tomabacon.bsky.social
Head of Screen Rant's Star Wars coverage. A lifelong fan of superhero comics and films, with a love of in-depth analysis!
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Wait, what? I missed this hahahah
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Worth noting the studio isn't releasing these numbers; we know them because the show was filmed in the U.K. to get tax breaks. Under our tax rules, more information must be public domain in order to get those tax breaks.
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Let's face it, they know they've been sent there purely for the cameras. They're not expecting to find anything more.
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The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let's see how this plays out. /end
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In truth, I don't think there's any way any government could be popular right now. We're in too much of a mess, and fixing it is going to take time. So I agree with that general assessment. /30
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Starmer expects this to be a government of two halves: first half unpopular due to trying to rebuild things, a costly and time-consuming project... followed by a second half that's more about - well, forgive the jargon - "delivery." His hope is that the latter period will win people over. /29
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All in all, I'm quite pleased with this. It feels like a genuine program of government, with specific and measurable targets so they can be held to account. It's a relief to see, after years with no real government. /27
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Does this mean Brexit isn't damaging? No. Does it mean we'll need to address it in the end? Yes. But I don't believe we're in a fit place to do so now, because doing so would lead to a myopia that prevented anything else happening. /26
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Brexit sucked up all political oxygen in the room for a long time. Reopen it, and that will happen again. The state we're in is partly because we had government doing nothing but Brexit. /25
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Some will no doubt be frustrated because Brexit isn't mentioned here. Bluntly: there's a reason. Whether you like it or not, Starmer believes there is no public appetite for Brexit to be reopened. /24
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Looking through the rest of the document, we're further away from things I've done much thought on, and I'm wary of commenting; I'll discuss environment later, in more detail. What I would note? Actual targets, ways of measuring success. Very unusual in British politics. /23
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Some of Labour's proposals may help here, but I think they're missing the point a little in this one. /22
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We've had a drumbeat of police failings for a long, long time. The Met in particular is appalling. Personally, I think increasing concern over crime is tied to decreasing TRUST in the police, not just officer numbers. /21
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Next there's a stress on the police recruitment and crime. Still solid targets. Personally, I feel another issue is being ignored: TRUST in the police. /20
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Interestingly, Labour stress how to evaluate their success; can they get the NHS back to its target of 92% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment? It hasn't been hit in a long time. /19
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The government plan three "big reform shifts," which will be central to a 10 Year Health Plan - to be published in spring next year. These will all be challenging to implement; we're talking significant change here. /18
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On to the NHS! Immediate focus on timely access to care, a massive issue. Labour stress the point that an unhealthy workfore has an economic impact, meaning the NHS' struggles have significant consequences. /17
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A new National Planning Framework is to be published by the end of this year. That's how quickly he wants to get things moving again. We'll see whether it happens - the proof of the pudding is in the eating. /16
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There are very ambitious targets here. Note they're "by the end of this Parliament" - Starmer expects to have to fight through for a while to get this moving. He's probably right. /15
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We then move on to housebuilding, and Starmer links this to failures in the planning system. Interestingly, this was something the Tories identified too, but they were unable to agree what to do about it. /14
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I do have huge concerns that the "fundamentals" stressed here aren't as bright as Labour say. "World-class universities," for example, are struggling. /13
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There's a focus on pursuing business investment, which makes sense given government simply doesn't have the necessary funds to do what needs to be done. /12
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Interestingly, there are hints of the Johnson "Levelling Up" strategy running through this section - the idea that growth is unequally distributed in terms of geography. But it feels rather more fleshed-out. /11
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How is this to be measured? In living standards, most importantly of all. Starmer wants living standards to improve, which will be the felt impact of his government by the end of his term in office. /10
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Moving to economic policy... Economic growth is then defined as the number one mission of this government, the thing Starmer wants to be judged by. /9
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There's a stress on "the path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence," which is good. I know the Tories made a bigger commitment to get there quicker in the election, but theirs was unfunded. /8
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Notice Labour's commitment to multilateralism, which is important at a time when multilateralism is coming under attack - and, when Trump takes power, will continue to do so. /7
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The stress on national security feels needed. It's still disturbing that the last Defence Review happened under Johnson, pre-Ukraine invasion - and Johnson defended it by saying the age of tank warfare in Europe was over. /6
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I'm not a fan of Starmer's approach to the borders. I'd prefer stressing the creation of actual safe routes for asylum seekers. Still, at least Starmer is working on an actual functional asylum system rather than the mess that was left. /5
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I'm pleased to see a stress on boosting economic resilience. This will be difficult; Brexit fundamentally reduced our resilience, a background issue in all the turmoil we've faced. /4
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This theme subtly runs through the whole section, implicitly acknowledging that political instability is a major cause of economic instability in the UK. Notice the commitment to "one major fiscal event a year." /3
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The first mission: economic stability. It's not stressed, but there's a subtle implication here that a precondition of economic stability... is political stability. No more constant swapping & changing of PMs. /2
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Absolutely :)
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Agreed. I'm also concerned about another question: Why are the farmers selling so much? What's actually going on in the industry?
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I freely admit, after looking into the stats, I was left shaken. I had no idea British farming was in quite this bad shape. /end
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Remember: 400,000 hectares of agricultural land were taken out of use for farming IN THE LAST YEAR. We can't allow that to continue, and so IHT reform seems like it's needed - to protect the industry. /18
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The current IHT rules have helped family farms run for a long time. Now, they have become one of several things that are killing off the farming industry. There's a very strong case for reform here imo. /17
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After looking into these stats, I suspect Labour made a mistake. They argued for their IHT changes simply as a result of the Tories' economic mismanagement, when in reality there's a very different case that can be made. /16
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Now, I should add I do feel Labour is in trouble politically here. We have a romanticized vision of how country life works. The problem is the mental image most people have of farming... is out of date. /15