Labour has announced plans to nationalise the railway operators by folding them into a publicly owned company, Great British Railways, on a rolling basis as the contracts come up for renewal. The idea is that this will allow Labour to take the railways back into public ownership without large compensation bills. As George writes in an excellent interview with Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary: “The Sheffield Heeley MP, 36, who is one of the shadow cabinet’s leading ‘soft left’ members (alongside Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband), is unambiguous about the alternative she would purs ..read more

Earlier this week, questioned about the tottering coalition between the SNP and the Scottish Greens, Humza Yousaf said that he “thoroughly enjoyed” the partnership. “We’ve achieved a lot and I hope the cooperation agreement will continue.” This was consistent with all his utterances on the topic since he became First Minister just over a year ago. Humza loved the deal. By today, under intense pressure from his own MSPs and MPs and with his government in open crisis, he had changed his mind. Following an emergency 8.30am cabinet meeting at Bute House, Yousaf announced that the coalition was ove ..read more

There are few universal rules for what makes good writing, but one has long persisted: kill your darlings. Cut the flourishes that don’t meaningfully add to the greater work, no matter how much you love them, and you’ll be left with a more coherent piece of art. But concision cuts both ways: short works are often cheaper to make and more commercially viable, offering something easily digestible to a wider number of people. In the music industry, short, radio-friendly (and now TikTok-friendly) two-and-a-half-minute songs often dominate the charts. As Beyoncé famously lamented in her 2013 docume ..read more

There are few universal rules for what makes good writing, but one has long persisted: kill your darlings. Cut the flourishes that don’t meaningfully add to the greater work, no matter how much you love them, and you’ll be left with a more coherent piece of art. But concision cuts both ways: short works are often cheaper to make and more commercially viable, offering something easily digestible to a wider number of people. In the music industry, short, radio-friendly (and now TikTok-friendly) two-and-a-half-minute songs often dominate the charts. As Beyoncé famously lamented in her 2013 docume ..read more

A 16-year-old boy from Dartmoor is talking about what it means to be a man. He is aware of a “golden figure that all men should be like”.  He has a “high-paying job”, a “good body”, is “tall”. In About the Boys, Catherine Carr talks to teenagers about “being a man”. There are adults interviewed here – a Welsh former gang member turned social worker,  an academic studying male role models, a cricket coach – but this series is best when it lets the boys speak, uninterrupted, without judgement. What does “becoming a man” mean to them? Does it inspire excitement, or dread? Success and achieve ..read more

MPs have voted to back Rishi Sunak’s progressive smoking ban. Can it work? The Tobacco & Vapes Bill includes new legislation to increase the smoking age by one year, every year, banning the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 1st January 2009. MPs have voted the bill through its second reading and it is now in the committee stage. The tobacco firm Philip Morris International have pledged to move away from selling cigarettes, and instead focus on heated tobacco products. In this episode, Becky Slack is joined by Dr Moira Gilchrist of Philip Morris International, to discuss the company’s ..read more

On Friday 3 May, Rishi Sunak will enter the danger zone. The local election results will be in and they will be, in all probability, ghastly. For those Tory MPs who want to remove him, this is their moment. They might not get a second chance. Sunak’s team evidently recognise this. It is no coincidence that the last few days have seen a flurry of activity. One criticism often made about the Prime Minister is that he is too passive, that he fails to set the agenda. In recent days, however, we have had the parliamentary vote on the smoking ban, new policies on welfare reform, the passing of the R ..read more

When Olaf Scholz criticised the European Union during a visit to China earlier this month it seemed like a gaffe. The German chancellor warned the EU not to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars. A few days later, at a summit in Brussels, he doubled down by criticising the Union for its lack of success in concluding free-trade agreements. He is clearly not happy with Brussels. Chinese state media was unsurprisingly full of praise of Scholz’s courage to break with the Western establishment. Can he possibly succeed in shifting EU positions? I don’t think so, but this will be the next big battl ..read more

In recent years, the mere mention of Britain’s railways has prompted grim laughter. For too many commuters, the simple act of travelling to work has become an arduous odyssey characterised by repeated delays, cancellations and overcrowding. The woman who has vowed to end this farce is Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary. “We know the current model has completely failed,” Haigh said when we met in her parliamentary office in Portcullis House, Westminster. “What we’ve seen from our research with voters, particularly Tory voters or ex-Tory voters, is that they now see it as a symbol ..read more

In recent years, the mere mention of Britain’s railways has prompted grim laughter. For too many commuters, the simple act of travelling to work has become an arduous odyssey characterised by repeated delays, cancellations and overcrowding. The woman who has vowed to end this farce is Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary. “We know the current model has completely failed,” Haigh said when we met in her parliamentary office in Portcullis House, Westminster. “What we’ve seen from our research with voters, particularly Tory voters or ex-Tory voters, is that they now see it as a symbol ..read more