Dean Hochlaf

There are reasons why it's easier to unionise workers in a manufacturing plant, or nationalise certain industries in the wake of a massive war where the state was intervening a lot, ignoring these economic conditions to argue social conservatism is a pre-requisite for radical change feels very odd

It's a bold claim social conservatism is the glue required for radical economic change with post war as the example

Nothing on excessive labour demand, characteristics of industrial manufacturing, expectations from those who fought and sacrificed, the collectivist nature of the war economy

Not sure that inflation falling at a time when you are having a cooldown in the labour market and flatlining growth is really a sign that the economy is as resilient as Starmer seems to think it is

Kemi Badenoch to aspiring shadow cabinet members when they've only managed 18 posts a day

Must be great going through life unbothered by the prospect of having to do any analysis that goes beyond "this is Ed Milibands fault"

Can't believe her knee jerk anti-leftism has led her to adopt "no peace, no bread" as her big offer to the public

The catastrophic consequences of this war are already being felt and the economic chaos about to be unleashed is going to bring suffering to so many, it's deeply alarming how some Parliamentarians desperate for Britain to be involved are seemingly oblivious to this

Coming out with a policy that will objectively make the economy poorer and telling everyone it will actually create £10 billion requires a suspension of disbelief the public just aren't going to grant you

Feel like a big but understated reason for why Labour are struggling so much in office is that they never seem to honestly appraise the economic consequences of their actions

Labour once said growth was their core mission because that would allow them to do things in government

Now they're celebrating coalition era growth levels and saying a hyper restrictive immigration policy, which is a drag on growth, is the only way to do anything in government

Betteridge's law going into overdrive on this one

The gov have to go from being specific about who they do like (doctors, nurses) to generic descriptors of those they don't (low skilled) because otherwise they'd have to call out people like social care workers as being drains on the public purse which of course is sort of cruel and horrible

Badenoch seems to be concerned about the economic impact of the war in Iran and we should cut welfare and we should go in guns blazing and increase defence spending and also use our limited industrial capacity to massively expand north sea oil production...not a single coherent thought in there

Finally the lyrics make sense...

Even if the Spring Statement was not completely void, growth peaking at 1.6% isn't incredible

Feel like you do have to update some of your speech if you are going to accuse your opponents of being responsible for an inflationary shock largely driven by external conflict and you are now facing the same situation...

The old age dependency ratio has put an unbearable burden on middle income young earners and that means labour backbenchers need to resolutely back immigration reforms that will make that problem worse is certainly an interesting take

Fortunately, the new offices are ready to go with some truly wonderful views of the 38th Parallel

You always think she has reached a limit with her crassness and ignorance, and then she just manages to go beyond what you ever thought possible

It feels particularly horrible this is announced at a moment the government is getting set to to participate in a war that is threatening to massively escalate and destabilise not just the region but the global economy upending millions and millions of lives

Doesn't bode well for Labour that its senior leadership and strategists are convincing themselves opposition to this sort of vulgarity is rooted in narrow sectarian interests

Labour deciding to sacrifice bourgeois support at the same time as sacrificing proletariat support is a bold electoral strategy

Alarming that the PM is jumping on the outlandish accusations they lost because of sinister sectarian forces

Clear signal that the demands of some communities are illegitimate and shows a clear failure to even remotely engage with the enormous shortcomings of his premiership...

I know it's a bit of a running joke how bad he is with basic data analysis, but kind of spectacular he has looked at the numbers and concluded progressives didn't beat him

NHS in England to be set targets on getting people back to work Ministers also planning to link patient data to benefit claims and employment statistics

The idea you would penalise the NHS if the service doesn't meaningfully reduce economic inactivity rates is bizarre

The NHS should not be a public service of first and last resort to deal with the policy challenges successive governments have failed to tackle

www.ft.com/content/6943...

Professor David Strain, BMA board of science chair, said:

"The BMA supports a 'Good Food Bill' because not enough is being done to halt rising obesity levels and preventable disease, particularly among children. Doctors are seeing the consequences of poor diet every day."

James Butler · ‘Need a lord on the board?’: Mandelson and the Lobbyists Why​ did a man whose political expertise was acquired in the departed era of broadcast television maintain such...

‘Peter Mandelson tended his own mythology and influence over the party, of course. But many were attracted to the politics of pure means that he represented, irrespective of ends.’

Online now from the next issue: @piercepenniless.bsky.social on Mandelson and Epstein.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

The Kingdom of Heaven risks being left behind if it fails to embrace AI