Laurie Macfarlane
@L__Macfarlane
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Co-director @FutureEconScot . Fellow @IIPP_UCL and @DemocracyCollab . Co-author Rethinking the Economics of Land and Housing
Edinburgh, Scotland
Joined November 2010
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Andy Burnham asked for £65m to save lives and businesses in Greater Manchester – but was refused.
That's about 0.5% of what the UK government has spent on a test and trace system that doesn't even work.
#perspective
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This video highlights why I think learning about the distribution of income in the country should be an essential part of the school curriculum.
Absolutely bizarre.
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Rishi Sunak’s statement is a textbook plan for restoring business-as-usual: prop up the housing market, ignore renters, create low-paid jobs, get people consuming again, ignore the climate crisis.
Totally oblivious to the scale of the challenges we face.
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“I own a flat that I rent out to a lovely couple, but I want to make them homeless just before Christmas so I can make a bit of extra cash. How do I go about doing that?”
'I own a flat that I rent out to a lovely couple, but I want to get them out so I can rent it on Airbnb as a holiday let — preferably before Christmas. How do I go about doing that?'
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Asked if anything is missing from the PM’s measures, Starmer says no
Nothing about fixing the giant gaps in the safety net. Nothing about ensuring people can afford to self isolate. Nothing about helping firms at breaking point
This is piss poor, frankly
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George Galloway (2014): “I’ll be campaigning to remain in the EU as anyone with any brain cells will be doing”
George Galloway (2019): “I will be supporting Nigel Farage in next months elections”
Life comes at you fast.
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Last night Lazio fans marched through Glasgow doing fascist salutes.
Celtic fans responded by unfurling a banner of Mussolini being hung after being shot by communists.
Fair play.
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Dear
@DanielJHannan
. In Singapore:
20% of GDP comes from state owned enterprises
90% of land is state owned
85% of housing is public.
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Answer: because the interests of landlords come before everyone else.
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Depressing article revealing how a lobbyist convinced the chancellor that private finance can replace public investment
It really can’t
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Nigel Farage: “We’ve already sold off our water, gas and other public utilities, so we might as well sell off the NHS too”
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It’s absolutely essential that Robert Peston now reveals who this “senior government source” was.
This negligence has cost lives.
Response from senior government source is “the Italians did several of the populist - non-science based - measures that aren’t any use. They’re who not to follow”.
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Very impressed by how quickly
@Ocasio2018
and others have managed to get the
#GreenNewDeal
on the political agenda in the US. I know it’s taken a lot of hard work behind the scenes, but it’s an incredible achievement.
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The government is trying to distance itself from the idea that building “herd immunity” was part of the immediate plan.
Here’s the Chief Scientific Adviser saying exactly that just 2 days ago.
The communication around this has been an absolute shambles.
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A Tory MP tells
@Peston
: “We'll find ourselves implementing most of Jeremy Corbyn's programme".
Time to bring Corbyn and McDonnell into the cabinet? Sounds like they could certainly use the help.
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Gordon Brown - Pimco
Alistair Darling - Morgan Stanley
George Osborne - Blackrock
Philip Hammond - Buckthorn Partners
Sajid Javid - JP Morgan
This really needs to stop.
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This is not on: Easyjet still plans to go ahead with a £174m dividend payout to shareholders despite asking for government support.
Any support package must include equity not just debt and have clear conditions on jobs, pay and environmental commitments
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Scientists: “We have 12 years to avert catastrophic climate change.”
Fossil fuel firms: “Let’s spend $200 million a year lobbying to block action on climate change.”
Future generations will be astonished that we ever tolerated this madness.
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“The best way to pay down the debt is to make sure that you don’t rack up more debt right now” 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Labour are in deep, deep trouble.
“There will be a time for raising taxes… but that time is not now” says Lisa Nandy on tax rises in Wednesday’s Budget
The Labour MP says it would be “madness to choke off the recovery”
#politicslive
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“More people were diagnosed with Covid-19 during the past seven days than any other week since the start of the pandemic”
It’s absolutely bonkers that vaccine patents haven’t been suspended yet.
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Among his many flaws, it turns out that Milton Friedman was also a fierce defender of colonialism.
Here he is explaining why Africans and Indians should be grateful for the violent plundering of their lands and people (h/t
@Econ_Marshall
)
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Serco’s share price is soaring today after it unexpectedly upgraded its 2020 profit forecast.
The statement to investors speaks for itself. The UK is a basket case.
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This is embarrassing from Dispatches, which is normally good. The assertion that the £400bn must be “paid back” is pure ideological propaganda. Expected better.
The Government borrowed £400bn during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But where did that money come from and how will they pay it back?
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“The state of Berlin has bought back 670 apartments on the historic Karl-Marx-Allee from a private owner, after decades of property privatisation in the German capital.”
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If I was debating Boris Johnson on TV tonight, I’d just quote this back to him over and over again:
“From crash of 2008 onwards... can you think of any politician who stuck up for the bankers as much as I did? I defended them day in, day out”
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New rent control legislation has been passed in New York.
“I feel like someone just dropped a nuclear bomb on my business”, said one landlord who owns 150 apartments 😢
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This is a scandal. Even the director of the UK's largest PR trade body thinks so:
"It is simply wrong for lobbying agencies to employ legislators. The possible conflict of interest in doing so is clear."
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The fact that cutting universal credit is even being discussed at the moment is utterly mind boggling.
There is literally no justification for it, apart from pure callousness.
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There’s a common formula that right-wing think tanks are using to try and discredit progressive policies. It goes like this:
1) Calculate an inflated upfront cost
2) Ignore any economic benefit
3) Claim the policy is “unaffordable”
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The Tories got away with freezing public sector pay in 2012 because austerity was supported by a compliant media, many economists and the Labour Party.
Today austerity is a dead duck intellectually. With enough uproar - and a functioning opposition - this can be defeated.
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Britain’s housing market is like a pyramid scheme - a constant stream of new buyers is needed to maintain returns for existing owners.
But high prices kick the ladder further away, so the state has to take ever more extreme steps to keep the music playing
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Imagine the BBC called the NHS “health communism” or libraries “book communism”.
That’s what happened when Labour proposed free full-fibre broadband for all households. It was shameful at the time - and looks even worse now.
When I published Labour’s policy on free broadband in November 2019 I said “It’s about large numbers of children being able to do their homework properly, and have the speed of connectivity.” The BBC described it as Broadband Communism. Interesting how relevant it’s now become.
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Bernard Jenkin, the Oxbridge educated son of a life peer, says: “I wish we’d stop talking about class, because it really doesn’t matter” 🙄
#bbcqt
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In a functioning democracy, Cummings would be toast.
But the UK is not a functioning democracy, so we really shouldn’t be surprised.
#CumGate
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Uber: "We will defend the livelihood of drivers"
Also Uber: "We are investing $300 million in driverless vehicles to make drivers obsolete"
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We took on the Mail on Sunday, and won. Must read by
@GeorgeMonbiot
:
“This is a rare victory against the billionaire press, but it would count for nothing if buried until the election is over. For the first time in my career, I’m breaking an embargo.”
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Some context for those criticising India’s net zero by 2070 target.
Cumulative emissions per population:
🇬🇧 1,100 tCO2
🇮🇳 61 tCO2
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Here are the contenders to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister:
- One was forced to resign just 8 months ago over the Windrush scandal
- One caused the first doctors strike in NHS history
- One cites Ayn Rand as a hero
- One is Boris Johnson
An absolute embarrassment.
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‘A spectre is haunting the West — the spectre of authoritarian capitalism’
My essay on what this crisis means in the context of China’s rise and the decline of liberal capitalism.
(Be warned: it’s long)
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New report from
@jrf_uk
finds that Scotland’s lower rate of poverty (19%) compared to England (22%) is largely down to a greater availability of affordable social housing.
Underscores the importance of housing costs to tackling poverty.
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There are so many contenders for the title of “dumbest pandemic decision”
But spending £50bn on a Job Retention Scheme, only to unwind it prematurely - causing hundreds of thousands of redundancies - then reintroducing it after layoffs have been made, has to be right up there
How many redundancies would have been avoided if the government hadn’t tried to unwind the furlough scheme prematurely, and instead committed to keeping it until March 2021 all along ?
We can’t know for sure, but the answer is probably “a lot”
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The Tories now admit that cutting corporation tax from 19% to 17% would cost £6bn
But they previously claimed that slashing taxes increases growth and revenue 🤔
Will they now tell us how much cutting from 28% to 19% has cost — while they have cut service to the bone?
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Gorse fires. In Edinburgh. In February.
We really are in trouble.
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Dear
@TheEconomist
: Nice chart, but why have you fudged the scale for Britain? The line should be double as long. Trying to hide something?
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“I’ve seen so much of the damage caused by the UK’s drug laws, which is why I think the current approach is broadly right.”
Effectively what Starmer is saying here. Interesting logic.
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The claim that broken monopoly sectors can be fixed through regulation, not ownership, is a reasonable argument
But I think it overlooks some key practical problems. These issues are ultimately why I favour public ownership🧵
Keir Starmer says he would fix ‘broken’ water and energy markets through regulation not nationalisation – UK politics live
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I’m not sure people realise the scale of the social calamity we’re allowing to unfold, all so that landlords don’t lose much rent during the pandemic.
Thread:
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Rather than admit austerity was a mistake, the Lib Dems want to double down on it. Just astonishing
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Who needs Andrew Neil interviews when we have a print media that so bravely speaks truth to power?
In tomorrow’s Sunday Times, an interview with Boris Johnson in which he predicts a post Brexit bonking bonanza which leads to a 2012-style baby boom 💥
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It’s odd that the Lib Dems are fighting this election as if it were a Jo Swinson presidential bid.
There isn’t much evidence that she’s particularly popular, and there’s a decent chance she’ll lose her seat.
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“Labour’s decline in the North, Midlands and Wales is not the result of a dramatic collapse in its vote share, but changes in the distribution of votes between parties and constituencies.”
Interesting analysis here from
@JoMicheII
and Rob Calvert Jump:
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This quote is 100% made up
"My flatmates and I are very grateful for the goodie bags. The university has no obligation to give these out but the fact they have done so is so generous. Definitely lifts our spirits as lockdown can be quite tough away from our families!" - Kate, Goodricke
#UoYLockdownLoot
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The UK is at the very centre of the offshore networks exposed by the
#PandoraPapers
, so why aren’t we seeing any consequences?
Because it’s a major part of the UK economy, and politicians and their donors benefit massively from it. Until that’s addressed, nothing will change
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It’s great that the OECD’s chief economist has recognised that supporting austerity was a mistake.
But let’s not forget the role the media played in legitimising austerity and the damage it did - perhaps none more so than Chris Giles and colleagues at the FT.
Thread:
OECD no longer remotely favours austerity...
its chief economist tells me
- fresh austerity would provoke a popular backlash
- fiscal policy should do the stabilisation work
- governments should ditch fixed targets on debt
m/f
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I see people are arguing about EU state aid and competition rules again. As ever, this seems to be generating a lot of heat and not much light. Here are some key points which I think both sides of the debate sometimes overlook. Thread:
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I think the Telegraph missed an ‘i’ in the word ‘run’ here
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New article: It’s time to call the housing crisis what it really is: the largest transfer of wealth in living memory
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@TheEconomist
On the left: the original
@TheEconomist
chart
On the right: what the chart should look like without the subtle fudging (credit to
@Zarkwan
)
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Ireland’s growth model is tied to its status as a corporate tax haven and a vast credit and real estate boom.
Not a model an independent Scotland should be trying to emulate.
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Impressed with our
@scotgov
baby box that just arrived. Contains clothes, books, toys, bibs, blankets, carry bags, a sling, thermometers and more
Great way to ensure every child gets a decent start in life. Universalism in action
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Well this hasn’t aged well:
“I’m shaking hands continuously. I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know. I continue to shake hands.”
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Rishi Sunak’s “brains trust” includes Olivier Blanchard, who is currently arguing that Biden’s stimulus is “far too big”, and Ken Rogoff, whose error-ridden paper legitimised disastrous austerity. Not encouraging.
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Norway plus? Lexit? Remain? I’ve written an essay weighing up what I think are the pros and cons of different Brexit options for Labour.
Be warned: it’s long
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When rent extraction in retail banking isn’t cutting it anymore, become a landlord!
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Replacing public investment with private finance will do little more than make infrastructure more expensive, and transfer wealth away from end-users towards investors
It’s classic rent-seeking behaviour
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The new head of the IMF describes socialism as “craziness” and applauds Trump’s “bravery” for using tax reform (i.e. handouts to billionaires) to spur growth 🤦♂️
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The Scottish Government has passed legislation permitting the introduction of rent controls
We often hear that “all economists agree rent controls don’t work”. But this is fundamentally flawed 🧵
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How many redundancies would have been avoided if the government hadn’t tried to unwind the furlough scheme prematurely, and instead committed to keeping it until March 2021 all along ?
We can’t know for sure, but the answer is probably “a lot”
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Thankfully James Delingpole got caught out on this occasion. But our TV screens are awash with over-entitled buffoons pretending to speak authoritatively about subjects they know nothing about, often with little challenge from presenters.
James Delingpole admits his Oxbridge background means he can usually bullshit his way through interviews “using a mixture of charm, impish humour, and nuggets of vaguely relevant info“.
A damning indictment of our broadcast media. Props to
@afneil
here
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The UK is asking manufacturers to “transform production lines to make ventilators”.
But after decades of decline, the UK has one of the smallest manufacturing bases among major economies. And there are some influential voices who wanted to see it vanish completely...
Thread:
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Here's
@johnmcternan
's characteristically ill-informed comments on fire safety from 2015. Blows my mind that this guy still gets media gigs.
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Philip Hammond not holding back on Boris Johnson:
“he is backed by speculators who have bet billions on a hard Brexit — and there is only one outcome that works for them: a crash-out no-deal Brexit that sends the currency tumbling and inflation soaring.”
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Prince Charles’s estate:
😯Inherits the assets of anyone who dies in Cornwall without a will
🥴Owns the rights to mine in Cornwall, even under private homes
🤯Has a right to be consulted on new laws that affect its interests
🤬Is exempt from paying tax
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This story is bizarre. The fact that the Scottish Government has utilised its (fairly trivial) borrowing powers to invest in infrastructure is unequivocally a good thing
It’s this kind of silly framing that legitimatised austerity
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This piece by Andrew Wilson is littered with falsehoods. That they continue to be repeated - while legitimate criticism is ignored - is starting to have a seriously corrosive effect on the debate about Scotland’s future.
Thread:
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If I was a Green I’d find this belittling from London pundits infuriating. Why are Green votes less “real” than SNP votes?
Both are avowedly pro-indy parties, and the Scottish electoral system is literally designed to prevent majorities.
This is fascinating. There will still be a pro-independence majority (SNP + Green) but will come as huge relief for UK govt if SNP miss outright majority - politically helps efforts to argue against second independence referendum
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The
@theipaper
guide to buying a two-bedroom flat:
1) Earn £70k a year (i.e. be in the top 5% of earners)
2) Cancel your £150 a month gym membership (which obviously everyone has, right?)
It seems there is now a whole branch of journalism aimed at trolling millennials.
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‘Thousands of Berlin residents took to the streets on Saturday to vent anger over surging rents and demand the expropriation of more than 200,000 apartments sold off to big private landlords.’
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“COVID-19 is not a random event. It is a symptom of an economic system that is destroying the natural world.”
“In 2008, we bailed out the banks. In 2021, we need to bail out the planet”
New
@openDemocracy
video narrated by
@GeorgeMonbiot
📺
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Britain’s constitutional crisis has been a long time coming. It’s not pretty, but it’s absolutely necessary
The response to Johnson shouldn’t be “this is undemocratic”. Our whole system is undemocratic — now is the time to put radical constitutional reform squarely on the agenda
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Thanks to Theresa May, anyone hoping to bring a foreign spouse to the UK must have an income of at least £18,600. Prince Harry hasn’t had a job since he left the army in 2015, but I’m sure Meghan will get a visa just fine.
Spare a thought for the 15,000 kids who aren’t so lucky
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The chancellor’s inability to acknowledge that public policies have benefits as well as costs is becoming a rather serious problem. From vaccine boosters to Net Zero, this kind of thinking really is very dangerous.
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Cheers Boris, what a fantastic gift for the next general election:
“From crash of 2008 onwards... can you think of any politician who stuck up for the bankers as much as I did? I defended them day in, day out”
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Ian Austin: a man who fought hard to scapegoat migrants throughout his political career, even going as far as publishing his own anti-migrant manifesto back in 2014
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It’s revealing that the only Labour leader to win an election in the last 40 years is someone that has made a fortune using offshore companies. It tells you a lot about how the UK works.
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💥 54% of people say climate change will affect how they vote
💥 66% agree the climate emergency is the biggest issue facing humankind
💥 63% of people support a Green New Deal
💥 60% think banks should ditch investments in fossil fuels
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This is how it’s done: ‘German union wins right to 28 hour working week at 4.3% pay rise’
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Your regular reminder that, whatever its merits as an institution, the
@IFS
routinely misleads the public on tuition fees.
THREAD:
Your regular reminder that, whatever its merits as a policy, abolishing tuition fees is of no help to the half of young people who don't attend university, is of no help to low earning graduates, and is a big giveaway to the highest earnings graduates.
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I feel very lucky to have seen wild orangutans. Since 1999, more than 100,000 have been killed from palm oil plantations
So long as ads like this are deemed “too political”, while ads promoting palm oil products are everywhere, this genocide will continue
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Obscenely high rents was one of the main reasons I left London.
It’s not normal to give 60%+ of your income to a landlord — never mind during an unprecedented crisis.
That’s why I’m supporting the
#cantpaywontpay
campaign of
@LDNRentersUnion
.
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"It is an insult to simply clap and not also to strengthen the system itself so it can continually, systemically, actually be strong"
@MazzucatoM
👏
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“When the wealth-creating part of the economy shrinks, the wealth-consuming part has to tighten its belt.”
It’s very telling - and shocking - that the IEA views nurses and the NHS as “wealth consuming”. Even more so during a pandemic.
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Poll finds that more than half of the UK public support a windfall tax on companies that have thrived during the pandemic, while 61% would approve of a wealth tax for those with assets of over £750,000.
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🇩🇪 Total Marshall Plan support: $1.4 billion
🇬🇧 Total Marshall Plan support: $3.3 billion
I’m astonished this tweet hasn’t been deleted yet.
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Pumping new money into the economy without altering power relations will only exacerbate existing inequalities.
We made this mistake in 2008 – it’s essential that we don’t make it again.
Me for
@openDemocracy
.
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This reminds me of a meeting I had with Treasury officials during the Osborne era, who were on the hunt for ideas to boost productivity.
I asked what their best idea so far was, to get a sense of what they were working on. Their face lit up: “Scrapping Sunday trading laws” 🤦♂️
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Alternatively: just fund the public sector properly? Just a thought.
No 10 explores ‘Crown Consultancy’ to stem billions going to private firms
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