Ignore the protests, the Conservatives are the true Just Stop Oil party August 7, 2023 Ignore the protests, no one has done more to ‘Just Stop Oil’ than the Conservatives, who have actually been in power for the past 13 years.
No light at end of the tunnel: HS2 delay leading to higher costs as London Euston link nearing £5bn March 27, 2023 Delays linking up HS2 and Euston will mean extra costs and potentially even higher spending, the National Audit Office has warned ministers. A near 50-page report, looking specifically at the Euston element of the much delayed high-speed line, concluded that a “reset” in 2020 had “not succeeded”. It comes after Transport Secretary was criticised earlier [...]
Labour’s Yimby housing policies are vote winners – but how it sells them is crucial April 3, 2024 Labour's plans to solve the housing crisis are promising, but it needs to be tactical about how it pitches them in order to win over as many voters as possible, Jessica Frank-Keyes writes
Government asks energy company to extend life of coal power units in supply security push April 27, 2022 The government is exploring the possibility of expanding the lifespan of the UK's coal-fired power stations this winter.
Bewildered: M&S hits out at Gove over public inquiry over iconic Oxford St flagship store redevelopment June 21, 2022 Marks and Spencer has slammed the housing minister’s decision to hold a public inquiry over a redevelopment plan of its Marble Arch store. The supermarket said it was “bewildered and disappointed” that Michael Gove had chosen to call in its plans to bulldoze the Art Deco flagship store on Oxford St. A public inquiry will [...]
Housebuilders’ share prices plunge as government cracks down on cladding crisis January 10, 2022 Homebuilders’ share prices tumbled on Monday as the government said it was prepared to force developers to pay for the removal of dangerous cladding. Housing minister Michael Gove has handed builders a March deadline to agree a plan to protect leaseholders who cannot sell their homes due to their fire defects. Leaseholders have called on [...]
Housebuilders agree to pay £5bn bill to fix unsafe homes April 13, 2022 Housebuilders have agreed to contribute £5bn to address unsafe homes, the government has announced. Developers will contribute at least £2bn to fix building safety defects, such as dangerous cladding, on their own buildings from the past three decades. Some £3bn will also be paid by the industry through an expansion to the Building Safety Levy, [...]
Barratt boss hits out at government’s ‘deeply unfair’ levy to fix cladding crisis May 5, 2022 The boss of one of the UK’s largest property developers has today hit out against the government for its “deeply unfair” levy on housebuilders to solve the cladding crisis. London-listed Barratt Developments has set aside £480m to fix the cladding on buildings it built above 11 metres, however it is expecting to pay another £400m [...]
Dispatch from Birmingham: Truss’ MPs go into hiding as the tide turns once again October 5, 2022 As Conservative politicians, members, policy wonks and journalists decamped to Birmingham, there was a rumour one unnamed Tory MP had arrived early to take pictures around the city, which they could then post on social media while spending Tory conference from the comfort of their hotel room. Elsewhere, one journalist complained of being unable to [...]
Britain needs to run in circles, especially when we buy new clothes and other goods January 23, 2023 It might not make a dent in the cost-of-living crisis, but soon people will be able to get a small cash sum for every plastic bottle they recycle. The scheme, lauded by environmental campaigners, was finally approved last Friday. A rare slice of positive news, however, was overshadowed by a familiar problem in this Broken [...]