Dave Cox

Santander mortgage cap jumps by as much as 24% as bank eases lending rules Some higher-earning couples with smaller deposits could borrow extra £130,000 as a result of overnight changes

We have been there before.

Banks grant 5.5 times salary mortgages.

A couple with income of £75,000+£50,000 can borrow £687,500.

Can banks sustain this?
How will borrowers service debt?
What if house prices collapse?

What will deregulation cost? We haven't recovered from the last folly.

Call for Evidence - Committees - UK Parliament Joined-up journeys: achieving and measuring transport integration

Call for evidence on better integrated transport.
committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evi...

He’s doing it again.

Cosplaying Reform is a validation of Reform.

A plot showing daily cycle traffic data over a two week period ending Tuesday 12th August 2025. There were 22,402 cyclists northbound and 19,628 cyclists southbound in total over this period, with an average of 1,684 cyclists northbound and 1,500 cyclists southbound per day. The busiest day was Tuesday 12th August 2025 with 1,962 northbound and 1,756 southbound cyclists.

On Tuesday 12th August 2025 there were 1,962 cyclists northbound and 1,756 cyclists southbound.

One of the worrying things is that the US State Department assessments will be cited in court in extradition proceedings. People have to be aware that they are no longer factual - but drafted to allow extradition and smear political opponents.

Petition: Call time on corporate courts The UK's new trade strategy says it will continue inserting controversial corporate courts into its trade deals. At this very moment, the government is negotiating an investment treaty with India that...

The UK's new trade strategy says it will continue inserting controversial corporate courts into its trade deals.

Sign the petition: Call time on corporate courts. #StopISDS

act.globaljustice.org.uk/petition-cal...

"Eight people were arrested for offences including actual bodily harm (ABH), criminal damage, drug offences, theft and immigration breaches"

As my colleague once said: not all drivers are criminals but most criminals are drivers

Dear Britain, it’s now clear: 20mph zones save lives and don’t slow traffic. Implement them | Sadiq Khan There is too much bluff and bluster on this subject. Ordinary people just want safe streets for themselves and those they love, and we can achieve that, says London mayor Sadiq Khan

Dear Britain, it’s now clear: 20mph zones save lives & don’t slow traffic. Implement them.— @sadiqkhanlondon.bsky.social.

“Despite what detractors might claim, 20mph speed limits haven’t actually made journeys slower because journey times are largely dictated by junction delays, not vehicle speed.”

Dear Britain, it’s now clear: 20mph zones save lives and don’t slow traffic. Implement them | Sadiq Khan There is too much bluff and bluster on this subject. Ordinary people just want safe streets for themselves and those they love, and we can achieve that, says London mayor Sadiq Khan

This is excellent to see from Sadiq Khan.

The evidence is clear on 20mph:

“… the number of people killed or seriously injured on London borough roads reduced by 34% following the implementation of 20mph speed limits, with the number of children killed falling by 75% (from four to one).“

Text: Quote from Danny Sriskandarajah: "Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have continued the tradition of their predecessors in cracking down on the right to protest in the UK. The sight of hundreds of peaceful protestors being mass arrested should be a wake-up call to the dangers of shrinking the space for legal protest. We mustn't forget the context in which these protests are taking place. We have all spent the last 20 months looking in horror at images of death, starvation and destruction in Gaza – while the international community seems unable or unwilling to stop the atrocities or hold Israel to account for violations of international humanitarian law and principles. It feels hugely disproportionate to treat protestors as terrorists for peacefully expressing the horror and anguish many of us are feeling right now."

Protecting civic freedoms is essential to protecting democracy. It feels hugely disproportionate to treat peaceful protesters as terrorists. Our view on the weekend's arrests.

Since the beginning of August, Starmer has tweeted 23 times on his official Twitter account, which is followed by 1.9 million people (and reaches many more than that).

Of those 23 tweets, 12 were about immigrants. They were viewed a total of 16.1 million times.

Cllr Jaymey McIvor on TalkTV (bearded white dude with slicked back hair in a suit)

🔴 Bankrupt Firm of Reform UK’s Waste-Busting Local Govt Chief Owes Taxpayer £36,000

EXCLUSIVE: Cllr Jaymey McIvor declared his company insolvent months before becoming party’s director tasked with stamping out council waste. Taxpayers are likely to pick up the tab
bylinetimes.com/2025/08/12/b...

Do mixed-use developments optimize VMT and emissions reduction? Evidence from 36 regions Mixed-use developments (MXDs) have dovetailed nicely as a development design strategy to lower VMT by concentrating diverse activities within walkable…

STUDY: “We find that mixed-use developments generate about 1/3rd less vehicle-miles-travelled than conventional developments, with up to an 80% reduction in certain regions. Over time, MXDs generate even fewer vehicle trips (about 50% less) & significantly lower CO2.” Via @sciencedirect.bsky.social

As asylum seekers are engulfed by slurs and lies, our leaders shrug. Truly, this is shameful | Frances Ryan The narrative that they are a threat to women and girls has no basis in fact, but bad actors peddle it, and ministers encourage them, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

“The narrative that they are a threat to women and girls has no basis in fact, but bad actors peddle it, and ministers encourage them”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Anger, fear and a total rejection of politics: the Palestine Action protest was a snapshot of Britain today | Andy Beckett Keir Starmer’s government is treating voters with contempt. With the arrest of hundreds of protesters in London, for many, the feeling is mutual, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett

“The legally safe space for protest in Britain is shrinking again. Meanwhile in Gaza, there’s no safe space for anything at all.”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here’s the truth about Britain’s immigration hysteria: Starmer and co have whipped it up to get cheap votes | Nesrine Malik He is part of a political establishment that is fuelling a crisis way beyond the point that they can ever be seen to solve it. It’s a cynical, idiotic doom loop, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

RFK Jr has slashed vaccine research. You need to know how perilous that is for the world | Devi Sridhar The avian flu virus is now just one mutation away from easier transmission among humans. Trump’s health chief is a grave risk to world health, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at ...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#Israel is committing #genocide in #Palestine.

As usual, the Sunday Express attempts to incite violence.

There was no “riot”. There will be no “riot”. We are a peaceful movement who are actively opposed to violence - we silently hold cardboard signs.

Join us: wedonotcomply.org

Baltimore is currently experiencing its lowest homicide rate in 50 years, and it’s not because they iNVeStEd iN pOLiCe, it’s because they invested in community programs to facilitate conflict resolution, address mental health, address poverty, and give kids fun and meaningful things to do

Imagine if we reacted to daily car crashes causing death and serious injury with the same urgency and hand-wringing as those involving e-bikes.

This entire statement is a must-read.

yup

WTAF? If they didn’t have a warrant, they wouldn’t be getting anything from me. He can go on holiday somewhere else. 😡

Deeply shocked by Israel’s deliberate killing of the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, his colleague Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. Israel has now killed at least 186 journalists in this war.

Journalists Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqea were killed by direct Israeli targeting of their tent in front of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

It is a crime to assassinate journalists. The IDF has now killed more journalists in the course of its military campaigns since October 7 than were killed in all major conflicts from 1914-74. Claiming that journalists with accredited news agencies are terrorists without evidence compounds the crime.

Palestine Action protest arrests rise to more than 500 Police say the majority of arrests were for displaying placards in support of the banned group.

Government has got this spectacularly wrong.

If an organisation is breaking the law, prosecute it.

But arresting people for holding up signs is a waste of police time, it's increasing support for the organisation &, above all, it's a flagrant violation of free speech.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wtaf?

Folks remember, if they do not have a warrant for the information you do NOT have to comply.

Policing by consent... My arse!

Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations

List of organisations that the UK has proscribed under the Terrorism Act. Palestine Action is very much an outlier.
www.gov.uk/government/p...

examples follow

To make things even more peaceful...

Last month, it became illegal to drive across the centre of #Lyon (entry limited to authorized vehicles). The ZTL, or zone à trafic limitée, is enforced with retractable bollards.

The police were on hand the first few days to explain the system.