Ex-Whitehall type still with views on public policy, but now local historian in Cambridge (UK) blogging at https://lostcambridge.com/ - also writing about the future of the city on The Cambridge Town Owl.
Please sign this UK government petition to compel AI companies to reveal whose books they used to train their data petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
Petition: Protect creators' rights: require AI firms to disclose training dataWe ask the Government to introduce a statutory duty requiring AI developers to disclose the copyrighted works used to train generative AI in enough detail for creators to identify use of their work, e...petition.parliament.ukAnyway, here's Sir Bryn Terfel in Vienna singing ... 'If I were a rich man' www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... (which at first I thought he was singing 'Rich Girl' by Gwen Stefani! 🙃)
Summer Night Concert from Vienna - 2026The Vienna Philharmonic once again take up residency at the Schönbrunn Palace to bring us their annual Summer Night Concert, a staple of the classical music calendar.www.bbc.co.ukRe #Newsnight earlier, most people are on holiday & the programme did not feature a ministerial interview on Burnham's big policy announcement on vocational education. In the meantime The Greens got a TV clip highlighting a policy difference with Labour for social media campaigns. Net gain?
The Green Party of England & Wales"I think the problem for Andy Burnham, and where I plan to step up, is that his solutions aren't going to fix things. For instance If we brought in rent controls, we could save the average UK household up to £2,400 a year and the government £2 billion a year." Zack Polanski on BBC Newsnight.
Scrutiny of political donations is a critically important part of the electoral process. Evading it demonstrates a fundamental contempt for voters and the UK’s values as a parliamentary democracy. https://www.desmog.com/2026/07/28/meet-the-aristocrats-helping-to-fund-reform-nigel-farage/
Meet the Aristocrats Helping to Fund ReformOn 7 June, Nigel Farage announced that he was resigning as the MP for Clacton amid the political furore caused by his £5www.desmog.com
"How is the Cambridge sci-tech community going to help Stevenage following GSK’s relocation to the CBC?" cambridgetownowl.com/2026/07/28/h... Only GSK was an integral pillar for the future of Stevenage in their investment plan published earlier this year.
How is the Cambridge sci-tech community going to help Stevenage following GSK’s relocation to the CBC?You may have seen the news that one of Stevenage’s largest employers of skilled workers is moving from its historic site south of the railway station on the GNER line to Cambridge Biomedical …cambridgetownowl.com
NEW BLOGPOST: "How is the Cambridge sci-tech community going to help Stevenage following GSK’s relocation to the @cambridgebiocampus.bsky.social ?" cambridgetownowl.com/2026/07/28/h...
How is the Cambridge sci-tech community going to help Stevenage following GSK’s relocation to the CBC?You may have seen the news that one of Stevenage’s largest employers of skilled workers is moving from its historic site south of the railway station on the GNER line to Cambridge Biomedical …cambridgetownowl.com
We need a European Heatwave Action Plan. Greens/EFA co-president @terryreintke.bsky.social: “While Europe is burning, too many EU leaders still treat climate action as optional, while citizens, firefighters, farmers and taxpayers pay the price." www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/p...
Wildfires: Greens/EFA call for urgent Heatwave Action PlanAs extreme heat and wildfires hit large parts of Europe, forcing evacuations and putting lives at risk, the Greens/EFA Group calls on the European Commission and Member States to urgently implement a ...www.greens-efa.eu
'If civil society is not a full partner right from the start of the work you initiate on devolution, you won’t just be missing out on some fantastic thinking; you’ll be missing a vital means of achieving your ambitions.' 💯 to this, and not just on devo
The Future Governance Forum (FGF)How should Andy Burnham work with civil society to deliver the “more preventative state” he promised in his first Downing Street speech? The @civilsociety.bsky.social article by Chair of FGF’s Social Insights Panel @pollyneate.bsky.social answers that question www.civilsociety.co.uk/voices/polly...
Ministers and senior civil servants should be hauled before the Home Affairs Select Committee and grilled on this. Ditto the contractors. Who signed off the decision to use AI like this?
Colin Yeo1/2 This and similar incidents should be called out for what it is. A Home Office official manufactured country information to refuse an asylum case. Some lawyers have been doing the same to try to win their cases. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
One of the risks of mandating buying from your own country when the industry lacks the expertise and capacity to match what is being build by competitors abroad to a much higher standard and at a cheaper price.
Jarrett WalkerAll over the transit industry, zero-emission bus mandates, like those of California, are colliding with Buy America requirements that deny US transit agencies access to a competitive bus market. The result is a wave of lousy buses that are impacting service. 1/ nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/07/27/b...
Noting also that disasters that cross national boundaries also make the case for further EU integration on industrial standards. In this case, fire fighting and military transit aircraft. defencematters.eu/france-a400m...
France’s A400M Firefighting Debut Tests Europe’s Dual-Use Airlift Model - Defence MattersA 20-tonne retardant drop over the Gironde wildfire demonstrates the A400M’s civil-protection value, but also exposes the limits of borrowing scarce military airlift.defencematters.eu