‘Contra the narrow focus of policymakers on Stem subjects or coding, now more than ever our economy rewards broad skillsets: team players, problem solvers, good communicators and creative thinkers.’ @jburnmurdoch.ft.com www.ft.com/content/5e25...

Have just subscribed to this AI/jobs newsletter and it's excellent The AI Shift: What millions of job ads reveal about AI displacement - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @sarahoconnorft.ft.com @jburnmurdoch.ft.com

Very good piece by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com.... The US under Trump 2.0 has shifted towards authoritarianism as record speed but unlike other examples (e.g. Putin, Orban) it's happened by bypassing institutions rather than permanently corrupting them... www.ft.com/content/b474...

Great piece from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social, which touches on one of the big theories for why English-speaking countries do especially badly at housebuilding: Adversarial and litigious common law systems (Anglo) vs judge-led civil law systems elsewhere. samf.substack.com/p/build-the-...

Such a good piece today from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com which shows that the declining graduate premium is very much a UK problem rather than a general (or inevevitable) consequence of more people going to uni www.ft.com/content/649d...

Pulp's version of The Day Before You Came has got me returning to one of my favourite topics.

You dont win 'em all! Reform's Matt Goodwin in Sunday Times: 'Most .. people criticising me are nerds.The last thing I want is to be at some dinner party table with Nick Robinson & Mary Beard. I'd rather shoot myself in the head'. Hang on, I'm not THAT bad!Nerds sometimes have a (thoughtful!) point.

This is one beautifully crafted essay by Allan Little on the outlook for 'middle powers' amid the "rupture rather than transiiton" identified by Mark Carney in Davos. Signals to make sense of the noise. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Our third Impact and Insights report, focused on Education Pathways, is now available 🔍💡 www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/impact-...

Small Grant holders can now apply for £2k–£10k through our Supporting Resilience Fund. Strengthen leadership, systems, finances, and staff wellbeing to help your organisation stay strong. 👉 www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/support...

Twelve projects aimed at delivering deep, long‑term systems change to reduce poverty and trauma in Scotland - through the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections and beyond - will share £2.2M in funding. Read more about the projects below 👇 www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/beyond-...

Sky News: Danish PM Mette Freideriksen’s note in the visitors book when she visited UK today

The transformation of ICE into a type of national police force, backed, in some cases, by soldiers from the National Guard, has been covered as immigration story—but these forces are reshaping democracy for all of us. Listen to 'Autocracy in America' here: www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

This is a bad headline. But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

What the KENNEDY Center used to be… Remember that time Aretha Franklin performed at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, paying tribute to Carole King, who co-wrote “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman,” and it brought a tear to Obama’s eye and everyone to their feet? And Carole King’s reaction. Wow.

#ArtistFaveXmas Day 5 ABBA - One Of Us 1981's Christmas chart was full of Christmas Adjacent magic. This was ABBA at their brilliant darkest best. Merry f***ing Christmas youtu.be/IIKAe8Wi0S0?...

Quite the chart. www.ft.com/content/30a4...

It is a bad idea for the Commonwealth Games to not be free to air. Glasgow 2026 may struggle for impact and visibility as a result of preferring this bid www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...

Dog-whistle and factually incorrect. Ladies, raise your hand if you were sexually assaulted by a boy at school? I’d wager this or a family member is most women’s first experience of sexual violence

I’m a single issue voter and my issue is that those busses that bend in the middle should make accordion noises

The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow

New Vacancy: HR Business Partner Join us and help shape a people-centred, values-driven culture. The closing date for applications is 12pm, Friday 12th December 👇 www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/vacancy...

@therobertsontrust.bsky.social has awarded us £30,000 per annum for three years to develop the core of our work and create a more financially resilient Scotland. 1/3

📢 New guest blog from Kailen Budge Third Sector Lab: How The Curve – free for Robertson Trust grantholders – helps charities save time, build confidence & strengthen frontline work. 15k+ joined since 2020. Learn more: www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/the-cur...

This is very cool -- three Amazon buildings in downtown Seattle are heated this way -- but you can't do it with the bloated, gigantic 1GW data centers they're trying to build these days. Gotta break them into smaller pieces.

Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free. Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.

Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy. OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty

"By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%" Read the Stanford report: siepr.stanford.edu/publications...

Great piece by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com about the weird hollowing out of the UK tax system, how it compares with Scandinavia (vastly MORE progressive), and the strange reluctance of anyone in politics to talk about this truth. on.ft.com/4abEiUj

Our new research, in partnership with @trusselluk.bsky.social & @opfs.org.uk using Scotland data from @citizensadvicescot.bsky.social & @stepchange.bsky.social, confirms the impact of the public debt crisis is most often felt by women as they are more often caring for children.

This ⬇️ Lifting the 2 child limit is the single most effective thing the Chancellor can do to reduce child poverty & give kids a decent start in life. Labour promised to end the need for emergency food & tackle child poverty. Ending the 2CL would be a big step to delivering those promises.

This is good news. But the framing that moves to reduce poverty are simply backbench tantrums is bizarre revisionism. The govt has manifesto commitments to reduce foodbank use and MPs and members have a deep commitment to reduce poverty & improve social mobility. Strange to ignore that.

Metaphorically and, it turns out, literally.

Here’s a snapshot of the pillars guiding Change Takes Trust to 2028. 🌟 Watch this space for stories, blogs, and insights from partners and staff ⤵️ therobertsontrust.us8.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

And play it in repeat...until the root cause and consequences, especially for low and middle income households, are recognised and serious plans are put in place.

Watch our CEO Jim McCormick introduce Change Takes Trust and explain how it will guide our work over the next three years

Our brand has evolved alongside Change Takes Trust. Progressive Heritage honours our past while showing who we are today. We’re excited to share this alongside the launch of our new plan. www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/introdu...

Introducing Change Takes Trust – our new delivery plan to 2028. Read CEO Jim McCormick’s blog: www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news/introdu...

Another fantastic new stylized fact from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - stable or declining NEET rates in many developed economies have been driven by a decline in parenting. The share neither studying, in work, looking for work, *or parenting* has marched up steadily since 2000. www.ft.com/content/bd61...

The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think. New piece from me. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

📒 Government published Sir Charlie Mayfield's ‘Keep Britain Working’ report today. An ambitious framework for how employers can support workers in ill-health. Focus must be here to shift the dial on employment of disabled people & benefit spend, not cutting people's benefits. 🧵

Some bright news as @juliaunwin.bsky.social is named as the UK Government's preferred candidate to become Chair of the Charity Commission for England and Wales (link below) 👏🔥💡

Screaming into the void "It's called guising!"

No elections in Scotland this week but this is very important content from Ireland in the race for the Áras.

That's racism. Plain and simple. No other word for it. It's shocking beyond belief that this sort of thing is somehow acceptable.

📊 Latest inflation figures published this morning show that CPI inflation sat at 3.8% for September. Why does this month's figure matter more? The government will use it to inform how much to uprate benefits by from April 2026. 🔽

It’s genuinely funny that Jenrick thinks 1980s football hooliganism was largely good-natured fun.

We’re pleased to announce £379K in Programme Awards for seven ambitious projects with the potential to create lasting change in poverty and trauma in #Scotland.

Another reason the government must unfreeze Local Housing Allowance and create a reliable link with rents. We really don’t want to see these numbers continuing to climb.

Growing the green economy makes good sense. Growing the fossil fuel economy so that predatory corporations can make more money doesn't. www.theguardian.com/environment/...