Mike Rees
@reesmikeyrees.bsky.social
Senior Associate Innovation Unit (U.K.) Retired public servant Dad, Grandfather 🏴📷🚲🎸🏇🏐🍷🦮 #MDANT🏅
📌 ICYMI: Lest we forget — the key roles of James Orr, Nathan Cofnas, Toby Young and the Free Speech Union in the persecution of Jason Arday One of this month’s most-read stories.
The Peter Thiel-Linked Race Science Network that Penetrated Cambridge University and Targeted Jason Arday
The media's coverage of the academic's life was fuelled by the campaign of an established far-right network
bylinetimes.com
Whatever circumstances has brought us to this point, this is a proud moment for the Co-operative movement.
‘Felled: The Killing at Sycamore Gap’ by Andrew Hankinson is out on 22nd October. It is an essential read by a writing operating at the very top of his profession. Here’s a taster of what to expect from Andrew’s 2025 Observer piece: tinyurl.com/3dcxyymz Pre-order your copy: tr.ee/iorDLH5BQc
So Argentina’s football structure is built on the abuse and molestation of young boys and no one hardly gets punished for it. www.espn.com/soccer/story...
A) This a properly brilliant piece of investigative journalism by BBC & @hopenot.bsky.social Huge kudos to all involved for doing the job the UK police & CPS failed to do: naming the alleged spymaster & clearly showing Kremlin’s role. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Russia was behind arson attacks targeting PM, BBC reveals
Evidence shows Russians directing the plot and stoking tensions with fake far-right and Muslim groups.
bbc.co.uk
It was great to speak to Azad Essa about #AthleticClub, the Basque Country and Palestine and the shared histories of identity, solidarity and resistance that connect them for this brilliant piece. #EuskalHerria #Euskadi #Palestine www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/wh...
Why one of Europe's most famous football clubs chose to stand with Palestine
Athletic Club, famed for its Basque heritage, has distinguished itself from the rest of Europe's footballing elite by showing strong and consistent solidarity with the Palestinian cause
middleeasteye.net
David Attenborough. The only National Treasure that is also a MD Alternative National Treasure 🙏
🔴 14 Government Reforms the Media Has Largely Ignored Over Recent Weeks You probably won’t have read much about these announcements. Some of that is understandable. But not all of it. bylinetimes.com/2026/04/10/1...
14 Government Reforms the Media Has Largely Ignored Over Recent Weeks
You probably won’t have read much about these announcements designed to improve people's lives across the UK
bylinetimes.com
Even after graduating from university, people who grew up in poverty face significant pay gaps when compared with their more affluent peers. Anna Stansbury explains 👇
Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill , Dominic Cummings , Morgan McSweeney . Anyone notice the pattern yet ??
Lev Vygotsky , patron saint of Scandinavian education systems .
A coworker took this from her apartment. I haven't seen a crowd this size before. Maybe the first Women's March? But it was much much warmer that day. ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA!
gladstonehellen.co.uk/blogs/news/t... Wrote this for Charlie Gladstone and the Hawarden folk earlier this year. Why we wear what we wear. Will be of interest to all #MDANT people and I suspect @collettwriter.bsky.social
Taste & style. Cecil Beaton, working class elitists & middle class mediocrity. Written by Mike Rees.
I look forward to Charlie’s regular email missives. One thing caught my eye recently and prompted me to respond. The upcoming Cecil Beaton event and Charlie’s subsequent musings on taste and what he t...
gladstonehellen.co.uk
By overriding clear evidence of recently-increased Chinese espionage and transnational repression in the UK in its intended decision to approve the new Chinese ‘mega embassy’ in London, our government is shirking its first and foremost responsibility, to defend and protect the country. Just say no.
Para el arzobispo de Tarragona, el nuevo disco de Rosalía es un “canto a la luz que los jóvenes necesitan encontrar y la religión les puede ayudar”. La Conferencia Episcopal Española premia a ‘Lux’ de Rosalía y ‘Los domingos’ de Ruiz de Azúa
La Conferencia Episcopal Española premia a ‘Lux’ de Rosalía y ‘Los domingos’ de Ruiz de Azúa
Los Premios ¡Bravo! 2025 también han reconocido al periodista Fernando Ónega con el galardón especial y al escritor Javier Cercas en la categoría prensa
social.elpais.com
This is a really important point from @robfordmancs.bsky.social. Local government should be a source of and focus for local pride. It should be doing bold, visible stuff that enhances and reflects community. Instead, currently, it is almost literally reduced to ambulance work.
1/ I was pleased to attend the launch in Lambeth Archives of this interesting exhibition on "Building ‘Homes for Tomorrow’: Lambeth’s Council Housing of 1965 to 1980". It will be described fully in a guest post by its curator Christiane Felber on Tuesday. www.ianvisits.co.uk/calendar/bui...
Building ‘Homes for Tomorrow’: Lambeth’s Council Housing, 1965 to 1980
The exhibition uses original architect’s models, archival documents and images and oral history to explain the planning context and to explore and celebrate Hollamby’s architectural legacy for Lambeth...
ianvisits.co.uk
Weoley Castle is a centre of the current flag-waving craze. My new Substack post explores the estate's longer history and radical past politics: municipaldreams.substack.com/p/the-weoley...
Between the wars, Conservative-controlled Birmingham built over 51,000 new council homes – more than any other local authority in the country outside London. My new post on Substack tells the story: municipaldreams.substack.com/p/birmingham...
Birmingham’s Interwar Council House Building: an ‘achievement without parallel’
Between the wars, Conservative-controlled Birmingham built over 51,000 new council homes – more than any other local authority in the country outside London.
municipaldreams.substack.com
My new blogpost is on social housing in interwar Germany and the shift from the Garden City to 'New Building' - 'Social Housing in Cologne, 1913-1933: Light, Air and Trees … and Modernism' municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/08/05/s...
New on Substack, my post on the origins and design of Balfron Tower in Poplar designed by Ernő Goldfinger for the London County Council, completed in 1968. Now sadly privatised; more on that in next week's follow-up. municipaldreams.substack.com/p/balfron-to...
1/ My concluding post on the history of council housing in Rochdale looks at the Lower Falinge Estate, stigmatised as 'England’s benefits capital', and the sadly notorious Freehold Estate. What went wrong and where are we now? municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/a...
A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part III, from 1967 to the Present
We left Rochdale in last week’s post contemplating the failure of its Ashfield Valley Estate, completed in 1968 and all but demolished by 1992. For the moment, let’s return to the heady days and hi…
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
🚨 New blog post: 'A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part II, from 1945 to 1966' looks at the town's new 'neighbourhood unit' created in the 1950s and two innovative but troubled projects of the 1960s: municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/a...
A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part II, from 1945 to 1966
Although Rochdale had built on a large scale in the interwar period, as we saw in last week’s post, and although it had suffered little direct damage during the war itself, peacetime brought renewe…
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
'A wanton and inexcusable waste of life'. My new blog post examines the impact of slum housing in Rochdale and the council housebuilding programme that brought about reform: municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/a...
A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part I, from the Industrial Revolution to the Second World War
Rochdale Town Hall, completed in 1871 and recently restored to its founding glory, is a municipal dream in itself – a superb testimony to the vision and pride of our Victorian civic forebears. This…
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
🚨 New blog post: A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part I, from the Industrial Revolution to the Second World War ... municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/a...
A History of Council Housing in Rochdale: Part I, from the Industrial Revolution to the Second World War
Rochdale Town Hall, completed in 1871 and recently restored to its founding glory, is a municipal dream in itself – a superb testimony to the vision and pride of our Victorian civic forebears. This…
municipaldreams.wordpress.com
