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Tim Leunig

@timleunig.bsky.social
5.8K followers 150 following 692 posts

Policy thoughts: timleunig.substack.com Chief Economist Nesta, Director Econ PublicFirst, Vis Prof LSE Sch Public Policy, Vis Fellow Inst for Govt

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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Fifteen years ago one of my LSE students told me the Spice Girls were in A level history
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Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Most striking of all is that this is explicitly a very *pro-politics* speech, a direct rebuttal to the anti-politics that is so widespread. And rightly so: politics can change things, it is an admirable thing to choose to engage in and a duty for us all to step forward and pursue.
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David Bent @davidbent.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"As an...economic historian...I know that “anything that can be mass-produced will fall in price dramatically when it is mass produced”....And yet I forgot it." @timleunig.bsky.social on battery prices & path to Net Zero. So. Many. People. Make. This. Mistake. timleunig.substack.com/p/i-was-wrong
timleunig.substack.com
I was wrong
And what I learned from it.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You can find the answer here. One of my best pieces of public policy research. policyexchange.org.uk/publication/...
policyexchange.org.uk
Bigger and Quieter: The right answer for aviation - Policy Exchange
Bigger and Quieter: The right answer for aviation examines all of the options for increasing airport capacity in the UK and concludes that the best option would be to place four runways immediately we...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You can find the answer here. One of my best pieces of public policy research. policyexchange.org.uk/publication/...
policyexchange.org.uk
Bigger and Quieter: The right answer for aviation - Policy Exchange
Bigger and Quieter: The right answer for aviation examines all of the options for increasing airport capacity in the UK and concludes that the best option would be to place four runways immediately we...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Well, we only launched this week!
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This week in my substack I have written about what we should do about election deposits. The current system is not working well! £/free trial - timleunig.substack.com/p/election-d...
timleunig.substack.com
Election deposits
Some fresh thinking is needed in a multi-party nation.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
In addition, I just think the Earl Spencer story is…quite cruel. Ultimately we’re talking about two people’s dad talking about their dead mum.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Monday 1.45pm - come join us. No conference pass required!
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It was the same yesterday! Lots of them were wearing Arsenal scarves...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The usual moral “I’ll support anything as long as the rosette is red” voids in the replies to this. The reality is that Sunak did take real political damage in sacking Braverman and taking the whip from Anderson. Starmer and Burnham both useless on this.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I have delivered many LibDem leaflets in my time! In the last election in 5 different constituencies!
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Former PM Rishi Sunak in the Sunday Times challenges the rise of ethno-nationalism in British politics, as an argument within the right about Britishness being about ancestry, DNA and ethnicity www.thetimes.com/article/e89d...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
That is part of it, but it certainly isn't all of it.
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Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Lots of fun on the pod with @drhannahwhite.bsky.social @timleunig.bsky.social and @gilesyb.bsky.social on everything from state funding for political parties to conceptions of adulthood and what they mean for the national psyche. Enjoy!
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I have written about why Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should think very carefully before they declare that "Westminster is over"... observer.co.uk/news/busines...
observer.co.uk
Independence from Westminster will come with a hefty pric...
The tax paid by Londoners funds public services in the rest of the UK, making calls for a split with the capital financially illiterate
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Laura Phillips @lauraphillips.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
@timleunig.bsky.social to @evanhd.bsky.social 17.40 "The first thing we should try to do is increase growth..there is a get out of jail card.." Says when we left the EU "we lost 8% of our GDP" according to the best academic estimate..even if you halve it you're talking abt £120bn a year".
bbc.co.uk
PM - Burnham: I'm prepared to take "difficult decisions" - BBC Sounds
The prime minister dismisses criticism that his is a tax and spend socialist government.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I didn't realise that Reform voters were most anti our Royal Family. Interesting polling from @yougov.co.uk yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
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Iain Mansfield @igmansfield.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
“This is a government that is learning the hard way that one plus one equals two, having been under the bizarre prior belief that this was not the case.” Superb quote from the inimitable @timleunig.bsky.social. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ministe...
timeshighereducation.com
Ministers won’t bow to Plan 2 loan reform pressure, experts say
Martin Lewis hopes autumn budget will address controversial threshold freeze, as MPs try to force total system review
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I do not know! I know the facts, the reasons are less clear. Australia (for example) has LOTS of migrants from places with no/little shared colonial heritage and those immigrants do well. That would point against shared culture being the cause of immigrant success in schools.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
My free to read substack looks at the policy implications of the recent "PISA" results for schools. My answers may surprise you... timleunig.substack.com/p/pisa
timleunig.substack.com
PISA
The education test, not the place in Italy
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A delight to be able to quiz and listen to the ever thoughtful @dantomlinson.bsky.social at the @nestauk.bsky.social #PolicyLive conference yesterday. He wants growth - hope he delivers it!
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The story of my buying a suit. I had to dig deep for this one... www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
linkedin.com
As people know (from two bragging posts already), I am now Lord Leunig of Surbiton, and will soon join the Liberal Democrats team in UK House of Lords. This is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime… | ...
As people know (from two bragging posts already), I am now Lord Leunig of Surbiton, and will soon join the Liberal Democrats team in UK House of Lords. This is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime, an...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This week my substack (£/free trial) looks at the policy lessons we can draw from the government's recent crackdown on firms flouting the minimum wage. Turns out it is complex, and could be easier - and I have an idea on how to improve things... timleunig.substack.com/p/when-the-l...
timleunig.substack.com
When the law is an ass
Change it
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
particularly important article on Keynesian from Andy Haldane - www.ft.com/content/e1af...
ft.com
Is Keynesianism dead?
When debt is the disease, fiscal medicine may be as likely to harm as heal
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Weird to discover that if you register with the ICO it offers you a (relatively short) selection of job categories, including "Chief Constable of a Police Force" (do these people really form companies? And "Barking Mad Franchisee". Really??? ico.org.uk/for-organisa...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
4 of the top 6 best selling UK cars last month are from China - evidence that free trade increases choice and reduces the cost of living for people here. www.carwow.co.uk/news/11237/s... @edconway.bsky.social
carwow.co.uk
Best-selling cars in August revealed: UK favourite continues reign as Tesla knocks retro-style hatchback off EV top spot
The Ford Puma remains at the top of the UK sales chart as new car registrations rose 13.7% in August. The Tesla Model 3 also took the EV sales crown, with electric cars accounting for almost three in ...
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
so I was reading this piece about the success of Texas www.ft.com/content/fff5... and it fed a concern I expressed before: what if the really good growth ideas are right wing? bsky.app/profile/gile... I thought this worth investigating a bit 1/
ft.com
The Texas experiment
For 30 years the state has profited from going the extra mile for business. Data centres are putting that to the test
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Although that is an artifact of the way they have aggregated the data, of course. Tower Hamlets is worst for child poverty, for example, the top 3 are all in London, and only a minority of top 10 in the North www.ons.gov.uk/explore-loca...
ons.gov.uk
Children in relative poverty after housing costs - ONS
Percentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Full marks to @andyburnham.bsky.social for helping with the cost of living. His book with Steve Rotheram, "Head North" is 99p on kindle today! amazon.co.uk/Head-North-R...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
According to the BBC, PwC consulting have found that almost 50% of people live in areas with "less spending power than the national average". Either BBC or PwC need to learn how averages work... Truly shocking. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Almost half of households do not see benefits of economic growth, report says
Analysis has found a "stark" gap in the spending power of households in the north and south of England on average.
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Nesta @nestauk.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
🚊 Why is Leeds still the largest city in Europe without a tram? Ahead of Policy Live 2026, @timleunig.bsky.social explores what ‘good devolution’ could mean for the UK - and how greater local power could unlock regional growth. Join us on 10 Sept to find out more: bit.ly/4hZR8cm
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Tenants already have the right to decline to rent a flat from any landlord that cannot provide evidence of their credit worthiness.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is correct - the only way to empower tenants is to have more housing, so that it is no longer a seller's market.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The tenant is signing a contract agreeing to pay rent in future. Hence credit checks are reasonable, especially if the tenant has no reliable source of income (e.g. self-employed, student)
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really? How do you recommend an international student gets over this problem?
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
How to you propose we do credit checks in the UK on someone who is an international student? Also, it would be very hard to sue such a person if they did not pay the last couple of months rent.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
AI is faster, no copyright. The thing is that the would-be tenants were willing to overcome the risk, but that is illegal.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Free to read: My 600 word substack discusses why the ban on paying a years rent upfront isn't working, and why the government should U turn. timleunig.substack.com/p/rental-ref...
timleunig.substack.com
Rental reform
If you get it wrong, U turn.
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
On NEETS, the Times reports that "Bosses’ next biggest concern was work experience, cited by 40 per cent. " I wonder how many of them offer work experience placements? Or Saturday jobs? Or summer jobs? Just sayin'... www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
thetimes.com
Lack of ‘soft skills’ blamed for fuelling youth unemployment crisis
Employers and teachers have raised concern over school leavers’ preparedness as part of Alan Milburn’s review of those not in education, employment or training
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I will be a LibDem peer!
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The territorial designation is not exclusive - Surbiton already has the hugely impressive en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ca...
en.wikipedia.org
Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton - Wikipedia
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Now that is a long time ago... Hope you remember some...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
It is not exclusive - you can have many Lords of a place - indeed, Surbiton also has the hugely impressive en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Ca...
en.wikipedia.org
Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton - Wikipedia
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I am afraid that I neither have the right to compel you to take up arms, nor till my fields, nor do I have the obligation to buy a round...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The Ministry of Justice emailed me to say that, as of today, I am Lord Leunig of Surbiton...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Swimming in the Seine - could London do the same? www.ft.com/content/c8fc...
ft.com
Parisians take the plunge after €1.4bn Seine clean-up
City’s new designated open-air swimming sites offer respite amid heatwaves
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This is great, although I think that in the example given, a "square table" is almost a composite noun...
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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
They are **incredibly** useful for blind people. The only person I know with AI glasses is blind. He says they are a life changer - he can find the toilet in a hotel bedroom much more easily.
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Harry Rose @harryrose.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Seeing a bit of surprise that the FT comes top here. But it makes sense -- young professionals who need/want to be informed and can often get a corporate sub. (Plus free student access is smart, surprised others don't do it). pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...
pressgazette.co.uk
Which UK national newsbrands reach the most under-35s?
New research based on Ipsos iris data reveals proportion of young amongst audience of major online newsbrands.
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