Nice outing to #reachfair incl Proclamation with Cambridge City Council's dressing up box well and truly raided. #bicycles aplenty too

FYI, In 1975 (& with a considerably smaller population), we built 315,000 homes in a year in Great Britain with 152,100 privately built homes & 162,400 publicly built homes (& with no Right to Buy policy to sell off social housing) in 1975 &...
#ukhousing #housing

Understanding what the local and Metro Mayor results tell us about the forthcoming general election is of course important. But it is a mark of England’s centralised politics that so little attention is being paid to the Metro Mayors’ manifestos and what they actually want to do.

Being as charitable as possible: I think BBC has questions to ask itself over representation and balance in politics programming. Over-representation of (very) underperforming minor parties, recycling of (very)unreliable rumours. Do they equitably represent the nation they serve?

Right, so, you know the way every time pollster's screw up the industry panics and has an enquiry?

Is there a reason that lobby reporters don't do the same...?

🤔 hope BBC News (UK) will do better at the general

In other joyous news, Count Binface polled almost twice as many votes as the 'Britain First - No To Immigration' mayoral candidate in Merton and Wandsworth

How is this funny or normal thing to say about the Mayor of the largest city in this country? Twice elected and soon to be third time likely.

Now do you see why so many others like shun public life? This is pure, unadulterated nonsense racist abuse.

The @reachride is this weekend!🚲

Join us on Bank Holiday Monday for a leisurely ride to reachfair through beautiful countryside. Meet from 9am to depart at 10 from Cambridge (outside Great St Mary's, The University Church, Cambridge) or from Ely rail station (with Ely Cycling Campaign).

More at camcycle.org.uk/reachride

A few striking things - 1. Houchen's vote share is down on before but still outperforming the party. 2. v. interesting given Hartlepool came under Labour control this evening 3. This all off the back of a campaign where Houchen distanced himself from conservative brand

👇100% x.com/tom_chance/sta…

V disturbing paper by Institute for Government on public spending planning, especially current lack of plan to set budgets for 2025-26. As ever, #localgov most exposed if central government decisions delayed to or beyond end-2024 instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/wh…

NEW: Next govt must prioritise a one-year spending review ahead of a December planning “cliff-edge”, warns Institute for Government

IfG cautions departmental, council & devolved budgets (which expire April 2025) are mired in worst uncertainty for decades

ft.com/content/b0cd4a…

Today is Wicken Fen's 125th anniversary and also marks 25 years of the Wider Wicken Vision, our ambitious project to create more space for nature, access for people and fight against climate change

Find out more here: bit.ly/Wicken-Fen-125

We #LoveCargoBikes of all kinds, but this is a new one on us - a gramophone on a bike in East Cambridgeshire! 🎶

Anyone else out there carrying interesting musical instruments or devices by bike? 🥁

In this week's blog, Policy Director Joe Hill looks behind the scenes at today's new report 'Making the grade', on performance in the civil service. He shares some of the interesting things we found mining through hundreds of pages of guidance

Read👇👇

reform.uk/comment/high-p…

Earlier this week, work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that the Personal Independence Payment “is thousands of pounds a month”.

This is incorrect. Those receiving the highest possible weekly amount of PIP get around £800 a month.
buff.ly/3UkERln

This article from the Times uses Oflog data in a really damaging way and paints an unrealistic picture of local authority performance

As Rhys Clyne and I warned in our report last year, it also undermines local gov trust in Oflog

Short thread

thetimes.co.uk/article/worst-…

‘Labour should…commit not only to building housing but also to owning the housing stock. By creating assets that produce income and holding them on the state’s balance sheet, income will be generated over time that reduces overall debt as assets and liabilities are matched’