Hostage Nation in the news. See what people are saying about the report. If you are an editor or journalist interested in receiving press releases and updates from us, contact our Editor Hugo Fearnley.
Yanis Varoufakis
“This is a brilliant report. Comprehensive, beautifully written, punchily argued, diplomatic without compromising on the main principles.
It tells the people out there, ‘Here is what our governments could be doing today if they only chose to.’
It exhausts the limits of the present institutional and legal framework to bring on the most radical changes and maximum tangible social benefits, while remaining within the realm of political-institutional ‘moderation’.
In this sense, it is commendable and to be welcomed enthusiastically. Indeed, I have very little to add to it!”
Press
Politics Home
“Former Labour mayor turned Green councillor Jamie Driscoll has written his own economic paper he hopes will be party policy by this time next year. Proposals include 100,000 new council homes a year, integrated public transport and retrofitting every home in the country.”
Press
The Guardian
“Britain’s young people are our greatest resource, and we are failing them because capital markets won’t allocate investment where it is needed. Saying “hope” in a conference speech sounds warm. But people need a plan.”
Press
Left Foot Forward
“Central to the report is it’s argument that Britain’s inability to fund secure housing, energy, transport and public services is a matter of self-imposed rules rather than a genuine shortage of resources.”
Press
Left Foot Forward
“Central to the report is it’s argument that Britain’s inability to fund secure housing, energy, transport and public services is a matter of self-imposed rules rather than a genuine shortage of resources.”
Press
Labour Hub
“Hostage Nation is a serious piece of work that merits careful reading and wide discussion. It should certainly be in Andy Burnham’s in-tray.”
Press
The Canary
“Hostage Nation – new report explodes the myth that the UK can’t afford things.”
Press
Byline Times
“Andy Burnham’s Government should throw off the shackles of the international money markets and look at alternative ways of funding public investment, argues one of Labour’s former elected Mayors, Jamie Driscoll, who says the UK is being “held hostage” by global financiers. ”
Press
Left Field
“Now a major personality in the Green Party, Jamie Driscoll has published Hostage Nation, a milestone report diagnosing various problems in the British economy, and – more excitingly – offering a blueprint for what can be done.”
Press
North East Bylines
“Hostage Nation lands just weeks before a first Burnham Budget. It challenges his government to invest in the British people and break with the failed economic consensus.”
Social
Yanis Varoufakis
“Of all the blueprints I have read on how to redress the long-term damage austerity and financialisation have inflicted upon Britain’s society, this one is the most impressive – and hope inspiring. A must read.”
Press
Sky News Live
“I’ve looked under the bonnet of the economy, the money is there, the powers are there, but the political bravery is missing. It turns out the cheapest way to heat a home is also the quickest way to decarbonise a country. This is a plan that protects Britain from the next inevitable economic shock.”
Podcast
Accidental Gods
“This is the second part of our conversation with Jamie Driscoll, former Mayor of Newcastle city region, founder of Majority and now Green Council for his old Monument ward.”
Podcast
Accidental Gods
“In amongst all this, he is one of the sharpest, most deeply thoughtful people I’ve come across in electoral politics – easily up there with Mamdani, AOC and El-Sayed in the US. And he’s here today because he’s brought out a new paper – ‘Hostage Nation’ which does something quite remarkable: it takes the existing system in the UK and with only a few well-placed tweaks – almost all of which require no new legislation – it creates a new system that works for people and planet.”