I have been neglecting Blusky, sorry! Here is today's newsletter, where I complain about the government failing to listen to the people impacting by their policies...mostly, predictably, when these people are women. open.substack.com/pub/worroom/...

"Back when I were a lass, we never caught the train or bus –because, quite simply, there weren’t any. Even now, you’re still more likely to pass someone travelling on horse-back than by bus." @jessicagh.bsky.social sits in for this week's Wor Room, recalling her Yorkshire youth and dodgy transport.

So the ONS has just released new stats on NHS experiences… ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula... ...let's see what it say about the North

I love playing Budget Bingo, so that I can be disappointed every time - this year I think the North East needs local gov funding, FE funding, support for a film/TV studio, and investment in the Leamside Line. You can read why I think that in The QT - theqt.online/time-for-the...

You're 17, you're in the 6th form common room. You've got your little off-brand MP3 player and some dodgy songs you found on the internet. One of them is The Hives, and you're listening to it with one earphone in while I talk to you about the recession. That's this week's newsletter.

This has made me nostalgic for that period in 2018-19 when Theresa May kept calling press conferences to say she wasn't going to resign www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

"In the North East, child poverty has to be the policy focus. Morally, it’s the only option as an umbrella mission. The human damage it does, the damage of lost potential is too great for it not to be top of the list." My first column for The QT: theqt.online/a-year-of-ch...

There's a new online newspaper for North East England, launching on Wednesday. I'm delighted to say I'm going to be in it, writing a regular column on policy, politics, data and evidence in the region. You can read the first edition (and my first column) free by going to theqt.online

Guest views in this week's newsletter, where I rely on @leighsus.bsky.social to give some credibility to my take on the Teesworks Independent Review. open.substack.com/pub/worroom/...

Got annoyed about the Centre for Social Justice and wrote 1200 words on their most recent report to start this week's newsletter.

"Those of us who believe in tolerance, humanity, compassion, diversity, need to watch out and play our part to keep those lives open." I spoke to @tomrobinson.com about how artists can build a career, and the role of political music in changing society: www.apatternof.com/features/tom...

A couple of good maps in this week's newsletter - one on housing and infrastructure across the North from Homes for the North, and another from Chris Whitty's annual report which shows how the UK population is expected to age.

Tax them. Tax them for the emissions. Tax them for the weight and the additional use and wear of infrastructure. Tax them for the excess deaths. Tax them to change the consumer behaviours behind it. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Anyone on here expert enough in investment flows to tell me what the North East ranking high in foreign investment (third behind London and the South East) but low on investment sticking in the region (just 43% stays here) means? Is being a gateway good? worroom.substack.com/p/54-of-nort...

Some news! I'm going to be working with New Writing North as a Creative Associate on a six-month residency, to write a collection of essays exploring North East masculinity, community and identity. Find out all about it (and the three other talented associates), at the link below!

How brave is Keir Starmer? That's the question on housing and planning. Great to guest on the Northern Agenda podcast this week to elaborate on this week's Wor Room newsletter and talk about the many and varied housing crises facing the UK, and how much political capital it would take to fix them.

More on housing and housebuilding in my Substack this week...

A map for you - of 2022/23 housebuilding completions by UK local authority. public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...

"I love ‘live’, I’ve always loved live, I presumed it was live radio and live TV, but actually it can be live events and live relationships" I spoke to Charlie Charlton about the next phase of her career, after nearly 20 years as a BBC broadcaster.

This week's newsletter, which is only illustrative...any content is subject to change. Don't get too excited, it probably won't happen. Anyway, vote for me. (Actual contents - some thoughts on conferences, term-time population changes, A&E and deprivation, and Euro 2028)

I've entered bluesky via the politics and policy entrance...is there also a football bluesky where people will say encouraging things to me about Reading FC being on the brink?

Very much enjoying that the BBC has a topic of 'Beeching cuts' for this Leamside Line story.

This week's newsletter, as you might have guessed from the image, is mostly about the Tory Conference. open.substack.com/pub/worroom/...

New piece for Pattern - talking with Sarah Cox of the InnovationSupernetwork about innovation in the North East. We talk about her work and life, why she's so in to innovation, and the developing ecosystem in the region. It also features a couple of businesses who have benefited from the programme

UK politicians have been stuck in survival mode so long there's no such thing as proper strategy or policymaking anymore, just reacting to whichever panic is currently happening...often by unpicking previous strategic thinking. As the Tory Conference starts, I've written about why that's a problem.

Really good from Esther Webber and Joshua Posaner on HS2 and the apparent inability of this government - or maybe just us as a nation - to deliver big projects. I wonder why it is we don't look at this mess and just see incompetence. www.politico.eu/article/unit...

You can picture it already, admit it. From my Substack newsletter this week, which has plenty on HS2, some stuff on the economic impact of creative industries, and a bit on IPPR North's new report where they spoke to some people in Redcar - worroom.substack.com/p/all-talk-n...

"Red 7 standing by" - funny way for a sitting PM to talk about the shadow cabinet, but alright. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

So, what's the tone of this place? Twitter seven or eight years ago, back when it was fun? It's going to take me a while to adjust.