Ed Hammond
@se13ed.bsky.social
Local government governance person, supporting English councils on stuff relating to decision-making, oversight, transparency, etc. Views my own.
Marine Ices, probably? Italian restaurant in Chalk Farm. A shadow of its former self in its later years (the food got progressively worse and worse) but the ice cream was obvs excellent
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 9:19 AM
Marine Ices, probably? Italian restaurant in Chalk Farm. A shadow of its former self in its later years (the food got progressively worse and worse) but the ice cream was obvs excellent
I'm sort of personally affronted by this because a reasonably close relative was an ambassador to Denmark (not for the UK) and I do therefore feel that Frost has let the "ambassador to Denmark" community down
‘War for Greenland is boring, let’s talk about the Tories’ is genuinely the weirdest thing for a former ambassador *to Denmark* to say, apart from anything else
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 12:39 PM
I'm sort of personally affronted by this because a reasonably close relative was an ambassador to Denmark (not for the UK) and I do therefore feel that Frost has let the "ambassador to Denmark" community down
The Royal Oak pub in Wantage (named after this ship) was itself torpedoed a few weeks back when a car crashed through its side wall, in an interesting historical echo
It took ages before some people got it! I'm off to Orkney & Scapa Flow, where in 1939 HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed by the U41 which had successfully breached Scapa's defences.
The Far North of Scotland in January - I must be mad. Wish me luck, and tune in next week!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Roy...
The Far North of Scotland in January - I must be mad. Wish me luck, and tune in next week!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Roy...
HMS Royal Oak (08) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:30 PM
The Royal Oak pub in Wantage (named after this ship) was itself torpedoed a few weeks back when a car crashed through its side wall, in an interesting historical echo
the man with the easiest job in the British media strikes again
Matt Cartoons: 'The Tories shouldn't be allowed to occupy a building in London. You never know what any of them are up to'
January 15, 2026 at 6:07 PM
the man with the easiest job in the British media strikes again
I have been to plenty of roundtables in my time, and in the past decade 100% of them - whatever the topic under discussion - has involved someone bringing up the abolition of the Audit Commission (this is not a criticism)
January 15, 2026 at 12:29 PM
I have been to plenty of roundtables in my time, and in the past decade 100% of them - whatever the topic under discussion - has involved someone bringing up the abolition of the Audit Commission (this is not a criticism)
interesting because if I were Home Sec I would do everything I could to avoid having this power, for hopefully obvious reasons
NEW Shabana Mahmood announces not only that Craig Guildford, the chief constable of West Midlands Police, no longer has her confidence after a "devastating" independent review, but also that the government will reintroduce the power for home secretaries to sack chief constables
January 14, 2026 at 6:48 PM
interesting because if I were Home Sec I would do everything I could to avoid having this power, for hopefully obvious reasons
I think this is right but it depends on who "you" is. There is something fundamental about public administration in this country - a sort of learned helplessness arising from large numbers of professionals having little autonomy and responsibility for "doing" things
“People don’t have to believe [in a political project] but they do have to think they can get something done” - on civil service passivity
“It is possible to get change - you grip something and fix it, and there’s a strategy”
“It is possible to get change - you grip something and fix it, and there’s a strategy”
January 13, 2026 at 9:58 AM
I think this is right but it depends on who "you" is. There is something fundamental about public administration in this country - a sort of learned helplessness arising from large numbers of professionals having little autonomy and responsibility for "doing" things
when I screw up my zoning in Cities Skylines
January 11, 2026 at 3:43 PM
when I screw up my zoning in Cities Skylines
large scale construction of social housing
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?
January 9, 2026 at 2:58 PM
large scale construction of social housing
this is going to get confusing for us Brits
The Star Tribune has ID'd the murderer: his name is Jonathan Ross.
www.startribune.com/ice-agent-wh...
www.startribune.com/ice-agent-wh...
Star Tribune identifies ICE agent who fatally shot woman in Minneapolis
Jonathan Ross was dragged in a separate incident last year by a fleeing driver, according to court records.
www.startribune.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:38 PM
this is going to get confusing for us Brits
Fun fact: state capacity is indeed broken and it's mainly because of well-intentioned people thinking that all decisions in this country need to be made by civil servants working in offices within 250 yards of Horseferry Road
Starmer, Farage, Badenoch et al share a strange consensus: that state capacity is broken, and the answer is a stronger prime minister in a faster, more centralised system - pulling levers like the Fat Controller and grabbing power back from agencies. Is it smart?
www.economist.com/britain/2026...
www.economist.com/britain/2026...
State capacity is the issue of the age
The Labour Party and its rivals agree on much about what is wrong with government
www.economist.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Fun fact: state capacity is indeed broken and it's mainly because of well-intentioned people thinking that all decisions in this country need to be made by civil servants working in offices within 250 yards of Horseferry Road
Allo Allo
Given that apparently the Stranger Things finale was meh (idk, didn't watch it, just the scuttlebutt) and we're not that far removed from the disastrous GOT finale that retroactively made everyone have never cared about the show:
What's the *best* ending to a show you've ever seen? Quote/reply etc
What's the *best* ending to a show you've ever seen? Quote/reply etc
January 6, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Allo Allo
Watching "Pretty Woman" for the first time in about thirty years and I'm not sure I appreciated previously how utterly unhinged it is in literally every respect
January 4, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Watching "Pretty Woman" for the first time in about thirty years and I'm not sure I appreciated previously how utterly unhinged it is in literally every respect
incredible, incredible
I need examples of what Mamdani was talking about, which definitely was not people like me
January 2, 2026 at 8:56 PM
incredible, incredible
Ppl who laud the Lords for being independent, expert, measured etc etc might direct their attention to two recentish debates - the debate over the proposed repeal of section 28 which formed part of the passage of the Local Gov Act 2000 and the 2018 debate on the conduct of Lord Lester
'ancient history of public service' just means 'disproportionate influence and access handed down one generation to another with no regard to merit'. The only public service these fools perform is making the case for wealth and inheritance taxes.
Relative independence 😂 yes because the hereditary peers have a real cross section of party affiliation and have no *quite literal* landed interest whatsoever.
Risible stuff.
Risible stuff.
December 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Ppl who laud the Lords for being independent, expert, measured etc etc might direct their attention to two recentish debates - the debate over the proposed repeal of section 28 which formed part of the passage of the Local Gov Act 2000 and the 2018 debate on the conduct of Lord Lester
At the Smithfield Market Christmas Eve meat auction. Already a capacity crowd
December 24, 2025 at 9:20 AM
At the Smithfield Market Christmas Eve meat auction. Already a capacity crowd
Read this and thought, "oh, ha ha, it'll be a different Michael Crawford obviously" but no! It's the actual Michael Crawford you're thinking of
a) this is pathetic regime shit from CBS.
b) this is genuinely his dream, he would so much rather be a TV host than president.
b) this is genuinely his dream, he would so much rather be a TV host than president.
December 23, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Read this and thought, "oh, ha ha, it'll be a different Michael Crawford obviously" but no! It's the actual Michael Crawford you're thinking of
from one perspective this is true because trans women have always been women, they just had physical characteristics that were misaligned with this fact, and which were corrected by surgery and other medical interventions. So men aren't becoming women, or women men, at all!
"Men are men. Men can never become women. Women are women. Women can never become men."
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
from one perspective this is true because trans women have always been women, they just had physical characteristics that were misaligned with this fact, and which were corrected by surgery and other medical interventions. So men aren't becoming women, or women men, at all!
ok, here's the answer - dismantle Hammersmith Bridge and re-erect it in Moray as a replacement for the Spey Viaduct
December 17, 2025 at 11:29 PM
ok, here's the answer - dismantle Hammersmith Bridge and re-erect it in Moray as a replacement for the Spey Viaduct
Ceefax, the Audit Commission, those anti-static strip that people used to fix to their car bumpers
December 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Ceefax, the Audit Commission, those anti-static strip that people used to fix to their car bumpers
This is a grim, dispiriting (but important) thread
I'd hoped normal service might resume today. I woke up with a tight 600 words mentally typed out on the suspension of the US-UK technology deal. The subject line included a terrific pun.
Then, I went for a walk in Sydney.
Then, I went for a walk in Sydney.
I'm exhausted
And this was a fairly light day
www.linestotake.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:42 AM
This is a grim, dispiriting (but important) thread
21. Boxed the Ears of Some Low Down Heel Making Swell on Your Old Lady in a Trolley Car
Show Your Age
1 Point for Each One You Did
1. Edison Kinetoscope
2. Combat in Ypres
3. Telegraph
4. Telegraph the Governor
5. Railway Handcar
6. Telegraph the Governor to Save Your Innocent Lover from Execution
7. Souped up your Flivver
8. Joined Pancho Villa
1 Point for Each One You Did
1. Edison Kinetoscope
2. Combat in Ypres
3. Telegraph
4. Telegraph the Governor
5. Railway Handcar
6. Telegraph the Governor to Save Your Innocent Lover from Execution
7. Souped up your Flivver
8. Joined Pancho Villa
December 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
21. Boxed the Ears of Some Low Down Heel Making Swell on Your Old Lady in a Trolley Car
(me pointing at an aspidistra) "how very orwellian"
pisses me off that people call stuff "orwellian" when they just mean it reminds them of 1984. the man wrote other books
December 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
(me pointing at an aspidistra) "how very orwellian"
Baffling and deeply frustrating for local residents that this issue will seemingly not be resolved until *two years* from the date of the original problem have passed greenwichwire.co.uk/2025/12/10/l...
Lewisham Gateway residents may not return home until late next year - The Greenwich Wire
More than 400 residents who were evacuated from the new Lewisham Gateway development in February might not be able to return home until late next year, the building’s landlord has said. A major leak i...
greenwichwire.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Baffling and deeply frustrating for local residents that this issue will seemingly not be resolved until *two years* from the date of the original problem have passed greenwichwire.co.uk/2025/12/10/l...