Happy Friday! The first week of February has been busy, so not that many links:

Boris Johnson is about to find out just how weak the UK is after Brexit

Will a US-UK trade deal leave us with a plateful of problems?

HS2’s northern critics: ‘We don’t need it but we’ll be paying for it’

The Help: Gig-economy apps affect more than the economy—they’re changing what it means to be a friend. I am legitimately terrible at asking for help. I’m happy to help others but only really accept help if it’s offered, I’ll ask Ma but that is about it. This is a later life thing for me, after Stef died and all the madness that followed, I decided no more drama, and part of that was not being a stressful friend (because I felt I had been and I had asked for help that wasn’t forthcoming) and part of that was to be very clear about what was and wasn’t acceptable behaviour and to stop asking for help. How it’s ingrained behaviour.

Trump’s Jokes About Defying Election Results Could Create Chaos. Because deep down everyone can see that they are really jokes…