Sign in

Hugh Smithson-Wright

@hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social
428 followers 513 following 218 posts

A flibbertigibbet, a Will O' The Wisp, a clown. OFFICIALLY The Gayest Man On Bluesky™️ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

PostsRepliesMedia
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Ken Bruce is playing Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel and for years I believed the lyric "Show for me, I will show for you" to be "Chauffeur me, I will chauffeur you" thinking "Ah that's nice, they're going to take it in turns to drive each other around"
091
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Joked to a much-younger friend today about my husband having "more holidays than Judith Chalmers" and had to explain who Judith Chalmers was, what Wish You Were Here? was, and more broadly, how holidays used to be chosen and booked pre-internet 😂 youtu.be/LpJja7A-NtY?...
youtu.be
1990s Tenerife | Playa de las Américas | Spain in the 1990s | Wish you were here? | 1992
YouTube video by ThamesTv
050
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Just found myself standing in Liberty wailing at an assistant – with quiet, frenzied desperation – "You had some lovely mugs, HERE, where are the lovely mugs that were HERE?" and that's my Miranda Priestley "Where's that piece of paper I had in my hand last week?" moment for the day done with.
3110
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
"Ooh no that's a bit new for me" says a contestant on Popmaster, to Ken Bruce's audible disdain, unable to identify Reach by S Club 7, from...2000.
150
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
One of my clients, always immaculate in Savile Row tailoring, loves taking the piss out of how I dress. Zingers include: – Did you run here? – What time is your tennis match? – This is restrained for you, usually you dress like Christmas And then yesterday, – Are you on your way to repair something?
030
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Had lunch in a gorgeous restaurant in Leeds today, and as I left and stopped to take a photo the manager (possibly owner) stuck his head out the door and I thought, Oh, he's going to say he's recognised me, or thank me for coming, but no, I had walked out without paying. A big, humbling WHOOPS.
130
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
JD Vance killing the Pope is the new Liz Truss killing Queen Elizabeth II
040
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
This is so, so good, and expresses in much greater depth and detail what I've been saying a lot recently which is that the best thing those of us who give a damn can do to improve the world right now is to be abundantly, excessively, constantly kind to others www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Trump is creating a selfish, miserable world. Here’s what we can do | Michael Plant
The president is both a symptom and a cause of unhappiness and mistrust. But we can respond by rebuilding our social fabric
050
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
It's so, so, SO much simpler to stay and pay your taxes. If you choose a life of constantly moving around the world in pursuit of paying the least tax possible, then excuse me if I don't shed a tear over you having to give up your membership of Annabel's on.ft.com/3GgnZcc via @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com
Non-doms quit London private members’ clubs to avoid UK tax links
Lawyers advise wealthy clients that HMRC could use membership as evidence of strong ties to Britain
2112
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Hugh Richard Wright @hughrichardwright.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Chef Guillermo Bitanga is bringing his refined French-Filipino cuisine to Pied à Terre's Kitchen Table for just eight services, from 29th April to 3rd May. With only eight seats at each service, just 64 diners will get to experience Guillermo's menu, so book now! 🇵🇭🇫🇷 eepurl.com/jcsFn6
022
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
#Sebastian is a terrific film, raw & clever & powerful & challenging & uncomfortable & REAL and just brilliantly written and acted – Ruaridh Mollica is extraordinary in the lead, and I squealed at Stella Gonet's all-too-brief appearance. Baffled it's not on wider release; had to hunt it down!
000
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Just walked through Leicester Square for the first time since the busking ban came into force and my God, it's like a totally different place! Still teeming with people but it's a) peaceful and b) you can actually move freely around rather than having to navigate round static crowds. Amazing!
030
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
It's dawned on me why Trump is blaming Zelensky: he thought he could negotiate with Putin, and realising that he can't, is willing to sacrifice Ukraine to 'end' the war so he can take credit for that. Failing on all fronts, Trump needs any 'win' he can get, at any cost. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Trump blames Zelensky for starting war day after massive Russian attack
The US president said that you "don't start a war against someone 20 times your size" and hope people give you missiles.
030
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Debora Robertson @lickedspoon.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Meanwhile, back in earth, MacKenzie Scott quietly goes about giving away $19 billion.
612119
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Life of Sharks @thelifeofsharks.com · 14/04/2025
Sky News being unintentionally honest.
834832
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
The environmental impact is the single biggest reason why, as far as I possibly can, I'm avoiding using AI. I'm not scared of it, I'm not worried about it taking my job (yet...) I just don't want to fuel - literally - the destruction of the planet for the sake of a search or generating a silly image
131
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 07/04/2025
Israel military razed Gaza perimeter land to create ‘kill zone’, soldiers say
theguardian.com
Israel military razed Gaza perimeter land to create ‘kill zone’, soldiers say
Combatants’ testimonies describe how areas were destroyed to create ‘a death zone of enormous proportions’ Israel’s military razed huge swathes of land inside the perimeter of Gaza and ordered troops to turn the area into a “kill zone” where anybody who entered was a target, according to testimony by soldiers who carried out the plan. Israeli combatants said they were ordered to destroy homes, factories and farmland roughly 1km (0.6 miles) inside the perimeter of Gaza to make a “buffer zone”, with one describing the area as looking like Hiroshima. Continue reading...
511078
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Dr Joanna Nadin @joannanadin.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
‘Big AI consumes so much energy that every time you generate a six-fingered portrait of Anne Frank or a scene from the Vietnam war in the style of Studio Ghibli, you might as well just kill a polar bear with a crossbow.’ www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
irishexaminer.com
Séamas O'Reilly: I discovered my own memoir had been used to train Meta AI
I hate that writers and artists must suffer the indignity of being pickpocketed by the richest men who’ve ever lived.
1107
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
The IDF murdered 15 paramedics in cold blood and buried them in shallow graves, then lied and lied about it until video evidence emerged proving their crimes. How, @teamlabouruk.bsky.social, can Keir Starmer continue to allow UK arms sales to Israel in light of this? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Israel changes account of Gaza medic killings after video showed deadly attack
Israeli forces killed 15 emergency workers in a convoy of ambulances near Rafah on 23 March.
184
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Is there any nicer feeling than waking up early for a Sunday, making yourself tea and breakfast, taking it back to bed, eating your breakfast, then falling back to sleep for an hour and waking up STILL early for a Sunday, and you've already had your breakfast? ✨BLISS✨
260
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
I love being gay; last night I posted on my Instagram stories about seeing a bad musical (Clueless – seriously, don't bother) and this morning my DMs are like someone's died, filled with condolences, words of reassurance, recommendations for better musicals...The Gays have got my back.
media.tenor.com
a man with makeup on his face and the words mama kudos for saying that below him
ALT: a man with makeup on his face and the words mama kudos for saying that below him
050
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 05/04/2025
‘What was their crime?’ Families tell of shock over IDF killing of Gaza paramedics
theguardian.com
‘What was their crime?’ Families tell of shock over IDF killing of Gaza paramedics
Relatives who waited agonising week before bodies were found speak of passion that drove Red Crescent workers • Our aid workers were brutally killed and thrown into a mass grave in Gaza. This must never happen again Gaza is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a civilian now that Israeli forces have resumed their military campaign with even more ferocity, but for the first responders who rush towards the wreckage of bombed buildings, the risks are multiplied many times over. The 15 paramedics and rescue workers whose bodies were found last weekend in a bulldozed pit outside Rafah knew they were putting their lives in peril to try to save others, but they could not have been prepared for what awaited them in the early hours of 23 March. Continue reading...
27586291
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Breaking now: Ministry of Economics reporting the tariffs have not caused significant changes to our trading volumes
10057621263
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Janel Comeau 🍁 @verybadllama.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I have tariffed the penguins that are on Heard Island and which you were probably assuming did not export goods forgive me they were taking advantage of us so cunning and so cold
546286527006
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Yaaaass 🥳 Tesla suffers worst quarter since 2022 as deliveries tumble - on.ft.com/3FORHVn via @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com
Tesla suffers worst quarter since 2022 as deliveries tumble
Company loses crown of world’s best-selling electric-vehicle maker to China’s BYD
000
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Energy bills up 6.4% — while network providers raked in £4 billion in “excess” profits over four years. Water bills up 26% — while firms paid £78 billion in dividends since privatisation & racked up £64 billion in debt. End this scam. Bring water & energy into public ownership.
26812244
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Today I told a friend who said he "only reads the Mail online for the showbiz news" that that was "like going to a Nazi rally for the sandwiches" and I'm quite proud of that one
1100
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Matthew Hodson @matthewhodson.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
When I told my mother I was gay she said, “Well I expect you’ll get AIDS and die then.” She didn’t mean it cruelly. In 1985 that was normal. She became an outstanding LGBTQ ally, marching at Pride and wearing a red ribbon every day. Love to all mothers who love and support their gay children.
Me and my mum at Pride. She’s wearing a tshirt that says ‘I love my gay son’.
214213
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Oh no, I can't believe Trump 'buying' one didn't prevent this!
000
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Viktor Winetrout @viktorwinetrout.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
I bought Twitter for $44,000,000,000 and sold it back to myself for $33,000,000,000. I have 43 kids and no friends. Everything I make explodes
835413596921
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Bought a pair of jeans this morning in a 34" waist for the first time in about fifteen years, so if anyone wants to ask me for anything – favours, a loan, forgiveness – today is your day, knock yourself out 👖
040
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Busy woman! BBC News - Reeves defends taking free Sabrina Carpenter tickets www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Rachel Reeves defends accepting free Sabrina Carpenter tickets
Rachel Reeves tells the BBC she went to the concert with a family member and will declare the tickets.
010
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
“The world has changed” says Chancellor on #bbclaurak. Yes it has - so why stick to outdated counterproductive austerity agenda & arbitrary fiscal rules? You can’t cut your way to growth. Taxes on extreme wealth of super rich would be fairer & more effective than more cuts @patmillsuk.bsky.social
982089668
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
"Time was, someone would care if your stew contained a lump of hard plastic" – @gracedent.bsky.social reviews Bar Valette, who probably wish she hadn't, for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ma...
theguardian.com
Bar Valette, London E2: ‘How to be truly relaxed while paying £11 for a bowl of kale’ | restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Time was, someone would care if your stew contained a lump of hard plastic
050
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 20/03/2025
Thousands protest in Israel over ‘attack on democracy’ by Netanyahu
theguardian.com
Thousands protest in Israel over ‘attack on democracy’ by Netanyahu
Protesters accuse PM of continuing Gaza war for political reasons and ignoring plight of hostages still held by Hamas * Israel–Gaza war – latest updates Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for a new ceasefire in Gaza and…
16451130
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Leopard/face: Fascinating and thoughtful piece in @financialtimes.com on why businesspeople back Trump, and their 'touching naivety' in doing so - on.ft.com/4hnoPAG
Black text on a pale pink background reading: Anything he says that seems irrational — tariff wars, or the annexation of Canada — can be dismissed by supporters as a negotiating bluff, or “red meat for the Maga base”, distractions that only hysterical liberals take seriously. Stock-market investors, who voted for Trump with their money, have been bewildered to discover that he genuinely wants those things. His consistent attacks on free trade since the 1980s should have been a clue.
040
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Me reading Æsop's latest email about what I'm reasonably sure is just a new body wash, but is described in terms more usually reserved for great leaps forward in medical science, or second comings:
040
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
AllanJenkins21 @allanjenkins21.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
shitshow
042
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
It's a very niche skill I'll grant you but I was shopping with a friend in Ralph Lauren yesterday and he was looking at a shirt and said, "I can't seem to find the pricetag" and I looked at it and said "That'll be about £180" – and it was £179. I know my Polo! 🏇🏼
020
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/03/2025
Whistleblower’s exposé of the cult of Mark Zuckerberg reveals peril of power-crazy tech bros | John Naughton
theguardian.com
Whistleblower’s exposé of the cult of Mark Zuckerberg reveals peril of power-crazy tech bros | John Naughton
Meta’s attempt to silence ex-employee Sarah Wynn-Williams has drawn attention to its work on stifling freedom of expression in China
27682273
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Life of Sharks @thelifeofsharks.com · 15/03/2025
Not Toast?
7861112
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
JWexTheSpa @jwsidders.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
I urge you to find any way you can to read this. I mean, just go out and buy a hard copy of the FT. This article alone justifies the price. It is seminal.
12312
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Harriet Fitch Little @harrietfl.ft.com · 15/03/2025
“The FT Weekend Magazine is the home of quality longform writing at the FT” @kayewiggins.ft.com on.ft.com/4is3jM4
191
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
"I got you a battered sausage. It's like an olive branch, but much tastier." — outstanding scriptwriting from #EastEnders tonight, which has really taken Corrie's comedy crown
020
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Hugh Richard Wright @hughrichardwright.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
London’s longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant – and my newest client! – Pied à Terre has welcomed a new head chef, Alberto Cavaliere. Press release: eepurl.com/i_L366
001
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I don’t blame the individual novelists here - publishers quite often push titles and covers on authors - but there is something unsettling about the fact that, collected together, these covers make Auschwitz sound like a hipster neighbourhood with cool coffee shops and a Waitrose
55729164
Reposted by Hugh Smithson-Wright
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 11/03/2025
The Nigel Farage v Rupert Lowe prize fight is getting ugly. Has Reform reached its breaking point? | Marina Hyde
theguardian.com
The Nigel Farage v Rupert Lowe prize fight is getting ugly. Has Reform reached its breaking point? | Marina Hyde
It’s great for those who enjoy a punch-up on the right, but as the zealots duke it out, think of the voters who trusted them, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
1710323
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
"Can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat?" says man who sentences Ukrainians to death by cutting off military aid & intelligence-sharing as a bargaining chip and threat www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cl...
bbc.co.uk
Live updates: Trump orders 50% tariffs Canadian steel and aluminium
The US president says he will double what was to be a 25% tariff in retaliation to Canada's tariffs on energy.
172
Hugh Smithson-Wright @hughsmithsonwright.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
"Maybe there is such a thing as bad publicity" – hilarious, insightful brilliance from @financialtimes.com Alphaville Tesla’s crash back towards reality, in several charts - on.ft.com/4hsfZS1
on.ft.com
Tesla’s crash back towards reality, in several charts
Rapid unscheduled share-price disassembly
041