Simon Jeffrey

Amazing visualisation of our grid and the balancing costs of renewables at the other end of the country far from equivalent demand. Clean but definitely not cheap for a long time yet.

Find this type of chart to be most satisfactory way of expressing population and geography. UK suffers the hexagonal monstrosities when trying to improve on colouring in the constituencies.

Sadiq Khan, when asked about Burnham reopening FoM discussion, refers unprompted to the Boriswave of low wage and permanent migrants. Not heard senior Labour figures use the term before.

‘Vucic is fired, your cronies are terrified’ Funny where a lower league chant on the terraces ends up.

Thank God we don’t have a presidential system. Tends towards this shit. FPTP still shit (increasing FPTP part of the Orban anti-democratic play). But if Burnham can actually get us off that, we’ll be in a sweet spot.

That’s a relief. It’s not a bank. There is no benefit pretending it is one to try and hoodwink the ONS.

Systematic dismembering of Labour's curriculum reforms substack.nomoremarking.com/p/why-are-we...

One great thing about living on the Bakerloo was being at Oxford Circus in 11 minutes. If they ever get round to Bakerloo line extension to Hayes, under 25 mins from Ladywell will put it right back on the doorstep.

What’s the roadmap? Big smiles next month signing new UK-EU deal, announce immediate start to negotiations to go further with SM and FoM. In Spring next year, the outlines of that deal land. Burnham says ‘this is right for country but our manifesto means a new GE required. I have asked the King…’

Wouldn't it be a good idea to give MPs a large staff to handle casework? Even better, we could give the caseworkers some degree of permanence so there was consistency between elections. We could have them in the empty premises that used to be occupied by local governments

Didn’t knew that France and Spain were with us (and the sun) on GMT before not opting back in after the Second World War. If we did nothing tonight, just kept BST over the winter, and French did nothing in March to not switch to CEST in the summer, we could be together again!

Similar issue with potentially tariffing Chinese EVs and delaying transition from ICEs. Worse than Jackdaw for Scope 1 and 2. (And if no price change then no impact on Scope 3). Painless substitution for one raged against by climate groups, painful and damaging adjustment for the other unremarked.

In the long term this is way more destructive than Jackdaw, because it actively slows down electrification and weaning households off residual LNG consumption.

The complete lack of pies surprising. Steak and kidney is perfection, while steak and kidney pudding is even better as national dish.

Looks like UEFA will actually need to start organising a rival World Cup with like-minded confederations/associations if it wants to see reform at FIFA.

Quite surprised how positive that is for Labour. Good indicator that just pointing at a high ‘supports Net Zero’ polling number probably includes a lot of people who do not support the really crunchy policies favoured by the most vocal proponents.

The UK car industry was protected from Chinese imports for decades, by virtue of the latter not existing. If that wasn't protection enough, nor will tariffs be. This is an attack on consumers in the name of the politics of Cher: "if I could turn back time." labourlist.org/2026/10/put-...

The politics of council tax revaluation is not just an English thing. ifs.org.uk/articles/wel...

The LPC by now will have sent their minimum wage recommendations for 2027 to the Govt. We'll hear about them in the budget next week. I was at their information gathering day, and did some charts on youth employment. Have written them up here. resolutionfoundation.substack.com/p/is-the-min...

The biggest National Infrastructure Project we need to improve life and productivity in the UK might be migrating DWP off the mainframes, getting beyond Universal Credit’s limitations, and set up UK’s biggest payroll system that frees govt policy from limitations of ‘computer says no’

Data centres can be good for a grid that needs heavy energy users to shoulder more of the costs of upgrades. And let them pay to jump the queue to connect to cut those costs even faster faster.

Disaster. Economic conditions worse, viability way down, then new Green council asking for higher social housing share. Net result=no new housing of any kind at all.

High personal allowance is a curse on our tax system - for govt coffers and higher rates/perverse cliff edges it demands elsewhere.

London shouldn’t give Stormont any more money - extra cash has been perversely making things worse for the public. The Executive is an emperor with no clothes: It’s strutting around buck naked and far too many people who know this are silent.