Today, Friday 9 September 2022, the United Kingdom enters a period of national mourning to mark and commemorate the death of Queen Elizabeth II. All around the world there are people waking up to a new, unsettling, and profound sense of loss, a phenomenon that has surprised many. By trying to understand why there is so much obvious sadness and bereavement, we show our humanity. By recognising the remarkable achievements of a woman who throughout her long life demonstrated the meaning of service, duty, and dedication, we can see the merit of having values, integrity and a sense of mission.

Prior to 5 May commentators agreed that the 2022 local elections represented a potential watershed moment in UK politics. To an extent they were right. While local elections often point to trends that will influence the upcoming general elections, the 2022 ballots had the potential to significantly undermine the Conservative Party leader and prove the rehabilitation of the Labour Party. In the event, the declarations mostly revealed the depth of the UK’s ‘crisis of ambiguity’, but that does not mean the elections were not significant. What lies beneath? Taken as a whole the results highlight the increasingly fraught relationship between

Last month Rishi Sunak announced the annual UK Budget and published the accompanying Spending Review, which outlined government expenditure plans for the next fiscal year. These two announcements follow months of discussions about spending priorities among MPs, as the UK government has spent hundreds of billions tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. Sunak’s plans offer spending increases for all government departments, including £7bn allocated to improving transport infrastructure in cities outside London.    The chancellor presented a headline-grabbing budget that included funding for the government’s transport plans, which he described as delivering “an infrastructure revolution”. This ‘infrastructure revolution’ is at the core of the chancellor’s ambition to direct money towards Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling

September is a busy period in the social affairs calendar: Parliament is back, inquiries have resurfaced, and party conference season is starting. Ministers have said goodbye to the serenity of summer holiday season and are facing up to the old and new challenges that lie ahead.     As autumn arrives we find ourselves with a new housing minister, a new department name and new branding. The question shared by building allies and leaseholders alike is, will these changes make any real difference?   Glossy Gove   September saw Michael Gove appointed to lead the freshly-named Department for Levelling Up, Housing and

The appointment of Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in the latest reshuffle has taken many in both the commentariat and housing industry by surprise. Gove has the reputation among his colleagues of being the ultimate survivor; he has served in successive cabinets dating back to 2010 and has undergone several rebrands and the occasional political resurrection in between. A medley of Gove(s) When he entered government as education secretary in 2010, Gove was championed as a fresh start – part of a new generation of Conservatives MPs not linked to the John Major

As ministers top up their tan abroad, whilst parliament has its summer holiday, the public continues to wage the war on cladding on home turf. The fallout from Robert Jenrick’s recent announcement, that buildings under 18m no longer need an EWS1 form, has continued to attract headlines. As if the debate over who exactly requires the infamous form isn’t confusing enough, according to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) residents are now dealing with scammers posing as EWS1 assessment officials.   A proposed ‘Polluter Pays’ amendment was also suggested this month, which would see those that ‘polluted’ the building liable