This month I decided to fill a few gaps in my record collection. I already own nearly complete sets of singles by The Jam, Dexys, The Undertones, The Who, Small Faces, The Kinks, and a few others. Just a few dozen records, each costing £2–£3, would be enough to complete the sets. The most expensive … Read more
This week, the government launched its long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS. At 165 pages, it’s a dense, managerial, and thoroughly technocratic document—very on brand for a government that wants to appear serious and reformist, while hoping most people won’t read past the executive summary. There are three main themes: It’s a top-down, big-state programme … Read more
AI, Journalism, and Manipulation For the past few months, I’ve been using AI to sub-edit my blogs. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m experimenting with AI. But a few weeks ago, while writing a blog on Elon Musk, I noticed something odd—the AI had added an extra paragraph that I hadn’t written. I’ve also … Read more
I make no apologies for returning to the on going disaster that is Universal Credits. I have covered this ongoing public policy catastrophe previously: Universal Credits continues to blight the lives of millions of people. Most of the criticism of UC stems from 3 problems: George Osborne used the introduction of UC to push through … Read more