Outer Hebrides Broadcasting Corporation

 

A world-first focus v New spending fights

A world-first focus on long-term outcomes could transform UK government – or create new spending fights

The idea in the broad sense is very simple. Any spending deemed to be “preventative” – that is, the initial outlay will be more than made up for by future savings – will from now on be ringfenced, meaning it cannot be raided for more immediate needs...

But now, starting from the upcoming spending review, which kicks off next year, projects that can be shown to bring down costs in the future will be protected via a new piece of jargon – a preventative departmental expenditure limit, or PDEL.

“It could end up being quite a major change in how the government runs spending reviews, and the entire spending framework,” said Stuart Hoddinott, at the Institute for Government thinktank, which had called for such a system to be implemented. Officials in the Treasury agree, with one calling it an “important reform”.

That is, however, about as straightforward as it gets. The budget document uses Andy Burnham’s new spending to prevent rough sleeping as an example of the sort of thing that would qualify. A few other areas would seem likely: for example, public health programmes to prevent future illness, and Sure Start-type early years schemes.

But beyond that, no one really knows what might or might not qualify for PDEL status. Departments say they are waiting for Treasury guidance, which has not yet been drawn up. “A lot depends on the definition,” Hoddinott said. “While it sounds simple, it becomes quite difficult when you think about how it will work in practice, as you could make any argument that almost all types of spending are preventative.”

It's the instantly obvious observation - "you could make any argument that almost all types of spending are preventative.” 

New spending fights would be my bet, but I wouldn't get worthwhile odds on it.

Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Live Here

 

Found on the doormat this morning, a depressing leaflet from that Burnham chap. 

Maybe it's a reminder that Guy Fawkes Night will be here soon.

It's certainly a reminder.

Is The Lancet a public health problem?

Manosphere must be treated as public health problem like smoking

Academics have called for the so-called manosphere to be treated as a public health problem, with the harms it causes online confronted in the same way as those created by the tobacco industry.

The manosphere, according to the authors of a new report, is “a diffuse commercial ecosystem and loose collection of online communities united by shared beliefs about masculinity, misogyny and male victimisation”.

The movement centres on a so-called crisis of masculinity and a shared conviction that feminism has systematically disadvantaged men, they said...

The report, published in The Lancet, stated: “Similar to the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries, content creators and hosting platforms deploy strategies that individualise responsibility.

Can-Kicker Constantly Kicks Cans

 

What do I care? I lie more often than I tell the truth. I have a sort of pride in it. If a man is to be a liar, let him be a thorough one.

George Gissing – The Emancipated (1890)

Burnham admits budget was not radical enough

Andy Burnham has admitted that his first Budget was not radical enough.

The Prime Minister said John Healey’s maiden fiscal plan on Wednesday had not included many of the measures the pair had wanted to take...

He came to office in July with a pledge to reverse “four decades of neoliberalism” and significantly increase state intervention in the markets...

The Chancellor also made no cuts to welfare in his Budget, despite predictions that benefits spending was set to jump by almost 30 per cent to £431bn by 2032.

Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, said on Friday that Labour must cut the benefits bill slowly to avoid another party revolt, after days of Treasury chaos over reducing welfare.

Burnham goes flat out

 

Government working flat out to reduce welfare bill, PM says after cost warnings

The Prime Minister was asked about his timeframe for reducing the benefit bill during a visit to Derby on Thursday.

He told reporters: “We want to get the welfare bill down as quickly as possible, and we’re working flat out to that end.

“Now that we are through the Budget, the big next priority in front of us is the publication of the Milburn report, long awaited, but it’s coming soon.

“We just want to get stuck into supporting people to help people off benefits and into work.

  

The horrific possibility of running out of our money

Climate change is a 'global health emergency' and the harms are accelerating, Lancet report warns

Extreme heat is also taking a toll on the global economy, the report found.

Based on their findings, the report's authors say climate change should now be treated as a "global health emergency" and they laid out six priorities for a "health-centered response" to the warming planet.

For one, they say the WHO and United Nations should use their existing resources to respond to the challenges, and they recommend that the WHO create a new way to formally recognize climate change as a health emergency and coordinate a global response. They also suggest making health and well-being core objectives and measures of success in all climate action.

The authors say countries and global institutions need to make climate and health a top priority and they call for cutting greenhouse gas emissions quickly and fairly to protect people's health. In addition, the researchers recommend creating a shared pool of climate and health data that everyone can use and having wealthier countries provide more grants and low-interest loans.


Ah here we are, it's about having wealthier countries provide more grants and low-interest loans.

They appear to be worried about the horrific possibility of running out of our money.

A bit of breathing space.

Millions of UK households to get £100 energy bill payment

Around 20 million households across the UK will get a £100 discount from their energy bills this winter, chancellor John Healey has confirmed at the Autumn Budget.

The ‘Household Energy Payment’ will grant certain households an automatic rebate directly to their bank accounts in a measure that will cost the government £2.6bn.

But only households in council tax bands A to D will qualify for the payments.

Announcing the payment in his first Budget speech, Mr Healey said: “Let me say this to families at home. I know that with the conflict in the Middle East, rising energy bills are a real worry. I know that people look to government at times like this, not to solve all their problems, but to give them a bit of breathing space.

The Budget just emitted by John Healey, the chap currently wearing the Chancellor's hat, was clearly intended to differentiate him from Rachel Reeves, just as Andrew Burnham is supposed to be nothing like Keir Starmer. The £100 tip for the plebs was clumsy in my view, but they are clumsy.

Political phrases such as 'a bit of breathing space' are mildly interesting though, they give the game away by popping up in different political scripts. 

This version of 'breathing space' is backed by £100 of other people's money as a covert message running something like - your difficulties are not our fault, little people, but we do have some appropriate executive sympathy.  

Just find your audience

An interesting video on a familiar theme - finding an audience for political spite is not difficult if your spite is aimed at a prominent target. In this case it's Elon Musk. As we know too well, this kind of audience manipulation is emotional, it lies below rational discourse.

Power Plonkers

Germany falls behind Iraq in the global security ranking in terms of electricity supply

Germany's electricity supply performs surprisingly poorly in a new international study. The British Adam Smith Institute ranks Germany 69th out of 187 countries in the security ranking. This puts Germany behind Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kyrgyzstan. In terms of electricity generation that can be called up at any time, Germany even ranks only 180th, with the growing share of weather-dependent energy sources and the simultaneous loss of conventional power plant capacities decisive. The results highlight structural challenges for industry, households and long-term security of supply.

The UK is ranked 41st, just behind Brazil.

A radical devolution of waste

Budget 2026: Chancellor promises Sadiq Khan 'radical devolution of power' to fire up London

John Healey urged by bosses to champion the capital to boost the economy

He made the pledge as he faced growing calls to give Lord Sadiq Khan major new tax powers to fire up London, the nation’s economic engine.

The Chancellor was urged to devolve to the London Mayor a proportion of income tax and business rates revenue that “fairly reflects the tax receipts the capital generates”.

A sceptic's eye may be inclined to see a 'radical devolution of power' as a Blairite devolution of waste, fraud, bungling and blame.

Maybe it's the egalitarian approach to squandering other people's money, spread the squandering.

John Healey: casting the runes

A Telegraph piece full of hope that John Healey might not be the dismal failure that rational folk probably expect. It's a reasonable expectation unfortunately, based on the man's long and far from illustrious political career. 

To my mind the headline says it all.

John Healey: The trade unionist with his hands on the public purse

Andy Burnham’s long political experience counts against him in some quarters.

As the Westminster joke goes: “A Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynista walk into a bar. The barman says, ‘What can I get for you, Mr Burnham?’”

Yet his Chancellor, John Healey, does not get the same reception, despite having served even more Labour leaders.

He has been a minister, in opposition or as a shadow minister under each leader since Sir Tony Blair was elected in 1997.

Conservatives worry. A man who served under Jeremy Corbyn now has his hands on the public purse.

So as he prepares to present his maiden Budget, who is the real John Healey?

No one can doubt that he is dyed-in-the-wool Labour. Healey met his wife at a trade union conference.

Chocolate-coated waffles

Full list of food items targeted for price cuts in Budget 2026

The cost of certain supermarket staples, including baked beans, gherkins and chocolate will be cut as part of five “everyday fixes” unveiled by the government.

Tariffs on a range of foods will be slashed to bring down their prices, the chancellor and prime minister have announced as part of a series of measures to address heightened living costs, expected to be included in Wednesday’s budget.

Products included in the chancellor's tariff cuts:

• Garlic
• Gherkins
• Citrus jams, marmalades and pastes
• Throat pastilles and cough drops
• Boiled sweets
• Toffees, caramels and similar sweets
• Plant-based beverages
• Chocolate-coated waffles/wafers
• Kerosene
• Fertilisers

Oh dear, it seems as if Treasury thugs are already making fun of The Right Honourable John Healey MP, Chancellor and Under Treasurer of His Majesty’s Exchequer. 

And that Burnham chap of course, but what the blue blazes are chocolate-coated waffles?

Labour need to stop using smoke and mirrors accounting

Tim Dier has a very useful CAPX piece on Labour's fascination with smoke and mirrors accounting used to flatter debt figures via Public Financial Institutions. The whole piece is well worth reading as an antidote to any lingering hopes that John Healey might turn out to be a responsible Chancellor.


Labour need to stop using smoke and mirrors accounting

• Public Financial Institutions, or PuFins, are being used to flatter the debt figures
• The Government needs to demonstrate budgetary restraint – not an increasing reliance on financial wheezes
• To balance the budget and cut debt, we need to clip the PuFins’ wings

Imagine borrowing £10,000 from the bank, lending it to a friend, then telling everyone the debt’s gone – because your friend owes you the money.

In his first Budget, John Healey will likely use PuFins to bury even more borrowing, channelling billions into Labour’s pet projects

Public Financial Institutions (PuFin) are publicly-funded bodies that invest taxpayer money via loans, equity investments and guarantees – with the aim of encouraging or ‘crowding in’ private capital, driving policy goals such as green energy or other infrastructure investment.

As I explain in my latest research, prior to 2024, borrowing for PuFins showed up in public sector net debt excluding Bank of England (PSND ex BoE), just as borrowing to build a road would. This handbrake kept the Government honest and meant PuFins were used sparingly.

But in Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, she changed the fiscal rules, from considering PSND ex BoE to considering public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL).

This meant that the ‘investments’ that PuFins make could largely offset the debt taken on to fund them. Almost like magic, the debt all but disappears from plain sight and barely registers against the fiscal rules.

That’s obviously nonsensical – you still owe the same £10,000 to the bank, regardless of what you did with the money. But that’s Labour’s approach to our public finances. Let me explain how it works.

Writing quite openly about water-closets

From Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel, Mrs Dalloway.

Those five years—1918 to 1923—had been, he suspected, somehow very important. People looked different. Newspapers seemed different. Now for instance there was a man writing quite openly in one of the respectable weeklies about water-closets. That you couldn’t have done ten years ago—written quite openly about water-closets in a respectable weekly.

Today we might smile as perhaps Woolf's readers were expected to smile. After all, one is expected to be progressive and perfectly comfortable about discussing water-closets. 

From water-closets, Woolf moves on to other radical trends we easily recognise today. No tattoos yet though.  

And then this taking out a stick of rouge, or a powder-puff and making up in public. On board ship coming home there were lots of young men and girls—Betty and Bertie he remembered in particular—carrying on quite openly; the old mother sitting and watching them with her knitting, cool as a cucumber. The girl would stand still and powder her nose in front of every one. And they weren’t engaged; just having a good time; no feelings hurt on either side. As hard as nails she was—Betty What’shername—; but a thorough good sort. She would make a very good wife at thirty—she would marry when it suited her to marry; marry some rich man and live in a large house near Manchester.

These tools

800 Scottish public sector workers being paid for jobs that don’t exist – report

The Sunday Times reports around 800 NHS workers no longer have a fixed role but remain on the public payroll, at a cost of at least £27m per year...

In response to the reports, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our policy for no compulsory redundancies remains. Public bodies are expected to ensure that they deliver value for money and to see that all staff, including those who are redeployed, are engaged in appropriate work for their pay scale.

“For example, the NHS has clear redeployment policies that helps boards to make use of staff with experience and expertise even while their posts may change.

“Public bodies manage their workforce through steps such as redeployment, attrition, vacancy management, reskilling and, where necessary, voluntary severance.

“These tools will form part of our work to deliver public service reform – focusing on frontline delivery, with the right staff in the right roles to deliver real improvements in public services.”

“These tools will form part of our work..." It's my puerile sense of humour I suppose, given the headline I smiled at that.

Honest discussion

PM open to honest discussion about return to EU free movement

Andy Burnham says that an "honest discussion" is needed about readopting the EU's free movement rules.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the prime minister said immigration into ⁠Britain had ⁠been "different" since Brexit, with more foreigners ‌moving permanently.

Burnham says this as if an honest discussion would be an innovation. Maybe he's right, it would be an innovation, but we couldn't have an honest discussion about it being an innovation, he'd dishonestly deny it.

Burnham could have admitted that from his point of view a dishonest discussion is needed, which would at least have been honest.

The wrong solution for the wrong problem

'Ridiculous' No 10 better off as a museum, says ex-Starmer aide

No 10 Downing Street should be turned into a museum or flats, Sir Keir Starmer’s former cost-of-living tsar has said.

The building, which has been the official residence of the Prime Minister of Great Britain since the 1700s, is “not fit for purpose”, according to Lord Walker of Broxton.

Lord Walker, the chairman of Iceland supermarket and former cost of living tsar, called the 300-year-old building “not conducive to collaborative working”, with officials struggling to book “tiny” meeting rooms.

The problem is the quality of the discussions conducted inside No 10 and decisions made as a result of those discussions.

The solution is not - blame the building and move to somewhere bigger and more convenient.

May as well blame Larry the No 10 cat.

  

The EU has unlimited opportunities to interfere

EU restricts private sale of used spare parts for cars

With Regulation 2026/1738, the EU is tightening the regulations for the extraction and trade of used spare parts. From September 2028, the private cannibalization of end-of-life vehicles will be more restricted. From September 2029, additional requirements will apply to commercial spare parts sellers. However, there is no general ban on private individual sales. The new rules can have significant consequences, especially for owners of older cars and classic cars. This is because many manufacturers no longer supply spare parts for older models. Private parts stores are therefore often the only way to carry out necessary repairs at all. Additional restrictions could complicate procurement, make repairs more expensive and jeopardize the preservation of older vehicles.

EU restricts private extraction of used spare parts

Until now, private mechanics have often bought old vehicles in order to obtain functional components from them. Engines, transmissions, axles and body parts then serve as spare parts for other vehicles. However, the new EU regulation sets tighter limits on this form of recycling. According to Annex I, a vehicle that has been dismantled accordingly is considered to be an end-of-life vehicle. Special legal regulations then apply to its further treatment.

Not a Bono fan

 

Bring to me

 

Bring to me your feckless and bored

That I may teach them benefits fraud
Raise mighty windmills to the sky

Catch the sunlight before we fry.

I’ll open wide the prison gates
Let hundreds of old lags go

Free to join with all their mates

And find out all they know.

Trust me I’m your Northern Bloke
Driving the Bus of Hope

With lower fares and…

Sorry Andy.. major power blackout.

Do I send an emergency alert?

Not working Andy.

Can’t I just fin...

No relevant engineering backgrounds to manage the energy industry

From the video description - During a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, Rupert Lowe confronts a panel of civil servants from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for having no relevant engineering backgrounds to manage the energy industry.

A low-grade script

Andy Burnham vows UK will hit net zero target despite Jackdaw gasfield approval

Andy Burnham has said he will not “abandon the responsibility” of fighting the climate crisis after the government approved the Jackdaw gasfield, pledging to block new North Sea licences and keep Britain on track for net zero by 2050.

That's the headline, but it's worth teasing out the language used by the UK Prime Minister, Andrew Burnham and his Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Miatta Fahnbulleh. 

It is not the language of sincere political leaders aiming to convey important information in an honest and responsible manner, it's a low-grade script.

But we expect that.

Burnham

• Said - he will not “abandon the responsibility” of fighting the climate crisis
• Said - he wanted to make the transition to a greener future “on our terms”
• Said - I want to be clear that our determination is unwavering,
• Said - he was conscious of the “acute global instability” affecting energy security and wanted to treat oil and gas workers with more dignity.
• Said - he is “personally committed to confronting” the challenges of the climate crisis.
• Said - Britain has just emerged from its hottest summer on record, during which we had nurses collapsing on hospital wards, bus drivers working in intolerable conditions and families losing everything to wildfires
• Said - More extreme weather is forecast in the months ahead.
• Said - The climate crisis is no distant threat. It is here, on our doorstep, affecting people’s lives and livelihoods.
• Said - I am personally committed to confronting it, and I will not abandon the responsibility we have to future generations.

Fahnbulleh

• Is - "really concerned” and “quite sad” about the breakdown in consensus about the climate crisis.
• Said - I think it’s a sad place where Reform has gone and got to.
• Said - But I’m even sadder about the Tories because they know better
• Said - It has been really painful and tragic to watch that consensus burn
• Said - It’s people’s livelihoods, it’s their jobs, their communities
• Said - Even if you don’t care about climate – care about that, you’ve got to take action.

Reject the straightforward, and...

Europe suffers deadliest summer on record after extreme weather

Europe experienced its deadliest summer on record in 2026, with elevated temperatures claiming more than 50,000 lives in towns and cities across the continent, according to a landmark study.

Researchers estimated that two-thirds of these excess deaths – exceeding 32,000 – can be directly linked to climate change intensifying the extreme heat.

In the UK, urban areas recorded around 4,500 excess deaths, with 2,500 of those attributed to the heightened severity of heatwaves driven by global warming, according to the paper published in Nature Health.

To a question put to him by Duke Ngai as to what should be done in order to render the people submissive to authority, Confucius replied, "Promote the straightforward, and reject those whose courses are crooked, and the thing will be effected. Promote the crooked and reject the straightforward, and the effect will be the reverse."

Analects of Confucius

Visions of imbecility

London Green councillors encourage people inspired by the protests in France to join demonstration

And on Sunday, the Hackney Greens shared an image urging those "inspired" by French chaos to join a march against austerity held the day before the Budget.

Florence Schechter, the cabinet member for finance, resident services and digital, promoted the "March against Austerity", to be held in central London, on her social media...

She said: "To speak to people who are inspired by protests is not an endorsement of violence...

"Austerity is not just a topic: people are dying as a result of governments' decisions to cut spending and make our communities pay their debts, in France and here in the UK.


The professor remained looking at his wife with an air of stupefaction, as if she had opened up to him visions of imbecility of which he had not even dreamed.

Stephen Crane - Active Service (1899)

Twaddle Wins Again

Pathetic: Miliband's deluded protege signals she'll oppose crucial oilfield despite gas green light

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh was poised to reject plans to exploit the Rosebank site – just hours after approving production at the Jackdaw gas field...

Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary and former energy secretary, is said to be staunchly opposed to the new drilling. Ms Fahnbulleh said: 'One is a gasfield that caters for the domestic market, while the other is an oilfield that is mainly for export.

'It is right that we judge each application in its own right, and it is absolutely critical that the decision is consistent with our climate obligations, our carbon budgets and the end destination we need to get to with the energy transition.'


Ms Fahnbulleh seems to have learned the script, but it would be interesting to know what "the end destination we need to get to with the energy transition" might be. Somewhere expensive and cold in winter presumably.

I've no idea if there are investors genuinely willing to exploit the Rosebank site though, not with a large Labour majority in the HoC.

Woefully unprepared

Exceeding key climate target is now 'imminent and unavoidable', United Nations warns

The warning comes as a group of British MPs warned this summer's record heat and intense wildfires exposed how "woefully unprepared" the country is for the growing risk of blazes.

Exceeding a key global climate target is now "imminent and unavoidable", United Nations (UN) scientists have warned.

It coincides with a new report by MPs today that said Britain urgently needed new equipment to cope with the growing danger of wildfires, driven by global warming.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the world would soon blow through the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, reaching at least 1.7C even in a best-case scenario.

Being woefully unprepared is much more than a British problem. India also seems to be woefully unprepared for the coal supply bottlenecks already occurring in a major expansion of its coal-fired power plants.

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here, although British MPs are woefully unprepared when it comes to learning lessons. As are most voters.

India plans up to 150 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants

India may have to expand its coal-fired power plants much more than previously planned. 

This was stated by Ghanshyam Prasad, chairman of the state electricity authority CEA, in October 2026 in New Delhi. By 2035, additional plants with a capacity of 105 to 150 gigawatts could be necessary. Previously, the planning provided for only 97 gigawatts. The background to this is the sharp increase in electricity demand, weak hydropower generation and a lack of storage capacities for renewable energies. At the same time, the coal stocks of existing power plants are shrinking, while significant supply bottlenecks are already occurring.

Gas v Twaddle

A Grauniad piece demonstrating yet again the absurd depths environmental twaddle can plumb whenever its fans feel thwarted. 

Jackdaw North Sea gasfield to get go-ahead in blow to climate campaigners

The Jackdaw gasfield will be given the go-ahead on Wednesday, signalling Andy Burnham’s commitment to the North Sea fossil fuel industry and threatening to trigger a row with climate campaigners and Labour MPs.

Tessa Khan, the executive director of the anti-oil campaign group Uplift, said: “Jackdaw will provide around just 2% of our gas demand for roughly 10 years. It has been oversold and won’t stop the overall decline in North Sea jobs, as it will be largely unmanned and operated remotely.”

She added: “Labour’s climate credibility is on the line. No new oil and gasfields are compatible with safe climate limits.”

The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder that virtue-signalling twaddle still has a firm grip on the political arena, the media and within the government machine.

A poll by Savanta for the climate group E3G and seen by the Guardian shows that nearly a third of voters say they would be less likely to vote Labour if it gives the go-ahead for more North Sea oil drilling.

That includes almost exactly a third of those who voted Labour at the last election, and around half of 18- to 24-year-olds.

Ellie Mae O’Hagan, the UK energy programme lead at E3G, said: “After a summer of deadly heatwaves, the public has made up its mind: more drilling is the wrong answer.

“If the prime minister wants a decade in power to change the country, he should invest in heat pumps and solar, not tax breaks for the oil and gas companies driving up our bills and polluting the planet.”

As I was going to St Ives

According to Hansard, the Bill which is the subject of this video was read the First time and is to be read a Second time on Friday 13 November. Meanwhile, inflation rises, the general decline continues and Andrew Burnham is still UK Prime Minister.

 

I'm glad that we've been able to right this wrong.

Proud - great-niece of two Jarrow marchers marks the 90th anniversary at Downing Street

The historic visit has been hailed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham as a chance to "right the wrong" of 1936, when the Jarrow Marchers' pleas for help went unanswered.

Speaking exclusively to the Shields Gazette, he said: “It's been 90 years since the Jarrow Marchers were turned away. They had walked almost 300 miles to demand jobs and a future for their town, but they were ignored.

“I'm glad that we've been able to right this wrong.

A chap is bound to wonder if there is any virtue-signalling opportunity Burnham wouldn't grasp. William the Conqueror’s Harrying of the North is a tad remote even for Northern Bloke, but as it took place in Manchester, the Peterloo Massacre is a possibility.

Maybe he's done Peterloo already, it's not easy to keep up.

It's a good way to confirm knighthood honours though

Lime warns e-bikes are not for jousting after viral duel in London

Lime has stated that its e-bikes are "not for jousting" after social media videos showed riders dressed in knightly armour duelling across London.

Footage surfaced online over the weekend showing hundreds of people gathered in London Fields, east London, to view artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First jousting whilst riding the bright green rentable e-bikes.

In the clips, the duo are seen clad in chain mail, red and black cloaks, helmets and full armour, riding towards each other brandishing striped poles.

Limpet

Could Jeremy Corbyn lose his Islington North seat after 43 years?

Jeremy Corbyn has defied the odds to hold onto his north London seat.

But a new poll suggested he could be defeated in Islington North at the next general election, expected in 2029...

However, Martin Baxter, chief executive of Electoral Calculus, warned against writing off Mr Corbyn, 77, already despite the poll’s finding.

He told The Standard; “I'd be a bit cautious on treating that as gospel.

“I've been a long-term resident of Islington myself, and I know how popular Jeremy Corbyn is in his Islington North constituency, even after he left the Labour Party to stand as an independent at the last election.

Jeremy Bernard Corbyn is 77 years old, so it may be too late for him to settle down, read a few books and learn something about how the world works and has worked in the past.

He may as well carry on with the politics instead.

The World Is Too Much With Us

Concern about losing contact with the world beyond brick, tarmac and concrete isn't new, but even that has been corrupted by politics, charlatans, crooks and loons. 

As we know.

This old poem expresses it well, written long ago by a poet most Makerfield voters won't be familiar with. Oh well - please excuse the sarcasm, but good grief, the world really is too much with us. 

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

William Wordsworth (1807)

Nothing to do with Ed though

Oh, we genuinely want to be honest, I assure you, but we keep putting it off.

Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Raw Youth (1875)

Concerning issues found at GB power grid by inquiry into cover-up claims

Independent investigators have found significant and concerning “cultural issues” at Great Britain’s grid operator after control room staff accused senior executives of covering up the extent of blackout risks in the UK during the June heatwave.

An external legal firm tasked with investigating a series of whistleblower allegations against the National Energy System Operator (Neso) raised concerns over how high levels stress among control room engineers was handled by the company.

The three-month investigation began after whistleblowers accused Neso of a cover-up over the growing risk of blackouts. They claimed the grid was becoming increasingly unmanageable, and that control room decisions were subject to “interference” by the company’s corporate affairs team to protect the reputation of the government-owned operator.

All tank and no think

Healey is urged by Labour's favourite think-tank to hit motorists at the pumps

Labour's favourite think-tank has sparked outrage by calling on the Chancellor to make it even more expensive for motorists to fill up their cars.

Despite widespread pleas for John Healey to help families struggling with sky-high pump prices in next week's Budget, the Left-wing Resolution Foundation says Fuel Duty should be increased instead.

It says continuing the long-standing freeze 'should not be a priority' for the Government, claiming it mainly benefits the wealthy and the levy should be hiked every few months.


Our mission

Dedicated to lifting living standards

The Resolution Foundation is an independent think-tank dedicated to lifting living standards in the UK. We focus particularly on households with low and middle incomes; those on low pay or in precarious work; and those vulnerable to financial shocks. We also investigate fairness between the generations in our Intergenerational Centre.

Burnham launches another campaign

Andy Burnham launches campaign against 'headphone dodgers' on public transport

Burnham said in a statement: “We’ve all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone. It gets on your nerves and can quickly spoil the journey.

“So, we’re launching a nationwide campaign reminding passengers to use headphones on trains. On top of that, we’re giving local leaders new powers to tackle loud music, vaping and littering on buses."


Littering on buses as well? 

Our friendly bus driver tells us that free bus travel for under 16s during August was accompanied by a huge increase in littering on buses, all of which involved extra work for cleaning staff at the depot. But this is politics where unintended consequences are waved away.

As we know, Burnham has a thing about buses. Almost as if he has been told that this is how all plebs will travel eventually.

Australian Tommyrot

Peter Smith has a useful Quadrant piece on the political arguments used to justify Australian immigration policies on economic grounds.

Immigration in, Tommyrot out

Don’t want to get into the weeds of immigration flows either actual or promised by Labor, the Coalition and One Nation. As to immigration promises, they have been made to be broken by both sides of politics, as we know. To think that this will change is a triumph of hope over experience, to quote the erudite Samuel Johnson. But that too is by the way.


The whole piece isn't long but is well worth reading.


For perspective, take the year 2006-07 under Howard and Costello. The budget was in surplus by $21 billion, the population was just 21 million, not today’s 28 million. So why in the world does getting back into a sound budget position depend upon growing our population? It doesn’t. It’s a con job orchestrated by an inept and bankrupt political class.

Australia is rich in resources. Budget surpluses would come back, notwithstanding bloated welfare bills, if onerous red, green and black tape regulations were stripped away, if baseload energy replaced the disastrous flirtation with weather-dependent energy, and if a semblance of fiscal restraint returned to government. Migration is unnecessary for any of that.

How incredibly lucky we are

2019

The NHS 'Winter Crisis' Dominates Headlines Every Year – So, Why Don't We Shout About Improvements?

We often forget how incredibly lucky we are to have a free health service in the UK, which is envied by the rest of the world. We should be doing more to focus on the positive rather than the negatives.

2026

NHS faces 'more challenging' winter than normal, minister warns

Yvette Cooper made the warning as she announced a £140m boost for urgent care in England, saying that the health service has been preparing since July to deal with the impact of seasonal illnesses.

"Winter will be more challenging for our NHS this year, after such a heavy summer," she said.

State broadcaster acts as state broadcaster - nobody treated for shock

BBC accused of breaching impartiality guidelines over civil service secondments in newsroom

The BBC has been accused of breaching impartiality guidelines after it was revealed civil servants were tasked with writing articles and fact-checking controversial issues for the newsroom.

Fast-stream graduates and Civil Service managers were placed inside the corporation, where they worked on "high-impact, sensitive topics" including Channel crossings by small boats and the Covid pandemic.

Their output appeared on the BBC website under bylines identifying them as part of "BBC News" and "BBC Verify", with no indication of their government employment.

Builders not invited

 
The world is filled, not with good and bad people, but with the builders and the destroyers, and the battle between them is eternal.

Hugh Walpole - The Bright Pavilions (1940)

Burnham pushes for closer EU ties and questions Russian interference

Andy Burnham has reignited the argument over Brexit, insisting the UK’s relationship with Europe must be revisited while adding it is "inconceivable" that Russia did not attempt to interfere in the 2016 referendum campaign.


Europe moves to further destroy itself! EU eyes COP31 climate deal to accelerate CO2 cuts, document shows – Seeks to turn ‘countries’ existing climate pledges into real-world actions’

BRUSSELS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The European Union will use next month’s COP31 climate summit to push for agreement on a “package” of efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas ​emissions heating the planet, an internal EU document seen by Reuters showed.

But the public stood by me

Angela Rayner on that vape picture: 'It was put out there to shame, but the public stood by me'

Angela Rayner has hit out at attempts to shame her and portray her as a chav in the right-wing press.

The senior Cabinet minister said an image of her vaping on a kayak in Hove last summer - just weeks before her resignation from Keir Starmer's Cabinet - was "put out there to shame me" but backfired.

Appearing on The Mirror's new Youtube show Sense Check, Ms Rayner said she had been out to celebrate after youngest son's GCSEs at the time. She said: "I had a vape and there was an iconic picture of me.

iconic

adjective

very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time:

• iconic status John Lennon gained iconic status following his death.
• iconic image The gunfight is the single most iconic image of the Wild West.
• The film Casablanca won three Academy Awards, and its characters, dialogue, and music have become iconic.

 

Irony strikes again

LTN work damages 200-year-old canal tunnel

A grade-II listed canal tunnel has been damaged by contractors installing a cycle lane in a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN).

Bath & North East Somerset council has closed the waterway and towpath beneath Beckford Road in Bath after masonry began falling into the Kennet and Avon Canal last week.

A lane of the A36 has also been shut while workers assess the structural damage to the 200-year-old stone-arch tunnel.

Lucy reimagines childhood

Education Secretary speech at CST Conference 2026

In her speech, Lucy Powell set out a bold vision to reimagine childhood for a new era.

For example we have -

I see every single day the amazing job that you do. That is often unseen, and certainly not thanked – and definitely not measured – enough.

So can I take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you and all your staff for the amazing job that you do.

This is a new time, a new moment and we need to match it. That’s the challenge for the next decade.

And Hamid just set that out then really well. To reimagine childhood for this new era.

Playing, exploring, belonging and happiness. Restoring for our children a connection to something bigger.

The notion of aiming to "reimagine childhood" may be twaddle because emitting twaddle is why she is there and it's what people vote for, but it's chilling twaddle too. We might reimagine a few things ourselves, such as an emphasis on parental responsibility before it's too late.

Then there is "Restoring for our children a connection to something bigger." We may assume that's their connection to the State and coming from Lucy Powell it probably is, although she wouldn't put it like that.

There were encouraging hints such as -

Colleagues, every child does matter. And that’s why we’ve got to spread excellence to every corner and give more opportunities not fewer.

That’s why I’m putting technical and vocational qualifications on a par with academic ones.

But it didn't offset the chilly miasma of State Education Done Our Way.

The new-mega-latest polls

Will Burnham now go for an early election? New mega-poll gives Labour a 56-seat Commons majority

Labour would win a 56-seat majority if a general election were held tomorrow as the party enjoys a reversal in fortunes under Andy Burnham, a new mega-poll shows.

Latest research by Electoral Calculus, based on Find Out Now surveys, finds Labour would win 353 seats in the House of Commons, far ahead of the Tories on 90 seats.

Who would win a UK general election today, on the latest polls
Data through 15 October 2026

If an election were held today, the PollCheck seat model projects Labour as the largest party on 301 seats, 25 short of a majority, with Conservatives on 140, Lib Dems on 64 and the Reform UK on 64. 326 of 650 seats are needed for a majority.

Focus on Focus

An interesting video on an extremely familiar subject, something we all do when we are awake - we focus.

Interesting because political parties, governments, commercial interests, activists, charities and many others all seek to meddle with how and where we focus our attention. Also interesting because of the diffuse divide between people who resist outside meddling with their focus and people who seem to have weaker resistance.

Fresh Things

John Healey vows to give breathing space to consumers and businesses in first budget

John Healey has promised to use his first budget in a fortnight’s time to offer consumers and businesses a “breathing space” while sticking to Labour’s fiscal rules.

Speaking to journalists in Bangkok, where he has been attending the International Monetary Fund annual meetings, the chancellor said he was conscious of rising costs...

“When the second half of a spending review is in place, there are pressures on departments, and colleagues are doing a good job of managing with what they’ve got,” he said, adding: “You have to reprioritise if you want to do fresh things.”


A chap could be sarcastic about a government wanting to do "fresh things". Raising the remote possibility of doing old things better for example - such as the usual functions of a competent government.

They use some strange language, this Labour lot, such as "breathing space" with the implication that it won't last and we'll soon be diving back into the Swamp. 

Normal science is a thing of the past

'Normal weather' is a thing of the past, Met Office meteorologist says

• Ian Lisk, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, has warned business leaders at the AirportsUK annual conference that “normal weather” is now a thing of the past.
• Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe in the UK, with human-induced climate change heavily driving record temperatures.

The post headline could also read -

Normal science is a thing of the distant past or

Normal veracity is a thing of the distant past.

Both science and veracity in the public arena have become so corrupted in certain important contexts that 'normal' has come to signify 'corrupt' in those contexts. It has become 'normal' to propagate preposterous misinformation.

But we already know that. 

It’s an unspoken truth that we wallow in class war clichés

This is who’s really to blame for Britain’s ‘broken’ benefits system

It’s an unspoken truth about the welfare state today. The sheer scale of in-work poverty is driving the need for state support – which is contributed to by housing costs – but also (yes) by insecure work, poor-quality jobs and terrible pay. By employers, too, who seemingly think it’s the job of the state to step in and top up the poverty wages they offer – you know, to those people who get up at 5am and graft for them from sun-up to sun-down. And yet, even then, it’s still not enough for many people to live on – as evidenced by the 4.5 million kids in poverty in the UK, 72 per cent of whom (according to government figures) live in a working household. And the fact that 300,000 of those are in families with both parents working full-time. Unsurprising, perhaps, when you learn that 56 per cent of those hit by the two-child limit – and being pushed into poverty – are in employment.

From the i Paper, a supporter of the social class which is gradually grinding down working people into a state of dependency. Andrew Burnham's social class, and the social class of his Cabinet, the Labour Party and the Establishment.

Where can I find an image of myself? Ah, in the poor, in my poor neighbour labouring in the grip of an unjust system of capitalism. Let me look at him, let my heart be wrung, let me give myself to his service. Poor fellow, poor image, he is so badly off. Alas and alas, I do love my neighbour as myself: I am as anxious about his pecuniary welfare as I am about myself. I am so sorry for him, the poor X. He is a man like me. So I lie to myself and to him. For I do not care about him and his poverty: I care about my own unsatisfied soul. But I sidetrack to him, my poor neighbour, to vent on him my self-pity.

D.H. Lawrence – Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays (1933)

Overwhelming support

 

Davey remains Lib Dem leader after marathon meeting with MPs

Deputy party leader Daisy Cooper said: “There is overwhelming support for Ed in the parliamentary party and a real sense that we need to come together as a group.

“We are passionate about the crucial role we play in stopping the Conservatives and Reform UK from forming the most right-wing government in our history.

Juggler

 

Civil servant fraudulently juggled five jobs working from home

A civil servant used remote working and sick notes to fraudulently juggle five government jobs, prosecutors said.

At one point, Kashim Chowdhury was contracted to work 183 hours a week for five jobs, more hours than exist in seven days, jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told.

There are many things we could say about this, mostly obvious, but there is a tip of an iceberg feel to it too. It would be mildly unfair to point out that allowing civil servants to work from home is open to scams like this, but disingenuous to claim otherwise.

1960s UK Holiday Traffic

Rabble Babble

Angela Rayner fund used by councils for 'anti-right propaganda' to stop Nigel Farage becoming PM

Angela Rayner’s £15million community recovery fund financed "anti-Right-wing propaganda" via training materials designed to counter support for Reform UK and the Conservatives, according to fresh documents...

According to the documents, the programme included guidance on countering anti-immigration arguments, opposing protests and preventing working-class communities from moving towards right-wing politics.

An online booking form for a training session warned of an “impending disaster of a Reform UK government”.

Other materials described Nigel Farage as an “authoritarian populist" and encouraged activists to challenge narratives linking migration to pressure on public services and housing.

It's a tad trivial this, and all very crude, playing transparent language games such as “impending disaster of a Reform UK government” and  “authoritarian populist". 

Oh well, the chance of worthwhile political reform seems vanishingly slender anyway. If Reform UK is seen as a genuine threat to the Establishment, which it probably isn't, then there would be no limits to the measures taken to forestall that.

Meanwhile, if we are playing language games, then Andrew Burnham does come across as comfortable with becoming an authoritarian populist himself, although given his limitations and the rabble behind him, he may find the populist aspect more troublesome than expected. 

Maybe Burnhams impending disaster beckons already -  


Ex-Burnham adviser says PM is already on the 'downslope' and brands social care plan 'unfundable'

A former adviser to Andy Burnham has warned that the Prime Minister is already on the ‘downslope’ less than three months after taking office.

In a brutal intervention, Andy Haldane said his one-time ally’s ‘high-water mark’ has passed and predicted economic and political trouble as families face a ‘cost-of-living squeeze’ this winter.

And he described Mr Burnham’s plans for a new national care service for people in later life as well-intentioned ‘but probably unfundable’ given the country’s ‘precarious’ fiscal position.

Burnham and his TikTok gravitas

Burnham speaks with all the confidence of a mayor but without the gravitas of a prime minister

• Communication Style: Known for a “tell it like it is” approach and viral TikToks, but his off-the-cuff remarks are increasingly causing controversy.
• Controversial Comments: Remarks on Heathrow expansion and Manchester City ownership sparked confusion and required clarifications from aides and government officials.
• Brexit Intelligence Slip: Shared details of a high-level briefing on Russian interference, forcing ministers to publicly row back and clarify there was no evidence affecting the vote.

Andy Burnham earned his spurs as a great communicator on the back of a few summer TikToks, but is the shine coming off just a couple of months into the new job? While some people still appreciate the supposedly down to earth ‘tell it like it is’ approach, there can be no denying that the PM’s loose lips have got him into hot water in recent weeks. Labour sources concede that Burnham’s tendency to “shoot from the hip” is becoming a problem.

Interesting observation about gravitas within the journalistic tosh. An almost universal characteristic of modern politicians is that they are unable to project gravitas and don't appear to know what it is. 

The closest they generally manage is a kind of solemn demeanour when some tragedy demands it for as long as the cameras are running. They barely manage dignity, many don't know what that is either.

Gravitas doesn't seem suited to our feckless times and the lack of it suggests how frivolous and trivial the public arena has become, even at what is supposedly the highest level of public debate. 

Known for a “tell it like it is” approach
viral TikToks

earned his spurs as a great communicator

the supposedly down to earth ‘tell it like it is’ approach
tendency to “shoot from the hip”

Bah! it is better to keep your mind to yourself until you have quite made it up — you understand? — and even then till the time for action has come, and not even then, unless you want help. Who will sum up the mischief one of those prating fellows does in a lifetime?

Sheridan Le Fanu – Guy Deverell (1865)

Burnham tests the yield point of his audience’s credulity

Andy Burnham says he holds Nigel Farage significantly responsible for UK's miserable decade

Andy Burnham has said he holds Nigel Farage "very significantly responsible" for Britain's failure to move forward in the last decade.

In a rare personal attack on the Reform UK chief, he tore into Brexit "lies" and questioned whether Mr Farage still has the appetite to lead. The Prime Minister accused him of giving Britain "a decade of division and drift" - and accused Russia of interfering with the 2016 referendum.


Already we see Burnham testing what Arthur C. Clarke once described as the yield point of his audience’s credulity. 

It's a useful expression because it seems to lie behind Team Burnham's decision to use Brexit as a major hedge against their man having to shoulder direct responsibility. An understandable strategy now it has become less easy to push responsibility in the direction of the EU itself.

We may also conclude that Team Burnham has assessed the yield point of their audience’s credulity as robust enough for the strategy to work.

He had been listening with a professional pride to tales which even he would never have dared to spin, for he was an expert at detecting the yield point of his audience’s credulity.

Arthur C. Clarke - Tales from the White Hart (1957)

It's legal plunder time again

John Healey faces £35billion budget black hole, IFS warns

Chancellor John Healey faces a £35billion shortfall in the public finances ahead of his first Budget, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The economic think tank warned that the Government may have to raise taxes, cut welfare spending or scale back some of its promises to balance the books.

Rising inflation has increased the cost of running public services, while the Government also wants to spend more on defence, council housing and a new national care service.

Helen Miller, director of the IFS, said the Chancellor could not deliver a quiet Budget without making difficult decisions.

She said: "A 'steady-as-she-goes' Budget is not an option available to the Chancellor."


Here we are yet again with UK Chancellors plus the media busy redefining Frédéric Bastiat's 'legal plunder' as 'the public finances'. 

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Frédéric Bastiat - The Law (1850)

Taking Bastiat's more accurate terminology a little further, we could usefully refer to a 'steady-as-she-goes' Budget as a 'plunder-as-she-goes' Budget.

By gum, here's a depressing start to Monday morning

Poet Anne Carson recently won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. A poet of our times from what little I've managed to read of her output, but Gad Saad has read a little more so we don't have to.

The news cycle returns to familiar ground

Is UK's two-horse race back? Burnham and Badenoch climb up in polls

• Polling Boosts: Labour under Andy Burnham leads at 29%, Conservatives under Kemi Badenoch rise to 20%, while Reform UK and Greens show slowing momentum.
• Conference Impact: Both leaders received positive reactions for their speeches; Badenoch highlighted inheritance tax cuts, Burnham pledged to break from the past 40 years of policy.
• Green Party Challenges: Internal tensions and recent by-election losses under Zack Polanski have weakened Green support, benefiting Labour’s recovery among younger voters.

Andy Burnham and Kemi Badenoch are enjoying polling boosts as political commentators question whether British politics is slowly edging back towards a contest dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.

Amid mounting Westminster speculation about a snap general election, well-received party conference speeches by the Prime Minister Burnham and Conservative leader Badenoch appear to have helped both leaders consolidate support, while momentum for Reform UK and the Green Party shows signs of slowing.

Burnham rushes in

Burnham rushes to axe photo ID checks at elections

Andy Burnham is rushing through laws to scrap photo ID checks in polling stations amid mounting speculation he will call an early general election, The Telegraph can reveal.

The Prime Minister has been accused of “ramming through” the controversial changes, which mean people will be allowed to vote with only a bank card as identification.

Under current laws, which the Conservatives introduced in 2023, voters are required to bring photo ID with them to polling stations.

But the new proposals, drafted in the Representation of the People Bill, intend to expand the type of eligible ID to include bank cards with no photograph of its owners. The Electoral Commission has raised concerns about the plan.


It isn't easy to be wildly concerned about these shenanigans. Clearly, some level of concern should be easy because democracy is important, but it isn't. 

Experience does not suggest that UK voters are generally competent voters, in that they pay attention to the costs and extent of government incompetence, the widespread failures of party politics and how it curtails their lives. Curtails their lives to an extent which ought to be at least mildly embarrassing we might add. 

It is not obvious that voters generally understand how to inform themselves about government inadequacies at even the most basic level, that it to say, beyond crude media bias and party political propaganda.

Yes the political terrain is being manipulated and Team Burnham may have their collective eye on the advantages and disadvantages of an early election. They do seem intent on playing various legal games to tilt the board in their favour, but millions will not be outraged and millions more won't notice.

No, it isn't easy to be wildly concerned.

TV licence renewal - email scams

We've been receiving loads of scam TV licence renewal emails over the past few weeks. Well not loads, but we've received about 10 so far. They claim our direct debit hasn't processed properly and invite us to click a button to sort it out.

As we don't have a TV licence because we don't need one, never set up a direct debit, the licence reference number is wrong and it is trivially easy to see that the email doesn't come from TV Licencing...

Well it's desperately unimpressive if scam standards are declining too.

I blame climate change.

Labour voters underwhelming

Labour voters ‘overwhelmingly want Burnham to commit to rejoining EU’

Nearly three-quarters of Labour voters want Andy Burnham to include talks to rejoin the European Union in the party’s next manifesto, according to a major new poll carried out as the prime minister opened the door to returning to the bloc.

Britons would also vote by nearly two to one, 57 to 30 per cent, to become part of the EU again in another referendum, the survey found.

The polling, carried out by European Movement UK in partnership with Observant, found that a majority of voters for all but one of the major parties were in favour of the inclusion of a commitment to seek membership of the EU in their next election manifesto. Reform UK was the only party whose voters were against it.

On this basis, Labour voters appear to be taking their lead from Andrew "Bus Fares" Burnham as he lurches from one irrelevant idea to another. 

The EU is only relevant as a major obstacle to tackling the political woes of Europe. As a political project it failed years ago, primarily because it attracts dull, meddling mediocrity at both European and national level. 

Now we hear how dull, meddling mediocrity attracts Labour voters, but we already knew that.

Charles Gave on the French riots

 

Charlie Quits

Senior Lib Dem quits front bench in bid to oust leader Sir Ed Davey

Charlie Maynard, the MP for Witney, has resigned from his role as a Treasury spokesman in a move reported to be aimed at removing leader Sir Ed Davey.

The Liberal Democrats confirmed the senior MP’s departure from the party’s front bench on Friday.

According to the Financial Times, Mr Maynard’s resignation is intended to prompt Sir Ed’s removal, with the politician reportedly asking parliamentary colleagues to support a vote of no confidence in the party leader.

Imaginary conversation -

I see Charlie Maynard just resigned.

Who?

Charlie Maynard, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman.

Didn't know they had one.

Neither did I until he resigned.  

Low profile I suppose, no falling off paddle boards.

I'll miss that.

Yes, there is something very Lib Dem about falling off paddle boards.

And in calling yourself Charlie instead of Charles.

Good point.

The road back to Kampala

Alfie Pearce-Higgins has a useful Critic piece on the contagious nature of lawlessness. He uses the ease with which road vehicle laws are evaded to make his point.


Lawlessness is contagious

Enabling the lawless and pursuing the law-abiding will result in mass non-compliance

For several years I helped to build SafeBoda — a motorbike taxi company in Kampala, Uganda. Our aim was to make the roads safe, or at least safer, by improving compliance with traffic laws. One of our most telling findings was that stopping at traffic lights was contagious: if the first two or three motorbikes arriving at a red light stop, others are much more likely to follow suit and hold the line. As soon as one breaks ranks and speeds off, others will follow. This is a lesson that appears to be becoming increasingly relevant both for our roads and our society as a whole.

A parliamentary enquiry recently heard that as many as one vehicle in fifteen on our roads may now be carrying a “ghost plate”. Some are cloned: a driver simply buys a copy of someone else’s registration. The unsuspecting owner of the original then receives a stream of parking and speeding fines and has to prove a negative. More common still are plates that are deliberately unreadable, treated with coatings or fonts that make them invisible to most traffic cameras. Trials of new cameras capable of detecting them logged thousands of offenders a day.


The contagious nature of human behaviour may be familiar, but the whole piece is well worth reading as another aspect of political and official incompetence in the UK.


The inevitable result is mass non-compliance. Having worked in economic development across sub-Saharan Africa I have seen the challenges of a low trust society: an economy weighed down by high security costs, uninsurable risks and uncertain contract enforcement while the government passes endless rules that never become anything more than words on a page. Through our aid budgets we have spent decades and billions of pounds trying, and largely failing, to understand how one builds a higher trust society. What we do know is how to destroy one. Unless laws are visibly enforced and everyone can see they are being treated alike, we are on the road back to Kampala.

Let's unleash our talents

  

British households would be £5,000 richer if we were more innovative. Let's unleash our talents

The coming 10 years are almost certain to be the decade that sees the greatest scientific breakthroughs in a century. The question is whether advances now under way in AI, quantum computing and biology can address cancer, find ways to treat or prevent dementia, and overcome the growing resistance to antibiotics. Can we find sustainable ways to address our energy needs and protect the environment at the same time? Can AI transform the way we deliver education, health and social care to the benefit of millions, as well as advance modern manufacturing strength? And what role can Britain’s inventors, investors and industrialists play in developing these transformative technologies?..

But it is disappointing that only 36% of the British public believes the country is a world leader in science. It is time for innovation to move to the forefront of government policy and the 10-year plan the government is preparing. If we were to raise Britain to Swedish or Japanese levels of innovation intensity we would, over time, leave every household £5,000 better off (according to my calculations)*, and increase our national income by £150bn a year as higher investment in research and development feeds through into productivity. And a jobs plan on the scale that Our Scottish Future has proposed for Scotland would mean about 3m new jobs across the UK.

*My underlining - the piece was written by Gordon Brown.