Flat people Why don’t more horses get gelded and stay in training like this? So much more fun than retiring to stud after a few races and surely would be great for the sport popularity

Parents that choose to opt out of state education are saving the taxpayer £4.5bn in additional costs Over 10% of independent pupils are from overseas, bringing in bound investment One third of pupils are assisted places This policy is economic and societal vandalism

Hard to believe either of these are serious policies that the country needs at this point.

Unclear if this will cost taxpayer on a net basis, but seems likely. Seems indisputable that it will reduce overall education outcomes in the country as a whole. And indisputable that this will further increase inequality. Impossible to justify taxing education

Highlights very clearly that this policy is pure dogma, and the real world practical impacts haven’t even been considered. This is one of the flagship policies. This clearly is not a government in waiting

First debate highlighted what’s pretty clear already. Labour pitch is basically just “we’re not tories”.

One of the (few?) benefits of lockdown was we got used to presentations of data to clarify goals and track progress. Why are elections different? Why don’t parties start with below and explain what spending they will grow and cut, and where the extra funds will come from

Sort of right, but also misleading It’s been a political choice to over-reward pensioners with gold plated pensions on top of having accumulated most of the housing wealth, because it’s a vote winner. The other option is also to increase immigration to boost growth

So good to see

A policy that is impossible to justify. Will reduce education outcomes across the country. State education requires increased funding, taxes must go up to fund that. This is exactly the wrong way to raise additional funds for education

Superb article by Karen Ward on the fiscal challenge facing the U.K. - this is the discussion and debate that should be at the heart of manifestos and election debate. Currently 27m 30-60yo paying in £14k per year and 10m 70+ drawing out £27k per year thetimes.com/article/we-mus…

Some great discussion here Impossible to justify applying tax to any form of education - arguments for it stand up to zero scrutiny

Shame to see such ill informed nonsense coming from the BBC on gambling. What other activities that teach people and financial risk and discipline for low risk? Hard to believe we’re a country that seems to encourage 95%+ mortgages but some are so sneering about betting

Excellent piece on future of Tories. I hope the conclusion that electorate “more likely to make up their mind about the values a party exhibits over time” is true - bring an end to slogans, single issues, short termism, and focus on the country future thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

The Labour Party has just won a record majority on a centrist platform. Former divisive leader thinks it’s a good time to lecture about divisiveness.

A totally unjustifiable policy that sets education back in the country

So great to see Ruacana loving his life after racing

Interesting that a campaign started to remove VAT from suncream to combat skin cancer. How about a campaign to remove VAT from education to boost education outcomes and development of the young, encouraging more parents money into the education sector?

City of Troy has many physical attributes and really is a rare talent, but just looking at this photo you can see that he is very kind as well, and that is the greatest quality of all.

Excellent letter by Grainne Hurst in the Times highlighting misleading and inaccurate commentary in a leader.