iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 12/09/2026

I realised this week I hadn't caught up on the latest OECD data on public trust. It says trust in politics has risen in places. Trust in parts of the state has fallen. Younger people now trust government more than older people. There's a lot of food for thought in here bm.wel.by/2026/09/11/b...

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 03/09/2026

Apparently the Orr household makes time to actively spend it with Jesus and yet he oversees absolutely execrable posturing that to my mind couldn't be further from the gospel. Like Jenrick's recent stuff on suicidal empathy: bm.wel.by/2026/08/26/w...

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 03/09/2026

I find it so incomprehensible how a man who is clearly giving up time in his day to spend with Jesus is responsible for a policy platform that is so far removed from the heart of the gospel. None more so than all this recent chat about suicidal empathy and welfare reform. bm.wel.by/2026/08/26/w...

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 12/08/2026

Shipped the kids off to the zoo with my Dad so Christine has taken her colander to Primrose Hill and I have joined them after work.

Crowds sit and stand on the dry grass at the Primrose Hill viewpoint on the day of the eclipse, many gathered on blankets in the sunshine. Beyond them, the trees of Regent’s Park frame a wide view of the London skyline beneath a clear blue sky.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 09/08/2026

Upgraded. Now, you're definitely not beating this.

A child in a pink swimsuit stands waist-deep in gently rolling sea water, facing out towards the horizon. Small waves break onto a dark sandy beach in the foreground beneath a clear blue sky.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 09/08/2026

You might struggle to be having a better Sunday than me with good food and live jazz at The Ness in Shaldon and this view of the Devon coast.

Coastal view across calm blue water towards Teignmouth, a seaside town built along the shore and hillside. A small white navigation marker stands in the water, with a few boats offshore and a long pier extending from the town beneath a clear blue sky.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 01/08/2026

Samsung just announced an all time quarterly profit (quarterly!) of $62 *billion* and here they are gating access to emergency services. This is properly dystopian.

Screenshot from the Samsung SmartThings app headed “In an emergency, request help through the Safe button.” Supporting text explains that users can share their location by sending a help request to members, while a highlighted sentence says Premium users can access emergency dispatch services more quickly and easily.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 31/07/2026

It is a total dustbowl at Beddington as the U19s play Dulwich. Finely poised at 147-8 with 5 overs to play chasing 180 to win.

Wide view of a cricket match taking place on a dry, brown grass field in a tree-lined park at dusk. Players are gathered around the central pitch, with a white sight screen on the left and a pale blue evening sky overhead.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 06/07/2026

I confess my eyebrow raised when they cut to the VAR booth prior to kickoff. And I think there is something to raise an eyebrow about. Equally, the penalty given was similar to the Modric one so fine. But also, why question the referee's judgement here but not against DRC?

Screenshot of a four-column table summarising officiating appointments for 12 FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout matches. The columns are "Match", "On-field referee team", "VAR team", and "Pattern". Each row lists the competing nations with flags, the nationality of the referee team, the nationalities of the three VAR officials, and a short description of the geographic makeup. The table shows a consistent pattern of internationally mixed officiating teams. Examples include South Africa v Canada with a Portuguese referee and Spanish, Brazilian and Argentine VAR officials; France v Sweden with an entirely UEFA VAR team (Netherlands, Belgium, Poland); England v DR Congo with a Jordanian referee and Qatar, UAE and USA VAR officials; and Brazil v Norway with a US referee and Nicaragua, Uruguay and Spain in the VAR booth. The final row, highlighted in bold, is Mexico v England, showing an Australian referee team and a VAR team made up entirely of Latin American officials from Colombia, Chile and Venezuela, with the pattern described as "Entirely Latin American VAR team.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 04/07/2026

8 hours of queueing. Success.

A sunlit view over a packed Wimbledon Court 18, with spectators filling the stands as a player in white walks near the baseline on the grass court under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 04/07/2026

Took Ezra and Eleanor to The Queue. I've never done it before. We got here at 0501 and have just got queue card 09865 so I think we might be in luck! Just!

À Wimbledon Queue Card numbered 09865 for Saturday 4 July 2026 rests on a child’s pink watermelon lunch bag on a picnic blanket, with grass and another blanket in the background.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 10/06/2026

An absolute classic of the genre.

AI summary from bing.com in response to the query 'what is 1600 UK to EST': 1300 EST time (1:00 PM EST) To convert 1600 UK time to EST, you need to subtract 5 hours. Therefore, 1600 UK time is 1300 EST time (1:00 PM EST). This is because Eastern Standard Time (EST) is 5 hours behind UK time.

The summary links through to a site called Worldtime Buddy.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 02/06/2026

I have gone through the motions and reported it to the Met because however little can be done reporting for the purposes of statistics still matters imo. Not really sure what security reasons prevent the Met from emailing me a record of it though.

Screenshot taken from the Met Police crime reporting web service reads: "For security reasons we haven't emailed your report to you. You can download a copy of it, using the button below"

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 30/05/2026

Sympathies with the Gunners on tonight's result. Google have now also stripped them of that erroneous victory they were attributing to them before kick off.

A screenshot of a Google search result. The query was 'have arsenal won the champions league' and the AI generated result indicates:
Arsenal Championships won:
4 - Premier League 1997, 2001, 2003
0 - UEFA Champions League

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 30/05/2026

Another exhibit for the case against Google being a reliable search engine.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 15/05/2026

Serves little purpose to dwell but we was robbed. From the resulting corner, Bonham makes a superb save, Jackson heads home from an offside position. Bolton go up the other end and Baldwin miscontrols and we concede. 120 seconds after the failure to give this penalty it was all over. #bcafc

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 08/05/2026

I agree and also I don't. Because 2012 me absolutely thought he was part of an identifiable movement for exactly that. But 2026 me has to accept that it did not translate into much more than shinier digital practice with limited impact on the actual art of governing (at least in this country).

When I joined the Government Digital Service (GDS) in May 2012 I felt incredibly lucky. I became part of a movement with a mission to transform government. For me, the opportunities offered by technology were not about shiny new interfaces or misty-eyed enthusiasm for the latest gadgets. The mission of GDS was far more profound: transforming lives and reshaping the very fabric of how to govern.

Those beliefs weren’t new. Long before GDS existed, I’d been captivated by the promise of the Internet as a force for good, powered by the amazing GovCamp community (my first was LocalGovCamp Lincoln in 2009). In 2010 I wrote my MSc dissertation (Doing I.T. Ourselves: Citizen-produced websites and their relationship to public services) on how public services were being reshaped by citizens themselves. In response to the news of GDS’ creation I wrote AlphaLocalGov (May 2011) and then Government as a Local Platform (February 2012) So, it was pretty clear that I believed that embracing digital principles could help government become more open, more responsive, more trusted, more effective, and more attuned to the needs of its citizens (ideas I got to write up in The impact of digital government on citizen well-being, May 2019).

So when I joined GDS, I saw the mission as far more than building a better website. Being part of the ‘digital centre’ was to be part of advocating for a transformation in the relationship between the state and its people. The strength of the “Better for Less” argument wasn’t solely about efficiency; it was about governing better, to genuinely improve lives and build a society where trust in public institutions was strengthened through transparency and accountability.

But maybe my personal perspective was always overly optimistic.

Excerpt from https://ukdgr.wel.by/evolution-revolution-reformation-what-next-for-digital-government-in-the-uk/

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 07/05/2026

Unbelievable for Premier Christian News to send out a daily email with the lead story being this on an election day (or frankly any day at all given the chasm between the gospel and the politics of that party). Article itself was published on Tuesday and offers no scrutiny or anything newsworthy.

Premier Christianity email with the headline 'Reform UK's top strategist: 'I'm a practising Anglican hanging on by my fingernails'

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 07/04/2026

Roblox is making me absolutely hate it with every fibre of my being. Redeemed a gift card for E's account. Except apparently I created an account of my own. The AI support claims to want to transfer it but it fails and exits with this unhelpful message. My email is verified on his account.

I'm sorry, but we don't have enough information to verify ownership of this account. Without verification, I'm unable to assist further with this request. If you need help in the future, please ensure your account has a verified email address for easier support. Thank you for understanding.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 07/03/2026

The scene is set and making it four Saturdays in a row for the first time in a very, very long time. This time Ezra in for Eleanor who's done three of those four. #bcafc

View towards the Kop inside Valley Parade ahead of kick off in the Bradford City vs Leyton Orient League One fixture today on 07/03/2026. The stand is packed with supporters wearing claret and amber, many waving flags. A large banner stretches across the stand reading “THIS IS OUR HOUSE. THIS IS BRADFORD CITY.” Despite it being 3pm the floodlights glow against an overcast sky while fans in the foreground stand, some holding phones to take photos. The green pitch fills the right side of the frame with the stand rising steeply behind it.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 28/02/2026

The scene is set. Eleanor and I really hope that we turn up this week after that shambles last Saturday. Christine and Ezra have decided to give it a miss. Fairweather the pair of em. #bcafc

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 18/02/2026

Mother in law is being offered broadband upgrades. Scandalous the prominence of a 24 month price that lasts for 6 weeks before going up *by over 10%*. Likewise a recommendation to upgrade 'for the same price you're paying' that lasts 6 weeks before increasing. Aren't there rules about this?

A screenshot of a broadband provider’s upgrade page showing three fibre package options displayed side by side.

On the left, “Your current package” is Fibre 1 with full fibre technology: 50Mb download speed for £30.98 per month for 24 months, with 10 Mbps upload speed and 25 Mbps guaranteed speed.

In the centre, marked “Recommended for you,” is Fibre 2 with Complete Wi-Fi: 74Mb download speed for £27.98 per month for 24 months, with 20 Mbps upload speed and 34 Mbps guaranteed speed. The price increases to 31.98 from 31/03/26 and to 35.98 from 31/03/26. A blue “Add to order” button appears below.

On the right, marked “Recommended – upgrade for same price you’re paying,” is Full Fibre 150 with Complete Wi-Fi: 150Mb download speed for £30.98 per month for 24 months, with 30 Mbps upload speed and 100 Mbps guaranteed speed. The price increases to £34.98 from 31/03/26 and then to £38.98 from 31/03/27. A blue “Add to order” button appears below.

Each package includes a “View details” link and a checkbox option to compare plans.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 14/02/2026

The unimaginable cruelty of the not-that-distant past brought home by the caption on a photo by Ian Beesley: Dolly was incarcerated in the Moor Psychiatric Hospital Lancaster for having an illegitimate child in her early teens. She never left and died 18 months after I took her photograph in 1994.

A framed black-and-white photograph displayed on a white brick wall shows an elderly woman with curly white hair and glasses holding up a large printed image of a baby’s face in front of her own. She points gently toward the baby’s cheek, visually linking youth and old age. Reflections from gallery lights are visible on the glass. The handwritten caption beneath reads: “Dolly was incarcerated in the Moor Psychiatric Hospital Lancaster for having an illegitimate child in her early teens. She never left and died 18 months after I took her photograph in 1994.” A signature appears at the lower right of the mount.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 14/02/2026

Loves a zip wire does that girl

A child rides a zip line across a sandy playground in Saltaire on a bright winter day. Wooden swings and climbing frames stand nearby, with Salts Mill and its tall chimney visible in the background beneath a clear blue sky.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 14/02/2026

Eleanor has taken me to Valley Parade for the day. But we're starting with a walk along the canal in Shipley. I think the last time I was actually here was to visit HMRC back in exemplar days. So that was a long enough time ago for it to now look like this...

View from the canal towpath in Shipley looking through a tall metal fence toward the former HMRC office site. The cleared riverside land and rubble are visible in the foreground, with wooded hills and houses beyond, and a modern apartment building on the right under a clear blue sky.

Aerial photograph of the former HMRC office complex in Shipley outlined in red, showing two large multi-storey brown office buildings beside the River Aire and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Salts Mill and its tall chimney are visible to the left, with surrounding residential streets and green fields in the background.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 17/01/2026

Yes, this is a suitable place to spend the day at Govcamp. #ukgc2026

Birmingham Council House in Victoria Square, seen from ground level, with stone steps, tram tracks in the foreground, a statue at the centre, and modern glass buildings rising behind under a blue sky.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 29/09/2025

Odd error in my Gmail account when trying to access my school governor London Grid for Learning email account. No option to do anything with it. Nothing visibly wrong in the browser version. And it's still syncing email to it even though it says it's offline.

To continue, you'll need to take additional action. Your account or device settings require you to complete additional steps before using the Gmail app. Cancel.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 18/09/2025

That's quite some technical difficulties going on at BibleGateway. Complete loss of all saved and stored materials. Complete denial of service to access it. One of the most reliable sources of Bible content just gone. What on earth has happened...

A screenshot of the BibleGateway website.

Content Unavailable
Bible Gateway is currently unavailable to consumers in the United Kingdom and European Union due to technical issues. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Paid Bible Gateway Plus account users in these regions should receive a refund for their subscription no later than September 15, 2025. If you have not received a refund by this date, please reach out to Customer Service.

Frequently Asked Questions
When will access to Bible Gateway be restored for UK and EU consumers?
We are working on a new solution.

I have a paid subscription to Bible Gateway Plus. Will I be reimbursed?
Yes, users who have a paid Bible Gateway Plus account should receive a refund for their subscription no later than September 15, 2025. If you have not received a refund by this date, please reach out to Customer Service.

Will saved content (e.g., notes, progress) be accessible?
No, all account data and saved content will no longer be accessible. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

What content will be available once Bible Gateway is restored?
We are working on a new solution.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 30/07/2025

In Portugal a special tariff got created to help people with their energy costs. It required eligible users to sign up but people didn't know they needed to apply. So they automated the process to make it proactive. Because they had the necessary technical plumbing. In 2010. From: bm.wel.by/ym

The initial prompt for creating the Social Energy Tariff was a knowledge about a section of society that needed help.

Then they paired the policy implementation with monitoring of numbers: those numbers showed there was a problem.

We spoke about how interoperability provided the means for automating the process but the role of data doesn’t end there.

Because now it was possible to monitor the impact. That showed an almost fivefold increase in the number of households benefitting in just three months. Ultimately, this intervention provided financial support to 7% of the Portuguese population without requiring them to validate their eligibility.

Taken from "Building a data-driven public sector Part 1: The potential of data for delivering public value" - https://bm.wel.by/ym

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 29/07/2025

Incredible to me that a bank could wind up with using the wrong email address and just merrily corresponding with that wrong person. But here I am getting mail for a significantly overdrawn American. And of course no route to contact Citi because I'm not an account holder.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 20/07/2025

Did set the task to various AIs. The much hyped Kimi amusingly not very good but none of the others did what I really needed. Presumably all of them hamstrung by the underlying data being locked away. The answer was that we should have had this idea yesterday and got up earlier to go to MK for 0940

A screenshot showing the results returned by Kimi AI for cinemas en route between Northampton and Croydon. The list details options on Ashburn, Virginia; Washington, DC; Orlando, Florida; Orange County, Florida; North Naples, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; Dania Beach, Florida; Kendale Lakes, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 16/07/2025

Please could we actually break up for the summer holidays first Morrisons?

A “Back to School” uniform display in a Morrisons supermarket, featuring children's school clothing and stationery. The top signage has cheerful images of children in school uniforms and large text reading “Back to School” and “Uniforms.” Beneath it, school clothing such as grey skirts, trousers, white polo shirts, and black cardigans are neatly hung with yellow “Save 25%” signs. To the right, a section offers half-price school stationery including pens, glue sticks, and lunch boxes.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 16/07/2025

The email that many people will just have had from the Dartford Crossing is not a great example of using email to communicate. Also that collections page on GOV.UK leaves a lot to be desired.

A screenshot of an email from Dartford Crossing Customer Service, timestamped 13:16. The message informs the recipient that from 1 September 2025, the UK Government will change charges for all vehicles using the Dartford Crossing. As a result, Dart Charge terms and conditions will also be updated on the same date.

Key points:

If using Pay As You Go (PAYG), no changes are needed.

Users can continue managing and paying as usual.

A link is provided to the updated terms and conditions.

Key changes listed:

Crossing charges, account discount rates, and local resident charges are changing.

The Local Resident Discount Scheme (LRDS) 10/20 plans are renamed "Limited" and "Unlimited."

Minimum low balance threshold has increased.

Minimum top-up amount has increased.

Further links are given for more details and assistance, including:

https://gov.uk/government/collections/dart-charge
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/help-centre/dart-charge-price-change
https://gov.uk/dart-charge

A helpline phone number: 0300 300 0120, with a textphone number also listed.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 27/06/2025

Public safety emergency sounds ominous...

A text message from UK Power Networks, timestamped at 15:29, informs residents of an emergency power cut. The message states that due to a newly identified safety issue with the electricity supply in the local area, power to 662 properties has been turned off as a precaution. It apologises for the lack of advance notice, explaining that the situation was unexpected. The message notes that the alert was sent to a wide area and reassures recipients that if they still have power, they are not expected to be affected. The background of the message is light green.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 05/06/2025

@jamesomalley.co.uk the coda to that comment I just left is the amazing tea I'm having from around the corner is from my closest chippy. But I'm not having fish and chips, I'm having delicious Mantu and Kabuli Palao because it's also an Afghan takeaway. This is a Britain I want to live in.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 19/05/2025

No drama overnight but hopefully when I come back from work they will have done something about it. Those cracks have got worse since yesterday.

A temporary modular road surface is installed on a tarmac road, composed of yellow and black plastic segments. To the right of the temporary surface, two visible cracks are emerging along the edge where the cover meets the road.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 18/05/2025

So a neighbour and I adjusted it to cover the hole a bit more. As we dismantled the cover and adjusted it we could see it was collapsing on both sides. I called Thames Water to report it as being dangerous. After a long time on hold they told me I'd get a call back in 2 hours.

A deep hole is visible in a tarmac road where a section of a modular temporary cover has been removed. The exposed area reveals the ongoing collapse of the sides of the hole compared to the original cavity. The line of the original rectangular cavity is visible but further cracking and degradation is visible along the top of the hole.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 18/05/2025

Thames Water really don't help themselves. It's currently our turn to have the whole street made chaotic for some months as all our pipes get replaced. We have temporary covers in place on pavements and the road itself. I drove over one and it didn't feel right. Because it had started to collapse.

A photo of a modular yellow and black temporary cover installed on a tarmac road. On the left hand side part of the black section of the cover is not resting on road surface but is falling into the hole it is supposed to be protecting. The rest of the cover is intact, with bolt holes and molded text visible on the surface.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 15/05/2025

Eleanor is reacting to her Read Write Inc. phonics book (first published in 2004): "oh this is from the olden days...they had to buy a film in a shop before they got to watch it"

A page from the Read Write Inc. phonics book 'Off sick'. The illustration shows a child sitting up in bed with a parent hugging them, and another parent standing beside the bed stroking the child's hair. The room has a box of tissues and books on the floor.

Text on the page reads: "Mum and Dad popped in and sat on my bed.
Dad hugged me and Mum kissed me.

We will go swimming tomorrow, they said.
Then we will go to the sweet shop.
You can have the biggest lolly in the shop.
Then you can pick a film from the shop.

I said, OK.

It’s not that bad, being off sick."

In the bottom right corner, there’s a note to parents:
"Now ask your child to re-read the story helping him or her think about the best way to read each sentence."

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 03/05/2025

Obligatory photo with Billy for Eleanor #bcafc

A young girl beaming with joy poses in front of Billy Bantam, the Bradford City mascot wearing claret and amber. The girl is dressed in a white Bradford City away kit with claret and amber stripes. They are standing inside the crowded concourse of Valley Parade. It is filled with fans, with Bradford City banners and signage visible in the background.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 03/05/2025

We're on our way, on our way. To League ...?, we're on our way. #bcafc

A smiling family inside a car, preparing for a football match. The man in the front wears a claret and amber Bradford City shirt and glasses. Two children in the back seat are also smiling—one wearing a white Bradford City away shirt, the other in a blue Bradford City shirt. A woman is partially visible on the left, leaning in with a joyful expression. The car boot has football scarves visible.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 25/04/2025

After Avis exposed all sorts of PII they gave us an Equifax subscription. How generous. Part of it is a 'webdetect' product that scans for personal data online. And alert you if it finds something. Alert you but not give any more information other than that it found it somewhere. Basically useless.

Screenshot from MyEquifax

WebDetect Alert: Information Found
From Equifax on 25/04/2025
We’re contacting you because WebDetect has located some of your personal information on the internet.

We found the following information:

Date: 23/4/2025
Type: your Email Address

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 23/04/2025

I thought the report's angle on Nash Lee End sounded quite a lot more involved than the proposed plan.

2.3.6 From Nash Lee End (to the north) – this route would require HS2 to build new structures to cross several water courses and require the removal of hedgerows. The route would therefore, potentially damage wildlife habitat. HS2 do not have access
rights to the land between Nash Lee End and the location of the spring chamber.

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 23/04/2025

Words from the local Conservative and Lib Dem councillors no doubt play nicely for local residents. No penalty for them in terms of the wider costs or implications, or any substance on what HS2 should do, except to get a tractor and dig a hole. These are not serious people.

Conservative Cllr Patrick Fealey said: “Yet we have got this hugely overengineered proposal to put the track in and build the track up.”

Fellow Tory Cllr Ashley Bond said the proposed works were effectively ‘a hole with a drain’, which could be ‘done with a tractor’, while his Tory colleague Cllr Frank Mahon said HS2 had ‘once again failed to listen to residents’.

After the meeting, Liberal Democrat candidate for Wendover, Halton and Stoke Mandeville Seb Berry told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is a really great result for Wendover residents, but this proposal should never have reached the formal planning application stage.”

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 02/04/2025

You may know this but I was astonished to discover that out of ~7000 electoral races in November, ~1500 were unopposed. Something else I reckon the European mind can't conceive of. The full state by state breakdown is in this fairly niche interest blog post of mine: bm.wel.by/2024/12/09/p...

Screenshotted text: "But across the pond the situation is not only very firmly two party at the national level, in great swathes of the US there is effectively single party government at the state level. It is at least quite balanced, as by my count of unopposed candidates Imade it 871 Democrats to 824 Republicans (and a couple of Independents). Even before a vote was cast in the national elections, 20 of the seats in Congress had the same experience In six states, with a total population of 27 million people, more than half of the seats were uncontested. In Massachusetts for example, 146 seats out of 200 were won (mostly by Democrats) before a vote was cast. The inverse scenario played out in Wyoming with 56 out of 77 seats being won by Republicans when nominations closed (2 Democrats did win under the same conditions). These are some troubling foundations for democracy. State level legislatures still have meaty responsibilities and deserve a healthier level of democratic activity than this. Just imagine how we'd respond if Denmark (a country witha similar population to Massachusetts) held elections where only a quarter of parliamentary seats were contested."

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 01/04/2025

I presume regulatory/anti-monopoly efforts made Google do this. And I'm sure devs welcome it. But alternative billing will make it easy to bypass oversight. Once a payment mechanism is approved, there are no subsequent checks and Google washes its hands of any fallout. Unintended consequences?

Screenshotted text: "Developers can now offer alternatives to Google Play's Billing system to their users that pay for digital content and services in the United Kingdom. If a developer chooses to offer an alternative billing system in their app, your child will be able to make in-app purchases of digital content through alternative billing. Play purchase approvals won't apply if your child makes a purchase through alternative billing. You can review all apps on your child's device in Family Link, but purchases made by your child through alternative billing will not appear in your child's purchase history. For support, refund requests, or other questions about purchases made through alternative billing, contact the developer."

Screenshotted text: "Alternative billing for children A child can buy digital content in apps, and they can use either Google Play or a different way to pay offered by the developer. Purchase approvals in Play won't apply if a child uses the billing system from the developer. The first time a child tries to make an in-app purchase on apps that offer a different way to pay, their parent or guardian will be required to sign in before the purchase is made to review a message. This message will talk about the other ways their child can pay for in-app digital content. The next time a child tries to make an in-app purchase in this same app, the child's parent or guardian will not be asked to sign in to view this message, and the child will be able to proceed without parent involvement."

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 01/03/2025

Really hard not to start dreaming. #bcafc

The top half of the League Two table at full time on Saturday 1st March 2025
1st. Walsall with 67 points from 34 games, goal difference +26
2nd. Bradford City with 63 points from 34 games, goal difference +16
3rd. Doncaster Rovers with 61 points from 34 games, goal difference +11
4th. Notts County with 58 points from 33 games, goal difference +19
5th. AFC Wimbledon with 57 points from 33 games, goal difference +22
6th. Port Vale with 56 points from 32 games, goal difference +18
7th. Crewe with 52 points from 33 games, goal difference +8
8th. Grimsby with 52 points from 33 games, goal difference -2
9th. Salford with 48 points from 33 games, goal difference +6
10th. Bromley with 48 points from 34 games, goal difference +3
11th. Colchester with 46 points from 33 games, goal difference +6
12th. Cheltenham with 46 points from 33 games, goal difference 0

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Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 25/02/2025

Last week St Andrews, today Hayes Lane. Quite the contrast. #bcafc

A nighttime football match scene at Hayes Lane, the home of Bromley FC ahead of their match against Bradford City. The pitch is illuminated by floodlights, with a well-maintained grass field and white boundary lines. In the foreground, fans in warm clothing, including hats and scarves, are gathered near the pitch, some talking and others taking photos. A security steward in a high-visibility jacket is standing near the crowd.

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