It was clearly going down leg side.

I guess the "over preparation" must have suddenly kicked in...

Do you mean your kids or the England lower order?

Obviously not. 🙈

I think they misspelt "lunacy" in their headline...

All those handy "simplifying assumptions"?

I was thinking more in terms of using models to determine which measures and policies might have the most (hopefully disproportionate) impacts and then tracking back to work out which levers you'd need to pull to get there, and where you need to influence.

So I guess what's needed is something similar applied to dynamic models of society and the economy, but as an open model that can cope with different forms of economic and social behaviour across different blocks and regions, to give context to a UK focused model.

And then tell the stories it gives

And if you understand the maths and the system dynamics models then you can follow the credible arguments.

If you don't like where the answers lead to then I guess you devote the next few decades to picking away at the data... Hence we end up with more exact models of broadly the same outcomes.

As an example, the early climate models done by the Club of Rome to inform "Limits to Growth" were nowhere near as detailed as current models. They didn't need to be to show the obvious trends in the predicted data from fairly aggregate system dynamics models... and sadly that was 50 years ago.

Numbers are always going to come up - either the big ones or the cheap shots about the price of milk etc. He'll need to learn to navigate that and turn the conversation elsewhere or it could become every interviewers' favourite weak spot.

But, yes a grasp of the big picture is way more useful.

We've managed to avoid the follow-on, so there's just the abject horror of England facing an improbable 4th innings run chase to come...

Wasted opportunity today on a pitch that was at its most benign, but fair play to the Aussie bowlers for keeping up the pressure.

...

I suspect Zak probably isn't comfortable with the maths himself, but someone in his team needs to give him the credible, maths-based arguments and also explain any underlying assumptions or policy changes that might have far reaching effects. Essentially turning the maths back into a narrative.

It's a fair point. If he'd been expecting a conversation about numbers then he could have learnt them beforehand. Arguably it's also a lesson that the numbers are going to come up sooner or later so best just to learn them (regardless of how boring it is).

...

I'm still not sure that Joe Root bowling his part time off spin wouldn't have been equally effective. Didn't really get the sense that Jacks does much of the mental gamesmanship that proper front line spinners bring to the game (e.g. Giles or Swann in their prime).

Let's see how he bats.

Utrecht is a lovely city. I remember being there during the 2008 Euros and the streets being full of fans wearing orange.

Bar Olivier (an old church converted into a Belgian beer bar) is a must visit.

Broadly agree. Worth listening to the interview that Zack Polanski did with Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart on "Leading" and their follow-up TRIP Q&A episode.

Some great ideas and sentiments, and a very likeable person, but very light on practical steps to deliver his vision.

The lack of a compelling narrative that underpins whatever it is that the Government is trying to do is immensely frustrating. Being vague and reactive is expected in opposition, but they seem to have failed to grasp that a 4-5 year term in power gives the opportunity to reset the forward agenda.