Trains, planes, ships & automobiles: the future of transport mobility & its impacts. New @cssjournal.bsky.social + Les Budd editorial to a bumper new mobility special issue. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Lewis Goodall grills Labour’s Darren Jones on the UK’s repsonse to the US capture of Nicolás Maduro.

The West Mids Pension Fund; the vastly overfunded £22bn Elephant in the Room that broke @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social : latest, breaking news blog with @johnclancy.bsky.social @https://blogsfromtheblackstuff.com//bftbblog260102b

“Let’s be clear about this scandal: Birmingham City Council’s so-called bankruptcy was caused by catastrophic miscalculations & errors at its pension fund & the huge contributions it demanded from the Council. This dwarfs the Oracle & Equal Pay disasters.” blogsfromtheblackstuff.com//bftbblog260...

A very embarrassing moment for the FIFA Peace Prize committee

I wonder how world leaders are going to respond to the most lawless US President ever. 🤷‍♂️

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS - WMPF insider spills the beans to BFTB: WMidlands Pension Fund Chaos as SURPLUS hits £11BILLION! blogsfromtheblackstuff.com//bftbblog260... It’s 200% funded. Apparently broke Birmingham Council has £2.5B pension surplus. Open Warfare at WMPF. FCA Tory WMPF Cllr tells all.

West Midlands Pension Fund insider spills the beans: an £11 billion surplus. It's 200% funded! New blog with John Clancy. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com//bftbblog260...

ICYMI: @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social is paying £14m a yr to reduce an imaginary pension fund deficit which in fact is in HUGE surplus. Meanwhile day centres are closed & services axed. Brum Labour councillors & MPs wake up! blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Soon, @jdportes.bsky.social will make his predictions for the UK economy for 2026 along with 100 other economists for the @financialtimes.com 🤔 But did his predictions for 2025 ring true? Find out 👇 ukandeu.ac.uk/marking-myse...

Alice through the Looking Glass, past New Street & down Gas St Basin? @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social paying £14m a yr to reduce an imaginary pension fund deficit which in fact is in huge surplus. Meanwhile day centres are closed. Curiouser & curiouser. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Alice through the Looking Glass & past New Street? @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social paying £14m a yr to reduce a pension fund deficit that doesn’t exist. In fact it’s in huge surplus. Meanwhile services are axed. Curiouser and curiouser. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

New Year Nightmare on New Street. HUGE West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to @BhamCityCouncil fast. We were sadly right all along, despite being slagged off by Max Slasher Caller as ‘financially illiterate.’ No New Year Honour for him. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Files on Andrew’s activities as trade envoy withheld by the government. Once again even disgraced royals are protected by the state. What’s there to hide? It’s more important than ever that transparency reigns with the Royal Family. And it never does. www.thetimes.com/article/c695...

New Year Nightmare on New Street. Gigantic West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to @BhamCityCouncil fast. We were sadly right all along, despite being slagged off by Max Slasher Caller as ‘financially illiterate.’ No New Year Honour for him. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Send like the bins might get collected for the next few years of they actually get their act together. Also, how is it permissable for that scale gauging in management expenses?

The coverage of the Birmingham Council financial issues have been shocking by the media, but this seems like an important story being missed. Yet in the meantime services have been cut, property sold off (which provides an income)

New Year Nightmare on Broad Street. HUGE West Mids Pension Fund surplus need returning to @BhamCityCouncil fast. We were right all along, despite Max Caller’s attacks on us as “financially illiterate.” No New Year’s Honour for Caller. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

New Year Nightmare on Broad Street. HUGE West Mids Pension Fund surplus need returning to @BhamCityCouncil fast. We were right all along, despite Max Caller’s attacks (who is ‘financially illiterate’ now?) I really hope he doesn’t get a New Year’s Honour. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Christmas Nightmare on Broad Street. HUGE West Mids Pension Fund surplus need returning to @BhamCityCouncil fast. We were right all along, despite Max Caller’s attacks (who is ‘financially illiterate’ now?) I really hope he doesn’t get a New Year’s Honour. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Astonishing and such a huge miscalculation. Do you think the media/press will even pick it up? They seem to be milking Birmingham’s difficulties for all they’re worth (inc. the BBC).

Christmas Nightmare on Broad Street. HUGE West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social fast. We were right all along, despite the Commissioner’s attacks. Who’s financially illiterate now, Max? Latest blog + John Clancy. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Great minds must think alike 😂

We indeed did!! Interesting stuff! Hopefully it comes out soon!

David, funny… @stefaniafiorentino.bsky.social have been thinking (and recently writing) the same thing! ;) Happy holidays friends

Just out + Paul Hildreth: Beyond the agglomeration orthodoxy: rethinking industrial strategy @cssjournal.bsky.social @acadsocsciences.bsky.social @regionalstudies.bsky.social @uresg76.bsky.social @rsaibis.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Ans see latest in @cssjournal1: ‘Flight from reality: sustainable aviation, Jet Zero, & the technofix’ by @Gareth_Dale, Josh Moos & Alistair Bernal Holmes. Well worth a read! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... www.theguardian.com/business/202...

'Embarrassment of riches' © @tobyn.bsky.social, laid bare in Birmingham - huge leaps in LGPS Valuation discount rates reported to pension funds ctees across LGPS in last few weeks. Scandalous, nightmarish miscalculations last time round come home to roost blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

ICYMI @dgbailey.bsky.social & my Chrismas Eve blog: blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512... £1.9 Billion wake-up call for Birmingham. If it acts quickly& responds correctly, it can get £400 million back of its £1.9B Pension Fund surplus and into its revenues over next 3 years. The rest from 2029+

Christmas Grinch Nightmare on Broad Street. ENORMOUS West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to councils like Birmingham and fast. We were right all along - despite the Commissioner’s attacks. Latest Blog from the Blackstuff… blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Christmas Nightmare on Broad Street. MASSIVE West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to councils like Birmingham fast. We were right all along - despite the Commissioner’s attacks. Latest Blog from the Blackstuff… blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Vindication at last. I patiently await media coverage.

Christmas Nightmare on Broad Street. Huge West Mids Pension Fund surplus needs returning to councils like Birmingham fast. We were right all along - despite the Commissioner’s attacks. Latest Blog from the Blackstuff… blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog2512...

Save the date! Navigating Futures with Innovation: Resilient & Resurgent Regions. 20th Regional Innovation Policies conference. Thurs 17th -Fri 18th Sept 2026. ⁦‪https://uobevents-reginnpol26.eventsair.site/

“Landmark publishing agreements for UK universities” See article: www.jisc.ac.uk/news/all/lan...

Newshour @bbcworldservice on the EU slowing down its EV transition - I pop up at 34m15s. @UoB_Business @UKandEU

Economic Watch: When going green gets costly -- Britain's EV tax sends mixed signals english.news.cn/europe/20251...

Too bold for Jaguar? The designer who dared to reinvent a legend. On Gerry McGovern’s exit from JLR. New blog. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbautoblog...

But we’ll price the UK out because we don’t value security more than protecting our industries?

Beyond the agglomeration orthodoxy: rethinking industrial strategy. With Paul Hildreth. Part of a blockbuster new @cssjournal.bsky.social special issue on the return of industrial strategy. @prt1969.bsky.social @ukandeu.bsky.social

@annettedittert.bsky.social best of luck in your next career move Annette after ARD.

What has Cohesion Policy ever done for us? New @eprc-eu.bsky.social report on 50 Years of Structural Funds in Scotland well worth a read. eprc-strath.org/publication/...

“If a lockdown had been imposed on 16 March, a week earlier than took place, modelling suggests this could have cut the number of deaths in England in the first wave of the virus by almost half, equating to 23,000 lives saved” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

*BREAKING* We reveal total paid out in mgt expenses to 97 UK Local Gvt Pension funds last yr was record-high of *£2.7Billion*. blogsfromtheblackstuff.com/bftbblog251120 £2.4B in investment fees for pathetic 3.3% return. Paid for mainly through council tax. How much did your local fund shell out?

What might be the implications of a pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicles? In a new blog post, @dgbailey.bsky.social & @prt1969.bsky.social discuss the policy and how careful implementation will be essential for fairness and maintaining support for the green transition. buff.ly/N1IVYdD

UK plans for pay-per-mile electric vehicle tax could make the system fairer – or provoke a fierce backlash. New @uk.theconversation.com piece + @prt1969.bsky.social @ukandeu.bsky.social theconversation.com/uk-plans-for...

Beyond print: @RegionalStudies in the digital age. Exciting new era as the journal shift to Build content online (BiO) and drops print. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This weeks post: UK Productivity and the Budget mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/uk-p... if the Chancellor is going to break her tax pledge, she should do so in a big rather than small way. What she wants to avoid at all costs is finding herself in the same situation in a year or two years time.