Doctor Fraser Bell

Research & Analysis Manager, Centre for Thriving Places, formerly of @greatermcr, @sipherc @aberdeenshire, all views belong to me (just as well then).

[Tom Pollard @PollardTom]

This is wild. Announcing changes to the PIP assessment with little rationale beyond saving £5bn, which is downgraded to £3.4bn by the OBR, then scrambling around to make further cuts to help meet fiscal rules based targets. None of this is being led by evidence or people's needs

[Festival of Debate 2026 @FestOfDebate]

💥BIG NEWS💥

Here's your full lineup for Festival of Debate 2025! 🎉

Join us in Sheffield for the UK's biggest politics festival, with more than 50 events exploring responses to some of the most urgent issues of our time

Discover the programme ➡️ https://t.co/lNWjYps05g

#FofD

[Rob Parsons @RobParsonsNorth]

🚭The North of England lags behind on so many health measures but here's some good news...

Smoking rates have fallen faster in the North than the national average, meaning they're now lower than down South

New study out from @CR_UK and @ucl today

1/2

[Newcastle City Council @NewcastleCC]

This week is National #EmptyHomesWeek 🏚️

We’re working hard to reduce empty properties and increase the supply of affordable housing in our city.

If you own an empty property we can offer advice and support to bring the empty property back into use.

👇

[Clean Cities (🦋 find us @cleancitiescampaign.org) @cities_clean]

On average, SUVs burn 20% more fuel than regular cars. They're not just eating up space - they're eating up our planet too. It's time to think smarter, and smaller.

Join us in tackling #carspreading and tag us in your worst SUV moments. More info at https://t.co/3T5INPzr3K

[Joshi Herrmann @joshi]

how it started how it's going

[Rob Parsons @RobParsonsNorth]

Big news for Cumbria from Number 10 today...

Ex-Cabinet Secretary Simon Case will be the chair of the Barrow Delivery Board, which manages the £200m fund to transform the town (where nuclear submarines are being built)

He stood down as the head of the Civil Service last year

[Doctor Fraser Bell @EmbeddedFraser]

@joshi @ManchesterMill they're so committed to EDI they can't even get the words correct!

[jules ☭ @garfeilt]

don't think thistle know how indeed works

[NEF @NEF]

Rachel Reeve’s commitment to airport expansion is reliant on flawed economics. By the government’s own metrics, airport expansion will fail to deliver the type of growth they want.

[NEF @NEF]

The government needs to explain the economic logic behind its decision on airport expansion - because the growth case for it just doesn't add up.

Alex Chapman spoke to the @Independent
https://t.co/k3nPIonJEY

[4 Day Week Foundation @4Day_Week]

And this is just the beginning.

78% of 18-34-year-olds in the UK believe a 4-day working week will become the norm in five years’ time.

But you don’t have to wait that long.

Whether you’re an employee or an employer, book a free consultation with us to get started. ⬇️

[NEF @NEF]

New analysis: If four UK airport expansions including Heathrow are allowed to go ahead, they will cancel out the carbon savings of this government’s clean power plan IN JUST FIVE YEARS. This government must cancel these planned expansions.

[Rob Parsons @RobParsonsNorth]

'People say it's not possible, it's a ridiculous target'

Here's why North East mayor @KiMcGuinness is sticking by her election promise to do nothing less than end child poverty in her region

She's speaking on The Northern Agenda's Our Kids In The North podcast:

1/2

[Tof @originaltof]

Dateline: Goodison. The elusive beer baron continues to thumb his nose at the authorities. Swaggering about in a garish new hat, he seemed to say, "Look at me, Rex Banner! I have a new hat!"

[Unite Hospitality @FairHospitality]

This man has just made millions from thousands of bar workers grafting over Christmas and New Year on just above the minimum wage.

The same man who was sunning himself in the Maldives weeks before his company abandoned the real living wage.

#JamesWatt has absolutely no shame.

[Population Health Improvement UK @PHIUK_News]

New paper from Local Health & Global Profits researchers: Why didn’t the ‘critical juncture’ of the COVID-19 pandemic lead to the re-integration of public health into urban development policy in England? https://t.co/Oy5xJLjIAj #phiuklhgp

[Doctor Fraser Bell @EmbeddedFraser]

@joshi Lovely stuff.