@chrismartin861.bsky.social
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Cautious sensible approach, fixing a number that would not add to net migration figures. But it establishes the scheme, unlocks greater UK-Eu cooperation elsewhere, and can act as a launchpad for something more ambitious once it's in place.
December 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Cautious sensible approach, fixing a number that would not add to net migration figures. But it establishes the scheme, unlocks greater UK-Eu cooperation elsewhere, and can act as a launchpad for something more ambitious once it's in place.
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Latest post provides a critique of Trumps’ National Security Strategy, placing it in context of past NSS’s, and asks how seriously we should take it and how Europeans should respond. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?
The enemy within
How Europe should respond to Trump's National Security Strategy
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Latest post provides a critique of Trumps’ National Security Strategy, placing it in context of past NSS’s, and asks how seriously we should take it and how Europeans should respond. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?
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Sorry but this is exactly the gotcha style of questioning that inevitably brings democracy into disarray. Governments can't actually say everything they want about foreign leaders because that is diplomacy. Headline either way. And unscrupulous leaders who don't care are the winners.
Keir Starmer’s spokesman refuses to criticise Trump for calling Europe a group of “decaying” nations led by “weak” leaders
Asked about Trump saying European countries will no longer be “viable" thanks to migration, Keir Starmer’s spokesman says the UK is “returning control to our asylum system”
Asked about Trump saying European countries will no longer be “viable" thanks to migration, Keir Starmer’s spokesman says the UK is “returning control to our asylum system”
December 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Sorry but this is exactly the gotcha style of questioning that inevitably brings democracy into disarray. Governments can't actually say everything they want about foreign leaders because that is diplomacy. Headline either way. And unscrupulous leaders who don't care are the winners.
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Top tip: if you want a decent England cricket team, try teaching the game in state schools so the team isn't drawn from just a minority who have dads who love the game or who are privately educated.
December 7, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Top tip: if you want a decent England cricket team, try teaching the game in state schools so the team isn't drawn from just a minority who have dads who love the game or who are privately educated.
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Reform UK have accepted £9 million from foreign-based businessman Christopher Harborne.
Here's what Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice thought in 2018 about George Soros donating to UK groups:
"He doesn't live here. He doesn't pay taxes here. What right has he got to interfere with our democracy?"
Here's what Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice thought in 2018 about George Soros donating to UK groups:
"He doesn't live here. He doesn't pay taxes here. What right has he got to interfere with our democracy?"
December 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reform UK have accepted £9 million from foreign-based businessman Christopher Harborne.
Here's what Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice thought in 2018 about George Soros donating to UK groups:
"He doesn't live here. He doesn't pay taxes here. What right has he got to interfere with our democracy?"
Here's what Reform Deputy Leader Richard Tice thought in 2018 about George Soros donating to UK groups:
"He doesn't live here. He doesn't pay taxes here. What right has he got to interfere with our democracy?"
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Nigel Farage used an LBC appearance in September to accuse the Bank of England of being “dinosaurs” for seeking to place restrictions on the use of Stablecoins by crypto firms like Tether.
He did not declare that Reform had just received a £9 million donation from one of its biggest investors
He did not declare that Reform had just received a £9 million donation from one of its biggest investors
Crypto Investor Donates £9 Million to Reform UK After Nigel Farage Plugs His Company and Tells Industry 'I Am Your Champion'
The Reform leader recently used media interviews to back Christopher Harborne's company while promising to cut taxes and regulations on crypto firms
bylinetimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Nigel Farage used an LBC appearance in September to accuse the Bank of England of being “dinosaurs” for seeking to place restrictions on the use of Stablecoins by crypto firms like Tether.
He did not declare that Reform had just received a £9 million donation from one of its biggest investors
He did not declare that Reform had just received a £9 million donation from one of its biggest investors
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I wonder what it is about Rachel Reeves that they hate: a woman who went to a comprehensive school, who rose from relatively humble origins to the top and who still speaks with a South London accent. I wonder why they hate her so much. It's a mystery.
December 3, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I wonder what it is about Rachel Reeves that they hate: a woman who went to a comprehensive school, who rose from relatively humble origins to the top and who still speaks with a South London accent. I wonder why they hate her so much. It's a mystery.
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Britain’s largest long-term macro problem is a shortage of *private* investment.
This is not new.
This is not new.
December 2, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Britain’s largest long-term macro problem is a shortage of *private* investment.
This is not new.
This is not new.
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December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
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Government sought to manage public expectations before Budget. Shock, horror. Can't the BBC find some real news?
December 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Government sought to manage public expectations before Budget. Shock, horror. Can't the BBC find some real news?
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Chris Mason sounds utterly absurd, trying to turn the screws on Rachel Reeves while acknowledging that she has done nothing that one wouldn't expect a politician to do.
December 1, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Chris Mason sounds utterly absurd, trying to turn the screws on Rachel Reeves while acknowledging that she has done nothing that one wouldn't expect a politician to do.
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Honestly the completely weird Budget coverage is mostly a sign of how pretty much any attack can stick when you’re unpopular enough.
Of course Rachel Reeves didn’t brief the full Cabinet on Budget details weeks in advance! No chancellor ever does! It would immediately leak!
Of course Rachel Reeves didn’t brief the full Cabinet on Budget details weeks in advance! No chancellor ever does! It would immediately leak!
December 1, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Honestly the completely weird Budget coverage is mostly a sign of how pretty much any attack can stick when you’re unpopular enough.
Of course Rachel Reeves didn’t brief the full Cabinet on Budget details weeks in advance! No chancellor ever does! It would immediately leak!
Of course Rachel Reeves didn’t brief the full Cabinet on Budget details weeks in advance! No chancellor ever does! It would immediately leak!
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This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻♀️
December 1, 2025 at 8:15 AM
This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻♀️
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literally everyone reporting this should just be curdling up with embarrassment but that would require them to have functioning emotional spectrums
November 29, 2025 at 10:43 PM
literally everyone reporting this should just be curdling up with embarrassment but that would require them to have functioning emotional spectrums
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Nine years ago Mike Fitzgerald wrote up an extraordinarily fascinating breakdown of the differences between the Tom Stoppard shooting script and the original Jeffrey Boam draft of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
July 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Nine years ago Mike Fitzgerald wrote up an extraordinarily fascinating breakdown of the differences between the Tom Stoppard shooting script and the original Jeffrey Boam draft of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
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Let’s hope there’s now a BBC4 Stoppard season…
November 29, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Let’s hope there’s now a BBC4 Stoppard season…
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Nice dataviz from the ONS showing median wealth split by category at different points of the distribution: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
November 27, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Nice dataviz from the ONS showing median wealth split by category at different points of the distribution: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
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The Fourth Estate aint in good nick - unceasing hostility to pretty much everything the UK government does. And not a little inconsistency.
What puzzles me is all the commentary that says in one breath that Starmer has no real governing purpose or "vision" and then in the next that he is more left wing than any PM in recent memory. Hard to see how both can be right.
November 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The Fourth Estate aint in good nick - unceasing hostility to pretty much everything the UK government does. And not a little inconsistency.
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We need to reduce household consumption, says @gilesyb.bsky.social.
Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
the chart of misery, and also a sign of success
stagnant household real consumption is what we were told we needed
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:40 PM
We need to reduce household consumption, says @gilesyb.bsky.social.
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“This was a big Budget, but not in the way people were necessarily expecting.” – @helenmiller.bsky.social
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
November 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“This was a big Budget, but not in the way people were necessarily expecting.” – @helenmiller.bsky.social
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
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Hearing Rachel Reeves explain why it is so important to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty is a reminder of what a Labour government can do. It is also a reminder of how little of this sort of thing they have done and how much more needs to be done.
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Hearing Rachel Reeves explain why it is so important to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty is a reminder of what a Labour government can do. It is also a reminder of how little of this sort of thing they have done and how much more needs to be done.
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And honestly I don't give a fuck if it's popular or not. It's going to make a lot of kids' lives better. That's the point of government. Not an opinion poll.
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
And honestly I don't give a fuck if it's popular or not. It's going to make a lot of kids' lives better. That's the point of government. Not an opinion poll.
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Kudos to @resolutionfoundation.org , they foresaw a much rosier forecast of Growth despite the productivity downgrade, and they nailed it
Applause to @ruthcurtice.bsky.social @adamcorlett.bsky.social @jamessmithrf.bsky.social or whichever genius is responsible.
Applause to @ruthcurtice.bsky.social @adamcorlett.bsky.social @jamessmithrf.bsky.social or whichever genius is responsible.
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Kudos to @resolutionfoundation.org , they foresaw a much rosier forecast of Growth despite the productivity downgrade, and they nailed it
Applause to @ruthcurtice.bsky.social @adamcorlett.bsky.social @jamessmithrf.bsky.social or whichever genius is responsible.
Applause to @ruthcurtice.bsky.social @adamcorlett.bsky.social @jamessmithrf.bsky.social or whichever genius is responsible.
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"having changed my mind about the OBR, my internship there has begun smoothly"
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
"having changed my mind about the OBR, my internship there has begun smoothly"
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Opinion: what do I hope for from Wednesday’s Budget? Some sight of a workable and coherent long-term economic strategy. I do not expect it. It may already be too late. But, without that, it is hard to be optimistic about the UK’s future. on.ft.com/47Yb6if
November 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Opinion: what do I hope for from Wednesday’s Budget? Some sight of a workable and coherent long-term economic strategy. I do not expect it. It may already be too late. But, without that, it is hard to be optimistic about the UK’s future. on.ft.com/47Yb6if