‘Nothing can stop it’ – The state expands like the horror film Blob Politics The 1958 classic horror film The Blob scored mixed reviews on its release, with critics lamenting the poor acting and weak dialogue. Posters for the movie warned that the alien blob “devours everything in its path” and “nothing can stop it” – which is why, half a century later, Michael Gove resurrected and popularised the [...]
Wandsworth Council plans 94 per cent tax rise after Rayner’s cuts Politics Wandsworth Council has announced taxes will rise by 94 per cent for Band D residents after local leaders hit out at the government for cutting funding by £84m a year. The local authority, regularly dubbed Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council because of its historically low-levels of council tax, will make Band D council taxpayers stump up [...]
Devolution should mean regions competing for investment Opinion The next phase of devolution should focus less on how funding is distributed and more on how growth is rewarded, says Gus Wiseman For more than 30 years, governments have tried to rebalance England’s economy by directing funding towards regions outside London and the South East. Many of those programmes have delivered worthwhile projects, but [...]
London local elections 2026: Who will win in Waltham Forest? May 6, 2026 After wrestling over Waltham Forest since the borough was created, Labour and the Conservatives now face a new threat from the Greens. The Conservatives and Labour have played pass the parcel with Waltham Forest since its inception in 1965. Control of the borough has switched as much as eight times since its formation in 1965, [...]
London Local Elections 2026: Who will win in Hackney? May 6, 2026 CLICK HERE to view all the latest London election results Voters go to the polls in Hackney for the local elections against the backdrop of a council tax hike and a government funding surge, the previously Labour-dominated borough looks to be a testing ground for Green support in London. In 2022, Sir Keir Starmer’s party [...]
London local elections 2026: Who will win in Bromley? May 6, 2026 CLICK HERE to view all the latest London election results After years of watching their control fade in Bromley, the Conservatives will be fighting a battle on several fronts with Labour and Reform both chomping at the bit. The Conservatives have been slowly watching their grip on Bromley slip. The Tories have held onto the [...]
Skybus steps in to save Cornwall-London route after Eastern Airways collapse November 7, 2025 Cornwall Council has struck an interim deal with airline Skybus to restore a flight route between Cornwall and London, after previous provider Eastern Airways went into administration. The new service is expected to start from late November, with 70-seat planes running daily and ultimately ramping up to twice-daily on week days by February of next [...]
Bankrupt, rat-infested Birmingham shows why local government matters April 23, 2025 With local elections across much of England, it’s time we took regional accountability much more seriously, says Simon Clarke Next Thursday, there are local elections across much of England. For many people, these events will pass them by entirely. For others, they will be purely an opportunity to send a message about national politics: it [...]
Spending watchdog refuses to sign off on government accounts November 26, 2024 The spending watchdog has refused to sign off on the government's accounts for the first time due to unreliable data from England's local councils.
Why Rachel Reeves’s pension reforms might not be as ‘radical’ as she thinks November 14, 2024 While her changes may constitute the biggest overhaul of the pensions sector in decades, some in the City say the truly radical option remains firmly in the back pocket.