Latest Substack. Quite long. But some pictures. But long. open.substack.com/pub/mbatangs...

Sadiq Khan tells La Repubblica that a vote for Labour at the next election should be "a vote to rejoin the European Union" – this debate will now run and run.

Reeves says in her Mais lecture that “Brexit did deep damage” and that “our fate as a country is inescapably bound with that of Europe”. This is the most pro-European speech a cabinet minister has given since 2016.

"We can't keep loading costs on to this generation and expect them to turn up for us". Excellent column by @chriscurtis94.bsky.social on why Labour needs a reset with younger people. www.ft.com/content/53f6...

Farewell, @georgeeaton.bsky.social! A bonus episode with my now former colleague who I first chatted to on the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social podcast 12 years ago!

The Lib Dems embrace Anglo-Gaullism on nuclear weapons. There’s another world in which it’s the Tories or Reform leading this push. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Very good news that the government has accepted the Fingleton Review on nuclear power in full. It’s the exact repudiation of Clegg’s 2010 view that nuclear is “not even an answer”. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Welfare spending has risen by 0.9% of GDP since 2007-08, that’s a shift but the idea it’s “ballooned” is overdone. Lack of growth has been a far bigger problem.

“$100 a barrel for first time since X” discussions rarely adjust for inflation Which is odd Site here lets you do so, with mildly soothing results www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-o...

Good, but wild how long it took for this issue to get political attention. One problem was a narrow fixation by critics with tuition fees rather than the actual system.

The 1980s North Sea oil windfall went on tax cuts and unemployment benefit instead of being invested by a sovereign wealth fund – a fact Reform et al never mention.

Quite a timely moment to revisit Keir Starmer’s 2003 op-ed against the Iraq war: “The problem for the government is one of credibility”. www.theguardian.com/politics/200...

Why is Dubai discourse so rich? Class identities all mangled and so everyone thinks they are punching up and letting rip. Full column 🫵 www.economist.com/britain/2026...

British politics has never looked more European than it does right now.

The idea the North Sea is some great goldmine waiting to be tapped is entirely at odds with reality.

This is one of the best Gorton and Denton post mortems I've read, and it's two possibly winning trajectories for Labour - a centre-left quasi-alliance with the Lib Dems or a Burnham supremacy - are really well argued. By @residentadviser.bsky.social mbatangspeaks.substack.com/p/after-gort...

Seeing lots attribute this to Brexit. No, it’s the natural consequence of Reeves’ decision to make labour more expensive and capital cheaper (“shock therapy” as some Labour MPs call it).

I promised myself that I’d make a bit more effort to share what I’m working on this year, so I’ve started posting on Substack. If you like my work, please do subscribe for very infrequent updates on what I’m writing / reading: open.substack.com/pub/hettieve...

Yep- and wind is already pushing more expensive gas plants off the grid. Prices would have been 1/3 higher in 2024 without wind eciu.net/analysis/rep...

The main reason UK energy prices are so high is not net zero but the fact the price of gas still sets the price of electricity. Breaking that link should be the priority.

Notable that Reeves denounced Brexit for “cutting us off from our closest trading partners” – political and economic logic points to European integration.

There's a big gap in British politics for a Gaullist/Americosceptic right.

Green surge was inevitable now the “wasted vote” argument no longer holds. Labour will need to offer positive reasons to think again rather than simply saying Greens couldn’t win an election.

Sobering to think that we would have joined a reckless war in the middle east over the weekend had Badenoch or Farage been PM. And we would be refusing to embrace an energy transition away from reliance on a deeply unstable region. Starmer's sobriety definitely an asset in the last few days.

£100k childcare cliff edge and 62% marginal rate (71% with student loan) will soon get more attention.

Useful discussion of various scenarios for oil price and inflation. Roughly: $80 per barrel: no problem $100: 0.7pp ish on inflation. Difficult for BoE $120+: bad news all round www.ft.com/content/31bf...

Notable that Farage has stopped mentioning real electoral reform ever since first-past-the-post started working in Reform’s favour.

No mystery why the Danish Social Democrats have called an early election. You can see the Greenland/Trump effect a mile off.

My column on the afterlife of churches in this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social:

It’s not. Its political results are that of a standard European democracy in 2026, mediated through a worse electoral system.

Wrote last year on why Labour attacking the Greens as “nuts” and “wacky” would alienate precisely the voters it needs. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

One final Morning Call from @georgeeaton.bsky.social, and what a day to go out on! On the “existential” challenge to Labour of the left-right pincer movement, as evidenced by the Green’s victory today - and why Starmer is starting to resemble Rishi Sunak www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

I wrote this a month ago on the threat to Labour of a Green victory – an insider described it to me then as an “existential risk”. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

The Greens finished second to Labour in 39 seats in 2024 – the party should have been far more alert to the threat on its left from the very start.

I wrote this a month ago on the threat to Labour of a Green victory – an insider described it to me then as an “existential risk”. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Insightful reflections here at the close of a long & distinguished innings. V best of luck to George for the next chapter

After 17 years at the New Statesman, I leave with a renewed faith in the power of ideas By @georgeeaton.bsky.social

Lovely, wise and touching farewell column from George Eaton, who is leaving the NS after 17 years! He has been a brilliant colleague and I'm going to miss him hugely

Some personal news: after 17 wonderful years at the New Statesman I’ve decided it’s time for something new. Grateful to brilliant colleagues past and present. Here’s my farewell column from this week’s magazine. www.newstatesman.com/comment/2026...

Some personal news: after 17 wonderful years at the New Statesman I’ve decided it’s time for something new. Grateful to brilliant colleagues past and present. Here’s my farewell column from this week’s magazine. www.newstatesman.com/comment/2026...

Reform’s risky right turn Vowing to scrap new workers’ and renters’ rights could repel Labour voters By @georgeeaton.bsky.social

Reform’s risky right turn – why its vow to repeal new workers’ and renters’ rights is a gift to Labour. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Starmer says the student loan system is “broken” and that “we will look at ways of making it fairer”. This is a big win for those who’ve written about it for years (I first raised it in 2021). www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

Wes Streeting put the case against freezing student loan thresholds very well in 2015. www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

Will Labour U-turn on student loans? The threshold freeze will become ever harder to defend 📫 Today’s Morning Call, with @georgeeaton.bsky.social

So much that could be said on the 4th anniversary of the full scale invasion, but it all just boils down to the ultimate admiration for Ukrainians who have endured so much, fought so hard and deserve victory, peace and prosperity. Slava Ukraini!

Until 1990, university students used to be able to claim unemployment benefit during the summer holidays.

Can Bridget Phillipson avoid a Send revolt? The Education Secretary has learned from the government’s failures by making a principled case for reform Today's Morning Call, with @georgeeaton.bsky.social

Bridget Phillipson has learned from past Labour revolts by making a principled case for Send reform rather than just a fiscal one. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Reminded of a No 10 source talking a year ago of “becoming more like France” and economically that’s exactly where we’ve headed. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...