Joel Budd
Journalist at the Economist, writing about life in Britain. Author of "Underdogs".
- Not sure anyone was listening, but this speech by Keir Starmer yesterday was deeply strange on the subject of immigrants and integration. The bit about the Windrush generation is especially bizarre. www.gov.uk/government/s...
- Reposted by Joel BuddWhole column here if you like reading column www.economist.com/britain/2026...
- A strange side-effect of the UK government's attempt to make local democracy more efficient: a rash of new councils. They are more powerful than they look. www.economist.com/britain/2026...
- Reposted by Joel BuddThe international development community isn’t adapting fast enough to official aid cuts. That’s a big problem: www.africanistperspective.com/p/the-intern...
- Reposted by Joel BuddNew Swingometer post now out - my look at the Gorton and Denton by-election, taking place down the road from me swingometer.substack.com/p/the-gorton...
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- And on London’s much-abused mayor. I think he’s popular partly because, whereas his predecessors represented London stereotypes, Khan represents Londoners as they actually are. www.economist.com/britain/2026...
- On London’s surprisingly poor economic performance www.economist.com/britain/2026...
- Reposted by Joel BuddMy story, written this morning from Minneapolis, is part of The Economist's cover package this week Inside the movement challenging—and disrupting—ICE www.economist.com/united-state...
- ChatGPT is so fantastically lazy. Like a recalcitrant child. "Would you like me to do more than you could have achieved through a simple Google search?" Er, no thanks.
- Reposted by Joel BuddReally happy this work with @fraraffaelli.bsky.social found a home at EJPR. We show that growing up at times of high salience of immigration produces cohorts of voters who are more likely to vote for parties that they agree with specifically on immigration. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Reposted by Joel BuddReally good to see @yougov transitioning to using an occupational measure of social class (ns-sec) but it is worth adding that by far the strongest occupational class pattern is in non-voting.
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- Bit of architectural awesomeness for Sunday. Clifton (Catholic) Cathedral in Bristol, by Ronald Weeks, who really liked hexagons. Recently restored and looks great.
- Reposted by Joel BuddThe latest USoc wave lets us split out the Covid years from what came after. So striking that they look the same! Average mental ill health (based on a general screening instrument) is no better now than during the lockdown years, at any age. @alexbryson.bsky.social @dannyblanchy.bsky.social
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- This isn't the worst academic paper I have ever read, but I think it might be the most annoying. Important question, pioneering research, great data, incomprehensible conclusion. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Joel BuddOn my way to Florence, where I will be presenting at the EUI's PBC @behaviour-eui.bsky.social a project co-authored w/ @leonardocarella.bsky.social We show that (anti-immigration) 🇬🇧🇮🇹 people 'update' their social identity when primed with narratives pitting immigrants against other social groups
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- Also: the proportion of Londoners who say they feel safe on the streets at night is the same as elsewhere in England. (Yes, yes, the proportion should be higher, etc.)
- I was worried about what this says about British people until it occurred to me that treasure is implicitly old. A doubloon is treasure, a Bitcoin is not treasure.
- The “weather bomb” is not very impressive in Hertfordshire. More of a weather squelch.
- Happy new year to all, but especially to cat owners. Last night I walked into the living room to find a bird's head, lots of feathers and an innocent-looking feline--but no wings or feet anywhere. This morning I was miaowed awake at six.
- I’m sticking to my unfashionable theory that if Britain’s economy was consistently growing by 3% a year, the government would be decently popular and Nigel Farage would be a gadfly rather than a prime minister in waiting. www.ft.com/content/1995...
- This is a great piece, with the Indian officer class living up to its brandy-sipping reputation.
- Saw so many people in LA who I vaguely recognised but couldn't place that I conceived the idea of an app for recognising celebrities, a bit like Shazam is for music. Anyone who makes one, cut me in please.
- Many of these scan terribly! The correct version, which ends “Kojak lost his lollipop on the M1 motorway”, simply sounds better.
- For your collective delectation this holiday season: Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!) loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
- The Australianisation of Britain’s suburbs looms! I would guess that people will be keen to build in their gardens. Britons think of themselves as keen gardeners but most aren’t. My suburban neighbours think I’m an expert because I can name a dozen or so common plants. www.ft.com/content/3f73...
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- Reposted by Joel BuddYou hear sometimes - including from senior figures in government - that Reform has hit a "ceiling" as its polling plateaus. That seems unlikely. Bit on fascinating new research from @profjanegreen.bsky.social and Marta Miori www.economist.com/briefing/202...
- Good reporting on far-right activism in Kent here. Check out the responses to the council's Facebook post, in which people excuse aggression and vandalism if it makes a point about immigrants.
- I’m never quite sure whether New York is especially good at creating characters like this or especially good at creating journalism like this. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/s...
- Two findings here, which apply to other cultural changes too. 1. Some things just don’t change much, sorry. 2. The biggest changes are among women. Please stop going on about men all the time. www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...
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- My favourite genre turns out to be alternative country, sometimes known as “y’allternative”, per Wikipedia. Very pleased with that.
- The first British political party to promise to cut the price of a first-class stamp to below one pound will win 600 seats in Parliament. If only for December, 550 seats.
- Forecast for the politics of migration in Britain: 2025: numbers fall, polls static 2026: numbers fall, businesses complain, polls move slightly 2027: rows between Treasury and Home Office 2028: slight policy loosening 2029: numbers rise; "Labour loses control of migration"; general election
- A government led by an admirer of Harold Wilson could be on course for Wilson-era levels of net migration.
- Yesterday, while I was raiding the Business and Finance food cupboard, someone mentioned this column. They suggested I should reflect on my behaviour. I replied that I would eat first and reflect later, possibly. www.economist.com/business/202...
- Here I attempt to answer a simple question: which country is most like Britain? www.economist.com/britain/2025...
- Ooh, yes please. Suggestion to newspaper editors: run a picture of Sonny Sharrock in every other issue. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
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- Reposted by Joel BuddStarmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...
- For those wanting a break from Britain's budget www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/n...
- As a resident, I endorse a four-part split: 1: The Future (all the new towns and garden cities). 2: The Past (St Albans, Harpenden, Hitchin). 3: Basically London. 4: Basically Essex. Some heroic gerrymandering required but it would be worth it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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- At once amazingly irresponsible and oddly carefully placed www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
- This piece seems to conflate two things: businesses involved in crime, and businesses run by immigrants. The author describes Housam’s, a homewares shop on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough, as “the only original store I could find”. Across the road… www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
- A good account of how and why a leading academic can go bad. I can think of a few parallels.
