I'm somewhat sceptical on 4 day week, but it's ridiculous for central government to try and block local government from experimenting with it

Central government should do all it can to improve efficiency in local government and that includes looking at 4 day weeks and a review of what roles can be automated.

V good Financial Times Tim Leunig piece, with hard truths about UK economy & what needs to be done about it, relevant to both parties This para is striking - small firms are lionised, but it's big firms that drive productivity & R&D, & we don't have enough of them ft.com/content/72c273…

An early version of those "where does your tax payments go?" seen at 78 Derngate and designed by the house's owner

House prices

Completely right, ignore the doubters. Higher economic growth, felt more evenly across the country, is possible. Frankly, we shouldn't settle for any less

📢NEW CPP blog: Interim Chief Executive Ben Franklin responds to the PM's pledge to "fix the foundations".👇 "Credibility is important, but we shouldn’t confuse credibility with slavenly following rules to the exclusion of all else".✍️ progressive-policy.net/publications/a…

Ben's new piece is well worth reading Ben Franklin The economy and public realm have been starved of investment for over a decade We will sincerely struggle to restore economic growth if this Autumn's Budget delivers another round of austerity We must find a way to avoid it

My worry, in contrast, was: underfunded public services undermine growth in myriad ways; growth leads to lower tax revenues, more underfunding, etc etc. We have to break out of the cycle one way or another. We've tried the other way...