Former politico, comment writer, spread betting dealer, editor, now think tanker, consultant, former baker of overly dense loaves.https://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrn57xz4fk27I've started Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams as my fun non fiction book and after that first chapter all I want to know is whether she could possibly have forgiven her parents and if so, how.27 Jul 2026 14:47 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrn57xz4fk27https://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrkgb44ets2pEvery few years I get to re-enjoy my astonishment at how bureaucratic the business of hiring a car is. How the people at the booth spend more time than would be needed to arrange a complex mortgage.26 Jul 2026 12:50 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrkgb44ets2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrjs3bflxc2pProust in the age of TikTok - https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/2bc7e955-bf58-4d9a-ae78-2b44dd092ec2 what a lovely piece by @joshspero.ft.com I've been mulling whether Proust's is one of the great novels I should reread* in the handful of decades I have left. This persuades! *actually only finished four volumes in 199626 Jul 2026 06:49 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrjs3bflxc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrilxnpsas2pInside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/us/politics/trump-air-force-one-security.html?smid=bs-share Staggering waste and nonsense throughout25 Jul 2026 19:27 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrilxnpsas2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mriics2xvs2kmy much smaller cat used to do this too. my schnauzer at the time, not so much. The family is still ashamed of this [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 Jul 2026 18:22 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mriics2xvs2khttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mridahr3as2p"a continent that struggles to export cars or chemicals now gets its dollars and yuan by enticing foreigners to come over and spend on its shores instead" https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/07/23/dismissing-europe-as-a-museum-is-glib-think-of-it-as-a-theme-park This is very confusing, The Economist, which surely knows that : EUROPE RUNS A TRADE SURPLUS. 1/25 Jul 2026 16:51 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mridahr3as2phttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrhfdntr5s2jIn response to the EU taxing American companies, he threatens to tax American consumers. - https://www.ft.com/content/9b819dfc-8248-4aa5-b670-3a14d05f252e?shareType=nongift via @financialtimes.com 🤪25 Jul 2026 07:56 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhfdntr5s2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrhduct4cc2j"Functional information-processing taking place in an atemporal mathematical space is so utterly unlike the lived intelligence of a human being that to call it “intelligence” at all is to wholly falsify its nature." https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/b81c8eab-e69b-492b-84fc-6a91976224bd25 Jul 2026 07:29 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhduct4cc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrhbpxgric2jIt amazes me how much news, commentary and analysis boils down to people reminding one another in the newspaper that tax, spending and borrowing must all come in line over some kind of pathway. https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/5fc3f06b-5914-43e9-8581-b873a52d09bc25 Jul 2026 06:51 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhbpxgric2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrfxqoa2yk2jhttps://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/industrial-strategy-what-andy-burnham-should-do#footnoteref22_hqrebu3 I've written a long blog introducing the Burnham lot to the Modern Industrial Strategy (MIS2025) that it's their honour to wrestle with. Lots to say....0/24 Jul 2026 18:20 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfxqoa2yk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrfvfkw6pk2jIt's encouraging that the Burnham era hasn't begun with any breathless profiles of (usually self defined) Guru spads with their unique vision of creating a Big Society/Joseph Chamberlain's Birmingham/the Brexit Manhattan project. They tend not to bode well24 Jul 2026 17:38 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfvfkw6pk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrfvbilfuk2jhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/well/measles-record-united-states-numbers.html?smid=nytcore-android-share "More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined." Nice one, MAHA24 Jul 2026 17:36 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrfvbilfuk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrdp5ecyzs24Skyla's anatidaephobia really triggered23 Jul 2026 20:41 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrdp5ecyzs24https://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mrdcwlcm7s24"Political professionalism is not just about communications, though its importance is often bafflingly dismissed. It is also about having a clear theory of politics and a project." Really good piece from start to finish [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Jul 2026 17:02 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrdcwlcm7s24https://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mra5yij7ak2xAI has not been "powering the US economy" in the crude sense that some people think https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-ai-buildout-and-the-economy-publicly-available-data-to-assess-ais-impact-20260717.html22 Jul 2026 10:56 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mra5yij7ak2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mra4vvd3l22pstep 1. realise that economies are not car engines step 2. conclude from this that "kickstarting" them is not a useful metaphor [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 Jul 2026 10:36 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mra4vvd3l22phttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mra4elln4c2swas reminded today, to my alarm, of how in 2024 the Industrial Strategy Green Paper listed "Competition" as one of the problems impeding investment that HMG might want to tackle https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/invest-2035-the-uks-modern-industrial-strategy/invest-2035-the-uks-modern-industrial-strategy22 Jul 2026 10:27 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mra4elln4c2shttps://bsky.app/profile/gilesyb.bsky.social/post/3mr7wbw2k5c2vWhat's the difference between an Industrial Strategy and a collection of 300 policy things that can just be loosely described as being part of some whole? What turns a collection into an actual strategy? Sorry, these are the pointless thoughts I'm mostly keeping to myself, thought I'd share22 Jul 2026 08:38 +0000at://did:plc:cdklqekun5o7gvz4sbujp3b3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr7wbw2k5c2v