@acarpen
Ex-Whitehall type still with views on public policy, but now local historian in Cambridge (UK) blogging at https://lostcambridge.com/ - also writing about the future of the city on The Cambridge Town Owl.
The Iran war should be a lesson for Keir Starmer's Government. If you take a clear line on an issue where the public agree with you then it's your opponents who end up having to back down, not you
That or ministers imposed an untested delivery structure of GCP Assembly and Board, and then 2 years in added a new metro mayor with a very different vision (and overlapping powers) to what the GCP senior officers were trying to push through (i.e. more busways). Doomed by design?
My extra radical far loony left position is that no one should ever be allowed to make a profit from academic publishing. It is a public good. See also: education, healthcare (on a good day, public transport…)
Power resides...in HM Treasury!
Green graphic with portcullis logo and green background. An image of the House of Commons Chamber is overlayed in a green and beige colourway.
MPs are now considering the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill.
Watch the debate ⬇️
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...
It really is extraordinary how can't be bothered BBC political journalism has become over the last couple of decades.
As if it's in the welcome pack /orientation week for newly recruited staff: "Wow! Look around you. You've made it to the pinnacle. Now it's time to relax and rest on those laurels."
It will be good if BBC interviewers at least know the facts/trends: this kind of denial about falling immigration + falling net migration will be a political theme in May 2026, November 2026 (when net migration drops dramatically, close to zero) + in May-Nov 2027 (net migration negative in 2027)
Cambridge Growth Company & Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority initiate important new study of options for Mass Rapid Transit in Cambridge region.
CGC's Harker said: "congestion in Cambridge is already holding back our communities and our economy".
thecgc.org.uk/index.php?ti...
To mark the 125th anniversary of the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal this month, here's a 1950s tourism poster designed by Harald Gutschow.
Also featured in “Tramways & Urban Transit” magazine www.lrta.org/tramways-and... 😎
NEW BLOGPOST: “Cambridge Growth Company announces new Mass Rapid Transit study” cambridgetownowl.com/2026/03/09/c... It has been on the news round here all morning.
Excellent piece👇
“… the societies that mobilise most effectively in a crisis are the ones with the deepest social fabric, the highest trust between citizens and institutions, and the most distributed sense of responsibility.”
One of my favourite town buildings in Cambridge - also the local neighbourhood watch keeps an eye on things from the rooftops. 🐦👀
A study has been launched to investigate possible transport options for Cambridge
“Is Britain ungovernable?” (While HMT holds such a vice-like grip on #Localgov funding & revenue-raising powers…exactly
Just saw a Reform councillor (Cllr Jones) in Worcestershire was told to apologise for calling his opponents 'monkeys' in a council debate (26th Feb). He sits on the council's Standards and Ethics Committee.
Looks like Zarah Sultana really is out in the cold in Your Party
"Members of [Corbyn's] The Many slate, which controls the CEC, elected themselves to all seven seats in the “Officers Group.” None were left over for any of the ten non-TM slate members." Plus Corbyn is now effectively the sole leader
I'm in this!
““Big tech companies artificially inflate datacentres’ job creation and economic impact to please governments like the British one, which are desperate to claim they are making the economy grow.”” www.theguardian.com/technology/2... 👀
🥶🥶 When will the FA or Parliament prohibit LBOs Man U style?
Reform UK on the war -
9 March, Robert Jenrick: ‘this war needs to come to an end as soon as possible….that’s why Nigel Farage immediately ruled out suggestions that UK might deploy boots on the ground. Nor do we see why British aircraft should become involved in offensive action.’ Daily Telegraph
28 February Reform leader, Nigel Farage ‘ The Prime Minister needs to change his mind on the use of our military bases and back the Americans in this vital fight against Iran!’ Post on X
Today, The Business and Trade Committee questioned Trade Minister Chris Bryant MP on whether Britain can afford to continue 'straddling the Channel and the Atlantic'. The answer is clear, we have the largest trading bloc in the world on our doorstep: it's time to rejoin the single market.
We are resetting our relationship with the EU, our closest and largest trading partner, to make trade easier and cheaper, and deliver tangible benefits for British businesses. We are talking about real businesses, real employers: the Somerset cheesemaker with export trade halved, the Welsh shellfish trader turning down orders because their catch isn’t fresh by the time the paperwork is done, the Scottish farmer who can no longer sell seed potatoes to customers they’ve supplied for decades. Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.
By reducing delays and unnecessary paperwork, this deal will help keep shelves stocked, protect jobs and put downward pressure on food price inflation for families across the country. British businesses deserve better and we will work hand-in-hand with them to ensure this deal is a success. Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The EU is the largest single market in the world, and it was a disastrous decision for our economy to ever leave it. Polling by Opinium on behalf of European Movement UK has found that 75% of British adults, who felt Brexit had been harmful to the UK, favour joining single market to lower taxes.
Low trust in institutions? Society divided? Chloë Swarbrick of Green Party New Zealand. www.instagram.com/reel/DVsWQKR... on IG. Sound familiar? @zackpolanski.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
"Study into new transport for Cambridge begins" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 1/2 -->
2/2 “Cambridge Growth Company announces new Mass Rapid Transit study” cambridgetownowl.com/2026/03/09/c...
Am on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire in next few minutes (9:10am) talking Cambs transport & mass rapid transit 1/2 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
