Interesting analysis with some proper detail and work behind it. Worth a read.

Rare to see sensible comment on housing policy.

I'm appalled by politicians and the media who think it's perfectly acceptable for a sitting Labour MP to stand down to enable a sitting Labour Mayor to stand down in order to contest the ensuing by-election. No wonder people have no faith in politicians or the media. So disrespectful to voters.

While I don't want a Labour leadership challenge because I'm not sure any of the others will be much better and I'm not a fan of the kind of political chaos it will cause, I am enjoying the frustration from Andy Burnham seeing yet another chance to become PM slip through his fingers.

"Them? I didn't know they were noble?" said Io. "They're all very rich and have had millions of people butchered or tortured to death merely for reasons of expediency and pride" said the Lady. The watching gods nodded solemnly. That was certainly noble behaviour.

I need to manipulate the Bluesky algorithm into giving me much less US internal politics. There was some kind of decision on a case about voting rights this week and its clogging up my feed. I don't care about domestic US politics as I don't live there. I need to convince Bluesky of this.

Interesting how the discourse over trans women in elite sport has changed over time. A few years ago the guardian would have been horrified at considering publishing an opinion article like this. Now they published this alongside an opposite one by Moira Quinn - two opposing views.

The founding fathers in the USA were very taken with the Roman Republic, and it figured heavily in their debates about structures for the new United States republic. It's interesting there are so many parallels with what's happening today in the USA and the events in its final 50 years.

Hard to describe how disappointed I am that Starmer hasn't been better as PM. The latest mess with the appointment of Mandelson as ambassador is an example. He's dissembled and wittered on about process. Just tell the truth:

Do you know who is very happy that the UK has binned (for now) the legislation giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius? The great majority of Chagossians and their descendants. They don't want this deal to go ahead and have been roundly ignored by the UK government.

More disingenuous research being parroted by journalists who fail to read the report and question the assumptions for a cheap headline. Lots of things here, the first one being the quote of 8-9% profit for firms in the UK. Yes, but that's not like for like. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

@thisisyourparty.bsky.social now expelling members of other left groups, completing the usual splintering of very left politics. My politics don't align with theirs, but if you're on the very left, don't bother with Corbyn and Sultana's dumpster fire, just join the Greens

Seeing lots of online mentions about introducing wealth taxes in the UK with figures in the multiple billions of revenue. For those of us pushing back, its not because: - We are billionaires (if I was I wouldn't be on here, I'd be whizzing around italy in my limited edition Ferrari)

Not generally one to boycott anything, but I will be boycotting watching the World Cup this summer in the USA. It's no hardship, I don't like football and won't be watching anyway, but I get to virtue signal this one for free. #Aren'tIBrave

One thing the war in Iran has done is exploded the myth of international law. Doesn't exist, never did. It's just the law of the strongest, the law of the victor. It's unenforceable, so so isn't a law at all. The legalistic view of international relations is bullshit.

Seeing a lot of discussion about Zack Polanski dancing on the stage in Trafalgar square after the march on Saturday. I think it says a lot about the deeply unserious nature of politics at the moment that its a significant topic of conversation, rather than policy positions.

I have seen lots of enthusiastic posting about what a great idea this is. And don't get me wrong, I get the frustration with electricity prices spiking so high when gas prices rise. But so far I've seen far too many half baked solutions being thrown around that don't really add up. 🔌💡 (1/12)

Some really important lessons for NESO on the management of the UK electricity grid over the coming years in the report on the Iberian grid failure last year www.entsoe.eu/publications... Blythe statements that it was or wasn't caused by renewables miss the important facts.

The biggest blocker to much greater use of renewables in the UK energy system is the lack of a serious energy storage strategy. Batteries are only going to play at the margins, balancing local demand and helping voltage regulation.

Where has that England performance been all championship? An epic six nations game that.

If we could all not start a world war and blow ourselves up before April 14th, that would be great. The next book in the new James SA Corey series, The Faith of Beasts, is due to be published then.

One of the interesting things about the UK electricity grid at the moment is that if you *just* want cheap bills, it's likely that coal is still the answer. Our grid is still designed around a few large generators rather than distributed, theres 200 years or so of supply still in the UK...

Qatar has shut down its LNG plant. This is going to get very tricky for all of Europe unless we can get it and the Strait of Hormuz open again very quickly

The bizarre BBC obsession with the USA continues. Headlines just now - a storm about to arrive in New York was given far more time than SEND reform in the UK. Minutes on a live press conference in New York about a travel ban today. Has New York suddenly become part of the UK???

Went to watch I'm Sorry Prime Minister at the London Apollo this week. Quite disappointed - some good quips and links back to the TV series, but too much of it was cliche and old men shout at clouds, with none of the classic scheming and machinations that made the series so good.

I don't want him to die, but if he does it will be entirely on him and his choices. And the idea that the government relented on the MoD contract for Elbit systems because of the hunger strike is laughable. They're going to give it to Raytheon, who literally make bombs and missiles dropped on Gaza.

Tower Hamlets LTN decision is an interesting one for London's democracy. I think this significantly clarifies / strengthens the power of the London Mayor. Unlike parliament, which can't be held by its predecessors, a local Mayor can't go back on previous agreements. #LTN

Holy moly, an article on rare earths that actually has some useful and accurate info in it. Read it, it'll expand your understanding no end.

Out of the paywall for today only: China has implemented new export controls for rare earth minerals and magnets. The changes could upend the shift to electric vehicles. Read more from @abigailbassett.bsky.social:

The juxtaposition between the judgement in the Darlington nurses case and Sandie Peggy case at first glance (without being able to read the judgement yet) suggests this is not an area of law that is yet well settled. That is a failure of politics and politicians, not the courts.

Dear BBC. I am confused. I went onto BBC.co.uk/news and it wasn't full of stories on what's happening domestically in the USA. It actually had UK stories at the top. Have you actually remembered you mostly serve a UK audience?

I haven't voted Tory since 2004 (Stephen Norris in the London mayoral election - Ken didn't give a toss about the outer boroughs), but I'm not happy to see the continuing implosion of the Tory party. I think our system needs a centre right party, and the Tories are increasingly not it.

Thought this was a measured take on the recent wind power auction. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Sir Paul Nurse one of a rare breed of public figures willing to set a principle and stick by it. Is Musk a tosser ? Of course, but fellows are elected to the royal society for their achievement, not whether they are a nice person or hold the right views www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Octopus clearly have some high sales targets for their electric vehicle arm. Several emails already after new year (they're on my employers salary sacrifice scheme). I'll get an electric car when public charging when towing isn't a complete pain in the arse.

I have no idea why the BBC and other UK mass media outlets are spending so much time on alleged police malfeasance in a foreign country. How is the way federal agents in the USA conduct themselves domestically of any relevance in the UK?

Trump's text to Putin this morning: THIS is what a special military operation looks like

Thought this was an interesting summary of the state of the big questions in physics at the end of 2025. My knowledge isn't good enough to say whether it's true or not, but it seems to make a coherent case that the standard model is still standing bigthink.com/starts-with-...

Not a fan on this kind of catastrophising, especially when based on RCP8.5 - the BBC even ran a podcast recently on why RCP8.5 shouldn't be used in climate modelling (more or less, 13th Dec). Seems like a waste of academic money and time just to get a headline www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Being the dull geek that I am, I've been following politics in Venezuela for a while. Trump's actions are terrible, but before you get too sorry for Venezuela, look up what they have been doing with Guyana and their claims on the Essequibo region www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You must do as I say or I'll kill myself. In a relationship it's coercive control. But also a valid political tactic if you're a supporter of a proscribed organisation apparently.

The laziest and most pointless political stories written by journalists start 'xxy fails to rule out' or 'xyz fails to condemn'. If that's the best you have from the huge realm of topics and stories you could write, please do us a favour and find another job.

Very frustrated that the Government is hiding the efficacy statistics behind facial recognition. I don't see any operational reasons to not be clear with the public what it's error rates etc are so we can judge whether we are happy for the police to use it and pressure our politicians accordingly.

Today some poor junior staffer woke up wondering if putting the wrong publish time on the budget document in their website CMS has ended their career before it has begun. One phrase for you OBR - 'four eyes check for critical things'

The decision of the FtTJ, overturned a couple of weeks ago by this judgement (tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/ui-202...) in the case of the German drug dealer illustrates what people miss with an overly legalistic critique of arguments against the ECHR.

Smooth operator did the job for Williams today. Probably a grid penalty coming, but still big opportunity for tomorrow's race. #f1

www.theguardian.com/environment/... Expect to see this study misused and misquoted in a social media post near you. It covered a total of ..... 7 homes. Out of 12 on the development. I'm not against the study, the new standard or heat pumps. I'm against stupid headlines that mislead.

Apparently non-violent action in support of Palestine includes hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer when they are already on the floor. Peaceful protest indeed.

When your political communication strategy for the budget aims to ensure stability, but the merest hint of what may be a change in one part of tax raising measures in your budget means gilt yields increase immediately by 10 basis points, you might want to try a different approach.

Little disappointed that there are few stories out there about the Scottish Government planning to issue its own bonds next year. Significant change in devolution settlement. But then it requires more effort than writing about whatever deranged thing Trump has written on Truth Social this week.