iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

The plot is a golf course that has been derelict since 2017. There are 21 golf clubs within 10 miles. The land has been classed as grey belt. The council has designated the site for housing in its local plan. So, when a plan for 660 homes came to planning committee, it was, of course, DENIED.

capx.co

Sevenoaks’ Nimbys prefer a derelict golf course to housing

Local Plans are failing to build the homes they promise

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 4h

"You can lead a councillor to a planning meeting, it seems, but you can’t make him think." Are you particularly annoyed today by any chance, James?

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Daniel McElroy @danielmcelroy0.bsky.social · 8h

It is so counterintuitive to successful social democracy. Getting the middle classes to support a larger state does involve ensuring they too feel the benefits!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 7h

Funnily enough, this is the subject of my New Statesman column this week

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 8h

School group on the train today. Look about 7-8 years old. One girl is solemnly telling her friend: “If you drink alcohol you get drunk, and that means you go insane.” God help them when they discover acid

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 9h

When their ancestors moved there Argentina wasn’t a country

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Yes - given that, prior to the British arriving (before Argentina was a country) the islands were uninhabited. Unless you count penguins. And to my knowledge the penguins were not allowed to vote in the referendum

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Umm, the people who actually live there care rather a lot…

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I think I saw that production! My cousin was a singing dormouse

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Yes! We tell her this a lot! Cat dragon, sitting on her pile of cosy warms

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

That’s exactly what she’s been doing!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I have on occasion fed cat food to a sad and hungry fox that showed up at the back door (yes I know I know, don’t shout at me). So maybe it’s that? Then again, I know someone who ate dog ice cream once because the packaging was so similar to the human version of that brand. Apparent it was not nice

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

And yet, the more you feed them and let them and make them feel loved, the more furniture scratches you acquire!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

There should be a word for the specific type of disappointment when you realise that yes you do have some biscuits in the cupboard, but unfortunately they are biscuits for cats

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Kind of imagining that guy in 2042, suddenly bereft when his kid leaves home for college, realising his terrible selfishness, and calling the kid for a chat. And eventually realising he's talking to a chatbot they've trained in vengeance.

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 09/10/2026

"Many of us were persuaded not to campaign" - so basically you all abdicated any responsibility to step up and provide the leadership your actual leader was ducking.

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

The New Statesman @newstatesman1913.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The Green Party has urgent work to do, writes @carolinelucas.bsky.social The "Zionism is racism" motion crossed a very significant red line

newstatesman.com

The Green Party has urgent work to do

The "Zionism is racism" motion crossed a very significant red line

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Anoosh Chakelian @anooshc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Very sleep-deprived and surrounded by by-election count detritus, here's the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social podcast on-the-whistle of the Holborn & St Pancras result with @meganekenyon.bsky.social, @benwalker.org.uk and our valiant producers @roblemare.bsky.social and Biba Kang!

shows.acast.com

Labour holds Starmer’s seat | The Politics Show

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Quite a few look (or looked) Green friendly after the locals, around east London. I always thought his plan was to pick one of those for the next GE

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Not for definite, and that’s my point. I thought he’d get a free pass for this one because it’s not an obviously easy seat for the Greens - any Green - to win. That was before the ZiR debacle. But if he gets a run at a better Green seat and loses, he’s toast

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Yeah. Dislodging him is going to be hard. My prediction was always that he’d get a second shot at a London seat, and if he fluffs that then the MPs would turn on him and the pressure would reach a tipping point

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In light of the guy wanting to a train an AI to read to his kid, may I propose the counterpoint and repost this ode to reading to children www.newstatesman.com/politics/fut...

newstatesman.com

The magic of reading to children

Its appeal is in the forging of memory as much as the story itself

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Not at all - it's all stupidly complicated!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

You don't pay capital gains if it's your primary residence (however much your home shot up in value thanks to QE and decades of low housebuilding that fuelled asset inflation)

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

If I said "now THAT'S how you wave a tish-tash", would anyone get it...?

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The stepkids have tablets for things like flights, and can watch TV, but were generally raised without small screens. It's very satisfying clocking all the impressed looks when they're reading their books on the tube or in the corner of the pub

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In light of the guy wanting to a train an AI to read to his kid, may I propose the counterpoint and repost this ode to reading to children www.newstatesman.com/politics/fut...

newstatesman.com

The magic of reading to children

Its appeal is in the forging of memory as much as the story itself

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I also read this with bafflement. Live in London and yes sometimes travelling takes a while, but dinner parties are a joy. We'll regularly host 4-6 people, in the kitchen we designed for exactly that purpose so cooking doesn't interfere with socialising. Our friends return the favour and it's lovely

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

12-1 is my peak "being clever on Bluesky" time

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Yes, I was mostly thinking of the "replying to emails" part of work, which leaves the workday free for thinking/writing. Also, sending lots of email at midnight can be quite a powerful statement to bosses who think remote work doesn't count!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Good for you! We haven't even started on the childcare angle, and how helpful it is for parents to have flexible hours around drop-off/pick-up times. In most office jobs it should be totally acceptable to do a shorter office day, and make up the time when the kids have gone to bed

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

There are perverse incentives, and then there's just basic economic illiteracy

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Also, if you genuinely think IHT is immoral because it means taxing wealth twice / taxing aspiration / the human urge to pass assets down to children or whatever, it shouldn't matter what form those assets take. Encouraging people to treat property like a wealth bank rather than a home is bad!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Okay, but how many times a week would you want to go out? Once or twice? As opposed to losing sleep every single day because you have to be in work at 9. You still get more choice! People who regularly leave work early may get "looks", as you say. People who regularly turn up late get fired

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Reposted by Rachel Cunliffe

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I'm sorry if this is obvious but the Tory proposal to exempt family homes completely from IHT will lead to 1] pensioners buying the biggest houses they possibly can 2] pensioners refusing to downsize which can only be bad news for younger families trying to buy family homes

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Again, I find this fascinating - not least because early risers enjoy an income boost (on average, obviously), which suggests their work patterns are valued more

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Mary Beard once moved one of her lectures to 8am on a Bank Holiday Monday. It was still full - which says a lot about her and how much students wanted to be there!

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Agree that the evening economy is, as the name suggests, more apt for evening people. But that's more than countered by the morning economy! Pre-work events abound - the only gym class for a type of exercise I've been recommended is 9am on Saturdays. It's really just theatre, and matinees exist

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Very true! Where is the love for "staying up to finish work until midnight at the kitchen table with your partner asleep upstairs" Britain?

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Also if you leave work at 5.30 - half an hour past standard office end time - and you have a standard commute, you'll be home by 6.30. Perfect for a nice cosy evening and going to bed at, say, 9. That's very different to being forced to wake up 4-5 hours earlier than your body clock wants

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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Interesting! In my experience early starts get noticed far more than staying late (and doubly more again than doing work remotely late at night). Not sure I agree on the night-time economy though, given how impossible it is to find a restaurant in London - London! - serving food after 9pm!

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