I’ve known grand academics in the US who bill their secretaries that way!

The Mandelson saga is really about Labour factionalism Keir Starmer is a process man, but his mishandling of it in appointing a US ambassador shows how rule-by-clique dominates his party

“The real mystery, then, is not why Robbins kept his mouth shut, by why Starmer kept his eyes shut to the palpable risks of appointing a twice-sacked, wealth-obsessed lobbyist, with Russian oligarch links”

My take on the real roots of the Mandelson saga www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/730...

There might, I suppose, be circumstances where sacking permanent civil servants makes it more likely they’ll tell you awkward truths

But not many

Most dangerous line from Robbins yet

Among all the postmortems of the Mandelson disaster “the direction from No 10 was that we must make clear that these decisions were made entirely independently of ministers and they were not consulted, other than being told the outcomes”

Strange to hear former Cab Sec Chris Wormald (recently ousted by KS) called in aid by KS as the key arbiter of process — in order to desl with a Q about the sage advice of another former Cab Sec, Simon Case, about the desirability of vetting before committing to a name

A gentle voice finds his way towards some unsparing conclusions

open.spotify.com/episode/0WnP...

3.

In poor areas, healthy life expactancy now < 50 for both men & women

Worth thinking about now stiff work tests for benefits now apply right up to pension age of 66-67

2.

The gap between rich & poor areas is roughly a decade for lifespan & roughly 2 decades for good health

Life expectancy: recovered a bit from pandemic era, but is still worse than before. So prolonged sliippage

Healthy life: expectancy actually worse than pandemic era

1.

Powerful visualisation of the cast-iron link between deprivation, health and lifespans

One of the most important official data sets there is ... Full report here ...

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

Rearmament doesn’t have to be on the backs of the poor The PM and chancellor should ignore right-wing pundits and look back to Keynes in 1940 to see how to fund defence fairly

Welfare Vs Warfare?

A piece from last year rejecting the terms of today’s big political argument

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...

The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance (Amendment) Regulations 2026: unnumbered act paper A report by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) and statement from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

A lot riding on the so-called 'Right to Try' regs

Good to see SSAC’s detailed scrutiny result in it being beefed up in useful ways, after 4 of our 5 recommendations were accepted

Details

👇

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Among the many known unknowns of the Iran war, the rough shape of the living standards hit — and who, exactly, will bear the brunt — is becoming clearer

bsky.app/profile/tom-...

Thanks … also bsky.app/profile/tom-...

This is a more reassuring read on things than BBC radio was reporting

Still doubt that sone of the stock “won’t be drawn into hypotheticals” lines are adequate for this dangerous moment

Hope so — have you got a link? I was going on BBC R4

The President hyping the prospect of monstrous crimes tonight

Yet BBC radio reporting No 10 refusing to rule out UK bases being used for attacks on infrastructure

Worst possible moment to allow any hint of weakening of the claimed ban on involvement in “offensive” operations

Another interesting take on the two bumper capitalism books I reviewed in UK Prospect recently

And a powerful conclusion about the “learned” refusal of economics to engage with history

The most substantive day of “change” for poorer families since 2024, with the axing of the 2-child limit

Momentous

But tinged with worries about its political durability

Why? Instead of arguing for this urgent reform upfront, resistence to it was made an electoral virility symbol

One of the best jobs in UK social science, research & policy.

@jamesbowes01.bsky.social Hello! could you possibly follow so I can DM? Hoping to get in touch to take your mind on migration matters. Thanks, tom

Whither capitalism? Two new surveys of our dominant economic system make us fear for its future

Thanks to @tom-clark.bsky.social for this fantastic review!
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/7184...

Is Britain running out of babies? And what will that mean?

I’ve learnt so much helping out on
@charliemccurdy.bsky.social’s brilliant report on the biggest of all social challenges

Don’t miss it tomorrow

It's a bit like saying someone must be feeling much healthier and more energetic having lost weight because they've had a leg amputated.

Sympathise with Treasury on one point

Everyone pointing to “spare cash” from a higher VAT take on costly fuel that can be handed back to motorists

Such claims ignore the dwindling overall tax take in an economy that will tank as oil soars

Gorton & Denton

What Fleet Street said Vs What the police found

Not great for democracy if a chunk of the public is misled into thinking it’s failing

Better numbers, stubbornly grim realities

Read this thread and @alexclegg.bsky.social's new blog for @resolutionfoundation.org's take on yesterday's poverty stats
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/a-cl...

40 months is a long time in politics

Unlike many other forgotten pledges, this one has nothing to do with public spending & was expressly about trust

Here’s someone who knows their stuff drawing on the writing (& spirit) of Wittgenstein to expose the shortcomings of chatbots as substitute humans

Where i recently stopped at tentative Qs, @alexwstern.bsky.social drives through to apocalyptic conclusions

www.commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein...