Is this really wise? True, the Lords might be a hindrance to some legislation but trying to pack the 2nd house with the PM's appointees isn't the way to fix it. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Husband; father; Scot; Londoner; social & economic researcher; Islington Councillor; Labour since 1973.
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Is this really wise? True, the Lords might be a hindrance to some legislation but trying to pack the 2nd house with the PM's appointees isn't the way to fix it. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
The logical fallacy is extraordinary. In an emergency a President can legitimately send federal forces or national guard. But if there's a crisis that justifies it, why delay?
There isn't any reason why asylum seekers shouldn't work. Originally the prohibition made sense decisions were taken quite swiftly. Incidentally unemployment isn't at a record high.
Racists are just racists. They will always hate difference.
That's almost certainly what he's talking about. Six hundred young men cooped-up for extended periods with little to do.
They wouldn't. That's the point, it's an artificial situation which has some adverse consequences.
We have the Barbican Thistle hotel in south Islington. It's got 600 young men. Nothing to do. Not allowed to work so no money. Sharing rooms. Microwaved meals. Waiting months. I've asked the question would we be OK if 600 British born lads were living there under same circumstances? Probably not.
Excellent news for Glasgow. BAE Systems at Govan was once Fairfields shipyard. I have a sentimental connection: my dad was an apprenticed as a joiner at Fairfields. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is my flag.
Almost 25 years after I last had an Economist subscription, this week I paid up for the online and print editions. The magazine arrived this morning. It is a much slimmer product than back then. But that’s seemingly due to the near absence of advertising. No complaints about that.
Clear example where an MSP should resign. He was elected on a party list. His only reason for being an MSP is the Conservative party put him high on the Central Scotland list. There really ought to be an automatic disqualification.
Ridiculous. Many Nobel laureates are/were not especially well known. They just did diligently good work quietly. Oh and then there's people like Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Albert Schweitzer.
The Council is removing flags from lap-posts. However, Council workers have received threats whilst doing this.
I am very sorry this has happened. There is a minority of people who are openly racist who are now emboldened by a hate-filled rhetoric from people like Jenrick and Farage and cynically exploiting public concern about asylum seekers being housed long-term in hotels.
Council staff have begun to remove flags from lamp-posts. However they have received threats.
I don't know all the details but I understand a crowd broke into vacant premises on Tileyard Rd.
Police have declared a S35 Dispersal Order (Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014) covering part of the Cally. This follows an incident on Saturday night when an Unlicensed Music Event was taking place in Tileyard Road. The S35 order is in place until 07:00 on Tuesday 27th.
But keeping 600 young men for many months in a hotel with nothing to do is seemingly the source of some tension locally. Extremists are then exploiting this situation, threatening violence and the result is that, over a wider area, many of our residents feel unsafe.
… These young men are being held in limbo whilst a dysfunctional system fails to process their asylum claim. A hangover from the last Govt that allowed backlogs to build up but a problem the current Govt appears slow in solving although the number of hotels being used has almost halved in a year.
The main issue is quite simply that a small minority of people are hanging flags ostensibly as an act of patriotism but in reality as a gesture of protest and hostility towards asylum seekers. In the south of Islington it has saliency because the Thistle hotel on Central St has about 600 young me.
There are indeed by-laws that prohibit hanging things from lamp-posts. But that’s rather a technicality and one that makes the Council sound like municipal nitpickers.
Thanks for the message. I saw Cloudesley Rd yesterday has a dozen flags. It’s a small number of people doing this and claim they’re simply being patriotic. But these flags didn’t go up to mark VJ Day or the King’s birthday.
Very sad news that Father Jim Kennedy, formerly Priest at Blessed Sacrament Parish, has died. callylabourcouncillors.org.uk/2025/08/21/f...
Father Jim Kennedy has died The Cally will be saddened by the news that Fr Jim Kennedy, a long standing faith leader in our community, died on Saturday 16th August in Paphos on the island of Cyprus. He was Parish Priest at Blessed Sacrament church in the heart of the Cally until 2009. He became…
Not simply “them” denied a speaker slot but more particularly their “world famous Leader”.
A nice morning at Ashburton Grove (aka Emirates stadium) to see Arsenal's entire squad in an "open" training session. (Almost) all the stars were up close for a crowd of several thousand. Lots of happy kids especially when the top players came forward for autographs.
ChainsawGate
I’m sorry this really is a failure, I suspect the Council got slightly swamped by the Canonbury water burst the next day which was catastrophic
Earlier this year, I had thought the Government’s missteps would stop as they would come to understand the art and craft of governing and the knack of framing their story better. Not so far.
Also why the public sentiment has changed on a national ID card/digital. I have never had a drivers license and am now becoming increasingly annoyed how often I need to dig out my passport.
Crucially, invisible entities like companies, charities or clubs do have human persons behind them, shareholders, members, officers. Those entities cannot act on their own! The emerging category of Environmental legal persons have the same: guardians who can represent or act for them.
For accuracy, the numbers are: whole UK pop 67.0 million of which 9.6 million foreign born. So that's 14.3%. The Times says 1 in 8 prisoners are foreign born. That's 12.5%
A statement by Islington Labour Group of councillors.
Not had their inaugural conference yet. Already RCP (prev Militant), SWP and other Trotskyists are already "mobilising". Corbyn has always been pretty naive about the ultra left and hasn't the sense to put in guardrails. His small emergent party is exactly what every entryist sect dreams about.
There's going to be an inaugural conference. Think I'll just start a wee list of entryists who may already be "mobilising" for this.
EU, NATO and other countries paid a high price supporting USA's war in Afghanistan. UK alone lost 457 military personnel.
Thank you
Sorry to be a stickler but this only shows 20 London boroughs. Are the other 12 boroughs ones which have improved?
the Church of Ireland has never been established.
Another of those regular reminders why I quit Unite 6 years ago after being a TGWU member for over 30 years. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Dow Jones doesn't own the CBS network. CBS is owned by Paramount Global.
‘Literature has completely changed my life’: footballer Héctor Bellerín’s reading list
This is probably true. Broadly speaking, lower turnover reflects heightened staff satisfaction but there other ways to achieve that. Same definitely goes for cutting agency use or securing productivity gains. I’m just slightly sceptical there’s a clear causal connection with 4 day working.
I wonder how sound this evaluation is? Might be some deadweight effects. There’s lower staff turnover, less use of agency workers plus a productivity deal. The 4 day agreement might be a significant enabler of these but equally they might happen independently of the 4 day deal.
The Cally Festival 2025 was another great day celebrating the Cally This year's Cally Festival was another fantastic day for our community. On Sunday 6th July, over 10,000 people came to celebrate “The Cally” – a distinctive place with a strong sense of community and renewed optimism. Now into its…
Wheels are turning. 2015 Act says trigger referendum if an MP receives a custodial prison sentence, auto-disqualified if it's 12mth+
Ever so sorry I overlooked this. Last week I heard the tannoy when I was in our back garden. And we're almost a mile north of the station!
The site allocation indicates preferred use or uses but nothing else. Often its purpose is to stimulate an application. Nothing else is “approved”. It’s not even comparable to an outline permission.
I'm glad you trust Cllrs and planners to know where redevelopment might happen. In Islington that's what we do. Take a look at our Site Allocation document in the local plan. It gets revised regularly not least because sites are regularly already in play by the time the allocations are adopted.
You’re “indifferent” to where bulldoze and build should happen? I’m not. Those are peoples’ homes on Council estates which are already high density. And you want to knock down “resi streets” too? Mad. Know how much the CPO compensation costs would be?
No-one saying "Islington is full". Not a "conceit" to say we have had few sizeable development sites nor to observe we already have the highest population density of any local authority. You want us to bulldoze and build? Tell me exactly which existing high density Council estates you have in mind.
Islington doesn't have swathes of ex industrial land. No Lea Valley, docklands or Thames Gateway sites. It's a Borough of 6 sq miles with over 220,000 people. Has the highest population density of any local authority. Despite this we are pro-development and pro-housing.
You want officers to decide but now say they're biased too. You want plan-led developments to be OK'd but now you want local plans trumped by NDPMs. Make up your mind chum.
Have you ever visited Islington, Ant? The last sizeable brownfield development site was built 20 years ago (Lough Rd/Ashburton Grove). One site now being built (ex Holloway prison) is under construction now - over 1,000 homes. Nothing blocked there.
That's just nonesense, Ant. "built far less than it should have for at least half a century," Islington's newly built housing is almost entirely purpose built flats. Between 1981 and 2021 Census, this category of housing increased from 35,000 to 55,000.
The politics is clear, Ant: we allocate a site for housing which will contribute to the 1.5million new homes and have rejected a scheme which won’t.
Site allocation at Archway is for conventional housing, the applicant wants to mainly provide purpose built student accommodation. Officers rejected as not plan compliant.
Today I bagged 3 season tickets for Arsenal's 2025-6 season. Not for the Premier League though. We will now be attending all the WSL home fixtures. And enjoying the benefits of Club Level!
In 2020, Zarah Sultana voted for a Bill requiring any MP who voluntarily changes Party affiliation from the one they were elected under should be subject to a recall petition. www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php...
In 2020, Zarah Sultana voted for a Bill requiring any MP who voluntarily changes Party affiliation in the Commons to be subject to a recall petition which could lead to a by-election. www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php...
There is one other site (at Archway) which, despite the local plan saying "housing", has a pending scheme which would have been refused because it mainly proposes purpose built student accommodation. Over the past 15 years, we've consented student schemes way above London Plan requirements.
In Islington, we are running out of land and sites have very high values. Tower Hamlets has/had a large stock of brownfield land which is being rapidly developed. In Islington we presently have two very large consented schemes (stalled by fire regulations) to deliver about 1,300 additional homes.
I’m on the planning committee of one of the most urban of urban Boroughs, one of the most pro growth in London despite having the highest population density. The main obstacle to development is viability: land prices and expected profit margins.
The 2025 Cally Festival is Sunday 6th July from noon until 6pm Now into its 15th year, the Cally Festival has become established as the largest community event in Islington. Over 10,000 people are expected to attend and celebrate “The Cally” – a distinctive place with a strong sense of community…
As I (just about) recall one reason 1970 went down the pan for Harold Wilson was because BOAC received its first Boeing 747 in April and this hit the balance of payments hard. Back then balance of payments was a big deal.
I’m not saying “there’s no problem”. There’s a problem in some planning authorities yet the Govt solution is one-sized and applied to all authorities regardless of their delivery record.
Relative to the number of approvals, NIMBY refusals are relatively small. This is why the reforms ought to be more selective and target the refusenik Councils not the ones where Cllr decision-taking delivers better development.
Will Dunn in the New Statesman gets this right. Badenoch is a nasty piece of work.
In my authority I cannot recall a single plan-compliant housing development that has ever been refused. We negotiate hard and the risk of refusal concentrates applicants’ minds wonderfully. We have several stages not just officers then members: pre-app, even pre-pre app.
It’s wrong to think all planning committees are the same. True there are some NIMBY councils and councillors. Most aren’t, especially for housing schemes. Cllrs will certainly arm-wrestle developers for planning gain (like affordable %). Threat of refusal is a critical lever.
An emerging North Sea Treaty Organisation?
Attention seeker, Robert Jenrick MP today claimed "borrowing costs were soaring and the pound plummeting". FX markets had a teeny wobble around midday. But Sterling did not "plummet". GBP/US Dollar: High 1.37 Closed 1.36 GBP/Japanese Yen: High 197 Closed 196
This is where insane authoritarianism leads you. Zohran Mamdani arrived in the USA aged 7.
This is a big policy announcement. The generous “right to buy” discounts are reduced significantly. Will take 10 years to qualify for anything. Max poss discount will be 15%. Total exemption for any properties built since 1990.
Labour’s one year anniversary week looks set to be one of introspection on why Starmer - in the words of John Curtice - had the worst start for any newly elected govt. From our polling and focus groups over this year I’d point to 5 key mistakes 🧵
Glastonbury 2025 featured four really outstanding performances. Here's the replays on iPlayer: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Ezra Collective. Raye.
That fella from Archway Rd was indeed good. Ezra Collective too.
Ezra Collective ?
No mention here of the glorious Nile Rodgers?
This weekend was the 17th anniversary of Ben Kinsella's murder. Here's what I wrote on the 4th anniversary. It's still true. callylabourcouncillors.org.uk/2012/07/02/r...
The only performance I could enjoy at Glastonbury is musical genius Nile Rodgers. Last night's toppers were dire: Charli xcx performing to a backing track; Neil Young gone grunge. Ugh.
also world class hospitals
Been a busy few weeks for Cllr Turan and I for Islington Labour in Laycock ward. We have been working hard to ensure resident concerns are heard, especialy in the Grove estate. Thanks to executive member for homes Cllr Woolf for the help with Hyde Housing to ensure works are carried out.
I'm not clutching at straws here but the Parliamentary system has worked in the way it ought to. We don't elect a government. We elect MPs. They ultimately decide what the Government can or cannot do. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A good crowd of Labour campaigners out today in Arsenal ward, Islington. If Labour is slipping in the polls nationally, there’s not much evidence of this happening here.
Yes we should fix that system. Easier said than done though.
Because we have an electoral system designed for 2 parties and, in multi party contests, it leads to arbitrary and unrepresentative results.
Goodhart, Goodwin and O’Brien all seem to assume that family size of recent arrivals will be unchanged. The evidence of migrations from cultures which tend to have large families is by the 3rd generation, they pretty much match the general population average.
Irish identity is striking, it really only lasts about a generation although the heritage remains in names and faith. In my neighbourhood, the Census numbers for Irish identifiers are near to the London average but the number of Irish surnames in the electoral register is considerably higher.
I was one of those men who couldn’t stop talking. Here’s how I learned to shut up and listen
A flabby argument by Henry Hill further undermined by his assertion the Winter of Discontent was in 1975.
Truly I must be getting old. There's barely two performances at "Glasto" I would want to see, although both on the main stage: Burning Spear on Friday and Nile Rodgers on Sunday.
Pavements and side streets throughout Cally are being upgraded as part of the Cally Liveable Neighbourhood project. In Cally, ward Councillors have decided to make pavements and walking space the main priority of our “Liveable Neighbourhood” plan.
Cally gets a big boost from pavement renewals Pavements and side streets throughout Cally are being upgraded as part of the Cally Liveable Neighbourhood project. In Cally, ward Councillors have decided to make pavements and walking space the main priority of our "Liveable Neighbourhood" plan. On…
Even on a free vote, that's a relatively slender majority. The Lords cannot kill this Bill but they will interpret the narrow majority as authority to amend considerably.
I knew Goodhart first in the late 80s when he wrote for the FT. He has fallen far.
"Scorchio"! OK, I know this is a 30 years old catchphrase but it was always a gem.
Investment news: 3 weeks ago I decided to transfer some of a cash ISA into a stocks and shares ISA. I picked a couple of Amundi Exchange Traded Funds that track top 600 European (incl UK) firms and with an ESG screen. So far, only losses. Yes I know it's a long term game!
To be fair, variables such as land value uplift do tend to favour places with relatively high starting values. I wouldn't call it "bias" necessarily but it does under-weight the impact of projects in places with underlying low land values.