Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Good interview in the paper, this. I think Sadiq is right: London 'needs' to be less successful than it is for a bunch of political arguments here in the UK to work, hence the fictions being invented about it:
Populists attack London because it is ‘progressive and successful’, says Sadiq Khan
Rightwing attacks on one of the world’s most visited cities at odds with reality, says mayor
www.ft.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Good interview in the paper, this. I think Sadiq is right: London 'needs' to be less successful than it is for a bunch of political arguments here in the UK to work, hence the fictions being invented about it:
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Every day at some point I think about the appalling danger of a RefUK govt to UK state structures - to the settlement in Northern Ireland, to the Union, Faslane, security, internal counter-influence measures, cross-border policing, race relations.
December 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Every day at some point I think about the appalling danger of a RefUK govt to UK state structures - to the settlement in Northern Ireland, to the Union, Faslane, security, internal counter-influence measures, cross-border policing, race relations.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
WOW: The DOJ has DELETED an image from its release of the Epstein files that shows photos of Trump in a drawer.
Yesterday, we noted that this image — file 468 — likely slipped through the cracks while officials were attempting to hide materials pertaining to Trump.
Now, it’s gone.
Yesterday, we noted that this image — file 468 — likely slipped through the cracks while officials were attempting to hide materials pertaining to Trump.
Now, it’s gone.
December 20, 2025 at 6:01 PM
WOW: The DOJ has DELETED an image from its release of the Epstein files that shows photos of Trump in a drawer.
Yesterday, we noted that this image — file 468 — likely slipped through the cracks while officials were attempting to hide materials pertaining to Trump.
Now, it’s gone.
Yesterday, we noted that this image — file 468 — likely slipped through the cracks while officials were attempting to hide materials pertaining to Trump.
Now, it’s gone.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
me, 2024, naive: civil forfeiture is bad
me, 2029, wise: MORE
me, 2029, wise: MORE
The Trump family has amassed a $4 billion fortune since his re-election.
During my time as Ambassador, I was accused of "focusing too intensely on the issue of corruption." There's no such thing.
We need leaders who serve the people — not themselves.
www.wsj.com/politics/tru...
During my time as Ambassador, I was accused of "focusing too intensely on the issue of corruption." There's no such thing.
We need leaders who serve the people — not themselves.
www.wsj.com/politics/tru...
The Trump Family Business Empire Is Growing. We Mapped Out 268 Pieces of It.
A second-term boom in crypto and other areas has created billions in new wealth for the first family.
www.wsj.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM
me, 2024, naive: civil forfeiture is bad
me, 2029, wise: MORE
me, 2029, wise: MORE
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
A new poll finds widespread disapproval of standard confinement and slaughter methods used in the animal agriculture industry.
More Than 71% of Americans Oppose Common Factory Farming Practices
A new poll finds widespread disapproval of standard confinement and slaughter methods used in the animal agriculture industry.
buff.ly
December 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM
A new poll finds widespread disapproval of standard confinement and slaughter methods used in the animal agriculture industry.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
This by the excellent @jburnmurdoch.ft.com confirms my view that political trends are being driven by the halting of the upward economic conveyor belt - striking charts: www.ft.com/content/30a4... Welcome to the age of zero-sum politics
Welcome to the age of zero-sum politics
A stalled economic conveyor belt is behind the rise of anti-system, anti-growth parties on both the right and left
www.ft.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:31 AM
This by the excellent @jburnmurdoch.ft.com confirms my view that political trends are being driven by the halting of the upward economic conveyor belt - striking charts: www.ft.com/content/30a4... Welcome to the age of zero-sum politics
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
So much commentary on the right is just people making up stuff to get angry about.
No idea what telly Lord Sewell is watching, because I can't think of a single show with this plotline let alone it being something that is inescapable for young white men who subsequently now face a crisis of masculinity drawing them to the far right?? 🙃
December 15, 2025 at 2:02 PM
So much commentary on the right is just people making up stuff to get angry about.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Tbf that also describes a fair bit of commentary on the left.
December 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Tbf that also describes a fair bit of commentary on the left.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Excellent post on migration to the UK.
'None of this is an argument for unlimited net migration. (...) But very low or negative net migration is definitely not desirable from either an economic or social perspective. Successful countries don’t tend to have falling populations.'
'None of this is an argument for unlimited net migration. (...) But very low or negative net migration is definitely not desirable from either an economic or social perspective. Successful countries don’t tend to have falling populations.'
New post just out:
"The Overshoot"
Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration.
What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The Overshoot"
Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration.
What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Overshoot
What happens to politics, and the country, as net migration collapses?
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Excellent post on migration to the UK.
'None of this is an argument for unlimited net migration. (...) But very low or negative net migration is definitely not desirable from either an economic or social perspective. Successful countries don’t tend to have falling populations.'
'None of this is an argument for unlimited net migration. (...) But very low or negative net migration is definitely not desirable from either an economic or social perspective. Successful countries don’t tend to have falling populations.'
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Yep
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
December 16, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Yep
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."
December 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Zelensky *cannot* withdraw his troops and cede territory. His army won't do it. The public won't accept it.
🇺🇦🇺🇸 Ukraine's key "red line" in negotiations with the US is the withdrawal of troops from Donbas, - Bild.
Zelenskyy is ready to discuss abandoning NATO membership, holding elections on a shortened timeline, and freezing the frontline.
Zelenskyy is ready to discuss abandoning NATO membership, holding elections on a shortened timeline, and freezing the frontline.
December 15, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Zelensky *cannot* withdraw his troops and cede territory. His army won't do it. The public won't accept it.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
“Solar is no longer just cheap daytime electricity, now it’s anytime dispatchable electricity,” said Rangelova. “This is a game-changer for countries with fast-growing demand and strong solar resources.”
This is incredible (good news too): “After a 40% fall in 2024 in battery equipment costs, it’s clear we’re on track for another major fall in 2025…The economics for batteries are unrecognizable, & the industry is only just getting to grips with this new paradigm”
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
Batteries now cheap enough to make dispatchable solar economically feasible
Energy think tank Ember says utility-scale battery costs have fallen to $65/MWh outside China and the United States, enabling solar power to be delivered when needed.
www.pv-magazine.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:25 PM
“Solar is no longer just cheap daytime electricity, now it’s anytime dispatchable electricity,” said Rangelova. “This is a game-changer for countries with fast-growing demand and strong solar resources.”
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
Property porn with a difference: two children’s homes for sale, boasting an underlying profit margin of 48% (!!) despite being judged to require improvement to be good’
December 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Property porn with a difference: two children’s homes for sale, boasting an underlying profit margin of 48% (!!) despite being judged to require improvement to be good’
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
The number of global deaths of children under-5 is projected to increase this year (from 4.6m to 4.8m) for the first time this century. (FT)
The price of aid cuts.
The price of aid cuts.
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
The number of global deaths of children under-5 is projected to increase this year (from 4.6m to 4.8m) for the first time this century. (FT)
The price of aid cuts.
The price of aid cuts.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
The Trump National Security Strategy is bonkers in many ways but this objective stood out:
"Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations"
Making their strategy of supporting radical right and extremist parties explicit.
"Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations"
Making their strategy of supporting radical right and extremist parties explicit.
December 5, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The Trump National Security Strategy is bonkers in many ways but this objective stood out:
"Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations"
Making their strategy of supporting radical right and extremist parties explicit.
"Cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations"
Making their strategy of supporting radical right and extremist parties explicit.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
I am told that internal Ukrainian army information shows that more than 26,000 Russian soldiers were killed or critically wounded in the month of November. Confirmed by videos. No wonder Putin wants to get Trump to give him territory for free
one.no
December 4, 2025 at 12:39 PM
I am told that internal Ukrainian army information shows that more than 26,000 Russian soldiers were killed or critically wounded in the month of November. Confirmed by videos. No wonder Putin wants to get Trump to give him territory for free
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
SWL more willing than most commentators to say it bluntly:
"Fourteen years of Conservative government achieved two major economic goals: it crippled our public services in order to cut tax, and it crippled our economy by first macroeconomic mismanagement (austerity)) and then by leaving the EU. "
"Fourteen years of Conservative government achieved two major economic goals: it crippled our public services in order to cut tax, and it crippled our economy by first macroeconomic mismanagement (austerity)) and then by leaving the EU. "
New post: The Budget suggests the Chancellor is thinking too much about short term management and too little about long term legacy
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
What is missing is any sense that the government has a long term plan and is putting in place the resources to achieve it.
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
What is missing is any sense that the government has a long term plan and is putting in place the resources to achieve it.
The Budget suggests the Chancellor is thinking too much about short term management and too little about long term legacy
My posts come out on a Tuesday and Budgets are on a Wednesday. Not great timing, which is why in the past I’ve often done special posts on...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:03 AM
SWL more willing than most commentators to say it bluntly:
"Fourteen years of Conservative government achieved two major economic goals: it crippled our public services in order to cut tax, and it crippled our economy by first macroeconomic mismanagement (austerity)) and then by leaving the EU. "
"Fourteen years of Conservative government achieved two major economic goals: it crippled our public services in order to cut tax, and it crippled our economy by first macroeconomic mismanagement (austerity)) and then by leaving the EU. "
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
ICE raids are cruel, inhumane, and do nothing to serve public safety.
My responsibility is to be the mayor to each and every person that calls this city their home. That includes millions of immigrants— of which I am one.
My responsibility is to be the mayor to each and every person that calls this city their home. That includes millions of immigrants— of which I am one.
December 2, 2025 at 2:18 AM
ICE raids are cruel, inhumane, and do nothing to serve public safety.
My responsibility is to be the mayor to each and every person that calls this city their home. That includes millions of immigrants— of which I am one.
My responsibility is to be the mayor to each and every person that calls this city their home. That includes millions of immigrants— of which I am one.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
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.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
November 29, 2025 at 9:24 AM
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.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
If only we had some kind of person whose job it was to investigate the news and present a balanced set of challenging facts. We could call them something like “journalists”. The whole craft could be called a cool name like “journalism”.
November 29, 2025 at 10:33 AM
If only we had some kind of person whose job it was to investigate the news and present a balanced set of challenging facts. We could call them something like “journalists”. The whole craft could be called a cool name like “journalism”.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
On every public policy committee I sat on - gambling, drugs, animal experiments, law of homicide and others - someone would ask ‘But what would the Daily Mail say about our recommendations?’ I now regret that we never gave the right answer. ‘We shouldn’t care.’
November 30, 2025 at 7:37 AM
On every public policy committee I sat on - gambling, drugs, animal experiments, law of homicide and others - someone would ask ‘But what would the Daily Mail say about our recommendations?’ I now regret that we never gave the right answer. ‘We shouldn’t care.’
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
May we never stop trying to write cricket bats.
![HENRY: Shut up and listen. This thing here, which looks like a wooden club, is actually several pieces of particular wood cunningly put together in a certain way so that the whole thing is sprung, like a dance floor. It’s for hitting cricket balls with. If you get it right, the cricket ball will travel two hundred yards in four seconds, and all you’ve done is give it a knock like knocking the top off a bottle of stout, and it makes a noise like a trout taking a fly… (He clucks his tongue to make the noise.) What we’re trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might … travel … (He clucks his tongue again and picks up the script.) Now, what we’ve got here is a lump of wood of roughly the same shape trying to be a cricket bat, and if you hit a ball with it, the ball will travel about ten feet and you will drop the bat and dance about shouting ‘Ouch!’ with your hands stuck into your armpits. (Indicating the cricket bat.) This isn’t better because someone says it’s better, or because there’s a conspiracy by the MCC to keep cudgels out of Lords. It’s better because it’s better. You don’t believe me, so I suggest you go out to bat with this and see how you get on. [quoting from the play] ‘You’re a strange boy, Billy, how old are you?”Twenty, but I’ve lived more than you’ll ever live.’ Ooh, ouch! (He drops the script and hops about with his hands in his armpits, going ‘Ouch!’ ANNIE watches him expressionlessly until he desists.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tfusco6lurhflepbh3g7m7s5/bafkreihts3fxnflkahxc7f6q4gpmjmbfxxkoeerd7ksiqmqvgl2mvgerbe@jpeg)
November 29, 2025 at 7:17 PM
May we never stop trying to write cricket bats.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
70% of the additional spending from removing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work. This is targeting support for low-income working households who are being priced out of a decent standard of living despite doing everything asked of them.
November 27, 2025 at 4:38 PM
70% of the additional spending from removing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work. This is targeting support for low-income working households who are being priced out of a decent standard of living despite doing everything asked of them.
Reposted by Camilla Redmond
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.