Who said history never repeats itself? In Whitehall, Gordon Brown was known as “the Great Clunking Fist”. Now, in his “Plan for Change” speech last Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer promised that his plan would “land on desks across Whitehall with the heavy thud of a gauntlet being thrown down”. He promised his “mission-led government” would be dynamic, more decisive, more […]
Look forward in anger
It’s seldom difficult to make young men angry about something. John Osborne’s 1956 play Look Back in Anger reflected a whole generation of 1950s “angry young men” who were angry about the class system, inequality and repressive social norms. Today, however, young men’s anger has been weaponised against many of the social and environmental norms that characterise healthy societies. I […]
John Prescott – a prophet without honour
Most, if not all, senior politicians fulfil the old quip about every political career ending in failure. John Prescott, who died last week was unfortunately no exception. Much ink has been spilled since he died on his remarkable, bumpy and loud political career. But no-one really seems to have celebrated his valiant four-year attempt to point the nation’s planning and […]
Economic growth – or resilience?
The prime minister’s speech to the International Investment Summit last week assured the wealthy folk who had flown so far in their private jets that he shared an ambition with them. Growth. Whether the “Masters of the Universe” were impressed or not, only time will tell. But just looking at the big shocks coming down the line, it’s at least […]
Environment secretary downgrades environment shock, horror
It was, I suppose, sadly predictable that environment secretary Steve Reed should give his “first significant interview since Labour took power” to the home builders’ house magazine, the Sunday Times. He certainly managed to sound house builder friendly. Campaigners to protect green spaces should not expect the right to a veto over planning, he warned them. As if. Who are […]
Binary numbers
One of the most depressing aspects of contemporary debate on major issues is the way lobbying cynically reduces complex issues to simplistic, binary choices. On energy production it’s: Concentrating on wind and solar is the only route to carbon reduction. or If we don’t it’ll be back to coal, oil and gas for our power. On mainline rail capacity it’s: […]
New towns, old mistakes
New towns are much in the news at the moment – not least at the house builders’ house magazine, The Times. Just this week, Emma Duncan’s column was apologising for the mess that post-war towns created and claiming the “next iteration” (you have been warned) needs to get five things right: place, politics, plan, people and money. No pressure then. […]
A national housing and planning illusions unit
The last time a Labour government took power, in 1997, it began with big ambitions to unite policy on planning, the environment and transport through a super-ministry overseen by deputy prime minister John Prescott. His Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions achieved great things in the four years of the first New Labour Parliament. Its Urban Taskforce and […]
Outside housing
Sir Keir Starmer has set out his plans for house building for Inside Housing magazine – a paper I used to write for. But I can’t help feeling that if I’d written such a confused and contradictory piece, I’d have been in real trouble with the editor. After a routine complaint about the difficulties young people have in buying a […]
For the many, not the few
General election campaigns are strange affairs, and occasionally politicians reveal more than they mean to. Labour’s current lead is so strong that few doubt the party will emerge without some kind of Commons majority, possibly an enormous one, and Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues will be in charge of law-making. But given the way Sir Keir is already laying […]