James Herbert

Co-director at Effective Altruism Netherlands. Trying to live the good life and helping others along the way.

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

Don't worry if 2016 got you down, check out how much the world has improved since 1820.

[Richard Jones @RichardALJones]

A good FT piece from Martin Wolf arguing, rightly imv, that at root of UK's political woes is a 20 yr long slowdown in productivity growth
"a good economy — one with widely shared economic growth — is a necessary condition for political stability in a liberal democracy"...

[Faisal Islam @faisalislam]

NEW

Chancellor announces new restriction on use of judicial review for “critical infrastructure” clean energy projects - ie wind and nuclear - and time limitation for other projects, roads, rail and reservoirs - this is in addition to the streamlining of the process in the planning law.

Will curb environmental challenges to big infrastructure plans.

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

Oh and I’d peg my salary to the national average or something. Silly but it takes the sting out of the claim ‘doesn’t understand ordinary people’

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

If I were PM I’d do a weekly entertaining press conference where I’d crack jokes and give updates on the progress the gov is making on: cost of living (freezing rail fairs etc); improving the NHS (declining waiting lists, freezing prescription fees, etc); & declining immigration

[Simon French @Frencheconomics]

One of the stronger arguments the current Labour leadership could make is that GDP per capita has been stronger since the 2024 General Election (annualising at rate of +1.1%) than the rate achieved over 14 years that preceded it (+0.8%). Yes, a small sample size, and the jobs picture looks considerably worse since 2024, but still would be one of my "lines to take".

[Faisal Islam @faisalislam]

Q1 2026 G7:

🇬🇧 0.6%
🇺🇸 0.5%
🇨🇦 0.4%
🇩🇪 0.3%
🇮🇹 0.2%
🇫🇷 0%

🇯🇵 (not yet reported but estimates are 0.4%)

[Jaimi Shrive @Jaimi_Shrive]

I rarely ever comment publicly on parliamentary Labour politics anymore but I know so many (albeit quietly) feel the same as I do.
I first joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old, under Ed Miliband. I’m now 28, meaning I’ve been an active member for over 12 years.

A Labour government is rare. Do they always get it right? Absolutely not. But every single one has brought about profound changes for the better of the working class.

Many members just like me have spent over a decade campaigning to give us a chance in government. It’s an absolute kick in the teeth to watch so many MPs urge Starmer to resign & leave their own positions they were apparently ‘comitted’ to when Starmer won a landslide victory 2 years ago, and a leadership contest before that.

It comes across as unstable, insecure, and incredibly individualistic. It echoes of the exact behaviour the Tories exemplified for almost 15 years. The behaviour the country were fed up of & voted out!

In my sector, I’ve seen in real-time the positive changes this government have already made. Realistically, we knew we wouldn’t have long, and we were to make the most of this term.

Purity politics is the enemy of progress.

Reform have control of fewer than 10% of councils. That’s it.
Now is not the time to run scared.

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

(dumb aim btw but whatever)

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

Poppycock. Crazy high economic freedom and it’s going up. Even if you look at tax burden it’s going up. If you could choose any place or time across world history to make money you’d struggle to pick a better place than NL today. Stop complaining and get rich if that’s your aim.

[Innerdevcrypto @Innerdevcrypto]

Friend of mine made a list with Claude of all the tax increases/costs for the average Dutch person since 2020 + what is still on the way the coming years

Just have a look at this list. Most is pushed by the EU of course. This is how you kill a prosperous country, kill any desire for someone to be an entrepreneur, and kill competitiveness since many other continents do not do this insanity. And this list does not even include all the 1984-style rules (implemented or coming): digital service act, digital euro, etc

Realized (since 2020)
- Self-employed deduction phased out from €7,280 (2020) to €1,200 (2026) → €900 (2027)
- SME profit exemption reduced from 14% to 12.7%
- Fiscal Old Age Reserve (FOR) abolished (2023)
- Mortgage interest deduction further reduced annually (since 2014, accelerated from 2020)
- Hillen Act phased out faster (ends 2041 instead of 2048)
- Education deduction abolished
- Monument deduction abolished (2019)
- VAT on accommodation (hotels, holiday homes) increased from 9% to 21% (2026)
- Road tax on motorhomes increased (2026)
- Youngtimer scheme tightened (2026)
- Transfer tax on second homes increased to 10.4% (later reduced to 8%)
- Excise duties on alcohol, tobacco, and soft drinks increased (2024)
- Wage cost benefit for older workers abolished (2024)
- Box 3 tax-free capital reduced, deemed return increased (2026)
- Truck charge introduced (2026)
- Inflation correction of tax brackets applied only at 46% (2026)
- National CO₂ levy for industry: Adjusted/reduced to €78.67 per tonne from 2026 (with exemptions and phase-out elements; originally introduced to supplement EU ETS, with rates rising in prior years for waste incineration and specific sectors)

Upcoming
- Starter deduction fully abolished (2027)
- Net metering scheme for solar panels abolished (2027)
- Plastic levy introduced (2027)
- Fuel excise duty discount expires (2027)
- Box 3 capital gains tax — taxation on unrealised gains (2028)
- Mandatory disability insurance (AOV) for self-employed (date still unclear)
- EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): Full implementation from 1 January 2026 (CO₂ import levy on carbon-intensive goods such as steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, etc.)

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

@thomasforth Thanks!

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

@mckenzie_sohan @thomasforth @GjMcGowan Hasn't Starmer’s government done this? Increased taxes and, according to Grok, roughly 1/3 of the net additional spending is going to infrastructure: over £120 billion extra capital investment planned for roads, rail, energy, housing & transport over this Parliament.

[Tom Forth @thomasforth]

Britain has eight big North European neighbours.
Of them Britain has,
1/ The weakest economy.
2/ The lowest taxes.
3/ The lowest marginal tax rate on labour at high incomes.
The right should be less confident sneering at the idea of "taxing for growth".
https://t.co/HqDM6OLkyv

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

I don't get these takes???

"Actually, morality is pretty complex - EA is too naive for me"

EA is just a bunch of people and institutions who are excited about the project of figuring out how best to help others.

Duh morality is complex. Most EAs get that.

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

@ApollosValor That’s a satirical publication

[Tyler Johnston @tyler_johnston]

A few weeks ago, I was forwarded an email from a journalist named “Michael Chen,” asking for comment on an AI bill in Tennessee.

All signs suggest Michael Chen is not a real person, and the publication he writes for is an AI content mill linked to OpenAI’s super PAC.

[Stella Tsantekidou @Stsantek]

In my piece for the @NewStatesman I also reveal the backstory to Emily Thornberry’s most fateful political moment, the ‘white van man’ tweet. It’s almost comical the punishment Westminster bestowed on her, and what they said it revealed for her character, compared to how long it took for Starmer’s actions to stay being reflected on his character descriptions. Some people still cannot bring themselves to say he is just not a nice guy.

[Alan Lester @aljhlester]

1/3 The constant intrigue over Starmer-Mandelson is exhausting. We all know what happened & why. Starmer wanted Mandelson in the US because he was widely thought to be someone who could humour Trump & prevent him harming UK interests. Very few protested at the time.

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

This whole thing is dumb. No 10 decided to gamble on Mandy. At the time, most outside No 10 thought it was a good gamble. Turns out it was a bad gamble. Mandy gets fired.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

I wouldn’t have made the bet but I don’t think it was dumb/immoral

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

The key point of process that determines if you believe Keir Starmer or Olly Robbins is right is still unclear this morning.

The Cabinet Office - led by Antonia Romeo and Cat Little - say they discovered a UKSV document that clearly recommends against giving Mandelson clearance, with a tick in a red box for ‘clearance denied’.

Bloomberg reported on Friday how Cabinet Office officials found this bombshell document on a secure portal while complying with the humble address and everything then developed from there.

That document is the basis for Starmer’s claim that Mandelson failed his vetting and that he should have been told about this recommendation by Robbins.

On the face of it, it does seem absolutely extraordinary that officials would keep this apparently clear written recommendation on such a high-profile appointment from the PM and cabinet secretary. That is why Robbins was sacked.

But Robbins testified yesterday that he never saw this document. Instead he said he only had a verbal briefing with the Foreign Office security team that, in his words, only ‘leaned’ against recommending clearance be granted. He says they were then able to mitigate the concerns and approve Mandelson’s clearance. The Cabinet Office version of events and the document they’ve found, and Robbins’ version, appear to be inconsistent.

Robbins’ contention is essentially that this is all a huge misunderstanding, that Mandelson did not fail his vetting, that the problems raised by UKSV were resolvable by him and he resolved them, and that he shouldn’t have been sacked. Robbins says any pressure from No10 did not impact the decision-making of him and his officials.

Sources say the missing person in the story is Dr Ian Collard, a former senior FCDO security official. He is the person who had the verbal briefing with Robbins where they agreed they could mitigate the UKSV concerns, they say. Collard has since left the government.

It seems Collard might be able to clear up whether UKSV did firmly recommend against Mandelson or only lean that way, and therefore whether Robbins was right to try to fix the problem himself with mitigations, or if he should have rejected Mandelson’s DV on the advice of UKSV and told No10 what had happened.

If the UKSV concerns weren’t that grave and were possible to mitigate, Robbins has a good argument that he was right to do that and clear Mandelson’s DV without raising it up the chain, and therefore that he was unfairly sacked for trying to do what the PM wanted.

If the UKSV concerns were more clear cut, as the UKSV document produced by the Cabinet Office implies, it’s harder for Robbins to argue he did the right thing.

You’d have thought Collard and senior Cabinet Office officials will be called by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to try to clear this up in the coming days…

[James Herbert @Jamesaherbert]

I know this street well, and honestly, the Tesla handled it better than at least 50% of the human drivers I see drive through it. Pretty incredible.

I still hate cars in cities though.

Musk is obv a weird guy, but you're a fool if you think he isn't an incredible tech CEO.

[Kees Roelandschap @KRoelandschap]

Pedestrian Mayhem in Amsterdam 🇳🇱

Final bossfight for FSD (Supervised)

The RDW nerf makes it too scared of pedestrians and cyclists

It feels artificial and as if FSD could do more but its hands are tied

Watch out for more content from my day with @robotinreallife