Reposted by Altreik
The OBR publishing early is bad news for a) the person who carries the can b) the political debate around the OBR but maybe good for those of us who think Budget documents should be published before, not after, the Chancellor speaks as a matter of course when the world doesn't end at 13:30 today?
November 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM
The OBR publishing early is bad news for a) the person who carries the can b) the political debate around the OBR but maybe good for those of us who think Budget documents should be published before, not after, the Chancellor speaks as a matter of course when the world doesn't end at 13:30 today?
Reposted by Altreik
I commend this review which I carried out in 2013. The recommendations remain relevant today. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f09...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
November 26, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I commend this review which I carried out in 2013. The recommendations remain relevant today. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f09...
I think one of the biggest failures has been that the university sector & policy people who benefited from it have completed failed to make the case for the sector.
There is a lot of blame to go around but it’s a really big failure considering how much the sector is worth…
There is a lot of blame to go around but it’s a really big failure considering how much the sector is worth…
With Rachel Reeves reportedly set to apply a new tax on tuition fees paid by overseas students, most Britons support such a move at the previously mooted level of 6%
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
I think one of the biggest failures has been that the university sector & policy people who benefited from it have completed failed to make the case for the sector.
There is a lot of blame to go around but it’s a really big failure considering how much the sector is worth…
There is a lot of blame to go around but it’s a really big failure considering how much the sector is worth…
She really is uniquely terrible.
Kemi Badenoch tells Keir Starmer that he is leading "the first government in history to float increasing income tax rates only to then U-turn on it all after the actual budget".
Starmer: "The Budget is next week"
Starmer: "The Budget is next week"
November 19, 2025 at 12:16 PM
She really is uniquely terrible.
Reposted by Altreik
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
November 17, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
An article which claims the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff, a very busy man, is spending hours of his time with Lord Glasman- a man who wants to deploy the navy in the channel.
www.thetimes.com/article/a4a7...
www.thetimes.com/article/a4a7...
Wes Streeting’s furious call with Morgan McSweeney over ‘coup’ claims
MPs agree that No 10’s dire week is only a prelude to Keir Starmer’s reckoning at elections next year. Can a government paralysed by division last that long?
www.thetimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:25 PM
An article which claims the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff, a very busy man, is spending hours of his time with Lord Glasman- a man who wants to deploy the navy in the channel.
www.thetimes.com/article/a4a7...
www.thetimes.com/article/a4a7...
Really hard to see how this would work- what would happen to the thousands of Syrians in the UK? Would Govt really want a difficult debate every year about essentially deporting people based on a foreign office assessment
Govt policy is there would be temporary, time-limited offers of protection. (People will know that they might go home - which lot would want, in principle, though historically many people also stay)
Govt rhetoric + spin (false, obvs!) is all would be *immediately* returned *the moment* it is safe
Govt rhetoric + spin (false, obvs!) is all would be *immediately* returned *the moment* it is safe
November 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Really hard to see how this would work- what would happen to the thousands of Syrians in the UK? Would Govt really want a difficult debate every year about essentially deporting people based on a foreign office assessment
Reposted by Altreik
Here's a chart of the marginal tax rate for someone with two kids. They pay 53% tax on every £ they earn between £60k and £80k. 62% on every £ they earn between £100k and £125k.
9% more if they've a student loan
This is from our tax calculator: buff.ly/CFoExUX
9% more if they've a student loan
This is from our tax calculator: buff.ly/CFoExUX
November 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Here's a chart of the marginal tax rate for someone with two kids. They pay 53% tax on every £ they earn between £60k and £80k. 62% on every £ they earn between £100k and £125k.
9% more if they've a student loan
This is from our tax calculator: buff.ly/CFoExUX
9% more if they've a student loan
This is from our tax calculator: buff.ly/CFoExUX
At this point I struggle to see why the U.K. shouldn’t just do an Italy and appoint a technocrat who actually believes in making choices and fixing stuff. We are led by a PM whose only North Star is a rapidly increasing poll deficit.
November 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM
At this point I struggle to see why the U.K. shouldn’t just do an Italy and appoint a technocrat who actually believes in making choices and fixing stuff. We are led by a PM whose only North Star is a rapidly increasing poll deficit.
My take is that politically tax rises will be more unpopular and damaging than a lot of people on here think and tax rises are always unpopular but Labour cannot sort out living standards and public services without reaching for the big levers
November 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM
My take is that politically tax rises will be more unpopular and damaging than a lot of people on here think and tax rises are always unpopular but Labour cannot sort out living standards and public services without reaching for the big levers
Great news. They were a Cameronite gimmick which made no sense and just confused people about who is responsible for policing.
Police and crime commissioners to be abolished, government to announce
Police and crime commissioners to be abolished, government to announce
System introduced in 2012 across England and Wales has faced criticism from police chiefs
*
UK politics live – latest updates
The controversial system of police and crime commissioners is to be abolished by the government, the Guardian has learned.
Under the system, introduced under the Conservatives, all 43 police forces covering local areas across England and Wales had to answer to an elected official. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Great news. They were a Cameronite gimmick which made no sense and just confused people about who is responsible for policing.
This is a classic ‘the person you hate the most is doing a bid to get rid of the leader… please support us’- Mays team did it by claiming Grant Shapps was leading a coup! There’s a reason they’re talking up Wes.
Exc - Downing Street has launched an extraordinary operation to protect Keir Starmer amid fears among the prime minister’s closest allies that he is vulnerable to a leadership challenge in the wake of the budget.
From @pippacrerar.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
From @pippacrerar.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Starmer allies say ousting PM would be ‘reckless’ as fears grow over leadership challenge
Exclusive: No 10 said to be in ‘full bunker mode’ over fears of challenge after this month’s budget or May local elections
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 PM
This is a classic ‘the person you hate the most is doing a bid to get rid of the leader… please support us’- Mays team did it by claiming Grant Shapps was leading a coup! There’s a reason they’re talking up Wes.
Really enjoying @alanallport.bsky.social new book on Britain in WW2- enjoyed this lament from Alan Brooke about ‘woke soft Britain’… in 1942!
November 11, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Really enjoying @alanallport.bsky.social new book on Britain in WW2- enjoyed this lament from Alan Brooke about ‘woke soft Britain’… in 1942!
Reposted by Altreik
The BBC will fuck things up from time to time. Lots of major news organisations do; just look at The Times having to memoryhole several fake news stories in a matter of weeks.
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UK newspaper editor calls Bill de Blasio fake interview blunder ‘humiliating’
A Times associate editor reportedly addressed situation in an email to staff, saying: ‘We should have been on our guard’
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The BBC will fuck things up from time to time. Lots of major news organisations do; just look at The Times having to memoryhole several fake news stories in a matter of weeks.
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Altreik
FYI, I've fleshed out some recent comments on Tesco bashing into a blog... 🤔✍️
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
FYI, I've fleshed out some recent comments on Tesco bashing into a blog... 🤔✍️
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
Reposted by Altreik
Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community.
Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
October 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community.
Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.
It is low turnout but that is including the huge number of trade union affiliates who never vote.
BREAKING: Lucy Powell is elected Labour’s deputy leader
October 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
It is low turnout but that is including the huge number of trade union affiliates who never vote.
No surprise given the political and editorial bent of both the Times and Sunday Times. Increasingly it’s becoming no different in its ideology to the Telegraph.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak is joining The Sunday Times as a columnist, starting 26 October. He will contribute a weekly column to the Business section on subjects including business, technology, politics and the economy
October 21, 2025 at 9:33 AM
No surprise given the political and editorial bent of both the Times and Sunday Times. Increasingly it’s becoming no different in its ideology to the Telegraph.
A lot of coverage about Labour doing badly fails to to say that they do not have a single retail (pardon the pun) policy on this- it’s a complex issue but still hard to expect people to vote for the governing party when 500g of 5% mince costs £5 from cheaper supermarkets
👀"Butter, milk, beef, chocolate and coffee accounted for about 40 per cent of the increase in food prices over the past year. Prices for these items rose by an average of 15.6 per cent in the year to August, compared with 2.8 per cent for other foods."
Five staples fuelling UK food inflation as climate risks rise, study finds
Findings challenge narrative that food price growth is being driven by higher taxes and wage costs
www.ft.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM
A lot of coverage about Labour doing badly fails to to say that they do not have a single retail (pardon the pun) policy on this- it’s a complex issue but still hard to expect people to vote for the governing party when 500g of 5% mince costs £5 from cheaper supermarkets
Reposted by Altreik
A really good thread and this does matter- it’s the same reason why assisted dying became unpopular and why the bill was a mess.
1/ Whatever you think of digital ID, the process matters.
And in 2025, this is still how we make big public policy. 👇
And in 2025, this is still how we make big public policy. 👇
September 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
A really good thread and this does matter- it’s the same reason why assisted dying became unpopular and why the bill was a mess.
Reposted by Altreik
🌹 BREAKING: exclusive @survation.bsky.social and LabourList polling shows Lucy Powell leads Bridget Phillipson in the race to be Labour deputy leader by 17 points. labourlist.org/2025/09/excl...
Labour deputy leader election: Powell leads by over 15 points in exclusive member poll - LabourList
Lucy Powell has taken a decisive early lead over Bridget Phillipson in our exclusive polling of Labour members done by Survation.
labourlist.org
September 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
🌹 BREAKING: exclusive @survation.bsky.social and LabourList polling shows Lucy Powell leads Bridget Phillipson in the race to be Labour deputy leader by 17 points. labourlist.org/2025/09/excl...
This is so important; in particular Heath knew what he was doing was unpopular but he did it because he had seen the horrors of fascism and detested ‘racialism’. Powellism is back in a New form
September 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is so important; in particular Heath knew what he was doing was unpopular but he did it because he had seen the horrors of fascism and detested ‘racialism’. Powellism is back in a New form
Labour NEC have announced the deputy leader timetable- only two days to get nominations from MPs, and two weeks for CLPs to nominate.
Quite obviously an attempt to make it a one person contest.
Quite obviously an attempt to make it a one person contest.
September 8, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Labour NEC have announced the deputy leader timetable- only two days to get nominations from MPs, and two weeks for CLPs to nominate.
Quite obviously an attempt to make it a one person contest.
Quite obviously an attempt to make it a one person contest.
I really am not surprised that a group of people who struggled to run the Labour Party are now desperately struggling to launch a new party.
I really do not understand why they don’t just fold into the greens.
I really do not understand why they don’t just fold into the greens.
Here’s a characteristically well sourced @siennarodgers.bsky.social feature on the founding of Corbyn’s new party www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Inside The Founding Of Jeremy Corbyn's New Party: 'End This Horrible Power Struggle'
The trials and tribulations of founding a new party on the left. Can they unite? What challenges lie ahead? Sienna Rodgers reports
www.politicshome.com
September 6, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I really am not surprised that a group of people who struggled to run the Labour Party are now desperately struggling to launch a new party.
I really do not understand why they don’t just fold into the greens.
I really do not understand why they don’t just fold into the greens.