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Back to writing with a few thoughts on what Change Starts Now tells us about launching a party, and what many small parties get wrong:
open.substack.com/pub/perman…
At the margins, I think this (+ Xhakaza in EKH) makes the imposition of coalition arrangements by ANC national officials easier + gives them a freer hand in negotiations
For the sake of the work of Parliament, municipal councils, and the trees, we really do need to introduce a threshold for elections in SA + make it far harder to register a party. We cannot have a national ballot with 100 parties on it in 2029.
I don't find the argument that all parties were once small remotely convincing. The vast majority of parties with a significant national footprint have never been under 1% in a national election. The EFF got 6.4% in 2014. ASA well over this threshold in GP in 2024.
Laurent Balt retweeted
***EXCLUSIVE*** Andy Burnham fully rules out changing Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules if he becomes PM
At the weekend his team had left it open whether he might change them in future
But tonight his spokesperson tells Bloomberg he is explicitly ruling out any changes to the existing fiscal rules
AND crucially Burnham is now also ruling out exempting defence spending from the fiscal rules to spend more on the military
He had floated that idea in a Bloomberg interview a few weeks ago but his spokesperson tonight says he won’t pursue it
This is a big attempt by Burnham’s campaign team to reassure markets who were spooked on Friday by his potential premiership
But it may risk disappointing some on the left who had hoped for a more radical fiscal policy
It may also mean tax rises are the likely main revenue raiser in the event Burnham wants to increase spending
Laurent Balt retweeted
1/10
President Macron says "We must acknowledge that these imbalances are both the result of weak EU productivity and China’s policy of export-driven growth."
The first part of that statement is technically not true.
ft.com/content/c8fdf1b0-7330… via @ft
Laurent Balt retweeted
Pedestrian and cyclist safety cannot only rely on humans doing the right thing, it also requires physical design to prevent it.
Speed bumps, protected cycle lanes, bollards, centre medians are just some options to protect pedestrians and cyclists.
Laurent Balt retweeted
Frantically announcing and unannouncing every possible tax and levy, while looking through a pair of binoculars through Richard Hughes’ window at the OBR to see if he’s smiling or frowning at the Excel model on his laptop
🚨 I've now had it confirmed that Rachel Reeves has ditched plan to raise income tax rates in budget - as per @FT.
Suggestion is that the politics of the move would've been too hard.
Labour MPs had been deeply anxious about impact of breaking such a major manifesto promise - and they've already shown power with welfare vote.
Months of discontent at Keir Starmer & his political operation burst into the open over the plan - with MPs openly discussing whether PM was up to job.
Earlier this week, No 10 mounted an extraordinary operation to shore up leadership by briefing the Guardian & others of dangers of destabilising the govt - and insisting Starmer would fight any challenge.
But their efforts backfired dramatically when close allies of PM shared concerns that Wes Streeting was planning to mount imminent coup - which the health sec denied.
All of this has led to a very messy week at Westminster - and put govt on backfoot - leading to decision to change budget plans.
It now leaves Rachel Reeves exploring other options to fill her £20-£30bn fiscal hole. These could include cutting thresholds at which people pay different rates of tax.
All in all, not a great place for the government - already under fire - to be so close to a budget.
Laurent Balt retweeted
The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity?
