Ronnie MB (Ronnie MacLennan Baird)
rmbflk.bsky.social
Ronnie MB (Ronnie MacLennan Baird)
@rmbflk.bsky.social
Clyde built/Falklands anchored: freelance journalist/broadcaster, lawyer, legislative drafter, public policy consultant and tour guide - we multitask here!
Pinned
According to an AI analysis of my posts on Another Site, I am "like a Swiss Army knife that's been left out in the Falklands' harsh weather - rusty, a bit dull, but still trying to be useful"
Not entirely unfair, but it's not just the Falklands weather that's harsh!

I will try to be useful here too
Something that I had missed when skimming this while on holiday (and pointed out to me) is that the Media Trust in the Falklands is now included in one of the MLAs’ portfolios
The whole point of the Media Trust is to ensure independence from government!
Minerals are split back off the Natural Resources portfolio, though the departments remain merged for now
Public Works are being rebranded as Public Infrastructure - let’s see if that goes any better than the previous failed rebranding to Public Services!
January 24, 2026 at 1:25 PM
The Welsh devolution settlement is in the news, which allows me to lay claim once again to one of the smaller professional achievements in my career: drafting legislation that gave England a tiny bit of home rule from Wales

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/38...
January 22, 2026 at 11:31 PM
I’m a couple of days behind because I’ve been on holiday but I’ve been following this with interest
We had an episode in the Falklands around the same time as the hearing relating to a defamation settlement involving our national newspaper and a subsequent anonymous leak of the letter before action
The High Court has allowed Nadhim Zahawi's lawyer's appeal against the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal's finding of professional misconduct.

It’s very surprising, and concerning. Quick thread.
January 22, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Maps of South America and the South Atlantic can be fraught with geopolitical difficulty, but this display map at the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Santiago takes a novel approach by including East Falkland but not West Falkland
January 22, 2026 at 8:32 PM
This year, there is not going to be a single Commonwealth Games Baton, but one for each country or territory
There is a design competition for ithe Falklands baton
Since the Games are in Glasgow, i have made a helpfully intended suggestion (as the World’s Southernmost Professional Glaswegian tm)
January 21, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Following an induction/briefing programme, a Christmas/summer recess and more induction/briefing, the new Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly have announced that they will soon finally be “setting their strategic direction for the coming years and developing a consolidated vision and
Islands Plan”
January 21, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Ronnie MB (Ronnie MacLennan Baird)
"We remain strong defenders of the Falkland Islands as part of our Great British family...we continue to work very closely with them on a range of trade and tariff issues" 💬

OT Minister Stephen Doughty MP responding to Mark Sewards MP on removing EU tariffs on Falklands fisheries exports. 🎣
January 20, 2026 at 2:43 PM
A year in which Don’t Come Home Too Soon takes on extra meanings!
'Without being flippant, we have boycotted the World Cup proactively since 1998 and I’m not entirely sure that’s a route that we want to go down again'

www.heraldscotland.com/news...

𝘐𝘔𝘈𝘎𝘌: 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘸/𝘗𝘈 𝘞𝘪𝘳𝘦/𝘗𝘈 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴
January 21, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Just catching up with the announcement of the Falkland Islands team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

This time, the Falklands will only be competing in one sport: indoor bowls

There will be six team members and five officials, which made my eyes roll
January 20, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Ronnie MB (Ronnie MacLennan Baird)
The second ever cave painting was the word "like" underneath the first ever cave painting
January 20, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I hate to crow, but I have not been gulled into thinking it is Penguin Awareness Day
Unlike some people, I know tha…tit only applies in the US
The rest of us wait until World Penguin Day terns up on 25 April
The toucan be easily confused and I hate to see so many people getting rooked
It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.
January 20, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I think I’ll need more camomile tea later
If I were not in a faraway scene, this morning would definitely be one for taking listeners into the 10 min BFBS news at 8 with Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?
Now I’m writing this skeet/In a faraway scene
Catching up on Bluesky/Drinking camomile tea

(With apologies to Ricky Ross)
January 20, 2026 at 9:21 AM
We all need a little beauty right now, so here is a beautiful historical railway diorama on display in San Pablo metro station in Santiago
January 19, 2026 at 11:36 PM
I dare not calculate how much of my life I have spent waiting at bus stops but technology now means that, *after* waiting 40 minutes for an i14 due to run every 15 minutes, I can remember to download an app that tells me the route is currently on diversion!

It’s actually a pretty good app!
January 19, 2026 at 1:31 PM
I woke up this morning to the message: Is Iceland On Your Bucket List!

… and I honestly didn’t know if it was a travel advert or a news alert
January 19, 2026 at 9:32 AM
The metonym has changed!

The Falklands Legislative Assembly used to be referred to as Gilbert House after the building housing its office

Last week, the office was moved to Sulivan House and Falkland Islands Television have already changed the House style

lhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=Quhq43s5P8k
Sulivan House Releases 2025-2029 Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Members' Portfolios
YouTube video by Falkland Islands Television
youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Clement Freud did that something like that in the UK in 1973 to win a by-election

www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2...
January 18, 2026 at 5:03 PM
The point is that the state is meant to be better than that, not a robber band enlarged
KARL: Watch this video of a woman who says she's disabled getting dealt with by ICE. What do you think?

McCAUL: Well, the optics aren't good

K: They smashed her windows & threw her to the ground

M: It appears to be a little overzealous, but what about the actions of murderers & drug traffickers?
January 18, 2026 at 4:49 PM
“We need to invade Greenland because it is threatened” sounds eerily like “We had to destroy the village to save the village”
Trump says he needs to take Greenland to stop Russia.

He is currently planning joint Arctic energy deals with Putin. He is blocking aid that would actually stop Russia in Ukraine.

You don't go into business with an enemy you are trying to contain.

Trump’s excuse is a scam
January 18, 2026 at 12:12 PM
In this connection and since i am not going to the US anytime soon, let me tell you a story that crosses the streams of US immigration and US territories:

The first time I entered the US was transiting Miami for Mexico
I was first told off by the officer for using Falkland Islands for my residence
People of otherwise sound judgement are suggesting that Greenland would become the 51st state - I suspect that it would be more likely to be made the 6th inhabited territory
January 17, 2026 at 4:53 PM
People of otherwise sound judgement are suggesting that Greenland would become the 51st state - I suspect that it would be more likely to be made the 6th inhabited territory
January 17, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Even a stopped Mayan calendar is right once in 52 years
Ryanair’s CEO Michael O'Leary talking about Elon Musk:

“I would pay no attention to Elon Musk, he’s an IDIOT!”

😆
January 16, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Now I’m writing this skeet/In a faraway scene
Catching up on Bluesky/Drinking camomile tea

(With apologies to Ricky Ross)
January 16, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Is it just me or does anyone else see the irony of a Tory photo opportunity with a small boat???
January 16, 2026 at 3:36 PM
A piece of history that is fascinating in its own right as well as being topical

www.npr.org/sections/kru...
Dissolve My Nobel Prize! Fast! (A True Story)
It's 1940. The Nazis have taken Copenhagen, and physicist Niels Bohr has just hours, maybe minutes, to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear.
www.npr.org
January 16, 2026 at 2:56 PM