Nick Beall
nickbeall.bsky.social
Nick Beall
@nickbeall.bsky.social
Sort of here, sort of there. Politics, Localism, Communities and Cricket. Opinions unlikely to be anyone else's.
The story that @londoncentric.media was made to deliver.
November 15, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Happy Tram day to all those celebrating.
June 4, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Outstanding caption in the latest @londoncentric.media newsletter about London's murky pedicab industry....

www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-pe...
May 15, 2025 at 8:36 AM
I've been wondering about this since I read the piece (which is genuinely crackers)
March 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Nick Beall
Anyway, if MailOnline are going to stick their story behind a paywall then I'm going to make mine available for free for 24 hours. So have a read, stick this in your WhatsApp group, and just help me spread the word about where to get the real thing.
www.londoncentric.media/p/harry-pott...
Harry Potter and the unpaid tax bill
A London Centric investigation reveals one of the capital's most garish gift shops owes hundreds of thousands of pounds in unpaid taxes — and uncovers its mysterious owners.
www.londoncentric.media
March 13, 2025 at 8:53 AM
I've subscribed to London Centric and you should too!
March 13, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Enjoyed this blast from the past list of former Farage challengers from @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter this morning.
March 7, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I know people are distracted by other things but this is a very curious response in Politico from the Shadow MHCLG team given that the Plan for Neighbourhoods is a remodelled version of the Long-Term Plan for Towns launched under the last government. www.gov.uk/government/p...
March 4, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Nick Beall
I'm sorry, but I hate these scumbags so much.
ZELENSKYY: Putin broke the ceasefire. What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?

VANCE: I think it's disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media
February 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Agree entirely with Stephen, I think it's also quite telling that that's the metric she reaches for.
A lot to unpack here, but I think an underrated problem with what Badenoch is saying is that the Liberal Democrats ARE on Twitter. Like so many people left on X she simply has not noticed how degraded and filtered her information environment has become.
🚨 NEW: Kemi Badenoch acknowledges the existence of the Lib Dems

- Considers them a “protest party for mainly people on the left”
- "They are not on Twitter, but they are in local communities"
- "They will destroy the whole country..."

Transcript from DailyWire interview with Jordan Peterson 👇
February 19, 2025 at 9:50 AM
One of my longest and more sincerely held views is that politicians themselves should stay off Twitter/Bluesky and leave it to their staff.....
February 12, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Nick Beall
The details of the 2025/26 PH grant allocations are now available, including the £200m uplift announced first thing this morning.

However, the grant value is still 26% lower per person in real terms than 2015/16.

Short 🧵 on why today's uplift is important and why it needs to be just the start. 1/
February 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Nick Beall
A new NAO report out today points to a whopping £49 billion backlog in public sector property maintenance. The public realm is falling apart.

www.nao.org.uk/reports/main...

[1/6]
Maintaining public service facilities - NAO report
The public spending watchdog has estimated that the government’s maintenance backlog is at least £49 billion.
www.nao.org.uk
January 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Nick Beall
If Districts go, we need to consider "what goes up, what goes down" when thinking people's sense of democratic expression locally.

This excellent chart is from @stkaye.bsky.social and @reformthinktank.bsky.social.

Which powers could be passed to hyper-local level, which should go to new unitaries?
November 25, 2024 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Nick Beall
Here’s an updated starter pack for #localgov aficionados - folk who work in & around local government policy, practice and commentary. Slow to build as critical mass only recent- please let me know if you would like to be added…

go.bsky.app/VBM66q7
November 23, 2024 at 8:32 PM
Bring this back imo.
He was the last of a generation of politicians who if you wrote to them asking for anything - to speak at an event or whatever - they’d say no, but send you a signed picture of themselves instead.
John Prescott was a giant. I remember when Peter Hain wrote a pamphlet having a go at various bits of Labour in the early-mid 2000s including Labour students when I was involved, Prezza’s response was just ‘people writing pamphlets? For think tanks? I don’t want a think tank! I want a DO tank!’
November 21, 2024 at 9:28 AM
Great to see former @localtrust.bsky.social colleagues joining us here! Give them a follow @mattleach.bsky.social @maddiejennings.bsky.social!
November 21, 2024 at 7:06 AM
Going to give posting here a go... we've been working on a series of papers applying our research work to how Labour might implement their missions in government. Our paper on the opportunity mission it out now, let me know if you'd like to chat about it! localtrust.org.uk/insights/res...
Breaking down barriers
This paper examines education and employment at the neighbourhood level
localtrust.org.uk
August 21, 2024 at 10:41 AM