Matt Goodwin's train nightmare

On The Abundance Agenda this week:

* James looks at the government’s new attempt to make phone signal on trains better – and explore why getting reliable 4G and 5G on the rails is a really difficult problem.

* Martin reveals why the Office of National Statistics might have inadvertently broken a whole bunch of economic statistics – and why this is bad if you care about knowing what is actually happening in the country.

* And we speak to Labour MP and the government’s Growth Mission Champion Dan Tomlinson about why we need to build, the importance of growth if we want to redistribute wealth – and we try (with limited success) to sell him on the idea that we should make Abundance the guiding philosophy of Starmerism.

The alarming review of the ONS by Sir Robert Devereux is here.

James’s post on what the NHS can learn from Dave.

Martin’s post on HS2 and the slow decay of Britain.

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

00:26 Controversial Opinions of Matt Goodwin

01:59 The Reality of Phone Signals on British Trains

02:16 Government Initiatives to Improve Train Connectivity

03:16 Challenges with Train Signal Technology

07:04 Comparing UK and French Train Connectivity

11:19 Future of Train Connectivity: HS2 and Beyond

15:31 The Role of the Office for National Statistics

25:21 Chasing New Projects Over Core Work

26:47 The Human Element in Official Statistics

27:47 Impact of the Pandemic on ONS

29:10 Leadership and Culture Issues at ONS

30:20 Future of UK Statistics and Management

32:15 Promoting the Podcast and Substack

34:09 Interview with MP Dan Tomlinson

38:14 Dan Tomlinson's Political Journey

41:11 Challenges and Solutions for UK Growth

52:08 The Abundance Agenda

55:43 Conclusion and Farewell

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.abundancepod.com