Ian McKee
@ianmck.ee
Climate and electrifying stuff. Head of Communications at ChargeUK, the voice of the EV charging industry. Muso. Cyclist. Runner. Somerset dweller. He/him. 🏴/🇲🇽
Interesting that this article does not mention that Emily has previously stood as a Labour MP. I only realised as I recognised her name from the ballot when I lived in Trowbridge. www.thetimes.com/money/family...
‘Our zero-bill home cost us thousands — but it paid off’
Wiltshire couple expect to clear their loan for solar panels within three years thanks to the surplus energy they sell back to the grid
www.thetimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Interesting that this article does not mention that Emily has previously stood as a Labour MP. I only realised as I recognised her name from the ballot when I lived in Trowbridge. www.thetimes.com/money/family...
Technically when we’re deported I’ll be sent back to Mexico so not quite the same boat.
December 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Technically when we’re deported I’ll be sent back to Mexico so not quite the same boat.
By this logic, despite having two British parents and living in Britain for 99.95% of my life, I am not British. Such small minds.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Number of people who say Britons must be born in UK is rising, study shows
Exclusive: Research finds ‘worrying’ surge in support for hard-right narratives on national identity
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:04 AM
By this logic, despite having two British parents and living in Britain for 99.95% of my life, I am not British. Such small minds.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The UK's top ten selling cars of 2025 is conclusive proof that the UK public has terrible taste in cars and we should be telling them what to buy not selling them what they think they want.
December 9, 2025 at 9:57 AM
The UK's top ten selling cars of 2025 is conclusive proof that the UK public has terrible taste in cars and we should be telling them what to buy not selling them what they think they want.
I know we’re all worried about the energy used by Google and other digital services but I’m not sure asking the Transport Minister your question in parliament instead is a better use of resource.
December 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
I know we’re all worried about the energy used by Google and other digital services but I’m not sure asking the Transport Minister your question in parliament instead is a better use of resource.
This was inevitable the moment we heard rumours about road pricing for EVs. With the lobbying in Europe I’m surprised it took this long honestly. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
December 8, 2025 at 8:50 AM
This was inevitable the moment we heard rumours about road pricing for EVs. With the lobbying in Europe I’m surprised it took this long honestly. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
Even Americans realise the absurdity. youtube.com/shorts/OBXd9...
Driving in the UK the UK #standupcomedy #standupcomedian #crowdwork #british
YouTube video by Bobby Mair
youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Even Americans realise the absurdity. youtube.com/shorts/OBXd9...
This is an awful story. Absolutely a cultural change needs to happen. I regularly run, walk and cycle on country lanes, I’d say the majority of drivers don’t even slow down. Just expect you to get out of their way.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A driver killed my parents - attitudes to speeding need to change
Claire Corkery wants cultural change on road safety after her parents were killed by a speeding driver.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 7:12 AM
This is an awful story. Absolutely a cultural change needs to happen. I regularly run, walk and cycle on country lanes, I’d say the majority of drivers don’t even slow down. Just expect you to get out of their way.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is the biggest story about a high profile politician obfuscating what they were up to in their teenage years in months. Can't think of another which would be more inflammatory, can you?
December 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is the biggest story about a high profile politician obfuscating what they were up to in their teenage years in months. Can't think of another which would be more inflammatory, can you?
HUGE NEWS: Some chess nerds disagree on what was the definitive British under 14s girls chess championship in 1993.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Rachel Reeves accused of overstating junior chess title
A former junior champion said Reeves did not hold the official British girls’ under-14 title, and critics ask broader questions about her CV and career claims
www.thetimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:09 AM
HUGE NEWS: Some chess nerds disagree on what was the definitive British under 14s girls chess championship in 1993.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Very weird to see so many takes on this along the lines of if it's just a little mistake, things happen. Someone down the chain did an oopsy.
Why did that someone even have the ability to make that mistake?!
It's not the Office for Budget Carelessness people.
Why did that someone even have the ability to make that mistake?!
It's not the Office for Budget Carelessness people.
December 1, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Very weird to see so many takes on this along the lines of if it's just a little mistake, things happen. Someone down the chain did an oopsy.
Why did that someone even have the ability to make that mistake?!
It's not the Office for Budget Carelessness people.
Why did that someone even have the ability to make that mistake?!
It's not the Office for Budget Carelessness people.
I have been involved in publishing market sensitive announcements for many years so that may be the reason for the different perspective. It would be unforgivable for a listed company to make a mistake like this. Just the fact they use Wordpress is enough to tell me something is systemically wrong.
December 1, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I have been involved in publishing market sensitive announcements for many years so that may be the reason for the different perspective. It would be unforgivable for a listed company to make a mistake like this. Just the fact they use Wordpress is enough to tell me something is systemically wrong.
Not setting up the safeguards and governance to ensure it isn't possible to make the mistake? Such as not using Wordpress, a free blogging platform which is not designed for this purpose, to run the website? It's the OBR, this isn't a typo in a local business' Facebook post.
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Not setting up the safeguards and governance to ensure it isn't possible to make the mistake? Such as not using Wordpress, a free blogging platform which is not designed for this purpose, to run the website? It's the OBR, this isn't a typo in a local business' Facebook post.
How did he have nothing personally to do with it? He was the Chair and thus has ultimate responsibility. Just because he didn't personally click the button marked 'publish' in Wordpress doesn't mean he's not responsible for the series of failures that made that mistake possible.
December 1, 2025 at 4:51 PM
How did he have nothing personally to do with it? He was the Chair and thus has ultimate responsibility. Just because he didn't personally click the button marked 'publish' in Wordpress doesn't mean he's not responsible for the series of failures that made that mistake possible.
I should add I have also had to schedule market sensitive announcements, for one small cap company. I would simply not have even countenanced using Wordpress for that. We had specialist software, obviously.
But the OBR was doing exactly that?
But the OBR was doing exactly that?
December 1, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I should add I have also had to schedule market sensitive announcements, for one small cap company. I would simply not have even countenanced using Wordpress for that. We had specialist software, obviously.
But the OBR was doing exactly that?
But the OBR was doing exactly that?
There’s something so insane about the OBR’s website being run on Wordpress.
The number of times I’ve double and triple checked the scheduling of a relatively inane blog post because I don’t trust the time zone setting.
And that is literally what tripped up the UK’s fiscal regulator last week?!
The number of times I’ve double and triple checked the scheduling of a relatively inane blog post because I don’t trust the time zone setting.
And that is literally what tripped up the UK’s fiscal regulator last week?!
December 1, 2025 at 4:40 PM
There’s something so insane about the OBR’s website being run on Wordpress.
The number of times I’ve double and triple checked the scheduling of a relatively inane blog post because I don’t trust the time zone setting.
And that is literally what tripped up the UK’s fiscal regulator last week?!
The number of times I’ve double and triple checked the scheduling of a relatively inane blog post because I don’t trust the time zone setting.
And that is literally what tripped up the UK’s fiscal regulator last week?!
I will précis this by saying we are ON IT with EV hub signage and the problem is getting sorted. But that doesn’t stop this being a superb bit of PR from @gridserve.bsky.social. Bravo guys.
www.thesun.co.uk/motors/37395...
www.thesun.co.uk/motors/37395...
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is making major change to Britain’s EV ‘charging rooms’
LAURENCE Llewelyn-Bowen is set to plug into a new mission – to make Britain’s EV ‘charging rooms’ impossible to miss. The flamboyant designer, famed for transforming drab homes into dazzling spaces…
www.thesun.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I will précis this by saying we are ON IT with EV hub signage and the problem is getting sorted. But that doesn’t stop this being a superb bit of PR from @gridserve.bsky.social. Bravo guys.
www.thesun.co.uk/motors/37395...
www.thesun.co.uk/motors/37395...
As a Frome resident I feel especially vindicated by this victory over the NIMBYs.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Frome battery site refusal overturned by government
The plans were refused in February but have now been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 10:34 AM
As a Frome resident I feel especially vindicated by this victory over the NIMBYs.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
That's it I've had it with this Leopards Eating Faces Party!
November 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
That's it I've had it with this Leopards Eating Faces Party!
Reform are so good at finding waste. Here they’ve wasted millions of gov money, the time of the companies applying for the contracts, the procurement and planning teams running the process and the money of Staffordshire residents stuck driving petrol cars.
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-o...
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-o...
Reform UK council quits consortium and grabs back £4.6m electric vehicle cashpot
Staffordshire County Council has made the switch
www.stokesentinel.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reform are so good at finding waste. Here they’ve wasted millions of gov money, the time of the companies applying for the contracts, the procurement and planning teams running the process and the money of Staffordshire residents stuck driving petrol cars.
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-o...
www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-o...
Reposted by Ian McKee
UK charging industry could face £100m bill under business rate changes
UK charging industry could face £100m bill under business rate changes
Industry bodies say proposals to make public charger operators pay the rates could harm the growing electric vehicles market
The UK charging industry has said it could face a £100m bill as the government considers making public charger operators pay business rates for the first time, at a time when slower-than-expected electric car sales have put pressure on the sector.
ChargeUK, an industry body, said that its estimates suggest that operators will have to pay business rates on as many as 64,000 parking bays beside chargers which have not, up to now, been liable for the taxes. The lobby group said the change could add as much as £300 to the annual charging bill for some people if the cost is passed on to the customer. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
UK charging industry could face £100m bill under business rate changes
If any picture eds want a briefing on the different kinds of EV chargers and access to a relevant photo library btw, give me a shout!
October 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
If any picture eds want a briefing on the different kinds of EV chargers and access to a relevant photo library btw, give me a shout!
Not the biggest EV misinformation problem we face, but media's image choices can't be helping consumer confusion.
Story about cross pavement home charging... accompanied by a pic of an ultra rapid motorway charging hub.
"Is my street going to start looking like a motorway service station now?"
Story about cross pavement home charging... accompanied by a pic of an ultra rapid motorway charging hub.
"Is my street going to start looking like a motorway service station now?"
October 29, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Not the biggest EV misinformation problem we face, but media's image choices can't be helping consumer confusion.
Story about cross pavement home charging... accompanied by a pic of an ultra rapid motorway charging hub.
"Is my street going to start looking like a motorway service station now?"
Story about cross pavement home charging... accompanied by a pic of an ultra rapid motorway charging hub.
"Is my street going to start looking like a motorway service station now?"
Yes true. I’ve left my pump for weeks at a time and found it’s held its charge. That could equally lull me into a false sense of security though!
October 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Yes true. I’ve left my pump for weeks at a time and found it’s held its charge. That could equally lull me into a false sense of security though!
Yes! But also one more thing I need to remember to make sure is charged before I head out on my bike. Now - bike computer, Di2 gears, front light, back light/radar, phone aaaand electric pump. Plus power meter and heart rate monitor, though those rarely need it I'm sure they'll catch me out one day.
October 24, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Yes! But also one more thing I need to remember to make sure is charged before I head out on my bike. Now - bike computer, Di2 gears, front light, back light/radar, phone aaaand electric pump. Plus power meter and heart rate monitor, though those rarely need it I'm sure they'll catch me out one day.