I don’t use Bluesky really, but as I have some former mutuals from the other place that are now only here, I thought I would share why I am worried about Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister. marlowe1939.substack.com/p/im-worried...

🚨NEW POST BY ME🚨 Greater Manchester’s growth success is real, but didn't happened by accident. The country should be studying it closely Plus: - Why a city's reputation matters so much - How much credit can Burnham take? (not much) - What does this tell us about a future PM Burnham? (not much)

I at times felt some of the writing in this grating, but it's totally forgivable because it's such a bare, exposed account of addiction and struggle, while also, despite itself, being a sad eulogy to the beauty of boozing

Last read this 15 years ago and it didn't disappoint. Martin is a master of character. So many of his, both POV and minor, breathe so well. And the world building is second only to Tolkien.

I think the best way to enjoy this list, which contains lots of predictable choices (made as it was by committee), is to find a book you like, click to see who voted for it, and then look at the voters' other top 10 choices. You might find something else you like that you haven't read.

Whisper it quietly, but one part of this Government’s programme that is making slow, careful progress is its work to fix nuclear regulation. I sincerely hope this Bill is not lost or watered down if we see a change of Prime Minister.

You don't tackle climate change by stopping things. You tackle it by building things.

Failed legal challenges have delayed major infrastructure projects like new roads and power stations by a collective 32 years. Labour recently changed the law to cut the time it takes to throw out anti-infrastructure lawsuits. And it's working. www.samdumitriu.com/p/the-planni...

Every govt forecast demand of electricity demand of the last 20 years has been catastrophically wrong. They keep predicting that electricity use will rise. In fact, it's fallen by than in any other developed country. Only Yemen, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Tajikistan and Syria saw bigger per-capita falls.

If Britain's plan to tackle climate change is electrifying, then we better shape up. Electricity demand fell by 22% per capita between 2000 and 2019. Only in Yemen, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Tajikistan and Syria did electricity demand drop by more.

Natural England says £700m protecting fish at Hinkley isn’t enough, and want more before it can switch on. This is process over outcomes: big delays, higher bills and, crucially, terrible for tackling climate change. This is not a serious way to deliver clean infrastructure.

Think this fundamentally promised more than it delivered

Chess by Stefan Zweig is a wonderful novella about an Idiot Savant chess player who is challenged while traveling on a passenger liner. It's a novella about obsession, madness and, of course, chess. It's best summed up in these two quotes. Highly recommended!

Good example of the sort of bind the BBC is regularly in. I sort of instinctively agree with this point, but then if the BBC don't do anything about it and legal action does happen, the Beeb ends up facing questions about what they knew and when. Structurally can't win

In response to the Fingleton Review, the Govt didn't commit to legislating to fix the Habs Regs to avoid things like fish discos/bat tunnels. However, they are legislating to do just that for offshore wind. Why is it one rule for wind and another for nuclear? www.samdumitriu.com/p/if-its-goo...

Agree a cut would do little in policy terms, but disagree it's a trivial political debate. Last Budget was balanced in part by adding 5p to fuel duty in 26/27, if that's not an option it's a headache for the next budget. The government is right not to budge (yet) but there is a debate to be held

Absolutely love the Narnia books, but I find it very funny that by the Voyage of the Dawntreader they're basically like: '"I'm jesus btw lol", Aslan said Jesusly'

Freaks my nut out that 300 years ago monarchs would die from something as daft as a broken collarbone

Went to go and do set up at the playgroup my daughter does on a Friday this morning as their normal volunteers were away, and it really does bother me how much of actual existing volunteering and civic society is held together by women in their 60s and 70s.

Disability pay gap reporting is another great example of this government pursuing policy in two contradictory directions, in that it directly rubs up against their stated policy aim of getting more disabled people into work.

Disability pay gap reporting is another great example of this government pursuing policy in two contradictory directions, in that it directly rubs up against their stated policy aim of getting more disabled people into work.

If you are 21 in 2026, you were 5 when the coalition first came into power

A striking chart The average first-time buyer age in England has risen from 29 in 1994/95 to 34 today- and 35 in London. Meanwhile, the share of buyers under 25 has collapsed from 23% to just 6% over the same period.

They’re telling me a great empire will be destroyed if I attack Persia. Even the oracles who don’t like me very much, very nasty, they all said to me, “Sir, it’s one of the great empires, and it’ll be destroyed. And all because you attacked Persia.” That’s what they’re telling me.

Britain is the most expensive place in the world to build a nuclear power station. Labour have just announced an extremely ambitious supply-side reform agenda to change that. Here's my analysis of what just might end up as the Starmer Govt's proudest legacy. www.samdumitriu.com/p/how-seriou...

Always blows my mind that the Inca empire only really came into existence in the century before Spanish colonisation of South America

Think this kind of messaging is just self-sabotaging, reinforces the mad meme that “energy costs go up when supplies of energy drop” is about wicked profiteering and not a literal resource constraint, makes government look weak when nothing happens.

Parenting update: my three year old just had a tantrum because I don't have two hands

Remarkable now to think that Steve Bray wasn't sure how to vote when the referendum was announced.

In the Guardian, I argue that Britain’s nature protections often lead to expensive, ineffective mitigations and, paradoxically, harm nature in the long run because they make it harder to build the clean energy infrastructure we need to tackle climate change.

Evening

Like so much this government does, who the fuck is this for?

One wonders how the by-election would have gone if Reform had picked eg a local pub landlord

The tube is on a generational run of bad adverts at the moment. Don't miss out

Was off work this afternoon as I had a hospital appointment for my daughter. Afterwards I took her to my local and was in awe at the 2 separate blokes doing teams meetings at 4.30 with hoppy ipas next to them. Respect.

The Shoreditch Works application has taken 4 years and 9,000 pages of documents. Hackney Council has concluded what this project needs is… more documents.

Fun symmetry in how Restore are to Reform and the Tories as Your Party are to the Greens and Labour

Support 👏 Proper 👏Journalism

"Yes, I suppose the news should just be a dispassionate list of all the events that have occurred the world over during the day. That would be good. Except of course, it would take forever!"

Today we're part of the launch of Scotland For Nuclear Energy - a coalition of communities, businesses and campaigners calling on the Scottish Government to lift the ban on new nuclear power in Scotland. More information and coverage of the launch below.

Would you say a 9,054-page planning application for an office block and some flats is: A) Too long B) About right C) Not long enough If you answered C, congratulations! You could work at Hackney Council.

This is a must-read. A forensic analysis of a planning application (and a report from planners recommending its refused). Kafkaesque is over-used, but it is the perfect description of the process so far for the extremely popular Shoreditch Works scheme.

Not true though, is it?

Britain is a very centralised country. Britain is also a very expensive place to build new infrastructure. Are these two facts linked? @alonlevy.bsky.social, one of the world’s top experts on infrastructure costs doesn’t think so. Here’s why I disagree. open.substack.com/pub/samdumit...

Hell of a set of top BBC politics stories for the government

An incredibly correct letter, signed by no less than ten former guests on YIMBY Pod/The Abundance Agenda!

NEW: 45 leading figures from academia, business and politics tell Ed Miliband "Don't U-turn" on the commitment to implement every recommendation of the Fingleton Nuclear Regulatory Review. Full letter below.

CS Lewis's bodying of Eustice's parents in the very first paragraph of Voyage of the Dawntreader is incredibly enjoyable.

The Ceide fields, County Mayo, Ireland. Found underneath peat by a schoolteacher in the 1930s, they date back to 3500 BC and are the oldest known field systems in the world