Category Archives: Uncategorized

As OfGem announces a ‘new price cap’ (that seems to be moving suspiciously for something that is supposed to be still), The Chancellor tells people to use less energy. The official announcement came today: “Today (26 August 2022) Ofgem has announced the energy price cap will increase to £3,549 per year for dual fuel forContinue reading “The lights are on – but for how much longer?”

Have a watch of the clip below – Emily Maitlis giving the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2022 You can watch the full version from 13mins 30seconds here. Amongst other things, the timing of this speech has hit ministers where it hurts – because at the moment it doesn’t appear thatContinue reading “Emily Maitlis rinses BBC News, saying its output is being ‘shaped by a Tory party agent’”

TL:DR? Watch this video. NSFW version. Produced by The Juice Media who have been putting out adverts mainly aimed at their own governments in Australia, and more recently the USA. You can see their videos here. They pull no punches, are short, sharp, comprehensive in all the bad stuff they cover, and remind us allContinue reading “UK Government gets juiced by Australian spoof media outlet”

Just in case we get a snap election this autumn – though going by the headlines on #SewageScandal this week (It was #CostOfLivingCrisis last week, and #Drought the week before) it would take a ‘brave’ Prime Minister to call one this soon. For what it’s worth, I think the government that returns to Parliament followingContinue reading “Preparing a city for a general election so that it’s less boring and more relevant to our lives?”

Comments by Ian Sandison of the Cambridge BID [Business Improvement District] lead to more questions about the future direction of Cambridge You can read his short piece here – also published in the Cambridge Independent this week. Cllr Sam Davies asked if anyone is looking into why this is. Most of the issues I’d normallyContinue reading ““I’m often surprised at how little knowledge of the city centre many Cambridge residents have””

In 1943, members of the Town and Country Planning Association met to debate what towns in England should be like. Arriving recently, I’ve digitised my copy here for you to read. Above – Country towns in the Future England This is of interest to Cambridgeshire because our towns are surrounded by countryside as opposed toContinue reading “Cambridgeshire Towns – did you get what the planners asked for in 1943?”

The recently-elected Joint Administration for Huntingdonshire District Council is asking for ideas – see https://huntingdonshirefutures.net/ What this post examines is Cambridge’s future in relation to Huntingdonshire, and how to ensure one does not impose on the other, but rather that there’s a shared decision that benefits both. “Now! My ideas for your district are…!” …isContinue reading ” The future of Huntingdonshire”

…assuming they have the legal powers to do so. And if not, it should be something ministers should be putting into their planning bill along with measures to enable councils to cover their expenses on running a town planning function so they can match private sector salaries. TL/DR? I’ve refreshed the relevant blogpost and linksContinue reading “Greater Cambridge Planning should require developers to refresh their environmental assessments”

When politicians, statesmen, diplomats and monarchs slept, Europe slid towards catastrophe. Why does it feel depressingly similar today in the face of multiple crises? Marina Hyde got it spot on “It feels ironical that [Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng] was one of the Tory MPs (along with Liz Truss) who once wrote a book claiming that BritishContinue reading “So this is what it must have felt like in that long hot summer of 1914”

And I’m not just talking about recent research, I’m also referring to things produced over a century ago Because history matters. Here’s former Labour minister Arthur Greenwood a decade before he first experienced ministerial office in 1920. Above – The Education of the Citizen, 1920 – for the Adult School Union It’s easy to forgetContinue reading “Where is the holistic approach to adult education and lifelong learning that research recommends?”