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History warns us that bursts of enthusiasm for the ‘barbarous relic’ are usually followed by long periods of drift

🔑 When then-chancellor George Osborne kick-started his crackdown on buy-to-let, one of his ministers said #landlords should be made to “squeal”. The aim was to crank the pressure up so high that they would sell up, making way for first-time buyers to take their place. The plan worked – albeit with a side-effect of a shortage of rental #homes and rising rents. Purchases by landlords have fallen in every region except the North East since 2015, according to Hamptons, with London recording a 50pc reduction. One fifth of all homes currently on the market used to be rented out, according to #Rightmove, the highest point on record – as some investors panic at the prospect of a capital gains tax raid in the Budget. Now, first-time buyers are a huge force within the market, taking the place of landlords as they sell up and retreat. Over the past nine years, the proportion of first-time buyers competing against an investor for a home has risen significantly. There are now 3.1 first-time buyers registering to buy a property for every buy-to-let investor in Britain, according to estate agency #Hamptons. This is a record high, and up from a ratio of 1.4 in 2015, the year the Government first began introducing changes designed to dampen demand in the buy-to-let sector. Find out how first-time buyers are getting ‘a lot more house for their money’ ⬇ https://lnkd.in/ezsCM_YV

The EU’s ‘regulate first, ask questions later’ approach to AI is turning Europe into a tech backwater

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🗣️ 'The Labour waves are parting for Sue Gray' Camilla Tominey reflects on her meeting with the Chief of Staff after Labour's landslide win, and the seemingly significant power Gray wielded. 🎧 Listen to the Daily T here: https://lnkd.in/e6vHir2E

Grieving families go round in circles sorting out a complex web of accounts

𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗥'𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗡 𝗡𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗬'𝗦: 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦? For politicians there's few quicker routes to popularity than finding a group to collectively despise, threaten and even hate. Sometimes it's justified - as with Sir Keir Starmer's response to last month's rioters. But sometimes not. And that was the reaction of groups seeking to revise Mr Miliband's plans for pylons, turbines and solar farms across our countryside. In a keynote speech he branded them "blockers, delayers and obstructionists" - and said he would be "taking them on". Such language is no accident. Keir Starmer's speeches include similar 'blocker' language as does Labour's new Infrastructure Forum - strapline "Smash the Nimbys". 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 '𝗡𝗶𝗺𝗯𝘆𝘀, 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀"? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲? Most are just normal citizens - driven to protest by what they see as a threat to treasured landscapes. Their threat comes not from their behaviour - no-one is sabotaging turbines - but from their numbers. Because there are now hundreds of protest groups and tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of supporters.   * What do they want? Mostly compromise - accepting the need for clean energy but done better.  * What are they getting? Increasingly its abuse - from the ministers we've only just elected. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗱𝗱. 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻. The same applies to Darren Jones, leading that "Smash the Nimbys" infrastructure forum launch. But there is an increasingly evangelical feel to Labour's drive to make the UK a 'green energy superpower'. That drive is why they risk turning citizens peacefully opposing pylons across East Anglia, wind turbines on Welsh hilltops and solar panels on farmland, into hate figures.  * Devon's Campaign for the Protection of Rural England group summed up the responses of many, saying: "“Miliband’s inflammatory language is designed to set people against each other and blot out dissent."  * Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons were furious too. "Branding community groups as obstructionists and blockers,using phrases like 'Smash the Nimbys' is deeply alarming."  * Alice Delahunty, its power transmission chief, speaking soon after Miliband at the same Energy UK conference, pointedly called for "trust and respect ... with genuine communication." 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗱 - 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 https://lnkd.in/eaq8ZBfr CPRE The countryside charity The Telegraph

Parents can prepare for Labour’s VAT raid with some forward planning

🎓 Universities are so reliant on fees from foreign postgraduates that they account for up to half their entire income, a Telegraph investigation has found. The surge in foreign #postgraduate income – now worth £6.2 billion – has put some universities at greater risk of financial collapse because of the Government’s crackdown on postgraduate visas, say higher education experts. The #Government’s immigration curbs have led to a fall of 16 per cent – or 20,000 – in the number of overseas postgraduates, according to the Telegraph analysis of official data. That would be equivalent to the loss of £1 billion in fee income in one year following the visa restrictions, which barred postgraduates from bringing dependants into the UK unless they were doing PhD #research. Postgraduates now account for £6 billion worth of UK universities’ income. That is an eighth (13.1 per cent) of their total funding and nearly triple the £2.2 billion just seven years ago. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d8TkrZ38