The polity that is the UK

There is no doubt that the past 14 years has seen miserable progress on living standards. Real household disposable income per person has flatlined in the UK since the 2019 election, compared with roughly 2 per cent annual growth in most parliaments since the second world war. More interesting is the distribution of income changes over the past five years and the whole period the Conservatives have led government since 2010.

Despite a huge rise in food bank use and cuts to social security for working-age households, the surprise is that it is the poorest households that have done better than the rest of the UK.

Better is a relative measure, however. Taking detailed income data up to 2022-23 and updating this with known trends thereafter, the Resolution Foundation finds that only the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution saw any real income gains in the latest parliament.

Here is more from Chris Giles at the FT.  Samir Varma sends me this link about problems with British driving school and the resulting fees and queues.  By the way, the SNP is likely to lose three-quarters of its seats in Scotland (FT).  And how small a group of party voters will be necessary to mount a challenge to Reform Party leadership?  Will there be a core?