Judi Sutherland
@judisutherland.bsky.social
Dual British/Irish citizen in Ireland. #FBPE Rejoiner. Cat lady. Lymphoma survivor. PhD Biochemist. Watercolour artist. Former pharma manager. Querying not one but two novels! www.judisutherland.com for more stuff. Occasionally writes for NE Bylines.
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about the extraordinary influence of former Tory spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC. It's still a helpful backgrounder for what's going on now. New readers start here: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
How the government captured the BBC
A right-wing cabal, largely unaccountable, is waging war on the principles that made our public broadcaster great. It must not succeed
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about the extraordinary influence of former Tory spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC. It's still a helpful backgrounder for what's going on now. New readers start here: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
April 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Brexit reduced the UK’s GDP by between 6% and 8%. That is MASSIVE. #ProjectFear #wetoldyouso
www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Brexit reduced the UK’s GDP by between 6% and 8%. That is MASSIVE. #ProjectFear #wetoldyouso
www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
If you see this, post your bird art.
November 11, 2025 at 12:04 AM
If you see this, post your bird art.
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Fascinating that Nick Robinson names Robbie Gibb as the instigator of the coup at the BBC
He was promoted to ensure that Brexit went ahead
He is the sort of shadowy character who is essential to the unpicking of democracy
This should be the end of his time on the BBC board
He was promoted to ensure that Brexit went ahead
He is the sort of shadowy character who is essential to the unpicking of democracy
This should be the end of his time on the BBC board
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Fascinating that Nick Robinson names Robbie Gibb as the instigator of the coup at the BBC
He was promoted to ensure that Brexit went ahead
He is the sort of shadowy character who is essential to the unpicking of democracy
This should be the end of his time on the BBC board
He was promoted to ensure that Brexit went ahead
He is the sort of shadowy character who is essential to the unpicking of democracy
This should be the end of his time on the BBC board
Hi @johnsimpsonnews.bsky.social. Can you tell us if James is hallucinating here, or did this really happen?
Dominic Cummings, in an earlier incarnation, ran a secretly-funded 'think tank' dedicated to attacking the Beeb while Robbie Gibb glided effortlessly from GBNews to the BBC & started lecturing staff on impartiality. Imagine (cos you'll have to) how the 'left-wing' equivalent would be reported.
November 10, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Hi @johnsimpsonnews.bsky.social. Can you tell us if James is hallucinating here, or did this really happen?
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Note that still in post at the BBC is Robbie Gibb, who helped set up GB News, and John McAndrew, formerly director of news and programmes at GB News.
November 10, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Note that still in post at the BBC is Robbie Gibb, who helped set up GB News, and John McAndrew, formerly director of news and programmes at GB News.
Tomorrow would be the perfect day for the government to make some key changes to the governance of the BBC.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Governance of the BBC
The governance of the BBC has been a subject of political debate for the past two decades, which have brought two major upheavals in the corporation's governance structure. Yet, governance reform was...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Tomorrow would be the perfect day for the government to make some key changes to the governance of the BBC.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
I'm obliged for the nod.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I'm obliged for the nod.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
The "Penrose Effect" seems to be a real thing - hypothesised in the 1930s and re-tested in the last decade or so:
Where you reduce your inpatient psychiatric provision, you'll see a correlated rise within 10yrs in prisons of seriously mentally ill prisoners.
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Stop waiting for Labour to over-turn Brexit. They will not do it.
Force them to change.
Vote for pro-EU candidates only. Local elections 7th May 2026.
Be heard.
Force them to change.
Vote for pro-EU candidates only. Local elections 7th May 2026.
Be heard.
November 8, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Stop waiting for Labour to over-turn Brexit. They will not do it.
Force them to change.
Vote for pro-EU candidates only. Local elections 7th May 2026.
Be heard.
Force them to change.
Vote for pro-EU candidates only. Local elections 7th May 2026.
Be heard.
Only twice in my life have I thrown a book of poetry into the recycling bin rather than given it away to another reader. Today is one of those days. Utter doggerel.
November 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Only twice in my life have I thrown a book of poetry into the recycling bin rather than given it away to another reader. Today is one of those days. Utter doggerel.
Right now our little corner of the coast is being repeatedly buzzed by a helicopter in olive drab livery. So probably not the coastguard or the Gardaí, maybe the Defence Forces? Is there an invasion? If so, who? #Malahideaway
November 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Right now our little corner of the coast is being repeatedly buzzed by a helicopter in olive drab livery. So probably not the coastguard or the Gardaí, maybe the Defence Forces? Is there an invasion? If so, who? #Malahideaway
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Time for the @libdems.org.uk to start painting a picture of the society they want to create. Many people are well disposed to Ed and the party but they don’t have a clear idea of what they stand for. A positive vision is needed with concrete proposals. They have great policies, tell people!
November 5, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Time for the @libdems.org.uk to start painting a picture of the society they want to create. Many people are well disposed to Ed and the party but they don’t have a clear idea of what they stand for. A positive vision is needed with concrete proposals. They have great policies, tell people!
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Supreme Court flaws.
I have been, and remain, very critical of the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers. I have at least 15 fundamental criticisms of the judgment.
I have been, and remain, very critical of the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers. I have at least 15 fundamental criticisms of the judgment.
November 4, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Supreme Court flaws.
I have been, and remain, very critical of the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers. I have at least 15 fundamental criticisms of the judgment.
I have been, and remain, very critical of the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers. I have at least 15 fundamental criticisms of the judgment.
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
What does it mean to call Ireland 'home'?
This is what I'm trying to find out - still looking for suitable participants!
Please get in touch if you or someone you know might be interested in sharing their story.
#identity #ireland #spéirghorm
This is what I'm trying to find out - still looking for suitable participants!
Please get in touch if you or someone you know might be interested in sharing their story.
#identity #ireland #spéirghorm
September 8, 2025 at 2:49 PM
What does it mean to call Ireland 'home'?
This is what I'm trying to find out - still looking for suitable participants!
Please get in touch if you or someone you know might be interested in sharing their story.
#identity #ireland #spéirghorm
This is what I'm trying to find out - still looking for suitable participants!
Please get in touch if you or someone you know might be interested in sharing their story.
#identity #ireland #spéirghorm
It seems like one of the suspects is not a suspect and has only committed the crime of Using Public Transport While Black.
November 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
It seems like one of the suspects is not a suspect and has only committed the crime of Using Public Transport While Black.
Congratulations Ireland. You’ve imported this crap from the UK.
Justice Minister confirms arson attack on IPAS building in Drogheda last night.
"Fireworks were thrown into the building, causing a fire and putting lives at risk. This was a terrifying ordeal for the women and children living there, a number of whom were taken to hospital."
(1/2)
"Fireworks were thrown into the building, causing a fire and putting lives at risk. This was a terrifying ordeal for the women and children living there, a number of whom were taken to hospital."
(1/2)
November 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Congratulations Ireland. You’ve imported this crap from the UK.
I had three watery poems published in the new Yaffle Press anthology ‘What We Inherit From Water’. Here is one of them for you.
November 1, 2025 at 10:51 AM
I had three watery poems published in the new Yaffle Press anthology ‘What We Inherit From Water’. Here is one of them for you.
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
I've just done so... it is incredibly easy - just put in your membership number and away you go! Thank you @ottoenglish.bsky.social for doing this!
If you're a member of the National Trust remember to vote for council members by midnight tonight.
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Use the Quick Vote option.
Entryist pressure group Reform Trust is trying to seize control. Stop them
Voting is quick and easy if your membership card is at hand
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Log In
Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.
secure.cesvotes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I've just done so... it is incredibly easy - just put in your membership number and away you go! Thank you @ottoenglish.bsky.social for doing this!
Done it! We’ve been NT members since 1998 and it’s one of the things I love about the UK.
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Done it! We’ve been NT members since 1998 and it’s one of the things I love about the UK.
I don’t understand this. I’ve been repeatedly told that the UK government doesn’t keep records of who is leaving the country. Can anyone explain?
Abolish the Home Office
And by extension, HMRC too
And by extension, HMRC too
This is appalling. The lady who no-showed for her flight but is still down as an “emigrant” (despite continuing to pay tax in the U.K.) is particularly bad, but I also noticed the woman who flew out but Eurostar-ed home. I’ve done that.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
October 30, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I don’t understand this. I’ve been repeatedly told that the UK government doesn’t keep records of who is leaving the country. Can anyone explain?
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Hoarding homes in a housing emergency is akin to hoarding food in a famine
Irony is this is what Dunnes Stores "Better value" are doing
Sitting on 20 apartments in Macroom, Co. Cork for 20 years
Welcome to #DerelictIreland where protecting property rights is deemed more important than human life
Irony is this is what Dunnes Stores "Better value" are doing
Sitting on 20 apartments in Macroom, Co. Cork for 20 years
Welcome to #DerelictIreland where protecting property rights is deemed more important than human life
October 28, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Hoarding homes in a housing emergency is akin to hoarding food in a famine
Irony is this is what Dunnes Stores "Better value" are doing
Sitting on 20 apartments in Macroom, Co. Cork for 20 years
Welcome to #DerelictIreland where protecting property rights is deemed more important than human life
Irony is this is what Dunnes Stores "Better value" are doing
Sitting on 20 apartments in Macroom, Co. Cork for 20 years
Welcome to #DerelictIreland where protecting property rights is deemed more important than human life
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
Reposted by Judi Sutherland
I don't say this lightly but the U.K. needs to prosecute Farage as a foreign actor and start an inquiry into BBC bias towards the far-right.
Russia is amassing nuclear weapons and attack submarines in the Arctic Circle as it prepares for war with Nato,Norway’s defence minister has warned,the Telegraph reports.
▪️"Russia is building up on the Kola peninsula ...where one of the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads in the world is located.⤵️
▪️"Russia is building up on the Kola peninsula ...where one of the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads in the world is located.⤵️
October 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I don't say this lightly but the U.K. needs to prosecute Farage as a foreign actor and start an inquiry into BBC bias towards the far-right.