'Local man fails miserably with 'Glower At The Academics' face'

#ukpoverty

#levellingup factoid of the day.

'we have largely stopped thinking about ethics and about what constitutes human well-being. We are technocrats who focus on efficiency.' Angus Deaton on economists and the dismal science imf.org/en/Publication…

If you want to hear a defrocked bureaucrat over the weekend....

Coming over here... spending their money.

hepi.ac.uk/2023/05/16/int… via Higher Education Policy Institute

From the list of policy problems the 'Yes Prime Minister' writers drew up when considering a new series just under 40 years ago:

Should we be in Europe?
Impending war in Middle East
NHS waiting lists getting longer
House prices rising again
Lack of national transport policy

#localgov term of the week: 'diversity demagogue' (full disclosure, I used to be one). Almost as if the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty didn't exist. See also: focusing public services for maximum impact.
msn.com/en-gb/money/ot…

Boris Johnson in The Mail 'We baby-boomers had the full-fat pensions; we had the free university; we had the cheap housing. Those benefits allowed us to accumulate phenomenal wealth, as a generation'.
Maybe if they were all brought back then? #ukeconomy #justsaying

Word.

#localgov #austerity

Oddly fascinating the sort of research that the UK foriegn office commissions. Especially compared to domestic focused #ukgov funded stuff.

#localgov #History

🚨 Austerity update 🚨

'With hindsight we probably should have taken advantage [of low interest rates] and borrowed more when times were more stable...and invested more.'

Former HMT permanent secretary (05-16) Nicholas Macpherson on Radio 4 Analysis ... bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

Ah. #localgov #levellingup

I do miss those days down the office in #localgov , pondering 'how often shall we let them go to the shops then'? #somedaysyoudespair

#waronmotorists stats for today. Sense these won't be published in the Mail. (report via Department for Transport gov.uk/government/sta…)

Worth a read as you listen to Jeremy Hunt today. #ukpoverty Trussel Trust: Half of working families claiming Universal Credit ran out of food in the past month trusselltrust.org/2023/09/20/hal…

Huge. Birmingham City Council issues Section 114 notice - meaning it can't manage its catastrophic finances without help. Updates from Jane Haynes birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-…

Lisa Mckenzie This just became law in #Spain Do not hold your breath that any party in the UK truly gives a toss about #HousingCrisis #Poverty beyond the #