Politics and policy across the EU, the UK and Malta
I write about the decisions that shape ordinary life across three systems I know well: the European Union, the United Kingdom and Malta. The economy and housing, governance and institutions, Europe and the single market, education, and the rules now being written for technology. No party lines on the open pages. The case is always made on the evidence.
Purpose
Excellence in how we are governed. Policy judged on whether it works, not how it sounds. The best ideas in the world, brought home.
I built this site around one belief: that politics and policy are at their best when they are judged on outcomes rather than slogans, and treated as one connected whole. My focus is excellence in how we are governed, real, practical, measurable, across the economy and housing, institutions and accountability, education, and the rules now being written for technology.
I read three systems against each other, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Malta, and I look outward as much as inward, drawing on the best policy I can find anywhere in the world, then asking what it would take to make it work here. The aim is simple: better decisions, stronger institutions, and a willingness to keep learning from whoever is governing best.
The single market, competitiveness and regulation, from the AI Act to the case for a bigger, smarter Union.
UKGovernance, the economy, and the gap between the country on paper and the one people feel.
MTHousing, education and growth on an island that keeps leaving its own advantages unused.
Britain and Malta grew their economies by growing their populations. It flatters the headline and barely moves output per person. Real growth can come from productivity, participation and investment, but it is slower and harder.
Europe's AI rulebook has just been loosened and pushed back. For a small state like Malta, the delay is a window to build the capacity to implement well, not an excuse to do nothing.
England's biggest local-government shake-up in fifty years is called devolution. Tested against subsidiarity, a good part of it is centralisation wearing the language of its opposite.
Sponsor
Some arguments land harder as a picture. A running series on politics and policy, in Malta and the UK.
Labour debates how to save the government
The first projection of 2026: a Reform majority bigger than every other party put together
Fourteen months in, the lowest approval any Prime Minister has had in fifty years
Video worth your time on politics and policy: pieces from other channels, and my own.
A clear primer on the Union edging towards a multi-speed Europe, where groups of member states integrate at different paces. Useful background to where a small state like Malta sits as the EU changes shape.
A snapshot of how fast the mood inside a governing party can shift, and what a 2024 landslide is actually worth eighteen months on.
Bloomberg totals up the wider economic cost of Brexit, for Britain and beyond. Sharing is not endorsement of every figure, just of a debate the UK still has not honestly closed.
Why the oil price spike everyone predicted never arrived, and what that says about energy, sanctions and the economics of the current US administration.
The wider backdrop to Malta's own demographic squeeze: why fertility is falling across rich countries at the same time, and how closely it tracks housing, costs and the age of independence.
A documentary argument about the money and interests behind Brexit, and how decisions of that scale get shaped. Sharing is not endorsement of every claim, just of the questions it raises.
Three weeks after leaving the cabinet, the former Health Secretary gives a blistering critique of Starmer and weighs his own leadership ambitions.
An Anthropic co-founder on why he is uneasy about what he is building, who is really in charge of AI, and whether governments can still regulate it.
The economist behind Labour’s original growth pitch argues markets should serve society and makes the case for mission-driven government.
Mazzucato makes the case for “common good” economics: pre-distribution over re-distribution, and whether that means fewer billionaires.
Why this site
Headlines move fast and explain little. I write slower pieces that take one decision at a time, set out the trade-offs honestly, and show the working. You will not always agree with me. You will always see how I got there.
More about my approachGrowth, productivity, jobs, the cost of living, and what actually moves them.
02Schools, training, lifelong learning, and skills as national infrastructure.
03The EU single market, regulation, and Malta’s place inside both.
04Rule of law, public administration, accountability, and trust.
05Civil society, work and wellbeing, technology, and the social fabric.
06The centre-right case, made openly, for Malta and the UK.
