Do many people know that the ICC judges, once sanctioned by the US, almost immediately lost access to credit cards, google, amazon & microsoft cloud, etc. www.ft.com/content/4c3a...

I’d hypothesise this happened here too: hospitals, magistrates courts, police stations etc concentrated in bigger centres, so solid jobs go, local services then fold, shops close - a downward spiral 1/2

Philipp Heimberger@heimbergecon.bsky.social · 3mo ago

What happens when the state quietly disappears? A new paper finds that support for populism in Italy (2008–18) rose where hospitals closed, especially in remote municipalities. Greater distance to public services reinforced feelings of abandonment and boosted populist voting.

The Pineapple for Health Homes winner for 2026 has been announced! Farmstead Road is an inspiring scheme of 24 PassivHaus affordable homes in LB of Lewisham - produced for Phoenix Community Housing with Buxton Building Contractors, Metropolitan Workshop, Jubb, BPTW, Potter Raper, Etude, LUC & PJR

Town and Country Planning Association@thetcpa.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🍾 Congrats to Metropolitan Workshop LLP & Phoenix Community Housing, the Pineapples Healthy Homes winners, for their 24 Passivhaus-standard homes on Farmstead Road, Lewisham! The Pineapple for Healthy Homes is supported by ROCKWOOL Group. Read about the shortlist: www.tcpa.org.uk/pineapple-fo...

📝 New data by Office for National Statistics highlight people living in the most deprived areas across England & Wales spend around 15-20% less of their lives in good health compared to those in the least deprived areas. This often means living almost two decades with poor health. bit.ly/4cQ1bg7

The 𝘓𝘙𝘉 is looking for an experienced freelance podcast producer to work on our fortnightly UK-focused politics podcast. The deadline for applications is the 31 March. More information about the role and how to apply can be found here: www.lrb.co.uk/jobs

Jobs at the London Review of Books

lrb.co.uk

EVENTS! Tickets available for Tales of the Suburbs events in Crystal Palace (tonight), Bath (Saturday), Edinburgh and Glasgow (next week), Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham (the week after), plus Milton Keynes. More to follow! Please come along x www.johngrindrod.co.uk/events

Defra issued new strategic policy statements for the Environment Agency & Natural England last week, pushing them to prioritise economic growth. There are a number of questions to raise on this...(1/)

Why is this government so useless on women's rights, and protecting single-sex spaces? On the one hand they welcome the Supreme Court judgment, on the other they are trying to thwart it. It's cynical, and insulting. comment.press/govt-womens-...

How is the government so useless on women's rights?

Ministers meeting with someone found to have harassed a rape crisis worker is just its latest blunder

comment.press

👀 VACANCY: Nature in Sacred Spaces Project Manager @naturalengland.bsky.social www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

'Danish startup creates the world’s first cultivated outdoor paver – a natural alternative to cement' (Tip top) www.visibuilt.com/danish-start...

Danish startup creates the world’s first cultivated outdoor paver - a natural alternative to cement - Visibuilt

Cement is used to make concrete, which is among the most carbon-intensive building materials known today. Now, the traditional binder faces new competition. The Danish startup Visibuilt has developed ...

visibuilt.com

The DfT is doing some consultation on the new Manual for Streets with professional bodies and others (I don't know the full list). As I understand it, there will be three sections and section A was released just before Xmas with a response deadline just after.

Before Christmas the Baroness Amos report into maternity and neonatal care was pretty horrific reading. Women not being listened to, mums and babies being harmed or even dying. And perhaps most depressing of all...none of it was a surprise. Multiple reports over multiple years have told us the same

Around 1 in 5 of us are harmed by gambling, including through stretched public services, financial problems and suicide. These harms disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. That is why we are supporting this campaign along with MPs from across the political spectrum⬇️

Dawn Butler MP@dawnbutlerbrent.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🚨BIG NEWS🚨 Thank you to the 280 cross-party signatories backing my campaign & 10 Minute Rule Bill to end the outdated ‘Aim to Permit’ principle. Councils & communities must have the power to say no to more gambling establishments. People before profit! 👇🏾

Good morning friends! While lupines are ubiquitous signs of spring & summer in both Chilean & Argentinian Patagonia, I find the color palette gets more interesting the farther south you go. These beauties literally line the streets of Punta Arenas.

The post-war #NewTowns provided homes that people could afford to rent - there is a risk that the propsednext New Towns won't: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Key figures in creation of Milton Keynes criticise UK’s new towns plan

Exclusive: Planners behind postwar new towns hit out at government over lack of ambition and commitment to social housing

theguardian.com

📊At age five, nearly 60%of boys from low-income families are not ready to get the most out of school. @instituteforgovernment.org.uk recent report 'Starting Behind, Staying Behind' explores how boys from low-income families are at risk of being overlooked or under-resourced by policymaking.

The opportunity gap facing boys from low-income families at age 5 and beyond | Institute for Government

Early attainment gaps mean some boys don't just start behind, they stay behind.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Voters want #housebuilding, but not at the expense of #nature, says @luketryl.bsky.social writing in the #FT. Housing development that includes #parks and green spaces and enhances #nature would be a vote winner. Pitching nature as a blocker to progress is not.

It's ridiculous that the Government *still* haven't banned the sale of peat. Peat bogs are still getting dug up and used for compost and in horticulture. Ministers say they'll ban it 'when time allows'. Get on with it already! Sign the petition: actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

Sign the petition to end peat sales!

No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk

A very good read:

East Anglia Bylines@eastangliabylines.co.uk · 8mo ago

‘It’s the shape of story across all ages and human cultures. You’re in a hole. Then you get out.’ The climate crisis hole is hot, dark and we’re still in it. But Prof Jules Pretty describes how we’re beginning to get out. There is good news…

Significant detail in the government's #child #poverty strategy: section 1 of the #Equality Act (2010), the socio-economic duty, will be commenced and public authorities will have to consider the impact of their #policies on poverty and #inequality. Could be transformational?

We're hiring! New Nature Recovery Ranger roles for healthcare sites in Manchester, Stockport, Bradford and London. Closing date - 12 January. Apply now: https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/career/nature-recovery-ranger/ #hiring #naturerecovery

Highly recommend 'Three Ages of a Child' #BBCRadio4! @drguddisingh.bsky.social looks into why UK children face some of the worst health outcomes in Europe. Addressing housing, education, diet, the importance of play & community carers – + great projects on all these. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - Three Ages of Child, Episode 2: The Middle Years

A journey through the landscape that shapes the health of our children.

bbc.co.uk

Last week I gave evidence to the House of Lords' Built Environment committee 🔻 saying that it's vital that every new #home is of a basic good quality such that its occupants can live healthy lives...

Rosalie Callway@rcallway.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Julia Thrift @thetcpa.bsky.social, at the Lords Built Environment committee inquiry last week, said future New Towns must embed the Healthy Homes Principles not only to prevent ill-health but support health creation in new communities. View the full session here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

New English Housing Survey out today, and it is still saying that average household sizes are far lower than pre-pandemic even though (a) the population didn't fall and (b) neither did the number or rate of empty homes. Which is a puzzle. www.gov.uk/government/c...

English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025: headline findings on demographics and household resilience

Initial findings from the English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025 on the profile of household and dwellings, household demographics, housing costs and affordability, household moves, and wellbeing.

gov.uk

Do listen to this, it's lovely 🔻 And if you can, please donate, to help plant #trees where they are needed most 🍂 🌳🪾

Trees for Cities@treesforcities.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Tune in today at 3:27pm on BBC Radio 4 to hear Sir Michael Palin share a story of hope in the heart of Tower Hamlets 🌳💚

🏘️ Up to £19.8 million is available to councils in England to support the release of brownfield land for #housing development, delivered by One Public Estate. Find out more and apply on our website: www.local.gov.uk/our-support/...

This is really very good 🔻. The thing it misses is that air pollution is a *huge* public health problem: the cleaner air caused by the bridge being closed to traffic will be measurably improving the health of a large population and saving the #NHS a massive amount...

Leo Murray@crisortunity.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I really cannot recommend this excellent piece on Hammersmith Bridge highly enough

Oh no - not another one! #planning #nature #environment

Richard Hebditch@richard.hebditch.org · 9mo ago

I think it's pretty much certain there will be some kind of new "planning" bill announced v soon. Not a Bill led by MHCLG but some kind of "climate and nature bill" with more reforms on judicial review, some proposals on infrastructure and measures from Corry review on permitting, regs.

In 2023, life expectancy for females in the UK was 82.9 years, lower than all other comparable countries. Veena Raleigh reviews the latest international data to assess how the UK’s health compares to other countries: https://bit.ly/47PQNSQ

I remember the bonfire nights of my youth - absolutely freezing As the warmest bonfire night on record hit the UK, the BBC managed to report it without mentioning climate change! www.bbc.com/weather/arti...

UK weather: after warmest ever Bonfire Night when with UK temperatures drop?

After the UK's warmest ever Bonfire Night, Helen Willetts looks at how long the mild November weather will last.

bbc.com