Rod Hick

Birthday week is off to a strong start.

These are surely complements, not substitutes.

Somewhat surprised to hear the BBC reporting that the cabinet are rallying around Starmer. There's no way he can limp on now, the Scottish Labour leader having just wielded the knife, just because the main challengers have decided May would be a more convenient time to dethrone him.

I’m not sure ‘our national security developed vetting technique can be beaten if a candidate is prepared to lie’ is an especially helpful line to push.

More flat-footedness by Starmer's government. A statement overtaken by events by the time of its delivery. Conservative response much more powerful.

Three errors here. First, in confusing some kind of SEND classification (20%) with EHCPs (5.5%).

Secondly in assuming it gives automatic right to DLA. Though there is a strong ECHP/DLA overlap.

Third in assuming that those moving to DLA to PIP never work (it's not an out of work benefit).

Academics Stand Against Poverty UK | Manifesto Audit ASAP UK brings together a range of academics who have carried out a review of 9 key topics to consider the effectiveness of the public policy platforms in reducing poverty.

I'll be contributing to the Academics Stand Against Poverty Webinar on 26th February 2026 (2:30-4pm) discussing social security and Welsh and Scot Elections alongside Richard Machin and @rodhick.bsky.social

eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

The latest USoc wave lets us split out the Covid years from what came after.

So striking that they look the same!

Average mental ill health (based on a general screening instrument) is no better now than during the lockdown years, at any age. @alexbryson.bsky.social @dannyblanchy.bsky.social

Welsh finance secretary never interested in economy - Eluned Morgan Eluned Morgan said there was a fundamental difference between her and Mark Drakeford, who handles Wales' £25bn budget.

This was, ofc, a remarkable thing to say.

In the podcast, Morgan goes out of her way to draw this comparison with Drakeford, raising it more than once.

What's less clear is how her growth-centric orientation really differs from Keir Starmer's policy approach.

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

Indeed! *That's* the provision in 40.2.2. (also, I read online that the Irish gov ignore MBEs & OBEs. Nice bit of shade there).

Donohoe awarded Chevalier rank in French Legion of Honour Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has been awarded the rank of 'Chevalier' in the French National Legion of Honour.

Prohibited like this? www.rte.ie/news/politic...

Good riddance to the two-child limit! Reflections on Autumn Budget 2025

Thoughts from me on yesterday's budget statement from Rachel Reeves.

A day to celebrate in terms of tackling child poverty, but how credible is increasing taxation in each year of this decade and beyond?

open.substack.com/pub/rodhick/...

Good riddance to the two-child limit! Reflections on Autumn Budget 2025

Some reflections from me on today's Autumn Budget statement open.substack.com/pub/rodhick/...

Good riddance to the two-child limit! Reflections on Autumn Budget 2025

Some reflections from me on today's Autumn Budget statement open.substack.com/pub/rodhick/...

The major announcement about the abolition of the two-child limit set up with reference to the equal worth of all children and their entitlement to an equal start in life.

Remarkable that policy has cut against this for so long. An important moment.

Finally coming to the main tax measures now. We've had 40 mins of pretty small measures thus far #Budget2025

He was 50/50 to make it to end 2026 the last time I looked

Andy Bartlett and I have a book coming out in November called Bigfooters and Scientific Inquiry. Combing an STS analysis with cultural sociology we hope this contributes to the burgeoning field of the sociology of mystery. Below I include a list of abstracts for the main substantive chapters

hadn’t realized how unsettling a drawing of small breasts could be

Can't be at ESPAnet this year, but following it at a remove on here. Delivered my own presentation this morning which seemed to go down pretty well.

Look forward to reconnecting next year, hopefully somewhere interesting. Bucharest, anyone?

My goodness. The chancellor of the exchequer is longer odds to be next PM than...Andrew Tate?

So the other place permits and amps all manner of intolerant and repellent stuff, but at least there my timeline is boiling with anger at Israel's genocide in Gaza. Here I see more attention devoted to Gavin Newsom's latest post, instrumental variables, or G**dwin's latest observations about London.

Eh, what? Bertie Ahern third favourite to become Ireland's next president?

Also, one of the virtues of the original Commission was to clearly set out the policy trade-offs, which in turn laid the groundwork for a package of reforms that included politically-difficult increases to the SPA. There's a clear need for that kind of scrutiny of the triple lock at this moment.

It's good to see the Labour government reconstitute the Pensions Commission to look into the adequacy of retirement savings but placing the triple lock outside of their remit seems like another DWP misstep, not least since the adequacy of voluntary saving depends on the value of the state pension...

Very nice! Will try to remember that.

Wow! Yes! Is this around the ITU Faculty of Architecture?

The welfare bill has passed but it’s barely the same bill. It is government by cut and paste and with such chaotic speed, many ministers will barely know what’s in it. An utter shambles for Labour - and horrific unnecessary stress and suffering for disabled and sick people watching on.

The government tried to pull off an arbitrary cut to disability benefits, reverse engineered from a savings target. There was never a coherent argument for it, and so they could never convince. The PM's morality line was particularly misguided. None of it ever connected to the substance of reforms

Oh dear, oh dear. Timms strongly emphasises transitions into work in his concluding speech, but PIP is not an out-of-work benefit.