Marianne Heaslip
@marianneh.bsky.social
Workingtonian in Liverpool (home)/Manchester (work), UK.
Architect working on tools and processes for better building retrofit, mostly in houses, mostly for coops and community energy orgs. Keen on the need to #stopburningstuff.
Architect working on tools and processes for better building retrofit, mostly in houses, mostly for coops and community energy orgs. Keen on the need to #stopburningstuff.
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
My blog from February on the government's lack of a clear strategy for housing
It's not clear what the government hopes to achieve by building 1.5 million homes and that's dangerous.
New blog: still searching for success
builtplace.com/still-search...
New blog: still searching for success
builtplace.com/still-search...
November 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM
My blog from February on the government's lack of a clear strategy for housing
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
#communityenergy Awards 2025 - congrats to our energy advice team - winners of fuel poverty award + our founder Gi, of energy champion award...
But most off all, to all finalists ⬇️⬇️⬇️ read more on their excellent work @commenergyengland.bsky.social site communityenergyengland.org/guidance/cas...
But most off all, to all finalists ⬇️⬇️⬇️ read more on their excellent work @commenergyengland.bsky.social site communityenergyengland.org/guidance/cas...
November 18, 2025 at 9:20 AM
#communityenergy Awards 2025 - congrats to our energy advice team - winners of fuel poverty award + our founder Gi, of energy champion award...
But most off all, to all finalists ⬇️⬇️⬇️ read more on their excellent work @commenergyengland.bsky.social site communityenergyengland.org/guidance/cas...
But most off all, to all finalists ⬇️⬇️⬇️ read more on their excellent work @commenergyengland.bsky.social site communityenergyengland.org/guidance/cas...
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Your periodic reminder that climate change means levels of migration will increase sharply in the coming years and we either find an effective and humane way to manage that or we invite ever more chaos and suffering.
November 17, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Your periodic reminder that climate change means levels of migration will increase sharply in the coming years and we either find an effective and humane way to manage that or we invite ever more chaos and suffering.
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
It isn’t simply the lack of empathy, they've ensured that is costed in. It’s that they know no one who’s fled. No one who can share stories of jewellery stuffed into socks in bags, in soap containers, carefully kept in tiny bags and taken out carefully, each with a story kept close to the heart
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
It isn’t simply the lack of empathy, they've ensured that is costed in. It’s that they know no one who’s fled. No one who can share stories of jewellery stuffed into socks in bags, in soap containers, carefully kept in tiny bags and taken out carefully, each with a story kept close to the heart
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
It really is worth taking the time to hear from people like “Mary,” who fled from Zimbabwe 20 years ago, to understand what life is like when the law denies you the chance to call the country where you’ve made your life home
In 2023 @tom-clark.bsky.social got me to write a chapter for his book on UK poverty about how immigration limbo, which Labour wants more of, makes people destitute. It was the most distressing piece I've ever worked on. We sent a copy to every MP. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/6081...
Destitute by design: trapped in the immigration system
Migration policy is not only failing people forced to arrive in Britain by
boats. In an extract from a new edited volume, Daniel Trilling reports on t...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
It really is worth taking the time to hear from people like “Mary,” who fled from Zimbabwe 20 years ago, to understand what life is like when the law denies you the chance to call the country where you’ve made your life home
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Very disappointed none of you told me that Lewis Mumford made a 1963 film about car dependency, and it's available on YouTube.
"The motor car inflates our private ego, proclaims our social status, and provides us with the illusion of freedom and power."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKZ...
"The motor car inflates our private ego, proclaims our social status, and provides us with the illusion of freedom and power."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKZ...
November 16, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Very disappointed none of you told me that Lewis Mumford made a 1963 film about car dependency, and it's available on YouTube.
"The motor car inflates our private ego, proclaims our social status, and provides us with the illusion of freedom and power."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKZ...
"The motor car inflates our private ego, proclaims our social status, and provides us with the illusion of freedom and power."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKZ...
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Just read (via @ruthmalan.bsky.social elsewhere) and it too feels related
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
TBM 389: Overthinker!
From a young age, being accused of “overcomplicating” or “overthinking” things felt like a dismissal of who I was.
cutlefish.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Just read (via @ruthmalan.bsky.social elsewhere) and it too feels related
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
I get endlessly sick of middle class southerners posing as “the voice of the working man” speaking as if everyone north of the Watford Gap (or doing a job outside the professions) is an unreconstructed racist homophobe.
The irony of the Blue Labour rhetoric is actually how prejudicial it is about the white working class.
why do I emphasize the Manchester-ness of this? because Blue Labour 'thinkers' try to portray themselves as authentic representatives of a neglected Northern working class. But while there's plenty of racism in the North, as anywhere else, there's also a long history of integration and anti-racism.
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I get endlessly sick of middle class southerners posing as “the voice of the working man” speaking as if everyone north of the Watford Gap (or doing a job outside the professions) is an unreconstructed racist homophobe.
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Deep breath, once more for those at the back, seeking asylum is not illegal. No matter route used, which considering Labour has closed pretty much all the last remaining alternatives means irregular ones.
Anti-immigration sentiments are stoked by politicians like Mahmood, not people seeking safety.
Anti-immigration sentiments are stoked by politicians like Mahmood, not people seeking safety.
November 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Deep breath, once more for those at the back, seeking asylum is not illegal. No matter route used, which considering Labour has closed pretty much all the last remaining alternatives means irregular ones.
Anti-immigration sentiments are stoked by politicians like Mahmood, not people seeking safety.
Anti-immigration sentiments are stoked by politicians like Mahmood, not people seeking safety.
Reform councillor on Politics North West comparing those fixing flags to lamp posts to the gilet jaune protests.
I thought it was meant to just be about 'pride'?
I thought it was meant to just be about 'pride'?
November 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reform councillor on Politics North West comparing those fixing flags to lamp posts to the gilet jaune protests.
I thought it was meant to just be about 'pride'?
I thought it was meant to just be about 'pride'?
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
If you want people to feel that their day to day lives are improving then make sure that local government is properly funded. You could call it “the pothole theory of everything”.
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
Survey finds 60% of key cities councils are planning to sell assets to meet costs of adult and children’s social care
English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books, according to a survey of local authorities.
The key cities group of councils, which represents second-tier cities in England, said 60% of councils were planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:14 PM
If you want people to feel that their day to day lives are improving then make sure that local government is properly funded. You could call it “the pothole theory of everything”.
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Should David and Ed Miliband retrospectively be denied citizenship because Ralph should have been sent “back” (to Belgium? to Poland?)
Someone should ask Starmer and Mahmood whether they think the Kindertransport, for example, should have been a return ticket. Whether Alf Dubs, rather than becoming a Labour MP and now Lord, ought to have been sent back with his family to Czechoslovakia once it was liberated from German rule.
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Should David and Ed Miliband retrospectively be denied citizenship because Ralph should have been sent “back” (to Belgium? to Poland?)
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
This statement not acceptable and I suspect not sustainable. Large majority of public support principle of asylum, support letting people stay permanently. Majority for that among Labour and other progressive parties’ voters is overwhelming. The Reform voters this is aimed at will never vote Labour
"The era of permanent protection is over"
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Is this Labour government really saying it was wrong in principle to let these refugees of the last 75 years to stay, settle and become British - and they believe that should NEVER happen again in principle or practice?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuR...
Refugees from 7 decades gather to commemorate 70 years of refugee in protection in the UK
YouTube video by Refugee Council
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This statement not acceptable and I suspect not sustainable. Large majority of public support principle of asylum, support letting people stay permanently. Majority for that among Labour and other progressive parties’ voters is overwhelming. The Reform voters this is aimed at will never vote Labour
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
We're stuck with it, but determining someone's legal rights based on a nebulous combination of birthplace and parentage is actually pretty fucking weird, and it'd be better if we talked about it as an unfortunate practical necessity not a natural phenomenon
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 15, 2025 at 12:30 PM
We're stuck with it, but determining someone's legal rights based on a nebulous combination of birthplace and parentage is actually pretty fucking weird, and it'd be better if we talked about it as an unfortunate practical necessity not a natural phenomenon
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Remembering talking to a Chilean refugee who had finally been able to visit Chile after decades in UK. "It was nice, but it is a different country now." She had put down roots in the UK and raised a family. Her life was, and is, here. This is the human reality that Mahmood and Labour want to destroy
November 15, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Remembering talking to a Chilean refugee who had finally been able to visit Chile after decades in UK. "It was nice, but it is a different country now." She had put down roots in the UK and raised a family. Her life was, and is, here. This is the human reality that Mahmood and Labour want to destroy
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Born on this day, 1897, Nye Bevan, Minister of Health and Housing when Labour built 805,000 council homes between 1945-51. He believed high-quality council housing should reflect 'the living tapestry of a mixed community'.
November 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Born on this day, 1897, Nye Bevan, Minister of Health and Housing when Labour built 805,000 council homes between 1945-51. He believed high-quality council housing should reflect 'the living tapestry of a mixed community'.
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
While this budget psychodrama is playing out, my LinkedIn feed is full of heat pump engineers worrying their business is doomed because of an HMT briefing yesterday, and there’s a prominent story about the imminent collapse of the SEND system.
Bad fiscal policy has real world consequences
Bad fiscal policy has real world consequences
November 14, 2025 at 8:38 AM
While this budget psychodrama is playing out, my LinkedIn feed is full of heat pump engineers worrying their business is doomed because of an HMT briefing yesterday, and there’s a prominent story about the imminent collapse of the SEND system.
Bad fiscal policy has real world consequences
Bad fiscal policy has real world consequences
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
New thing! The @carefultrouble.bsky.social Careful Consequence Check is now live and free to use. Based on research with the Bristol Digital Futures Institute, this practical tool will help you answer the question "is my AI product creepy and weird" www.careful.industries/consequences
November 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM
New thing! The @carefultrouble.bsky.social Careful Consequence Check is now live and free to use. Based on research with the Bristol Digital Futures Institute, this practical tool will help you answer the question "is my AI product creepy and weird" www.careful.industries/consequences
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
Keynes talked of the ‘advanced guard’ - the fact that there will be people in the economy who demonstrate a way forward out of current traps, and the fact is they exist now - from alternative corporate forms to innovative local authorities to SME catalysts. Be interested in what’s outside!
November 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Keynes talked of the ‘advanced guard’ - the fact that there will be people in the economy who demonstrate a way forward out of current traps, and the fact is they exist now - from alternative corporate forms to innovative local authorities to SME catalysts. Be interested in what’s outside!
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
"...what prevents families from electrifying? The answer is rarely 'too few incentives to consume smartly'. More often...costs, opacity & uncertainty. [Requiring] consumers to adapt to the network is not consumer-oriented, but by definition network-oriented, no matter how beautifully we package it."
Thoughtful piece (in Flemish) from @rbae.bsky.social on the impact of electricity market complexity on citizens and the energy transition.
I doubt most people even understand their bills - so motivating their actions via bills is an uphill battle.
www.tijd.be/opinie/algem...
I doubt most people even understand their bills - so motivating their actions via bills is an uphill battle.
www.tijd.be/opinie/algem...
Moet de burger het energiesysteem dienen, of het systeem de burger?
Als we de energietransitie willen versnellen, moeten we de complexiteit bij het systeem durven te houden in plaats van ze bij de burger te leggen.
www.tijd.be
November 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"...what prevents families from electrifying? The answer is rarely 'too few incentives to consume smartly'. More often...costs, opacity & uncertainty. [Requiring] consumers to adapt to the network is not consumer-oriented, but by definition network-oriented, no matter how beautifully we package it."
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
👀 Irish data centres are now using 22% of all electricity generated in Ireland, more than all urban homes combined & drawing an unquantified amount (lots) of Ireland’s water capacity
Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?
Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?
A new state-by-state evaluation of the projected energy and water use of "AI" data centers in the US. Looks… real bad. Like, "undoing tech sector climate gains" bad.
Strongly recommends immediately ensuring any & all new "AI" data centers to run on existing & expanded renewables grids. Which… yeah.
Strongly recommends immediately ensuring any & all new "AI" data centers to run on existing & expanded renewables grids. Which… yeah.
Environmental impact and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA - Nature Sustainability
The rapid expansion of AI server installations in the United States poses sustainability challenges in terms of water usage and carbon emissions. A study now quantifies these potential impacts and out...
www.nature.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:12 AM
👀 Irish data centres are now using 22% of all electricity generated in Ireland, more than all urban homes combined & drawing an unquantified amount (lots) of Ireland’s water capacity
Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?
Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
It’s also at some level green industrial strategy because investing in the industries we need more of by channeling public and private money towards them creates and sustains jobs, builds workforces, and drives experience curves which in turn tends to drive down the costs of clean technology
November 13, 2025 at 11:06 PM
It’s also at some level green industrial strategy because investing in the industries we need more of by channeling public and private money towards them creates and sustains jobs, builds workforces, and drives experience curves which in turn tends to drive down the costs of clean technology
Reposted by Marianne Heaslip
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own