Merjerper

@redrumlisa Agree with LSE professor point, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to move triple lock to a single lock (I.e keep it line with average earnings)

LSE Professor earning over 100k a year will have a very good pension pot - I worked at the LSE their Professors never leave the Academic/Political bubble & I mean never. Thinks a 70 year old man in Stoke on Trent who has worked on a building site since he was 16 shouldn't have £12,500 a year to live on.

RIP

@Ameer_Kotecha @Dominic2306 @DavidGHFrost The main way you do this is by changing to promotion *in role* and by creating a financial incentive structure with large bonuses attached

It’s worth saying that much of this need not be political. My point on the need to reduce Foreign Office (and more broadly civil service) staff churn, for example, is something (without wanting to put words in their mouths) everyone from @Dominic2306 and @DavidGHFrost to @RoryStewartUK and @instituteforgov would I think agree with. Not to mention legions of ex-ministers and spads from all parties. And yet it never seems to change

@hamandcheese Anti fragile? The place has been around for about 30 years

UAE is safer than the UK and Europe and will get safer in relative terms over time. Drones swarms won't be a Ukraine or Middle East thing forever. The tech is democratizing, and last I checked London doesn't have an Iron Dome, much less a 5GW AI campus. Anti-fragile.

US woke ideology is hideous. It teaches blasphemy but not compassion. Sin but not forgiveness. A refracted Christianity, cruel and hierarchical, devoid of love.

As I was saying…

@iDeco_UK @BenZaranko @KateOgdenEcon Reduce governments long term liability though, I think you would need to think through the time effects

@merjerper @BenZaranko @KateOgdenEcon Sounds good in theory, has drastic effects though. What it would lead to is graduates having a lower marginal rate, for most of their working lives compared to those who didn't. Likely would also cost tens of billions from lost tax revenue.

There are lots of student loan proposals flying around. This stuff is complicated and contentious. Fortunately @KateOgdenEcon has stepped in as the fifth emergency service to explain what these proposals mean, who would win/lose, and how much they'd cost.

@lymanstoneky Zero history, zero community buildings - I don’t think it’s just the trees

I sincerely believe if we had tree cover everywhere people would talk about American suburbs as dreamy landscapes almost like how they talk about European cities. But suburban yard culture despises tree cover.

@OliDugmore Make it tax deductible!!

Your tuition fees and a loan shark's interest rate are based on the graduate premium - your supposed earnings increase. The government knows the exact figure, it's in their LEO data. But they won't publish that data publicly. What have they got to hide?

Literally literally

Excellent and surely unarguable letter in @thetimes making the case for making student loan debt tax deductible. One only has to think about this for one minute to wonder why on earth this doesn’t happen already…

@pursuitofprog Big thing would be to allow people to pay off loan BEFORE tax - creates huge incentive to clear debt earlier

You know "entry requirements" for uni courses? They're fake. Unis put AAB when average entry is CCD. They're happy to lie to you. Even worse, what type of job can you get after your course? They'll say nearly whatever you want to hear. But gov has decades of data on employment after uni (called the LEO data). They know which courses lead to jobs, and which don't. But they won't make the full data public. Students, parents and the public deserve to know the truth. We shouldn't let uni's hide this anymore. We should make the data public. It's as easy as hitting "publish". This isn't a difficult problem - they can just get it done! Release the records!

@AscendedYield Need to incentivise / force them to invest in British assets (I haven’t read policy so maybe they do this somehow?)

Reform’s policy to create a British sovereign wealth fund by pooling LGPS is the most credible solution to fixing the capital shortage issue for British business btw

One of the reasons I’m having such a hard time with this is something I don’t talk about often: I used to have tics. After a particularly traumatic incident when I was 18, I developed Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures, which involved shaking uncontrollably in class and in some instances seizing. There was someone close to me who believed that the seizures were a lie for attention, and one day while I was seizing, grabbed me and threw me to try to prove that I was faking. I didn’t get a lot of understanding. My bishop told me that it was my body full of demons from sins I had committed. I remember the horror on my mom’s face when she saw me tic for the first time, and how I tried everything in my power to be “better” for her. Most of the time I could control them for a few hours, but it often led to far worse incidents later down the road. I felt terrified to go out in public. Often because I felt bad for the people who had to see me. I’m so grateful that I didn’t have coprolalia so I didn’t say anything that hurt others. I can’t express how grateful I am that the condition was not chronic. Although I still might tic a couple times a month, it’s almost completely unnoticeable. Clinical therapy has helped reduce them by quite a bit. Another connection: I knew a kid in elementary school with Tourette’s. I didn’t really know him well, but one time we were in the bathroom together, and one of the yard duties was walking by. He swore at her, and she had anger on her face and yelled at him, chastising him for talking that way to an adult. Luckily, about 10 kids pulled her away while trying to explain the situation, but I’ll never forget the look on his face. It wasn’t shame, or anger, or fear, or pain. Any of the emotions I would expect. It was resignation. “Oh there’s another person who hates me” he seemed to think. This quote is heartbreaking below. “Everyone has hated me. Doesn’t this room understand? Can I finally enter a public place?” “No.” The world seems to answer back. Everyone is waiting for his apology. He already gave one, but nevertheless. I wonder why we feel it’s his duty to apologize. I think it makes much more sense for us to apologize to him. I’m sorry, John. I hope you’re doing okay, and you’re with people who understand.

@aswren I’m calling BS on this - natty 140kg is not an easy feat by any imagination. Would take a few years of lifting + I suspect 5k kcal daily

Funny when people expose themselves like this

@FuturistPartyGB Why would China be allowed to make incursions in Britain’s territory? Why wouldn’t we stop them with hard power?

Nice to have the steel man case... the fear was that there could be a binding judgement and further that if there was a binding judgement and no deal. (1) It would get harder to resupply the base from nearby countries. (2) There would be nominally legal incursions and occupations of outlying islands that would be hard to fend off.

@FennellJW The 10.5% is difference PSNFL vs PSND no?

UK public debt fell by 10.5% to 82.5% of GDP in January.

@dc_lawrence This ‘projection’ is shite - labour will be 3rd place

I've absolutely avoided the tittle tattle around Romeo's previous conduct mainly because of my own experience of being a pushy outsider in CS. I've focused on aspects of her performance which have been effectively memory holed. 'Transforming Rehabilitation' is exhibit A 1/