Not the point, but why does Andy Burnham look like a giant here? www.businessgreen.com/news/4533259...

Number 10 confirms Katie White and Michael Shanks to remain at DESNZ

Andy Burnham continues his shake-up of government with wave of junior ministerial appointments

businessgreen.com

Thames Water could be the first real test of the likely new PM's 'Manchesterism' agenda. This week we explore the case for incremental public ownership, whilst remaining within fiscal constraints: www.neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/is-thames-water-the-first-real-test-for-manchesterism

"As a share of net profits, dividends and share buybacks more than doubled from 27% to 68%. Net investment across the entire non-financial corporate sector fell from 18.9% to just 7.4% of gross profit." Brilliant report from UCL IIPP www.etuc.org/en/document/...

A lot has changed since the UK voted to leave the EU, and yet the ongoing arguments over the UK-EU relationship show no sign of fading. A decade on from the seismic result, this week we ask: did we take back control? Or was Project Fear right all along? neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/b...

Council tax arrears across Britain have hit £9.3 BILLION. Up nearly £1bn in just the last year - 12% year on year. Up 65% over five years. This is not sustainable. 🧵 debtjustice.org.uk/news/council...

Our research reveals today that almost 1 in 3 in the UK are in energy debt, or worried about falling behind. For those in debt, their experiences of survival are deeply troubling. Meanwhile, the UK energy industry rakes in big profits – £3bn in the first 3 months of this year. Let's break it down. ⬇️

Hope this gives the ECB pause for thought over their body cam footage findings... metro.co.uk/2026/06/14/w...

Workers for London council sacked for threatening to 'rip man's teeth out'

The workers have been dismissed.

metro.co.uk

We talk about people in debt burying their heads in the sand... but it's the government that's burying its head over the sheer scale of debt in the country. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

UK energy debt crisis deepens for millions ahead of price cap rise

13 per cent of those in debt or concerned about missing payments owed money to ‘someone who makes them feel scared’

independent.co.uk

Private lenders just squeezed an extra $65 million out of Zambia. A country where almost half of the population doesn't have electricity. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

£1bn in fees to lawyers and ceos, paid by customer bills, to access yet more high interest debt, which will at best delay the inevitable. Just nationalise it already. www.ft.com/content/eee3... o

Thames Water to pay £749mn under creditor takeover deal

Costs mount for restructuring of UK’s biggest water company as it strives to avoid nationalisation

ft.com

I love when a new National Audit Office report drops - they really get into the weeds of why policy does and doesn't work. Their latest on utility sector regulation is well worth a read. 🧵 www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/u...

I read the report this morning. I'll have more to say when I have time, but it is largely a series of unsubstantiated assertions, airing of grievances, and basic misreporting of data. But on this one issue, here are the actual median wages of graduates and non-graduates

Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · 2mo ago

the lie (or misunderstanding) at the heart of this is the idea that a 26-year old graduate should be earning the same as a 42-year old aka the average worker when has that ever been the case?

Great research from @gmb.org.uk on council tax arrears in Greater Manchester, a deep dive that shows the scale of a problem embedded in the council tax system across the whole country. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

'Horrifying': The Greater Manchester residents in court over unpaid council tax

The figures have been described as 'horrifying'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Obviously this is in Russia, but I suspect it applies more broadly - people are so profoundly scared of their creditors and debts, that you can literally offer their cancellation as an incentive to fight & die in war... www.msn.com/en-in/news/i...

Ignoring the ~*extremely telegraph*~ title, this is an excellent expose of the culture in the debt collection world, basically just harass whoever you can in the hopes they'll settle a bill. A totally productive and useful industry. Glad it exists.

~finally~

The Verge@theverge.com · 3mo ago

The new Ultimate Child Shield batteries also dye a child’s mouth blue indicating a battery may have been swallowed.

Buses are the most used form of public transport in England, but ridership has fallen in recent years. New laws promise a turnaround, with cities like Liverpool following Manchester’s lead. This week we explore if we are going to see a bus renaissance: neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/a...

Phenomenal work from Rachael Walker and Better Policy lifting the lid on a part of the British policy landscape that regularly evades scrutiny. 🧵 betterpolicy.co.uk/council-tax-...

The reality of council tax court fees in England: new analysis

Councils raise £250 million pounds in council tax court fees each year. Capping court costs may help, but only for residents in 25% of English boroughs.

betterpolicy.co.uk

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 4mo ago

Miliband to unveil move to delink UK gas and electricity prices ft.trib.al/zI9c1JF

More and more, insecurity and lack of capacity in the system is picked up by household debt. This is the slowly growing privatisation of our social security net - you can't rely on the government to support you through rough patches, the market steps in (and profits) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great Yarmouth residents experiencing high levels of debt issues

A debt charity believes the town's seasonal job market is in part to blame.

bbc.co.uk

Big news today: the government is reforming the council tax debt system. For 4.4 million people in debt, this is genuinely going to make a difference. I'm absolutely buzzing about this after spending the last couple of years campaigning on this. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Council tax shake-up to protect the most vulnerable households

More time for vulnerable people to pay their bill after missing one month’s payment

gov.uk

It's a bit of a myth that rents are constantly increasing faster than earnings or overall inflation - on average, they're not. So what *is* the problem of unaffordability in the private rented sector? And what does this mean for how we go about fixing it? Our take 🧵⬇️

The dodgy second hand car salesman comes to the digital age. What stage of capitalism is it where the competition is not between firm efficiencies, but just who can rip you off in the least obvious way? bankofenglandinsights.substack.com/p/this-time-...

This time it's personal: the rise of dynamic, personalised pricing and what it means for inflation

How personalised pricing is influencing inflation and shaping the future of price-setting for everyone.

bankofenglandinsights.substack.com

Some of this is definitely explained by more people accessing DROs since the removal of the fee. But also households are clearly struggling - this is a longer trend & the rise in IVAs again is particularly concerning. bmmagazine.co.uk/in-business/...

VICTORY! Government to open up the Land Registry - bringing to an end a thousand years of secrecy shrouding who owns England. I’ve been campaigning for this for ten years: the new Land Use Framework, published later today, makes it government policy. 1/ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Government to lift paywall from large parts of the Land Registry

Exclusive: finding out who owns land will become simpler under plans to make the best use of green spaces and hit net zero targets

theguardian.com

Yeah looks like big news! Anything that addresses the UK's uniquely centralised taxation system is cause for celebration. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Reeves plans to give England’s regional leaders a share of national tax revenues

Chancellor seeks ‘genuine break with the past’ in tackling centralised and ‘geographically unequal’ country

theguardian.com

People are forced into debt because of our regressive council tax system - and then being harassed by bailiffs! Local elections are coming up so I've demanded my councillors pledge to #BanTheBailiffs. Write to your councillors: act.debtjustice.org.uk/contact-your...

Contact your council: Ban the bailiffs!

With local elections happening in hundreds of councils across the country this spring it’s time we told our local councillors that we want to see action on council tax debt and an end to bailiff use.

act.debtjustice.org.uk

Maybe it's just because ✨I work on it ✨ but the centrality of debt to everyday life is increasingly apparent, esp its role as a privatised security net. The state won't provide sufficient wages, welfare, or protections; so you're forced to rely on debt instead. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/m...

High levels of debt on essential UK bills are the ‘new normal’, warn campaigners

Average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax for low-income households all rose last year

theguardian.com

New research from Arnaud Natal and Isabelle Guérin estimate at least 33.3% of the world’s population (over 2.59 billion people) regularly rely on borrowing to make ends meet. As they say - indebtedness is not marginal now but a structural part of modern capitalism. hal.science/hal-05547460...

Every time someone talks about how many under 25s are claiming incapacity benefit because they're lazy, this @pfrc-uob.bsky.social graphs needs to beamed directly into their eyes