"What is unfolding before us at national government level, reminds me of what has happened to local government over the past decades. For different reasons, the obligations – the things local govt had to do – became more and more onerous, precisely at the same time as their spending power was hammered. As a result, the political complexion of any given council mattered less and less. They had fewer and fewer discretionary decisions they could take, whatever their political desires might have been." Lewis Goodall explains why budget day was boring.
"There is a response to the housing crisis hiding in plain sight. Back in 2020, a National Acquisitions Programme or Conversion Fund was recommended by the Affordable Housing Commission. This fund would provide grants to social landlords and community housing providers to purchase existing private rented homes and convert them into social and affordable tenures." Helen Dennis says buying back ex-private rentals is often cheaper and faster for councils than building homes from scratch, but they need funding to do more of it.
Ben Curtis on how the Senghenydd colliery disaster revealed the true price of coal: "The blast on October 14 1913 killed 439 men and boys, with another dying during rescue operations. It was, and remains, the worst coal mining disaster in British history and also the sixth worst in the world."
"Each stage was specially designed to accommodate a different era or style of drama; Greek, Elizabethan and Modern on the Olivier, 18th, 19th and early 20th century on the Lyttleton and experimental productions on the Cottesloe. The Olivier theatre has a thrust stage, pushing forward into the audience. The Lyttleton is more traditional, with a proscenium arch, and seating into two tiers. The Cottesloe, (now called the Dorfman), is the most basic and flexible of the three, with three tiers of seating, with a gallery level looking down on the stage in a courtyard style." Modernist London marks 50 years of the National Theatre.
Olivia Rutigliano recommends 17 films with sinister pagan festivals, cultish locals and witchy witches. We're talking folk horror.
