I wrote this for Politico Europe, but they weren’t interested after much editing about. Apparently there were too many charts. A clear statement about migration, says Theresa May of the vote for Brexit. The last thing you’ll find in the data is clarity. Or migration. There has been a wealth of efforts to understand Brexit…
Read More A clear statement about migrationPicking up on a tip from Jo Mitchell’s excellent post here, I replotted the data in the previous post using the Leave lead in votes, rather than percentage terms. This is, of course, appropriate because referendums aren’t counted in terms of parliamentary constituencies. Also, this means that tiny outlier constituencies – looking at you, South…
Read More A Brexit charts tipI spent Wobbly Weekend 2: The Wobbling, in part, going through the effects of a deceased relative. I guess it was the right weekend for it; it wasn’t going to depress me any more. Anyway, we found this envelope of briefing documents, dated 1963 at the earliest. A reminder, I think, that things could be…
Read More Something cheerful to take your mind off itWhat worries me about the referendum is the trust. Every poll I can think of shows people on the Leave side claiming they trust no-one. At the same time, Nigel Farage says smoking is just the best for your health and the official Vote Leave campaign issues maps suggesting Iraq and Syria are candidates for…
Read More Leave: the biggest 419 e-mail everTwo exhibitions on Saturday: Calder at the Tate and Big Bang Data at Somerset House. There was something I didn’t like about both. Calder’s curators are apparently convinced that none of the motorised works can be allowed to run in case something terrible happens. Weirdly, they don’t draw the matching conclusion and weld the mobiles…
Read More Software is not a painting.Has anyone else noticed all the signs of change? Of course, it’s terrible. None of us is getting any younger. That isn’t quite what I mean, though. I mean signs, signage, graphic design in the public realm. There are a hell of a lot around that say something like X – it could be benefits,…
Read More #ischanging: the KEEP CALM of the future 2010s revivalThis BBC interview between Jeremy Paxman and David Bowie has gone viral, and with good reason. Partly this is because Bowie’s remarks about the Internet were prophetic and funny. But it is also fascinating for what it shows us about Paxman. It is only too obvious that Paxman knew nothing, literally nothing, of what he…
Read More Paxman is Ziggy Stardust.If this Yorkshire Evening Post piece is at all accurate, Leeds RLFC is in the stone age and deeply irresponsible. The former Gold Coast Titans rake was knocked out twice in Rhinos’ Boxing Day defeat by Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and did not feature after the 35th minute. But the hooker insisted there is no long-lasting…
Read More Really, Leeds?So, over Christmas I’ve been reading David Lough’s No More Champagne: Churchill and his Money. I can’t really recommend this book enough. Financial biography or rather biography by finance is a genre, I think, with quite a bit of potential. Money talks, but it rarely lies. Lough points out that Churchill’s switchback from the Tories,…
Read More Other People’s Yachts: Churchill and his Money, or Lack of ItI imagine we’re going to be in for quite a few of these, so let’s get in quick. As Daniel Davies allegedly wrote: Many people will use this terrible tragedy as an excuse to put through a political agenda other than my own. This tawdry abuse of human suffering for political gain sickens me to…
Read More Why the floods mean you should support my politics