Labour Together

Build the rail! Save the snails! — Labour Together Why does British infrastructure cost so much? This paper, by economist Dan Davies, argues that Britain’s adversarial planning system forces developers to gold-plate solutions to hypothetical problems....

Terrific report on that by @dsquareddigest.bsky.social for Labour Together, this:

Policy Unit Roles — Labour Together Labour Together is hiring Policy Unit rules. Apply now to join the team.

We're hiring for our Policy Unit.

If you love rigorous policy work, political strategy and making the case for how to build a better Britain, we want to hear from you. Roles are at Senior Adviser and Director level.

Apply here: tinyurl.com/4xsk7vc6

Closing date: 14th Jan

Yesterday, we put out a report on the most important issues to voters.

We know that immigration now tops the traditional most important issues question (see below from @yougov.co.uk).

But that doesn't tell the full story.

Here is a rundown of the experiments we did to test this out (A THREAD):

I found this so interesting. We talk about polling results endlessly but rarely discuss how we ask the questions. This salience vs importance question is fascinating.

'Bread, circuses, and polling errors: Are we truly measuring what matters?' - LabourList Pollsters who ask questions that add nuance are rewarded with a richer look at the public’s outlook argues Labour Together's Calum Weir.

As immigration dominates the brief this morning, here’s my two cents on the salience vs. the importance of the issue:

labourlist.org/2025/11/immi...

(Full report linked below - Many thanks to @emmaburnell.bsky.social!!)

The UK has very few mass transit systems compared to peers

The map below shows how far behind France and Germany we are in mass transit. In France, every place with over 150,000 people has some form of tram or metro.

But if mayoral areas can 'become builders' as @tracybrabinmayorwy.bsky.social puts it in the foreword, we can turn this around.

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Great lineup for the final day of Labour party conference!

Featuring Chris Ward, Peter Kyle, Darren Jones in convo with Beth Rigby, Liz Kendall, Sarah Edwards, Jonathan Reynolds, and Rachel Reeves.

📍All events will take place in Arena Room Aire (*except as noted).

At ‘How Broken is the Social Contract – and How Do We Fix It?’ fringe from @togethercoalition.bsky.social @labourtogether.bsky.social
Brendan Cox opens, describing firm foundations of tolerance and trust in uk society; alongside worrying trends of rising dissatisfaction, prejudice & division.

Piece Hall in Halifax

Three statements of local ambition stand in Halifax, West Yorkshire: the Town Hall, the Borough Market and the Piece Hall. Such monuments of civic pride still bear the names of farsighted local leaders from past generations.

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The worst possible message emerging in British politics is "We'll tolerate jobless serial criminals if, and only if, they are being racist".

The North East, Yorkshire and Humber and North West have the highest rates of premature mortality by local authority area across England.

There are clear inequalities in life expectancy and child poverty across the country, particularly affecting the North.

See the data below from @healthfoundation.bsky.social showing premature mortality by local authority area and region.

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Aire Park in Leeds. Trees with a blue sky and buildings in the background.

Parks and playgrounds are integral to places, allowing people to relax, children to play and more. Hard to imagine NYC without Central Park, or Ilkley without its moor! This builds on a historic legacy of Victorian era council developing them for the good of their communities.

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What has London’s Bakerloo line got to do with the government’s ability to invest in the North?

Put simply, if we let London raise more money from high land values to pay for its infrastructure, this frees up more government spending for the rest of the country.

Read below to see detail 👇

This is how we pay for the Bakerloo Line extension One weird trick can extend the Tube, level up the north and make the Treasury happy.

This is how we pay for the Bakerloo Line extension FREE TO READ!)

takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/bakerloo-e...

The 1985 Transport Act was one of the biggest policy failures of recent decades. Nothing better describes this than the chart below by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com.

A combination of new powers and funding through 'bus franchising' is looking to reverse this.

What does the collapse of Wylfa in Anglesey tell us about Britain?

Too much power and wealth in Whitehall & the southeast. Short-term fiscal choices. A state that can’t deliver.

Anglesey’s story is Britain’s.

Read our new report, Britain’s Bottlenecks 👉

www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/...

Agree. One thing that I really liked about @jpspencer.bsky.social’s Labour Together report is it included culture in “growth spending”. So much policy about regional development in the UK basically regards culture, tourism, etc. as distractions from the real work of building trains to nowhere.

My friends at @labourtogether.bsky.social very kindly shared this fascinating polling with me…

A tram line being built - thanks to the West Yorkshire Archive Service.

A reservoir - thanks to Mike Knapton/Wikipedia.

Thank you to everyone who has shared or read Future North in its first week!

This week I have started with two pictures. But can you guess what they are and why they are important?

Short thread.

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Why Future North Now 80%, soon 100%!

🚀 Introducing Future North - a Substack exploring the people, projects and ideas shaping the future of the North of England.

First post below - please subscribe to get new posts directly to your inbox!

futurenorth.substack.com/p/why-future...

A genuine milestone to celebrate The English Devolution and Community and Empowerment Bill marks a genuine change in how the country is governed. The Bill comes in at a hefty 338 pages, owing to...

The new Devolution Bill entrenches the mayoral model, extends its powers to new areas and creates a framework for the transfer of more powers - including a new right to request and a parliamentary lock on the removal of powers.

New article by me in the MJ: www.themj.co.uk/genuine-mile...

We can build more and faster Getting Britain to build again isn't just an economic duty, it's a moral one.

We can build more and faster

writes @dantomlinson.bsky.social, Labour MP and Keir Starmer's growth mission champion

✈️ Britain’s talked about a third runway at Heathrow for two decades. Our new report with @BritishProgress shows how a flight could take off before 2029 - if Parliament chooses to speed up the process through a Public Bill.

Catch our director of tech policy @kmeinnes.bsky.social on The Abundance Agenda, talking all things 'BritCard'

The "BritCard" digital ID proposal is a good idea Why I've changed my mind on ID cards

The "BritCard" digital ID proposal is a good idea (FREE TO READ!)

takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/britcard

In ‘Nation Rebalanced’, I called for the government to boost growth and tackle our significant regional inequalities. Today’s announcements put much of this into practice.

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BritCard: a progressive digital identity for Britain — Labour Together In government, Labour has committed to reducing migration. Labour Together is supporting this agenda with a series of papers looking at how to create a migration system that puts country first. In Oct...

Today @labourtogether.bsky.social called for a Digital ID for all UK citizens and residents. There are many good reasons for this - convenience, efficiency of public services, avoiding another Windrush scandal, but also the impact on perceptions of migration. www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/...

Rachel Reeves to spend big in red wall — what could it mean? Chancellor preparing to rip up her spending rules to head off the threat of Reform and unlock a multibillion-pound package in the north and Midlands

Over recent years we have spent 20% more per person on growing the economy in the South East versus the rest of England.

These suggested reforms would finally start to rebalance the country.

🎙️Catch our Director of Devolution Policy @jpspencer.bsky.social on the Abundance Agenda podcast talking through our latest report, Nation Rebalanced: www.labourtogether.uk/all-reports/...

'Give mayors more power to tackle economic challenges in their regions' - LabourList Tracy Brabin writes that mayors need the tools to tackle the bespoke economic challenges in their regions.

Great article by @tracybrabinmayorwy.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social drawing on @labourtogether.bsky.social research.

Looks at how mayors and the government can work together to correct our regional imbalances, creating a society that works for every place.

labourlist.org/2025/04/west...