Exceptionally good list :-)

Abingdon Abbey Northcourt (Vale of White Horse) Council By-Election Result:

🔶 LDM: 647 (43.7%)
🌍 GRN: 480 (32.5%)
➡️ RFM: 204 (13.8%)
🌳 CON: 101 (6.8%)
🌹 LAB: 47 (3.2%)

Lib Dem GAIN From Green

Plus the direct bit between south of Abingdon and Milton Park.

I'm delighted that we are bringing these schemes forward and starting to put serious investment into long overdue active travel projects.

This is another important link in the wider network across the area.

So many buses (Image by Roger Close)

More people are taking the bus since Oxford's temporary congestion charge was introduced say Oxfordshire County Council. Data from six local bus companies including Oxford Bus Company shows an 8% increase vs prior year since the introduction of the charge.

news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/more-people-...

Youth unemployment is soaring.

The Chancellor’s jobs tax, combined with the threat of AI, is bearing down on opportunities, and young people are facing increasingly difficult and uncertain times.

With no clear action being taken, I asked the government to set out its plans to tackle this issue.

You can't trust Nigel. You can't trust Reform.

Events offer Oxfordshire residents free experience of electric vehicles A series of free events are coming to Oxfordshire this year to give residents an opportunity to explore the world of electric vehicles (EVs).Starting later this month, Go Electric Oxfordshire events a...

Free Go Electric events are taking place across Oxfordshire from 21 March, giving residents the chance to test‑drive electric vehicles, try e‑bikes and get expert advice on charging, costs and making the switch to EVs.

Read more ➡️ news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/events-offer...

Motorists urged to use '20mph is plenty' stickers as lower speed limits dominate roads Oxfordshire County Council has begun encouraging drivers to purchase free stickers supporting lower speed limits

In an unprecedented move, I'm going to share a GB News story. About Oxfordshire's 275th 20mph zone. And you know what? It's pretty favourable.

When even GB News recognises that people ACTUALLY WANT 20MPH, you know that it's got to be pretty popular.

www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/ca...

That fourth set of four is sublime :-)

International Women's Day graphic showing Oxfordshire Lib Dem women leaders, Liz Leffman, Bethia Thomas, Layla Moran and Maggie Filipova-Rivers.

A lot of the Lib Dem income is from the period they carried in being councillors.

Fair.

I sometimes wonder whether Blair ever learned anything from his disastrous support for Bush in Iraq.

He clearly didn't.

This is a bad policy and doesn't fit with a Liberal Democrat approach to environmental sustainability.

To go back to my point from this morning, Lib Dems in 2003 were making opposing the American-led misadventure in the Middle East their main focus. Lib Dems today are doing this sort of populist twaddle instead.

I agree.

I mean, not having 21,000 people waiting more than a year in the first place would be a better policy, but this is at least an improvement.

Spot on.

We've been saying this for years now. The recent Centre for Cities report sets out how much more effective the more balanced Cambridge approach has been.

Somebody played Meet Me On The Corner at the open mic night at The Old Anchor on Thursday.

Made my evening :-)

Good to see Jon putting the argument so robustly.

And good to see our colleagues in Glos and Herts adopting the policy that is already working well here in Oxfordshire.

One further point on the value for money is that one death prevented saves £2 million cost to the state.

It's probably a factor.

I'm all for simpler rules.

But financial factors are probably a bigger factor. Lots of SMEs struggled after the crash and then during COVID.

And the market has changed dramatically since 2015.

The market has become steadily more dominated by the volume builders and SMEs have been squeezed out.

On the demand side, it has got harder and harder for young people to enter the market, and there has been a big shift to buy to let.

You can come up with whatever theory you like about incentives, but it's a plain fact that developers sit on sites that have planning permission and slow down building rates when the market is weaker.

If your theory doesn't fit the facts, it's most likely wrong.

1 There are loads of sites that have planning permission that the developers are not building.

2 Developers often put forward bad plans and/or don't include adequate infrastructure and slow the process down themselves.

3 And a lot of what they build is poor quality.

They might as well call it Operation Tiny Penis. Pathetic.

The same Tony Gallagher whose company used to make large donations to the local Conservative Party?

Very happy to have supported this.

Andrew’s Previews | Substack "All the right votes, but not necessarily in the right order". Click to read Andrew’s Previews, by Andrew Teale, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

✅ Liberal Democrat HOLD

Shirley (Southampton) council by-election result:

LDEM: 27.4% (-11.8)
LAB: 26.8% (+2.8)
REF: 19.1% (+19.1)
GRN: 15.1% (+7.6)
CON: 8.1% (-16.1)
IND: 3.4% (-0.2)

+/- 2024

Estimated turnout: ~34% (+4)

andrewteale.me.uk/previews

The government’s introduction of new requirements for dual nationals has been chaotic and unfair. We’re calling for a grace period.