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Alastair Campbell, "I will say to Zia Yusuf and his friend Nigel Farage" "Brexit has taken 6-8% out of economy" "If we had not left, the Chancellor today would have had £90 billion more to spend" "He could have doubled the defence budget" Fiona Bruce, "That is a projection Alastair, no one can be sure about that" Alastair Campbell, "And added 50% to the health budget as well" "The people who gave us Brexit now want to give you another set of false promises" "Do not fall for them because they are a bunch of conmen. They're being found out. And its one reason why Nigel Farage will never be Prime Minister of this country" My view: Fiona Bruce was quick to dismiss Campbell’s figures as “a projection”. But that shouldn’t be a way to shut down the argument. Campbell was making a point about what Brexit has cost the country: on his figures, a 6–8% hit to the economy means around £90 billion less for the Chancellor to spend—enough, he said, to double the defence budget or increase health spending by 50%. And remember what Nigel Farage was saying in 2016: that even without a trade deal, Britain would be better off than it was then. The evidence points the other way. The OBR estimates that Brexit will leave UK productivity around 4% lower than it would have been inside the EU; other studies put the economic hit higher. That means we’re poorer than we would have been had we stayed. So yes, these are estimates—but the claims made by Brexit’s champions were projections too. Bruce’s caveat shouldn’t obscure the central question Campbell raised: how much has Brexit cost us, and what could that money have done for the country?

Tonight's Newsnight focused on the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster: Victoria Derbyshire, "How could anybody think it could be alright to have a quarter of a mile high slurry - that was notorious for sliding - above a school?" Jeff Edwards, one of the three then 8 year old survivors, "The reason the tips were on there, it was the cheapest land" My view: On 21 October 1966, 144 people died in Aberfan, including 116 children. The tribunal’s finding was unequivocal: blame rested with the National Coal Board. It said the disaster “could and should have been prevented.” Yet no one was prosecuted. Lord Robens, the NCB chairman, offered to resign, but the government refused to accept it. Officials criticised by the tribunal were moved to other work within the Board. The NCB paid £500 for each child killed. The public had raised around £1.75 million to support the bereaved and the village, but the fund was then required to contribute £150,000 towards clearing the remaining tips above Aberfan. That money was not repaid until 1997. So the families were left to live with an avoidable loss, a compensation payment many regarded as derisory, and a long fight for accountability. The inquiry named the institution responsible. But no individual was prosecuted, and even money donated to help the community was used to pay for work that should never have been its burden.