Ewan McGaughey

@ewanmg.bsky.social

🎓Law Professor @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social, CBR, Cambridge + @granthamlse.bsky.social 🌹Labour law, enterprise law, pensions, corporations, human rights 🌍Cares about stopping inequality, climate damage + war 🕸️ https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/ewan-mcgaughey

Central banks can't reopen the Strait of Hormuz by forcing mortgagees + renters to pay more interest/rent. When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Reserve Bank of Australia is currently clobbering the poorest even more, worsening the cost of living. www.ft.com/content/5c1d...

Australia raises interest rate to highest level in 15 years

RBA governor says Iran war has ‘made people poorer’ as central bank seeks to tackle persistent inflation

ft.com

My report on fixing the water system is out with @cmmonwealth.bsky.social: 💦transfer the leakiest, polluting companies to public hands for £0 🌊audit the rest to gauge repair costs, and public ownership is likely to cost £12bn, saving up to £1.4bn in 3 years www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Crystal Clear: the Solutions for Clean, Running Water

The clearest and most cost-effective route to genuine public control of England's water is through public ownership.

common-wealth.org

“The government has solid legal grounds to take decisive action” @ewanmg.bsky.social Professor of Law at King’s College London, says the state can intervene under the Water Industry Act 1991, citing breaches of statutory duties and neglect of infrastructure 💯 www.ft.com/content/527d...

Thames Water hit by £2bn bill for finance costs and advisers’ fees

Embattled UK utility faces mounting costs as government debates moving ahead with temporary nationalisation

ft.com

The second batch of our '100 Ideas for 100 Days of the Burnham Government' just dropped. After week one's democratic reform, devolution, immigration, foreign policy & defence, week 2 focuses on tax, inequality, ownership, technology & sustainability. www.compassonline.org.uk/100-ideas-fo...

100 Ideas for 100 Days of the Burnham Government - Compass

In just over a couple of weeks, Andy Burnham will head back to Westminster– this time as Prime Minister. We […]

compassonline.org.uk

Incredible after everything that was thrown at ULEZ, to stop it, including during the Uxbridge by-election. I for one am glad that our children will be healthier and have bigger lungs by ending London's toxic air. Much more to do, electrifying every vehicle soon: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-poli...

Uxbridge by-election: Khan defends Ulez after Starmer blames it for poll setback

The Labour leader urges the London mayor to "reflect" after the Tories hold Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

bbc.co.uk

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan@london.gov.uk · 2mo ago

This stopped me in my tracks. An independent study by @qmul.bsky.social has found that after ULEZ was introduced, children’s lungs grew faster in Central London and have now caught up with children outside of the capital. Incredible.

With the new Premier League payroll data up, here's what the teams get - the £s spent per club, against the points they win. Six big teams really dominate. The relegation zone teams often fall back. So money buys points (unless it's my team, Spurs, it feels like!) + real a competition is lacking.

I really hope the courts see sense and TfL win their £1 billion claim against auto-makers, because it’s not just about the money. European auto manufacturers have been driving lung deaths, climate damage and their own competitive demise by failure to go electric. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

TfL brings case worth up to £1bn against carmakers over Ulez compliance

Transport for London claims polluting diesel vehicles had been able to enter clean air zone without having to pay

theguardian.com

How can labour rights boost real economic growth - by which I mean real household wealth (not just GDP)? Find out in my new Industrial Law Journal article - open access. It's how we reverse British history's worst wage cuts since 2008. Hint: more worker voice...👇 academic.oup.com/ilj/advance-...

Economic Growth and Labour Rights: The Case of the Employment Rights Act 2025

Abstract. How do labour rights affect economic growth, and what may we predict from the Employment Rights Act 2025? The UK government says its first missio

academic.oup.com

"From July 1, 2026, households in New South Wales, South Australia, and southeastern Queensland can access at least three hours of free electricity each day through a new initiative called the Solar Sharer Offer" via No One Cares

Bild

German efficiency you say? Never with @deutschebahn.com! Here is a whole carriage blocked off because AC isn’t working, yet it’s 19 degrees outside and the carriage is hotter than the others, and 41 minutes late and counting. A basket case of privatisation ideology and bureaucracy.

Bild

Just another morning with @deutschebahn.com - nearly every train massively late by time it’s due to leave from Berlin Central Station DB was broken up into over 2000 entities before a planned privatisation and is among the most incompetently operated in the world - always late.

Bild

Excellent to see now two Ministers, more Labour MPs, and departments boycotting X - a conspiracy, union busting and Nazi salute laced Pravda project for the world’s richest K-Hole. Next every Minister, university, trade union, journalist and civil society group. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Lisa Nandy quits X over fears Musk-owned site pushes ‘abuse and misinformation’

Culture secretary says her department will stop using platform, citing concerns over far-right content fuelling violence and division

theguardian.com

Excellent to see now two Ministers, more Labour MPs, and departments boycotting X - a conspiracy, union busting and Nazi salute laced Pravda project for the world’s richest K-Hole. Next every Minister, university, trade union, journalist and civil society group. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Lisa Nandy quits X over fears Musk-owned site pushes ‘abuse and misinformation’

Culture secretary says her department will stop using platform, citing concerns over far-right content fuelling violence and division

theguardian.com

If companies can't run data centres without polluting our air and water, pushing up energy bills, abusing workers' rights, harming local communities or wrecking the climate – then they shouldn't be allowed to run them A safe climate and healthy environment are necessities – tech bro profits aren't

EU weighs weaker data centre climate rules in win for Big Tech

Past proposals for strict rules on renewable energy certificates have been dropped after heavy lobbying, draft shows

ft.com

Did you know that the UK has among the worst paid holiday rights in the OECD? And that the US has no right to paid holidays at all? We have just 28 paid holidays a year - but no right to paid leave on public holidays. Spain does best with 44 paid holidays a year (incl. 14 public holidays).

Chart showing paid holiday and public holiday rights in OECD countries - with the UK ranking 5th worst, the US the worst, and Spain the best. The EU minimum is 28 days holidays, and the worst EU member state is Ireland, with 30 days. Data from the Cambridge Centre for Business Research, Labour Regulation Index.

Did you know that the UK has among the worst paid holiday rights in the OECD? And that the US has no right to paid holidays at all? We have just 28 paid holidays a year - but no right to paid leave on public holidays. Spain does best with 44 paid holidays a year (incl. 14 public holidays).

Chart showing paid holiday and public holiday rights in OECD countries - with the UK ranking 5th worst, the US the worst, and Spain the best. The EU minimum is 28 days holidays, and the worst EU member state is Ireland, with 30 days. Data from the Cambridge Centre for Business Research, Labour Regulation Index.

Tory Victoria Atkins on #Newsnight spouting nonsense that taking Thames Water into public ownership costs up to £20bn. Her own ex-government was going to cut up to 40% of debt - before the scale of the £23bn repair costs were clear. Wall St vultures deserve £0. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Thames Water nationalisation plan could move bulk of £15bn debt to state

Exclusive: Under Whitehall blueprint for water company some lenders could lose up to 40% of their money

theguardian.com

One thing's for sure - it's not going to cost £100 billion. Closer to zero for failed companies like Thames Water, where reckless Wall Street vulture funds have run up £20bn in debt, left £23bn in repairs + profited with shareholders £23bn since 1989. www.ft.com/content/8288...

How could Thames Water be nationalised?

[FREE TO READ] Intervention by UK environment secretary has raised prospect of utility entering government’s special administration regime

ft.com

“DEFRA est the cost of nationalising the entire water sector at approx £100bn ... Common Wealth challenged this figure, arguing the ‘true cost in law’ is closer to 0” Our work by @ewanmg.bsky.social on bringing water into public hands in New Civil Engineer 👇 www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/repor...

Reports Thames Water a 'step closer to nationalisation' | New Civil Engineer

The utility provider is the country's largest water and wastewater provider. While the government has viewed nationalisation as a last resort, the

newcivilengineer.com

Meanwhile @ciaranm.bsky.social has written a brilliant column why the British government (let me take this opportunity to make the same case for the German government) to stop using X. Just leave. There is life after Twitter. I should know. www.thetimes.com/article/e895...

If ministers fear X fuels disorder, they should stop using it

The government voices concern about the social media platform spreading hate but has hundreds of accounts that help make it a success

thetimes.com