Ross Mudie
@rmudie96.bsky.social
Head of Research Analysis, @iconeighbours.bsky.social. Formerly Senior Research Analyst at the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP), research @ United Nations University-MERIT, policy @ local government.
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Also, I hear rates blamed all the time for empty units around here, but on the typical local high street outside of the more expensive areas, most small businesses will be exempt from business rates anyway.
November 21, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Also, I hear rates blamed all the time for empty units around here, but on the typical local high street outside of the more expensive areas, most small businesses will be exempt from business rates anyway.
Interesting piece that touches on something rarely ever said on the “death of the high street” - a lot of retail and hospitality firms that rely on low-middle earners have made *zero* effort to innovate while the world around it changed. Completely frozen in time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why Poundland is struggling during a cost-of-living-crisis
Why - in an age where so many of us are feeling the financial pinch - are some budget shops on UK high streets having such a tough time?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Interesting piece that touches on something rarely ever said on the “death of the high street” - a lot of retail and hospitality firms that rely on low-middle earners have made *zero* effort to innovate while the world around it changed. Completely frozen in time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Great piece on Municipal Bonds from Morgan Wild.
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
How municipal bond markets can save Britain
The case for more fiscal devolution to build the infrastructure we need
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Great piece on Municipal Bonds from Morgan Wild.
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
Reposted by Ross Mudie
My latest for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
While the British left is buried in factional debate, Reform is rapidly securing a foothold in former socialist heartlands across the country — paving the way for a nightmarish far-right takeover of the British state.
Reform Is Dominating Post-Industrial Britain
While the British left is buried in factional debate, Reform is rapidly securing a foothold in former socialist heartlands across the country — paving the way for a nightmarish far-right takeover of t...
tribunemag.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
My latest for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
Big fan of this piece.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
🔔 New post 🔔 Ok, this was a bit of a 'take a deep breath' moment! - I'm intrigued about how much pushback I'll get.
The disiciplines theory of government
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
The disiciplines theory of government
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
The disciplines theory of government
Are legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Big fan of this piece.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
There has to be a better word than this to describe the multiple little tax rises we should see at the Budget next week. There are more than enough journalists to come up with something better. Still a week to go lads
November 19, 2025 at 7:24 AM
There has to be a better word than this to describe the multiple little tax rises we should see at the Budget next week. There are more than enough journalists to come up with something better. Still a week to go lads
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Great to see this!
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Rachel Reeves may allow tourism tax, increasing the price of staycation
The chancellor is expected to announce in the budget that mayors will be given sweeping powers to raise taxes by charging visitors a levy on an overnight stay
www.thetimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Great to see this!
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Said this a lot before, but there is no politician conveying any sense of what they think the country should look in 2040 or 2050, so no sense they are taking steps to get there.
Good test of how UK politics at least is failing, there isn't a single frontline politician with a convincing big picture view of the country. Nostalgia, simplism, and warm words will have to do instead.
November 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Said this a lot before, but there is no politician conveying any sense of what they think the country should look in 2040 or 2050, so no sense they are taking steps to get there.
Very good
After populism.....
A liberal communitarianism that is realistic about the international economy and concentrates on work, place and the public good in ways that the last era of liberalism too often missed.
New Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyp...
A liberal communitarianism that is realistic about the international economy and concentrates on work, place and the public good in ways that the last era of liberalism too often missed.
New Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyp...
After populism
A more balanced liberalism can lead us away from post-liberal populist malaise - if it focuses on place, work and restoration of the public good.
open.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Very good
Remarkable how invested US households are, in the most literal sense of the word. Stocks make up several multiples more of US household wealth than here in the UK.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
November 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Remarkable how invested US households are, in the most literal sense of the word. Stocks make up several multiples more of US household wealth than here in the UK.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
I am worried by this suggestion that the ONS will review and scale down its local and regional data outputs.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
November 12, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I am worried by this suggestion that the ONS will review and scale down its local and regional data outputs.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
This is a brilliant piece of research and analysis well worth people’s time.
Brilliant, place-grounded essay from @sachahilhorst.bsky.social about Reform powering on through its seemingly irreconcilable contradictions
Reform’s aesthetics of industry
Renewal 33.2_HilhorstRenewal 33.2_Hilhorst.pdf110 KBdownload-circle
In North Nottinghamshire, Reform UK present themselves as the party of workers, community and coalmining heritage. But this image...
renewal.org.uk
November 12, 2025 at 9:49 AM
This is a brilliant piece of research and analysis well worth people’s time.
The annual Homeless Monitor by Crisis: all forms of homelessness are on the up, and morale among those working in the sector is rock bottom.
If you want public services to be preventative that requires some actual action, not just words and unfunded duties (which the Homelessness Reduction Act is)
If you want public services to be preventative that requires some actual action, not just words and unfunded duties (which the Homelessness Reduction Act is)
November 11, 2025 at 10:57 AM
The annual Homeless Monitor by Crisis: all forms of homelessness are on the up, and morale among those working in the sector is rock bottom.
If you want public services to be preventative that requires some actual action, not just words and unfunded duties (which the Homelessness Reduction Act is)
If you want public services to be preventative that requires some actual action, not just words and unfunded duties (which the Homelessness Reduction Act is)
Crazy situation that we've found ourselves in that it is the poorest places now paying the highest relative property taxes. Having spent years kicking the can on council tax reform we have made matters far worse than ever necessary.
November 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Crazy situation that we've found ourselves in that it is the poorest places now paying the highest relative property taxes. Having spent years kicking the can on council tax reform we have made matters far worse than ever necessary.
Whatever one might think of the proposals, I am a fan of this as a way of communicating policy proposals: here are a few ideas that in a few sentences set out the problem, solution, and impact.
A few hundred words tells out as much as a hundred policy papers could: centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...
A few hundred words tells out as much as a hundred policy papers could: centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...
Tax Reforms for Growth | CenTax
centax.org.uk
November 5, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Whatever one might think of the proposals, I am a fan of this as a way of communicating policy proposals: here are a few ideas that in a few sentences set out the problem, solution, and impact.
A few hundred words tells out as much as a hundred policy papers could: centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...
A few hundred words tells out as much as a hundred policy papers could: centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...
"The Parliamentary seats containing England’s 50 poorest neighborhoods are turning almost wholesale to Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform UK, with nine out of 10 of those sited in constituencies the party would capture if an election were held today"
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
UK’s Poorest Areas Turn En Masse Toward Nigel Farage’s Reform
Economic insecurity is hastening the death of the two-party system that’s dominated UK politics for a century, detailed polling and deprivation data suggest.
www.bloomberg.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"The Parliamentary seats containing England’s 50 poorest neighborhoods are turning almost wholesale to Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform UK, with nine out of 10 of those sited in constituencies the party would capture if an election were held today"
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The inevitable tax rises look like they may be on their way.
Dusting off this - that now feels like it was written worlds ago but only two years ago - in case there is anyone in the Treasury after ideas, and a sense of what the public think of them..
www.progressive-policy.net/publications...
Dusting off this - that now feels like it was written worlds ago but only two years ago - in case there is anyone in the Treasury after ideas, and a sense of what the public think of them..
www.progressive-policy.net/publications...
Funding fair growth
How to transform the UK economy
www.progressive-policy.net
November 4, 2025 at 9:14 AM
The inevitable tax rises look like they may be on their way.
Dusting off this - that now feels like it was written worlds ago but only two years ago - in case there is anyone in the Treasury after ideas, and a sense of what the public think of them..
www.progressive-policy.net/publications...
Dusting off this - that now feels like it was written worlds ago but only two years ago - in case there is anyone in the Treasury after ideas, and a sense of what the public think of them..
www.progressive-policy.net/publications...
Good to see that MPs getting Pride in Place investments in their seat are to be given a real role in helping deliver the programme.
MPs can be some of the greatest champions for their areas, and many are incredibly enthusiastic about the programme. Good on them.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
MPs can be some of the greatest champions for their areas, and many are incredibly enthusiastic about the programme. Good on them.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Labour to stop Reform councils taking credit for deprivation cash
The Pride in Place fund offers up to £20 million to be allocated by respected local figures — but Labour MPs fear Nigel Farage’s influence and want a greater role
www.thetimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Good to see that MPs getting Pride in Place investments in their seat are to be given a real role in helping deliver the programme.
MPs can be some of the greatest champions for their areas, and many are incredibly enthusiastic about the programme. Good on them.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
MPs can be some of the greatest champions for their areas, and many are incredibly enthusiastic about the programme. Good on them.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
This is a v good piece.
I would add as well that the general lack of interest in ideas that many centre-ground governments (including ours) have, has enabled ineffective, risk-averse managerialism to become the default position for most of our grand policy challenges.
Sleepwalking into decline.
I would add as well that the general lack of interest in ideas that many centre-ground governments (including ours) have, has enabled ineffective, risk-averse managerialism to become the default position for most of our grand policy challenges.
Sleepwalking into decline.
November 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
This is a v good piece.
I would add as well that the general lack of interest in ideas that many centre-ground governments (including ours) have, has enabled ineffective, risk-averse managerialism to become the default position for most of our grand policy challenges.
Sleepwalking into decline.
I would add as well that the general lack of interest in ideas that many centre-ground governments (including ours) have, has enabled ineffective, risk-averse managerialism to become the default position for most of our grand policy challenges.
Sleepwalking into decline.
I used to work at Betfred. For every 1 old boy using it as a social space there are 50 who are sinking every penny in their name into slots and need help.
More shared spaces, yes. No doubt. But their point is about building social capital. Betting shops do not do that anymore, they are destructive
More shared spaces, yes. No doubt. But their point is about building social capital. Betting shops do not do that anymore, they are destructive
All in favour of shared spaces that get people out and about and it you’re going to burn money on gambling then yeah, better to do so with a friendly person on hand. But still some incredible “men’s mental health” lobbying against a gambling tax in the Sunday Times. www.thetimes.com/article/f115...
November 2, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I used to work at Betfred. For every 1 old boy using it as a social space there are 50 who are sinking every penny in their name into slots and need help.
More shared spaces, yes. No doubt. But their point is about building social capital. Betting shops do not do that anymore, they are destructive
More shared spaces, yes. No doubt. But their point is about building social capital. Betting shops do not do that anymore, they are destructive
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Policy #reform should renew, not just replicate.
My new @cjres.bsky.social paper with Han Wang uncovers that reforms lead to sharp rises in new #firm registrations, with the biggest gains accruing in #cities with weaker starting conditions.
doi.org/10.1093/cjre...
My new @cjres.bsky.social paper with Han Wang uncovers that reforms lead to sharp rises in new #firm registrations, with the biggest gains accruing in #cities with weaker starting conditions.
doi.org/10.1093/cjre...
Institutional reform, path development and firm creation: evidence from China
Abstract. This paper examines whether and how government-led institutional changes can reshape regional industrial development trajectories. Using quarterl
doi.org
November 1, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Policy #reform should renew, not just replicate.
My new @cjres.bsky.social paper with Han Wang uncovers that reforms lead to sharp rises in new #firm registrations, with the biggest gains accruing in #cities with weaker starting conditions.
doi.org/10.1093/cjre...
My new @cjres.bsky.social paper with Han Wang uncovers that reforms lead to sharp rises in new #firm registrations, with the biggest gains accruing in #cities with weaker starting conditions.
doi.org/10.1093/cjre...
Several reasons why the most severe deprivation is sticky - most of todays most deprived places have not seen relative improvement for decades.
But few things have done more to make matters worse than completely obliterating council funding in the most deprived places, as we did in the 2010s
But few things have done more to make matters worse than completely obliterating council funding in the most deprived places, as we did in the 2010s
October 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Several reasons why the most severe deprivation is sticky - most of todays most deprived places have not seen relative improvement for decades.
But few things have done more to make matters worse than completely obliterating council funding in the most deprived places, as we did in the 2010s
But few things have done more to make matters worse than completely obliterating council funding in the most deprived places, as we did in the 2010s
Reposted by Ross Mudie
🚨New deprivation data reveals continual deep regional divides across many areas in England.
High levels of deprivation are concentrated in many ex-industrial northern and midlands towns and coastal areas, where manufacturing and tourism industries have been lost.
High levels of deprivation are concentrated in many ex-industrial northern and midlands towns and coastal areas, where manufacturing and tourism industries have been lost.
October 31, 2025 at 1:38 PM
🚨New deprivation data reveals continual deep regional divides across many areas in England.
High levels of deprivation are concentrated in many ex-industrial northern and midlands towns and coastal areas, where manufacturing and tourism industries have been lost.
High levels of deprivation are concentrated in many ex-industrial northern and midlands towns and coastal areas, where manufacturing and tourism industries have been lost.
Sad but no surprise that yesterdays new deprivation data revealed that most deprived neighbourhoods today have barely changed since 2019.
But this isn't new news
As we showed earlier this year, on health and the economy the most deprived today were the most deprived at the turn of the millenium
But this isn't new news
As we showed earlier this year, on health and the economy the most deprived today were the most deprived at the turn of the millenium
October 31, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Sad but no surprise that yesterdays new deprivation data revealed that most deprived neighbourhoods today have barely changed since 2019.
But this isn't new news
As we showed earlier this year, on health and the economy the most deprived today were the most deprived at the turn of the millenium
But this isn't new news
As we showed earlier this year, on health and the economy the most deprived today were the most deprived at the turn of the millenium
