Dr Tim Aker

🚨 NEW: Labour MPs have summoned c2c rail bosses to explain the worsening train delays following nationalisation Since being nationalised, the proportion of trains arriving on time has plummeted from 94% to just 71.5% [@thetimes]

No cherry-picking. No special treatment. The door is open. This time, it’s meant for coming in, not walking out. There is so much to do together to face global challenges🇪🇺🇬🇧 #Brexit

CCTV footage captures the moment a migrant tries to steal a fishing boat while the crew are sleeping and demands to be taken to France to collect his family. More here: kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news…

Shabana Mahmood talked tough on immigration … only to retreat when the Labour left kicked up a fuss Deeply disappointing. If the Home Secretary cannot even get her own party behind modest reforms to ILR , what hope is there of meaningful immigration reform ?

Small boat migrants will be eligible for indefinite leave to remain under Shabana Mahmood's watered down reforms. They will have to wait up to 30 years to qualify, but there will be a route those who come to the UK illegally

I was hoping to be able to announce this in my own time – but the media rumour mill is swirling, I'm being contacted by various reporters and others, and I don't like denying the truth, so ... I wrote my first "Economic Agenda" column in The Sunday Telegraph 27 years ago, under the editorship of Dominic Lawson – filling-in occasionally during the late-1990s, before being given my own weekly slot from 2003. Since then, while I've been heavily involved in television, and am perhaps better known as a broadcaster, penning "Economic Agenda" for The Sunday Telegraph each week has been the backbone of my journalistic life. On Thursday, the @Telegraph rang to tell me my column is being scrapped. I was asked, and have agreed, to write "Economic Agenda" until the end of November, as per my contract. After that, my Sunday Telegraph column will be no more. Why this decision has been made, and whether or not my columns were any good, is for others to judge. All I will say is that, as the first person in my family to attend university, sustaining a weekly column in a leading national newspaper for a quarter of a century has been a source of enormous pride for myself and my family. Lots of people have been asking me about the future of "Planet Normal" - the hugely-popular Telegraph podcast which I co-created and co-present with the brilliant @AllisonPearson "Planet Normal" has, over the last 330 weekly episodes, also become a major part of my professional life and my broader identity. With Allison reportedly leaving the Telegraph as well, there is a lot of speculation about whether or not the podcast will continue to impart "news and views from beyond the bubble" with our usual blend of sharp analysis, humour and occasional outrage ! Well, I am delighted to confirm that Co-Pilot Pearson and myself are deeply committed to our joint podcast – and, above all, to our beloved listeners. We will, as and when notice periods allow, continue our voyages through space every Thursday – perhaps to "Planet Normal", or maybe to another part of the solar system – so we can "gaze down each week at the madness of Planet Earth", as we have done since the Spring of 2020. So citizens of Planet Normal, stand ready ! The "rocket-of-right-thinking", the "flying refuge of reasoned views", will soon be launched once again 🚀🪐👨‍🏭👱‍♀️🎙️📺 I poured my heart and soul into "Economic Agenda" and "Planet Normal". The Telegraph's decision to scrap them is obviously a huge personal blow. But I will always be grateful for the opportunities the paper has given me. Above all, I would like to thank the illustrious list of successive Telegraph business editors I've worked with since the late-1990s, many of whom have become and remain good friends - including @Peston @RobertsDan @larmitstead @neilbenet @benjaminmarlow @cg_williams @kamalahmednews @MarkKleinmanSky @jamesrquinn (sorry if I've forgotten anyone, it's been a long time!) On Friday, even though I almost always write my column from elsewhere, and despite being extremely disappointed by the paper's decision, I decided to go into the Telegraph and write today's column sitting in the newsroom. I am glad I did - as being at the heart of the paper at such a difficult time allowed for lots of conversations, with everyone from junior production staff to senior reporters and executives, which reminded me that journalism, despite being an industry at the whim of seemingly endless and often brutal commercial and technological upheaval, is not only hugely important to our country, but full of talented, decent people. See picture below, having just filed my piece, as I was heading out the door ...

Some things that British voters have forgotten. 🔴Making a profit is no vice. 🔴Inequality is not evil. 🔴The fact that tax cuts chiefly benefit people who pay taxes is not an argument against them. 🔴Governments spend money less well than you do. 🔴There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Are you a landlord? 🏠 From 15 December, if you’re a landlord of an assured or regulated tenancy in England, you must register yourself and each of your properties through the new service on GOV.UK by the deadline for your region. Letting agents can’t register on your behalf. You’ll need to give details of your properties, like: • the address 🔑 • the number of tenants and bedrooms 🛏️ • the amount of rent you're receiving for a property 💷 • gas and electricity safety certificates ⚡ You may be asked to provide energy performance certificates (EPCs) if your details can't be found on the EPC register.