Pinned
Tom James
@tacj.bsky.social
· Dec 6
“Municipal state capacity social liberalism is devolution plus electrification of the whole country”.
Reposted by Tom James
February 6, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Wow I need to re-watch that film.
I can’t not see the roof scene from Independence Day (1996)
February 6, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Wow I need to re-watch that film.
Reposted by Tom James
VIETNAM/VNR733.GIF
February 6, 2026 at 10:20 PM
VIETNAM/VNR733.GIF
I miss it so much.
February 6, 2026 at 10:23 PM
I miss it so much.
Real talk: but the Peter Mandelson stuff has made me all the more paranoid about trusting random people. It seems like his (PM's) schtick was just... schmoozing people who might be able to help him somehow? Just bafflingly poor judgement.
February 6, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Real talk: but the Peter Mandelson stuff has made me all the more paranoid about trusting random people. It seems like his (PM's) schtick was just... schmoozing people who might be able to help him somehow? Just bafflingly poor judgement.
This little detail about Starmer has always struck me as odd. The fact he doesn’t fundamentally understand that being PM is commanding the support of the House of Commons, which is made up of MPs.
I know they don't talk to many MPs but you'd think they would speak to enough to have picked up on the basic dynamics.
February 6, 2026 at 8:13 PM
This little detail about Starmer has always struck me as odd. The fact he doesn’t fundamentally understand that being PM is commanding the support of the House of Commons, which is made up of MPs.
Reposted by Tom James
The McSweeney people* have always had this utterly mad blindspot around Ange, they all thought that her having to resign was somehow a good thing for them when it *very obviously* was going to make their position worse.
February 6, 2026 at 5:13 PM
The McSweeney people* have always had this utterly mad blindspot around Ange, they all thought that her having to resign was somehow a good thing for them when it *very obviously* was going to make their position worse.
Yes, coal still plays a very major role. But for the first time coal generation is down in China and is expected to decline further. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coa...
Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records - Carbon Brief
Coal power generation fell in both China and India in 2025, after each nation added record amounts of clean energy
www.carbonbrief.org
February 6, 2026 at 7:35 PM
One reason the government should spend lots of money on projects is it normalises spending lots of money. It should of course be paid for by a mix of borrowing (if appropriate) and increased taxes.
We should only ever have dreadful lowest common denominator things that suck. Every penny spent on making Crossrail nicer than the Victoria line was wasted.
I'm sorry but it's ridiculous that the taxpayer is being asked to fund up to £40 billion pounds for urgent works to 'save Parliament burning down', which also yknow features Essential Improvements such as a brand new underground visitors centre
February 6, 2026 at 10:14 AM
One reason the government should spend lots of money on projects is it normalises spending lots of money. It should of course be paid for by a mix of borrowing (if appropriate) and increased taxes.
Can’t believe we haven’t chosen to make the quantity of MPs in the House of Commons the weed number bsky.app/profile/iron...
The thing about this that absolutely kills me is that the House of Commons is too small to fit all the MPs in. It only seats 420 or so. So we are paying £15bn (before inevitable overruns make it 40) for a building that is fundamentally unfit for purpose. We literally cannot have all MPs in chamber.
February 5, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Can’t believe we haven’t chosen to make the quantity of MPs in the House of Commons the weed number bsky.app/profile/iron...
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university? | England | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:58 PM
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university? | England | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Tom James
maybe this is a bit galaxy brain, but they should merge IT and NICs into a single new tax called "new national insurance", thereby saying they abolished income tax
February 5, 2026 at 10:38 AM
maybe this is a bit galaxy brain, but they should merge IT and NICs into a single new tax called "new national insurance", thereby saying they abolished income tax
Reposted by Tom James
We can improve the incentives by also charging NI on pension income. We could call it….an income tax.
You don’t pay national insurance once you hit state pension age. It’s a £1.1 billion perk the chancellor considered axing — but would that drive out older workers?
Why pensioners aren’t giving up work (or paying much tax)
www.thetimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:12 AM
We can improve the incentives by also charging NI on pension income. We could call it….an income tax.
Reposted by Tom James
The thing about this that absolutely kills me is that the House of Commons is too small to fit all the MPs in. It only seats 420 or so. So we are paying £15bn (before inevitable overruns make it 40) for a building that is fundamentally unfit for purpose. We literally cannot have all MPs in chamber.
February 5, 2026 at 9:26 AM
The thing about this that absolutely kills me is that the House of Commons is too small to fit all the MPs in. It only seats 420 or so. So we are paying £15bn (before inevitable overruns make it 40) for a building that is fundamentally unfit for purpose. We literally cannot have all MPs in chamber.
It’s interesting to track the drift of my political outlook from my attitude to the teevee show The West Wing:
1) Strongly pro (clueless teenager)
2) Strongly anti (late twenties)
3) Actually this is Quite Good (early thirties)
1) Strongly pro (clueless teenager)
2) Strongly anti (late twenties)
3) Actually this is Quite Good (early thirties)
February 5, 2026 at 1:25 PM
It’s interesting to track the drift of my political outlook from my attitude to the teevee show The West Wing:
1) Strongly pro (clueless teenager)
2) Strongly anti (late twenties)
3) Actually this is Quite Good (early thirties)
1) Strongly pro (clueless teenager)
2) Strongly anti (late twenties)
3) Actually this is Quite Good (early thirties)
Reposted by Tom James
So why is a Japanese fusion restaurant playing the 1987 Italo-disco hit Boys (Summertime Love) so loudly it can be heard from the other side of the street
February 5, 2026 at 1:04 PM
So why is a Japanese fusion restaurant playing the 1987 Italo-disco hit Boys (Summertime Love) so loudly it can be heard from the other side of the street
“England” is clearly an artificial construct of the perfidious Wessexers, as any proud Mercian will affirm.
I really don't get the 'Britishness is a national identity, English is an ethnicity' argument. Have these people ever lived in the borderlands? I think of my Scottish cousins with whom I share some genes but a different national identity, how does this work?
February 5, 2026 at 1:14 PM
“England” is clearly an artificial construct of the perfidious Wessexers, as any proud Mercian will affirm.
Reposted by Tom James
i actually prefer it when the mods actively hate the user base and vice versa, that’s how every great message board worked for years and i think we should give it a whirl
October 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
i actually prefer it when the mods actively hate the user base and vice versa, that’s how every great message board worked for years and i think we should give it a whirl
Reposted by Tom James
Enemy Making A Mistake? Don't! Interrupt.
February 5, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Enemy Making A Mistake? Don't! Interrupt.
Why mission government failed
And what comes next restate.substack.com/p/why-missio...
And what comes next restate.substack.com/p/why-missio...
Why mission government failed
And what comes next
restate.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Why mission government failed
And what comes next restate.substack.com/p/why-missio...
And what comes next restate.substack.com/p/why-missio...
Reposted by Tom James
They will need that anyway to get it past local planning permission. I’m genuinely looking forward to the moment when the council turns down the planning application on the grounds that it would be far too disruptive to traffic. Parliament denied by the true power in the land: local councils.
February 5, 2026 at 9:50 AM
They will need that anyway to get it past local planning permission. I’m genuinely looking forward to the moment when the council turns down the planning application on the grounds that it would be far too disruptive to traffic. Parliament denied by the true power in the land: local councils.
Reposted by Tom James
One of the big problems for marketeers such as myself is that people absolutely hate prices being used to indicate scarcity. Rent controls are exactly the same as calls for constraints on TicketMaster: requests to move towards a system of queuing for scarce products rather than money.
"The price just doesn't matter if you can't get a home".
Good write up here of the problems of trying to use rent controls to force down private rents.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Good write up here of the problems of trying to use rent controls to force down private rents.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rent controls are coming to the UK - but they're not a guaranteed win for tenants
Rent controls are coming to the UK - but they're not a guaranteed win for tenants
www.bbc.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 7:39 AM
One of the big problems for marketeers such as myself is that people absolutely hate prices being used to indicate scarcity. Rent controls are exactly the same as calls for constraints on TicketMaster: requests to move towards a system of queuing for scarce products rather than money.
Reposted by Tom James
This is a great paper based on that rarest of things: an actual (fleeting) English planning success story. Zero excuse for any council claiming a housing crisis to not have a knock-off version on the books by September.
My only criticism is the cowardly dodge of ‘Croydon Facelift’ for its title.
My only criticism is the cowardly dodge of ‘Croydon Facelift’ for its title.
🆕What happens when planning rules are clearer and more predictable?
Our latest briefing examines Croydon’s Suburban Design Guide and its impact on small-site housing delivery. 👇
buff.ly/vLNo0r9
Our latest briefing examines Croydon’s Suburban Design Guide and its impact on small-site housing delivery. 👇
buff.ly/vLNo0r9
February 4, 2026 at 7:31 PM
This is a great paper based on that rarest of things: an actual (fleeting) English planning success story. Zero excuse for any council claiming a housing crisis to not have a knock-off version on the books by September.
My only criticism is the cowardly dodge of ‘Croydon Facelift’ for its title.
My only criticism is the cowardly dodge of ‘Croydon Facelift’ for its title.
So linear algebra makes econometrics so much easier to understand.
February 4, 2026 at 8:45 PM
So linear algebra makes econometrics so much easier to understand.
“A house is a machine for accumulating capital”.
February 4, 2026 at 3:40 PM
“A house is a machine for accumulating capital”.