The Abundance Agenda
The Abundance Agenda
The Lower Thames Crossing, getting mad at boomers and the scourge of Everythingism
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The Lower Thames Crossing, getting mad at boomers and the scourge of Everythingism

Plus we're 18,000 homes closer to the, er, 1.5 million homes target

In the fourth episode of The Abundance Agenda, hosts James O’Malley and Martin Robbins celebrate the Lower Thames Crossing – and talk about why even car-hating urbanists should support the building of a new motorway tunnel.

Plus we look at the government’s investment into 18,000 new social and affordable homes, and get a bit sidetracked by getting mad at boomers.

Then finally we’re joined by Joe Hill, policy director at the Reform think-tank to discuss his provocative new paper which argues that “Everything” is what is paralysing the British government.

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We also mentioned Ben Ansell’s post about “chaos chasers”.

Here’s the audio of James talking to Anya Martin at his housing event.

James’s latest – on why the government should go full “crisis mode” on Trump 2.0, to sell the idea of tax rises:

Odds and Ends of History
How the government can raise taxes – and get away with it
THE ABUNDANCE AGENDA: Catch up now with my new podcast, The Abundance Agenda. In our most recent episode, Martin and I talk about the maddening story of Barry Thompson, who can’t install solar panels on his ex-council house, and reflect on the emptiness of gestures like declaring a “climate emergency”. We also dig into Peter Hitchens’ one man crusade against Daylight Savings Time, and speak to former Boris advisor, Lord Ben Gascoigne, about the Lords’ Built Environment Committee’s new inquiry into New Towns. Listen on…
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And Martin hasn’t written anything yet this week, but his post last week about his car park misadventure was extremely good:

The Value of Nothing
Britain's car parking is a complete disaster
Checking the coast was clear, I parked up and removed my trousers fifty yards short of the station car park to avoid triggering the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system, hiding behind the passenger side of my car to look less obvious to passing traffic. I wouldn’t be needing trousers where I was going. If anything, they’d be a hindrance…
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Oh, and you might also like this old post James wrote setting out his views on the Lower Thames Crossing:

Odds and Ends of History
Why even car-hating urbanists should support building the Lower Thames Crossing
Reminder 1: Tickets for the first Odds and Ends of History event next week with Zion Lights are still available. Find out more and get yours now…
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