James Howat

If an incoming PM is looking for ways to improve Westminster, I would gladly lead a review of the effectiveness and value for money of Written Parliamentary Questions. Of course, they play an important role in providing scrutiny of the government. But, really...

Democratised, Devolved and Digitised. In a new report today, I have written about how the 3 Ds can be an approach for improving our public services as the government looks for a new direction. 1/5

Our first ThinkLab took place last night, kicking off a new monthly series tackling the biggest questions facing the Labour government. We started with Labour's political economy, using James Howat's Progressive Dynamism paper as the jumping-off point. A brilliant discussion with @stephenkb , @1jamesHowat, @ChristabelCoops, @kittyussher and @StewartWood on how to get the economy working again. Looking forward to the next ThinkLab.

What should Labour's political economy be? In my contribution to "hot essay summer", I argue that Labour should define itself as pro-work, and anti-slop. Good work is productive, the best that slop can be is distracting. Slop gives the impression of frenetic activity, but without creation of real value. This turns out to be a pretty good description of Britain's economy. We've created an economy of rent-seekers and extractors rather than risk-takers and builders. I look at: 🍬 tax-avoiding American candy stores that crowd Oxford Street 📖 the 44,000 page planning document for Sizewell C (33 times longer than War and Peace) 🚄 the unbuilt railway that cost £100 billion 🏦 the cheapening of designs in our public spaces 🏗️ "fire safety" rent seeking that is stopping homes being built The common theme is slop. To escape this, Labour needs a plan to take on slop-generating tech companies, but also other rent-seekers throughout the economy that have made it impossible (or very costly) to build anything of value. Labour was founded to represent workers in the tangible economy: those who were physically building things. Today, 37% of British workers do not believe that their job makes a “meaningful contribution to the world”. Whoever leads Labour must have an answer to this, and it begins with tackling slop. Read the full piece here: substack.com/home/post/p-20…

More here: cms.thinklabour.co.uk/assets/23770f2… Thanks to all the people who took time to shape this work. 7/7

Building more homes in the South East, capturing the rise land value can also free up cash to fund productive capacity elsewhere in the country. In this world, true control over our fate comes from deep tech capabilities, fast growth, strong public finances. 6/n

Tony Blair is right that technology can save social democracy, but he's light on how to spread the benefits. His critics are more focused on the distributional politics than the plan to pay for it. Our new paper on Labour's political economy tries to bridge the divide. 1/n

@johnrmyers @timleunig Do we also need to believe covered interest parity no longer holds? Theory suggests markets expect sterling to weaken given the interest rate differential, which will make those eur bonds pricier to pay off in £ terms

I enjoyed this as ever @timleunig but I would worry about whether we will realistically hold the line at 10% and whether this could risk a slide into ‘original sin’ of issuing entirely in EUR because it looks cheaper in the short run? ft.com/content/e709d8…

Compulsory voting reflects a moral argument about the society we want to live in: enjoying the benefits of a democracy should come with a responsibility to uphold it. Oz suggests it can even make it more fun. 4/n

Essentially, we should establish an Australian-style legal duty to vote. - a £10 fine for those who don’t vote. - a “Democracy Day” bank holiday for general elections a “None of the Above” option to ballot papers. 3/n

New paper: Your Democracy Needs You: the Labour case for compulsory voting An ageing population, geopolitical breakdown, a loopy infosphere...our political institutions need to do a better job of helping politicians make tough long term decisions 1/n static1.squarespace.com/static/64f707c…

What if the residents of a street could collectively decide to build more homes on it - and share directly in the benefits? That's street votes. In our new paper with @BritishProgress we set out how community-led street votes could help @SteveReedMP build 1.5 million new homes.

What if the residents of a street could collectively decide to build more homes on it - and share directly in the benefits? That's street votes. In our new paper with @LabourTogether we set out how community-led street votes could help @SteveReedMP build 1.5 million new homes. labourtogether.uk/all-reports/st… Street votes let neighbours come together, work with an architect, agree a new plan for their street, and vote. If they say yes, building happens with their consent, on their terms, with benefits flowing to the people who already live there. Building in towns and cities is vital - it adds much-needed homes where people want to live, it’s more sustainable and it grows a more resilient local economy. But building in cities and towns is difficult. Under street votes, instead of builders, councils, and residents fighting each other, the community can push for more homes themselves. And because ordinary people are driving the change on small sites, new homes can be built faster than the big schemes relying on big developers. Street votes learn from international schemes that have delivered tens of thousands of homes a year in cities like Seoul and Tel Aviv. Applied here, the evidence suggests up to 30,000 new homes a year in the places we need them most - with the first homes delivered before the end of this Parliament. Much of the work has already been done to put communities in the driver’s seat with street votes. MHCLG just needs to implement the rules. In this paper, @1jamesHowat, @KaneEmerson & @dc_lawrence set out the final steps that the Government should take to build thousands of new homes with popular support.

@theobertram @LabourTogether @SMFthinktank @theobertram you're right! You've done great work in this area and our chats have been very helpful for this report. We're putting in an acknowledgement now.