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Martin Wheatley

@martinhwheatley.bsky.social
1.3K followers 139 following 1.6K posts

Public service reform, housing, environment, active travel

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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
He should come to Cambridge Tesco on a Saturday morning and see families stacking shopping in cargo bikes. If second parent has conventional bike with panniers, week's shopping is easy-peasy.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Housebuilding proposals are economically illiterate. (Broadly) price of new homes reflects market prices generally. If you cut production costs, benefit goes (in some combination) to landowners and developers, not buyers www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
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Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Things which are not like the “Third World”: Lack of fibre broadband in a nice village in Kent where the average house price is between £700,000 to £900,000, where residents can go about their business openly and shamelessly wearing red trousers.
kentonline.co.uk
‘Don’t let Kent village become a third-world broadband dead zone’
A rural Kent village is in danger of becoming a “third world dead zone” when a broadband provider pulls out, residents fear.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Terrace of local stone cottages, Ratley, Warwickshire, presumably for Southam Rural District Council #ukhousing @municipaldreams.bsky.social
Terrace of cottages built in rough hewn dark brown limestone, with dormer windows at first floor.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We're repeatedly told that asylum seekers pose a threat to the good people of our country... Reading about the threatening and violent treatment of elderly and open minded locals in Crowborough I get the impression that the real threat comes from closer to home. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
On Facebook and other platforms, people
who are known to support the asylum
seekers have been threatened with acid
attacks, petrol bombs and rape. The dossier.
which has been seen by the Guardian, also
claims that several local businesses have
been threatened by far-right agitators, along
with a church where some asylum seekers
worship. One man was punched in the throat
after he held up a "Love Thy Neighbour"
sign, while an elderly couple were falsely
accused of supporting sex offenders. In yet
another case, a 92-year-old church volunteer
was reportedly woken at 3am for two nights
in a row by a man standing outside her
home, shining a torch through her window
and shouting abuse
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For once, Hegseth makes perfect sense here, if not in the way he thinks!
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This isn't a particularly great speech but compared to Starmer it's Demosthenes.
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Dr. Steven Buckley @stevenjcbuckley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
She does this every single week. As someone who studied and taught journalism for several years, if a student handed in a piece like this it'd get a very, very low mark. And yet this is supposed to be one of the BBCs top political 'journalists'. If they need to save £500m I know where to start...
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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Help to Buy is back! Or rather, a new version - more tightly targeted and less likely to overinflate the housing market. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham announces new homes scheme for first-time buyers
Exclusive: Policy initiative for England will help more young people on to property ladder, prime minister tells Guardian
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
BBC has been so often challenged about misleading usage of "e-bike" that one assumes they just don't care. Police don't have power to seize legal e-bikes so by definition those sold are illegal e-motorbikes. And, yes 🙄 police auctioning illegal items www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
E-bikes seized by police sold on at auction, BBC finds
Thousands of electric motorbikes are confiscated annually because they are suspected of being driven illegally or used in a crime - most are destroyed, but last year police sold at least 161.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Not saying the BBC News has lost focus but they currently have a live stream of the UK's biggest vegtable competition on their front page.
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Full Fact @fullfact.org · 25/09/2026
You may have seen social media posts misrepresenting the Labour candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, Sagal Abdi-Wali, as an asylum seeker. Ms Abdi-Wali came to the UK as a child refugee in the 1990s, and is now listed as a British citizen. fullfact.org/politics/Sag...
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Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 25/09/2026
Winners from the current system of housing taxation are concentrated in London, while the rest of the country is more likely to be losing than winning 👇 buff.ly/SAUyopI
chart showing Proportion of households winning and losing from current property tax system compared to a proportional one, by region: England, 2030-31
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Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Some thoughts on whether No.10 needs its own think tank (no?) and whether the FoI act is a reasonable thing to blame for lack of creative thinking in government (also no?)
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
A Downing Street think tank would not make No.10 strategic | Institute for Government
Is Morgan McSweeney right to claim that it is impossible for No.10 to think big?
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Very interesting. Odds on Vance organising a 25th-amendment coup after the mid-terms? NB as elected VP he's the only person in the administration Trump can't sack, and of course he would then get to be president.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Anti-migrant activist" is an extremely lengthy mis-spelling of "thug". BBC news here, doing its best to sane-wash fascist hoodlums www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Daniel Thomas arrested over video of dinghy slashing
Police had been looking into footage appearing to show the man, also known as Danny Tommo, slashing at a boat in the English Channel with a knife.
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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
New housebuilding figures have been published today - including from the 2025-26 year. They're not where they should be, but have turned the downwards trend upwards.
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Michael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
they should study him in a lab. I don’t think I could write this badly on purpose. still, glad this has higher billing than coverage of last night’s far right escalation
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
At a social #ukhousing conference today. Topical session title. Social housing is definitely part of the front line between decency and hate in our society.
Conference slide: "Talking about tomorrow: Challenging harmful narratives inside and outside social housing."
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A man is caught shooting near a mosque, in inner city York. Police, prosecutors and magistrates accept his story that he was shooting rabbits! Yes, of course... share.google/0tK9QGSqFDpZ...
share.google
Man who fired shots near York Mosque was aiming for rabbits
Magistrates say Ian Peart was not targeting the place of worship, when he used an air rifle nearby.
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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The major problem with this reporting - beyond its fundamental inaccuracy - is that when arrests are eventually made there will be no proper context and therefore it will seem like the state is smothering free expression.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Four times over the limit. No prize for predicting party affiliation www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/crime/p...
peterboroughtoday.co.uk
Peterborough city councillor banned from roads for drink driving 'was barely able to walk,' court told
A sitting member of Peterborough City Council has been banned from driving for more than four years and ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to drink driving – after resi...
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Sharon O'Dea @sharonodea.com · 22/09/2026
A landlord making £100,000 a month says young people have “no excuse to be poor”. Excellent. I love financial advice. Gather round, children, let's examine how he himself stopped being poor. metro.co.uk/2026/09/20/i...
metro.co.uk
I’m a landlord making £100,000 a month — young people have no excuse to be poor
Samuel bought his first home aged 17 with a 100% mortgage.
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 22/09/2026
If the PM and chancellor are (finally) alive to the challenges facing them, then they must deliver a budget that meets them head on. This means presenting a coherent strategy for fiscal policy for the rest of this parliament and beyond www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Burnham and Healey must avoid the budget mistakes of Starmer and Reeves | Institute for Government
The chancellor should take difficult decisions at the budget rather than ducking tough choices.
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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'm certain that no council will have budgeted for its temporary accommodation costs rising by 88% in just 5 years. So they'll be needing to make cuts to other services to pay for it. 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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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
He could have quite explicitly stated that they don't, because they don't. This isn't an area to go "oh people think". We have the evidence. They just don't. If you want to claim to be a progressive, liberal, party, you have to actually challenge right wing, predominantly, lies and scare mongering.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
👏 Glad Jim Ratcliffe doesn't have "legitimate concerns", now let's see ministers extend this approach to Danny Tommo etc etc etc.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Senseless. Consequences of locking up parent of troubled child for that child? Either provide help and support or (if culpably responsible) progress under existing child protection powers www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Parents could face prison for child's crimes under justice reforms, minister says
The reforms to Parenting Orders could also see parents losing benefits, Jake Richards MP told the Times.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The only thing I would disagree with here is that the UK is not helpless - it is a choice not to fight back against Musk. It is the wrong choice.
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
So much of the right these days have a massive patriotism problem. This guy: - is a tax exile (left long before this govt) - hates his own country while complaining he doesn’t get big enough subsidies from it - laments the manufacturing hit from a Brexit he supported www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Very good article by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - the fiscal cost/benefit of migration is not set in stone but depends on your tax + benefit policies. As well as the nature of the immigration.
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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Autumn is a time for age old traditions, Harvest, Halloween, Bonfire Night, and keeping the opaquely funded, Tufton Street adjacent, would be entryists of Restore Trust off the National Trust Council. Helpfully Restore Trust have listed the candidates to avoid in the election.
A post by Restore Trust listing its candidates for the National Trust Council, Bonigala, Cristea, Goldman, Mealing and Omrani
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Time for some positive news …
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ha ha, when I was a student the only info my parents had about me was curated by me in our weekly phone call, if I remembered to collect a stash of 10p coins.
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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I think we know who the real patriots are here.
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Pete Apps @peteapps.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
More detail about the building in Poplar where a man died in a fire at the weekend: - Building was fitted with combustible Hemsec insulated panels, which were non-compliant at the time of build (oddly described as 'inflammable' by the manufacturer) peteapps.substack.com/p/a-fire-in-...
peteapps.substack.com
A fire in Poplar
A fire at a building awaiting cladding remediation claimed the life of a man at the weekend. What do we know about this blaze, and what do we still need to know? PLUS - thoughts on the new PAS 9980
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
With all that is going on internationally and domestically, why is this dominating BBC news coverage? Time for an independent external review of editorial policy and decision-making? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Palace in war of words with Earl Spencer over book's claim on Charles and Diana
The row threatens to overshadow a very crowded day for the royals - with the King and Princes William and Harry all attending events.
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Rebecca Wheatley @rcwheat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Fish swallowing fish. 15th century pew end in a local church.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So Trump "has the right ideas on borders and immigration"? A shame media are not looking more critically at the connections and motivations of those behind this stunt.
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Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 15/09/2026
As private rents have risen, the rates of support that low-income private tenants can receive through the benefits system has been frozen since April 2024. This means that the ‘affordability gap’ between the cost of local rents, and level of local housing support now sits at 22%.
Chart showing percentage shortfall between the support provided via LHA and the estimated 30th percentile rent level: GB
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Yes, the debate on inheritance tax is beset by dumb arguments, but the "double taxation" one is the dumbest of all.
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End Our Cladding Scandal @eocs-official.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The fire and loss of life at Neutron Tower have saddened and angered us. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died, and everyone affected. The fire is being investigated. But we already know residents have endured years of remediation delays. 🧵 www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Poplar fire: Residents 'did not hear alarms' in fatal tower blaze
Residents say they were alerted by neighbours banging on their doors telling them to leave.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
£25bn cumulative social value figure not very informative without looking at counterfactuals, spending same £s on other housing market interventions, notably social housing www.theguardian.com/money/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Help-to-buy scheme delivered ‘very high value for money,’ review finds
Exclusive: George Osborne’s programme to reduce costs for first-time buyers delivered £25bn in social value in UK last year
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Sheep may safely graze... under the panels of a solar farm near Burwell, Cambridgeshire #renewables
Sheep grazing grass around and underneath ground-mounted solar panels.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🫢of course the busways go through the greenbelt. How else can they connect the city to places beyond it? NB the same greenbelt is cut through by the M11, A14, A428 and various slip roads on and off them, no one comments on that! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Why is a busway being built through Cambridgeshire's greenbelt?
Everything you need to know about the Cambourne to Cambridge busway
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Spooky Snigdha @snig.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Telegraph is terrified kids are going to become lentil munchers. Dal is famously known to be a very expensive dish. How will schools cope with the burden? 🤡
Telegraph headline and opening sentences:

Compulsory lentils in Labour school meals shakeup
Unions warn that schools will need extra funding to meet requirements for healthy dinners

Schoolchildren will be made to eat lentils and chickpeas once a week and ice cream will be restricted under Labour plans.
Rules to be announced on Monday by the Department for Education (DfE) will force schools to put pulses on the menu at least once a week.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This is very good. (Though don't read it if you are looking for a simple answer!) Not surprised housing features in the analysis. Proud to be part of providing housing for young adults, many of whom are in groups at higher risk of poor mental health, but we could fill our schemes many times over.
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Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Rod Hull, time traveller. Villa Romana Del Casale.
Roman mosaic depicting man carrying a large bird like an emu.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The Thucydides Books VI and VII vibes get ever stronger.
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Martin Wheatley @martinhwheatley.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
🙃
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