iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Is out of touch a synonym for corrupt?

Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Sorry- should have been clearer. They are definitely doing this stuff too. But the non military aggressions are doing a lot of heavy lifting on damaging our democracies.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The non military aggression - cyber, disinformation, espionage, sabotage, funding extremism - has been going on for years and is damaging democracy. Why use military force when you don’t need to?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This looks like one of the most common sensical proposal for change I have ever seen.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Nancy’s care for the people she studied in Venezuela was as incredible as her scientific work. One of my heroes.

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Reposted by Catherine Royle

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 19/07/2026

🚨 With Andy Burnham officially the next leader of the Labour Party, and due to name his cabinet on Monday, who would you have in yours? ⚠️ Will Ed Miliband be your Chancellor or will it be Martin Lewis? Will Jude Bellingham take on culture and sport or will Wes Streeting?

bestforbritain.org

Fantasy Cabinet Builder - Best for Britain

With Keir Starmer standing down and Labour choosing its next leader, the front bench is up for grabs. Pick from every cu

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I remember laughing when someone had an electoral slogan “Argentina - un país en serio”. Now we have Big Nige vs Count Binface putting the great in Britain

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

@therestpolitics.bsky.social Given that Mandy’s appointment had already been announced, and his past already well documented, is it realistic to think that FCDO officials could have reasonably expected any vetting doubts to change anyone’s view?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Are we doing much better with our foreign policy institutions? Foreign Office being cut. Aid slashed.

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Reposted by Catherine Royle

Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

A special episode of #BehindtheLines, a live event with three sanctuary scholars from @somervillecollege.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk. Three young academics displaced by conflict now changing the world, not just talking about it! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

podcasts.apple.com

THE SANCTUARY SCHOLARS Meet the displaced academics rewriting the future

Podcast Episode · Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell · 24 March · 1h 6m

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Stupid and cruel. Not just apeing reform but the Taliban by denying education to Afghan women

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Loved the Oxford show. No mouse though.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Ok but you need a DSACEUR who is empowered. SACEUR/COM EUCOM spends a lot of time on his US job and this delays decisions in NATO.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

They should ask him about last week’s events to see if he has caught up or still knows nothing

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Can we spend more on diplomacy and soft power too? V cheap by comparison to defence and helps avoid armed conflict

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I see some sense in letting Europe take the lead.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

A 2 tier Europe could help UKR, UK, NOR, Iceland others?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

HMG is cutting diplomacy and soft power eg British Council too. What can possibly go wrong?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Seems like a good moment to ensure our foreign policy effort is properly funded and staffed rather than cutting FCDO yet again. If you don’t spend in diplomacy, you end up spending on bullets and with lives

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Very confused as to why US needs to take over Greenland to defend its interests. Don’t remember it taking over West Germany to do that during the Cold War. I think that’s the point of the Alliance called NATO.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I’m more worried about Greenland because of what it means for NATO etc. But leaders Iran and Cuba should both be uncomfortable

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Reposted by Catherine Royle

Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

🚨🚨EMERGENCY EPISODE🚨🚨 Very few people can claim to have met and known 🇻🇪's Maduro, Chavez & interim president Delcy Rodriguez. Well, my guest @catheriner.bsky.social, former 🇬🇧 ambassador in Caracas, is one of them and she spoke to me earlier today. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

podcasts.apple.com

EMERGENCY EPISODE: Maduro, Chavez, Delcy Rodriguez and where we're going in Venezuela

Podcast Episode · Behind The Lines with Arthur Snell · 04/01/2026 · 45m

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

She didn’t have to start by ruling out customs union or freedom of movement given the narrow result and what was said before the referendum. She put her party before her country

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

And of course no mention of the human cost - the Argentines now using soup and community kitchens, out of work or whose pensions are now worthless.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

A man who has never done anything to make anything better so easy to shout down and ask stupid questions . “Let’s have a bet”about tax rises. Get real

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

When will #r4today learn we don’t want the attack dog gotcha stuff we want grown up discussion of v complex problems. Grow up Robinson

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

It’s not an easy set of circumstances. I really hope you’re right that this is the plan.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

To be fair no-one else has much idea either as we have seen since 2014. Or perhaps they know, but are not willing to do it. The risk of RUS using nukes has hovered over everything since 2022. Small risk maybe. But a risk nonetheless. Poor Ukraine.

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Great read. Interested in what the few women had to say about why there were there. Does the lack of women mean there is still hope of an outbreak of sanity?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

A very good listen. Rory sounded shell shocked to be confronted with inequality being the biggest problem in the UK economy. And seemed to think we could just ape the US. Haven’t we tried that - and failed?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Can’t we aim for sooner? And in all rivers and seas? And if we can’t nationalise can we have contracts that include stopping leaks and building reservoirs as well as banning dividends and bonuses if contracts are breached?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Generous. If everything in the world ran to a bossa nova beat it would probably be less aggressive

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Someone needs to tell MoD that they can’t do their stuff without an effective FCDO. Deterrence and conflict are tools to manage political and diplomatic issues. In the end everything is political. And that isn’t MoD’s competence

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Nothing against increasing defence spending- although the hard bit is spending it well. But.. the biggest danger is that Russia wins without fighting. Let’s tighten rules on political donations, curb the flow of dirty money, restrict foreign ownership of media, protect our democracy & institutions

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

I would start with believing in evolution

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Of course. But v few people understand what diplomats do - and what good diplomacy can prevent. It’s a skill set that is not v visible - for good reason. But we need to find a way to talk about it

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

The Diplomatic Service is also underfunded and undervalued. If we want to avoid war rather than fight, then we need to invest in diplomacy. That’s security too

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Question for the history buffs. Is Trump 2 more like the dissolution of the monasteries or the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1967?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

This was not a calamity. No one died. Lots of people were inconvenienced - including me. Businesses lost money. That’s it

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

When are we going to legislate against foreign ownership of media?

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

He issued a revolting, fawning statement afterwards about how right T was and how wrong Z was. They are all complicit

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

The US is going to earn a lot less from arms sales once Europe cranks up its industry - as it must

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Why does Gnasher always wear heels around the farm? That’s the real question

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Catherine Royle @catheriner.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

As a former diplomat I disagree. Zelensky cannot let a US policy of surrender be forced on him and described as a peace deal. That is what was happening.

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