Polly Mackenzie

This a great piece on something that really matters for people - that is well known from our daily lives - and on the difficulties as to why this is hard to solve for. The solution is one that there’s been some great work on over 20 years and can be built on now

Pain Solving problems that don’t belong to anyone

Such a great piece from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social. 1 in 4 adults in the UK lives in pain but the state is not good at doing anything about it as the problem doesn't belong to a Department, we are bad at prevention, and solutions are not travelling
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/pain?utm_s...

Pain Solving problems that don’t belong to anyone

Pain is a canonical example of the kind of problem the modern state should be able to address, and cannot. I've written about how - if we could solve for this - we could solve for anything.
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/pain

yes and yes

Ooh I once went there for a conferency thing and I ate the whole loaf of artisanal sourdough they put in my room. Would recommend.

The more I watch this from Hannah Spencer, two things happen:
1. The more I like it and her.
2. The more it makes me want to get out and do what she says by volunteering.
... I'm surprisingly moved by 2, as I can physically feel it breaking through the armour of scepticism I've built around myself.

Until a couple of years ago we had a cat called Ringo. Last week we finally felt ready for a new feline friend. So we got kittens: two girls. In Ringo’s honour, the children have named them John and Paul.

i can get behind the steak and eggs.

A stranger has lent me his battery pack on the bus for my phone. Things that are not news: London is not a hellscape.

Not sure about my grandfather. Never met the guy.

I was the first person in my family to go to university*

*except for my mum, my dad, my brother, my sister and my three step sisters.

So it looks like the government is announcing a National Police Service. Again.

It's one of those ideas that seems perfect from the outside, but yet we never seem to be able to get right.

It got my brain whirring, so I wrote up some reflections.

andreasthinks.me/posts/reflec...

#Policing #uk

🎉🎉

Scroll to the end of Polly’s substack post - some interesting links for those of you who feel somewhat ‘stuck’ and/or want to do something in response to the darkening global political clouds.

Yes!

This this THIS

I needed to read this this morning and even more, YOU need to read this this morning.

🫣

National Data Library: progress update, January 2026 Update on the discovery phase, guidelines for AI-ready data and 5 projects testing improved data sharing approaches.

It’s 592 days since the Labour manifesto proposed a ‘National Data Library’.

571 days since the 2024 General Election.

DSIT have *finally* published something on the National Data Library: www.gov.uk/government/p...

It was not worth the wait.

SURPRISINGLY?!

xxx

An inflection point How to decide what you will do when the moment calls

Surprisingly moving and thought-provoking from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social calling on all of us to reflect on the contribution we can make by volunteering our skills to improve our civic infrastructure and help challenge the madness and badness we see in the world. open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

Having spent the weekend feeling rather paralysed by the moment, I wrote something. A voice is not enough. What can I do? Isn't that the question we all face?

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/an-inflect...

War bonds are a win-win proposition.

Either you get your money back with interest or you're dead.

Either way, zero regrets.

Law, law, what is good for? Towards a politics of meaning what we say

A world in which outcomes are determined by force, favour or fear is not just immoral; it is inefficient. It misallocates capital, talent and time. It forces everyone to spend energy defending themselves instead of trading or building.
open.substack.com/pub/howtorun...

Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes? We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.

Superb - and alarming - piece on the torrent of falsehood and disinformation pouring into people's phones, designed to stir up racial hatred.

If you don't subscribe to @londoncentric.media, its investigative journalism is outstanding. @jim.londoncentric.media www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...

Had an amazing day in Bridgend with Alex Bevan from @futuregovforum.bsky.social. Rugby, donuts, Carwyn Jones, Richard Parks and plotting how to grow R&D investment in Wales.

Polly is right.

Law, law, what is good for? Towards a politics of meaning what we say

It’s not just sluggish government that’s driving contempt for the rule of law.

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/law-law-wh...

Law, law, what is good for? Towards a politics of meaning what we say

It’s not just sluggish government that’s driving contempt for the rule of law.

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/law-law-wh...

Testosterone too? Seems very easy to get these days

My mother was so excited she got up to listen to it at 3am despite having been involved from start to finish. I hope you'll give it a listen at a more sensible hour.