“Anything on a stone building that looks like a design gets picked up as these damn things now. There’s absolutely no evidence they were ever used like that.” V much like this debunking. Shows risks of comms/engagement led approach to interpreting history. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Labour rebellion last night - on the relatively obscure issue of the Government setting rules for what matters local council planning committees can and can't decide on versus officers.

"The lesson is clear: this model of building new homes is not serving us well. If we are to solve our seemingly endless housing problems, it must change. The dominance of the big builders needs to break – at least a bit – for any new model to truly flourish." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

21st century life would be immeasurably better without having to try and make companies' own CRMs function (hello, Ticketmaster). Sigh.

We are 2 weeks away (probably) from a new PM. MPs pack up for the summer next Thurs. What policies will make it to publication before Burnham gets in? This is a live one on whether developers can avoid having to build affordable homes or pay a cash sum instead. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

More today on the decline in chargepoint roll out - messing about with the ZEV mandate regs has not helped provide policy certainty for investors: www.theguardian.com/business/202... Figures from end of last year in post below.

Spent day walking section 5 of North Downs Way between Oxted and Otford. Really enjoyable day's walk - very much recommend. Lots of this...

Hoardings finally down on 4 new council houses in our street. Planning permission granted in 2019(!), construction started in 2020(!!) & they were part of Lewisham council claim of 1,200 homes "delivered"in 2022(!!!). Families in temp accomodation for years because of failure to finish the job.

Hoardings finally down on 4 new council houses in our street. Planning permission granted in 2019(!), construction started in 2020(!!) & they were part of Lewisham council claim of 1,200 homes "delivered"in 2022(!!!). Families in temp accomodation for years because of failure to finish the job.

It will be interesting to see what government policy announcements there are in the next fortnight, especially from those ministers who don't think they'll get a job and want to leave a legacy/constrain their successor's freedom of movement.

"DfT will provide savings of up to £700m from its roads funding [for Defence Improvement Plan]. The Department will consult on reductions to the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) - inc potential cancellation of the A38 Derby Junctions and A46 Newark Bypass schemes..."

Me me me. "I have boosted defence spending to the highest level since the Cold War" (Chancellor) "I have secured more money and made different choices for defence" (defence sec) Credit to Starmer who generally avoids this kind of self-aggrandisement. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Humans should not be forced off pavements by delivery robots, but that's exactly what's happening. The people who pay the price are those with the least room to give it up.

Delivery robots are taking over UK pavements, causing chaos for pedestrians, despite having no laws allowing their use 🤖 Our Pavement Overload campaign is in the Guardian: https://bit.ly/4pdAuYx

Q:Does Andy Burnham’s experience as a regional mayor prepare him for No.10? A (in final sentence): "No previous experience can adequately prepare anyone" to be PM. Well, thanks for that the 3,000 words leading up to that, Institute for Government. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

"working with local areas, No 10 North will oversee the biggest council housebuilding programme since the postwar period" - note "post-war period", by which Burnham presumably means the period of 30 years after WW2 because no way will that we get back to that level anytime soon

I liked this bit from Burnham speech. I expect Starmer feels like this was his approach too, but it really wasn't reflected in reality as his govt's political side seemed to pick unnecessary battles

Watching England on top at the world cup

Government Estate Nature Plan announced as published yesterday - didn't actually appear on gov.uk on the day but it's up now. Read it at: www.gov.uk/government/p...

I see a lot of posts on BlueSky complaining about media coverage of the heatwave not being scary enough. On this issue, it's not like the media are misleading. Anyone south of Newcastle is experiencing the heatwave. They're perfectly capable of judging its impacts without the media.

A question for non-colour blind people - are the on-track and off-track colours different?

From @thecccuk.bsky.social progress report: The ZEV mandate is working for cars. BEV uptake is on track, it's pushing down on BEV prices (which is why car makers don't like it) and it's enabling investment in EV charging. Vans are taking longer but the transition is happening.

Is this about protecting kids or more about transferring risk from schools to parents? I'd have thought no guarantee homes will be cooler or safer for kids, especially if unsupervised. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

"while Southerners exhibit equal trust, Northerners trust Southerners significantly less than their own...this is driven by unconditional trust: Northerners perceive Southerners as more selfish than their own culture" New research. One for opinion pieces on N/S divide. nva.sikt.no/registration...

Hastings at the weekend: "Why are these homes empty?" "Refurbish empty buildings: save green spaces"

Shocking news of the train crash in Bedfordshire. Not just shocking in terms of the casualties but also because safety is such a priority on British railways.

A new "golden age for council house buiding" latest. The line at the bottom is council built housing (from stats out today)

Sparks v good in Bristol last night. Russell Mael is a very sprightly 77 year old!

"I will pass emergency laws to build data centres". Do politicians not just stop and wonder whether what they are saying is just completely silly and nonsensical? The world of politics and think tanks is just completely removed from the everyday world the rest of us exist in.

Having prioritised the "IS-8" industrial sectors as their key economic policy, the Government have now made it very difficult to say no to the demands of those sector's lobbyists. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's finally here! #BetterTransportWeek 2026! Packed with online and in person events, competitions, special offers and more. Get involved at bettertransportweek.org.uk#BetterTransportWeek

London Transport Museum will mark London’s electric transport heritage this July and summer with family activities, expert talks and historic vehicle displays in Covent Garden and Acton. A new Hidden London family tour will also launch. www.ltmuseum.co.uk/news/london-...

Read the blog 📖 🌐 #WalkingAndWheeling #Accessibility

New blog: CEO Michael Roberts gives his thoughts on @tflondon.bsky.social's new Walking & Wheeling Action Plan 🚶‍♀️ 🧑‍🦽 ❓ The issue – 2/3 of Londoners walk regularly but face challenges 🚧 Barriers – Clutter, uneven surfaces, lack of toilets 👀 Looking ahead – Sustaining improvements Read it below 🔽

Government is promising half day debate on the setting of the 7th carbon budget (covering 2038-42, with an 87% cut in emissions). Promise comes in govt response to @commonseac.parliament.uk report on the 7th carbon budget. committees.parliament.uk/committee/62...

The UK just recorded its hottest May ever. @thecccuk.bsky.social warns 40°C summers could become routine. The government's response? Planning reforms that make it harder for councils to act on #ClimateChange. As Dan Stone, CSE's policy officer, puts it: “This seems like madness.”

"When coming to scrutinise regulating for growth, the PAC found that HM Treasury does not know what risks it expects regulators to take. Nor how this would lead to growth, which it has not defined in any detail beyond an increase in GDP with no intended timeframe or targets around this"

This is a good report on housing affordability. Govt has been very active on planning reform (but as report says "reform of the planning system alone will not address the affordability of housing") but has yet to deliver wider policies discussed in report. committees.parliament.uk/committee/17...

It is interesting how policy makers (by which I probably mean politicians) get fixated on specific things as the answer to everything. Latest seems to be the Fingleton review of regulation on nuclear. Now being applied to small business - not much in common with its £bns of spending & safety risks

"So let’s show the fun police the red card...keeping the pints flowing outside*" (*small print: "It will be for councils to ultimately make these decisions and they will have to balance other factors.") www.gov.uk/government/n...

Monday blues: Bye-bye to Bath Fire Station (1938-39) How did it come to this? A rare pre-war building by a female architect, Molly Taylor; survived the Baedecker Blitz; located within two UNESCO World Heritage Sites; recommended for listing by C20 & Historic England, yet rejected by DCMS in 2025.

Friday afternoon may not be the best time to be sharing a report on the rural economy and regional devolution... But this is a good report so have a read: www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/u...

In 2025, there were 105,138 empty homes in London. This represents 2.7 per cent of the total homes in London. Since 2016, the number of empty homes in London has risen by 81 per cent. www.london.gov.uk/about-us/lon...

Good view of Surrey Docks and Rotherhithe, showing what a waterland it was. Endless docks and ponds, not many buildings with much of the goods being timber left in the water to treat it.

Also not mentioned: the number of pupils in all schools has fallen by 112k over the same period, so it feels like that is ‘pressure’ that the state sector can broadly manage (and in areas with badly falling school rolls, actively welcome).

"Volkswagen topped the BEV rankings in May, with Kia taking second...Both have benefited from strong demand for their latest generation of EVs, proving that the transition is increasingly being driven by mainstream brands offering practical, high-volume products" newautomotive.org/ecc

The canal restoration movement began by taking the law into its own hands like this. More power to them.

📺 Dont miss tonight's episode of Kevin McCloud's Listed Britain at 9pm on More4, as Kevin looks at modern places challenging the idea of what heritage can be...including plenty of C20 action! 👀

Nostalgia of being stuck on a train crawling into London Bridge... (This rarely happens now - investment in rail has meant a significantly better service in recent years. Not everything has to get worse)

NEWS: The Grade II listed Coventry Central Baths (1962-66), once described as ‘one of the finest swimming pools in the world’, is to be demolished by Coventry City Council after the Secretary of State, Steve Reed MP, formally approved the bulldozing the building. ➡️ c20society.org.uk/news/secreta...