"happiness consists of the possession of a non-negotiable truth. Today, we no longer have such non-negotiable truths. Instead, we have an over-abundance of information". Byung-chul Han has been a great voice on the fracturing of shared narratives in the digital age.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Indeed. I think it's hugely underrated that broadly speaking, the era of democracy is the era of radio and television, and of shared cultural references and understanding. Becoming a billion tiny villages talking past each other about curated news and niche shows is not good!

Blair putting on full display what is in many ways his special ability - to lay out a political argument grounded in his own view of global trends (globalisation in the 2000s, tech in the 2020s). But… institute.global/insights/pol...

The Labour Party Is Playing With Fire Over Its Future and the Future of the Country

In this essay, Tony Blair sets out the need for a new agenda for Britain.

institute.global

Tony Blair’s new essay "playing with fire" is getting ba lot of attention. It read surprisingly apolitical but I'm afraid he misdiagnoses the current crisis. A short 🧵 that isn't just about net zero 🤦🏾 institute.global/insights/pol...

The Labour Party Is Playing With Fire Over Its Future and the Future of the Country

In this essay, Tony Blair sets out the need for a new agenda for Britain.

institute.global

There is one hard truth: the fossil-fuel giants will not save us. Energy shocks don’t just raise our energy bills – they can be turning points in how our economy runs, says @chaitanyakumar.bsky.social in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is what a fossil-fuel shock looks like. The UK must adapt its energy system – and quickly | Chaitanya Kumar

The Iran war will hit food prices, fuel costs and interest rates. But we could could turn this crisis to our advantage, says Chaitanya Kumar of the New Economics Foundation

theguardian.com

Another crisitunity moment faces us - a clear choice between regressing to the old energy system that might feel comfortable or move rapidly to a new energy system that is challenging but is a more befitting response to the crisis. Op-ed by me in the guardian. 👇👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is what a fossil-fuel shock looks like. The UK must adapt its energy system – and quickly | Chaitanya Kumar

The Iran war will hit food prices, fuel costs and interest rates. But we could could turn this crisis to our advantage, says Chaitanya Kumar of the New Economics Foundation

theguardian.com

#GAevent 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸: join us and a panel of experts one month on from the start of the latest oil and gas crisis to unpack the instability and what it means for the cost of living in the UK. 📅 1 April, 12:00–13:00 | Online

How does conflict abroad shape energy, costs and climate choices at home?

Join us for a responsive webinar, one month on from the start of the latest oil and gas crisis.

eventbrite.co.uk

@zackpolanski.bsky.social giving his first major speech on the economy at @neweconomics.bsky.social 's 40th anniversary. Starts off with a call to freeze the price cap at current levels and willing to shield consumers up to a £300 bill rise.

Good news on the energy price cap. A 7% fall, driven largely by policy decisions and a bit by wholesale prices, is a relief for the govt. and hhlds. It won't stop the incessant attacks on net zero. A few red/amber flags to watch out for. 👇👇

Recreated this for Britain, no job displacement (yet)!... and besides, too soon to make broad brush statements on losses.

Adam@adamshap.bsky.social · 6mo ago

😳

@theifs.bsky.social isn't exactly radical but they are rightly calling for a serious rethink of the current fiscal framework... and how it's leading to "dysfunctional policymaking". It's time for the Chancellor to pay attention! We @neweconomics.bsky.social would go much further. Some thoughts 👇👇

An extraordinary new column in the Daily Telegraph (no, that's not a typo!) by Ambrose Evans Pritchard. Yes, it includes two charts by Carbon Brief, sure. But stay for the concluding few paragraphs about the electoral suicide of climate denial... www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Today's auction results take us a step closer in realising the clean power mission. Every GW of new solar and wind is a step towards reducing our reliance on volatile gas and that builds a more resilient economy in the long term. 👏👏 Quick thoughts on the results

If all my license fee just went to funding BBC verify, I'd be happy with that.

Shayan Sardarizadeh @shayan86.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A number of AI-generated images have been circulating on social media falsely claiming to show a young Zohran Mamdani and his mother posing alongside Jeffrey Epstein. This has led to Alex Jones and others baselessly claiming that the fake images indicate Mamdani might be related to Epstein.

Thanks Danny! :)

Danny Sriskandarajah@dhnnjyn.bsky.social · 6mo ago

My colleague @chaitanyakumar.bsky.social has a new substack on all things climate. This piece on the maths and models behind global warming is both terrifying and insightful. Have a read at open.substack.com/pub/chaitany...

Some more thoughts on today's warm homes plan from the government. A much welcome refresh to the retrofit strategy albeit with some gaps. 👇👇 chaitanyakumark.substack.com/publish/post...

RIP Fabric-First? A closer look at the UK's new retrofit strategy

The what, why, who and how of the new Warm Homes Plan.

chaitanyakumark.substack.com

Carney is the poster child for economic liberalism, a true 'Davos man'. Now he's effectively calling for abandoning neoliberalism to save political liberalism.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.

Very pleased to read the PR for the Warm Homes Plan this morning. The best insurance against energy price volatility is a solar + battery combo for a household. So it's excellent to see an ambition of tripling rooftops with PV. Combine it with a battery and its magic! www.gov.uk/government/n...

Families to save in biggest home upgrade plan in British history

Government launches Warm Homes Plan to upgrade the nation's homes, help families cut their energy bills, and tackle fuel poverty.

gov.uk

The rising cost of finance played a big role in the higher prices we saw at this auction. But this is something the government can and should start to address. @chaitanyakumar.bsky.social explains. neweconomics.org/2026/01/maki...

Making progress on clean power, but at what price?

The latest offshore wind auction secured a record 8.4GW of new capacity, but the cost of finance has pushed up prices

neweconomics.org

Following on from this thread, a more detailed post about my frustrations with the latest auction round for offshore wind - open.substack.com/pub/chaitany...

Auctions. Auctions. Auctions

Was the latest renewable energy auction really a good deal for British consumers? Depends on who you ask.

open.substack.com

Chaitanya Kumar@chaitanyakumar.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Record breaking offshore wind auction results today! Whopping 8.4 GW of capacity secured. This is great news for keeping the clean power mission on target and making Britain a clean energy superpower. Quick thoughts and a few big BUT's 👇

Record breaking offshore wind auction results today! Whopping 8.4 GW of capacity secured. This is great news for keeping the clean power mission on target and making Britain a clean energy superpower. Quick thoughts and a few big BUT's 👇

Thoughts on the Chancellor's big, hugely consequential budget. The fiscal headroom chatter will be put to rest for a couple of years (despite the arbitrariness of these targets) but some key energy and cost of living decisions in the budget. Thoughts below 👇

inspired by this, I have done a free extract of this section of the book here. it is about understanding that *with all its problems* the BBC is as important for our intellectual health as the NHS is for our physical health: naomialderman.substack.com/p/the-bbc-an...

the BBC and why it needs defending

even if you don't always agree with it, and sometimes it does things that you think are outright terrible

naomialderman.substack.com

Alastair Somerville@acuity.design · 9mo ago

Can’t sleep so reading “Don’t burn anyone at the stake today” by @naomialderman.bsky.social Just read part about BBC and trusting in its principles rather than critiquing specific staff or editorial choices. Also this quote about the peculiar satisfaction of enragement.

This is terrible and worrying but calls to scrap ECO scheme altogether are knee jerk at best and won't do anything to ramp up the rate of insulation measures. Suspend rogue installers publicly + gradually move away from a supplier led delivery model. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Almost all external insulation fitted under Tory scheme needs repair or replacing, report finds

Homeowners who took advantage of government programmes left with cladding likely to cause damp

theguardian.com

Like stamp duty, council tax is reviled on the right and the left. Calls for reforming it are welcome and the govt. should at least get the ball rolling on that this budget. We propose: ☑️Proportional property tax ☑️Scrap SDLT ☑️Reform business rates with land tax www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour MPs call on Rachel Reeves to scrap council tax

Exclusive: 13 mainly northern MPs say a new system should better account for higher house prices in south-east

theguardian.com

The conservatives making a pig's breakfast of everything. Exhibit 121. 👇👎

New Economics Foundation@neweconomics.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The Tories' plan to scrap the Climate Change Act would be an act of national self harm, says @chaitanyakumar.bsky.social. Read NEF's full reaction here: neweconomics.org/2025/10/scie...

Looking forward to celebrating this moment! Small bit significant win of it happens

Simon Evans@drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 10mo ago

The National Energy System Operator has a separate target to run the GB grid without fossil fuels for at least 30 minutes, before the end of 2025 NESO told CB it was "confident" of hitting "zero-carbon operation", most likely in Q4 We'll be watching closely 5/7

As speeches go, that was pretty good from Starmer. Low on policy detail and high on story telling and taking it to Reform, which was absolutely the right tenor for the moment he and the govt. finds themselves in. Enough to stave off any internal rebellion till the May election!

“The numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt.” NEF’s @alchap.bsky.social on Heathrow for ITV. “Similar figures were promoted last time round and were later discredited by the government’s own advisers.” 🔗 itv.com/news/2025-07-31/heathrow-reveals-plan-for-third-runway-but-will-it-take-off

David Mencer has to be the most insufferable human being on the planet!

We found that Reform's plans to attack renewable energy industries could wipe £92bn off the UK economy and destroy 60,000 jobs by the end of the decade. These plans would damage our economic health and the health of our climate. 1/2

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last yr.

UK green energy groups warned they would lose subsidies under a Reform government https://on.ft.com/4lBkCfI