Geoff Waterston

Reluctant to give Question Time any time - save for this:

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Screenshot from BBC: Rachel Reeves blames Brexit deal for long-term damage to economy. Rachel Reeves made the comment about the 2020 deal at a key meeting of the world's leading finance ministers and central bankers.

Then fix it.

Reform UK in the dock ⚖

9th October Andy Osborn.
14th October Neil Stevens, Tony Stevens, and Rob Sheridan.
15th October Sarah White.
21st November Nathan Gill.
16th December Mandy Clare.
22nd May 2026 Daniel Taylor.

Under investigation:
Joseph Boam.
Lee Duffy.
George Cottrell.

#ReformInTheDock

Time for my old ECHR Venn diagram, yet again.

UK will leave ECHR if Tories win election, Badenoch says The European Convention on Human Rights has become a focal point in debates around changing immigration policy.

Rampant stupidity. Politicians attack the ECHR, but ignore what it means or how it works.
It has become a target, but reality is it has very limited impact on asylum removals.
Leaving it though would have catastrophic consequences for the whole country.
#r4today

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Have we passed peak social media? @jburnmurdoch.ft.com here www.ft.com/content/a072...

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?

He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.

So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

There is another country. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog discussing the thuggery, sanctimony and hypocrisy of the last fortnight, and how Starmer should lead in articulating an alternative version of patriotism to that of the far-right: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/09/ther...

Letter from Ed Davey to Keir Starmer condemning Elon Musk for inciting violence and urging unity to defend democracy.

I've written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, urging them to join me in condemning Elon Musk's dangerous remarks inciting violence yesterday.

As leaders, we must stand together and make clear Musk will face serious consequences for these actions.

BBC Accused of Pro-Reform Bias as Lib Dems Launch Campaign to End 'Wall to Wall' Farage Coverage They accuse the BBC of "following Farage around like a lost puppy” and have complained to Ofcom to demand fair coverage

🔴BBC Accused of Pro-Reform Bias as Lib Dems Launch Campaign to End ‘Wall to Wall’ Farage Coverage

They accuse the BBC of “following Farage around like a lost puppy” and have complained to Ofcom to demand fair coverage

bylinetimes.com/2025/09/09/b...

Poem from England

Letter of the day (in the Times)

Well done. What a great expedition.

Trossachs Explorer bus returns Following a successful trial in 2024, the Trossachs Explorer Shuttle Bus is returning for a second and expanded pilot this season. The pilot service service will run from 7th July to 5th October 20...

Exploring the Trossachs - including Ben A'an, Ben Venue and Loch Katrine - this summer?
The Trossachs Explorer bus runs daily 7 July – 5 October linking Drymen, Aberfoyle, Callander & places between - avoiding car parks which are often full by early morning.
www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/trossac...

Two days before the 2016 Brexit referendum, Daniel Hannan wrote about what life would be like in Britain on 24 June 2025. (The least accurate thing ever written about Brexit.)

A week ago, he wrote in the Telegraph that Britain is turning into a third world country.

He got paid for both articles.

Slightly amended so I can fit this here: I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame! I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one. I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong. Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean? Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens.

This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way. You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces. What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly. The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. Tanja Bueltmann

My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration

Speak Truth.....

For the first time in history, we can proudly show you a DOUBLE German bollarding. This has NEVER been seen before so congratulations to us.
#WorldBollardAssociation

From a Scottish friend into folk music:

“Tell JD Vance I’m not here and hide the couches!”

UK banks expected to win shareholder approval for big pay rises for bosses Proxy advisory firms back plans for hikes in maximum payouts 18 months after removal of banker bonus cap

NatWest proposing 43% pay hike for CEO to £7.7m. Barclays 45% hike to £14.3m. HSBC 43% hike to £15m.

Banks bailed out by the people, gamble with other people's money.

Govts tell workers pay rises are inflationary, but rise in exec pay, dividends, share buybacks OK.

Let customers vote on exec pay

Presidents Trump and Bukele of El Salvador sit before the fireplace in the Oval Office, surrounded by gold cups, portraits and gold trinkets.

I'm gripped by the ever-increasing bling in Trump’s Oval Office. What does it mean? Yes, Trump has bad taste. But also something else. Here’s an art historical view. 🧵
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@rottentomatoes.com Hi, I am getting a constant stream of Spam e-mail from "no-reply@rottentomatoes.com". Can you do anything at your end to stop this?
Many thanks

Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament Information from UK Parliament on written questions & answers, written statements and daily reports.

Out of 55.2m UK adults 17.8m have annual income of less than £12,570.

1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined. FOUR Britons have more than 20m people combined.

Failure of economic/political policy. Govts still squeeze the poor.

Good society can't be built on economic injustice.

🔥 🔥 🔥 www.ft.com/content/47c2...

Donald Trump has committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era. Almost everything he said—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded econ.st/3YbbFjq

We’ve repeatedly said we should raise revenue in a fairer way—by going after companies making billions in profits, who can afford to pay a bit more to help restore our public services.

At the same time, we need to grow the economy and negotiate our EU trade deal.

Daisy Cooper MP #bbcqt