iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Rob Blackie @robblackie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

@jamesomalley.co.uk The 'democratic control' over social housing is almost certainly about housing associations. They have a huge chunk of housing stock - are completely unaccountable (because they are legally charities) and are effectively feral companies. Knocking on doors in London there's...

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is absolutely spot-on. I’m increasingly convinced that our revealed sense of what we expect MPs to do (be good legislators, scrutineers, and deal with ever-increasing amounts of casework and correspondence) is, with current resources, unsustainable.

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Neil Goodrich @ngoodrichhsg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Our planning system (alongside other factors) is creating misery for too many, whilst we pick up the ever increasing bill. It is in all our interests to build more housing. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

independent.co.uk

Temporary housing costs councils £8m every day in new record high

Over £8m a day is being spent on emergency provision, new figures show

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Christabel Cooper @christabelcoops.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Our @thinklabour.bsky.social report on the Greens challenge to Labour is in the Guardian today. Our diagnosis of why Labour's vote fell in cities is high housing costs for young people, plus progressives worried that Labour doesn't reflects their values. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Greens just four points behind Labour in urban areas, poll reveals

Exclusive: UK’s Green parties could take 40 seats if result replicated at next election, according to Labour-linked thinktank

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Karen Buck @queensparkkaren.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We’ve seen this movie before. It ends with homelessness, Temporary Accommodation costs crippling local councils, renters in severe financial hardship. That this can be done without huge social damage is the politics of wishful thinking.

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Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 09/09/2026

🗺️ Introducing... electionmapsuk | ARCHIVE 🔎 | Explore a detailed, interactive map of EVERY General Election since 1922. 📜 | View seat-by-seat data on vote share, majorities, and candidates 🖱️ | Click on a constituency to see line chart of historic results electionmaps.uk/archive

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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I'm really pleased to see this £10bn of social housing grant is now allocated across England. This means councils and housing associations can start cracking on with building these new homes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

More than 70,000 social and affordable homes to be built across England over 10 years

Funding has been granted to Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire as well as £6bn for London.

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British Voter @britishvoter.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Hi, this is the British Voter Bot. We're really proud of this latest update, which will give insight into the biggest political social survey in Britain - revealing the breadth of perspective and opinion across our country. Let us know what you think!

Introduction poster for British Voter Bot. Headline: Real British voters, one at a time. Every card on this account is one real, anonymous respondent to the British Election Study, Britain's largest survey of voters. Each card says who they are, what they think and how they'd vote, in their own answers to questions written by the BES. The views are the respondent's own, not ours. How to read a card, five rows: 1. A map of Wales with a magenta dot. The dot is where they live: each voter is drawn over their home nation, marked at their constituency. 2. A lilac speech bubble. The bubbles are their views: favourite and least favourite leader, the issues they care about, how they see their nation - each one the respondent's own answer to a BES question, not the opinion of this account, its authors or the BES. 3. A slider with a magenta dot left of centre, a black tick at the centre and a lilac band around it. The scales show where they sit: two BES 0 to 10 scales, economic left to right and social liberal to authoritarian. The tick is the centre of the scale (5); the lilac band is the voters' interquartile range. 4. A magenta block reading 2024 to today. The band is their vote: how they voted in 2024 and who they'd vote for now, coloured by the party they're backing today, grey if they're undecided or wouldn't vote. 5. 24 lilac dots, one magenta. Together, they are Britain in miniature: voters are drawn from the wave's 31,392 real respondents in proportion to BES survey weights, so the feed reflects the British adult population by age, gender, region, past vote and more. One voter, four times a day. BES Wave 31, YouGov, May-June 2026. Closing band, magenta: No one is the average voter. Taken one at a time, voters are messier - and more interesting - than any stereotype. Credits: Jacob Weinbren, @jacobweinbren.bsky.social; Lawrence McKay, @lawrencemckay.bsky.social; Chris Terry-Enescu, @cjterry.bsky.social.

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 19/08/2026

This stopped me in my tracks. An independent study by @qmul.bsky.social has found that after ULEZ was introduced, children’s lungs grew faster in Central London and have now caught up with children outside of the capital. Incredible.

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 18/08/2026

Well this is insane: “High affordable housing requirements within the Government’s ‘Golden Rules’ are likely to dash any hopes of a ‘Train Belt’ building boom…A 300-home development will typically be forced to provide between 110 and 150 homes at a discount.”

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Catch 23 @catch23.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

A very welcome and overdue change. So many people raise this as an issue, it’s absurd the restriction ever existed.

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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Sweden isn’t really “ultra-capitalist” as suggested here. Public spending is 49.9% of GDP, the top tax rate is 52%. But it has an open approach to foreign investment, low corporation tax (20.6%) and a flexible labour market. Business-friendly social democracy is the model (and a good one).

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Left Outside @leftoutside.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Important: the data source for schools is just an 1868 report. People do read these things eventually! Wonks and civil servants take note, please keep producing reports and storing them in accessible, resilient, multimedia ways, and open your archives.

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Cllr Dr Alex Powell @apowelllaw.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The campaign of harassment and intimidation Raise the Colours have undertaken against council staff, contractors, and members of the public as reported by the Clarion today is shocking if not surprising. Excellent reporting. oxfordclarion.uk/the-clarion-...

oxfordclarion.uk

The Clarion, 4 August 2026

We're doing a rain dance. You? While we wait for some sorely needed water, here is some news, not all of it cheerful. Including less than savoury details about Raise the Colours; celebrating Oxford Ci...

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Oz Katerji @ozkaterji.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

If you are a supporter of Ukraine in the Labour Party, do not under any circumstances vote for the Restoration slate including Stella Tsantekidou for the NEC. They have made it very clear that they will not be reliable pro-Ukraine allies if elected.

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Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

There’s a thing with local government in which they put people in bad housing hoping they refuse it so that they can declare those people as having deliberately made themselves homeless and therefore absolve themselves from their legal obligations to help homeless people

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Ant Breach @antbreach.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

This would be the most important local finance reform since Elizabeth I. Finally introducing local revenue sources that aren't property taxes will ensure places really benefit from local growth - more jobs and/or higher wages in a place will translate into more investment and services:

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holliewickens.bsky.social @holliewickens.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

As a staffer, I can tell you: MPs’ security comes first. Staffers’ security? An afterthought - if we’re lucky.

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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/07/2026

Relatedly, in another world Labour could be two years on from the blowback from immediate tax rises, and pivoting to talking about how investment has paid off.

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Julianna 💎 @batariangal.eurosky.social · 17/07/2026

“prioritise values of provincial Britain over party’s metropolitan mindset”

Frames from the comedy show Blackadder, in which the titular character says “it’s the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that”

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Sam Dumitriu @samdumitriu.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Starmer and Reeves's planning reform agenda is working, but unfinished. My latest describes four reforms (in the works) that Andy Burnham should keep when he takes power next week. www.samdumitriu.com/p/what-burnh...

samdumitriu.com

What Burnham should keep

Four pro-growth reforms that should outlive Starmer and Reeves

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Chris McKeon @cjmckeon.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

It's official, the Clacton by-election will be held on August 13. The announcement from Tendring Council includes a nice picture of the writ for the by-election, which is not something I've ever seen before.

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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 10/07/2026

This is the nuanced point about whipping: the problem is often with the leadership, not the whips. A good whipping operation tells No10 "this issue is a real problem, that idea won't fly". It's very rarely about telling MPs to vote one way "or else".

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Andy Bruce (Reuters) @bruceandy.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

"Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street." bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

bulk-distributor.com

Former BD journalist set to become UK PM - Bulk Distributor

Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry pre...

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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I have a long read about how the first wave of English devolution - which created Andy Burnham’s mayoralty among others - actually worked within Whitehall. If you want to understand how a new push on devolution might play out inside government, I hope it will give some insight

acjsissons.medium.com

What can Whitehall learn from the first wave of English devolution?

Andy Burnham plans to make English devolution a central theme of his government. What needs to happen in Whitehall to make that happen?

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

man I hear more young people in my life making jokes about Jews than I’m entirely comfortable with, gotta say

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

I am genuinely excited about a PM who will be serious about devolution. If done right it could give people more sense of control about their locality; free up Whitehall to focus on big strategic issues; and make it harder for a future national govt to burn everything down.

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Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

What is encouraging here is that despite Burnham’s occasionally crude north v south rhetoric, is a recognition that regional inequality is not some London-run conspiracy and that there is massive fiscal transfer northwards. The issue is far more a lack of autonomy and local decision making capacity.

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Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Wow. That’s me at the top of the FT weekend splash 🤣 And the incoming prime minister obviously but I am choosing to make this about me

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Christabel Cooper @christabelcoops.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Extraordinary credit to Sadiq Khan for pushing through this deeply controversial policy. This is what can happen when politicians are prepared to stick to their principles.

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Tyron @tyron.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Why are nominations not opening for the Labour leadership election for two and a half weeks?! The Tory Party opened and closed nominations within *two days* of Boris Johnson resigning in two days. This can be done much, much more efficiently than this.

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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

What happened in Makerfield? Some new constituency polling between @persuasionuk.bsky.social & Convergent (most accurate pollster in the race!), covering among other things: - Burnham assembling a coalition Lab needs nationally - 'Get Starmer out' + 'public ownership' at the centre of it. 🧵👇

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Lottie @sellottie.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Really pleased to have written this piece in the latest edition of Renewal! As a proud Bristolian, I have often been less proud of how its politics play out. Looking jealously at Manchesterism, I took a deep (& opinionated) dive into the (non)workings of devolution in the West of England…

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Unrelated to this specific issue but: a core part of my liberalism is I don’t expect parents to act in the best interests of their child. I expect them to maximise their children’s safety and comfort, which isn’t always the same as their best interests.

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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

It does all come back to the tax pledge, Hunt deliberately shafting them and Labour choosing to remain shafted has basically undermined their entire governing project.

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Leonardo Carella @leonardocarella.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

This, and I'd add that the HS2 cancellation was an equally destructive act of selfish vandalism: the Sunak-Hunt government is remembered as competent-but-boring entirely out of vibes.

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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I am the son of two police officers so I admit I am hardly unbiased here but I feel like the fact British policing has been hollowed out by massive budget cuts over a decade ought to be a larger part of the discussion than "DEI"

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Rebecca Montacute @beckymontacute.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Politics and policy nerds of bluesky - assemble The Social Market Foundation has launched a Labour leadership policy tracker (if we're missing anything, please do pop us an email at wonkweek@smf.co.uk) @smfthinktank.bsky.social Tracker link here ➡️ docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

docs.google.com

Wonk Watch - Labour Leadership Tracker (Social Market Foundation)

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Ian Birrell @ianbirrell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Another Farage ally spewing Russian propaganda 👇

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Will Cooling @willcooling.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The Bidenism will continue until morale improves

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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The new EHRC guidance on how to ensure equal rights of all to access basic services falls short of being inclusive or workable in the real world - I will continue to work with other MPs who recognise this to navigate how we change that. 1/2

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Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

There we have it - you have to exclude trans people from single-sex spaces (so maybe avoid having them if you can). A bathroom ban from people who recognise that they’re doing a bathroom ban, and feel guilty about it. Shameful. www.gov.uk/government/p...

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