I'm in the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social & @renewaljournal.bsky.social today arguing why rejoining the EU Customs Union won't fix Labour's growth woes. The basic reason: UK and European stagnation predate Brexit, and the real challenge is competing with US and Chinese dynamism.

The map below shows how far behind France and Germany we are in mass transit. In France, every place with over 150,000 people has some form of tram or metro. But if mayoral areas can 'become builders' as @tracybrabinmayorwy.bsky.social puts it in the foreword, we can turn this around. 🧵 1/9

🚨 NEW REPORT 🚨 The Alan Turing Institute has visibly struggled, and is now at a critical juncture. The Secretary of State has intervened. What happens next? A new report for @britishprogress.bsky.social by me and @jujulemons.bsky.social sets out a plan: 🧵

🚧 A challenge for this Government, and for Britain: can we build a new runway in under four years? Our answer? YES, but only if ministers use their powers decisively. In a new paper, @labourtogether.bsky.social & @britishprogress.bsky.social set out a plan to let Britain fly 🛫 Here's how:

Full analysis by me and @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social here: britishprogress.org/reports/isa-...

Will throwing more money at British companies actually help our economy? Politicians keep threatening to direct British savings & pensions to UK equities. But this won’t fix the underlying reasons for Britain’s low investment & productivity – and could deliver worse returns. 🧵

🚨 NEW PAPER KLAXON 🚨 @britishprogress.bsky.social's first research report is out! It is all about the Government's announcement of a new defence innovation unit – UK Defence Innovation. Here’s how to build this unit for maximum impact on security and prosperity: 🧵

New episode of THE ABUNDANCE AGENDA! Why we love Luton Airport, and a terrible plan for changing the London Mayoralty. Plus we speak to @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social and @jujulemons.bsky.social about the launch of @britishprogress.bsky.social ! Listen: www.abundancepod.com/p/why-we-lov...

@britishprogress.bsky.social A new project focussing on policies for British growth for the material and social well being of the British people. Very much worth following, and featuring the excellent @ersatzben.bsky.social

Very excited to be working with @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social @jujulemons.bsky.social and team to make the progressive case for growth as a fellow at the new Centre for British Progress @britishprogress.bsky.social

This is an intriguing addition to the centre-left think tank space, with an impressively dynamic leadership - I will be interested to see the ideas they produce!

The @ukdayone.bsky.social election year project has now concluded and is now part of @britishprogress.bsky.social - you can check out our founding essay here... 👀

Also very interesting to note that threaded throughout this excellent essay is the importance of the state in unlocking postal innovation. 👀

I am incredibly proud to be founding @britishprogress.bsky.social with @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social. For the past year, we've been publishing ideas on economic growth and British progress with @ukdayone.bsky.social. This will be a continuation and expansion of that work.

Great to see the team launch the Centre for British Progress today! And fantastic to see people across the political spectrum making the case against Everythingism. Well done @jujulemons.bsky.social, @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social and the rest of the team!

So excited to be joining this team! Can't wait to work with @jujulemons.bsky.social and @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social!

Here is what I've been working on for the last few months: we are launching the Centre for British Progress to make the progressive case for growth. Our founding essay describes how Britain once drove our collective progress, and how we must rediscover this dynamism.

💫 We’re launching the Centre for British Progress Our founding essay: Rediscovering British Progress is a case for growth that drives shared progress, rooted in Britain's values and industrial heritage. It all starts with a postcard from 1870 👇 britishprogress.org/articles/red...

As @aveek18.bsky.social says, the birth rate challenge is too important to be left to the right. My small contribution to this essay collection is on the economics of childcare. Unlike many other parts of the economy, expensive childcare is not primarily a 'supply side' issue... 🧵

Brilliant thread this, even if I would say so. We have quietly built an economic superpower, and people rarely talk about it, mostly driven by snobbery.

What’s so exciting about the Oxford-Cambridge ‘growth corridor’? It’s not just Oxford and Cambridge, which make up less than 15% of the corridor’s GDP. It’s also places like Milton Keynes, one of the most innovative and productive parts of the UK. 🧵

The Sunday Times is right—Milton Keynes is one of the most exciting and innovative places in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. A city built for growth, with the infrastructure, ambition, and economic strength to lead the UK’s next phase of development. www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

First they came for the bats...

Reforming Judicial Review is one of the best things we can do to get 🇬🇧 building. JRs have held up critical infrastructure and cost the taxpayer millions. Delighted to see Starmer making reforms that Gabriel Moberg & I proposed for @ukdayone.bsky.social last year! ukdayone.org/briefings/re...

Yesterday, DSIT announced plans to review pay for digital professionals across the public sector. With an objective to make it 'sustainable and more competitive with the private sector' Here's what they should do (1/7) THREAD www.gov.uk/government/n...

We're hiring! @ukdayone.bsky.social is looking for an exceptional leader to become our Head of Operations. It's a great time to join the team - we are building the next stage of the organisation and looking to the future. Full details here: ukdayone.org/headofopps

UK Day One is an inspiring organisation working to drive UK growth and progress. This is a great opportunity for someone enthusiastic to work with the brilliant @jujulemons.bsky.social and @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social, and make a real difference helping the whole country. ukdayone.org/headofopps

I really enjoyed this IFP Statecraft interview with @andrewgreenway.bsky.social & @pahlkadot.bsky.social, which is surprisingly positive about the potential for UK state capacity. We need more of this! Full interview here: www.statecraft.pub/p/what-can-t...

One of my 2024 highlights was moderating a conversation between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Rory Stewart. Welby resigned three days later, for unrelated reasons. We talk about Trump, AI, vocations and extreme poverty. You can watch the conversation here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzdt...

RIP Jimmy Carter 🫡

One of my wishes for 2025: Labour needs to take forward mandatory animal welfare labelling, which Defra consulted on before the election. Here’s one mock-up:

As the year draws to a close, here are some of my favourite @ukdayone.bsky.social briefings from 2024. I'm so proud of the work of the UKD1 team & all our amazing contributors!

Here are the most appalling clichés of modern political economy writing, that it's possible to read everywhere all the time. 1. Inequality is always getting worse and we never talk about it 1/

A chilling description in the FT of how bureaucratic environmental regulations + government austerity contributed to a lack flood defences in Valencia - where over 200 people have died from flash flooding.

At a panel event and just found out that there apparently "isn't just one single solution to the climate crisis"?? Huge if true.

The fact that recently stagnant European economies can experience dramatic catch-up growth gives me hope for the UK

What do you do when you walk in to find that your 1 year old has somehow switched on GB News?

...but guess which industry is going to be a sticking point in the Government's plans for a closer UK-EU relationship?

New briefing from @ukdayone.bsky.social on how the UK's bankruptcy system holds back innovation and entrepreneurship

ABBA Voyage is worth about 3x the value of the UK fishing industry to the British economy.

Went to the speech this morning. A few thoughts. TL;DR - I thought it was really good, but of course lots of tricky challenges to work through. 🧵

This is a very odd argument from John Springford which seems to get the link between planning and productivity exactly backwards. It's an undersupply of housing in cities which means people can't move to where the most productive jobs are. I don't really understand what he's trying to say here.

"If policymakers have any sense" - @edconway.bsky.social, Material World (strong recommend for the kind of people I think follow me)

This is the kind of industrial strategy even I can get on board with 💪

I worked with Julia Willemyns at UKDayOne on a short response to the government's Industrial Strategy Green Paper consultation. Thread with some of the key points...

I'm sorry to hear this. Lou was an unusually high-agency and focused minister. I'm sure she'll be back before too long.

Labour won’t out-radicalise Reform on immigration.

Climate change costs lives but cheaper energy saves lives. Both are inconvenient truths if you want a neat, ideologically coherent worldview, so most people ignore one. I would love to see an impartial analysis of the overall lives saved from different energy sources.

A question from @davidlawrenceuk.bsky.social I am also going to put to my followers: what are the best books on *UK* immigration?