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 […]

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 […]

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 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. […]

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 […]