NEW BLOGPOST: “Growth can cause conflict with local communities, says Cambridge Science Park director” cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/08/g... Which also covers my interview on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on the Science Park’s 55th anniversary

List of organizations, collaborations and treaties the US are pulling out of per presidential decree. From security, climate, and peacekeeping to countless UN organizations. Dismantling decades of work www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

AOC: What we saw today was a criminal murder a woman while she was trying to flee for her life. What we saw today was a manifestation of every American’s worst nightmare: their government turning into a tyranny.

The US government is now freely killing people at sea, in other lands, and on its own streets. It is difficult to see what more is needed for Congress and the Supreme Court to exercise their constitutional duty to check and balance what is now a rogue state abroad and a gangster state at home.

NEW BLOGPOST: New report calls for a single governance structure for the OxCamArc rather than the confusing multitude of partnerships & committees cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/07/i... …something I blogged about recently - have they been reading it?!? 😁

NEW BLOGPOST: I was on BBC Cambridgeshire yesterday (07 Jan 2026) on the Cambridge Science Park story - on the growth and the challenges of. cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/08/g... (Also a reminder of the Healthy Greater Cambridge report from The Cambridge Room).

NEW BLOGPOST: "Oxford Cambridge Supercluster Board calls for single governance structure for the OxCamArc / Growth Corridor" (that East West Rail sort of runs along). cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/07/i... Hang on - didn't I recommend the same thing last year? 😁

Nigel Farage confirms that Reform UK will vote *against* the bill to lift the two child cap, keeping hundreds of thousands of children in poverty.

Glad we made this decision today I know colleagues, the government and other organisations think they will be ceding ground and an important public discussion space if they leave X It has been twisted too far into an unsafe, malign and destructive tool to morally use, & thereby endorse, anymore

Back in November I told Westminster's women and qualities that the UK government needed to get off X. The committee's chair @sarahowen.org.uk is completely right - X is not an appropriate channel for comms. Quite the opposite

More about Greenland below the ice eng.geus.dk/about/news/n... #BBCPM

NOOZE: “We ask: ‘How many women were involved in generating the evidence base behind this statement?’” Oh. (Social historians of domestic/housing/consumer goods/advertising might have something to say about similar claims in the 20th century on ‘Labour-saving’ household appliances)

Grateful for the cross-party debate on dangerous proposals from Govt to scrap jury trials. Did my best to encourage Conservatives in the debate to own up to their role in creating the dire mess our courts are in, but got a very poor response.

See also Martin Stanley’s books on how to be a civil servant. (Useful for those wanting to scrutinise what civil servants actually do vs what Sir Humphrey got up to!)

😳

It has become increasingly clear that X - a platform now actively producing explicit and abusive material against women and children - is not an appropriate platform to be using for our comms. I will keep pushing for action from the govt & relevant authorities in this area.

““Do I regret referring to him as ‘Daddy’ at the last NATO summit? Yeah, kind of. But come on, who would’ve thought this guy would turn out to be completely unhinged? Oh… everyone? Really? Well I wish someone would’ve told me.” 🤣

As Fiona Hill warned us it nmay be a sort of Venezuela for Ukraine swap.

Cambridge City Council has prepared an update to its biodiversity strategy, and a new "Urban Forest strategy". Both are available for review and comment now engage.cambridge.gov.uk/en-GB/projec...

Am on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire talking about the future of the Cambridge Science Park in a few mins. cambridgetownowl.com/2025/11/21/c... 1/2

NEW REPORT: How big should developers' profits be when it comes to building all those houses in/around #Cambridge? 700+ pages of viability assessments appended to the local plan documents. consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/fi... 😳

"New study finds historic buildings contribute to urban scenicness as much as trees and water" www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/urban-s... ...with the research paper ---> 1/2

NEW REPORT: #Cambridge Green Infrastructure evidence appendices. consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/fi...

NEW REPORT: Tall buildings and the future of #Cambridge consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/fi...

Re www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/... Ponder the scenario that there is a revolution, and whoever takes power stops drone supplies/disengages from wars/changes sides on who to back in the various wars happening around the world.

NEW REPORT: How big should developers' profits be when it comes to building all those houses in/around #Cambridge? 700+ pages of viability assessments appended to the local plan documents. consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/sites/gcp/fi... 😳

14th January 2026 Transport meeting papers also now available democracy.cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/ieListDocume... 47 page review of contracted bus services that cost more than £10 per passenger, plus all the Tiger branded routes. More cuts proposed too 🤷

"The art collective had in its latest action converted a former prison transport wagon into a “command post for civil society”, fitted out with sirens, speakers, signal jammers and other equipment" www.ft.com/content/0db0... 1/2 -->

Outrageous. Ministers should be listening to scientists, frontline communities and those working towards a green transition – not hosting the interests of oil giants in their own offices. ✍🏼 - @adamramsay.bsky.social abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-o...

Tax dodging thanks to Dutch deregulators: "several of the Netherlands’ biggest 15 multinationals are oil, gas, and mining companies, the FTM analysis found. That’s because the Netherlands has a large number of treaties with countries rich in those resources." www.ftm.eu/articles/top...

Astonishing comment from the Criminal Cases Review Comm to the business select committee earlier (as part of a discussion of their review into Post Office Capture-related convictions): the Horizon system was deployed earlier than was thought so at least one Capture case is in fact a Horizon case (!)

James Bond-themed Oasis songs anyone? 👀

“I’m glad you think so!” Sir Humphrey.

Questions for those leading large trade unions - what’s the plan for encouraging those in insecure work to join trade unions to secure better pay & conditions? (Any lessons from past trade union history?)

We can’t go on like this. In just two days, the average FTSE 100 CEO has made a median workers full time annual salary. The right calls this “wealth creation”. It’s wealth extraction. Time to tax the rich. @highpaycentre.bsky.social highpaycentre.org/fat-cat-day-...

Joint Statement of major EU/NATO countries on Greenland, together with Denmark:

It's now unconscionable for the government to be posting on X. X is not a neutral utility, it is far, far darker: an environment that shapes behaviour, rewards cruelty, and normalises abuse. @theleaduk.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...

🇷🇺 Stephen Doughty MP, Minister of State for Europe on Russian misinformation: "This year, Russia alone plans to spend 30 million euros weekly on state propaganda." The misinformation crisis is not an accident. It is a manufactured weapon of war.

A reminder for anyone new to Bluesky (or who just wants to follow more policy wonks here) that I've made a starter pack of all the think tanks I've spotted on the platform and the researchers working at them (if you're missing and want adding in let me know!) - go.bsky.app/Geu9Jd8

The acid test is inevitably the local elections in 4 months time - those that go ahead. Expect a bit of noise if Labour lose control of Cambridge City Council - most likely to No Overall Control due to rise of Greens vs LibDems in recent years.

He would have been 80 today - Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd m.youtube.com/watch?v=otyf... He spent his final years living in my neighbourhood in Cambridge. Kept himself to himself so much so that us 90s teenagers never recognised him when working at Budgen’s until the older supervisors pointed him out!

NEW BLOGPOST: On the future of two historical buildings on Mill Road, #Cambridge cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/06/r... 👀🥶

International boycotts have been started over less… www.theguardian.com/business/202... (Risk of giving US firms a competitive advantage?)

NEW BLOGPOST: "The governance of England in 2050" cambridgetownowl.com/2026/01/05/t...

Has there ever been any research into what it does to a human to see so many people viscerally and violently hate you at all once? Because I can't imagine it's good for any normal person's soul

Find out what's being debated in Westminster Hall today: commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/100...

Unusually early start - empty cafe this morning. Seems like people staying out of the cold. Now trying to second-guess where the Cambridge Growth Co. Might recommend the continuous extension of the city’s urban footprint. Guessing NW for uni, & E/SE & maybe a bit of SW for residents.

This decision goes to the heart of what Cambridge University sees itself as. I hope the Vet School is saved. cambridgetownowl.com/2025/12/17/c...

The campaign to save the veterinary school at @cam.ac.uk has stepped up #Cambridge www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/campaig...

Expert level trolling by Gothenburg - during the Cambridge congestion charge debate in 2023 the media made a flawed comparison between the Swedish port city & Cambridge - which have v different municipal governance structures.