I’m not a big fan of the headline, to be honest, but the article is a good one.
Some highlights:
- The Government has refused to authorise the use of the toxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids.
- Ed Miliband has welcomed a £35 million investment to expand the Port of Lowestoft to service the offshore wind sector.
- Steve Reed announced the Government’s new ‘Nature Restoration Fund’.
- Rushanara Ali announced an extra £20 million investment for over 280 councils to help protect more rough sleepers from cold weather, tripling funding for this year.
- Ed Miliband also announced £410 million in funding for fusion energy programmes.
- The Government’s Renters’ Rights Bill has returned to Parliament and completed its crucial report stage, where new changes to protect renters were set out. That includes a rule to cap advance rent payments at one month’s rent, and put an end to demands for large sums of cash upfront.
- New protections for leaseholders have been signed off by the Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook.
- Lisa Nandy announced the fourth round of the Cultural Development Fund — an award of £16.2 million for projects designed to “regenerate communities, attract tourists and new businesses, and help to grow the economy.
And some stuff I’m not so keen on:
- Bridget Phillipson has confirmed that a Labour-version of the last Government’s Education Freedom of Speech Act will go ahead. (I agree with the unions’ criticism cited in the article that ‘it’s unnecessary and a distraction from the higher education funding crisis’.)
- The Home Office announced legislation which bans several synthetic drugs
It’s so irritating that these have flown completely under the radar. Some of these are absolutely worth talking about.
Yes, I’m willing to give a lot of leeway to Starmer because he won, but his comms are just terrible. Hostile media, sure, but why are they talking about benefit cuts and deportations instead of this stuff?
Fine the renters bill is mildly good, but its a long way off whats necessary to solve the housing crisis and has been continually watered down.
We have some of the worst tenants rights in Europe and the oldest housing stock. A small improvement like that still makes us look barbaric in comparison.
The reason no one talks about them is they are ultimately piddly amounts of money. And how much of it is just getting funneled into the private sector as management consultants fees?
Also lol at the council rough sleepers budget - you know many councils are about to go bankrupt and labour are doing nothing about that?
