Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
@ianford.bsky.social
Recent emigrant from the Other Place.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
The indictment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is a textbook example of how hybrid regimes operate: elections continue, but the field is tilted beyond recognition.
It’s a sobering signal for Turkey — and for other democracies, including the US - that is under threat.
apnews.com/article/turk...
It’s a sobering signal for Turkey — and for other democracies, including the US - that is under threat.
apnews.com/article/turk...
Istanbul's jailed mayor Imamoglu faces 142 criminal charges in corruption probe
Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor has filed an indictment against the city's jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.
apnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The indictment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is a textbook example of how hybrid regimes operate: elections continue, but the field is tilted beyond recognition.
It’s a sobering signal for Turkey — and for other democracies, including the US - that is under threat.
apnews.com/article/turk...
It’s a sobering signal for Turkey — and for other democracies, including the US - that is under threat.
apnews.com/article/turk...
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
I like the Carry On films but the lore is too confusing, impossible for modern audiences to accept these people could play a major part in the French Revolution AND lose their bras on camping holidays
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I like the Carry On films but the lore is too confusing, impossible for modern audiences to accept these people could play a major part in the French Revolution AND lose their bras on camping holidays
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
The finale of the great TV comedy show Blackadder goes Forth.
Back then I didn't expect one of the funniest programmes ever to end with a scene that makes me cry every time I see it.
Every single time.
Back then I didn't expect one of the funniest programmes ever to end with a scene that makes me cry every time I see it.
Every single time.
November 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
The finale of the great TV comedy show Blackadder goes Forth.
Back then I didn't expect one of the funniest programmes ever to end with a scene that makes me cry every time I see it.
Every single time.
Back then I didn't expect one of the funniest programmes ever to end with a scene that makes me cry every time I see it.
Every single time.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
Once again, the BBC enables the now-ridiculous 'newspaper industry' to inject a damaging virus into the national conversation. ITV (GMB) is far worse.
All 'newspaper reviews' on mainstream TV & Radio should be stopped immediately.
If you want to know what the papers say, go and look it up FFS.
All 'newspaper reviews' on mainstream TV & Radio should be stopped immediately.
If you want to know what the papers say, go and look it up FFS.
Emma Barnett mindlessly read this headline out on #r4today this morning (of course); the actual truth is public still think the dangers of climate change have NOT been exaggerated
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
one of the weirdest things that people believe on a website where the collective mood changes every thirty-six hours is that events completely unknown to 60% of the population, where 90% have the facts wrong, will have persistent effects eighteen months later
November 11, 2025 at 5:55 AM
one of the weirdest things that people believe on a website where the collective mood changes every thirty-six hours is that events completely unknown to 60% of the population, where 90% have the facts wrong, will have persistent effects eighteen months later
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
Thoughtful piece. On a broader level, in my view the online right vs. BBC saga is another symptom of the fact (for a lack of better word) that we are losing a shared sense of reality in Western societies.
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Thoughtful piece. On a broader level, in my view the online right vs. BBC saga is another symptom of the fact (for a lack of better word) that we are losing a shared sense of reality in Western societies.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
John Le Carre was right about the British establishment and how the alumni of the best schools will sell out their own country for status and money and in particular a desperate desire for American attention
November 11, 2025 at 10:52 AM
John Le Carre was right about the British establishment and how the alumni of the best schools will sell out their own country for status and money and in particular a desperate desire for American attention
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
In cutting a deal over reopening government for meagre results the Democrat leadership is terminally discrediting the notion that compromise with Republicans is acceptable among a critical mass of anti-Trump voters.
Dems heading for the same trajectory the GOP went through in the 2010s
Dems heading for the same trajectory the GOP went through in the 2010s
November 11, 2025 at 8:33 AM
In cutting a deal over reopening government for meagre results the Democrat leadership is terminally discrediting the notion that compromise with Republicans is acceptable among a critical mass of anti-Trump voters.
Dems heading for the same trajectory the GOP went through in the 2010s
Dems heading for the same trajectory the GOP went through in the 2010s
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
A bit of something wholesome in this day of rage...
A woman asks a Japanese TV show called Knight Scoop to find out why her dog Sacchan has gotten so fat, so the show decides to follow Sacchan around as he goes about his daily routine in a Japanese town.
I'd watch the hell out of this show.
A woman asks a Japanese TV show called Knight Scoop to find out why her dog Sacchan has gotten so fat, so the show decides to follow Sacchan around as he goes about his daily routine in a Japanese town.
I'd watch the hell out of this show.
A day in the life of Sacchan, a Japanese dog
YouTube video by Spaghetti
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:04 PM
A bit of something wholesome in this day of rage...
A woman asks a Japanese TV show called Knight Scoop to find out why her dog Sacchan has gotten so fat, so the show decides to follow Sacchan around as he goes about his daily routine in a Japanese town.
I'd watch the hell out of this show.
A woman asks a Japanese TV show called Knight Scoop to find out why her dog Sacchan has gotten so fat, so the show decides to follow Sacchan around as he goes about his daily routine in a Japanese town.
I'd watch the hell out of this show.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
Anybody who had a vision to bring American levels of political, cultural and social polarisation to Britain - whether their motive was clicks or cash, ideology, boredom or anything else - would make it their top strategic priority to abolish the BBC, or to damage and diminish it at the very least
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Anybody who had a vision to bring American levels of political, cultural and social polarisation to Britain - whether their motive was clicks or cash, ideology, boredom or anything else - would make it their top strategic priority to abolish the BBC, or to damage and diminish it at the very least
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
We are importing US style culture and politics into our own democracy. It's blinding us to the rest of the world- esp our neighbours.
It's ironic that the BBC is one pillar of this fusion (see its coverage on US elections and shutdown in the past week). Now it's being dismantled by it.
It's ironic that the BBC is one pillar of this fusion (see its coverage on US elections and shutdown in the past week). Now it's being dismantled by it.
November 10, 2025 at 8:13 PM
We are importing US style culture and politics into our own democracy. It's blinding us to the rest of the world- esp our neighbours.
It's ironic that the BBC is one pillar of this fusion (see its coverage on US elections and shutdown in the past week). Now it's being dismantled by it.
It's ironic that the BBC is one pillar of this fusion (see its coverage on US elections and shutdown in the past week). Now it's being dismantled by it.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
We have to take back control of our media and democracy from its fusion with the US infosphere.
This isn't just on the right but the left too. We are a separate democracy and need our own civic commons.
Today's events with Trump and the BBC show it's not just irritating; it's dangerous.
This isn't just on the right but the left too. We are a separate democracy and need our own civic commons.
Today's events with Trump and the BBC show it's not just irritating; it's dangerous.
November 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
We have to take back control of our media and democracy from its fusion with the US infosphere.
This isn't just on the right but the left too. We are a separate democracy and need our own civic commons.
Today's events with Trump and the BBC show it's not just irritating; it's dangerous.
This isn't just on the right but the left too. We are a separate democracy and need our own civic commons.
Today's events with Trump and the BBC show it's not just irritating; it's dangerous.
This is an excellent book. Highly recommended. 👇
My book #Strongmen turns 5 today! The paperback edition, with a new epilogue on January 6, is now 4. The book built a large readership gradually and became a New York Times bestseller in Nov. 2024. Thank you to all who read it and share its warnings about what such leaders do to societies.
November 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This is an excellent book. Highly recommended. 👇
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
I feel like my issue with the Government more than anything is they are not acting like they are in Government. You are in control here, if Robbie Gibb wants to be an agent of the Tories at the BBC you can just fire him!
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
November 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I feel like my issue with the Government more than anything is they are not acting like they are in Government. You are in control here, if Robbie Gibb wants to be an agent of the Tories at the BBC you can just fire him!
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
agreed, and I think it also applies to a wider range of societal elites both in and out of government
seems to me that those democrats inclined not to fight perceive themselves as living through a somewhat ordinary cycle of presidential overreach and backlash and not something much more significant and dangerous
November 10, 2025 at 6:35 PM
agreed, and I think it also applies to a wider range of societal elites both in and out of government
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey again: “Trump and his cronies have the BBC in their sights. Leaders can’t stay silent while one of our great institutions is attacked.
“We must defend its independence, end political appointments, and remove Robbie Gibb from the Board.”
“We must defend its independence, end political appointments, and remove Robbie Gibb from the Board.”
November 10, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey again: “Trump and his cronies have the BBC in their sights. Leaders can’t stay silent while one of our great institutions is attacked.
“We must defend its independence, end political appointments, and remove Robbie Gibb from the Board.”
“We must defend its independence, end political appointments, and remove Robbie Gibb from the Board.”
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
The Anglo consensus of the first half of 2010s was that where continental Europeans were endemically subject to crises and demagoguery, "we" were distinctly were more enlightened. Cameron's Britain. Obama's America. Ponderous essays about Magna Carta and the "golden thread".
How wrong it all was.
How wrong it all was.
I fear we are seeing in the UK what has become abundantly clear in the US: for all their power and privilege, elites and institutions are absolute cowards in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Weak, weak, weak, as Tony Blair once said
November 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
The Anglo consensus of the first half of 2010s was that where continental Europeans were endemically subject to crises and demagoguery, "we" were distinctly were more enlightened. Cameron's Britain. Obama's America. Ponderous essays about Magna Carta and the "golden thread".
How wrong it all was.
How wrong it all was.
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
literally every failing automaker tries this, and it never works
Tesla's latest gambit: become a rental car company. As cars pile up in showrooms and storage lots, Elon is trying to rent his way out of a crisis. Good luck, bud. #teslatakedown #MuskMustFall electrek.co/2025/11/10/t...
Tesla can’t sell its cars anymore so it is renting them now
Tesla is launching a new car rental program out of its stores in the US, as sales are crashing due...
electrek.co
November 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
literally every failing automaker tries this, and it never works
🎯🎯👇👇👇👇
Waiting for an economic disaster to bring comeuppance is magical thinking of the worst kind, bc the absence of a "disaster" will be seen as evidence that the critics were wrong.
November 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
🎯🎯👇👇👇👇
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
I mean, if you had asked those of us from Latin America, we could have told you that populist disasters most certainly do not imply that the populists get punished by voters...
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I mean, if you had asked those of us from Latin America, we could have told you that populist disasters most certainly do not imply that the populists get punished by voters...
Reposted by Ian Ford 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
"The edit was a mistake, it was clearly misjudged, but the idea it's an example of institutional bias against Trump is absurd."
@maitlis.bsky.social, @jonsopel1.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com unpack the seismic reaction to the BBC’s edit error - including Trump putting a target on their backs.
@maitlis.bsky.social, @jonsopel1.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com unpack the seismic reaction to the BBC’s edit error - including Trump putting a target on their backs.
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
"The edit was a mistake, it was clearly misjudged, but the idea it's an example of institutional bias against Trump is absurd."
@maitlis.bsky.social, @jonsopel1.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com unpack the seismic reaction to the BBC’s edit error - including Trump putting a target on their backs.
@maitlis.bsky.social, @jonsopel1.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com unpack the seismic reaction to the BBC’s edit error - including Trump putting a target on their backs.