Stephen Bush

@stephenkb.bsky.social

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Associate editor and columnist at the Financial Times. Post too often about culture, public policy, management, politics, nerd stuff. Tongue usually in cheek. Try my UK politics newsletter for free here: www.ft.com/tryinsidepolitics

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Reply to

Ourkid

It's more that the new leadership is not going to be improved either way by the wait, so they might as well use this time badly in a productive way.

One reason the Conservatives should have a swift leadership contest is that until they get a new leader, they will be represented by people more interested in litigating their dishonest and disastrous election campaign: www.ft.com/content/ab7a...

Reposted by

Stephen Bush

4 million is quite a lot of dogs, isn't it? Very grateful that this was not a contestable issue in our general election: imagine the discourse... www.ft.com/content/ad27...

Reply to

Matt Nicholas

(It's a good point though!)

Excellent, fun piece by @cjterry.bsky.social on the UK's new age of voter volatility.

The coalitionable, inoffensive, Labour Partyelectionschris.substack.com How party strategy in European PR systems can tell us about Labour's victory, and a journey through the weird and wonderful operation of Britain's electoral system.

Reply to

Thom Beckett

A thing that you could observe happening in real time from October 2022 to the summer of 2023 was he and his inner circle just forgetting that he lost to Truss.

As Ed Miliband ends the ban on onshore wind and moves to classify it as national infrastructure (i.e. like pylons, the secretary of state approves them and a local council can't go 'we have quite enough power to be going on with) I once again find myself thinking about Rishi Sunak's 2024 campaign.

Nothing says 'technocrat' like 'actively making scepticism towards climate policy a dividing line in 2024'.

He is ringing around defeated MPs to commiserate them - a good contact who lost their seat found it very awkward, because clearly Sunak was more surprised by their defeat than they were. (They weren't *thrilled* but as they said, 'I'm not a fucking idiot, I had a lot of time to prepare for it'.)

Reply to

James Barr

Yes, you are. Wind power is popular among most voters, elections outside England (one reason why it is concentrated in Scotland is the 2015 ban was reserved) show that it is even popular *for people who have it in their seats*.

The opposition to it is pure heckler's veto, in that that councils and some MPs get spooked by the letters in criticism, because no-one writes letters in support.

Reply to

irishoutsider

HS2/Euston *is* a fix for trains outside London - the existing arrangement is what buggers up most travel through the Midlands that *isn't* London to Birmingham.

Reply to

ʟɪɴᴇs

Nothing says 'technocrat' like 'actively making scepticism towards climate policy a dividing line in 2024'.

Reply to

Tom Clarke

Of course! Just like Cameron was leaning into a Boden dad stereotype.

Reply to

Art Markham

They actually *were* technocrats, though. The enduring 'this guy who has moved the party to the right, and who is visibly not across the policy detail, is a technocrat' is the thing I'm thinking of.

Reply to

Arun Niranjan

Hah, well, precisely, I think it runs 'British Asians are doctors - doctors are good at maths' whereas I think the US stereotype just runs 'Asians are good at maths'.

Reply to

Arun Niranjan

Expected to be good at maths but I think rooted in a broader set of stereotypes, if that makes any sense?

Reply to

iucounu

During the election, I met someone who said it showed what a great country we were that we had a British Indian prime minister, and it's not even a big deal that he has "a beautiful English wife". A real 'yeah you are talking about your brother-in-law' moment for me.

Reply to

András Forgács W

No, that's a stereotype about a different group of Asians. This is I think about a general 'my doctor/my dentist/my pharmacist/the guy on the trading floor is a well-spoken Indian'.

Completely agree with John. Relatedly, and maybe I am being over-sensitive, but I feel like the 'Rishi Sunak is a technocrat' is a kind of benign racism among upper middle class racism, like, you see an Asian guy with a suit and a neat haircut and you go 'oh, yeah, we've got one of those at work'.

100%, and I fully agree that bringing in Hendy to the DfT as a transport ops expert with a lot of industry goodwill is going to hugely help the DfT deal with the transition it's already de-facto made to running services, badly, under a government that specifically didn't want it to

'A kind of benign racism among upper middle class racism' should be 'among upper middle class PROFESSIONALS' sorry. Like, what you mean is that he faintly looks like your brother in law Vijay who actually *is* competent and across the detail.

Reply to

Maik Zumstrull

Well, TfL *is* completely independent and self-funding, it is the only metro system in the world not to receive public funding, and therefore a) does have to be 'profit-oriented' but also b) not every non-state entity is 'profit-oriented'.

Reply to

John B

Yeah - sorry I was being too facetious for my own good. I think essentially TfL shows that the problem with the DfT isn't that they don't own the rolling stock, it is that they are poor commissioners of services and poor at running them.

Reply to

Conor Conneally

But if you own the rolling stock, then you end up like the London Underground, where there are still 40 year old trains in service! How are we going to pointlessly fritter away money and carbon on shiny new toys for transport ministers to pose in front of without ROSCOs, huh? Even think about that?

(But seriously: one way I feel the Hendy appointment is indicative is that I'd guess they will want something like TFL from top to toe, in part because they will surely want to extend what TFL runs and it makes it easier if you don't suddenly change whether rolling stock is a cost or not.)

Reply to

Doug Winter

Yeah, the video clip looks great, really lovely communal experience.

Reply to

Derek

It's a good question. I think probably not other than maybe if you want to nationalise all the delivery companies, though why you would want to do that I am not sure.

With e.g. water the correct model is what the UK had before and what most places have, which is where your local government tier does it, partly cos it does help them with, you know, raising revenues.

Reply to

irishoutsider

Yeah - one of the many examples of Sunak being rubbish is that Grant Shapps basically did want to do this (it's what Great British Railways was) and then he moved him and instead we've had...no transport policy for two years AFAICT.

Reply to

Edward

One private school does an IMO excellent thing with running where the 'winners' are people who do best against their own time and the ones who consistently improve over the course of the term. But easier to do that fairly when everyone *can* do exercise as 'homework'.

Reply to

Dr Joanne Williams

Yes - because she goes to Dfid-as-was, and is junior minister for equalities, whereas Bridget Bridget Phillipson at DfE is now the Cabinet minister in charge of it.