Ross Mudie
@rmudie96.bsky.social
Head of Research Analysis, @iconeighbours.bsky.social. Formerly Senior Research Analyst at the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP), research @ United Nations University-MERIT, policy @ local government.
Noticing a larger number of shops and takeaways on London high streets advertising in their window that they only accept cash or bank transfer, never card payment
Probably the most in your face tax dodging we’ve seen so far
Probably the most in your face tax dodging we’ve seen so far
December 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Noticing a larger number of shops and takeaways on London high streets advertising in their window that they only accept cash or bank transfer, never card payment
Probably the most in your face tax dodging we’ve seen so far
Probably the most in your face tax dodging we’ve seen so far
Reposted by Ross Mudie
2024-25 community life survey, which has a large sample of 175k, distributed at 500+ in each local authority area
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Community Life Survey 2024/25: Headline findings
www.gov.uk
December 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
2024-25 community life survey, which has a large sample of 175k, distributed at 500+ in each local authority area
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Very welcome. Can say from experience having had to negotiate a new allocations policy in a council, with social landlords, some will flat out refuse to play ball
Some have their own internal policies - sometimes secret(!) - that exist solely to reduce how many homeless referrals they take.
Some have their own internal policies - sometimes secret(!) - that exist solely to reduce how many homeless referrals they take.
Some interesting detail in the new National Homelessness Strategy on social housing allocations - New guidance to be published, to ensure housing associations house the most vulnerable, take homeless referrals from councils and are transparent. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/693a6e...
December 11, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Very welcome. Can say from experience having had to negotiate a new allocations policy in a council, with social landlords, some will flat out refuse to play ball
Some have their own internal policies - sometimes secret(!) - that exist solely to reduce how many homeless referrals they take.
Some have their own internal policies - sometimes secret(!) - that exist solely to reduce how many homeless referrals they take.
This is a good reform.
Free school meal take up has been a proxy for disadvantage for ages but as we know - and the article says - not all those eligible claim it, + this is most true for children beginning school, the point that additional support is most needed
schoolsweek.co.uk/pupil-premiu...
Free school meal take up has been a proxy for disadvantage for ages but as we know - and the article says - not all those eligible claim it, + this is most true for children beginning school, the point that additional support is most needed
schoolsweek.co.uk/pupil-premiu...
Income to replace FSM as trigger for disadvantage funding
Government 'will design new model' for allocating the pupil premium and other disadvantage cash
schoolsweek.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
This is a good reform.
Free school meal take up has been a proxy for disadvantage for ages but as we know - and the article says - not all those eligible claim it, + this is most true for children beginning school, the point that additional support is most needed
schoolsweek.co.uk/pupil-premiu...
Free school meal take up has been a proxy for disadvantage for ages but as we know - and the article says - not all those eligible claim it, + this is most true for children beginning school, the point that additional support is most needed
schoolsweek.co.uk/pupil-premiu...
Crazy chart - UK productivity growth has averaged only half a percent a year since the financial crisis, which is the lowest of all eras since the industrial revolution really started to take shape in the early 19th century.
December 8, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Crazy chart - UK productivity growth has averaged only half a percent a year since the financial crisis, which is the lowest of all eras since the industrial revolution really started to take shape in the early 19th century.
Reposted by Ross Mudie
"Business dynamism measured by the job reallocation rate was lower in 2024 than 2001 in every industry." This, IMHO, is the biggest potential blindspot in this government's growth strategy, not anything to do with taxes, borrowing or fiscal policy
www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ...
www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ...
Trends in UK business dynamism and productivity - Office for National Statistics
Statistics on firm-level productivity, business dynamism and business markup estimates, showing how the economy has changed from 1997 to 2024. These are official statistics in development.
www.ons.gov.uk
December 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"Business dynamism measured by the job reallocation rate was lower in 2024 than 2001 in every industry." This, IMHO, is the biggest potential blindspot in this government's growth strategy, not anything to do with taxes, borrowing or fiscal policy
www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ...
www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ...
The Economist: Britain is currently the most politically fragemented it has been since WW2 (though this may go back further than the data allows)
"Britons are increasingly voting for an array of parties as if they were modern Europeans while getting the two-party parliaments of Victorian England"
"Britons are increasingly voting for an array of parties as if they were modern Europeans while getting the two-party parliaments of Victorian England"
December 8, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The Economist: Britain is currently the most politically fragemented it has been since WW2 (though this may go back further than the data allows)
"Britons are increasingly voting for an array of parties as if they were modern Europeans while getting the two-party parliaments of Victorian England"
"Britons are increasingly voting for an array of parties as if they were modern Europeans while getting the two-party parliaments of Victorian England"
Great piece. Not a word I disagree with.
I would add the "dumbing down" of politics has happened in part because the political class has wrongly convinced itself the public has no interest in ideas, or the attention span for longer-form thoughts and arguments.
1000% untrue.
1/?
I would add the "dumbing down" of politics has happened in part because the political class has wrongly convinced itself the public has no interest in ideas, or the attention span for longer-form thoughts and arguments.
1000% untrue.
1/?
December 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Great piece. Not a word I disagree with.
I would add the "dumbing down" of politics has happened in part because the political class has wrongly convinced itself the public has no interest in ideas, or the attention span for longer-form thoughts and arguments.
1000% untrue.
1/?
I would add the "dumbing down" of politics has happened in part because the political class has wrongly convinced itself the public has no interest in ideas, or the attention span for longer-form thoughts and arguments.
1000% untrue.
1/?
No shortage of examples (others: ARIA, Vaccines Taskforce, AI Security Institute, Behavioural Insights Team, Social Exclusion Unit) that give us a crystal clear view of how to make the civil service effective at delivery.
Yet >99% of government is stuck on the legacy set up, and struggling
Yet >99% of government is stuck on the legacy set up, and struggling
A slice of positive budget news last week was some important improvements to the spending framework
I've written about how the Office for Value for Money helped drive this, and why I think others in government could learn from its unusual set-up
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...
I've written about how the Office for Value for Money helped drive this, and why I think others in government could learn from its unusual set-up
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...
The Office for Value for Money has been a success | Institute for Government
In its short lifetime the OfVM made valuable proposals for change.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk
December 4, 2025 at 9:57 AM
No shortage of examples (others: ARIA, Vaccines Taskforce, AI Security Institute, Behavioural Insights Team, Social Exclusion Unit) that give us a crystal clear view of how to make the civil service effective at delivery.
Yet >99% of government is stuck on the legacy set up, and struggling
Yet >99% of government is stuck on the legacy set up, and struggling
This week @iconeighbours.bsky.social published a new paper from Adam Coutts and Diego Mauricio Diaz Velásquez exploring the links between social infrastructure, capital, and cohesion.
In my opinion it is one of our best and most interesting papers so far.
Three of my main highlights below 👇
In my opinion it is one of our best and most interesting papers so far.
Three of my main highlights below 👇
December 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM
This week @iconeighbours.bsky.social published a new paper from Adam Coutts and Diego Mauricio Diaz Velásquez exploring the links between social infrastructure, capital, and cohesion.
In my opinion it is one of our best and most interesting papers so far.
Three of my main highlights below 👇
In my opinion it is one of our best and most interesting papers so far.
Three of my main highlights below 👇
Something I hadn't realised but @samfr.bsky.social has on his post-Budget Substack.
The Chancellor/Treasury used the same tricks (delaying tax rises/spending cuts) to game the fiscal rules as we we saw under the Tories, but come the next Spending Review - in 2027 - that road will run out.
The Chancellor/Treasury used the same tricks (delaying tax rises/spending cuts) to game the fiscal rules as we we saw under the Tories, but come the next Spending Review - in 2027 - that road will run out.
November 27, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Something I hadn't realised but @samfr.bsky.social has on his post-Budget Substack.
The Chancellor/Treasury used the same tricks (delaying tax rises/spending cuts) to game the fiscal rules as we we saw under the Tories, but come the next Spending Review - in 2027 - that road will run out.
The Chancellor/Treasury used the same tricks (delaying tax rises/spending cuts) to game the fiscal rules as we we saw under the Tories, but come the next Spending Review - in 2027 - that road will run out.
Can we not do policy change anymore? Can we not decide if something is good or bad and then make a call? Or are we just stuck on a forever pilot autopilot?
November 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Can we not do policy change anymore? Can we not decide if something is good or bad and then make a call? Or are we just stuck on a forever pilot autopilot?
I am certain that each year that goes by the time between the Budget beginning, and then getting bored and just wanting to get to the documents already, gets shorter.
Annual moan time.
A sensible system would be the budget documents and OBR report being posted online on, say, a Monday evening.
And then a Parliamentary debate on the Wednesday.
A sensible system would be the budget documents and OBR report being posted online on, say, a Monday evening.
And then a Parliamentary debate on the Wednesday.
November 26, 2025 at 8:39 AM
I am certain that each year that goes by the time between the Budget beginning, and then getting bored and just wanting to get to the documents already, gets shorter.
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Also, I hear rates blamed all the time for empty units around here, but on the typical local high street outside of the more expensive areas, most small businesses will be exempt from business rates anyway.
November 21, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Also, I hear rates blamed all the time for empty units around here, but on the typical local high street outside of the more expensive areas, most small businesses will be exempt from business rates anyway.
Interesting piece that touches on something rarely ever said on the “death of the high street” - a lot of retail and hospitality firms that rely on low-middle earners have made *zero* effort to innovate while the world around it changed. Completely frozen in time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why Poundland is struggling during a cost-of-living-crisis
Why - in an age where so many of us are feeling the financial pinch - are some budget shops on UK high streets having such a tough time?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Interesting piece that touches on something rarely ever said on the “death of the high street” - a lot of retail and hospitality firms that rely on low-middle earners have made *zero* effort to innovate while the world around it changed. Completely frozen in time.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Great piece on Municipal Bonds from Morgan Wild.
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
How municipal bond markets can save Britain
The case for more fiscal devolution to build the infrastructure we need
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Great piece on Municipal Bonds from Morgan Wild.
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
I continue to be baffled every time I read a piece in this area that HM Treasury under Labour seems completely disinterested in going anywhere near ideas like this. A genuine growth, growth, growth idea.
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/municipal-...
Reposted by Ross Mudie
My latest for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
While the British left is buried in factional debate, Reform is rapidly securing a foothold in former socialist heartlands across the country — paving the way for a nightmarish far-right takeover of the British state.
Reform Is Dominating Post-Industrial Britain
While the British left is buried in factional debate, Reform is rapidly securing a foothold in former socialist heartlands across the country — paving the way for a nightmarish far-right takeover of t...
tribunemag.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
My latest for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
On how Reform are making waves in towns like #Biddulph #NorthStaffordshire
Big fan of this piece.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
🔔 New post 🔔 Ok, this was a bit of a 'take a deep breath' moment! - I'm intrigued about how much pushback I'll get.
The disiciplines theory of government
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
The disiciplines theory of government
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
The disciplines theory of government
Are legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Big fan of this piece.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
I have felt for a while that lots of public policy work is done in a "legacy" way that repeatedly delivers the wrong solutions to our biggest challenges.
The media gets this and is changing. Government and everyone who works in and around it needs to change too, fast.
There has to be a better word than this to describe the multiple little tax rises we should see at the Budget next week. There are more than enough journalists to come up with something better. Still a week to go lads
November 19, 2025 at 7:24 AM
There has to be a better word than this to describe the multiple little tax rises we should see at the Budget next week. There are more than enough journalists to come up with something better. Still a week to go lads
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Great to see this!
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Rachel Reeves may allow tourism tax, increasing the price of staycation
The chancellor is expected to announce in the budget that mayors will be given sweeping powers to raise taxes by charging visitors a levy on an overnight stay
www.thetimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Great to see this!
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
A visitor levy/tourism tax would be a small but really important step in the right direction for devolution - it would fund better public realm and other infrastructure tourists and residents use
Let's hope the government follows through!
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Ross Mudie
Said this a lot before, but there is no politician conveying any sense of what they think the country should look in 2040 or 2050, so no sense they are taking steps to get there.
Good test of how UK politics at least is failing, there isn't a single frontline politician with a convincing big picture view of the country. Nostalgia, simplism, and warm words will have to do instead.
November 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Said this a lot before, but there is no politician conveying any sense of what they think the country should look in 2040 or 2050, so no sense they are taking steps to get there.
Very good
After populism.....
A liberal communitarianism that is realistic about the international economy and concentrates on work, place and the public good in ways that the last era of liberalism too often missed.
New Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyp...
A liberal communitarianism that is realistic about the international economy and concentrates on work, place and the public good in ways that the last era of liberalism too often missed.
New Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/anthonyp...
After populism
A more balanced liberalism can lead us away from post-liberal populist malaise - if it focuses on place, work and restoration of the public good.
open.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Very good
Remarkable how invested US households are, in the most literal sense of the word. Stocks make up several multiples more of US household wealth than here in the UK.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
November 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Remarkable how invested US households are, in the most literal sense of the word. Stocks make up several multiples more of US household wealth than here in the UK.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
Difficult to see how any future global market downturn wouldn't trigger, via Trump, a big economic populist reaction here.
I am worried by this suggestion that the ONS will review and scale down its local and regional data outputs.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
November 12, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I am worried by this suggestion that the ONS will review and scale down its local and regional data outputs.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
It’s already hard enough to understand what’s happening across the country as it is, and to design the right policies in response.
Any further reduction would be a disaster.
This is a brilliant piece of research and analysis well worth people’s time.
Brilliant, place-grounded essay from @sachahilhorst.bsky.social about Reform powering on through its seemingly irreconcilable contradictions
Reform’s aesthetics of industry
Renewal 33.2_HilhorstRenewal 33.2_Hilhorst.pdf110 KBdownload-circle
In North Nottinghamshire, Reform UK present themselves as the party of workers, community and coalmining heritage. But this image...
renewal.org.uk
November 12, 2025 at 9:49 AM
This is a brilliant piece of research and analysis well worth people’s time.