James Scott

From ‘had enough of experts’ to appointing them as ministers. Quite a shift.

Ground-breaking geospatial research, just published: 604 out of 650 UK constituencies contain a Greggs, only one contains a place called Scone (pronounced 'scone'), no clear north/south divide evident

Keir Starmer scoring a late winner at the club that previously released him on a free.

We all suspected it of course, but it really was very cathartic to hear Rishi Sunak confirm just now that he personally took the decision to insist that Treasury North would not go to a city but instead to Darlington. Such a deeply anti-growth decision from an anti-growth PM.

Everyone gave Zoomers shit for "quiet quitting", which now looks like a very benign way to leave a job compared to whatever the fuck it is Rishi Sunak is doing.

Labour commits to votes from 16, while Tories commit to locking up 18 year olds who don’t ‘volunteer’ once a month. #choices

Two poor pieces this morning from two leading columnists. The Mail’s Johnson says Starmer is a dangerous leftist: the Guardian’s Chakrabortty that he is a Sunak clone. Both cannot be right: neither is. Starmer straddles Attlee and Blair: much more interesting - and significant

Vietnam is not at war. People there are not fleeing famine. How have Vietnamese migrants become the largest group crossing the Channel on small boats? We’ve been investigating this phenomenon, and the Vietnamese smuggling gangs, for the last year. @itvnews

Vietnamese migrants now the biggest group crossing the Channel illegally - for the first time since records began, they’ve overtaken Afghanistan, Iran, & Syria @itvnews has been investigating this trade in humans, and the rise of Vietnam’s smuggling gangs itv.com/news/2024-05-2…

I like that the biggest publicly funded regeneration project in the country cannot even reveal even one word of a short summary of its progress

America is experiencing the charisma juggernaut that is Liz Truss. They are not ready.

Honor Oak Station right now 🤔

@Love_SE4 Traffic always speeds up it comes off the hill. There should be some calming measures - would make crossing outside the station less hairy!

Cars in the U.K are up to 55% larger today than they were in the 1970s and there are twice the number of cars on the U.K's roads as there were 30 years ago, but @BBCNews are still running articles claiming that a handful of cycle lanes and LTNs 'cause congestion' in London.

Inspired by Bruno, I’ve just tried a “no look” email at work and now I’m up for a disciplinary. Thanks Bruno. #NUFC

In today's @ObserverUK - my double page on how soaring housing costs are reshaping the demographics of London and the UK's biggest cities as families are priced out: theguardian.com/business/2023/…