When Italy hosted the World Cup in 1934, Benito Mussolini awarded the runners-up a special Coppa Del Duce that was so heavy it required four people to lift it. You wouldn’t put something similar past Trump and Infantino if Argentina lose, would you?
Sam Dumitriu
@samdumitriu.bsky.social
Head of Policy at Britain Remade.
Starmer and Reeves's planning reform agenda is working, but unfinished. My latest describes four reforms (in the works) that Andy Burnham should keep when he takes power next week. www.samdumitriu.com/p/what-burnh...
What Burnham should keep
Four pro-growth reforms that should outlive Starmer and Reeves
samdumitriu.com
Have you ever wondered why, compared to our friends on the continent, our infrastructure in the UK is…well…pretty rubbish? Why we can't build rail, Leeds doesn't have a tram and the nation's roads are covered in potholes? A 🧵
Andy Burnham video when England go out in the QFs to a wondergoal from Vini Jr: "Vini really? Little one for fans of the Durutti Column there. Signed to Factory records of course. Tough night, still the boys have done us proud. I'm in Manchester to announce our new Maxine Peake drama fund."
In infrastructure, Britain spends more and gets less. Look at what we could build without raising a penny of tax just by getting our costs down to European levels.
New study: Britain spends a third more on transport infrastructure than its peers, but because of high construction costs ends up with a fifth less. The UK spends £1.65 to get what £1 buys in France, Germany and Spain. (1/N) www.britainremade.co.uk/moreforless
Building More for Less: A cost-free path to European levels of investment | Sam Dumitriu, Michael Hill, David Lawrence and Pedro Serôdio
Contrary to what has become a standard view in policy circles, the British state does not invest far less than its peer countries. Britain’s broken system of infrastructure investment has limited the ...
britainremade.co.uk
Good measured post by @samdumitriu.bsky.social, what I would say is there is a higher synthesis, as UK hyper centralisation + high costs lead to this kind of instability within projects. www.samdumitriu.com/p/is-feast-a...
Is feast-and-famine funding the cause of Britain's high infrastructure costs?
A response to Alon Levy
samdumitriu.com
Hinkley Point C might be delayed again. Why? Because Natural England say the £700 million spent on fish protection at Britain's next nuclear power station is not enough. We can't go on like this. youtu.be/NeuUdwD0_-g
Why Britain's New Nuclear Power Station Might Be Delayed... AGAIN
YouTube video by Britain Remade
youtu.be
Recent reforms designed to stop legal challenges delaying infrastructure are working. So why is the Labour Government going even further? My latest explains the thinking (and why further action is necessary). www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-real-p...
The real problem with JR
Why further reform is necessary
samdumitriu.com
This is exciting. British tram projects take longer and cost twice as much as they do in Europe. So the Government have announced a 'mass transit taskforce' (Fingleton for Trams) to identify the reasons why British projects cost more. www.gov.uk/government/n...
New mass transit taskforce to reshape the future of transport in towns and cities
The new taskforce will make recommendations to improve transit systems so they can be delivered more efficiently across the UK.
gov.uk
Wes Streeting has proposed equalising Capital Gains and Income Tax rates. He (well, CENTAX at LSE really) reckons it'd raise £12bn If the UK adopted this plan, it would give us the highest rate of CGT in the OECD (for long-and-short term gains) albeit with a much more entrepreneur friendly base.
I find it remarkable that there are serious conversations about capping supermarket prices, but to my knowledge, no politician has called for the scrapping of the 'Town Centre first' policy despite extremely good evidence that it increases supermarket prices. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-to-cut...
How to cut the cost of the weekly shop
Planning policy makes your groceries more expensive
samdumitriu.com
Building "luxury flats" actually makes housing more affordable for everyone. It's an effect shown in studies around the world. The chains created by people moving into high end properties free up homes all the way down the ladder.
Britain's first nuclear build in three decades is set to be delayed because Natural England have decided £700m on fish protection isn't enough. A 2 year delay would mean 2-4bn cubic metres more gas burnt and 4-8m tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. www.samdumitriu.com/p/natural-en...
Natural England is a threat to Britain’s energy security
Britain's first nuclear plant in three decades faces delays
samdumitriu.com
Kemi Badenoch's speech in Parliament yesterday was, according to Hansard, only the second time the phrase 'Epic Fail' was used in Parliament.
You don't tackle climate change by stopping things. You tackle it by building things.
Sam Dumitriu@samdumitriu.bsky.social · 3mo agoFailed legal challenges have delayed major infrastructure projects like new roads and power stations by a collective 32 years. Labour recently changed the law to cut the time it takes to throw out anti-infrastructure lawsuits. And it's working. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-planni...
Failed legal challenges have delayed major infrastructure projects like new roads and power stations by a collective 32 years. Labour recently changed the law to cut the time it takes to throw out anti-infrastructure lawsuits. And it's working. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-planni...
The Planning and Infrastructure Act is working.
It just got harder to delay infrastructure with bogus lawsuits
samdumitriu.com
Every govt forecast demand of electricity demand of the last 20 years has been catastrophically wrong. They keep predicting that electricity use will rise. In fact, it's fallen by than in any other developed country. Only Yemen, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Tajikistan and Syria saw bigger per-capita falls.
Why Britain's electricity demand forecasts are always wrong
Britain's electricity demand destruction problem
samdumitriu.com
Yesterday, the Government announced they were scrapping an £18 per tonne carbon on electricity. In a new post, @michaeljahill.bsky.social explains the green case for cutting carbon taxes on electricity. www.samdumitriu.com/p/why-the-ca...
Why the Carbon Price Support was scrapped
How cutting a carbon tax on electricity could cut carbon emissions
samdumitriu.com
Nobody talks about the time when Razorlight got radiation poisoning from the polonium meant for Litvinenko.
In response to the Fingleton Review, the Govt didn't commit to legislating to fix the Habs Regs to avoid things like fish discos/bat tunnels. However, they are legislating to do just that for offshore wind. Why is it one rule for wind and another for nuclear? www.samdumitriu.com/p/if-its-goo...
If it’s good enough for wind, it’s good enough for nukes
Cutting red tape for offshore wind is welcome, it should apply to nuclear too
samdumitriu.com
New: How our planning system makes the weekly shop more expensive. Supermarkets are using planning objections and legal challenges to prevent cheaper rivals (Aldi/Lidl) from opening nearby. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-to-cut...
How to cut the cost of the weekly shop
Planning policy makes your groceries more expensive
samdumitriu.com
Britain is the most expensive place in the world to build a nuclear power station. Labour have just announced an extremely ambitious supply-side reform agenda to change that. Here's my analysis of what just might end up as the Starmer Govt's proudest legacy. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-seriou...
How serious is the Government on nuclear reform?
Britain Remade’s analysis of the Government’s response to the Fingleton Review
samdumitriu.com
Remember the Preston Model? The council was meant to have saved their area by shifting spend to local SMEs. But the sums don't add up: council spend is just too small to explain it. @michaeljahill.bsky.social on the real Preston Model: build homes and roads. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-truth-...
The truth about the Preston Model
How housebuilding, not 'community wealth building', explains Preston's success
samdumitriu.com
In the Guardian, I argue that Britain’s nature protections often lead to expensive, ineffective mitigations and, paradoxically, harm nature in the long run because they make it harder to build the clean energy infrastructure we need to tackle climate change.
Damian Carrington@dpcarrington.bsky.social · 5mo agoHow can we really protect Britain’s environment? Well-intentioned laws designed to safeguard nature frequently have the opposite effect, says @samdumitriu.bsky.social @britainremade.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...
Sadiq Khan has identified London's golf courses as potential sites for new homes. Here are some facts about London's golf courses. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
Sadiq Khan takes swing at London golf courses in affordable homes plan
Car parks also on hit list as City Hall draws up plans for 880,000 new homes
standard.co.uk
Labour's rewrite of planning policy is genuinely radical, but there's a real risk that good intentions are watered-down due to unclear drafting. Michael Hill and I have set out three problems that could undermine an otherwise admirably bold document. www.samdumitriu.com/p/whats-wron...
What's wrong with Labour's planning rewrite?
Three problems with the draft NPPF and how to fix them
samdumitriu.com
I am more relaxed than most about Palantir's role in the British public sector, but this is disturbing. Not only did the CEO twice use a slur about the intellectually disabled, the company account then reposted it. (His core message on Anthropic is hateful too.)
Starmer: “Every time I go to pull a lever, there are a whole bunch of regulations ... that mean the action from pulling the lever to delivery is longer than I think it ought to be” He has a point. Some London boroughs won't be impacted by his housing target policy until the end of this Parliament.
Sam Dumitriu@samdumitriu.bsky.social · 5mo agoLabour's plan to build 1.5m homes is reliant on housing targets. One big problem: they are unlikely to impact London, which is meant to deliver a huge share of those homes, until the 2030s! My latest explains how places like Camden can avoid higher targets. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-london...