Online anonymity is brainrot. Not everyone. Not all the time. But mostly it is.

A sobering thought here from "Rat Dog 3000" --- the arbiter no doubt of pride and embarrassment among men, and possibly rat dogs?

Good fun that. A couple of deliberate mistakes of mine that we've left in. Spot them and win a pint!

Okay FINE. FFS.

I did a podcast episode seemingly. About the North South divide and its interaction with transport. With @thomasableman. So what better way for me to listen to it for the first time than on a slow train back to Leeds from Rotherham. Which is what I'll do right now.

I always wonder whether mine is Lowry or Hockney. I think Hockney only because Lowry is mostly the lead character of a number of similar artists whereas Hockney is across his range unique.

How unfortunate, just missed the hourly trains back to Leeds. Oh well. Needs must.

Always pleased to remind myself of Rotherham's great history. A very old town. And some lovely industrial revolution era buildings too. Including pubs.

A fantastic visit as always. Sad that one of Britain's formerly best-named pubs retains its new not as good name.

Taking the slow train to Rotherham does remind me that we build a decent amount of new suburbia round these parts. Need more is all.

I am abolishing Police and Crime Commissioners. For over a decade, they have overseen our police forces but have failed to provide the sufficient democratic oversight they were set up to do. A change that will save us millions and see money reinvested into frontline policing.

Texas is getting 45% of their power from solar right now. And power prices are a penny and a half.

@thomasforth If that school is the Academy of Modern Urban Mythology you are correct 👍

The origin, some claim, of the word nonce. Every day is a school day.

I post a lot of pictures like these of growth in Leeds. They're important. It's good. Leeds has built and is building a huge amount of central density. And it has built some new suburbia and infill suburbia. But it needs to build more suburbia. Ask @SimonMagus.

UK gov. backing Leeds means, 1/ Granting us the local tax powers we've long asked for. 2/ Building the transport infrastructure here we've long been promised (Tram and NPR, HS2 is gone now) and letting us control it. 3/ Opening the British Library and National Data Library here.

I'm of the age and general characteristics now where I should be transitioning into a Tory. If there was a pro-growth Tory party I wonder if I would be tempted. I could imagine voting for someone like that for Mayor. But I see (and believe) none like that in Tories nor Lib Dems.

It's just another example of this. We want to win. We want to give London, Oxford, Cambridge and other places true competitors and a bit of the fear of losing that drives success. We are currently held back by Westminster. Britain needs us to be freed. 🇬🇧

This is about building baby building. Great protections for nature, focus on community and affordability, sustainable etc... all the words you'd expect. But ultimately it's about building and winning while our competitors to the South oppose and stagnate. It needs supporting.

Really important this. Leeds City Council under Labour has long been hugely pro-growth. In the last local plan lots of greenbelt got released by the council, but a mistake in the way the national planning system worked led to it being overturned by national law. We're back,...