By: John Oxley

John Oxley is a corporate strategist and political commentator. He publishes a weekly Substack, Joxley Writes, and frequently appears in other print and broadcast media. He is an associate fellow of the Bright Blue think-tank and an adviser to the Conservative YIMBY campaign.

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Can Reeves’ fiscal devolution plans defeat the Nimbys?

Opinion

Rachel Reeves plans to end the paradox of British politics whereby local people bear the costs of growth but rarely feel the benefits. Will it work? Asks John Oxley Rachel Reeves attracts many descriptions, but few would peg her as a revolutionary. Her new plan for the economic landscape of the country might change this. [...]
Winter Olympics can show Britain how to start winning again

Opinion

Britain’s success in the Winter Olympics is a corrective to narratives about our decline – and hold lessons for funding our public services too, says John Oxley Narratives of Britain’s decline abound. From our stalling economic growth to our inability to build sufficient housing to our overwhelmed public services, all point to the country’s struggles. [...]
Tories will become irrelevant if they keep losing in London

Opinion

If the Conservative party can no longer rely on the votes of the Yuppies of today, it will have to become a very different beast to have any chance of continued relevance, says John Oxley The year might have only just begun, but already London’s big political battle is on the horizon. May will see [...]

How AI hoaxes could move markets

December 11, 2025

If a fake image of a collapsed bridge can stop trains imagine what else AI generated scams could do? Asks John Oxley Last week, a few dozen trains around Carlisle were delayed. It appears to be an unremarkable story, especially for anyone familiar with the state of British railways. The cause, however, was novel: a [...]
Young people are headed for pensioner poverty – and there’ll be no Triple Lock to save them

September 18, 2025

Younger generations stand no chance of enjoying the kind of comfort current pensioners in their old age. We need a policy reset to help the young build wealth now, says John Oxley There was good news once again this week for pensioners, as the Triple lock delivers them a 4.7 per cent increase next year. [...]
Why does London have no good public spaces?

August 20, 2025

London deserves its own great public square – one worthy of postcards, of celebrations, of idle evenings spent in good company, writes John Oxley.
Should politicians try to understand the people behind the polling?

July 17, 2025

Trying to identify different types of voters is fun, but ultimately a futile exercise in reducing people to stereotypes, says John Oxley There was one question doing the rounds this week in Westminster – “Which one are you?”. It was raised by a new report from think tank More in Common, which set out to [...]
Don’t exempt Indian workers from NI, abolish it altogether

May 8, 2025

The row over Indian visas is really a sign of how misleading and poorly-understood the tax system is, says John Oxley The row over National Insurance exemptions for Indian workers shows the difficulty the government has in balancing trade deals with concerns about immigration. It also points to the confusions which abound around National Insurance [...]
Another recession could push Millennial resentment to tipping point

April 10, 2025

Any goodwill left in avocado-munching Millennials towards their wealthier elders will likely be gone with another recession, writes John Oxley.
How do you solve a problem like Gen Z?

February 13, 2025

Gen Z have wildly different, often contradictory views compared with older cohorts. As they become a more significant cultural and political force, it’s worth trying to figure out what they really want, says John Oxley Unpatriotic yet prudish. Radically liberal yet socially conservative. A new generational survey has shown Gen Z to be a complex [...]

Reeves says diplomacy is ‘best economy policy’ as UK tax burden to mount

London Lions CEO: We’d love to be in NBA Europe but we have a reason to exist anyway

Celebrating Pan Am’s iconic legacy as airline plans return to the skies

By: John Oxley

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