awards...but will either get 100% on Sunday!? www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/0...

🚨📈 2024 saw a record-breaking number of asylum-seeker applications, hitting 108,138 last year - a 18pt jump on the previous year. Despite ~120k decisions made on applications, the record inflow means that the backlog barely shifted falling from 128k to 124k over the year.

🚨 During the last cold war, defence spending was always had least ten times higher than overseas aid. The transfer towards soft power in the 1990s has dramatically changed that. Today it is just four times higher.

🚨🏥 Amanda Pritchard has stepped down as NHS England CEO. Myself and Ollie look at the poisoned chalice she inherited and the lack of progress made despite record investment www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

📆 Fifty years ago this week, Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of Conservatives. Her tenure was difficult time for many, but it was also a period of economic growth, lower taxes and controlled public finances - a legacy which has been unravelled. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

🔑 Possession claims by landlords cross the 30k threshold for the first time last year, @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social reveals. Ahead of the Renter's Bill, no fault evictions (which it aims to ban) have jumped 20pc, the highest since 2017. www.telegraph.co.uk/money/proper...

🏘️ Nearly 10m homes in England had at least two unused bedrooms last year and were therefore considered under-occupied - a third of which are owned by pensioners. Is it time to requisition these for Gen Z - comrade @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social thinks so... www.telegraph.co.uk/money/proper...

Beyond chuffed to be nominated for Data Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards 🏆 thepressawards.com/finalists/ben-…

🔵 Reform are now drifting further away from the Tories with our NEW poll-tracker showing a 5-pt lead average over the Conservatives and one point over Labour. - @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social analysis shows who is backing them and what it means for an election www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🚨🧑‍⚖️ While top-line statistics show the asylum backlog is falling, the reality is that it remains at those record levels seen in recent years once appeals are included. There are 34k first-tier asylum appeals, up from 6,390 in two years. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🐶💩 Did the pandemic puppy lead to a dog poo epidemic? Maybe, so says our FOI. Dog poo complaints across 88 councils is up from 52,134 in 2021 to 57,140 in 2023. - analysis by @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

🚨🤑 Ever wondered how much wealth other people your age have? From property wealth to investments, our latest tool shows how you compare to your peers. - @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social and Mariana Hallal www.telegraph.co.uk/money/are-yo...

🚨💰 Five years ago, no one could've guessed the economic earthquake a global pandemic would bring. From mortgage repayments to the food on our table, prices have soared with typical family hit by costs of upwards of £15k - @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social reveals www.telegraph.co.uk/money/reveal...

🚨💸 This morning, Trump's trade war began with China facing tariffs on its imports into the USA. Canada and Mexico have been given a temporary reprieve, the EU is on notice - but how much and what the US trade with these countries? www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

🚨🙋🏻‍♀️ A slow start for the new crop of Labour MPs has they make roughly half the amount of verbal or written contributions as their new Tory counterparts. - analysis with Natasha Leake www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🚨 A quarter of the population is seeing record high knife crime as London sees its highest level since records began a decade ago www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/923deda...

💰 Charities have seen a massive jump in workers receiving pay packets over £100k, analysis of thousands of charities reveal. The number has risen from 3,945 to 5,608 in the span of five years - a 63pc jump. - analysis by @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01...

💸 Stealth taxation in action: A university graduate earning the legal minimum wage is now deemed wealthy enough for a marginal tax rate of 37pc with repayment level frozen Ten yrs ago, they would need to earn about 20pc mor from @the-one-and-ollie.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

🚨🏠 Remember those leasehold plans? Well the govt. thinks it will take five years to sort. In the meantime, ministers alone have expensed £74k of ground rent and service charges to the taxpayer www.telegraph.co.uk/money/proper...

🚨❄️ More winter crisis woes as hospital bed occupancy hits 96pc. We looked at 113 weeks of data over every winter since 2017-18 - and this was the 6th worst on record. Four trusts had technically no space - with @michaelsearles.bsky.social

🚨🏥 The NHS is failing. Even the best trusts are missing key targets on ambulance care, A&E and waiting times. Our new NHS tracker allows patients to track trolley waits, cancer care, A&E, backlogs and compare them to other hospitals nationally and in their area...

📉 We hear a lot about the rise of the hard-right, but it has certainly been a difficult period of the left as a whole exclusive (and painstaking) work from @meikeeijsberg.bsky.social shows. From Europe to Lat Am, the left is seeing it's lowest support since the Cold War system collapsed.

A big shout-out to @benbutcher.bsky.social for guiding me through such a massive analysis📊 and to James Crisp and his wide knowledge of world politics for writing this with me✒️ Read the full story here (a 🎁 link): telegraph.co.uk/gift/9d6fc4a... (incl. a methodology of how I did this) 18/18

🚨🛏️ Amongst the flurry of bad news in emergency care during the busiest weeks of the NHS's year, there is some good news out of electives The backlog is down for the third consecutive month. Since Starmer took over, it has fallen by 140k. Prop over targest lowest since May '23

🚨 🤒Flu-demic continuing to strike the NHS, with 5,407 patients in hospital beds in the week-ending Jan 5th. This is up 17pc on last week, and just below the record high recorded at the end of 2022.

👩‍🎓💰 Our exclusive investigation showed that fees jumped by a record 14pc in Jan 2025. Another blow to middle-class aspiration...but private schools have been chipping away at this for years 🧵