Joe Tetlow

Reform won all 8 Makerfield Wards - as assigned by ONS - at last week’s elections: Reform: 50.4% Labour: 22.7% Green: 10.9% Conservative: 9.9% Lib Dem: 3.8% Other: 2.2%

A fitting day for Labour Together to be renamed

Today feels like a good day to ask: what actually is Manchesterism? That's the question @b_judah & I try to answer in our latest piece for @ArguablyMag. Manchesterism as attractive as it is protean. In a Labour Party desperate for a rallying philosophy, Manchesterism evokes solidity, grounded in the concreteness of a city, while remaining open to interpretation. Manchester is a rare modern British success story. Since 2015, the city’s GDP growth has averaged 3.1 per cent each year, double the UK average, and outpacing the US over the same period. But people disagree about the causes of Manchester’s success. There are several competing stories: 🌽 the free trade one: Manchester Liberalism opposed the Corn Laws and advocated free trade. More recently, the city has courted Gulf investors and leased public land to private developers. 🚰 the municipal socialism one: which points to Manchester's early success in centrally controlling key utilities 🏗️ the YIMBY one: Manchester has shown a willingness & ability to build far more than other UK cities, not just homes, but also transport. 🗺️ the devo one: almost everyone agrees that devolution has been good for Manchester. But what's the mechanism here, and can it be replicated elsewhere? There is truth in all of these stories. Manchester’s economic and political history embodies contradictions that do not lend themselves to a single overarching political philosophy. If there is one unifying theme, it is dynamism: Manchester has repeatedly adjusted and reinvented itself and made the most of its autonomy. What can the rest of the country learn from Manchester's success? Read the full piece here: arguably.uk/p/what-can-wes…

The Red Lion kerb tomorrow is going to be immense.

All Labour MPs should be looking at this very carefully. Potential leadership contenders who reckon that more borrowing and/or (even more) growth unfriendly policies on tax, spend and regulation are the way forward should reflect on it even more carefully.

This means Catherine West has fallen in behind the Burnham plan for an orderly transition after lobbying from his camp. So the question now is does Wes Streeting go over the top to accelerate a contest.

London boroughs really are California levels of slow when it comes to counting votes.

One other effect of tonight is that the Tories will now genuinely think they're in with a shout of seizing back the London mayoralty.

For the Green Party to have selected Sabine Mairey as a candidate shows how unfit they are to represent Clapham Town. We have a vibrant and diverse community here in Clapham. Anti-semitism is not welcome here.

The stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green today follows a pattern of antisemitic attacks. Jewish people were targeted, outside a synagogue, in broad daylight, just for who they are This shows why the multi-year funding for the @CST_UK is so important. We must send a clear and unambiguous rejection of antisemitism in all its forms.

This was overcrowding at #ClaphamSouth tube station this morning. Residents are increasingly frustrated by too few trains at peak times and repeated closures. #Balham Conservatives will continue to press @TfL for answers—and action. @TeamLondonUK

DESNZ is 'breaking the link' with a Wholesale CfD for existing RO-subsidised and merchant generators, alongside an EGL-tax rise from 45% to 55% with the 2028 sunset removed. The WCfD is the carrot. The EGL is the stick. The package only coheres when you read them together. A voluntary fixed-strike offer on its own, generators could decline. Raise the levy on wholesale revenue to 55% with no endpoint, and the alternative to signing gets worse. The greater the levy threat, the lower the strike DESNZ can set and still attract uptake. What WCfD actually covers is the third of RO generator revenue that comes from wholesale. ROC income, the two thirds consumers already pay through supplier charges, is untouched. A policy framed as protecting consumers from electricity prices does not touch the part of the stack consumers pay directly. And the wholesale share is the share DESNZ's own scenarios expect to fall as renewables cannibalise capture prices. This is the logical endpoint of fifteen years of CfDs. Each round moves another tranche of supply onto an administered strike and off the price signal. If WCfD uptake is high, the share of GB power priced by administrative decision goes from roughly 40% to roughly 70%. At that point the wholesale market is a residual clearing venue, not a coordinating signal. The EGL rise is presented as a temporary response to gas prices. It removes a legislated sunset and raises the rate 10 points with no review mechanism. A windfall tax with no sunset is not a windfall tax. The incidence falls on long-dated power buyers through forward PPA premia, not on generator rents. Consultation in H2 2026. The first number to check is contract length. Residual RO life is 5-10 years. Briefing suggests 15-20. Anything longer is extension, not conversion. doloop.energy/item/08956a7f4…

Ahead of the coming local, mayoral and devolved elections, what do Britons say are the top issues in their local area? Top 10 1 Roads (potholes, parking, etc): 37% 2 Economy, cost of living: 35% 3 GPs/hospitals: 29% 4 Immigration: 19% 5 Crime: 18% =6 State of high street / town centre: 14% =6 NHS dentists: 14% 8 Council tax: 13% 9 Fuel prices: 12% 10 Housing/planning: 11% Results link in replies

Fun fact: Bernardo Silva follows 85 people. One of whom is ex-Talk Radio host Mike Graham.

“Now that is frightening.” @Iaindale reacts to welfare benefits spending overtaking income tax revenue for the first time in the UK's history.

Unless VERY robust steps are taken, and serious consequences applied to tackle the chaos seen in Clapham over the last few days - we are in for a VERY long and unpleasant summer holiday in a few months. It's tough enough for businesses as it is. 😠

Why does the UK have such a bad fly-tipping problem? In the Guardian, George Monbiot blames deregulation and not enough spending on enforcement. To me, the cause is obvious. Britain has the highest landfill tax in Europe. The returns to flytipping are just higher here.

Mass rioting & looting by youths in Clapham is totally unacceptable This is clear criminality & there should be mass arrests. There is no excuse for this We need surge policing, widespread stop & search + live facial recognition to catch criminals news.sky.com/video/police-r…

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1… Pride in Clapham will be restored, but tonight's episode of marauding youths running wild on Clapham High St for 2nd time in 4 days leaves a dent Fear among shoppers & shopworkers leads to early closure of shops T'ks to @metpoliceuk for a v large presence