Britain's bureaucracy is breaking

Plus: vertical drinking, tax jitters and why the Left don't own Free-Born John

Aug 07, 2026

Will ‘agentic flooding’ break the British state? The Economist reports that a rise in AI-fuelled claims may be tipping our tribunal system over the edge. James Ball flagged this trend – and its implications for planning disputes – in a Nimby Watch column last year. Yimbys have work to do if they want to stay ahead.

Meanwhile, Neil O’Brien has found that UK taxpayers are losing £2.2 billion a year on student loans to non-nationals – thanks to the EU Settlement scheme. Five years after the ‘deadline’ to apply, it might be time to draw a line.

Have a good weekend. Enjoy any vertical drinking, try not to end up horizontal.

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Reform's Deliveroo law is bad for business

Charles Amos

‘The threat of the 10% fine on global turnover will result in more opportunities lost for everyone to get their foot in the door, Britons and foreigners alike.’

Reform UK say they want to cut red tape, but a new proposal would introduce even more. Zia Yusuf’s ‘Deliveroo law’ would make CEOs criminally liable for employing illegal immigrants. It would also increase the size of Britain’s bloated HR sector and make hiring more expensive. Read More

Britain's pharma policy is a gift to Ireland

Marc Goldfinger

‘This is a call to change the policy and regulatory environment, to make it more attractive for the industry to have an end-to-end market based on British soil.’

Britain is home to four of the world’s top 10 universities, and produces 6% of global scientific output. But it barely exports any pharmaceuticals, unlike Ireland. The UK misses out on jobs, tax and manufacturing. Many pharmaceutical companies want to leave for greener pastures. However, a more agile regulator and reforms in how we price medicines can make us a global competitor again. Read More

Stat of the day

Best of the Web

To fix education, fix the economy

John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times

‘Britain can tinker with its vocational routes all it likes, but without good jobs, the deficits in esteem, employment and earnings will remain.’

The UK’s education system has real challenges. But many issues are downstream of our economic stagnation. Britain’s declining graduate wage premium may be better explained by weak productivity growth than simply the over-expansion of universities. Without a dynamic economy, the potential of graduates and non-graduates alike will continue to go to waste. Read More

Britain needs more Thatcherism, not less

Emma Revell, City AM

‘Britain in 2026 is not in its current position because of an excess of Thatcherism, but because since Mrs Thatcher left office we haven’t had nearly enough of it.’

Andy Burnham claims Britain took ‘a series of wrong turns’ in the 1980s. But the Britain Margaret Thatcher inherited was the sick man of Europe, propping up loss-making, badly run industries – she ended that ruinous habit, and London became a capital of global finance. Burnham’s promise to end neoliberalism risks undoing exactly what fixed Britain. Read More