Would be a huge injustice of power if the outcome benefits only Plan 2 holders and not current students on Plan 5, who are on far worse terms and do not have jobs in politics/media, so cannot make their voices heard. If we don't fix it for them, we'll be back here once again in a few years time
Govt’s Pride in Place targets areas with economic deprivation and weaker social infrastructure. Yet, our analysis reveals 2 challenges.
We find 430 doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England (home to approx 3.5 million people) are unfunded, incl many ranked as facing the greatest challenges 1/3
Are you using Codex on ChatGPT? The difference comes when you give AI access to your computer, be it Codex on ChatGPT or Claude Code/Cowork. This is purely for quantitative research. But it is like having the most efficient researcher in the world working for you. They can pull off very complex work
A very useful resource from @rmudie96.bsky.social and the ICON team: www.neighbourhoodscommission.org.uk/pride-in-pla...
You can access it here: www.neighbourhoodscommission.org.uk/pride-in-pla...
Shares for this one would be very welcome. There are lots of people involved with the programme in many different ways, all over the country, so we want to spread this as far as we can!
We've built a data explorer for every neighbourhood receiving funding through the Pride in Place programme. You can map, zoom in, and compare every neighbourhood with data on deprivation, need, social capital, and social infrastructure. You can download it all
It's completely free to use, too.
👇
BRITAIN'S AI BEAR CASE
What happens, if AI takes off, to an economy that is...
... highly dependent on exporting professional services?
... Too energy-scarce to build many data centres?
... Less dynamic than ever?
I work through those questions here:
notes.archie-hall.com/p/britains-...
I'm a Plan 2 loan holder. I wish we had a better deal. But ours is nowhere near as bad as current students, on Plan 5s.
Yet they do not have jobs in politics or the media, so no one is representing them.
Even if we find a Plan 2 solution we will be back here, once again, in a few years time.
Some of the FT comments section is higher quality than nearly all the paid for opinion writing in the 'quality' papers
This will be a very good event, on what has been one of the most ionteresting research programmes we've run at ICON.
Do sign up and tune in!
Hiring costs are up, unemployment is climbing. Could this be deliberate - a bet that squeezed employers will invest in technology and create better jobs, for displaced workers?
My latest for @labourlist.bsky.social sets out why I'm skeptical.
labourlist.org/2026/03/labo...
As Gornton and Denton shows, populists on both the right and left are speaking to people who are disslusioned with the economy. Time is running out to deliver new job opportunities in these places.
Cynics might say government isn't truly trying. They may be right. By 2029, we might know.
Some might say this is tough, but necessary, for Labour to bring growth back to the economy.
But it is worth remembering that the pain will fall on those living in deindustrialised parts of the country who have seen this before.
It is beggars belief that jobs will magically appear here.
Allowing lower productivity firms to fail without any infrastructure to support those workers into new roles is not "creative destruction", as the economy theory goes, it is just "destruction".
With vacancies down, it is not obvious there is demand in the economy for those workers.
Hiring costs are up, unemployment is climbing. Could this be deliberate - a bet that squeezed employers will invest in technology and create better jobs, for displaced workers?
My latest for @labourlist.bsky.social sets out why I'm skeptical.
labourlist.org/2026/03/labo...
We're talking about Plan 2 loans because the affected are old enough to be in jobs in the media/politics. Plan 5 loans are much worse, but their holders are too young to be listened to.
The media class would not take them seriously.
They didn't before.
wonkwatch.substack.com/p/why-is-eve...
Hard to believe that political editors do not, at least in good faith, see this.
The idea that every choice made in response to a genuine change of circumstances is a "U-turn" and therefore an embarrasing display of weakness, rather than, IDK, a *response to an genuine change in circumstances*, is becoming really tedious
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
The wider point here is that you can only sell assets once. Sales such as these, which many councils are being forced to make, are not a sustainable solution to financial pressure. Likewise drawing down reserves, which an increasing proportion of councils have now been doing for 3 years or more
This is total nonsense and has no regard for any actual policy content it’s just a vibe. Meanwhile I’m yet to see a single decarbonisation policy from Polanski that isn’t wealth taxes but apparently that’s acceptable?
The cost of housing, goods, and utilities is probably near a saturation point for the vast majority of households. The 'cost of living' messaging is now so deeply ingrained into our politics, that it would take a huge amount of movement in those costs back down, for anything to feel different
Has the cost of living moved beyond a temporary "crisis" type issue to something that is more permanent?
Unless the next few years sees a gigantic wave of economic growth, or a collapse in the cost of housing, goods, and utilities, it is hard to see how it is not a top 3 political issue in 2029.
Enjoyed talking to Better Retailing about @iconeighbours.bsky.social research into the state of England's local shopping parades: www.betterretailing.com/exclusive-co...
V interesting take. My secondary fully embraced the “rules for the sake of rules” thinking and there is no doubt in my mind I did a lot worse at school because of it. The argument it prepares kids for work is based on a decades-outdated view of how modern workplaces function.
All a waste of time.
Very much agree with this. I still think that the underlying political issue is the limit of relying on agglomeration as the engine of growth. Even with good public transport, growth takes time to move outwards from the centre and Gorton and Denton is just down the road www.ft.com/content/7e91...
Quite the finding in @philtinline.bsky.social @futuregovforum.bsky.social report on power
Nearly 61% who think their local high street is bad blame the council - just 37% think it's changing consumer demands
Telling how often it is institutions, not social forces, people point the finger at!
True!
In the same way that a sign of good sign of intelligence is recognising when information is factual or you are being deceived or lied to, a good way to approach policy is to ask "is this problem *so* unique that only a new model could work, or have we been here before? How did we resolve it then?"
Good article. There are lots of great ideas already out there, and often it is bettter to bring them back up than develop something totally new
In ICON's biggest policy piece so far we said "there are no original ideas in this paper", and weren't joking! wonkwatch.substack.com/p/does-polic...
