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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 5h

Nor me. But at least it looked like something it would be really cool to do. (Now compensating by using the assisted chin lift in the gym.)

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Richard Hebditch @richard.hebditch.org · 5h

Bang goes the social and affordable homes programme (if the Conservatives were to form the next government)

Scorecard for proposals for spending cuts and spending commitments from Conservatives

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 5h

"Apparatus" was the term used in the 60s as well (included the terrifying "horse"). Apparatus was probably the longest word I learned in primary school.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 1d

"You're free to pursue any policy you want in your area...
Provided it's one we approve.

richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 1d

But this is not even starting on the local, it's the national.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 1d

And yet when they were asked what they were going to do in return to assist housing growth the reply was "not my department!" (to quote the late Tom Lehrer).

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 1d

Indeed. I recall when a civil servant that every bit of government wanted its own paragraph (or even big chunk) in planning policy. Very hard to fend them off.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 2d

And how much is politicians and how much is professionals.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 4d

@economist.com reports the decline of business travel by road this week. Fridays Saturdays and Sundays are the busiest days on the motorways. Given that, isn't it time for the rail industry to swivel away from weekend engineering works? We need our railways most at weekends.

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Laurie Macfarlane @lmacfarlane.bsky.social · 4d

Who Owns ScotWind?

Our new interactive map with @cmmonwealth.bsky.social reveals who owns Scotland’s offshore wind resources — and who stands to benefit

Spoiler alert: it isn’t the people of Scotland 👇

Future Economy Scotland @futureeconscot.bsky.social · 4d

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Who owns Scotland's offshore wind assets?

Our new interactive map with @cmmonwealth.bsky.social lets you explore who really owns ScotWind projects – and who stands to benefit

Highlights in 🧵
Explore the map 👉 www.futureeconomy.scot/scotwind

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 4d

I wish train companies would build in decent contingency. Instead they behave like Easyjet.

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Peter J. Thuesen @peterjthuesen.bsky.social · 4d

It's worth noting that there have been women as primates of national churches for a while—among them Antje Jackelén of the Church of Sweden & Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church. But the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Abp. of Canterbury will certainly reignite ecumenical debate.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 4d

Why on earth does a train to Aberystwyth start in Anglesey??

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 5d

Fear.

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 6d

Kind of a 17th Century vibe here with the capitals. But I think our predecessors would know their Latin better...

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 7d

💯

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Orla Hegarty @orla-hegarty.bsky.social · 8d

“It’s a measure of just how desperate [govt] have become that they will seize upon almost any proposal that’s presented to them from replacing houses that most people want with apartments, to glorified granny flats in back gardens, to tax breaks for developers” www.irishtimes.com/property/res...

New homes in short supply while completions will ‘struggle’ to exceed 30,000 this year

The Government’s new national housing plan will do little in the short term to meet its own target of building 60,000 new homes a year by 2030

www.irishtimes.com

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 8d

‘Writing in the early 1980s, Sam Francis already sounded like a MAGA provocateur: “The New Right is not a conservative force but a radical or revolutionary one.”’

@will-davies.bsky.social traces the origins of Trumpism, in the 20th century: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

William Davies · Repeal the 20th Century: Pre-MAGA

To understand the intellectual coordinates of Trumpism requires us to look in less conventional places and to pay more...

www.lrb.co.uk

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 8d

Extended footnote: Ireland does have a connection to another (part) country, Northern Ireland. But that area also uses the same gauge.

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Royal Town Planning Institute @rtpiplanners.bsky.social · 20d

We are delighted to re-accredit the University of Cambridge’s MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration.

It means graduates of the spatial planning programme will be eligible to begin the Licentiate Assessment of Professional Competence, a key step toward becoming a Chartered Town Planner.

Three people are sitting at a table in a library. A man is on a desktop computer and two women are working together on their laptop and notebooks, with bookshelves in the background.

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Royal Town Planning Institute @rtpiplanners.bsky.social · 9d

The RTPI described the Government’s new towns announcement as one of the most ambitious development initiatives in more than 50 years – and one that must be built on lessons from the past if it is to succeed.

Read the RTPI's response:
www.rtpi.org.uk/new-from-the...

Next generation of new towns must be future-proof

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has described the Government’s decision to press ahead with a new generation of new towns as one of the most ambitious development initiatives in more than fif...

www.rtpi.org.uk

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 11d

"Farther and farther, all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire"

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richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 11d

Governments have been peddling this line at least since 1
2003 and probably since 1980 and it has never worked. Such a shame there is no route in to the civil service / SPADs to put a different view.

richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 11d

Aarrgh

richardblyth.bsky.social @richardblyth.bsky.social · 12d

My Korean course starts next month, but I don't think political lit is within the first term's learning objectives.