Tim Nicholls
@tim-nicholls.bsky.social
AD Policy, Research & Strategy @autisticsociety. Professional nerd. Think in straight lines; can't walk in them. Views here are my own.
It's very simple: if people want to eat, they need only turn their one remaining slice of bread into a whole loaf.
November 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's very simple: if people want to eat, they need only turn their one remaining slice of bread into a whole loaf.
What sets this apart as a silly idea is not the principle of increased taxation on EVs (they use the roads, wear and tear infrastructure etc), but the administration of it. How do I as a PHEV driver estimate my electric miles? And then a new clunky portal to not work
www.thetimes.com/article/8706...
www.thetimes.com/article/8706...
Vans swerve pay-per-mile EV tax raid but other vehicles to be hit
More details are emerging of the budget plan to levy charges on electric vehicles and it may prove to be a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ for drivers
www.thetimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:08 AM
What sets this apart as a silly idea is not the principle of increased taxation on EVs (they use the roads, wear and tear infrastructure etc), but the administration of it. How do I as a PHEV driver estimate my electric miles? And then a new clunky portal to not work
www.thetimes.com/article/8706...
www.thetimes.com/article/8706...
This is a critical omission in strategy and despite it being universally identified by people outside of govt, still those inside seem blind to it.
Someone in No 10 *must* have a flip chart and some post its.
Someone in No 10 *must* have a flip chart and some post its.
15 months in, Labour MPs are still craving a compelling story from Keir Starmer. Read my analysis for BBC News here www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Labour MPs still crave a compelling story from Starmer
Frustration is growing about the PM's ability to define the government's message - and sell it to the public.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:47 AM
This is a critical omission in strategy and despite it being universally identified by people outside of govt, still those inside seem blind to it.
Someone in No 10 *must* have a flip chart and some post its.
Someone in No 10 *must* have a flip chart and some post its.
Really enjoyed those 9.5 hours of good health between shaking the cold my son gave me and coming down with the next bug he's given me.
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Really enjoyed those 9.5 hours of good health between shaking the cold my son gave me and coming down with the next bug he's given me.
Experts aren't "sceptical". They know these claims to be wrong and harmful.
BBC News - Trump will reportedly link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Trump will reportedly link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump will reportedly link Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical
Some studies have suggested an association between the two, but experts say there is no causal relationship.
www.bbc.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Experts aren't "sceptical". They know these claims to be wrong and harmful.
BBC News - Trump will reportedly link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - Trump will reportedly link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
Wrote this analysis on the asylum hotels court ruling yesterday morning for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social.
It’s mostly held up but for one thing: the pressure on the councils has come even more quickly than I thought, and among those inflaming it is Kemi Badenoch, who’s urged Tory councils to act.
It’s mostly held up but for one thing: the pressure on the councils has come even more quickly than I thought, and among those inflaming it is Kemi Badenoch, who’s urged Tory councils to act.
“This ruling essentially writes the far right’s playbook for it: launch a protest outside an asylum hotel … Once there is violence, get local residents to put pressure on the council to take the hotel to court, and try to secure an injunction. Rinse and repeat.” www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...
The Bell Hotel ruling incentivises the far right
By factoring extremist unrest into his judgment, a British judge has signalled that disorder works
www.thenewworld.co.uk
August 21, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Wrote this analysis on the asylum hotels court ruling yesterday morning for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social.
It’s mostly held up but for one thing: the pressure on the councils has come even more quickly than I thought, and among those inflaming it is Kemi Badenoch, who’s urged Tory councils to act.
It’s mostly held up but for one thing: the pressure on the councils has come even more quickly than I thought, and among those inflaming it is Kemi Badenoch, who’s urged Tory councils to act.
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
It’s time to fix the SEND system. A whole generation of disabled children and those with additional needs are being let down by a broken education system.
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
July 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM
It’s time to fix the SEND system. A whole generation of disabled children and those with additional needs are being let down by a broken education system.
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
There's nothing "special" about wanting your child to thrive at school. Getting the right support for your disabled child should be as ordinary and un-special as possible. So pleased to see @dcpcampaign.bsky.social's blueprint for SEND reform out in the wild.
It’s time to fix the SEND system. A whole generation of disabled children and those with additional needs are being let down by a broken education system.
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
bit.ly/FightforOrdi...
#FightForOrdinary
July 22, 2025 at 2:14 PM
There's nothing "special" about wanting your child to thrive at school. Getting the right support for your disabled child should be as ordinary and un-special as possible. So pleased to see @dcpcampaign.bsky.social's blueprint for SEND reform out in the wild.
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
@janeharrislondon.bsky.social talked to @lbc.co.uk this morning about @dcpcampaign.bsky.social’s #FightForOrdinary campaign, highlighting what’s needed in any SEND reforms to ensure children and their families don’t have to fight for ordinary things that everyone should expect.
Listen now📻👇
Listen now📻👇
July 22, 2025 at 10:15 AM
@janeharrislondon.bsky.social talked to @lbc.co.uk this morning about @dcpcampaign.bsky.social’s #FightForOrdinary campaign, highlighting what’s needed in any SEND reforms to ensure children and their families don’t have to fight for ordinary things that everyone should expect.
Listen now📻👇
Listen now📻👇
Last week, The Telegraph carried an opinion piece by Annabel Denham, calling the SEND system a "racket". It was inflammatory, snide and wrong. I'm grateful the paper gave us at the National Autistic Society a chance to respond. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07...
Blaming the parents is easier than fixing Britain’s special educational needs system
Families don’t want to exploit the system, they just want a fair outcome for their children
www.telegraph.co.uk
July 16, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Last week, The Telegraph carried an opinion piece by Annabel Denham, calling the SEND system a "racket". It was inflammatory, snide and wrong. I'm grateful the paper gave us at the National Autistic Society a chance to respond. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07...
Troubling that later in the article they view the answer as "give people time to realise what we're trying to do."
Deliverism is not a vision.
Deliverism is not a vision.
This from Josh Glancy interview with Starmer is key, I said on Kunessberg this AM, Labour have done v.popular things - min wage, renters, gb energy, sewage but drowned out by winter fuel, NI, PIP and people struggle to understand guiding mission of the govt
www.thetimes.com/article/84ce...
www.thetimes.com/article/84ce...
June 29, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Troubling that later in the article they view the answer as "give people time to realise what we're trying to do."
Deliverism is not a vision.
Deliverism is not a vision.
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
The inability to craft a clear, understandable political narrative that ties together policy achievements and ambitions always starts at the top.
This from Josh Glancy interview with Starmer is key, I said on Kunessberg this AM, Labour have done v.popular things - min wage, renters, gb energy, sewage but drowned out by winter fuel, NI, PIP and people struggle to understand guiding mission of the govt
www.thetimes.com/article/84ce...
www.thetimes.com/article/84ce...
June 29, 2025 at 11:24 AM
The inability to craft a clear, understandable political narrative that ties together policy achievements and ambitions always starts at the top.
Is there a full list of the 201 NHS-adjacent bodies that are being cut?
June 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Is there a full list of the 201 NHS-adjacent bodies that are being cut?
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
Friends fear he is once again boarding the 'radical candour' bus, etc: but I do think they would be better off if their line to take had just been 'it was this or raise taxes', if nothing else because it would a) concentrate minds and b) be some useful advocacy for raising taxes and c) is true.
The only honest and plausible case they could make is “we needed to find some short term money and this is where we found it”, but they apparently would rather waffle about people being trapped out of work to justify cutting a benefit that’s payable regardless of whether the recipient is in work.
June 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Friends fear he is once again boarding the 'radical candour' bus, etc: but I do think they would be better off if their line to take had just been 'it was this or raise taxes', if nothing else because it would a) concentrate minds and b) be some useful advocacy for raising taxes and c) is true.
If he were to face a defeat, it would demonstrate the biggest unforced error of the Government so far. That's completely avoidable.
"Labour MPs are saying they didn't come into government to vote to make disabled people poorer."
What does it mean for Keir Starmer if he loses a Commons vote to his own MPs over planned cuts to PIP?
What does it mean for Keir Starmer if he loses a Commons vote to his own MPs over planned cuts to PIP?
Keir Starmer facing ‘crippling, humiliating’ Labour revolt over PIP cut plan
More than 130 MPs, mostly from Labour, are set to stand against Keir Starmer’s plans to cut Personal Independence Payments, with plans to vote against the bill in the House of Commons. Why are they ma...
articles.globalplayer.com
June 25, 2025 at 10:13 AM
If he were to face a defeat, it would demonstrate the biggest unforced error of the Government so far. That's completely avoidable.
Reposted by Tim Nicholls
As it's in the news again - this is the post I wrote a few months ago on why the disability benefits bill has been going up.
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The definition of madness
Governments need to stop making the same incredibly expensive mistake over and over again
open.substack.com
June 24, 2025 at 8:33 AM
As it's in the news again - this is the post I wrote a few months ago on why the disability benefits bill has been going up.
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Essentially, you can't remove need by removing support - it just pops up as a cost somewhere else.
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Back down or not, the numbers are the numbers.
NEW: Keir Starmer Says He Won't Back Down On Welfare Cuts As Labour Rebellion Grows
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keir-s...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keir-s...
Keir Starmer Says He Won't Back Down On Welfare Cuts As Labour Rebellion Grows
"These reforms are about creating a society rooted in fairness," said a No.10 spokesman.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
June 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Back down or not, the numbers are the numbers.
We Millennials once shunned beach holidays too. But then we got tired and wanted a lie down.
June 18, 2025 at 8:53 AM
We Millennials once shunned beach holidays too. But then we got tired and wanted a lie down.
Cold, hard take: It's not an absence of identity, it's an absence of vision. You can't solve issues of strategy with comms.
NEW: As Reform wins hundreds of council seats at the expense of both Labour and Tories, a minister tells me "better communications are needed" from No10
"A lot of people have forgotten what a Labour Party is for," they say, adding that the party has to “find its identity again”
"A lot of people have forgotten what a Labour Party is for," they say, adding that the party has to “find its identity again”
May 2, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Cold, hard take: It's not an absence of identity, it's an absence of vision. You can't solve issues of strategy with comms.
What a great way to look at it, from Cat Eccles MP
“Once you get [to Parliament], you have to consider that if you've got a story to tell, then this is the perfect place to tell it from”
Cat Eccles MP speaks to @politicshome.bsky.social about her autism and ADHD diagnoses
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Cat Eccles MP speaks to @politicshome.bsky.social about her autism and ADHD diagnoses
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
'All Peopled Out': Labour MP Cat Eccles On Being Autistic In Westminster
Speaking to PoliticsHome ahead of Autism Awareness Day, Labour MP Cat Eccles says she hopes that sharing her story will help make Parliament more a...
www.politicshome.com
March 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
What a great way to look at it, from Cat Eccles MP
"Let the bears pay the Bear Tax. I pay the Homer Tax."
The Town That Went Feral --what happens when a town is taken over by libertarians that dismantle government? Overrun by bears. newrepublic.com/article/1596... via @newrepublic.com
The Town That Went Feral
When a group of libertarians set about scrapping their local government, chaos descended. And then the bears moved in.
newrepublic.com
February 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"Let the bears pay the Bear Tax. I pay the Homer Tax."
The accessible route into East Finchley tube station.
February 3, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The accessible route into East Finchley tube station.
If you don't think it's a "realistic outcome", then the really courageous thing might be to not waste everyone's time on it.
completely extraordinary rhetoric from a *recent* Conservative home secretary
January 28, 2025 at 7:02 PM
If you don't think it's a "realistic outcome", then the really courageous thing might be to not waste everyone's time on it.
Main thought after the last 10 days of news... After a decade of perma-crisis, has Big D Discourse lost the ability to react non-hysterically?
January 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Main thought after the last 10 days of news... After a decade of perma-crisis, has Big D Discourse lost the ability to react non-hysterically?
Damning double whammy of defence of truth and parliamentary privilege.
Keir Starmer repeats that Liz Truss "crashed the economy."
Seems extremely unbothered by her cease and desist letter.
Seems extremely unbothered by her cease and desist letter.
January 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Damning double whammy of defence of truth and parliamentary privilege.