好色先生TV

Bite back better

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was asked to give his views on the government鈥檚 Integrated Rail Plan to a group of transport select committee MPs recently. Not surprisingly, he wasn鈥檛 hugely impressed given what the North had got differed from what it had been promised. This didn鈥檛 cut it with one member of the select committee who suggested Burnham should be grateful that the region was given anything at all. Conservative MP for Lincoln Karl McCartney asked: 鈥淒o you understand the meaning of the phrase 鈥榙o not bite the hand that feeds you鈥�?鈥� Burnham retorted: 鈥淵ou are kind of saying we should just get what we鈥檙e given 鈥� how about get what we were promised? Because it鈥檚 actually your government that promised all of this.鈥� Touch茅.

Get shirty

A chat with Keltbray chief executive Darren James and, given he is Welsh, talk turned to rugby. He has on one of the walls of his Swansea home a framed rugby shirt as a reminder to never play the game again. He tells my scribe it was from a sevens tournament a few years ago. 鈥淭here was a lot of huffing and puffing from me,鈥� he laments. Still, the shirt was signed by Welsh rugby greats Gareth Edwards and Barry John so some good came out of his final game of discomfort.

Housebuilders, developers and now product manufacturers have all felt Michael Gove鈥檚 wrath as he attempts to get private firms to cover the cost of the UK鈥檚 拢4bn cladding remediation bill. But even smaller firms seem to have fallen from favour

Where鈥檚 Gove?

Michael Gove has certainly made his mark as housing secretary since he took over the department last year. Big housebuilders, developers and now product manufacturers have all felt his wrath as the former 好色先生TV columnist attempts to get private firms to cover the cost of the UK鈥檚 拢4bn cladding remediation bill. But even smaller firms seem to have fallen from favour. Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing at the House Builders Association, which represents SME housebuilders, told one of my hacks that it has been 鈥渢ougher to have a conversation with ministers鈥� since Gove took over. Which seems odd given the department has said it wants SMEs to play a key role in reaching its 300,000 homes a year target.

Parking problem

Chase New Homes got the green light last month for a job next door to Cockfosters tube station in north London. So far so normal. It will turn a disused office into more than 200 apartments. Again, so far so normal. But it got the go-ahead after appealing the original decision by Enfield council, whose list of reasons for refusal included the scheme having four car parking spaces too many. 鈥淨uite astonishing,鈥� was the developer鈥檚 restrained reaction.

On the big screen

Among the many facts about the California stadium, designed by HKS, which hosted the Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the LA Rams last Sunday, one caught my eye. It includes a videoboard bigger than the field 鈥� that鈥檚 120 yards long, to you and me. Impressive. But, as the saying goes, can it do it at Stoke City away on a wet Tuesday night?

Party politics

With near-daily allegations of parties during lockdown at Number 10, the government has had a lot on its plate in recent months. Minor issues 鈥� such as the Construction Leadership Council鈥檚 warning in November that changes to product certification rules could stop the construction of 150,000 homes 鈥� have been put on the back burner. It took three months for business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to respond to the CLC via email, with the minister only arranging a meeting to discuss the matter when one of my hacks queried why nothing was being done. It turns out that Kwarteng鈥檚 email was sent just 40 minutes after my hack sent his. Possibly a coincidence, or could it be an example of government in media management mode yet again?