A year ago, the Building Safety Regulator was a byword for 'bottleneck', widely blamed for chronic delays to new high-rise homes.
Under new leadership, that seems to be changing, but how much further does the BSR have to go? My
@thehousemag.bsky.social feature
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
At the time of the review, I understand WYCA's preferred route for the Leeds-Bradford section was to use main roads between the two cities, because that enable fastest planning consent, though the economic benefits were less clear.
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
The report warned "there are risks in committing to a specific route and mode before full approval", with warnings of "public embarrassment for WYCA if works are started out of sequence and there is a subsequent need for reversal"
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
NEW: How A Secret Government Report Delayed Leeds' Long-Awaited Trams
My @thehousemag.bsky.social feature includes more detail from the confidential NISTA 'peer review':
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
My West Yorkshire Mass Transit exclusive is discussed on YIMBY Pod 👇
Read the full feature piece in the latest edition of @thehousemag.bsky.social or on @politicshome.bsky.social tomorrow morning 🗞️
A plan to begin building a Leeds tram by 2028 was delayed after a secret Whitehall review warned about a risk to taxpayers' money
The peer review, obtained by @noahvickers.bsky.social, warned that the project was being driven by a “political agenda rather than a recognised programmatic approach"
My (fab) colleague @noahvickers.bsky.social reveals why West Yorkshire tram has faced delays🚊
Reveals details of a secret govt report showing Tracy Brabin’s attempts to start construction on the network before her next re-election campaign were blocked due to a high risk of wasted taxpayers’ cash
A longer feature piece on West Yorkshire Mass Transit will published in @thehousemag.bsky.social next week, online and in print. Don't miss it:
www.politicshome.com/house-magazi...
Govt says it "fully supports" a "world-class mass transit system" in WY.
Mayor's office: "A review at this stage of a project of this scale is completely normal and the majority of its recommendations have already been addressed by the combined authority."
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Troublingly for Brabin, the report claims that buses would have a "significantly better" benefit-cost ratio than trams. Brabin's authority is said to have shown a "lack of unbiased thinking" about whether trams are really needed...
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
The report, authored by a joint unit of the Treasury and Cabinet Office, complained the project was following a “political agenda rather than a recognised programmatic approach” - namely, Tracy Brabin's manifesto pledge to get "spades in the ground" by 2028:
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
EXCLUSIVE: @thehousemag.bsky.social has obtained the confidential government report which delayed West Yorkshire's planned tram network.
It warned the scheme was working to "unrealistic milestones" and there was a "high" risk of public money being wasted:
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Shaun Connor is retiring after working in Parliament for 48 years
He tells @noahvickers.bsky.social about creating tapes of Tony Benn speeches, the pen Lord Sugar gifted him, and being held at gunpoint during the 2017 attack
"I feel proud and privileged to have been a part of this place"
On his first day, his line manager explained he’d be working in the Records Office in the Victoria Tower
“I said to him, naively: ‘Records! I love records. I spend all my money buying records.’ He looked at me and said: ‘Not those kinds of records.’”
Wonderful piece by @noahvickers.bsky.social
NEW: Short-term holiday lets are a major part of Britain’s tourism industry – but many Labour MPs want tighter controls on their number to protect local communities and housing supply. Will the government listen?
@noahvickers.bsky.social reports
NEW: Labour MPs are pushing ministers to go further in plans to regulate holiday lets.
DCMS will introduce a national register of lets, but this will be "light-touch" and seems to be delayed. MHCLG is meanwhile "considering" giving councils more powers:
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
"We have to ask some questions about whether we want data centres which take up an enormous amount of water, and an enormous amount of electricity, and don’t create very many jobs."
My interview with Polly Billington MP for
@thehousemag.bsky.social 👇
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Good to speak with Kevin McKenna MP for the latest edition of @thehousemag.bsky.social
He tells me about his career as a critical care nurse, the mission to end new HIV transmissions across the country by 2030, and Keir Starmer's future as PM 👇
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
🚨 Calling UK tech startups !!! Especially if based by the coast 🏖️🌊
Niche request, but I'd like to speak to digital nomads who have set up or moved their businesses to a seaside town/rural area in the last few years
If that's you/someone you know, please get in touch in the comments or via DM
🏥 The latest edition of The House is out! 1802 - The health issue
- How does Wes Streeting run DHSC?
- Danny Kruger interview
- Antonia Romeo profile
- Why early diagnosis is more complex than you think
Try a sample and subscribe:
Resident doctors' strikes: Labour MPs are quietly optimistic that a deal with the BMA might soon be reached - but there are fears that an end to the dispute could cause new problems for the government.
My feature for @thehousemag.bsky.social
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
In my latest interview for @thehousemag.bsky.social, I spoke with Guernsey's chief minister Lindsay de Sausmarez, who told me about Brexit's impact, the island's demographic challenge, and Westminster's demand for more transparency from the Crown Dependencies:
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
NEW: Data centres across the UK are turning to the gas network as grid connection delays mean they may have to wait almost a decade for electricity. Could it imperil the government's 2030 Clean Power mission?
My feature for @thehousemag.bsky.social
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
NEW: I speak with Lib Dem energy spox Pippa Heylings about the party's strategy to gain further seats by taking on "the myths being peddled" by Tories and Reform about net zero.
Heylings claims Lib Dems could be UK's next official opposition:
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
I understand London mayor Sadiq Khan will *not* be joining Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in calling for Keir Starmer to go.
The mayor was asked about his support for the PM in the Observer this weekend:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Screenshot of Barking and Dagenham Star on launch day, 4th February 2026
Delighted to announce that we (Social Social Community News) have today launched our sixth borough-wide local news publication in London – Barking and Dagenham Star!
Check it out 👇
barkingstar.co.uk
And give the Star a follow on here as well 👇
@banddstar.bsky.social
The plight of Britain’s boys is a growing political talking point
A group of Labour MPs has launched a campaign to produce a coherent, centre-left response to the issues facing young men
According to co-founder @alistrathern.bsky.social, it's an area where progressives have "ceded the field on"
BREAKING: Andy Burnham says he has sought permission to stand in the by election.
As the government grants permission for the new Chinese Embassy to be developed, a reminder that MPs in countries as far away as New Zealand were among those concerned about fibre-optic cabling close to the site, as I reported for @thehousemag.bsky.social
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Nine years ago a Twitter user was sending poetry to Sadiq Khan about London’s many cultural identities. A decade on, Reform UK’s mayoral candidate doesn’t dispute it was her old account - so what’s changed?
Our profile of Laila Cunningham: www.londoncentric.media/p/laila-cunn...