Category Archives: Uncategorized

In the early 1920s we had three general elections in three years. Is something similar looming after a disastrous performance by the Prime Minister at PMQs today? (See also Held in Contempt by Hannah White) In GCSE history in the 1990s we learnt more about interwar Germany than we did about interwar UK. So IContinue reading “So this is what the early 1920s in UK politics must have been like!”

…might have been the headline if the guildhall was at risk of being sold off, but the recommendation to councillors was to keep hold of it while relinquishing other buildings in the face of further central government cuts For those of you wondering where the Cambridge Town Owl actually came from, have a look atContinue reading ““Cambridge Town Owl saves Guildhall!””

Anglian Water made the announcement today – what will happen to the earth that will need to be excavated to make way for the huge volumes of water? Could a light rail line be constructed that can then be converted into a passenger line? Above – an indication of where the reservoir will be locatedContinue reading “Chatteris to be the site of the Fenland Reservoir”

Over 30 people turned up to discuss how to hold the University of Cambridge and its colleges accountable for the decisions they take as corporate institutions It was mainly students at this gathering at the back room of St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church, plus a handful of us not-so-young town people, who went to thisContinue reading “Meeting the Cambridge Land Justice Campaign – Oct 2022”

I promised staff caring for me last December that I’d follow up housing and transport issues. It took me a while to figure out the structures (amongst other things) but I managed to table some Qs to their annual meeting. When I was in hospital in December 2021, it was in the middle of theContinue reading “Asking Addenbrooke’s Hospital / CUH about housing and transport plans”

Who is this made-up anti-growth coalition? And will the divide-and-rule strategy backfire? “Vested interests dressed up as think tanks?” Yup. The response from her opponents has been something like this: Above – “Tarantino’s new star” by North & South, 1997 And not just ‘the usual suspects’. This from the Institute for Government’s Dr Hannah White.Continue reading “Greenpeace gatecrash Liz Truss’s party conference speech”

It was commissioned by a Conservative-led council – which makes it all the more interesting given their party is now opposing it. I found the report in the Cambridgeshire Collection. Go in there and give them free money! Actually, the number of people from the property sector who use the Collection makes me wonder ifContinue reading “Councillors must study the county-council-commissioned survey report on congestion-charging for Cambridge from 2008”

The fact that councillors are having to debate this shows how much successive Conservative governments have cut from local councils across the country Furthermore, it shows the impact of their refusal to enable Cambridge City Council (and other councils) to raise money through a wider range of taxes beyond council tax and business rates. YouContinue reading ““Future of the Guildhall in Cambridge to be debated” (Version 2022)”

So when I saw the headline about further cuts to school budgets, I was reminded of the song. For those of you who need a reminder about the state of the present UK Government, here’s a Not-Safe-For-Work (NSFW) reminder from Juice Media. This was on the back of the markets punishing the UK economy overContinue reading ““If you tolerate this, then your children will be next” sang the Manic Street Preachers in 1998″

…and a missed opportunity to live-stream the speeches by the young green party leaders TL/DR: Watch the joint speech by the Greens’ co-leaders here, and with future events ensure Ever since I left the civil service in 2011 I started going to lots of local and London-based public policy events like the proverbial celebrity whoContinue reading “The Green Party Conference 2022 – the co-leaders’ speeches”