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Robert Colvile Profile picture
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18 Nov, 4 tweets, 2 min read
What gives life meaning? Everyone says 'family'. The British are almost the only ones to add 'hobbies'... pewresearch.org/global/2021/11… Image
On the family, I wrote this for @thesundaytimes about how it's a weirdly neglected political topic. More evidence for the prosecution thetimes.co.uk/article/we-nee…
Generally though we do seem like a bunch of softies. 'Occupation' further down, 'material well-being' not in the top five. We're also among those really keen on nature... Image
As a commenter points out, the US is the only place to mention 'faith' high up...

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More from @rcolvile

Robert Colvile Profile picture
16 Nov
On Monday, @CPSThinkTank hosts the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Trade at the Guildhall, with @cityoflondon, @HSBC & @Telegraph. The cast list is so impressive, and the case for booking a ticket so overwhelming, it needs an honest-to-god thread. (1/?) tickettailor.com/events/cpseven…
First up: Lord Spencer, @City_McGuinness, Ian Stuart of @HSBC_UK.

Next: Keynote from Trade Secretary @annietrev.

Then: @alanwwolff, until recently deputy DG of @wto
First panel: Lord Mandelson, Crawford Falconer, Susan Schwab, @ShankerASingham, Creon Butler. Such a concentration of trade expertise the stage may implode.

Next: @AusHCUK, @stephaniebeck19, @bouverat, @AnthonyMangnal1, Lord Strathclyde.
Read 5 tweets
Robert Colvile Profile picture
15 Nov
Striking new charts from @ONS on who's not been jabbed - short answer, young people and ethnic minorities (1/?) ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati…
This is likelihood to have been jabbed for 18-34s and 34-64s
Among 18-34s there's also a clear gender divide. (Yes, men are awful.)
Read 5 tweets
Robert Colvile Profile picture
10 Nov
Some new stats from @ONS today on energy efficiency of housing which make clear how ambitious/costly Net Zero is going to be in this area. Direction of travel is to ban renting/make mortgages harder below EPC Band C - ie below 69/100 ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulati… Image
The FT pointed out a few days ago that bringing all homes up to Band C by the 2035 target would cost £330bn. Ouch. ft.com/content/1d009a…
Even just bringing a home from Band D to Band C costs £6,472 on average, according to Savills - but saves only £179 in energy costs. Some hard decisions ahead about how ambitious we are - and who pays...
Read 4 tweets
Robert Colvile Profile picture
8 Nov
Fascinating new @CPSThinkTank report out today on the value of university. Worth reading the whole thing but quick thread to summarise (1/?) cps.org.uk/research/the-v…
The university system is a priceless national asset. But there is a significant long tail of courses that aren't delivering for their students - because universities are incentivised to maximise quantity of recruits rather than quality of outcomes for them.
.@TheIFS (who have done a lot of the work on this) estimate that 20% of students are actively worse off financially for going to university. This is obviously concentrated among particular courses/institutions. Here's lifetime return by course
Read 21 tweets
Robert Colvile Profile picture
31 Oct
It’s tempting to analyse the Budget as a one-off. But as I argue in my column today, last week was part of an inexorable process - the transformation of Britain into an elderly care system with a state attached. (1/) thetimes.co.uk/article/the-bu…
Part of the story here is obviously about Covid. Like all the rest of us, the state put on weight during the pandemic - and like all the rest of us, it’s finding it hard to lose.
A big part of the jump in spending in the new figures is the Treasury admitting that the pandemic is not a meteor but an asteroid. Under the original plan, departmental spending was meant to drop back to pre-pandemic levels. But (Adam Curtis voice) that was always a fantasy.
Read 17 tweets
Robert Colvile Profile picture
30 Oct
I don’t want to say kids have it easy these days, but they let you take out 20 books at the local library. 20! I spent hours of my childhood agonising over which to spend my five precious blue tickets on.
I think it says pretty much everything about me as a child that my starting to go into the local town, and then into Oxford, was driven largely by an overwhelming desire to access bigger library collections.
Wrote about my pash for the village library and its Asterix collection back when the cuts started telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/…
Read 4 tweets

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