iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ian Garrow

Phil M 🦻🏼💚 🍉 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @phillm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Thanks again, to @monkemma.bsky.social: "You have to ask why the Guido Fawkes headline, the City AM headline and Matt Goodwin wanted you to focus on condoms for Pakistani men rather than the family planning and maternal health services for the rural women" monkdebunks.substack.com/p/no-we-dont...

monkdebunks.substack.com

No, we don't spend £74 million a year on branded condoms for Pakistan

Tracing the City AM headline, from Matt Goodwin's LBC claim and back through Guido Fawkes to a UK aid programme for women in rural Pakistan

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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

TIL about the Evil May Day riot May 1 1517 Preacher “Dr Bell" made an inflammatory xenophobic speech about foreigners taking English jobs & food on Easter Tuesday at the instigation of broker John Lincoln. 2 wks on: anti-Migrant riot Under-sheriff of London Thomas Moore was sent to calm the rioters

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sir Ian McKellen shared a monologue that some believe Shakespeare may have written. The speech, known as The Strangers' Case, comes from an Elizabethan play, Sir Thomas More.

McKellen sets the scene:

It's all happening 400 years ago. In London, there's a riot happening. There's a mob out in the streets and they're complaining about the the presence of strangers in London, by which they mean the recent immigrants who've arrived there. And they're shouting the odds and complaining and saying that the immigrants should be sent back home wherever they came from. And the authorities send out this young lawyer, Thomas More, to put down the riot, which he does in two ways. One by saying that you can't riot like this. It's against the law. So, shut up, be quiet.

And also, being by Shakespeare, with an appeal to their humanity.
https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/the-strangers-case/

From Act II, Scene 4 of Sir Thomas More:

You'll put down strangers, Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise Hath chid down all the majesty of England; Imagine that you see the wretched strangers, Their babies at their backs and their poor luggage, Plodding to the ports and coasts for transportation, And that you sit as kings in your desires, Authority quite silent by your brawl, And you in ruff of your opinions clothed; What had you got? I'll tell you: you had taught How insolence and strong hand should prevail, How order should be quelled; and by this pattern Not one of you should live an agèd man, For other ruffians, as their fancies wrought, With self same hand, self reasons, and self right, Would shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes Would feed on one another...
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1547

Say now the king, As he is clement if th'offender mourn, Should so much come too short of your great trespass As but to banish you, whither would you go? What country, by the nature of your error, Should give you harbor? Go you to France or Flanders, To any German province, to Spain or Portugal, Nay, anywhere that not adheres to England, Why, you must needs be strangers: would you be pleased To find a nation of such barbarous temper, That, breaking out in hideous violence, Would not afford you an abode on earth, Whet their detested knives against your throats, Spurn you like dogs, and like as if that God Owed not nor made not you, nor that the elements Were not all appropriate to your comforts, But chartered unto them, what would you think To be thus used? This is the strangers' case; And this your mountainish inhumanity.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Perhaps she should have worn a balaclava…

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Wouldn’t it be great if politicians such as Badenoch had Special Advisers who pointed out this stuff to them, instead of them making fools of themselves with falsehoods?

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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 22/09/2026

What are we becoming?

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a frightful hobgoblin stalking throughout Europe @supermathskid.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I really need a job, if anybody knows of somewhere looking to hire a good writer with connections in scientific academia and a few random folks in government please lemme know

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Who on earth stands behind a lectern to talk to Primary school kids? @dankaszeta.bsky.social #Notapodium

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Hassinator @hassinator.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

a great letter in the times today. perhaps worth sharing in these troubled times. #RNLI #heroes

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Zanny Minton Beddoes @zannymb.economist.com · 12/09/2026

Our cover leader argues that Islamists and the populist right feed off each other. That is the real danger facing Europe bit.ly/3SDI1nC Illustration: Peter Dench

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

NEW Why holding a placard is a terrorist act, while causing disruption in a balaclava is not The mess caused by ministers and the police not taking terrorism law seriously By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Recent events in England now reveal the practical difference between terrorists and protesters. It would seem that terrorists peacefully hold placards and get immediately arrested, while protesters wear black uniforms and balaclavas and disrupt infrastructure and do not get arrested.

How did we get into this mess? How have we placed ourselves in the position where terrorism legislation is used to detain and prosecute peaceful protesters, while those adopting the terror tactics of private armies seem to be free to do as they wish?

The reason is that for some time British politicians have not taken terrorism legislation seriously, and that ministers have got into the habit of misusing terror laws for easy targets.

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Polly Pallister-Wilkins @pollypw.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

When I lived in the UK none of my concerns e.g. affordable housing, climate action, increases in welfare spending, scrapping tuition fees, an ethical foreign policy, were ever framed as legitimate concerns. lnstead I was routinely told to fuck off by most political parties for having such concerns.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This is irrelevant misinformation aka twaddle

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Dr Anke Marsh @ankemarsh.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Just so we are clear: The 83yo priest on the left is a terrorist. The balaclava-clad men on the right are protestors with legitimate concerns

A photo from the BBC of an older woman, with grey hair, being led away by police.

A photograph of a line of men in black clothes and balaclavas blocking the port at Dover.

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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The Falklands have been British longer than California has been American.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Does she think Free Trade means nobody pays for anything?

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Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Maybe the Kennedy Center should be renamed the Dolly Parton Center.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Does he realise that Canada is also in America?

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Let’s have more overriding control by local Mayors!

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Love “the man is not here to fuck spiders.”

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Steve Bullock @guitarmoog.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It’s one of those irregular verbs. - I receive non-specific financial transfers as gifts or in return for unspecified services from time-to-time - YOU receive payments you have accrued entitlement to due to your National Insurance contributions - THEY are part of the something for nothing culture.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

“Unfit for purpose” I recall

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Simon Oldridge @sioldridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Fed up with people shirking responsibility by arguing that the UK causes just 1% of emissions? Here are two fantastic analogies from a primary school teacher, Mark in Coventry, who called Sheila Fogerty on @lbc.co.uk - one involving dog poo 😆 Other arguments here: www.nebriefing.org/mp-dialogue

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Barry Howard 🔶h @barryhow2c.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Larry the cat owns Zia Yusuf:

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

So, excuse me if I miss one but he’s pissed off: Canada Greenland Denmark UK Oman S Korea NATO Europe generally Haiti Venezuela Somalia Did I miss anyone?

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

You cannot scratch your ear with your elbow.

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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Do you want to hazard a guess at what this “jaw-dropping” list of freebies included? What luxuries asylum seekers might be being given “for free” in Thetford? Xboxes? Plasma TVs? iPhones? Ferraris? Let's take a look👀 🧵 1/22

Express headline: The jaw-dropping list of everything asylum seekers in Thetford were 'given for free'.

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Alex Papadopoulos @egeasri.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Italian researchers found that semi-transparent solar panels over olive groves increased olive yields by 12%, reduced water evaporation by 19%, generated clean electricity, and even improved olive oil quality. 🌿⚡🫒 #Agrivoltaics #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability #ClimateSolutions

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DrMaxPolitics @drmaxpolitics.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Hi, I'm being made redundant by the University of Southampton at the end of this month. I'm desperately looking for work. I'll consider all offers but have particular skills in policy, strategy and research. I also have a consultancy service I offer. Please let me know if you hear of anything

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Ash Oro @ashoro.co.uk · 03/08/2026

14/14 This is why a slogan like "put the Navy in the Channel" is just silly and dangerous. It's political messaging, not maritime planning. It begins with the assumption that the difficult part is finding the boats. From a seafarer's perspective, the difficult part begins after you've found one.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Yeah, embrace it…without the extreme weather events, wildfires, water shortages, refugees fleeing climate catastrophe in their own countries… just the sunny weather, eh Alistair?

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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I know it's not news Kemi Badenoch is not across the detail, but this is an absolute shocker. She says the UK's net zero plans are 'perversely increasing carbon emissions'. In 2019 when net zero targets were adopted emissions were 45% below 1990 levels. Last year they were 54% below 1990 levels.

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Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Today is good reminder that the UK Prime Minister is appointed by the King based on a parliamentary majority, but is not elected by Parliament. This is different to most continental European systems, where the appointed PM needs to face a vote in Parliament first.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Is this the first instance of “Antiwoke”?

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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

In 2001, Walter Cronkite appeared on the David Letterman show and shared his thoughts.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

All those “illegals” taking our jobs and benefits, hanging around on street corners and now stealing the water from true British patriots!🤯

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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Polluter pays, you say?

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Dewie @judgedewie.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Americans: take the "s" off the end of "Legos" and pop it on the end of "Math" would you. That'd be smashing. Thanks.

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Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

So the same people who didn’t have a problem in 2019 with election literature in Chinese now want to outlaw election literature in Irish, Gaelic, and Cornish?

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

And the rest of the revelations are great, too

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

How sad that the media have to point out that he’s “white and British”, although there will still be those who doubt his “whiteness” or his citizenship. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Man, 28, arrested over murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe

Suspect arrested in South Yorkshire after ex-politician was found dead at her Devon home on Thursday

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

A perfect qualifier for A Special Adviser, but I doubt they’d pay Emma what she’s worth. Hopefully someone in government is following this and using her research to counter the rubbish posted by the fast right loons

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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

So, rough sleepers in London are disproportionately non-UK nationals, in particular non-Europeans. The number 1 reason anyone with a stable, known last address became a rough sleeper is that they were granted refugee status. That's a grim indictment of our asylum system... 19/

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

“More with Less” all over again. Didn’t work then, won’t work now.

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Ian Garrow @4242bb.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

“You can’t scratch your ear with your elbow”

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