David Higham
@oldtrotter.bsky.social
Former economist and civil servant. Former (age related) national cycling champion. Still a music fan. Sewn up member of the Zipper Club.
Pinned
David Higham
@oldtrotter.bsky.social
· Jan 21
Beyond ‘Levelling up’: how to improve regional policy in England: 10 lessons from 20 years
‘Levelling-up’ as a political slogan in the UK may be finished, but a commitment to reducing regional inequalities remains, as highlighted in the 2024 Green Paper on Industrial Strategy. This paper...
www.tandfonline.com
A short summary of my thoughts on regional policy. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
And he loathes Farage.
February 10, 2026 at 10:10 PM
And he loathes Farage.
The second is devolution which needs to go beyond creating metro mayors and expecting them replicate the success of Manchester. The latter predates AB and is down to years of collaborative working, maintaining a policy and delivery capacity, flexible and creative leadership and lots of money.
February 10, 2026 at 10:09 PM
The second is devolution which needs to go beyond creating metro mayors and expecting them replicate the success of Manchester. The latter predates AB and is down to years of collaborative working, maintaining a policy and delivery capacity, flexible and creative leadership and lots of money.
Could - and should - be more than tonal in two areas. The first is housing, where they simply won’t hit their targets, let alone make housing cheaper, if they continue to rely entirely on the private sector. It’s clear that Pennycook understands this, as do some of the big investors in U.K. bonds.
February 10, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Could - and should - be more than tonal in two areas. The first is housing, where they simply won’t hit their targets, let alone make housing cheaper, if they continue to rely entirely on the private sector. It’s clear that Pennycook understands this, as do some of the big investors in U.K. bonds.
Well it is Rupert Lowe....
February 10, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Well it is Rupert Lowe....
Rupert Lowe comes out in favour of working from home.
February 10, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Rupert Lowe comes out in favour of working from home.
Yes, I was friends with a driver in the 1980s and that's how he'd acquired The Knowledge.
February 10, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Yes, I was friends with a driver in the 1980s and that's how he'd acquired The Knowledge.
It may well be puny stuff, but it's the sort of puny stuff that voters identify with. I suspect rather a lot of people would like tickets to Wimbledon and Glastonbury
February 10, 2026 at 7:34 PM
It may well be puny stuff, but it's the sort of puny stuff that voters identify with. I suspect rather a lot of people would like tickets to Wimbledon and Glastonbury
Freezing thresholds, complicating salary sacrifice pension schemes and further complicating property taxation.
February 10, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Freezing thresholds, complicating salary sacrifice pension schemes and further complicating property taxation.
Reposted by David Higham
If Jeremy Corbyn was Britain’s unluckiest anti-racist, then there is a good argument than Keir Starmer is Britain’s unluckiest hiring manager.
In the case of Tulip Siddiq’s appointment, yes, he knew. In the case of Matthew Doyle’s peerage: yes. In the case of Mandelson’s appointment, yes, he knew the core fact. There’s a pattern here!
February 10, 2026 at 6:18 PM
If Jeremy Corbyn was Britain’s unluckiest anti-racist, then there is a good argument than Keir Starmer is Britain’s unluckiest hiring manager.
Being “bolder and more inclusive” is code for follow my agenda. Probably the best way of saving Labour but requires Starmer to change course and find hitherto hidden gifts for oratory and party management, as well as an interest in ideas that hes always eschewed.
February 10, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Being “bolder and more inclusive” is code for follow my agenda. Probably the best way of saving Labour but requires Starmer to change course and find hitherto hidden gifts for oratory and party management, as well as an interest in ideas that hes always eschewed.
One the key principles of economics is that people respond to incentives. One of the things Reeves could have done is make the tax system more coherent, but she chose to bend it out of shape in order to preserve the letter of the manifesto. A poor Chancellor.
February 10, 2026 at 6:15 PM
One the key principles of economics is that people respond to incentives. One of the things Reeves could have done is make the tax system more coherent, but she chose to bend it out of shape in order to preserve the letter of the manifesto. A poor Chancellor.
It’s a great point, illustrated by Reeves complaining that the OBR didn’t score trade deals www.politico.eu/article/uk-r...
Reeves insists trade deals will grow economy despite snub by budget watchdog
The OBR refused the chancellor’s request to count the agreements in its growth forecast
www.politico.eu
February 10, 2026 at 6:08 PM
It’s a great point, illustrated by Reeves complaining that the OBR didn’t score trade deals www.politico.eu/article/uk-r...
Reposted by David Higham
The United Kingdom has allowed people who hate it and want to see it collapse control over most social media and their own TV channel. Weak and unserious.
February 10, 2026 at 5:34 PM
The United Kingdom has allowed people who hate it and want to see it collapse control over most social media and their own TV channel. Weak and unserious.
Agree re London: enormously better than when I first worked there 50 years ago. But the old First Division was better than the Premier League 🤔 At least the clubs retained some ties to their local communities.
February 10, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Agree re London: enormously better than when I first worked there 50 years ago. But the old First Division was better than the Premier League 🤔 At least the clubs retained some ties to their local communities.
Reposted by David Higham
Former Number 10 comms chief Matthew Doyle – who was recently given a peerage by Keir Starmer – has the whip suspended over his ties to a padeophile.
No, not *that* paedophile. A different one.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
No, not *that* paedophile. A different one.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Starmer's ex-comms chief suspended from Labour over links to sex offender
Matthew Doyle, who now sits in the House of Lords, has had the Labour whip withdrawn
inews.co.uk
February 10, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Former Number 10 comms chief Matthew Doyle – who was recently given a peerage by Keir Starmer – has the whip suspended over his ties to a padeophile.
No, not *that* paedophile. A different one.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
No, not *that* paedophile. A different one.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Never got that far because my then boss (RIP) told me to stop being pedantic 🤷
February 10, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Never got that far because my then boss (RIP) told me to stop being pedantic 🤷
Reposted by David Higham
Vance once again showed the amateur hour performance of the Trump admin when he caused an international incident just by turning up. He laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial and posted about it, thus massively pissing off the Turks.
Then he deleted the post and pissed off the Armenians.
Then he deleted the post and pissed off the Armenians.
February 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Vance once again showed the amateur hour performance of the Trump admin when he caused an international incident just by turning up. He laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial and posted about it, thus massively pissing off the Turks.
Then he deleted the post and pissed off the Armenians.
Then he deleted the post and pissed off the Armenians.
I remember one of our reports at the CBI beginning "Britain is not an island".
February 10, 2026 at 4:33 PM
I remember one of our reports at the CBI beginning "Britain is not an island".
Most people in Singapore live in state housing. Not quite the small state nirvana it's often presented as, but it's certainly authoritarian.
February 10, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Most people in Singapore live in state housing. Not quite the small state nirvana it's often presented as, but it's certainly authoritarian.
Nicely put. How dare the media report our multiple U turns and ignore our many achievements that we haven’t bothered to explain?
February 10, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Nicely put. How dare the media report our multiple U turns and ignore our many achievements that we haven’t bothered to explain?
Times Radio presenters now apologising for that comment 🤷♂️
Listening to the discussion of The North hosting the Olympics. Impossible to fly into the North directly? Manchester is the only airport in England outside Heathrow with two operating runways (although even the Chancellor didn’t know that) fullfact.org/news/rachel-...
Rachel Reeves wrong to claim Britain has not built a runway since the 1940s – Full Fact
A second runway at Manchester Airport was completed in 2001.
fullfact.org
February 10, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Times Radio presenters now apologising for that comment 🤷♂️
One of Powell’s less publicised remarks was along the lines of “politicians complaining about the media is like sailors complaining about the sea”. If I was part of an incoming Labour government I’d have made sure that I had a decent communications strategy in place.
February 10, 2026 at 4:01 PM
One of Powell’s less publicised remarks was along the lines of “politicians complaining about the media is like sailors complaining about the sea”. If I was part of an incoming Labour government I’d have made sure that I had a decent communications strategy in place.
Reposted by David Higham
Getting really tired of "this is all a media concoction"...
Starmer has the lowest approval rating of any PM in history bar Truss. Senior ministers are openly and unsubtly positioning. His Chief of Staff, Director of Comms and Cab Sec have all resigned on the same day.
I mean come on...
Starmer has the lowest approval rating of any PM in history bar Truss. Senior ministers are openly and unsubtly positioning. His Chief of Staff, Director of Comms and Cab Sec have all resigned on the same day.
I mean come on...
February 9, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Getting really tired of "this is all a media concoction"...
Starmer has the lowest approval rating of any PM in history bar Truss. Senior ministers are openly and unsubtly positioning. His Chief of Staff, Director of Comms and Cab Sec have all resigned on the same day.
I mean come on...
Starmer has the lowest approval rating of any PM in history bar Truss. Senior ministers are openly and unsubtly positioning. His Chief of Staff, Director of Comms and Cab Sec have all resigned on the same day.
I mean come on...
Downside of complaining that the north is badly treated.
February 10, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Downside of complaining that the north is badly treated.
Good point: in practice they overestimate it and hence politicians underestimate its salience. Sure I live in Brexit central, but there are few casual conversations where someone doesn’t mention immigration.
February 10, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Good point: in practice they overestimate it and hence politicians underestimate its salience. Sure I live in Brexit central, but there are few casual conversations where someone doesn’t mention immigration.