Weird to think that this meme, being eagerly devoured & recycled by Team Trump, was given to him not by a political consultancy or an enthusiastic MAGA supporter, but by the Secretary General of NATO.

Excellent write up of our ‘New Labour Years’ class with @stewartwood.bsky.social in @rentouljohn.bsky.social Commons Confidential newsletter Apply to join @strandgroup.bsky.social MA Government Studies 2025/26 cohort👇 www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgr... @policyatkings.bsky.social

My analysis of the politics, choices, trade-offs, winners, losers & silences of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review. Labour’s most social democratic moment in many ways, but all perched on a very high & very long fiscal tightrope. bradshawadvisory.com/insights/unb...

The truth behind the Spending Review headlines — Bradshaw Advisory | Public Affairs & Economics Consultancy, UK

Former New Labour adviser and Bradshaw Advisory NED Lord Stewart Wood looks at the hidden messages within last week's Spending Review.

bradshawadvisory.com

"For the first time a majority of supporters of all parties favour electoral reform: (55% Labour, 52% Conservatives, 56% Liberal Democrats, 90% Greens & 78% Reform)" One consequence of the decline of class voting: the rise of support for electoral reform. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Class no longer main dividing line in UK politics, survey shows

Age and education now bigger indicators, according to study, which also shows record support for electoral reform

theguardian.com

A pre-Spring Statement reminder that the OBR estimates that the cumulative cost of freezing fuel duty rates between 2010/11 & 2025/26 stands at about £100 billion - equivalent to about 2.5% of the UK’s GDP. That’s big bananas.

In the 2024 Presidential election, voters trusted Democrats on the main issues that the Democrat campaign majored on. The problem is they were all issues that the voters cared less about. From an interview with @davidshor.bsky.social of Democrat firm Blue Rose Research www.msn.com/en-us/politi...

Delighted to tell you that there is an extract from John & Paul in today's Sunday Times magazine. It's FREE TO READ online today because the paywall is down. Get in. www.thetimes.com/culture/musi...

John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the grief that united two lost teens

When Lennon met McCartney the 20th century tilted on its axis. In an extract from his brilliant new book, Ian Leslie asks why they fell for each other — starting with the shared trauma of their mother...

thetimes.com

The bulk of savings to the welfare bill is being sought from reducing a non-work-related benefit (PIP). The Government’s case for these cuts therefore isn’t about reducing inactivity (that it is necessary to get more people back into work) but overwhelmingly about needing to find money.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last yr.

Liz Kendall unveils UK benefits cuts set to leave many sick and disabled worse off

When I worked in UK academia I recall hearing of a Japanese man who was baffled at how Britain had decided to run its universities like firms. “Why? Your universities are excellent and your firms are terrible.”

Chris Brooke@chrisbrooke.bsky.social · last yr.

To repeat: "A country so stupid it actively trashes one of things it's good at and famous for."

Making Whitehall more entrepreneurial sounds good to me. But for Whitehall policy disruption & innovation to work, you need a culture of ministers backing those who experiment & fail, & defending (esp costly) policy failures to voters. That is a wider & more difficult revolution.

Took the plunge into the Bluesky after seeing tweets galore from people I like & respect saying "Come follow me on Bluesky". So here I am. Hello.