Robert Whittaker

Transforming local government: what next in the East? Local government reorganisation in the East took a step forward in September, with nine proposals submitted to government. So what happens now? Local government reorganisation in the East took a step ...

Government says the new local government system in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex will be "simpler, clearer, more accountable".

But drawing boundaries that make sense is proving difficult.

Stephen McNair reports

Who is Voting Reform? And Why? The who, what, when, how and huh of why Reform has gained so much support in such a short period of time

I've done deep-dive into latest @britishelectionstudy.com wave to explain rise of Reform:

- Who are their voters? (pretty working-class)
- What do they care about? (immigration)
- What do they want? (lower immigration)
- Plus why I think "accommodation doesn't work" needs more nuance

🧵 of results

Ex-Reform leader in Wales paid for Putin propaganda David Brown, Duncan Gardham Nathan Gill, 52, was first elected as a Ukip MEP under Nigel Farage A former member of the European parliament has admitted taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements in the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine. Nathan Gill, 52, was elected as an MEP for Ukip in 2014 when Nigel Farage was leader. He went on to become leader of the Reform party in Wales. Gill admitted to eight charges of accepting cash bribes for the “improper performance by him of his function or activity as the holder” of a position in the European parliament between December 2018 and June 2019.

Times, page 14.

On page 2 they had an article about how Reform would win a majority if the election was held now.

it's almost as if being part of the EU had economic benefits, and that #brexit was based on lies...

Ten things you can do to help defeat Farage, Musk, and rightwing populism I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.

So I wrote a blog about ten things you can do *right now* to help defeat Farage, Musk, and rightwing populism.

From scrutinising Reform councillors to demanding the UK Govt leave X - get involved:

guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/ten-things...

I mean this seems like a legitimate question from @annaturley.bsky.social

this is a huge failure of #ukgov to get the facts out, and of UK media to report the truth

Does this cover all domestic properties, and is it genuinely all under the OGL? (i.e. no third party rights from OS or RM in the addresses?) If this approach is scalable with a few volunteers and FOIA s19(2A), then aren't we quite close to an open AddressBase/PAF at least for domestic properties?

The cost of Reform UK's anti-environmental policies Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero and cut all renewable subsidies - the impact would be hugely damaging

The cost of Reform UK’s anti-environmental policies - neweconomics.org/2025/05/the-... "will cause significant damage to the UK economy and destroy tens of thousands of good paying jobs." #reform not just bad people, but economically illiterate ones... #climatecrisis

A new play area in Chelmsford is designed by local schoolgirls What can be done about boys dominating playground space? Ask girls to help design public parks

Girls are taking the lead in playground design.

A new public play space, shaped by the ideas of teenage girls, has opened in Chelmsford, promising an inclusive and fun environment for everyone.

Jenny Rhodes reports

The £25k myth: how the media turns struggle into scandal A cherry-picked calculation, a broken labour market, and a government using tabloid outrage as cover for cuts. Welcome to austerity with a fresh coat of paint

The sheer cruelty of reducing disabled people's survival needs to a "windfall" is beyond belief, writes The Bear.

These headlines don't expose a welfare failure; they expose a media ecosystem comfortable with punching down to hide a failure of wages.

What Breckland didn’t say about the Barnham Broom sale Breckland Council claims a profit from the Barnham Broom sale– yet omitted millions in hidden costs and clawbacks from its public narrative

Breckland Council says it made a profit from selling Barnham Broom golf course.

But it didn’t. It made a £2.7m loss.

So why the misrepresentation?

Here’s Ian Milligan with what our investigation uncovered: 👇

London’s low-traffic zones ‘cut deaths and injuries by more than a third’ Exclusive: Study also finds no change in number of casualties on roads just outside low-traffic neighbourhoods

NEW: Big study of low-traffic neighbourhoods in London suggest they cut road injuries and deaths by more than a third within their boundaries with no apparent negative safety effect on nearby roads. This feels a *major* boost for proponents of such schemes.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

weeklyOSM title image

👉 https://www.weeklyosm.eu/archives/18001 👈
Issue 780 of #weeklyOSM is out. 🌏
涵蓋 #開放街圖 #osm 世界大小事的新一期 weeklyOSM 已經發佈 🚀
Lisez les dernières nouvelles de l'univers #openstreetmap 🗺️
Viele Neuigkeiten aus der #osm Welt 📰
新一期的OSM周刊已经发布 🌏

I struggle to get people who are still X users and do comms on X to understand this: people who don’t have X accounts (or aren’t logged in) won’t be able to see your posts like they used to. And it is a surprise when I point this out because they never think about how the platform has changed

Followed a legislation.gov.uk link on your phone? Found it impossible to read?

Followed a link in a message on my phone to legislation.gov.uk, and this time got fed up enough of its desktop-only website to do something about it: presenting adlegem.dracos.co.uk which will make a legislation.gov.uk page readable on mobile :)

Council golf club sale slammed – real loss hidden behind ‘profit’ claims Resident breaks down figures to show golf club sale cost public millions, despite council’s ‘profit’ claim

A council spun a £7mn golf club sold for £6.9mn 19 years later as a success.

The article reveals how a prime 250-acre asset should have soared in value, not lost it.

Don't miss this crucial read. Ian Milligan reports

weeklyOSM title image

👉 https://www.weeklyosm.eu/archives/17976 👈
Issue 779 of #weeklyOSM is out. 🌏
涵蓋 #開放街圖 #osm 世界大小事的新一期 weeklyOSM 已經發佈 🚀
Lisez les dernières nouvelles de l'univers #openstreetmap 🗺️
Viele Neuigkeiten aus der #osm Welt 📰
新一期的OSM周刊已经发布 🌏

Downtime for rowmaps. From 7am on Monday June 30th I will be updating rowmaps so that OS maps are provided by using the Maps API of the OS Data Hub. If all goes well, it should be over in less than 20 minutes. We shall see!!!

weeklyOSM title image

👉 https://www.weeklyosm.eu/archives/17919 👈
Issue 776 of #weeklyOSM is out. 🌏
涵蓋 #開放街圖 #osm 世界大小事的新一期 weeklyOSM 已經發佈 🚀
Lisez les dernières nouvelles de l'univers #openstreetmap 🗺️
Viele Neuigkeiten aus der #osm Welt 📰
新一期的OSM周刊已经发布 🌏

This sounds like a problem with training to me, rather than simply a lack of experience. Also, one should be asking why AML en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance... failed to give the call handler your location automatically (assuming the call was from a smartphone).

Using FOIA for emails Requesting emails can be extremely insightful, but also a bit of an exemptions minefield.

"Imagine that you’re trying to write out very specific instructions for someone that’s good at misunderstanding anything that might involve going beyond a very literal interpretation of your request."

This, however, is absolutely universal #FOI advice.

www.muckrock.com/news/archive...

One Login is the government's flagship system for securely accessing online public services, and underpins the Gov.uk digital wallet and the digital driving licence launched by technology secretary Peter Kyle in January this year as part of his new government digital strategy. The whistleblower – who Computer Weekly has agreed not to name, but who has many years of cyber security experience and worked in a senior information security management role at GDS – first warned GDS leaders of serious cyber security problems with One Login in July 2022. He says his warnings were not heeded, forcing him 18 months later to write to his MP to highlight the issues, citing the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act, which protects civil servants who whistleblow about situations they believe to be in the public interest. He was subsequently informed by GDS that he would face disciplinary action.

UK Government faces claims of serious security and data protection problems in One Login digital ID www.computerweekly.com/news/3666225... by @bryanglick.bsky.social

GOV​.UK One Login www.sign-in.service.gov.uk

#digitalID #cybersecurity #dataprotection #govtech

It seems that The Nottingham Building Society's online banking login uses the domain nottingham-building-society.my.site.com . Isn't this a really bad idea, since it's teaching people that it ok to enter credentials into dodgy looking websites? Any comments @salesforce.com ?

Folk may remember my FoI request for West Midlands Fire Service hydrant locations, some years ago, was refused on grounds of national security. That was upheld by a tier-1 tribunal.

There's now a website listing them:

Apart from the energy analysis within, this also appears to provide a very handy way of identifying every residential UPRN in London. #opendata

“Wait, not like that”: Free and open access in the age of generative AI The real threat isn't AI using open knowledge — it's AI companies killing the projects that make knowledge free

Newsletter: The real threat isn't AI using open knowledge — it's AI companies killing the projects that make knowledge free. The future of free and open access isn't saying “wait, not like that” — it’s saying "yes, like that, but under fair terms”.

www.citationneeded.news/free-and-ope...

Poster depicts Elon Musk donating money to Nigel Farage. Text reads 'Stop Musk! Change the law on political donations. Parliamentary debate 31st March - email your MP now!'. Design inspired by the artist John Heartfield.

Stop Musk! Change the law on political donations

On 31st March, MPs will debate the petition that 140,000 of us signed - to stop overseas billionaires polluting our politics: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

Make sure your MP attends - email them now:
www.writetothem.com

Why communities need the power to own environmental assets What’s of value to communities very often includes their local environment – access to nature, fresh air, clean rivers, abundant wildlife. The government shouldn’t be putting a lid on what communities say they value – instead, they ought to be unleashing the public’s imagination.

Imagine if as well as pubs & village halls, communities could dream big & purchase beloved rivers, woods & peat bogs. Labour’s forthcoming Community Right to Buy could enable this but rumours are circulating that it's at risk of being dropped. Read more from @guyshrubsole.bsky.social

Huge win! Government announces plan to open up Land Registry This post is by Guy Shrubsole. Today the UK Government has announced plans to open up the Land Registry – which, if delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wale…

Huge win! Government announces plans to open up the Land Registry.

If delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wales.

Read my blog post for more details & how you can write to the Minister to make sure this now happens:

whoownsengland.org/2025/03/06/h...

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