Latest news with #Demos
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nimbyism on the rise in blow to Rayner's building blitz
Nimbyism is on the rise across Britain, new figures suggest, in a blow to Angela Rayner's hopes of kickstarting 'the biggest building boom in a generation'. The number of people identifying as Nimbys is estimated to have grown by almost a third since the Government stepped up its anti-Nimby rhetoric in late 2024, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Demos, a cross-party think tank. Polling shows that 23pc of people now class themselves as Nimbys, up from the 17.5pc recorded in a survey by Labour Together in September last year. The report warned that the rise in local resistance to developments risked hindering Ms Rayner's ambitions to build 1.5m homes by the end of this Parliament. The Housing Secretary has repeatedly vowed not to tolerate Nimbyism, pledging to end their 'chokehold' on housebuilding. Writing in The Telegraph in December, Ms Rayner, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, said Nimbys would 'no longer have the upper hand'. Under proposed reforms, builders will be allowed to sidestep council planning committees, while campaigners will be blocked from making repeated legal challenges against major infrastructure projects. Sir Keir Starmer has echoed promises to stop developments being held up, saying in January that he would override the 'whims of Nimbys' against major building projects and back the builders, rather than the 'blockers'. However, researchers from RTPI and Demos said: 'Far from driving support, the Government's current combative tone could be dangerously backfiring. 'This poses a risk to the Government's ambitious housebuilding target and potentially their electoral strategy too if they face increasing local opposition.' They added that only 12pc of people felt they had a say over the outcome of planning decisions, pointing to risks that the Government's 'enthusiasm to drive forward building could fuel further mistrust'. The report shows that 67pc of the British public identify as Mimbys – 'Maybe in my backyard' – representing those who are open to new developments in their areas under the right circumstances. Just 10pc identify as Yimbys, or 'Yes in my backyard'. Victoria Hills, chief executive of the RTPI, said that trust could be rebuilt between local communities and the Government if they were involved in the planning process at an earlier stage. Ms Hills said: 'Through effective community engagement, the majority of people would accept housing near them. 'If our members, and the authorities they work with, are given the time, space and expertise to engage early enough in the process, then we would find that housing across the country is delivered with the support of the local communities, not despite them.' Polly Curtis, chief executive of Demos, said: 'Cutting the public out of the conversation like they are red tape will lead to more legal challenges and friction down the line. 'Instead, early and representative public participation will properly engage the Mimby majority, giving that silent majority a voice and helping to unlock housebuilding. 'This is a risk-reducing and time-saving strategy, and one that will help build trust in Government.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nimbyism on the rise in blow to Rayner's building blitz
Nimbyism is on the rise across Britain, new figures suggest, in a blow to Angela Rayner's hopes of kickstarting 'the biggest building boom in a generation'. The number of people identifying as Nimbys is estimated to have grown by almost a third since the Government stepped up its anti-Nimby rhetoric in late 2024, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Demos, a cross-party think tank. Polling shows that 23pc of people now class themselves as Nimbys, up from the 17.5pc recorded in a survey by Labour Together in September last year. The report warned that the rise in local resistance to developments risked hindering Ms Rayner's ambitions to build 1.5m homes by the end of this Parliament. The Housing Secretary has repeatedly vowed not to tolerate Nimbyism, pledging to end their 'chokehold' on housebuilding. Writing in The Telegraph in December, Ms Rayner, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, said Nimbys would 'no longer have the upper hand'. Under proposed reforms, builders will be allowed to sidestep council planning committees, while campaigners will be blocked from making repeated legal challenges against major infrastructure projects. Sir Keir Starmer has echoed promises to stop developments being held up, saying in January that he would override the 'whims of Nimbys' against major building projects and back the builders, rather than the 'blockers'. However, researchers from RTPI and Demos said: 'Far from driving support, the Government's current combative tone could be dangerously backfiring. 'This poses a risk to the Government's ambitious housebuilding target and potentially their electoral strategy too if they face increasing local opposition.' They added that only 12pc of people felt they had a say over the outcome of planning decisions, pointing to risks that the Government's 'enthusiasm to drive forward building could fuel further mistrust'. The report shows that 67pc of the British public identify as Mimbys – 'Maybe in my backyard' – representing those who are open to new developments in their areas under the right circumstances. Just 10pc identify as Yimbys, or 'Yes in my backyard'. Victoria Hills, chief executive of the RTPI, said that trust could be rebuilt between local communities and the Government if they were involved in the planning process at an earlier stage. Ms Hills said: 'Through effective community engagement, the majority of people would accept housing near them. 'If our members, and the authorities they work with, are given the time, space and expertise to engage early enough in the process, then we would find that housing across the country is delivered with the support of the local communities, not despite them.' Polly Curtis, chief executive of Demos, said: 'Cutting the public out of the conversation like they are red tape will lead to more legal challenges and friction down the line. 'Instead, early and representative public participation will properly engage the Mimby majority, giving that silent majority a voice and helping to unlock housebuilding. 'This is a risk-reducing and time-saving strategy, and one that will help build trust in Government.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Business Standard
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Pope Francis leaves tough legacy behind, key challenges await successor
While Pope Francis accomplished a lot in his 12-year papacy, he left much unfinished business and many challenges for his successor from the Vatican's disastrous finances to the wars raging on multiple continents and discontent among traditionalists about his crackdown on the old Latin Mass. When the conclave's cardinals finish casting their ballots under Michelangelo's frescoed ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, the 267th pope will have to decide whether to continue Francis' policies, tweak them, or abandon them altogether. Will he prioritize migrants, the environment and the social justice policies that Francis championed, or give precedence to other issues? Among the challenges facing the new pope: The role of women Francis did more to promote women to leadership positions in the Vatican than any pope before him, and his successor will have to decide whether to continue that legacy, accelerate it or back down and change course. The issue isn't minor. Catholic women do much of the church's work in schools and hospitals and are usually responsible for passing the faith to the next generation. But they have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Some are voting with their feet. Nuns are leaving in droves, either through attrition or simply quitting, leading to questions about the future of female religious orders. The Vatican says the number of nuns globally has been hemorrhaging about 10,000 per year for over a decade, with their numbers at 599,229 at the end of 2022, the last year for which there are statistics. In 2012, there were 702,529 nuns globally. The new pope will have to address women's expectations for not only a greater say in church governance, but greater recognition. We are the great majority of the people of God, said Maria Lia Zerbino, an Argentine named by Francis to advise the Vatican on bishop nominations, a first for a woman. It's a matter of justice. It's not an achievement of feminism, it's in the church's interest. Women's Ordination Conference, which advocates for female priests, goes further. The exclusion of women from the conclave, and from ordained ministry, is a sin and a scandal, it said. Gervase Ndyanabo, a prominent lay leader in Uganda, said there should be more participation of the laity and women in the administration of parishes and decision-making at all levels. Progress, he said, has come at a snail's speed. Polarisation of progressives and traditionalists An anonymous letter circulated among Vatican officials in 2022, highlighting what it called Francis' disastrous pontificate and what a new pope must do correct the catastrophe he had wrought. Its author was Australian Cardinal George Pell, but that fact emerged only after his death in 2023. Once a close adviser to Francis but always conservative, Pell grew increasingly disillusioned with his papacy, signing the letter with the pen name, Demos the common people. Last year, a screed by another anonymous cardinal circulated, signed by Demos II. It resumed where Pell left off, denouncing what it called Francis' autocratic, at times seemingly vindictive style of governance; a carelessness in matters of law; an intolerance for even respectful disagreement; and most seriously a pattern of ambiguity in matters of faith and morals causing confusion among the faithful. It blamed polarisation in the church on the confusion Francis had sown and urged the next pope to focus on recovery and reestablishment of truths that have been slowly obscured or lost among many Christians. Those letters underscored the age-old divisions between traditionalists and progressives in the Catholic Church that were exacerbated during Francis' pontificate. He emphasized inclusion and synodality," or listening to the faithful, and cracked down on traditionalists by restricting their celebration of the old Latin Mass. While the conservatives may not have enough votes to elect one of their own, a new pope will have to try to restore unity. The polarisation is keenly felt in the United States, where anyone using social media can challenge the Vatican or even the local church's perspective, said professor Steven Millies of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Such forms of communications "can have a narrative of what Catholicism is that doesn't come from any ordained minister, from any bishop, and can, night after night, the world over, suggest that the pope is wrong, he said. Clergy sexual abuse While many church leaders would like to think clergy sexual abuse scandals are in the past, survivors and their advocates want the new pope to address it as a top priority. Francis and Pope Benedict XVI took steps to end decades of abuse and cover-ups, changing church laws to punish abusers and their clerical superiors who hid their wrongdoing. But a culture of impunity still reigns, and church authorities have barely begun to deal with other forms of spiritual and psychological abuse that have traumatized generations of faithful. Twenty years after the sex abuse scandal first erupted in the US, there is still no transparency from the Vatican about the depth of the problem or how cases have been handled. The new pope must deal with not only the existing caseload but continued outrage from rank-and-file Catholics and ongoing revelations in parts of the world where the scandal hasn't yet emerged. Ahead of the conclave, groups of survivors and their advocates held news conferences in Rome to publicize the problem. They created online databases to call out cardinals who botched cases and demanded the Vatican finally adopt a zero-tolerance policy to bar any abuser from priestly ministry. Peter Isely of the U.S. group SNAP said it was crazy and bizarre that the church doesn't apply the same rigor to abusers that it does to establishing criteria for ordination. You can't be a married man and a priest, he said. You can't be a woman and a priest. But you can be a child molester and a priest. LGBTQ+ outreach Francis famously said, Who am I to judge? when asked in 2013 about a purportedly gay monsignor at the Vatican. Francis sought to assure gay people that God loves them as they are, that being homosexual is not a crime, and that everyone is welcome in the church. His successor must decide whether to follow in that outreach or pull back. There's plenty of support for rolling it back. In 2024, African bishops issued a continent-wide dissent from Francis' decision allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, and bishops from around the world attending his synod on the church's future backed off language explicitly accepting LGBTQ+ people. We want a united Catholic Church, but we must stay with the fundamentals, said Ndyanabo, the Ugandan lay leader. The gospel should not change at all because of our own human weakness. The Rev. James Martin, who seeks to build bridges with LGBTQ+ Catholics, knows the degree of opposition but remains hopeful. The challenge for the new pope is to continue Francis' legacy of reaching out to a group who has felt excluded from their own church, Martin said. Based on the synod, I would say that many cardinals feel that there needs to be welcome of LGBTQ+ people because they know their dioceses. But how far that goes is up in the air.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Queen Is Back On The Billboard Charts With A ‘New' Album
Queen's Demos at De Lane Lea debuts on Billboard's Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums charts, as fans ... More rush to snap up the rare Record Store Day release. UNSPECIFIED - FEBRUARY 01: Photo of Freddie MERCURY and QUEEN; Freddie Mercury performing live on stage, (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns) Queen may not be producing new music these days, but the band is still very much active — and commercially successful. While it has been years since the legendary rock outfit released a proper studio album, the group continues to thrive on the charts thanks to one of the most celebrated and valuable catalogs in music history. The band frequently reappears on various rankings with special editions, reissues, and commemorative releases, and this week, Queen once again earns a new win with a drop filled with music from the vault. Despite the fact that the musicians are not crafting new original tunes or albums any longer, Queen still manages to make a splash whenever it offers fans something they haven't heard before — or at least not in an official capacity. This frame, the group returns with De Lane Lea Demos, a new EP that immediately finds space on two Billboard tallies. The short collection arrives at No. 24 on the Vinyl Albums list and No. 31 on the Top Album Sales chart, becoming a bestseller immediately. In its first few days of availability, De Lane Lea Demos sold 4,800 copies in the U.S. That number is according to Luminate, the company that collects sales and streaming data for Billboard's charts. This was a particularly busy frame for new music, with plenty of beloved acts dropping albums and EPs. While Queen's latest effort doesn't claim one of the top starts of the week, the fact that the rockers are still landing new wins at all is remarkable. On the Top Album Sales chart, De Lane Lea Demos ranks as the sixteenth-highest debut out of 28 newcomers. Surprisingly, De Lane Lea Demos is just Queen's fifth title to land on the Vinyl Albums chart. Given the group's towering commercial success and the resurgence of vinyl as a viable and bestselling format in recent years, that's a fairly small number. On the Top Album Sales ranking, Queen has now appeared with 20 different projects throughout its long career. Queen issued De Lane Lea Demos in celebration of Record Store Day, a semi-annual event that often sees exclusive and limited-edition vinyl releases come from major artists. Only 5,000 copies of the 12-inch vinyl were pressed, and almost all of them sold out within a matter of days. The five-song set is made up of Queen's earliest demo recordings, laid down between late 1971 and early 1972. The musicians taped the songs at the famed De Lane Lea Studios in London — a name that the EP borrows.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labour must involve whole country if it wants to achieve its goals, report warns
Labour's missions are at risk of failing unless the government does more to involve the whole country from businesses to the wider public, as the age of 'command and control' is over, a report from Demos has warned. The thinktank called on the government to embrace 'mass mobilisation' for businesses, charities, unions and the wider public to drive its flagship missions, which promise growth, clean energy, cutting crime, rebuilding the NHS and reforming education. While Keir Starmer has talked of 'reshaping the state' to make it work better for people, there are differing views within Whitehall about how best to achieve his missions – with some 'reformers' wanting to empower communities and frontline services who know how best to make changes, but others preferring a more Blairite 'command and control' approach that wields power from central government. Demos's report warns that central government cannot hope to deliver its missions by itself, arguing that the 'command and control' model will not work when it comes to driving reform – and central government will have to learn better how to let go of power. When announcing his NHS shake-up, Wes Streeting took more power back into the Department of Health and Social Care by abolishing NHS England, but has promised to devolve more to the frontline organisations responsible for delivering healthcare. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, also insisted on Sunday that she was cutting back office costs by 15% in order to fund more frontline services. But Demos said more involvement was needed from the public, business and civil society. It suggested involving the public more directly in how to achieve the missions, through participatory methods, and encouraging more active citizenship through volunteering. It also recommended creating external 'mission councils' attached to specific, concrete missions to encourage collective action of all sectors and civil society in achieving the government's goals. Polly Curtis, the chief executive of Demos, said: 'The missions promised a new way of governing around clear priorities and through partnership between state, business and society. If the government tries to achieve its missions through command and control structures it will fail. The radical approach is to put partnership at the heart of government and forge a new way for the country to move forward together.' No 10 has already created a new 'partnerships unit' aimed at fostering more collaboration with wider society. But the report, backed by the outsourcing company Serco and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said there was still a risk of Whitehall being too inward-facing. 'There are structural and institutional barriers to mass mobilisation around missions,' it said. 'There is a risk that those in Westminster and Whitehall spend too much of their time focused on internal changes and the government's legislative programme. These changes are necessary, but not sufficient. We are concerned that the government might miss the opportunity it has in the next year or two to mobilise all actors across the country around shared national missions.' The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.
