Tom Bage

Comms, Tech, Politics and Platforms. Partner at @headlandcomms, formerly @change

[Tom Bage @TomBage]

Some people spent lockdown getting into sourdough and Joe Wicks workouts. I got into mansard roofs. Three years later and here’s a piece for @createstreets about mansards, Bow and the practical obstacles to gently increasing housing density https://t.co/PsH7q04Oeu

[UK Prime Minister @10DowningStreet]

Alex Norris has been appointed as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice @mojgovuk.

[Jake Richards MP @JakeBenRichards]

The shocking sexual and physical abuse of thousands of boys at Medomsley is a national scandal.

For too long. working class boys who were victim of the most heinous crimes have been overlooked by those in power - with some notable exceptions.

We cannot let that happen again.

This government rightly apologised for historic failings, but did not stop there.

Today, we have accepted all 34 recommendations of the Trowler review I commissioned to ensure that these horrific crimes will never happen again and @DavidLammy and I will also be meeting with survivors.

Never again.

@guardian

https://t.co/v21Xn8EdqC

[Tom Holland @holland_tom]

I see that Johnson and Boswell have been at the World Cup

[Henry de Zoete @HZoete]

Britain needs AI sovereignty. Not trying to own the entire AI stack but build vital parts that other countries need.

Creating interdependencies is the way forward.

Great Times piece by @kprescott on @leicesterliz & @KanishkaNarayan’s AI Hardware Plan that backs British AI hardware startups to do exactly that.

“This month, the government announced it was spending £1.1 billion on supporting British AI hardware. Granted, it is a fraction of the $12.9 billion that Nvidia spent on R&D last year, but it is a statement of intent and, coupled with the current round of successful private fundraising by start-ups, carries weight.

By far the largest chunk of that funding — £750 million — is for a new supercomputer, known as “heterogeneous”, which combines different types of chips, so it is not dependent on one provider.

This is a real game-changer and very different from the UK’s 100 per cent Nvidia-powered Isambard supercomputer, which opened last July.”

“with the push to build British options, UK chip-makers should see these shifting winds provide them with the chance to shine.”

https://t.co/WDBLqWpQAr

[Jake Richards MP @JakeBenRichards]

The World Cup starts tonight! ⚽️ But by the end of the first match, we’ll be one man down.

Someone dies by suicide in our country every 90 minutes. Three-quarters of these are men.

I spoke with Luke the co-founder of @andysmanclubuk about male suicide, mental health and the help that is out there. 👇

Andy's Man Club is an incredible organisation that helps men across Britain open up, talk about what is going on in their lives, and help one another. I have been to sessions in my constituency and was overwhelmed by the support they can offer men dealing with all sorts of problems in their lives - small or large.

In each session, a football is passed around the group to share thoughts, challenges, and successes. Simple, but effective and liberating!

As a government, we take mental heath - and men's mental health - seriously. We published England’s first Men's Health Strategy last year, which committed further funding for suicide prevention programmes, recognising that suicide is one of the biggest killer of men under 50.

We are investing £3.6 million in community based suicide prevention projects - and supporting the @premierleague Together Against Suicide initiative with @samaritans.

And this is a challenge for all of us, not just government. As a society we can do more to encourage men to open up, get the weight off their shoulders. That is a key part of our Men and Boys work led by @DavidLammy - amplifying the issues, assuring folk there is help out there.

Enjoy the football, look out for one another, and know there is support out there!

[Tom Copley @tomcopley]

✅ More then 80k social & affordable homes completed
✅ Out of more than 116k started
✅ And the most new council homes since the 1970s

We’d have done even more if the last government hadn’t crashed housebuilding.

Now we’re working with the new government to turn things around.

[Asma Islam 🌹 @Asma_IslamTH]

I’m honoured to announce that I am standing as councillor candidate for Mile End Ward with my colleagues @leelu_talukdar @CllrSaifur

We are committed to working hard for our community, championing local voices, and delivering real improvements for residents.

🌹 🌹 🌹

[Samuel Hughes @SCP_Hughes]

For detail, see this report by my colleagues at @createstreets, and this article by @Lees_Martina.

https://t.co/qDx0Af67zo

https://t.co/VHPpgLgLA7

[Samuel Hughes @SCP_Hughes]

In 2023, national policy was quietly altered to allow more mansard extensions. Few people knew about this and most councils ignored it, so both application rates and their likelihood of being approved by local councils remained largely unchanged.

However, the rate of success at *appeal* has gone up from 19% to 42%, because appeals are judged by a branch of the national government. As news of this gets out, more people will put in applications, and eventually councils may stop uselessly resisting so many of them.

A couple of councils have been pioneering policies like this already, like Tower Hamlets, which recently allowed a wave of mansards subject to careful design controls. The introduction of this led to application success rates in Tower Hamlets jumping from 27% to 93%.

Opponents argue that mansards compromise streetscape uniformity and put excessive visual pressure on the street. You can get a sense of the profound frivolousness of these objections by considering this before-and-after from Tower Hamlets: trivial or zero visual harm has been done, in return for an enormous benefit to residents.

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

“I’m just sick of this. Where were these people when Labour won 11 per cent of the vote in Caerphilly? Get real guys! Get a grip!”

@PatrickkMaguire has had enough.

📻 https://t.co/ElNHhIYcEN | @HugoRifkind

[Greg Brockman @gdb]

team has been working super hard, excited for tmrw!

[Jake Richards MP @JakeBenRichards]

There have been many achievements, but the lesson from the first year of government is that only radical, bold and fundamental reform of the state will do.

Or we face political disaster. My piece for @NewStatesman 👇

https://t.co/c5XTFX5lcC

[Samuel Hughes @SCP_Hughes]

Since 2017, Tower Hamlets has allowed mansard roof extensions in two conservation areas, subject to a strict design code. It then consulted on extending this to many more areas, receiving 93% support. This week, it decided to go ahead. A small landmark for London densification.

[Headland @HeadlandComms]

Talk vs. Action on AI Policy: 🤖 📊 While discussions around AI are heating up, @Darktrace's latest report shows there's a gap between the chatter and real-world action. Let's bridge that divide. #AI #Policy #TechTrends #Innovation

[Greg Brockman @gdb]

Deep Research is an extremely simple agent — an o3 model which can browse the web and execute python code — and is already quite useful.

It's been eye-opening how many people at OpenAI have been using it as a much better e-commerce search in particular.

[Lime @limebike]

Introducing Lime's London Action Plan - our £20m investment to improve e-bike parking, encourage cycling safety and boost cycling across the city.

Watch some of our amazing riders share their stories of how Lime helps them do London 🎥

https://t.co/mO5tIbMm4K

[OpenAI @OpenAI]

Announcing The Stargate Project

The Stargate Project is a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States. We will begin deploying $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world. This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.

The initial equity funders in Stargate are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners for Stargate, with SoftBank having financial responsibility and OpenAI having operational responsibility. Masayoshi Son will be the chairman.

Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI are the key initial technology partners. The buildout is currently underway, starting in Texas, and we are evaluating potential sites across the country for more campuses as we finalize definitive agreements.

As part of Stargate, Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system. This builds on a deep collaboration between OpenAI and NVIDIA going back to 2016 and a newer partnership between OpenAI and Oracle.

This also builds on the existing OpenAI partnership with Microsoft. OpenAI will continue to increase its consumption of Azure as OpenAI continues its work with Microsoft with this additional compute to train leading models and deliver great products and services.

All of us look forward to continuing to build and develop AI—and in particular AGI—for the benefit of all of humanity. We believe that this new step is critical on the path, and will enable creative people to figure out how to use AI to elevate humanity.

[Headland @HeadlandComms]

Thrilled to win CorpComms Award's Best Strategic Agency 🏆Our @Darktrace team also took out Highly Commended for Best Capital Markets Communications and our @dssmithgroup team won Best Sustainability Initiative and Highly Commended for the Best Embodiment of Corporate Purpose!🎉

[Headland @HeadlandComms]

Headland Director, Luke Sullivan, appeared on @BBC Radio 5 Live with @MattChorley to talk Trump and the PM’s approach, reshuffle and political interviews.

To listen, skip to 13:30 https://t.co/ZK7OLy2BVy

[Godspeed You Black Tamperer (ft Maya) @twlldun]

On the plus side, this frees things up for Biden to run and win in 2028.