Our social contract is too complex. There is a reason James Buckley is charged for his garden waste. But it is an incredibly stupid one. We are the only rich country who funds social care through a property tax meant for bins. youtu.be/Byz9cK6tBkY?si…

NEW Govt will announce digital ID cards for all within days It's seen as a key way to control illegal immigration Ministers have been working up to this for some months Exc The i Paper by top colleague Chloe Chaplain: inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

Why aren't there enough houses?

What do public actually think about economic growth, technological change and "abundance"? I’ve done original survey with Focaldata There is an “anti-growth” and “pro-growth" coalition, but both create some very strange bedfellows jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com/p/what-do-the-…

Public opinion on economic growth, technology and abundance may be of interest to James Yucel Calum Weir Maxwell Marlow 🇺🇦 James Cowling Simon Dudley 🧢

The map below shows how far behind France and Germany we are in mass transit. In France, every place with over 150,000 people has some form of tram or metro. But if mayoral areas can 'become builders' as Tracy Brabin WY 🌹 puts it in the foreword, we can turn this around. 🧵 1/9

We’re so back?

Peru just before the Dina surge in popularity:

The idea of vampires being scared of the the dawn / the sun / the rooster crowing is actually a Chinese invention + older than the publication of Dracula?? It’s in the Zi Buyu, which you can (like me) horrendously google translate through this: zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/子不語/卷12

Totally fabricated story. 2k retweets. 9k likes. From an account with 240k followers. This is how misinformation spreads on this platform. You can have your own parallel information eco system, where enough retweets and followers can make lies seem true.

Labour has a lot to celebrate this week. Not all of it made the papers, but there was plenty of good news for progressives. 8 important changes:

What do we think

"He has a large forehead, surrounded by an even larger face and small, clever eyes. He looks steamed somehow – pinkish – as if he’s been simmering in a pot on the stove for a couple of hours." 🗣️ Will Lloyd meets Piers Morgan newstatesman.com/politics/media…

Time for MRPs to be reported with more caution 3/4 yrs out from an election. Result closer to constituency polling - but still 10% off for Plaid. We’ve gone back to consuming polls as gospel only a year on from Labour lead being grossly overstated & seat forecasts 50 seats out

Plaid Cyrmu's victory in Caerphilly proves tactical voting works - Ben Walker

🎆 Remember, Remember the 5th of November, well it may have taken some 420 years but Guy Fawkes now has a higher net-positivity score from Brits than any of the party leaders we tested, though a surprising number are 'neutral' on the man who tried to blow up the House of Lords

As immigration dominates the brief this morning, here’s my two cents on the salience vs. the importance of the issue: labourlist.org/2025/11/immigr… (Full report linked below - Many thanks to Emma Burnell!)

Pollsters who ask questions that add nuance are rewarded with a richer look at the public’s outlook argues Labour Together's Calum Weir labourlist.org/2025/11/immigr…

NEW: How rich are you? 🪙 Is your income high for your age? 🪙 How does your wealth and spending compare? 🪙 Could you make more by moving overseas? Delighted to launch our The Times and The Sunday Times income and wealth tool. Enter your details to see where you stack up thetimes.com/article/1e0622…

a rare photo of sean connery signed by roger moore The % putting themselves above a 5/10 in willingness to vote Green is about 30-31% with YouGov at the moment (up from 27% in July). Reform around the same, Labour and Lib Dems at about 27%-29%, Cons about 25%. Shows you how fragmented everything else.