It is, of course, imperative that society is driven forward by mission oriented, cross cutting, technological solution providing plans of only the sort that government can provide. Otherwise, how can anything happen? Obviously!

As we’re all aware the excuse for socialism and a planned economy has changed. A century back scientific socialism was said to be more efficient than that chaos of markets and capitalism. So, a planned future would be a richer future. We also, with the benefit of hindsight, know how that worked out. It didn’t, etc.

President Trump has made a fighting start to his second term. Executive orders have flown thick and fast from the Oval Office. Meanwhile Elon Musk’s new Department, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has shown equal speed in tackling what it sees as wasteful or unnecessary federal activity.

The very dilemma that confounds so much of British policy, are we more American or European? makes the country irresistible to the prosperous world’s footloose youngsters.

Aditya Chakrabortty has just had one of those shocking little experiences: Among the first acts of Starmer’s government was to slash the discount available to council tenants wanting to buy their homes.

The OBR has informed the Chancellor that she has run out of the £9bn headroom granted through tax-rises in the Autumn Budget. So, what are her options?

There really are people who believe this is true: Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, signalled on Sunday that “reciprocal” tariffs will mean emulating VAT policy.

I take time out from “A manifesto for Lord Mandelson”, my blog series on trade and other relations with the US, to comment on President Trump’s proposal to impose tariffs of 25% on imports of steel and aluminium. Unofficial briefings have it that the UK intends to refrain from retaliation. So it should, for the following five reasons:

There is a point at which our idea of how the world works and how we think it could work comes up against how it does work. This is where ideology meets reality.

This shouldn’t be this difficult for people to understand: The NHS is nearly a fifth less effective than it was before the pandemic despite a £30bn funding boost, official figures show.