Great to see No.10 finally owning the news agenda

Welcome news that the Chancellor is gearing up to invest in children & their futures by fully removing the two child limit. When families hit hard times they should be able to rely on Universal Credit. It is also the most cost effective way to get child poverty falling this parliament.

Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society. Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇 renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...

On X Tommy Robinson is spreading bollocks about West Ham 'saying no to poppies'. We're not, obviously. This is West Ham.

I don't think the 'we are the grown ups' technocratic response to the Greens is going to work, much as it doesn't with the populist right. There needs to be an actual counter argument that gets at why they are wrong and what the govt wants to do.

I think two questions this raises is the extent to which the modern left has an idea of the common good/really cares about it, and whether 'anti-bedtime leftism' is an expression of left individualism

Tax policy on the British left is pure "anti-bedtime left". Bizarre idea that you can have a big social democratic welfare state without everyone contributing properly www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Failure of imagination from politicians and commentators dismissing any lessons from Mamdani because NYC-style politics wouldn't work in Labour's former heartlands. His launch video was literally going to the more Trump-supporting areas in New York and listening to people.

Labour may then be 'ajar'

Good ideas in this, and Peter right to say there's nothing to lose - crucially trying different things out is needed to find what works authentically for you even if it's not your comfort zone comms wise.

Yep. Also relentless focus on issues that concern a majority of voters, looking like you actually enjoy being around said voters, questioning the worth of old taboos, seeing 'strategic consultants' for what they are, not being scared of old men running old newspapers, and being *funny*.

Think what there is to learn from Mamdani is what applies outside of a New York context. Charismatic candidates who can work the new media environment and attract attention, combining that with listening to what people care about and rooting yourself in that + organising at the grassroots.

Yeah, agree with this and Reeves deserves some credit for owning the argument and proactively doing the pitchrolling for the public and the markets when broadly the government has not been v good at setting the agenda.

Patrick Maguire column identifies Reform's pitch to the petty bourgeoisie. It could be potent too as it'd be fair to say the govt currently lacks a distinctive offer to these workers. They don't often feature strongly in Labour's conception of its people and that shows in policy and comms.

Interesting to compare the Democrats and Labour on this. Klein positions part of the Democrats' problem as the censoriousness of the left reducing the pluralism of the party, and therefore its ability to win in more places.

Would like odds on Southgate for Labour leader within next 10 years

Spoke to the BBC about the drivers of deprivation and the impact on families. There's a clear link between living in hardship & feeling socially/politically disconnected. To make meaningful progress, communities must be involved in decisions affecting their lives. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Awful consequence of Love Island is people treating a discussion about a disagreement as one of those ‘we need a chat’ moments and mimicking all the rhetorical style of it (currently overhearing one such moment in the pub)

Guardian editorial on latest IMD stats. Of course it is right to say that incomes need a boost too. But a mistake to not position policy on place AND incomes / living standards as BOTH pushing in the direction of greater opportunity and good lives for people living in those neighbourhoods.

Walter Lippman quote from 1914 that feels relevant today in a disturbed information environment shaping reality: “We have changed our environment more quickly than we know how to change ourselves”

You'd be selling to the public that you will be sorting out public services and getting child poverty down by the end of this parliament because this is a Labour government. The politics isn't being bashful or half measures.

Reminder www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

What I keep coming back to on the tax pledge is that I never got the sense in the election that anyone believed it in the first place, and some directly said they didn't. The charade is an indictment of our politics but it means I'm not sure it is a fundamental breach of trust that some make out.

Exactly. Politics is not solely the cautious management of numbers.

A lot of good stuff in this and hopefully something the left gets more comfortable speaking about.

The guy is literally knocking about Dalston with an avo tote bag fucking hell

"What marks out those who succumb to self-destructive behaviour is not psychological distress or financial hardship...it is long-term joblessness and social isolation." V good @jburnmurdoch.ft.com column showing importance of the dignity of work and social solidarity in context of AI disruption.

I struggle to envisage a scenario where we don’t go down, at the moment

Good realistic essay by @npjgarland.bsky.social for @powertochange.org.uk. Key bit for me is communities policy being tied into a broader political economy.

The way I'd heard people talk about the 'one in one out' policy they always saw it as a bit of a joke so the front pages today would only confirm to them it *is* a joke.

More senior acknowledgement from Lab of threat from the Greens. Don't think 'peddling false hope' will work - Greens clearly alive to that attack too in some of their messaging around hope. Broadly right on shouting about the good things govt doing, core problem remains whether they cohere.

Said this after Tory conference - look at what the party's 'rising stars' think and say; they do believe it.

Finkelstein's column gets at what I think is Starmer's irreducible core: a desire to win. Only that the past year and a half may have made a shift to that end ineffective. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Our new film argues that community power is the antidote to division and democratic decline. Give communities the power to fix broken Britain from the ground up. 🎥 Watch and share. Read the story behind the film: www.right-here.org/community-po... Film by @tuz0.bsky.social

Response should be faster but I think even a statement is insufficient. On policies like this, should be literally showing to people, platforming them + producing video, of the families who'd be torn apart, the people who'd be deported - make it human. If party doesn't then space for others to.

Rigid, controlling, centralised institutions aren't going to cut it. We need dispersed power, ways of finding common ground and making the most of our disagreements. Good piece on digital democracy.

Think we’ve crossed a pretty major threshold – and a very bad one – if a journalist working in the lobby for a major newspaper group can tweet like this without professional consequences.

My first article for @newstatesman1913.bsky.social is about what Ricky Hatton’s death meant to me personally www.newstatesman.com/culture/spor...

There are lots of teams from Europe with far right and hooligan elements that come and play in England and kick off every year - it doesn't hold up as justification so it's no wonder the decision is being perceived as it is and has (rightly imo) been criticised across most of the political spectrum.

Important to follow this in elections in the run up to our own, both locals and ultimately the GE. Esp given this content is already rife. It doesn't matter that it's not real as it speaks to people's prejudicial truth. Options surely have to be restrict the content and/or challenge that prejudice.

Not sure if will be noticed (by the public) until more control of boats + hotels. There should be an elite awareness that we will drop below 2016 levels in 2025: can reduce further if pressures > gains but narrative of record immig true for 2022-24/5, prob not by 2025-26 bsky.app/profile/jame...

Really interesting piece by James Baggaley on the dangers of policy without people - and the real divide within Labour: www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

Interesting to see this recognised by No.10 especially given implicit to the current strategy is that these voters will come back when push comes to shove vs. Reform.

Yeah. It should be an animating concern of this government, consistently. It's retail and tangible, at the same time as being foundational to having the freedom to choose how you live, and live a good life with dignity and respect (as well as other aspects of the govt's policy agenda).

There are two democratising visions of Labour's future beginning to emerge. One is embodied by Mahmood and is primarily about the state's power and credibility to exercise the political will - perceived or otherwise - of 'the people' that is distilled by the issues with the border.

observer.co.uk/news/columni... spot on here by @kenanmalik.bsky.social

Finally got round to reading this, everyone should. It is excellent. And speak to anyone in their teens if you need convincing that the left is ceding this ideological battleground. Not just on cultural issues, but everything from economic aspiration to ideas of the good life.

Nice defence and extolling of the UK's culture and traditions in the FT by Tristram Hunt, pleading someone tells that story. Given that 'collision between the past and present' I think this is fertile ground for the left to develop a thicker patriotism. www.ft.com/content/6cc5...

Reading @londoncentric.media and reflecting on how everything wrong with Britain can be seen through Deliveroo: - much of the economy is fraudulent - people don’t go outside - workers are underpaid and insecure - the immigration system is broken - society is being eroded by Big Tech

Just came across a relic from 2021