Policy Soup stir the pot ALPHA

Here’s what the guidance has to say about policing people’s sex.

Alex Hern@hern.bsky.socialMay 21(source)

snappy lec?

Adam Bienkov

@adambienkov.bsky.social

Toxic chemicals in pet flea treatments harming wildlife, UK study warns

There will be lots of understandable scepticism about this, but Burnham really has been a long time advocate of electoral reform. Would be a big step forward if he follows through www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Alex Hern@hern.bsky.socialMay 21(source)

What’s the trade off? Are there alternatives but they’re more expensive? Less efficient? Is the argument simply that flea infestations don’t hurt songbirds so they’re preferable?

Alex Hern@hern.bsky.socialMay 21(source)

I don’t understand how you can cover this story without addressing the fact that it seems on the face of it to be calling for a massive flea outbreak www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Flea treatment chemicals fipronil and imidacloprid also implicated in lower cognitive scores in children with autism

Want a boring year please

PLEASE do not explain this to me I understand how it works now

You’re all mad

Just learned that not only did arsenal not actually play any football yesterday they also haven’t even finished playing in the league

Did Ukraine give us our only point in Eurovision for NOTHING

Andrew Sissons

@acjsissons.bsky.social

Got to be honest, loosening sanctions on Russia before we’ve even tried any basic demand-side measures is not filling me with pride or joy

Looks like a Hawksmoor pastiche, I love it

a fun british doomerism datapoint: the HS2 trains that are going to be slower than planned, causing much "we can't build stuff" dismay, are going to be as fast as the fastest current shinkansen line

hey hey hey be fair: they also let drug dealers turn crypto into cash without needing to make an account anywhere

Reposted byAlex Hern

Left Outside@leftoutside.bsky.socialMay 19(source)

Good threat >>> we gotta do some fiscal devo. Gotta give local government some control over what they do.

Ant Breach

@antbreach.bsky.social

50 years ago today, the landmark Layfield Report proposed English local government should be funded by a Local Income Tax. It still shows today that the Government's roadmap for fiscal devolution should focus on 2 things: growth + making income tax part of the local funding mix

Unknown

@unknown

It's like the one bit of the 2024 "things will get worse before they get better" pitch that is actually being attempted.

The reevesonomics plan is: a) load costs on employment (min wage, NI, WRA) b) businesses decide to invest in capital rather than labour c) productivity up d) growth up e) more and better paid jobs

@davidherdson.bsky.social

This is Reevesonomics! She's been very clear about this being the explicit plan! What did you think capital deepening meant? Vibes? Essays?

David Herdson

This is a slow-burn story that deserves more prominence. UK unemployment has risen steadily from about 3.6% in 2022 to 5% now. Youth unemployment is particularly high. Vacancies are falling, as are real wages. Unsurprising that there's a political backlash. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

yes, and the point I'm making here is that the sums that count as "a financial millstone for local authorities" are minuscule in the context of national budgets, even if you aggregate them together.

local government.

no, it's very much both for any reasonable definition of "cheap"