Monthly Archives: August 2025

Journalist Mark Williamson has started a new blog – and in his latest post he’s rightly critical of the state of our city You can read what he says here Mark starts off quoting Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd – someone who lived in recluse not far from where I spent most of my lifeContinue reading “Cambridge’s declining public realm”

Not that you’d know from BBC Politics’ love-in with Team Nigel It’s in the smaller, independent/online outlets that are picking up on the issue of taxing tourism similar to how other countries do so. ‘Get on with it’: Support builds for London-wide tourism tax – Greenwich Wire 11 Aug 2025 Labour Mayor Accuses Treasury ofContinue reading “Labour Mayor slams Labour Treasury ministers over lack of tourism tax powers”

But…it struggled to link it all together in a cohesive theme and wasn’t able to become greater than the sum of its parts. Why was this? Let’s have a look. I went into town (i.e. Cambridge’s city centre – a term I’ve used since childhood and old habits die hard!) for both days of theContinue reading “Out of the Ordinary Festival Cambridge showcases local dance & musical talent”

If so, Frankie’s got some cultural observations on left-wing academics. Also, how this links to Cambridge’s growing pains! Above – did you come to the conference for the free drinks reception with canapes at the end? Actually, it reflects something that has been troubling me about the public policy processes ever since I joined theContinue reading “Have you ever been to an academic conference? This might be about you”

The saga of what should happen with council-owned buildings in an era of austerity continues – as ministers continue to hold back on granting greater revenue powers for local government The latest attempt to sell off Mill Road Library (against the wishes of local residents) has fallen through. [Updated to add:] By Jonathan Giblett toContinue reading “Can we have our library back please?”

Central Government’s decision to pull funding for the relocation of Anglian Water’s sewage works at Milton, just north of Cambridge to a new site at Honey Hill means that some very expensively-produced plans are going to need revamping It’s worth highlighting that The Government has since stated that the additional funding requirements needed to relocateContinue reading “Now that the waterworks won’t be moving, where will 8,000+ new homes be built?”

Earlier today, Cambridge City Council confirmed that ministers had pulled the funding for the relocation of the Milton sewage works on the northern edge of Cambridge You can read the press release here. One group breathing a sigh of relief are the Save Honey Hill campaigners who spent years opposing the proposals – and spendingContinue reading “How much money, time, and work has been wasted over the Cambridge Sewage Works?”

I lost count of the number of stalls and causes outside the guildhall on Saturday (09 Aug) and it seems that local activists want to move faster than what’s happening nationally “Tomorrow, Sunday 10th August, there is a coming together of our supporters. Why not join us at 1900 Jesus Green by the ice creamContinue reading “First informal gathering of Cambridge’s Corbyn/Sultana party branch”

On the latest lobbying scandal that UK Politics can ill-afford Some of you may have picked up on the reports about the Labour Infrastructure Forum. That article dated 05 Aug 2025 has what read as damage limitation quotations that seem ‘inconsistent’ with events and branding. “The Labour party said it had no connection to [LabourContinue reading “When is a Labour think tank not a Labour think tank?”

Cllr Dave Baigent (now Ind, Romsey) resigned from Cambridge Labour Party today in order to sign up and support the new left movement alongside two former Labour councillors in Cambridge You can see https://yourpartycambridge.uk/ and also Cllr Baigent’s press release (with contact details) here. I’m not going to go into the national politics of itContinue reading “Cambridge councillor quits Labour as activists establish a branch of Jeremy Corbyn’s & Zarah Sultana’s Your Party”