The two-child limit is a cruel policy that punishes children for the so-called ‘sins’ of their parents. It never achieved its aims to reduce birth rates, increase employment or hours worked. Having children go to school too hungry to learn is no way to build a better future for the country. /7

Increased headroom – contingency for meeting spending rules – will give confidence to the markets that the UK’s public finances can cope with the winds of fortune: each time Donald Trump comes up with a new tariff, the UK government won’t have to rewrite its budget. /6

Increased taxation of extremely valuable homes starts to correct a long-standing problem with Council Tax whereby the owners of very expensive homes have been underpaying. Gambling in the UK has been undertaxed whilst addictive online casinos have boomed. /5

She funded these with freezing tax thresholds & tax measures targeting the well off – a sensible balance as freezing thresholds is one of the least unpopular ways of raising tax and gambling companies, those with high levels of pension contributions or very expensive homes can afford to pay more. /4

The OBR’s downgrade of productivity expectations and previous social security policy reversals created a need for income. Rachel Reeves also chose to spend on 3 very sensible moves: more ‘headroom’ – contingency for meeting spending rules – abolishing the two-child limit, reducing energy bills. /3

The doomster narratives from some economic forecasters proved wrong: the economic forecast is okay and a distinct improvement on recent years with inflation coming down and decent wage growth – although not spectacular and there is more to do to boost economic activity in years to come. /2

Contrary to gambling industry claims, there's little evidence this will push gamblers to the black market. Previous changes to tax regulation in 2001 and 2014 did not lead to a notable shift towards illegal gambling

Over 60 per cent of gambling profits come from just 5 per cent of users, many of whom are at high risk of serious harm, including debt, mental health issues, family breakdown and suicide

The UK has taxed gambling at much lower rates than other countries. E.g. online casinos are currently taxed at 21% in the UK, but are around 40% in the Netherlands and Austria and 57% in Delaware

The Labour Force Survey asks people whether they have done any work and, if not, whether they have looked for work and are available to start. The classification of employed, unemployed or inactive is derived from that

People out of work who are not looking for work.

More precisely, those out of work who have looked for work in the last four weeks and are available to start within two weeks are classified as 'unemployed'. Everyone else out of work is classified as 'inactive'.

Overall summary: when it comes to inactivity, yes of course we should do better, and many people would benefit if we do, but this is not a new crisis.

The inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 in July 2025 was 21%, lower than at any point before Nov 2018. Since 1971, there has been only one 15-month period – Dec 2018 to Feb 2020 – when inactivity was lower than today.

Personally, I think the London Science Museum has always been really poor: over some years, we've taken our daughter to science museums in Copenhagen, Paris, Athens, Boston, Glasgow - and loved them - all better for narrative, explanation of the underlying science - more interesting for her (and us)

The DWP (and I think HMRC) had a major statistics hub in Newcastle (at Longbenton) and so would have made a much more sensible relocation than Newport. Would have allowed movement between organisations as part of career progression