Anoosh Chakelian

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era

‘The idea that every newborn in the UK ends up with the same book in the bottom of their pram or beside their cot, at the same time in their lives, feels like the closest thing infants have to a water-cooler moment.’ Enjoyed this from @anooshc.bsky.social
www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

Thanks so much Hetan!

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era

How reading with my toddler provided unexpected lessons in policymaking - my column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era

Lessons in universalism from reading 'Space Baby', 'Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur!' and 'All Aboard Train' with my toddler.

My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

Angela Rayner is Wes Streeting’s biggest obstacle to PM But would she even want to be leader?

This week's New Statesman column is about what Angela Rayner is up to now, whether she wants to be leader, and the soft left's determination to stop Wes Streeting becoming PM

www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era

Lessons in universalism from reading 'Space Baby', 'Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur!' and 'All Aboard Train' with my toddler.

My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

In car-boot Britain, it’s every man for himself Robert Jenrick is wrong – the problem is organised crime

In car-boot Britain, “petty crime” has turned professional. Robert Jenrick is wrong – the problem is organised crime.

🖊️ @anooshc.bsky.social

In car-boot Britain, “petty crime” has turned professional Robert Jenrick is wrong – the problem is organised crime

My column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social - on how organised crime is creeping into the banal day-to-day:

In car-boot Britain, “petty crime” has turned professional Robert Jenrick is wrong – the problem is organised crime

My column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social - on how organised crime is creeping into the banal day-to-day:

"Benefits Street" rhetoric is back. But will it work this time round? I argue not.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics “Scroungers” are back, courtesy of the Conservative party and the right-wing press

Benefits Street is a two-way one - my piece on why this rhetoric might not resonate as much this time round:

The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics “Scroungers” are back, courtesy of the Conservative party and the right-wing press

Benefits Street is a two-way one - my piece on why this rhetoric might not resonate as much this time round:

The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics “Scroungers” are back, courtesy of the Conservative party and the right-wing press

The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics

“Scroungers” are back, courtesy of the Conservative party and the right-wing press

🖊️ @anooshc.bsky.social

Labour could win the culture war over bookies The vision of old boys thumbing the Racing Post and chatting over cups of tea is a lost one

Bingo! My recent column on the politics of a gambling tax:

The Budget of last resort Inside Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’ fight for survival

Want to know what's been going on behind the scenes leading up to Budget day? @pronouncedalva.bsky.social has the inside track in her brilliant cover story this week:

Tomorrow’s Budget will see the Chancellor set out tax and spending plans - a tricky sell in a challenging economic landscape.

A new essay by @anooshc.bsky.social explores how a major spending commitment - Pride in Place - could shift the odds for communities turning their local areas around.

Jeremy Corbyn: my apology to Your Party members Labour's former leader has turned his back on his old party – and is ready to lead a new movement

Great interview with Jeremy Corbyn by the brilliant @meganekenyon.bsky.social - who knows all there is to know about the alternative left in Britain:

The Kirstie Allsopp theory of housing It’s completely warping our view of home ownership

My column this week on the Kirstie Allsopp Theory of Housing:

Exclusive: Ex Labour MP to defect to the Green Party Lloyd Russell-Moyle will announce his defection tomorrow

Great scoop by Megan Kenyon:

thank you so much!!

The Kirstie Allsopp theory of housing It’s completely warping our view of home ownership

The Kirstie Allsopp theory of housing is completely warping our view of home ownership, writes @anooshc.bsky.social

The Kirstie Allsopp theory of housing It’s completely warping our view of home ownership

My column this week on the Kirstie Allsopp Theory of Housing:

Haha didn't realise that! Queen of the suburbs!

A big lesson from Denmark, regarding the substance of the policies now being pursued by the Home Secretary, is that making the status of asylum seekers so precarious directly harms integration, something we've actually been historically very good at in Britain.

Oh yes! And the North Korean embassy, if I remember rightly..?

Thank you! And hello fellow Actonian!

thanks so much, very kind!

Meet the bond market vigilantes Governments are now at the mercy of unseen investors

Excellent cover story by @willdunn.bsky.social who has the inside track on the bond markets influencing the Budget -

feat. the incredible bit of an analysis by one investor who found each welfare rebel MP equals a *£1bn* debt premium over the Parliament...

Defence of Labour asylum policy reveals backsliding on racism Home secretary’s framing of failures is partly low politics, but also a result of ministers’ poor approach to race relations

Why should people who “look like” the home secretary be on the hook for immigration policy?

This is great by @stephenkb.bsky.social:

Includes this titbit -