Ian Mitchell
@mitchofmk.bsky.social
Retired from a career pontificating in the City. Now testing whether I will run out of cash or liver first. Also trying to maintain an occasional sailing habit.
Annual reminder that “Black Friday” isn’t a thing in the UK because we don’t do Thanksgiving.
We have Boxing Day for buying shit we don’t need after overindulging on turkey the previous day.
We have Boxing Day for buying shit we don’t need after overindulging on turkey the previous day.
November 28, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Annual reminder that “Black Friday” isn’t a thing in the UK because we don’t do Thanksgiving.
We have Boxing Day for buying shit we don’t need after overindulging on turkey the previous day.
We have Boxing Day for buying shit we don’t need after overindulging on turkey the previous day.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
I mean it is objectively hilarious that the media and government are trying to hype the OBR leak as a cybersecurity thing
When any digital manager at a large institution could tell you in about ten minutes.
Less if I knew what CMS it was.
When any digital manager at a large institution could tell you in about ten minutes.
Less if I knew what CMS it was.
Being very "well, actually", and going just by www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... - my gut feeling is that it was working as designed... it just wasn't designed for these conditions.
You know this area well, is the investigation result likely to be published?
You know this area well, is the investigation result likely to be published?
OBR calls in cyber expert over botched release of Budget analysis
Rachel Reeves's statement was thrown into chaos after journalists were able to access the document early.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I mean it is objectively hilarious that the media and government are trying to hype the OBR leak as a cybersecurity thing
When any digital manager at a large institution could tell you in about ten minutes.
Less if I knew what CMS it was.
When any digital manager at a large institution could tell you in about ten minutes.
Less if I knew what CMS it was.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Imagine coming up with a proposal so stupid, so unworkable, so thoughtless, that it makes Robert Jenrick look sane by comparison.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jury trials could be scrapped except in most serious cases
Only cases of alleged murder, rape or manslaughter will be decided by a jury under new proposals to cut court backlogs.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Imagine coming up with a proposal so stupid, so unworkable, so thoughtless, that it makes Robert Jenrick look sane by comparison.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Has no one in the BBC heard of the Streisand effect?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Has no one in the BBC heard of the Streisand effect?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
November 16, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Thought experiment: what do you think would happen if your local police chief announced that henceforth, they would be shifting the majority of their resources to crack down on underage drinking. Three things would logically follow:
November 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Thought experiment: what do you think would happen if your local police chief announced that henceforth, they would be shifting the majority of their resources to crack down on underage drinking. Three things would logically follow:
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
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...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 9:05 AM
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.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
This week's newly unpaywalled post: What on earth is a “stink pipe”, when it's at home?
When a lamppost isn’t a lamppost
What on earth is a “stink pipe”, when it's at home?
jonn.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:56 AM
This week's newly unpaywalled post: What on earth is a “stink pipe”, when it's at home?
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
The Orange Geriatric Felonious Game Show Host can fuck right off with this.
Seriously, you would think he would have bigger things to be concerned about.
Seriously, you would think he would have bigger things to be concerned about.
November 15, 2025 at 6:28 AM
The Orange Geriatric Felonious Game Show Host can fuck right off with this.
Seriously, you would think he would have bigger things to be concerned about.
Seriously, you would think he would have bigger things to be concerned about.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
The rot really set in when the woke brigade cancelled Spangles.
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The rot really set in when the woke brigade cancelled Spangles.
This is when the BBC’s lawyers should refer Trump’s lawyers to the reply given in Arkell vs Pressdram.
November 11, 2025 at 9:37 AM
This is when the BBC’s lawyers should refer Trump’s lawyers to the reply given in Arkell vs Pressdram.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Big Phony Schmuck! - Randy Rainbow Song Parody
YouTube video by Randy Rainbow
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
There comes a point in every man's life where he begins to dream of owning a miniature railway or a tank museum.
November 5, 2025 at 9:13 AM
There comes a point in every man's life where he begins to dream of owning a miniature railway or a tank museum.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
If Andrew doesn’t escape by horse tonight and board a boat to France, where he will attempt to raise an army against his older brother, then he is more or less admitting the accusations are all true. I’m sorry but that’s just the way it works.
October 30, 2025 at 7:57 PM
If Andrew doesn’t escape by horse tonight and board a boat to France, where he will attempt to raise an army against his older brother, then he is more or less admitting the accusations are all true. I’m sorry but that’s just the way it works.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
Airline strands ex-BBC editor, citing Parkinson's www.bbc.com/news/article... Don’t travel with Turkish Airlines- they discriminate against people with Parkinson’s
'My sin was having Parkinson's': Presenter left stranded
Mark Mardell was left feeling 'humiliated' after he was told he could not board a flight.
www.bbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Airline strands ex-BBC editor, citing Parkinson's www.bbc.com/news/article... Don’t travel with Turkish Airlines- they discriminate against people with Parkinson’s
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
King John died #OnThisDay 1216. ‘He was a very bad man’, said one contemporary, ‘more cruel than all others. He lusted after beautiful women and because of this he shamed the high men of the land, for which reason he was greatly hated. Whenever he could he told lies rather than the truth.'
October 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
King John died #OnThisDay 1216. ‘He was a very bad man’, said one contemporary, ‘more cruel than all others. He lusted after beautiful women and because of this he shamed the high men of the land, for which reason he was greatly hated. Whenever he could he told lies rather than the truth.'
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
"Parking is such sweet sorrow"
Shakespeare family home damaged by reversing driver
Shakespeare family home damaged by reversing driver
A 17th-century building that housed William Shakespeare's family has been left damaged after a driver reversed into it.
news.sky.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:45 AM
"Parking is such sweet sorrow"
A 200% or 500% reduction in prices? The self described “stable genius” actually doesn’t understand how maths works.
Rambling mad man.
Rambling mad man.
October 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
A 200% or 500% reduction in prices? The self described “stable genius” actually doesn’t understand how maths works.
Rambling mad man.
Rambling mad man.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
“It’s not racist to be racist,” say the racists
October 7, 2025 at 11:22 AM
“It’s not racist to be racist,” say the racists
Jenrick is a nasty piece of work.
October 7, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Jenrick is a nasty piece of work.
Reposted by Ian Mitchell
I say this with the bluntness it requires: they will get people murdered if this continues. This is not just populism anymore either: it’s completely unhinged and a deliberate choice that does endanger lives. I am not saying this lightly at all.
October 7, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I say this with the bluntness it requires: they will get people murdered if this continues. This is not just populism anymore either: it’s completely unhinged and a deliberate choice that does endanger lives. I am not saying this lightly at all.