Odds and Ends #46: The transformation of London's skyline, a big week for nuclear, and installing software updates in Antarctica

Plus how to avoid the road pricing landmine

Photo by Riccardo Ginevri on Unsplash

Hello! It’s time for Odds and Ends, your regular mini-newsletter-within-a-newsletter, containing the most interesting links I’ve seen this week, along with some shorter takes.

I had planned to get a big essay out to you this week, but as you may recall it has been a bit of a nightmare, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until Monday to read an economic growth take that will make both Remainers and Brexiteers unhappy.

In the meantime, here’s some cool stuff. In this edition I feature:

• Why this week was a big deal for nuclear energy

• Why I’m cautiously optimistic about one of Trump’s appointments (!)

• An amazing video showing how London’s skyline has changed dramatically over the last 30 years

• A piece I wrote a while ago about what it is like patching software… in Antarctica

• And more!

But first, a reminder: Tickets to the second ever Odds and Ends of History event are on sale now.

On January 21st I’ll be speaking to ex-DfT transport policy guru Michael Dnes about the future of transport. We’re going to cover trains, autonomy, drones, scooters… and how Britain can build the infrastructure it needs before it is too late.

So please do come along and hang out. And be sure to stick around after if you can too, as I love meeting my fellow nerds. So go book your tickets now.

And just in case you want a taste of why Michael is an utterly brilliant person to speak to…

With the rise of electric vehicles, who will pay for Britain's roads? (Michael Dnes)

It turns out that the public is much more open to new taxes on cars once they hear that their own vehicle will be exempt. In 2015, government simplified vehicle excise duty, charging the greenest cars £140 more – but only on vehicles bought from 2017 onwards.

The public responded not with protests or petitions but by buying 280,000 more cars in order to beat the deadline.

Such ‘grandfathering’ could be the key to quiet reform now. A tax that only applies to new electric vehicles, bought after some future deadline, would make no enemies. Conventional drivers are already taxed and can be left alone. Numbers of electric vehicles are still low, meaning they can be exempted from any new tax without destroying revenue.

Michael has written this great piece for The House magazine, essentially answering the question I asked a while back of how the hell are the government going to avoid a massive shitstorm over road pricing?

His proposed solution, is a clever bit of policy design, so I recommend clicking through to read his piece, or reading the Stonehaven report he authored, to learn why the problem can be easily solved… but only if we act quickly.

And then after reading, you can buy your tickets!

Now let’s get on with the rest of the links…