The Lead

Good to speak with Jacob Granger at Journalism.co.uk about how The Lead has been developing and the recent shift to Substack Early days of course but we've seen improved send/open/engagement rates (ticking the box of ensuring our journalism gets in front of more people), encouraging early subscription signs (free and paid-for) and from a journalistic/content editing point of view it's very straightforward to publish and get going. Well done to Lillian Race, Dimi Reider, Natalie Morris, Zoë Grünewald, Diyora Shadijanova, Luke Beardsworth, Jamie Lopez, Leigh Jones and Leah Borromeo And of course Michael Harris for his backing and support. Onwards to launching in Calderdale in the coming weeks. #journalism #localjournalism #newsletters #emailnewsletters #publishing

If you sell your business tomorrow, you - individually - could qualify for up to £1m low tax relief. Why? Because. It’s as arbitrary as it sounds. This is our tax system’s a dirty little secret: Entrepreneur's Relief. We say: Scrap the disastrous two-child benefit cap, and close the Entrepreneurs Relief loophole to raise the money. Add your signature below.  

Most economists agree that the government needs a credible fiscal framework. With Chancellor Rachel Reeves eyeing up a new approach to fiscal rules, economist Phil Tomlinson breaks down what it all means and whether it meets the mark. Read the full article in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e8wTpbH2

No, we're not The Mill. The Lead is its regional, advocacy-minded neighbour. Here's a great writeup in Journalism.co.uk on the changes we've pivoted to across all our titles. Extra thanks goes to the multi-skilled and versatile Lillian Race for her invaluable support and initiative - proving once again that if you task young talent with the hard stuff, they'll teach you more than you can teach them. https://lnkd.in/edpaJjqZ Dimi Reider Diyora Shadijanova Natalie Morris Zoë Grünewald Ed Walker Luke Beardsworth

Our titles in the North have joined the party on Substack - and confirmed the launch of a brand new edition in Yorkshire. The Blackpool Lead is joined by relaunched The Teesside Lead, edited by the excellent Leigh Jones, who has earned his reputation covering hard-hitting issues at both The Northern Echo and The Yorkshire Post. Our first title in Yorkshire will be a partnership with former Burnley Express and Bolton News man Andrew Greaves. He will head up The Calderdale Lead. You can read more about it here (and subscribe below): https://lnkd.in/ewfszt7s

Britain’s tax system has a dirty little secret: Entrepreneur's Relief. Reeves should abolish it - and use the money gained to remove the shameful two-child benefit cap. Here’s how you do it, straight from an entrepreneur.

Our publisher, Michael Harris, rarely writes for The Lead. But when “over 1,500 business people” wrote to Rachel Reeves to demand a tax break at the expense of everyone else, he'd had enough. Reeves should abolish BADR - and use the money gained to remove the shameful two-child benefit cap. Here’s why.

📢 PSA: The Teesside Lead is back and now on Substack. Twice a week, Leigh Jones will be rounding up news from across the Tees Valley and getting under the skin of politicians without fear or favour. As an investigate reporter, Jones has covered a number of goings-on across Teesside, including the creation of an energy distribution company by Ben Houchen’s South Tees Development Corporation. Houchen has since blocked him on social media. Read the first edition 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gaPzHqyR

The Blackpool Lead has been delivering our brand of in-depth journalism to the town for almost a year now - but this is the first on our new platform, Substack. The main reason we’re here is that it’s better for you - our readers. We can provide news, features, investigations and recommendations from Blackpool - completely ad-free - and therefore provide something nobody else in the town is doing. Our first edition tells the story of Doreen Jackson and her concern she will die before she gets to enjoy a sea view from her flat. Please read and subscribe if you are able: https://lnkd.in/ehgJfW34

“The 30 licences that have been cut are such a tiny proportion of what we actually export to the Israeli state, it’s such gestural politics, it’s meaningless.” When the UK decided to suspend 30 licences for arms exports to Israel on 2 September, the news resonated worldwide. It was met with predictable backlash in Israel and was examined with close interest in the US, where the Biden administration is under pressure to stop (or at least condition) its own military funding and arms exports to Israel. But there was one other, unlikely place where the news hit very close to home - the tiny Welsh village of Aberporth. Our latest from Oliver Haynes.