Jessica

British men urged to join ‘Dad strike’ calling for more paternity leave Exclusive: Fathers planning protest with babies in London on 11 June to highlight UK’s ‘rubbish’ statutory leave, least generous in Europe British fathers are being urged to join the world’s first “Dad strike” to protest about the UK’s statutory paternity leave, which campaigners say is the least generous in Europe. Fathers are planning to protest with their babies outside the Department for Business and Trade in London on 11 June in an effort to force the government to improve leave for dads and non-birthing partners. Continue reading...

British men urged to join ‘Dad strike’ calling for more paternity leave

Thank you so much!

After years telling people to look up at the camera during interviews… it took multiple attempts for me to actually master it on this video

A total joy to write for Arlen’s Substack this week - I will say that my rage about the lack of buses did require a LOT of editing down

My 7yo wants to join the school council to make the case for longer play times. She constantly talks about how much she misses reception and Y1 because they actually got to play - which is how children learn and process information. It’s so sad. Is this really leading to better long term results?

The worst poem ever

Okay, here is why I HATE AI. I'm trying to research poems about going into space, or famous quotes about escaping gravity. As the FIRST RESULT, Google gives me this SHITTY poem IT'S WRITTEN ITSELF, like it's fucking Adrian Mole and I'm John Tydeman at the BBC. HATE HATE HATE.

That'll be the demograph both trying to care for elderly parents with no social care, and support adult children who still can't afford their own houses, or to have children. They're seeing the impact of everything.

an idle thought I've had at the back of my head for a while is that a lot of white collar/middle class jobs used to be legitimately fun and/or intellectually stimulating and/or ludicrously well paid and now they're few or none of those things, and we don't talk about that at all

I regret voting Labour - they've let women down Polling shows that women are falling out of love with Labour - thanks to economic policies that will hit them the hardest and 'unforgivable' aid cuts

With the NI hit to jobs, the care crisis and concerns about our global priorities, Labour is losing its female voters.

In my latest read for @theipaper.com, I speak to those who now feel they made a mistake last July about their hopes and disappointments

inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

gonna make people feel more secure by cutting their money when they're already struggling

Senior TV producers take shelf-stacking jobs as UK industry remains in crisis Experienced figures doing entry-level roles amid prolonged work drought since Covid and rise of online content

Attaching this article to my CV with a covering letter simply reading “pls help???”

Seriously though, glad to see this being written about. It has quite literally ruined my life and the lives of many people around me, and it’s so far from over.

JPMORGAN slashes $TSLA Q1 delivery estimates “to just ~355K, which is -8% y/y .. and -28% q/q
from 495K in 4Q24 ..

“.. We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly ..”

Cuts target price to $120 (prior $135

Wind and solar power overtake coal in US for first time

The milestone highlights the rapid growth of renewable energy despite political headwinds since President Trump’s re-election

More than 170 mothers killed by their sons in 15 years in UK, report reveals Number is nearly one in 10 of all women killed by men, leading to calls for government action to tackle matricide * ‘A real injustice’: mothers killed by their children is still a hidden issue in UK * ‘You took the life of someone who had given you…

More than 170 mothers killed by their sons in 15 years in UK, report reveals

Trump’s heist in broad daylight [FREE TO READ] Having previously declared bitcoin to be a ‘scam’, the US president now wants to add it to the Fed’s balance sheet

"The most striking aspect to Trump's crypto reserve and the scrapping of anti-money laundering rules, which together amount to a global charter for criminals, is that he's making no effort to dress them up. This pig has no lipstick." My column. on.ft.com/43kiBOu

Government to end leasehold flat system with new commonhold plans - BBC News Ministers want to move to a "commonhold" system where flat-owners own a share of their buildings.

Ministers have outlined plans to abolish the leasehold system 👏👏

@matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social said the government would "continue to implement reforms to help millions of leaseholders who are currently suffering"

#Leasehold

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

In Defence Of The Un-Fun My thoughts on The Times’ survey of Gen Z attitudes and habits

I have been weirdly obsessed with The Times’ Gen Z survey, so I decided to write a Substack on it

open.substack.com/pub/jessharp...

have never really understood why, when lots of European countries have a tourism tax, we don’t?

Catalonia doubles tourist tax to fund housing for locals

The levy, due to come into effect later this year, will rise to a daily rate of €7 for many hotels in Barcelona, where locals blame overtourism for soaring rent

chance would be a fine thing

"Normalise living with older strangers." "Normalise living with flatmates into your thirties." "Normalise communes."

How about you Normalise building some fucking Houses.

Jellycat: The Cute And Fluffy Face Of Gen Z’s Problems? I'm writing this to work out why I really, really hate the things

I’m hating on the fluffy bunnies I’m sorry

open.substack.com/pub/jessharp...

Thames Water burns through £15mn a month on lawyers and advisers Troubled utility tells court hearing for emergency loan that restructuring costs could top £200mn

At last Thames are providing a decent supply to someone.
www.ft.com/content/40b5...

Out of 1,500 global climate policies, only 63 have really worked. That’s where green spin has got us | George Monbiot Grand schemes, many backed by governments, masquerade as positive action on the environment. They should be disowned, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

PS: There is no such thing as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, nor, at scale, will there be. The polite term for Reeves's claim about it is a myth. The less polite term is a lie. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If You Liked The Traitors, You'll LOVE Parliament The BBC game show has a lot of similarities with my life as staffer

Watched The Traitors and suddenly the parallels hit me…

open.substack.com/pub/jessharp...

this is basically my entire policy platform, people should be physically going to the office but they should only have to work 30 hours a week, 35 at a push, everyone should be getting a little bit of office-based work, as a treat

I don’t think that WFH is necessarily the root cause - I (and several of my friends) moved back to live with our parents after university because of the cost of rent, so unless your parents live nearby or you live in a city- your social life disappears as your friends disperse across the country

I have finally, finally, seventeen days (and a year) after I made it a NY resolution, got around to writing a Substack piece.

I’m still practicing but hoping it’s better received than my article for The Tab circa 2018 about my french ex boyfriends 🙏

open.substack.com/pub/jessharp...

UK women share their experiences of using fertility-tracking apps More women are using apps instead of the pill, but while some find them ‘freeing’, others had unwanted pregnancies After 15 years on the contraceptive pill Francesca* decided that she wanted to know how her body felt without additional hormones. She…

UK women share their experiences of using fertility-tracking apps