🗞️ So what happened last week?

• Nationalisation of the UK rail network has begun

• Jaguar’s rebrand and new concept car has split opinions

• Prisons are overcrowded and the reforms are over budget

The first three rail companies to become nationalised have been announced. The rail infrastructure and providers are a service to the country, just like receiving your post. Critical services shouldn’t be about making a profit. It’s about keeping the country running.

The nationalisation of operators and rail system realistically won’t reduce ticket prices. It will however create a more reliable, bigger, and more frequent service across the country.

The economies of scale should provide benefits in the long term and hopefully stagnate the ticket prices. Ticket prices for us are already the highest in Europe, we should at least have the quality to justify it.

Do I really care? I don’t think most people do, but fine… since you brought it up. Commuting is a necessary evil. But under nationalisation, will service be any better? I’m not convinced.

Sure, privatisation involves self-serving greed. But it’s hardly a money-making business with an average 2% profit margin. And with the UK railway being one of the most expensive to run in Europe, can the gov’t actually handle the costs? Can taxpayers? What about innovation? Gov’ts aren’t really known for their nimble embrace of new technologies.

I agree there are probably some private fat cats stuffing their pockets. But instead of complete nationalisation, perhaps the gov’t should look to enforce more cost-saving policies and stricter oversight of private railways.

The new Jaguar rebrand and concept car is like M&S selling you a smartphone. I’m not the only one disappointed. It’s been so bad, the CEO of Jaguar has been forced to publicly defend it.

I never realised that owning a Jaguar was something I had such deep aspirations around. To me, it’s a status symbol of successful retirement and being the head of a proud family. Now, Jaguar is a club you join, not one you’ve earned.

With a forced tagline of “copy nothing” with an Apple-wannabe message of individualism and uniqueness, it doesn’t speak to me about prestige or heritage.

By trying to be an icon, they’ve killed one off.

Fine. You loved the old Jaguar brand, but were you buying it? No. There is a generation of people who love the nostalgia of what Jaguar represented growing up, but now that they’re older, they’re not buying. That’s a big problem.

The parent company might be turning a profit due to Land Rover’s popularity, but Jaguar sales have been in decline since 2018. A refresh and rebrand for Jaguar was highly overdue.

Enter the new Jaguar. It’s video garnered almost 2 million views and has been debated around millions of water coolers worldwide. It’s tapping into a new set of luxury buyers, who WILL actually buy. So like it or not and in this case, the adage is true - there is no such thing as bad publicity.

The UK prison system is struggling. By the end of 2027, there is expected to be a shortfall of 12,400 spaces. The National Audit Office has reported that the previous gov’t missed its promise to align criminal justice policies and infrastructure with actual available prison beds.

Early release programmes and more at-home sentencing have been enacted. But re-offending rates are high - almost 50%. Early release will only work if the gov’t focuses on rehabilitation programs - through education, training, and mental health support.

This summer, the Ministry of Justice failed to renew its contract with Unlocked - a non-profit organisation that recruits from top universities to innovate and lead prisoner rehabilitation. So it’s same old, same old, it seems… and prisons will continue to be overcrowded.

The best way to stop overcrowding and strain on the prison system, is to stop someone from ending up in prison. Whilst most types of crime are decreasing, we still have a high incarceration rate due to our “tough on crime” stance.

The country is suffering with mental health issues, increased need for food banks, and a cost of living crisis. The root causes of criminal behaviour remains under-funded with a lack of support and care to the most vulnerable adults.

It’s sexier to talk about conviction rates, prison capacity, and police officers on the beat, but we need go deeper. In the same way the gov’t is heavily funding the country’s infrastructure, we have to fund the communities and services at a grassroots level.

🇬🇧 No squabble required

🛣️ Road to Rwanda, the infamous deportation scheme from the last government has been officially scrapped. So, what was the total cost of not sending a single individual to Rwanda? £715m. Gulp.

🛏️ Another notch on BBC’s scandalous bedpost. Gregg Wallace looks to be joining the disgraced ranks of Huw Edwards, Chris Denning, Tim Westwood, and Jimmy Saville. More women are coming forward, like Wallace’s ghostwriter, and evidence is coming to light that the BBC was aware of his behaviour. Looks like the network needs a serious overhaul of their policies (and staff).

🤨 You only get an ‘oo’ with tobacco. An unlikely hero has promised to keep Typhoo Tea “in British hands”, saving them from administration. This is great news for tea lovers, though I’m not sure a vaping & tobacco company was the knight in shining armour we hoped for?

🌎️ The rest of the world… according to us

🇰🇷 K-drama in real life. In a 6hr long standoff, South Korea was under martial law for the first time since 1979. Frustrated by scandal and inability to enact his policies, President Yoon declared military rule, only to call it back after the National Assembly scrambled to vote against him. With protests in the street, an impeachment was expected, but in a surprising dramatic twist, it failed over the weekend. 😯 

🔫 Insurance boss assassination. UnitedHealth, a US insurance company known for low pay-out rates, saw their CEO fatally shot in NYC. The bullet casings said “Delay, Deny, Defend“ in reference to a book of the same title, detailing how insurance companies avoid paying claims. The suspect is still at large.

🇫🇷 Longer than Liz Truss, at least. Only appointed in September, the tenure of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier became the shortest in modern French history, when he was ousted by Parliament last week in a vote of no-confidence. The gov’t has now been left in turmoil amidst a budget crisis. Mon dieu!

🍎 Healthier habits, happier you

🍔 No fat or sugar before 9pm. Aimed at reducing childhood obesity, from Oct 2025, online and TV advertising showing high-fat or sugar content products will be banned before 9pm. But critics have pointed out a loophole. A 30sec commercial showing a Big Mac won’t fly, but one showing just the golden arches is okay. 🤔 

🧦 The odd sock

🤑 TikTok time to shop. It’s the return of live shopping, but not on QVC. TikTok’s shop made $100 million worth of sales on Black Friday. The social media network has got to make money somehow, now that it might get banned in the U.S. starting 19 Jan!

🍺 Limits on Splitting the ‘G' (Alister just taught me what this means. Where have I been?) Guinness is rising in popularity with young adults. So much so, they’ve had to limit orders in Great Britain. It may be due to Americans, whose consumption of the delicious stout has also soared. One Boston pub owner stated, “The numbers are completely bananas right now.” 🍌 

⭐️ Recommendations by Meridyth

Your accent and dialect are like geo-indicators of where you’re from. Awhile back, I took a quiz by The New York Times (NYT) that could pinpoint the exact city in North Carolina where I grew up, just from 25 questions about the colloquial words I use and how I pronounce them.

Interestingly enough, the NYT also has a British & Irish version. While not as precise as the American one (only shows a heatmap of where you’re likely from), Alister agreed that it was pretty spot on. (I still think his accent deserves its own postcode.)

So if you have 5 min, give it a go. I guarantee the questions will be entertaining at the very least.

🤣 What do you meme? 

Who knew Taylor Swift could disappoint?

Swifties can’t stop talking about their hero’s new “Eras Tour Book,” but not in a good way. At $40 a pop, expectations may have been high, but their complaints seem justified. Filled with mistakes, it’s no wonder they’ve dubbed it the “Errors” Tour Book. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Whew, you made it!

15 days till Christmas. Hope you’re not putting off your shopping, like Alister. We hope you join us again next week for another squabble!

Alister & Meridyth