Simply cutting out waste and corruption: latest.

In itself it's funny, but I'm imagining a UK where the government hires random unfit blokes in army surplus and masks to grab people off the streets. What is happening over there?

You want political vision? Hell yeah, we got vision.

Oh dear. Faisal Islam breaking it too... it'll be near the top of the telly news. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Well it's good news that I don't have to boycott Disney before Alien Earth is finished. Hope it doesn't descend into total "run they're coming!!!" noisy mayhem and death though. I mean Alien Earth, not the United States of America, although that too.

According to Facebook people (so it must be true) Ben Habib's Advance UK are having their launch event next Saturday at a hotel owned by Newcastle City Council. Potentially awkward if true.

TBF to Peter Kyle, I lack drive.

Just seen myself on the bottom row of an organisational structure diagram. Outrageous.

Saw this in my twitter trends and was dissapointed it wasn't about the modern classic "Agenda For A Reformed Cohesion Policy: A place-based approach to meeting European Union challenges and expectations" by Fabrizio Barca.

Thirty billion. If you're going to do boosterism then give it both barrels, suppose.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was an inadequate and flawed replacement for the European money but even it ends next year with no indication that there'll be a replacement revenue stream.

For shame, I didn't realise until today that government had scrapped the cross-dept Cities and Local Growth unit back in march.

I've just bought a concrete scale model of the demolished Gateshead Trinity Square carpark. Don't tell me the middle classes have no room to pay more tax.

Who cares? It's all just the provinces. The priority is a Reform UK government who will deliver deep spending cuts and tax cuts.

A WhatsApp correspondent...

A truthbomb from Darren Grimes #ReformUK

Saved posts, brilliant. If you could all just do me a quick favour and repost all the interesting things you've shared over the past 18 months.

Great stuff. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Does a new MHCLG minister mean we might get a stronger narrative around regional policy? Us lot on bluesky know about the infrastructure pipeline but most people have other things to worry about Levelling Up was deeply flawed but at least moved regional policy up the agenda.

I've been on X which appears to be gripped by the idea that the Fabian Society is a secret conspiracy to rule the world or something. This looks like a pretty slow burn way of going about it TBH.

Today’s actually-existing-Reform-in-power anecdote finds Reform-run Durham County Council riding its own tiger

Good briefing. As I always say, in England's poorest region - the north east - there are three times as many jobs in higher education than there are in the manufacture of motor vehicles.

A conversation over on X... There's a potential benefit in Reform UK councillors taking over and basically saying, "you know what, it wasn't corruption and waste - the previous lot were telling the truth" Maybe their voters will give them more of a hearing. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The latest development in the political revolution sweeping through local government - Reform controlled Durham County Council are removing England flags for health and safety reasons.

Getting ready for fracking, say reform. But not in our backyard. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Surprising. Reach PLC's current stock in trade is Reform-friendly talking points, especially on Facebook – they’re an asset to the party.

I reckon the other political parties would be relatively happy if Reform’s headline messages included fracking, Rachel Reeves is a communist/slash the state, and civil disorder/vandalism are good things.

I’m disappointed to learn that the movie “Eddington” isn’t about the 2006 UK Transport Study by Sir Rod Eddington.

Seriously, if they thought they could get enough acts together, we'd not be far away from a "Concert for Connolly" Perhaps with a vigil for the other political prisoners of summer 2024.

PSR is *obviously* in large part about stopping anyone else buying their way into the big time like Chelsea and Manchester City did. That might be for the good of the game but I'm not really seeing many people making that argument. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Top headline on the BBC website. If you add together all the protesters and counter protesters listed in this report, it's something like 2000 people, maybe fewer. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New development in the Reform effort to cut out waste and woke in order to cut coucil tax. www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/2540755...

The big regional policy debate is the balance between- Place/territory (trying to strengthen regional economies) People (health, education and so on – giving people the tools to take opportunities, which might mean moving). Have we been doing enough of either of them?

I never got the feeling Isak was at Newcastle for the long haul, but unless there’s some astonishing behind the scenes wrongdoing by NUFC, his behaviour is becoming bizarre. What next? Buying his own Liverpool kit and turning up at their training ground on Monday?

Quite enjoying the Hundred so far this year. My franchise is winning, which is good, but if they start losing then I don't care enough for it to make me unhappy.

Disappointing to read a north east based writer reprising the too far north thing. Maybe it's a factor sometimes, but it's not something we heard much about over the past four years (until now). Have people only just worked out where Newcastle is?

A couple of months ago NUFC had won something for the first time in decades, qualified for the champions league for the second time in three seasons, and were looking unequivocally on the up. Within weeks, they’ve entered crisis mode without a ball being kicked. Very on-brand.

As it is, gates have to be either staffed anyway or left open because not all tickets work on them (e.g tickets with QR codes bought on the bus/app). I assume something is going to change, otherwise we're spending money on gates to just leave open [add your own natalie portman star wars meme]

The X mob that were previously furious that labour ‘are no longer the party of the working class’ are now livid at any effort to broaden opportunity in the civil service.

I'm surprised that all these tribunes of the working class don't know what the Job Centre does. Maybe it's because it's newfangled and online, and Rupert et al would understand better if we called it the labour exchange.

I've come on holiday to 2095...I'm on the look out for the TARDIS

Like the green space/tramline combination.

Alexander Isak has had enough of living in a peripheral northern English city with longstanding socio-economic problems, so he wants to move to Liverpool.

I've seen the clips on X and the "antifa agitators" look not so much like the black block as they do people queuing for the vegan food stall at Sidmouth folk festival.

I expect Reform will simply continue to offer massive public spending cuts in the abstract, together with large public spending commitments.

"These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group" True although, while this is a fun story, it's not totally unusual in local government (in my experience).

Looking to Teesside University's Beth Mead to turn this around. That's my team Teesside contribution for this year's PDPR

Good to see no northern England institutions on this list. Who'd want to move there anyway? www.gov.uk/government/n...

Leaving...

I can't be the only one who takes tea on holiday? It's that or buying Lipton yellow when you get there. Dr Mitchell takes the piss every time. "Are you taking HP sauce and baked beans as well?"