Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart. Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point. Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.

My £1bn idea on Premium Bonds. Free to read, timleunig.substack.com/p/how-to-sav...

If sustained growth is the aim, the UK has to lift more children out of poverty Better grades in school will lead to higher wages, more tax revenue and less welfare spending for the next generation. @timleunig.bsky.social https://bit.ly/3KySGew

Isn't this a function of housing costs? Private renters in work on quite high incomes get universal credit in London

My most centrist dad take is that most governing politicians deserve sympathy because almost every policy that's actually any good for the country is unpopular, and almost every popular policy is probably bad. Johnson's Brexit approach was far worse than Chequers IMHO but 20ppts more popular 1/

My letter in today's FT - on housing supply

Sensible ideas to speed up planning from @timleunig.bsky.social. I would go further. Councils/Gov should compulsorily buy up strategic land - a public land bank - at market price plus premium. Then auction off chunks to be built to an agreed timescale and design. open.substack.com/pub/timleuni...

This post was requested by the photographer, and as my friends know, I always do what I am told...

A delight to attend Victoria Bateman's latest book launch yesterday, in the rather grand surroundings of the National Portrait Gallery.

I met Bob Worcester as a student. But only was he a legend even then, but he was also a lovely man, generous with his time.

📝 Far fewer teachers now say Ofsted's move to ditch headline grades was 'positive' amid concern over the watchdog's new inspection plan, a Teacher Tapp poll has found schoolsweek.co.uk/fewer-teache...

we revealed in FT two years ago that Mandelson stayed at Epstein's luxury house in Manhattan while the financier was in jail for soliciting a minor he was deputy prime minister at the time always seemed weird that broadcasters didn't really pick this up at the time www.ft.com/content/0723...

great piece by @sarahoconnorft.ft.com in FT today, on EVIDENCE on wide spread part time working in the Netherlands (more interesting than I have made it sound!) www.ft.com/content/7b61...

I am sure that there exist searches that do yield the right result. But I stand by my claim that you should be able to go to gov.uk and get the right result, without having to click links that prima facie do not apply to your situation even if it turns out that they do.

The best take on Raynergate is @timleunig.bsky.social's: timleunig.substack.com/p/angela-ray...

Today my free to read substack discusses the policy implications from Angela Rayner's house purchase - timleunig.substack.com/p/angela-ray...

That could be a whole book, sadly

Well said!

Government wants to deliver growth everywhere with its 'Plan for Change'. It must recognise that policy impacting universities without considering the impact on place may cut across this. Some may be small on a national scale, but large on a local one. See our full report 'Town and Gown' here 👇

Why? Unis are big international exporters in their cities - they bring in overseas student fees and spending. 9 of top 10 English cities where universities are most important for exports are outside the Greater South East. Leicester will feel this far more than Oxford.

It is not true that this view pervades HM Treasury. VAT rose from 15 to 20 c 2010, for example, and we had the National insurance rise to pay for care and then the employer rise.

Constructive challenge/pushback to HMT from No 10 is essential to good economic policy - @guardianheather.bsky.social with quotes from me and @timleunig.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

What lessons can we draw from Ebbsfleet new town, and what policy lessons does the government need to take, right now, to support growth? My 650 word substack (free trial or £ to Against Malaria Foundation). timleunig.substack.com/p/ashes-to-a...

You are best off reading her published work, including a book a year or so back.

Appointing Minouche Shafik as economic adviser to the PM shows an excellent level of ambition and seriousness on the part of the government. She is also a very nice person.

@timleunig.bsky.social has great point about Darlington's £100milstation upgrade, which would be enough in other countries to electrify the line to Middlesborough. But he misses that mistreating London is the basis of the UK's constitutional order. timleunig.substack.com/p/darlington...

This week my free to read substack calls for social media to be treated the same as old media - and that means including news bulletins. Britain is better when are all better informed. timleunig.substack.com/p/tiktok

A modern car with good adaptive cruise control helps a lot...

Are Pingles crisps or cakes? Pringles said cakes (because they'd be VAT exempt), the courts said crisps. One example among many of our strange and mercurial VAT system, in an interesting piece on tax reform from my clever colleague @timleunig.bsky.social www.nesta.org.uk/blog/fiscal-...

I’m on team ‘VAT (just about) everything @20%, abolish employee NICs, raise benefits (incl. pension) and slash UC taper rate’

I agree with @danneidle.bsky.social, Labour aren't about to slap CGT on the sale of £1.5m homes. As he says, @timleunig.bsky.social's proposals have merit & are worth serious consideration. taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/08/21/l...

This week I have been on TV, radio and across the papers talking about how to reform council tax and above all stamp duty. 1/2

I believe their thinking is based on this paper @timleunig.bsky.social wrote last year. Locally-set property tax on values up to £500,000, nationally set property tax on values over £500,000, w/ exemptions to ease the transition and smooth inequalities. ukonward.com/reports/a-fa...

"All publicity is good publicity". I mean, not quite, but I am delighted that so many people are interested in sensible reform proposals for UK property taxation.

Thank you! :-)

Maybe, just maybe, the UK is going to get serious reform to property taxes...

A very persuasive argument from @timleunig.bsky.social: timleunig.substack.com/p/lgw?public...

Building a new runway at Heathrow is always in the news - and I have written a lot about Heathrow over the years. But other airports matter too. I have written about what the government needs to do about Gatwick this week - (£/free trial) lnkd.in/etqaPP2X

France, Germany & other W European countries have more motorways than us, and (unlike us) keep building more. No wonder growth here is low. #InfrastructureMatters #BuildBabyBuild My substack is free to read: timleunig.substack.com/p/build-more... @uklabour.bsky.social

Me, for @observeruk.bsky.social on the future of Tesla... Free to read! observer.co.uk/news/busines...

This is a key table to understanding public opinion on migration. *When confronted with the real trade offs* people go for protecting the NHS and the economy over reducing migration. The problem as per the rest of the thread is many don't believe those trade offs exist.

Using #solar panels, battery packs, and energy-efficient appliances, the #Stanford professor's all-electric house generates more energy than it uses. “I have not paid an electric bill in eight years,” Mark Jacobson says. www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco... #NetZero #EnergyEfficiency #EnergyTransition

Yes, traffic cameras work, but it's a myth that people hate them! Survey after survey shows that most people support automatic enforcement (and often want more of it). This is a false controversy, fed by a minority of disgruntled drivers & journalists seeking narratives with conflict.

NZ has scrapped its mainly teacher-assessed, highly individualised qualification system in favour of exams and a narrower, knowledge-rich curriculum. Few are mourning the old system, widely seen as unworkable. Teachers' unions are cautiously optimistic. England once again the template for reform.

Our own @hannahritchie.bsky.social has a new book about tackling climate change coming out next month! Called “Clearing the Air”, it covers everything from renewable energy and nuclear power to electric vehicles, heat pumps, minerals, carbon capture, and geoengineering.

Had not expected to have to verify my age to send a message about rail subsidies on Bluesky! The camera took one look at me and decided immediately I was over 18...

This week I have written about rail fares, rail improvement, and value for money on the trains - timleunig.substack.com/p/darlington... (£/free trial)

If you have not already bought @edconway.bsky.social Material world then do so today - one day kindle offer, £1.99 - a steal www.amazon.co.uk/Material-Wor...

Bored? Read this in the @alphaville.ft.com . Funniest thing in ages. HMRC vs action figures: the face off - on.ft.com/3Ob2AlS via @FT

Sometimes social media makes me feel old. I had to google "self-owning". Still, I know I am not a polprof, nor a member of the Labour Right!