Simon Jeffrey

@simonjeffrey.bsky.social

489 Followers 689 Following

Personal opinions about transport and devolution policy.

Much has been written about the ideological complexion of Burnham's government-in-waiting this week. And that sort of thing will matter. But his defining critique of the Labour Party and its failures in government is cultural. "You have to stay connected, or you die," he told me in May, as he watched Wigan Warriors win the Challenge Cup final. "The difference between the Labour Party and rugby league is that, although rugby league has its challenges, it's run by the northern set - and the same can't always be said about the Labour Party." That is about to change - and change profoundly. Labour's northern set is back in business. This is their party now, and in little more than 72 hours it will be their government. You would be
Picture of the new Everton FC stadium
YouGov polling from June 2026 showing support as described in post
BBC article quote: Many of the team's devoted fans can't afford tickets to the first home game of the series, with the cheapest online resale tickets currently going for more than $10,000 (E7,468) and running up to more than $100,000. Regular Knicks games already rank among the most expensive in the NBA. "That's the way life goes," Trump told reporters on Friday when asked about the extreme ticket prices. "It's sort of semi-free to watch it on television." The president recently said he accepted an invitation from Knicks owner James Dolan to attend Monday - indicating that he might also attend the fourth game on Wednesday.
Greg Jackson & @g_J X.com According to independent experts, Zonal Pricing would conservatively have saved £50-100/year on household bills (perhaps more if it improved infrastructure decisions) - within a couple of years - whilst making energy cleaner. The government says its solution - Reformed National Pricing - could save £20-40/year by 2040. A fraction the saving and a decade late. Zonal pricing was itself a compromise between nodal pricing and the current system. It's like nodal was the real deal. Freshly squeezed orange juice. Zonal was a nearly as good substitute - orange juice from concentrate, and reformed national pricing is so diluted it's more like flavoured water. This isn't reopening old wounds - but surely a cost-benefit analysis of zonal vs the alternatives should have been done before the decision. And this is all assuming that these plans survive incumbent lobbying....
Taking these updates into account, our revised findings are: • After adjusting for changes in responsibilities over time, Welsh Government funding in 2025-26 is projected to be 18.3% higher in real terms than in 2019-20 (previously estimated at 16.3%). On a per-person basis, and after accounting for population growth, this represents an increase of 13.8% (previously 11.9%). • On as close to a like-for-like basis as possible, Welsh Government resource funding in 2025-26 will be 15.0 higher in real terms than in 2010-11 (previously 13.0% After accounting for population growth, this equates to 9.6% higher funding per person (previously 7.4%). く • Official forecasts now show average real-terms growth of 1.0% per year over the next three years (previously 1.1%). Growth is expected to be 1.8% in 2026-27 (previously 1.4%), followed by average growth of 0.6% per year in the subsequent two years (previously 1.0%).
• Every 20 minutes, someone is the victim of an uninsured or hit-and-run driver. That's three an hour, 72 a day, more than 26,000 a year. • Every day, at least one person is so seriously injured by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver that they need lifelong care. That's more than 360 people a year whose lives are forever changed for the worse. • Every week, at least one person is killed by a driver who is not insured. That's more than 50 people a year whose lives are cut short, more than 50 families a year who lose a loved one. • Every day, there is an average of 300,000 uninsured vehicles on UK roads. The total number across the year is over 1 million. • Every year, using government figures, we estimate that uninsured and hit-and-run drivers cost the economy almost £2.4 billion.
BBC News article excerpt: The European Commission - the bloc's executive arm that negotiates trade deals on behalf of EU member states, has also drawn criticism. Countries that do a lot of trade and feel a particular affinity with the UK complain off the record that while it is important to safeguard EU interests, the commission is being "too rigid" and should be more imaginative and flexible when it comes to doing bespoke deals with the UK. Especially, EU diplomats have told me, bearing in mind the threats to Europe economically and in security terms by China, Russia and of late, the US too.
Passage from El Pais article: The president’s stance is paradoxical. Sheinbaum studied physics and energy engineering. Before entering politics, in the 1990s, she published several articles in specialized journals that established her as a pioneer in climate change studies in Mexico. Years later, she served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), where she co-authored a study on greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial sector. In 2007, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its contributions to understanding climate change, which was already considered to be one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Even during her 2024 presidential campaign, Sheinbaum pledged to maintain the fracking ban implemented by her predecessor. In December 2023, she stated that the activity “requires large quantities of water.” She added that “the water used [for fracking] is difficult to reuse.” As president, however, Sheinbaum has had to put those environmental concerns on the back burner and give way to pragmatism, prioritizing Mexico’s energy sovereignty vis-à-vis the United States. This transition has been quiet. One of the first signs of change — though it was difficult to understand at the time — was when, in Congress, Morena rejected a constitutional amendment through which López Obrador wanted to prohibit hydraulic fracturing. A legislator from Morena — with access to the National Palace — confirmed to EL PAÍS that this refusal was intentional, meant to keep open the window that now allows the government to fully embrace fracking.
Zelensky tweet: If the United States truly thinks about withdrawing from NATO, then European security will be based solely on the European Union. But not in its current form. I think that the EU is in a situation where it needs more countries. The UK, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Norway. These are four strong countries, which are part of Europe. Together, the UK, Ukraine, and Türkiye have armies that are stronger than Russia's army. Without Ukraine and Türkiye, Europe can't match Russia. With the four countries on board you can wrest control of the seas, have secure skies and the largest land forces. It's not about offense, because when Russia makes the decision to have an army of 2.5 million people by 2030, Europe has to think about security and how to preserve its independence. The UK once was a member of the EU. There are concerns about agriculture when it comes to Türkiye. But you can manage all of this if you have a really great economy. But security comes first, economy second. Not vice versa. From an interview on The Rest Is Politics podcast (5/5).
Post from X policy guy: Starting Thursday, we'll be updating our revenue sharing incentives to better reward the content we want on X: We will be giving more weight to impressions from your home region—to encourage content that resonates with people in your country, in neighboring countries and people who speak your language. While we appreciate everyone's opinion on American politics, we hope this will disincentivize gaming the attention of US or Japanese accounts and instead, drive diverse conversations on the platform. We invite creators to start building an audience locally. X will be a much richer community when there's relevant posts for people in all parts of the world.
Headline: Miliband must reopen North Sea, Octopus boss says
A dot plot chart titled "Tax by country: Deductions for those on different income levels, by country." The vertical axis lists 13 countries, while the horizontal axis measures tax deduction percentages ranging from roughly 10% to 60%. Three colored dots represent different income tiers for each nation: an orange dot for "Average salary," a red dot for "2x," and a dark blue dot for "5x." The data shows a general trend where tax deductions increase with income. Belgium has the highest overall deductions, with the "5x" income level reaching the 60% mark. Japan has the lowest deductions, starting below 20% for average salaries. European nations like Germany, Italy, and France generally show higher deduction rates compared to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Germany is notable for having a small gap between its "2x" and "5x" tax rates, whereas countries like the UK and Italy show a wider spread between income levels. Source: Chart by Tom Calver | The Sunday Times.