The argument
Signed pieces. The other side gets stated first
First Principles
No Past Tense
We went back to 374 news articles we had already saved. A hundred and sixty-nine of them had changed. An argument about what the press said can't be settled afterwards - only by whoever kept a copy.
Crossbencher · 01 Aug 2026 · 4 min read
First Principles
Nobody Can Tell You What It Costs
In six hours on a single Wednesday, one bus fare cap cost £500 million, then £454 million, and was both fully funded and not yet worked out. No outlet invented a figure. That's what makes it serious.
Crossbencher · 31 Jul 2026 · 4 min
First Principles
The Package Deal
Learn a stranger's view on net zero and you can make a fair guess at their view on Gaza. Nothing logical connects the two. Something else does - and it isn't thinking.
Crossbencher · 22 Jul 2026 · 4 min
First Principles
The Lifeboat Problem
Help that refuses every limit isn't more generous than help that sets one. It's help that destroys the thing doing the helping. The honest humanitarian names a number, and mourns the people outside it.
Crossbencher · 19 Jul 2026 · 2 min