Lost amid the discussion of why the Government should get off X is its utter uselessness as an engagement tool and the fact departments are wasting vast sums making content for it. Take this:

Nice article you’ve got there. Be a shame if *cocks shotgun* you forgot to include an otherwise irrelevant item that is important to me, personally.

Bargain of the year so far!

I have a piece on @bloomberg.com today about why the global collapse of the centre-right is the most important political trend of the past decade. And whether it can recover. (Gift link) eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3...

Remember when the right-wing press and the private schools lobby said VAT would mean an exodus to state schools causing a crisis? Not so much. (From this FT analysis: www.ft.com/content/c979...)

It's also such an easy political win. Point to Musk donating to far right groups like Rupert Lowe's and his previous support for Reform and say they're being funded by a noncebot.

It's our fourth anniversary at Comment is Freed today and we have a special offer to celebrate. 25% off for your first year. We don't do these often so if you've been thinking of signing up now is the time samf.substack.com/p/fourth-ann...

I have a piece on @bloomberg.com today about why the global collapse of the centre-right is the most important political trend of the past decade. And whether it can recover. (Gift link) eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3...

It's our fourth anniversary at Comment is Freed today and we have a special offer to celebrate. 25% off for your first year. We don't do these often so if you've been thinking of signing up now is the time samf.substack.com/p/fourth-ann...

I don't think the "stakeholder state" is useful framing but the "regulatory state" has grown massively. It's not a conspiracy against govt though but a function of centralisation (and privatisation). Ministers can't cope with responsibility for everything so set up agencies and regulators.

Well I Iiked the Stranger Things finale. Screw the haters.

Made a lamb shank and arthichoke ragu with rigatoni from the Padella cookbook last night. Takes a while but delicious. Also did their tomato, porcini mushroom, garlic, chilli and cream one which is much easier and also great.

A neat example of why prominent Jewish voices boosting far right narratives are being unbelievably stupid. Have they never read a history book?

The essential problem of Starmer's Labour is that most of the people who claimed to want 60s/70s social democracy back had no idea what they were talking about

Brought in 2026 getting a seven letter word in scrabble (centaur). It's all downhill from here.

I do quite like that no one can write the dread "let Starmer be Starmer" take because no one knows what that would look like.

I had a go at explaining it here (though its my interpretation rather than reporting). samf.substack.com/p/identity-c...

2025 was a good year professionally - particularly getting a contract to write my next book. But the best things about it were developing a proper hobby (cooking) for the first time and watching my kids mature at speed into amazing people.

This is such a good article on organisations and delivery. Some points might seem obvious to people who've had roles in large corporates, but others are more subtly profound. And it's equally instructive for those in mid-scale non-profits as for those in the civil service. Highly recommended read.

Gonna assume it was “Allow it to be taken over by a Private Equity firm.”

I thought this was the most striking point - depressing but entirely plausible as pragmatic advice. (The whole piece is good and worth reading).

A significant rift between Saudi and UAE is pretty much the last thing needed in a complex global security picture right now UAE vows to pull remaining forces from Yemen in crisis with Saudi Arabia - www.reuters.com/world/middle...

We have so much good evidence for cash transfers but so many just refuse to accept that those in poverty can make good decisions.

It's hard to think of another policy that is so fundamentally a free lunch as congestion pricing is

This is as excellent as everyone says. I am struck in particular by the SpAds working more closely with officials. Thoughts follow….. 1. In my experience, a huge part of the political team’s weekly life is bonding in anger over what they see as conscious or unconscious blocking by officials.

This is great

Torvill and Dean have been on the frontlines - shelling advanced squads of racists.

Politicians are terrified of an electorate they think is far more authoritarian and angry and right wing than it actually is, because they are out of touch because the literal media - the thing that mediates between public and polity - is corrupted

My holiday reading is this excellent book by @samfr.bsky.social. Of all that I learned from reading it the most horrifying was the fact that we have left children in care to the mercy of private equity owned children’s’ homes where children are placed often far wat from family and friends 1/

New post just out: "Advice for advisers - 14 lessons for making government work" A final guest post of the year from former PM adviser Henry de Zoete on how to make things happen in power. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/a...

This graph from @jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social et al's paper (free to read!) academic.oup.com/pa/article/7... - shows within bloc switching was higher than across bloc switching in 2015, 2017 and 2024:

Having had a day to think through everything about El-Fattah, here's where I stand. Yes, it's possible to believe all of these things at once! In fact, it really shouldn't be that hard.

Our best, and v plausible, hope is in they purity test each other to the point the outgroup is so large that they can't win any elections.

I think the answer is "they're not white".

Oh man, the Neo-Nazis are having their Night of the Short Sporks.

Always get caught wondering if he's incredibly stupid or malevolent before remembering he can be both.

I see all the papers decided to go with a picture of Bardot when somewhat younger than 91...

An extremely well-written post, many of whose lessons apply beyond the particular cases it discusses. Highly recommended!

This is very good.

New post out: Audit - Part 2 @ldfreedman.bsky.social looks at what he got right and wrong in 2025 - with a focus on Ukraine. And what could happen in 2026. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

I love they got Frank Darabont to do two episodes of Stranger Things. Both for the 80s horror vibe and because maybe he'll do something else now and stop being retired.

Money well spent on ensuring there's an ongoing cause that unites policy wonks from all tribes.

will also add - yes, this is my personal crusade - that turning podcasts into videos implicitly asks women to once again make more effort than men, as the bar for "camera-ready" for one gender is obviously higher than for the other

Now the winner ot the FIFA peace prize has launched missiles at two more countries I'm sure they'll reconsider the decision. Seems almost corrupt in retrospect.

"tell me we didn't just fire a dozen $500,000 missiles at a $200 camel" "sir, no evidence of any camel present, sir!"

Apart from anything else they were both children of immigrants from a much poorer country...

Good interview in the paper, this. I think Sadiq is right: London 'needs' to be less successful than it is for a bunch of political arguments here in the UK to work, hence the fictions being invented about it:

New post just out: My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026. (Free to read) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

We've always had these dead-eyed socipaths around. It's just a few years ago they were ignored and now they're "senior fellow" at places funded by evil millionaires + going on podcasts with a brain-rotted ex-PM.