Over-the-counter pet flea treatments could be banned under new UK rules

The housing market looks to have made it through the crises of the 2020s unscathed — but they have weakened it significantly, says Neal Hudson: ft.trib.al/tOuHKl9

Councils’ temporary housing costs to more than double by 2029-30, says LGA

Many young people are struggling to gain a foothold in the labour market. Among young people who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET) 60% have never worked. Entering adulthood without work experience limits opportunities to build skills, confidence & earnings potential.

2 thoughts on the spending review. 1. Raising public service productivity is more important than ever. 2. 15 years of prioritising the NHS, education and "triple lock" (and now defence) by cutting all other programmes, in particular the home office and justice) is no longer sustainable. #soundmoney

Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...

only in the small print of this article do they make clear that the pensioners paying an extra £2,500 of tax would have to have “earnings over £125,140” I know many pensioners are asset rich but how many have income at that level?

Surely it's much cheaper to support 7,500 people who find themselves out of work than it is not to levy the tax? (In any case, this smacks of ludicrous scaremongering.) www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

"Parking is such sweet sorrow"

Guess the biggest source of NOx road air pollution in central London. Taxis? Buses? Private cars? Nope, it's now vans. Once the biggest polluter, taxis have rapidly gone electric. Meanwhile vans fleets are only slowly being electrified. Story 👇 www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

The latest inflation data has revealed that the UK now has the highest rate of inflation in the G7.

It would be helpful for Reform to warn donors that, if you (for example) buy some bitcoin for £2k, and its worth £4k when you donate it, then you’re taxed on a £2k capital gain.

Starmer is correct. We can't tax our way to growth. But we can *tax reform* our way to growth. Some ideas:

Trump says he will double tariffs on US steel imports to 50% https://www.ft.com/content/b85586fe-5886-4c90-bc29-c3284413e0dc

First response: fine, as long as London is not ignored and/or is given greater powers to raise funds at regional level, because without a strongly-growing London you will not have a strongly-growing UK. www.theguardian.com/politics/202... #london

The new V&A East Storehouse looks incredible, something between a public library and a museum www.vam.ac.uk/east/storeho...

The other 5 in England are Blackburn, Southwell, Southwark, Guildford and Rochester.

Just published in collaboration with The Guardian our two-year investigation linking Turkish seabass and seabream in UK supermarkets to devastating overfishing and social harms in Senegal! www.desmog.com/2025/05/22/r... With✍️ @hazelhealy.bsky.social on @desmog.bsky.social

What should the Government prioritise when tackling its welfare trilemma (means-tesing winter fuel payments, cutting disability benefits and the persistence of the two child limit)? @ruthcurtice.bsky.social‬ considers the options ⤵️ buff.ly/5ibPBVM

A ‘groundbreaking’ Essex project aims to plant a 100 mile tree corridor to connect isolated ‘orphan’ woodlands together for the benefit of wildlife. By @davidj2024.bsky.social

*steps tentatively in the LTN debate shitshow* A fairly understandable LTN criticism is that they result in static traffic on boundaries belching out tailpipe pollution. But in about five years' time you'd expect a vast number of those cars to be electric vehicles so will that solve that objection?

extraordinary that Thames Water executives are getting *new* bonuses, this time as a result of the £3bn rescue loan from the spring - which loads the company with interest rates of nearly 10% via me and Gill Plimmer www.ft.com/content/1f6d...

Cool! Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Don't take it from me. Take it from the government's own assessment: Everything Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have said about nature protection blocking house building is big fat shining lie. A lie now being locked into legislation before Parliament. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The social care system is broken and it seems the Govt’s in no hurry to fix it. But it would mean better outcomes for our NHS overall & for millions of lives. The Govt should wrap up the Commission on social care within the year - so change can happen ASAP.

looking through that nutrient neutrality assessment I am, to be honest, further convinced that my Niskanen paper was on the right track. how can you read this problem description and not think the solution is "the government should commission experts and make a plan"?

I know how frustrated local residents are about the difficulty they have in getting a GP appointment. I'm pleased, after a number of false dawns, GP services in Ipswich are set to improve. If these plans are made a reality, people should finally receive the treatment they need, when they need it.

Zonal pricing could undermine #Scottish #energy sector, warns Forbes Deputy first minister says uncertainty triggered by #electricity market reforms could deter #investment on.ft.com/4cSgBA3

Just caught up with this piece and I think it’s the most depressing thing I’ve read in a long time. I agreed with almost every word while thinking “yeah, not gonna happen”:

extraordinary that other publications/outlets don't seem to have mentioned that this programme has been £2.4bn a year for ages and therefore £2bn for 2026/7 is a cut - unless and until more money materialises in the spending review

ministers have hailed a “landmark” announcement of £2bn of government funding to build new social and affordable homes in the 2026-27 financial year but the figure is lower than the average state spending for the sector over the past five years (£2.4bn)  www.ft.com/content/c4a3...

Treasury minister Darren Jones signals Sizewell likely to get go-ahead in June spending review - which would involve billions in taxpayer funding: www.ft.com/content/4a88...

Luton airport gets the green light for expansion from transport secretary despite planning inspectorate recommending rejection on environmental grounds: www.ft.com/content/fd1b...

NEW from @jrf-uk.bsky.social Much has been made of the pressure on public finances. Household finances remain the elephant in the room. If OBR adjust their Mar forecast in line with the BoE in Feb, it will see the average family £1,400/yr worse off by 2030, compared with today. Thread.

'The majority of students under scrutiny are believed to have enrolled at so-called franchised universities — which are small colleges paid to provide courses for established universities but often have low grade requirements.'

Genuinely astonishing that TVCA is maintaining this falsehood about the Teesworks deal. They're depending on councillors who are responsible for scrutiny not knowing the detail. 🔗 teesside.thelead.uk/p/tvca-chief...

UK Civil Service told to slash running costs by 15%, £2bn. What would that be - cuts in airport safety, minimum wage inspections, health and safety, child welfare, flood defences, river cleanliness, benefit assessment? Policy on the hoof pays no attention to human cost.

Depressing reading… www.thetimes.com/article/bed1...

Not the only take away here, but an important one: you are entitled to request an emergency 48 hour supply of your medication from *any* pharmacist.

As the UK prepares its next carbon budget, what needs to be included?

Hitting all the squares on the NIMBY bingo card, including property values, complaints about parking, worries that “kids will play loudly in the park” and, of course, the claim this isn’t about being NIMBY www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

I generally like David Gauke's writing, but this is really poor on energy prices and net zero I'm afraid. Not going to rebut the whole thing, but a couple of quick points... www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

“Demoralised dentists are walking away from a system that is forcing practices to operate like a charity,” says @shivparbary.bsky.social “This service is running on empty, kept afloat by private work and goodwill which is now in very short supply” www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

After decades of neglect, finally a firm commitment to social rent homes. It’s clear government knows that’s the only way out of homelessness for many thousands of families. Hopefully a sign of investment in serious numbers to come in the spending review

We have just launched our new @policefoundationuk.bsky.social paper on AI and policing. It sets out how the police currently use AI, describes the big challenges and makes 6 recommendations for the police/gvt. Thanks to @forensicanalytics.bsky.social for supporting the work. You can read it here 👇

BREAKING: Angela Rayner confirms plans new elected mayors for 'Greater Essex', Hampshire and Solent, Sussex including Brighton & Hove. First mayoral elections planned for May 2026, as part of government's fast-track scheme for English devolution.