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/...

Example number 20079: why making a crazy uprating mechanism into an untouchable shibboleth creates a totally irrational system.

“We studied more than 70 different elections that took place in 12 western European countries over several decades, and found that when mainstream parties take more anti-immigration positions, it leads to more support for the radical right, not less.”

A short piece for @ukandeu.bsky.social looking at Reform’s proposal to end ILR - a gamble that may backfire as it is way out of line with public opinion. Just 3% of voters back permanently excluding migrants from access to the welfare state as Farage proposes to do ukandeu.ac.uk/reforms-radi...

This country made significant progress against racism in my lifetime - but we did not do so by chance. There is a visible visceral regression in experiencing of overt racism because the toxic fringe with the most extreme views have a sense of permission & impunity www.easterneye.biz/racism-in-uk...

Just a cosy little human interest feature chatting to people who went to support a far right racist criminal thug What on earth is the BBC up to?

"the hard data suggests that the largest of the UK’s very real problems are no more being caused by mass immigration than they are by a group of charity fundraisers rowing past Great Yarmouth" on.ft.com/3IsyVVu @timharford.ft.com with his facts and reasonableness

Nancy Pelosi’s husband was brutally attacked in an act of political violence. She never called for revenge. The left didn’t seek violence against the right. She’s urging the opposite: calm the rhetoric, listen to our better angels, and stop the slide into chaos.

💡 🔍 We are pleased to share our second Impact and Insights Report, focusing on Work Pathways.

The total lack of basic journalistic professionalism of this BBC story - summarising Farage proposals with (at time of writing) no attempt to include the views of other parties, refugee advocates etc www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

63% of people think net migration rose in the last 12 months 8% of people think it fell Yet it fell by 400,000 in 2024 vs 2023 [It is falling further in 2025] Public service broadcasters are doing a core part of their job on this topic badly if that 8% is not closer to 30% at least

"trees maintain a cooler temperature than the surrounding urban surfaces as much as 15 degrees in the hottest times of the day" Trees are a quieter way to cool our cities - on.ft.com/3Jpv8Zg via @financialtimes.com

Nature show, Glasgow Southside.

Disappointingish @ONS inflation data this morning with CPI up 3.8% in July (3.6% in June), slightly above market expectations. Some of this is erratic airfares, but UK is increasingly looking like an inflation outlier. Thread on on all that to follow…

💥 Despite concerted anti-DEI efforts, 80% of business leaders still view DEI as an essential business strategy, and 80% of workers still support their organization's DEI efforts. Companies are retooling and renaming DEI, but it’s not going away. www.forbes.com/sites/michel...

Happy Anniversary to my favourite Twitter interaction

Spider-Man makes a young fan's day by waving back to him during filming in Glasgow. Filming on Spider-Man: Brand New Day in the city centre has attracted thousands of onlookers since it began at the start of August. 𝘝𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘖: 𝘔𝘊𝘔 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 (𝘮𝘤𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮)

I want to come back properly on this Economist piece that questions Britain's approach to net zero. It gets three things wrong imo: 1. Ignoring periods of v cheap renewable energy 2. Misdiagnosing the relative costs of renewables 3. Looking backwards, not forwards.

New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation

I think spaces of associational life the pub/the water cooler at work/sports match lend themselves much more to gentle “come off it” moments and rise of home working/cost of living making socialising too unaffordable/loss of social confidence are all exacerbating “you’re so right”

🔥 “The data is clear: shareholders overwhelmingly support inclusion because they understand the economics. Inclusive teams drive better returns, stronger governance, and long-term value creation. That’s not politics. That’s performance.” - Katica Roy www.governance-intelligence.com/shareholders...

Closing this Monday: seeking three independent members for two governance Committees @therobertsontrust.bsky.social Take a look and apply via our partners at Nurole 👇💡

A small pilot with big potential: introducing GLAD, a new initiative to support emerging grassroots leaders with their social change goals in Scotland. Read Zoe Ferguson's blog and see the recruitment details for a Project Lead role for the next three years (0.6 FTE) here 👇

“Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week.” City engineer credits lower speed limits and smart design. I agree. #Helsinki #VisionZero

A different way of practicing politics is possible - where we vigorously fight for what’s right while inviting people into our coalition, rather than pushing them away.

Read the full Voices story 👇 www.therobertsontrust.org.uk/news-and-blo... #PovertySolutions #FinancialSecurity #Scotland #SocialImpact

In our latest Voices feature, Teresa Sutherland from CHAI, shares powerful insights into how redefining success metrics and shifting towards quality-based targets, rather than purely numerical performance targets, can be part of the solution to achieving meaningful and lasting change.