John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 54mReading round the op-eds on Burnham's speech, there's little engagement on the substance. Should we fund social care with tax? Has the triple lock done its job? Is electoral reform needed? Is the current Brexit deal good enough? Who knows 0101
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 4h❤️ @duncanrobinson.bsky.social, who I'm guessing wrote this, but I think Burnham setting out his stall in this manner makes it hard to backtrack on. 230
Reposted by John SpringfordRobert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 5hIf Reform did something like this with mosques we might think they were a bit racist. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...thetimes.comJewish Greens face sanctions for belonging to ‘Zionist’ synagoguesThe Green Party rejected an amendment to protect Jewish members attending self-declared ‘Zionist’ organisations from reports of racism 1211031
Reposted by John SpringfordToby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 9h🚨 French bond spreads. Eek www.ft.com/content/e7c0...ft.comBond investors 💔 OATsSacré bleu 3207
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I think an enquiry into the Brexit options is a good idea. Suggested it to Nick Thomas Symonds in his valedictory CER event this summer. It would help if the civil service did some reports on its effects. 4374
Reposted by John SpringfordDuncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Again though: National care service, ‘tough choices’ on triple lock, electoral reform, devolution, more public control of utilities, reopening red lines on Europe and (hopefully?) avoiding silly tax commitments is a good & coherent manifesto. But it should have been the 2024 manifesto. 2366
Reposted by John SpringfordJoël Reland @jreland.bsky.social · 29/09/2026What's that Andy? You want to look at the different options for the UK's relationship with the EU? If only someone had set them out already... ukandeu.ac.uk/introducing-... 59841
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Would be a huge achievement if all these broadly sensible proposals happen. But the theory of growth is quite vague: devolution plus an attempt to find national consensus on a closer EU relationship. As ever, the question is the EU's view on that consensus ... 060
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Worth a read. Alt title could be 'How I learned to stop worrying and ignore AI people' martinrobbins.substack.com/p/the-ai-apo... 042
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29/09/2026You can ask that question about a lot of things. Leave the ECHR, stop the local solar farm or data centre, freeze fuel duty, etc. 073
Reposted by John SpringfordDiane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 28/09/2026And the data about GDP and balance of payments in 1976 were later revised to be much less concerning… we didn’t need the IMF. Imagine the alternative histories based on revised statistics. 2164
Reposted by John Springfordsianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 28/09/2026“The rate of ectopic pregnancy deaths in states with abortion bans is nearly double that in states where abortion is legal.” That stat should shame every anti abortionist in the world. 1371169
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 28/09/2026@alanbeattie.bsky.social on why a UK-EU customs union is a poorly targeted way to deal with the EU's China shock www.ft.com/content/6b21...ft.comWhy the EU fears Britain becoming a back door for Chinese carsBrussels is urging UK tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, but it might take more than that 032
Reposted by John SpringfordRobert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 28/09/2026Maybe if we destroy the creative sector then in 2066 a Labour chancellor will make a speech about how great it was when we had it. 38012
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Adding my name to the Cassandra list. The post-pandemic rise had cyclical/one-off drivers - it happened in many other developed economies too. Making immigration for work permanently harder will inevitably mean tax rises and spending cuts. 1153
Reposted by John SpringfordAndrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Monday morning plug for my essay in the new IPPR Progessive Journal: How Britain can escape its energy trap 241
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Institutional decay in the US means no one is even talking about fiscal tightening, despite it being so obviously needed. www.ft.com/content/bcf0...ft.comSoaring bond yields ‘not even close’ to cooling red-hot US economy, investors sayRising borrowing costs so far show no sign of putting a brake on activity in world’s biggest economy 1216
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The question for living standards is what sort of leave is being taken. Switching leisure or caring for work can be good, or bad if people are doing so because they hate their job. Illness is always bad. 120
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It's moving part of the M25 in the middle of 20-mile stretch where three other motorways join it, isn't it 281
Reposted by John SpringfordAndrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I have a new essay in the newly relaunched IPPR Progressive Journal. It’s intended as a sober assessment of the political economy of Britain’s energy challenge, as we move from the old, dying fossil fuel system to the new world of electrification onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... 43118
Reposted by John SpringfordHenry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 25/09/2026it's been less than a year, and already the socialists are forcing people to go to the opera 1939874
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026European Commission officials arguing that a customs union is the best way for the UK to avoid 'Made in Europe' barriers. But the issue seems to be Chinese investment in UK plants, not rerouted Chinese imports. www.ft.com/content/5453...ft.comEU urges UK to raise tariffs on Chinese cars to avoid ‘made in Europe’ barriersLondon has lobbied intensely to secure equal treatment for British products but continues to rule out a customs union 32411
Reposted by John SpringfordBen McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Since start of summer, Ireland, Italy and the UK stand out for high wholesale electricity prices. Expensive gas still setting the price in more hours than neighbouring countries. european-clean-tech-tracker.bruegel.org/s/Qm-ysQ 11810
Reposted by John SpringfordMatthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026France's Haddad notably open about rejoin chatter on a visit to London. "It would make all of us stronger... Macron was quite blunt, the EU was stronger when the UK was in it. There's no ambiguity." But he warns it would be "much more fraught" if Britain sought sui generis membership. 24616
Reposted by John SpringfordDuncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I think this would be a real mistake. It’s essentially a hope that something will turn up and make things easier in the months ahead. And maybe it will. But there’s a larger chance it doesn’t and then we have months of confidence sapping speculation ahead of the Spring Statement. 7273
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026One for those of us who believe finance is the main driver of housebuilding, not planning rules 291
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Raises the question why the Conservatives are against the reset, which would mean rejoining the single market in agrifood and electricity. 5192
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Long read on leftish economic policy thought around Burnham. What's missing is analysis of the main drivers of Britain's economic performance - financial, technology, trade and energy shocks. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...theguardian.comLabour’s last chance? The people shaping Andy Burnham’s grand plans for BritainThe long read: The new prime minister has declared he wants to end 40 years of neoliberalism. But is he really prepared to be that radical? 191
Reposted by John SpringfordJaap Burger @jaapburger.eu · 08/09/2026There is perhaps no car manufacturer more than Volkswagen where Germany’s erratic approach to electrification is having a greater impact.electrive.comVW ID. Polo sold out for months ahead - electrive.comIn Europe, a waiting list is apparently forming for the VW ID. Polo even before the start of deliveries — at least for individual configurations. The waiting 2125359
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 22/09/2026It's a fair question, worth unpacking. The OBR 4% forecast is on the lower end of the post-Brexit estimates of the costs. That translates to about £40bn in lost tax revenue. 1145
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Non-white cricketers made a concerted effort to be recognised as English. academic.oup.com/book/60799 Similar efforts will be deployed against racists like Carswell, and we will winacademic.oup.comWindrush Cricket: Imperial Culture, Caribbean Migration, and the Remaking of Postwar EnglandAbstract. It is generally understood that cricket was of major historical importance in the anglophone Caribbean, that it was a form of cultural imperialis 0110
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Net zero was political consensus, now it isn't. It has become somewhat less popular as the right has turned against it, but support is still strong. So dismissing the role of the right, including the media, seems parti pris at best. 44310
Reposted by John SpringfordSam Lowe @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Canada will struggle to deepen economic ties with the EU for the same reasons the UK failed to break them. New MFN: mostfavourednation.substack.com/p/gravity-al...mostfavourednation.substack.comGravity Always WinsAlas. 1510228
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Just finished Sarah Hall's Helm. A truly great novel. Highly recommended 030
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Matthew Syed's claim that the AfD is not extremist is laughable. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... In 2017, Bjoern Hoecke said of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial that ""Germans are the only people in the world who plant a monument of shame in the heart of the capital".thetimes.comAngela Merkel was the true extremist of our ageHistory will judge hyperliberals as the vandals who dissolved our borders and ignored Putin’s threat 52910
Reposted by John SpringfordJill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Oi Canada! Cosying up to the EU and pushing UK to the back of the line? my new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk blog on the Carney-VDL love-in in Strasbourg www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/carn...instituteforgovernment.org.ukCarney, Canada and the EU: Will the UK’s Brexit hopes fade further from view? | Institute for GovernmentFresh EU thinking on Canada may not give the UK more post-Brexit options. 73213
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The local hotel I worked at as a teenager had airs and graces and used to do silver service. It really wasn't a posh restaurant, as demonstrated by having teenagers do it. My worst spill was meat juice all over a customer's silk dress. 130
Reposted by John SpringfordSimon Usherwood @simonusherwood.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This UK-EU relations are a function of how UK wants to engage with the world in general 1379
Reposted by John SpringfordStanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026One might call it the "gravity model" 012
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Take cars. Should Canada adopt EU auto standards, and make car components for the European market? This would be an enormous shift that would end the US-Canada-Mexico supply chain. 641
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Interesting piece. Given the primacy of EU law for members, the rules of a broader grouping will inevitably be subordinate to that. Which means rule-making in areas outside EU competence, or softer forms of co-operation. 130
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Good piece. On the Telegraph/Times being misled about Reform/Verbatim paying for the poll. If someone came up to me and said I've got a poll and I'd like it to form the basis of some research, my first question would be 'why' and my second would be 'who paid for it'. 285
Reposted by John SpringfordAdam Bell @adambell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026AI is superb at rapid generation of complex mathematical models, making it dead handy in quant spaces like energy modelling. The role of the human becomes machine QA, but that is much more productive than writing in a spreadsheet yourself, and also requires more expertise. 171
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026My view is individual concerns, legitimate or not, are only a basis for government action if the social costs exceed benefits. 160
John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Back in the US for a bit. In the spirit of Noah Smith, the American mind cannot comprehend labour- and time-saving border control measures, ANPR to tackle awful driving, and public transport as a solution to congestion. 080
Reposted by John SpringfordJill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Interesting double act at Policy Exchange from Alex Burghart and Victoria Atkins throwing down gauntlet on EU partnerships Bill and SPS deal. Arguing for UK to be more similar to US. Burghart argues membership preferable to dynamic alignment. 143