Matthew Holehouse
@matthewholehouse.bsky.social
British political correspondent at The Economist. Comment journalist of the year, British Journalism Awards 2023.
Wave of the future right here:
November 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Wave of the future right here:
The grunting and yelling of an Olympic weightlifter for a 5lb dumbbell of a budget
So it looks like Rachel Reeves has *not* abolished or cut back the cycle to work scheme. Perhaps she has read the Treasury's own 2023 assessment of the scheme, which found that in terms of creating modal shift, and thus boosting public health, it is very, very effective.
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Evaluation of the Cycle to Work Scheme: quantitative and qualitative research
www.gov.uk
November 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The grunting and yelling of an Olympic weightlifter for a 5lb dumbbell of a budget
Britain's absolutely-impossible-extremely-difficult-no-good-options fiscal bind: latest
When can you declare an emergency over?
The 5p “emergency” petrol tax cut was introduced in March 2022, to offset a spike in prices
They are now about 30p down on that month, & about 50p down on the absolute peak
The 5p “emergency” petrol tax cut was introduced in March 2022, to offset a spike in prices
They are now about 30p down on that month, & about 50p down on the absolute peak
November 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Britain's absolutely-impossible-extremely-difficult-no-good-options fiscal bind: latest
For a chancellor for whom the threadbare school library was a well-told origin story, these are small numbers
November 22, 2025 at 10:29 PM
For a chancellor for whom the threadbare school library was a well-told origin story, these are small numbers
It’s 2031. You’re a senior official in the Cabinet Office. A respiratory pandemic has broken out in China. You crack open the Hallett Inquiry recommendations to find out what to do and learn…
November 20, 2025 at 8:24 PM
It’s 2031. You’re a senior official in the Cabinet Office. A respiratory pandemic has broken out in China. You crack open the Hallett Inquiry recommendations to find out what to do and learn…
Asos government: in which parties accept they are as disposable to voters as a £16 imitation Chanel suit, and govern better as a result www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Blighty newsletter: What Nigel Farage and ASOS have in common
British politics is dressing up for the fast-fashion era
www.economist.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Asos government: in which parties accept they are as disposable to voters as a £16 imitation Chanel suit, and govern better as a result www.economist.com/britain/2025...
If you think the anxiety and dislocation caused by net immigration is real, it is nothing compared to mass emigration
ONS is so bad. (This is about specifically British nationals.) www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...
November 18, 2025 at 11:50 AM
If you think the anxiety and dislocation caused by net immigration is real, it is nothing compared to mass emigration
Reform’s £25bn p/a savings plan. A theme emerges:
- ending foreign aid
- increase immigration health surcharge paid by foreigners
- deport foreign criminals
- end UC payments to foreign nationals
- ending foreign aid
- increase immigration health surcharge paid by foreigners
- deport foreign criminals
- end UC payments to foreign nationals
November 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reform’s £25bn p/a savings plan. A theme emerges:
- ending foreign aid
- increase immigration health surcharge paid by foreigners
- deport foreign criminals
- end UC payments to foreign nationals
- ending foreign aid
- increase immigration health surcharge paid by foreigners
- deport foreign criminals
- end UC payments to foreign nationals
"The disclosure of the so-called poison pill will increase pressure on the ministers to intervene to safeguard the future of The Telegraph." Seems optimistic
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
Access Restricted
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 10:09 PM
"The disclosure of the so-called poison pill will increase pressure on the ministers to intervene to safeguard the future of The Telegraph." Seems optimistic
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
This is now a familiar rubric for ideas that are hard to sell on merits.
2019: Boris Johnson’s agenda is the only way to stop Nigel Farage’s.
2024: Nigel Farage’s agenda is the only way to stop Tommy Robinson.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
2019: Boris Johnson’s agenda is the only way to stop Nigel Farage’s.
2024: Nigel Farage’s agenda is the only way to stop Tommy Robinson.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Dark forces are stirring up anger in the UK. My asylum reforms are our chance to stop them | Shabana Mahmood
I know some of these measures will face opposition. But a country without secure borders is less safe for those who look like me, says Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:56 AM
This is now a familiar rubric for ideas that are hard to sell on merits.
2019: Boris Johnson’s agenda is the only way to stop Nigel Farage’s.
2024: Nigel Farage’s agenda is the only way to stop Tommy Robinson.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
2019: Boris Johnson’s agenda is the only way to stop Nigel Farage’s.
2024: Nigel Farage’s agenda is the only way to stop Tommy Robinson.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Weeks, months of finger-wagging that No 10's internal enemies were ignorant of the bond markets and that they alone stood against the tide. Ah well.
Oof. That’s a proper move in UK yields.
November 14, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Weeks, months of finger-wagging that No 10's internal enemies were ignorant of the bond markets and that they alone stood against the tide. Ah well.
"No major tax rises" wasn't a pledge, but the project www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Blighty newsletter: Labour retreats to its comfort zone
What might a broken promise tell us about Sir Keir Starmer’s party?
www.economist.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:34 PM
"No major tax rises" wasn't a pledge, but the project www.economist.com/britain/2025...
typically generous of @georgeeaton.bsky.social not to quote the full Belloc
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 AM
typically generous of @georgeeaton.bsky.social not to quote the full Belloc
A passage that does indeed read rather differently to the "indivisibility of the internal market" positions of the past
I did not have insider knowledge. I have just been around Brussels negotiations for a long time...
EU agrees a mandate for UK negotiations as I predicted. With the bonus that the future path becomes clearer - if you pay you can have more. www.politico.eu/article/uk-s...
EU agrees a mandate for UK negotiations as I predicted. With the bonus that the future path becomes clearer - if you pay you can have more. www.politico.eu/article/uk-s...
November 12, 2025 at 8:40 PM
A passage that does indeed read rather differently to the "indivisibility of the internal market" positions of the past
From Bosh Britain to Bosch Britain www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Sir Keir Starmer is a prisoner of the politics he pledged to end
When rigmarole becomes reality
www.economist.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
From Bosh Britain to Bosch Britain www.economist.com/britain/2025...
The US ambassador attacks the UK government over Wylfa nuclear energy decision
November 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The US ambassador attacks the UK government over Wylfa nuclear energy decision
More than tax or public services, Labour’s singular pitch - to the electorate, investors and allies - was the promise of a decade of stable technocratic leadership after the “Tory psychodrama”. A party incapable of delivering that is going to have to find better pretexts than “but my activists”
November 12, 2025 at 8:50 AM
More than tax or public services, Labour’s singular pitch - to the electorate, investors and allies - was the promise of a decade of stable technocratic leadership after the “Tory psychodrama”. A party incapable of delivering that is going to have to find better pretexts than “but my activists”
Hiking tax is much more than merely the breach of a manifesto commitment. It is the death of the idea at the heart of Starmer’s project: that Labour would leave its comfort zone and govern by reform and growth, not tax and spend.
economist.com/britain/2025...
economist.com/britain/2025...
November 11, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Hiking tax is much more than merely the breach of a manifesto commitment. It is the death of the idea at the heart of Starmer’s project: that Labour would leave its comfort zone and govern by reform and growth, not tax and spend.
economist.com/britain/2025...
economist.com/britain/2025...
After having the whip restored after a rebellion on welfare cuts, Rachael Maskell says that a higher tax burden on working people would be an "absolute red line".
November 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
After having the whip restored after a rebellion on welfare cuts, Rachael Maskell says that a higher tax burden on working people would be an "absolute red line".
Reposted by Matthew Holehouse
Britain's biggest political party...
November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Britain's biggest political party...
Really raher bold of this administration to patronise backbenchers about "Economics 101" and the bond markets, given the backbenchers didn't write the manifesto, or the first budget... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 7, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Really raher bold of this administration to patronise backbenchers about "Economics 101" and the bond markets, given the backbenchers didn't write the manifesto, or the first budget... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reform's fiscal rules still a work in progress, it seems. Richard Tice asked at Bloomberg to provide a definition tonight: "We’ve got to keep it simple folks: we must not go bust. We’ve got to starting earning more than we’re spending…. Let’s keep it simple. Basic housekeeping.”
November 5, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Reform's fiscal rules still a work in progress, it seems. Richard Tice asked at Bloomberg to provide a definition tonight: "We’ve got to keep it simple folks: we must not go bust. We’ve got to starting earning more than we’re spending…. Let’s keep it simple. Basic housekeeping.”
fascinating use of the passive voice by Cambridgeshire police. Self-raising crime, perhaps
November 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
fascinating use of the passive voice by Cambridgeshire police. Self-raising crime, perhaps