Latest news with #Klein
New Statesman
3 hours ago
- Business
- New Statesman
Labour needs an abundance mindset
Photo byIt once looked like Keir Starmer was going to be a pro-growth prime minister. Alas. It seems increasingly obvious that the government isn't committed enough to the reforms that are needed. The problems run deep. Growth and productivity have been slow, nearly flat, since 2008. The housing shortage in London and the south-east is getting worse. Cambridge is an economic powerhouse thanks to scientific research. But planning rules means there is no spare laboratory space. We cannot build any. We produce far less energy than France, and it costs a lot more. Cities like Manchester ought to be flourishing, but productivity is far lower in British cities than in other countries. Outside London, we are sluggish. A hundred years ago, Birmingham was a rival power to the capitol; today it is bankrupt and wretched. The reason is simple. We have too many rules that make everything too complicated and too slow. The tallest building outside of London was going to be built in Manchester but the process has been stalled because of an administrative error. An application to build a mansard roof on a house in Lambeth was rejected by the council because the house would 'dominate' the local area which is of 'low-scale character.' Imagine the horror of a discrete third floor in a two-floor neighbourhood! To get planning permission for a twenty-home development, developers must provide things like an Aviation Impact Assessment and a Public Art Strategy, among many others. Remember, this is before planning permission. In 2013 there was a proposal to build three nuclear reactors in Wales. Four of these exact reactors are already working in Japan, where they have been proven safe during significant earthquakes. Works in Progress reported that the Office for Nuclear Regulation demanded design changes for four and a half years. The aim was to reduce the amount of radiation being discharged. And they succeeded. The radiation was reduced by the amount that 'a human ingests when they consume a banana.' The planning permission alone for the Lower Thames Crossing was twice as expensive as an actual tunnel in Norway. If the government is going to fix this, it needs to get radical. In the USA, the need for similar reforms have become much more prominent recently thanks to Abundance, written by the journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. They argue that the American left is too concerned with blocking development. Worried that even something simple like building a toilet in a public park has become expensive and complicated, they argue for deregulation. This is a major shift on the American left from writers at the New York Times and the Atlantic. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe As Klein points out, what matters is the default. France is doing better than the UK on this because the default is that it is easier to build. Klein and Thompson have started the important work of reframing what seem like neo-liberal economic concerns into political reality. If Britain wants to be a country with a generous welfare system, it needs to be a country that actually builds enough decent homes for people. If we want to be a country that has excellent hospitals, we need cheap energy to run them. If we want Britain to thrive outside of London, we need the trains, roads, and laboratories to enable that thriving. If we want to have good jobs for working people, we need to have enough homes for them to live where they need to work. If we want our provincial cities to flourish, they need to be able to build transport infrastructure without spending an expensive decade in regulatory review. If we want energy bills to be cheaper for working families, we need to spend less than four years reducing the amount of radiation from a nuclear reactor by a literal banana's worth. We need this attitude shift in Britain. And fast. Apparently a lot of people in Labour are reading Abundance. And yet the government is planning to control where pensions are invested 'for the benefit of the economy.' America has the abundance movement. We have central planning for pension schemes. It will lead to lower returns, disincentivising savings. It's also deeply illiberal. Instead of building roads the government thinks it can plan my pension from Whitehall. Get real! And yet, as the economist Sam Bowman says, Britain is fixable. We don't need to invent anything. We simply need to build trams, homes, and energy plants like they do in other countries. The Democrats are waking up to the importance of this across the Atlantic. It is time for Labour to make the same shift. As well as Bowman, people like Ben Southwood, Samuel Hughes, Tim Leunig, Sam Dumitriu and Britain Remade, Stian Westlake, and many others are all working to raise these issues to the attention of policy makers and the public. But progress is slow. The government probably isn't going to do what is necessary. Ambitious talk of planning reform has become the petty chorus of telling developers to 'get on with it.' Rachel Reeves has promised more than a hundred billion of capital spending. This is as much as the government spends on debt repayment every year, which now costs more than Universal Credit. And spending all of that money is not much use if it all goes down the perpetual sink-hole of regulation and approvals. Despite the extent of the problems, the government is more interested in adjusting the ISA rules. This is destructive in itself, but while there is so much that needs doing, it is truly fiddling while Rome burns. There's another reason for the left to become more like Ezra Klein. Soon there won't be another option. If Starmer doesn't start ripping up the rule book, someone else will do it. Sooner or later, reform will come. Taxes and spending can only rise for so long while growth remains stagnant. And another decade of low productivity, low GDP-per-capita growth, not enough houses, energy infrastructure, roads, or reservoirs, and an over burdensome tax-and-spend regime to cap it all, will leave us requiring more and more radical reform. The longer the government runs a deficit (while already spending so much on debt repayments) without improving the economy, the more unavoidable the solution will become. Left long enough, that will mean another Margaret Thatcher. Sooner or later, there really will be no alternative. If Starmer wants to avoid empowering a new Thatcher as his eventual successor, he should take a lead from Klein and Thompson and act now. [See also: Why George Osborne still runs Britain] Related
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein prediction, pick, start time for UFC on ESPN 68
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein prediction, pick, start time for UFC on ESPN 68 Mateusz Gamrot and Ludovit Klein meet Saturday in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 68 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. Last event: 3-1 UFC main cards, 2025: 46-39-1 Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein UFC on ESPN 68 preview Gamrot (24-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) aims to rebound from a Fight of the Night war against Dan Hooker, which he narrowly lost by split deciison. Prior to the setback, Gamrot was on a three-fight winning streak, in which he took out Jalin Turner, Rafael Fiziev and Rafael dos Anjos. Currently ranked No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY/MMA Junkie lightweight rankings, Gamrot faces an unranked opponent. ... Klein (23-4-1 MMA, 7-2-1 UFC) gets a big step up in competition. Having not experienced defeat in seven fights, Klein has picked up six wins and one draw on his current run, including three victories last year. Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein UFC on ESPN 68 expert pick, prediction The co-main event in Las Vegas features a lightweight showdown between Gamrot and Klein. Despite Klein deserving a solid step up in competition, this feels like a big step down for Gamrot, given his arguable relevance in the division. Sure, the Polish fighter is coming off of an upset loss to Dan Hooker last year, but it was an incredibly close and competitive contest that saw an upper-class journeyman combine all his veteran skills and doggedness to have his day. Perhaps Klein could have his day here, but he's never faced a wrestling or pace threat at the level of Gamrot before. And though Klein looks to have incredibly strong hips to fuel his solid first layer of takedown defense, he's also an athlete who hates extended exchanges considering his need for pockets to recoup. So, unless Klein can catch Gamrot with a nasty front teep or check hook early, then I suspect that the Polish fighter will use the smaller octagon to create the cartoonish scramble-fests he's accustomed to. Add in the fact that Gamrot is officially 5-0 when fighting inside the Apex and stands 4-1-1 against UFC-level southpaws, and I can't help but side with Gamrot to remind the masses with a submission win in Round 2. Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein UFC on ESPN 68 odds The oddsmakers and the public favor the Polish fighter, listing Gamrot -168 and Klein +136 via FanDuel. Mateusz Gamrot vs. Ludovit Klein UFC on ESPN 68 start time, how to watch As the co-main event, Gamrot and Klein are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 11:40 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts on ESPN+.
New York Post
2 days ago
- General
- New York Post
250 million bees escape after semi-truck overturns in Washington State: ‘Don't go anywhere near them'
'Bee' on alert. Roughly 250 million bees escaped into the wild when a commercial semi-truck rolled over in Washington state, prompting officials to warn locals to stay away from the area. The truck was hauling 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives when it overturned in a rural part of Whatcom County, just north of Seattle near the Canadian border, around 4 a.m. Friday, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office. 6 Millions of bees broke free after a semi-truck overturned in Washington state. KOMO News The bees broke free around 9 a.m. when the hives 'came off' the truck. Residents were urged to avoid the area and keep their distance by at least 200 yards. 'No one could have predicted 250 MILLION BEES would be loose on a road,' Washington Emergency Management Division wrote on X Friday morning. 'So, stay away. Just…. Don't go anywhere near them.' The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office shared on Facebook that emergency crews called in over two dozen beekeepers to help contain the situation. 'We're literally grabbing a bee box and then grabbing the frames that contain the honey, the bees and the brood, putting them back in the box and restacking them on pallets to hopefully have some survival rate to work with here,' local beekeeper Derek Condit told KOMO News as swarms of bees surrounded him. 6 Over two dozen local beekeepers responded to the shocking situation. KOMO News 6 Bees escaped from their hives hours after the truck overturned. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office / Facebook 'When they said 200 million bees, they meant it,' Matt Klein, the Deputy Director of Emergency Management for the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, told KOMO News. Klein was stung a dozen times and still had stingers 'attached to his ears' late Friday night, the Washington Emergency Management Division revealed on X. 'But they're honeybees, so the sting isn't as severe as some other bees, so, so far, everybody is fine,' Klein told KOMO News earlier in the day. 6 The incident happened near the Canadian border in a rural part of Washington state. KOMO News 6 Locals were urged to avoid the area and the road was shut down. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office Journalists covering the unexpected incident were even targeted and stung by bees on the scene. KOMO reporter Denise Whitaker revealed that she was stung by one of the many 'aggressive' insects, even though she was approximately 300 yards from the truck. 'At this time, on-scene work is done,' the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook on Friday night. 'Hive boxes from the overturned truck were recovered, restored and returned to use. By morning, most bees should have returned to their hives and those responsible for their delivery will be in charge.' 6 Beekeepers suspect most bees will return to their hives by Saturday morning. KOMO News 'These bees are going to swarm in the local areas and start new hives, luckily, so there will be re-pollination in this area, but there will be great losses as well,' Condit told KOMO News. The sheriff's office added, 'There is no general health risk to the public.' The truck was transporting the bees to South Datoka after they pollinated a local blueberry field, the Cascadia Daily News reported. Whatcom County is home to Bee City USA, based in Bellingham, which helps protect and grow bee populations while playing a 'crucial' role in the county's berry industry. However, the county was also the first place a murder hornet nest was discovered in the United States in 2020.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Louisville hits 3 home runs, rolls to 8-3 win over ETSU in Nashville Regional
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lucas Moore and Matt Klein hit two-run home runs, Eddie King Jr. added a solo shot and Louisville defeated ETSU 8-3 on Friday in the Nashville Regional. ETSU's Cody Miller and Klein swapped two-run dingers in the third inning. From there, Cardinals' pitchers Patrick Forbes and Brennyn Cutts shut down the Buccaneers on three hits. The Cardinals (36-21) face the winner of top-seeded Vanderbilt versus Wright State on Saturday after ETSU (41-16) plays the loser. Forbes (3-2) went six innings, striking out 13, a Louisville postseason record, while walking four and giving up two hits. Cutts earned his first save, allowing the home run and striking out five. Louisville, in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time, picked up a pair of runs in the fourth before Klein and King homered in the fifth. After Miller's home run the Buccaneers didn't get another hit until Tristan Curless had a solo shot in the eighth. Carter Fink (6-5) gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings for ETSU, which won the Southern Conference Tournament for the first time to make its first NCAA Tournament since 2013 and fifth overall. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Louisville hits 3 home runs, rolls to 8-3 win over ETSU in Nashville Regional
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lucas Moore and Matt Klein hit two-run home runs, Eddie King Jr. added a solo shot and Louisville defeated ETSU 8-3 on Friday in the Nashville Regional. ETSU's Cody Miller and Klein swapped two-run dingers in the third inning. From there, Cardinals' pitchers Patrick Forbes and Brennyn Cutts shut down the Buccaneers on three hits. Advertisement The Cardinals (36-21) face the winner of top-seeded Vanderbilt versus Wright State on Saturday after ETSU (41-16) plays the loser. Forbes (3-2) went six innings, striking out 13, a Louisville postseason record, while walking four and giving up two hits. Cutts earned his first save, allowing the home run and striking out five. Louisville, in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th time, picked up a pair of runs in the fourth before Klein and King homered in the fifth. After Miller's home run the Buccaneers didn't get another hit until Tristan Curless had a solo shot in the eighth. Carter Fink (6-5) gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings for ETSU, which won the Southern Conference Tournament for the first time to make its first NCAA Tournament since 2013 and fifth overall. ___ AP college sports:
