Something strange has happened to Britain’s high streets. Walk through almost any town centre and the old independent coffee shops are disappearing. In their place come the chains: Starbucks, Costa, Caffè Nero, Greggs masquerading as cafés. The coffee is often perfectly acceptable, the décor reassuringly predictable and the toilets generally cleaner than the independents they … Read more
The UK government is pressing ahead with plans for a new generation of new towns to tackle the housing crisis. The details are still emerging, but the direction of travel is clear: large-scale planned settlements, focused on sustainability, “gentle density” and transport links. The reasons are straightforward. Labour wants to build 1.5 million homes and … Read more
People worry that AI is getting smarter. Genius science curmudgeon Richard Dawkins recently declared that AI was conscious — or at least conscious without knowing it. The singularity is apparently coming. People are already forming emotional bonds with chatbots, in some cases even falling in love. But that’s not my experience. I’m angry about the … Read more
The short answer to this question is no, don’t be daft. Reform are the party of the elite, the leadership dominated by public schoolboys and inherited wealth. They have inherited many of the establishment networks of power, money and influence which sustained the Conservatives for over a century. So why do I hear this so … Read more
Clearly this was a big night for Reform, a bad night for Labour, and a mixed night for everyone else. Labour lost seats to the Greens, to a lesser extent Reform, and to Plaid Cymru and the SNP. The Conservatives lost seats heavily to Reform. But for the Government to lose seats at this point … Read more
I have finally given up on BT. Not just personally, but professionally as well. My business is moving away from them, and after the last few weeks I genuinely cannot understand why anybody voluntarily stays with them unless inertia, exhaustion or fear of changing provider finally overwhelms the instinct for self-preservation. The final straw was … Read more
The Office for National Statistics has quietly revised the government’s borrowing figures. And the picture is, on the face of it, better than expected. Borrowing in March 2026 came in at £12.6 billion — £1.4 billion lower than a year earlier, and the lowest March figure since 2022. More importantly, borrowing for the full financial … Read more
Over the last few weeks I’ve been travelling up and down the East Coast, visiting places that already have Reform MPs, and places they are targeting in the upcoming local elections. You can find the other pieces below. I’ve saved the most interesting for last: Sunderland. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a Sunderland … Read more
Over the last few weeks I’ve travelled up and down the East Coast. It’s the tenth anniversary of Brexit, and with local elections looming, Reform are loudly predicting a string of victories. In some places they sound less like a political party and more like a touring production—same script, slightly different audience each night. Hull … Read more
