Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Ash @queerash.bsky.social · 20/07/2026just thinking about the person who is live-following the reshuffle but also needs this 730845
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 13/06/2026Time to end the triple lock, cut generous welfare payments, and scrap net-zero. We need cheap energy and massively liberalised planning. Oh and to scrap the copyright and privacy laws preventing the emergence of frontier models over here. We are running out of time to get serious! 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 13/06/2026A British government with any sense would clear the barriers to a thriving domestic AI sector and encourage those “foreign nationals” who can’t do their job properly in the US to make their home here. 100
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 13/06/2026This, much like defence needs to be treated as a national and continental emergency. In Britain we have world class universities, no language barrier with the US, and plenty of talented researchers. 100
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 13/06/2026I think the US government will almost certainly u-turn on this - at least for other western nations (TACO and all that). UK and Europe will still fail to learn the lesson that access to frontier models can be turned off at the will of our adversaries if we don’t have domestic alternatives.anthropic.comStatement on the US government directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5The US government has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States. 100
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 15/02/2026What?? She was a great writer and there are loads more women publishing science fiction than back then? 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 12/02/2026I deeply sad to see millennials getting into nostalgia slop. 13375
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 10/02/2026Farage’s baffling war on hybrid working makes a lot more sense when you consider his audience. Those hoping Reform UK are going to shrink the state are going to be sorely disappointed. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comThe War on Hybrid Working is BoomerslopAnd this tells us a lot about Reform UK's priorities 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 05/02/2026Hearing it might be Ben Swain. 4539
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 24/09/2025Reform UK’s success has been driven by appearing more moderate than they actually are. This week’s immigration policy is out of step with public opinion. The fundamentals are soft and the party is celebrating victory too soon. My latest post 👇 buildvector.uk/p/farage-has...buildvector.ukFarage Has Overplayed His HandOr why I'm still bearish on Reform UK. 010
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Britain’s electricity prices are among the highest in the developed world. This is a blight on living standards and the wider economy. But how can we banish our scarcity mindset and embrace abundant, cheap energy? Today’s post is about exactly that 👇 buildvector.uk/p/why-is-uk-...buildvector.ukWhy Is UK Electricity So Expensive?And what can we do about it? 010
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 11/08/2025The West is ageing fast. Chequebook Pro-Natalism has failed to reverse falling birth rates and migration isn't a silver bullet. This week's post is about what we should do instead: buildvector.uk/p/the-wests-...buildvector.ukThe West’s Age of AdjustmentThe longer we wait, the harder ageing will hit 010
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 21/07/2025I voted for Starmer's Labour believing they would finally tackle Britain's housing crisis. But their decision to water down planning reform betrays their electoral coalition of renters and the young. A grim omen for progress. buildvector.uk/p/a-governme...buildvector.ukA Government For Blockers?Labour isn't building 010
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 23/04/2025The Lower Thames Crossing is a case study in Britain’s broken planning system. £450mn - a third of the total budget - has been spent on paperwork before digging a single metre of tunnel. on.ft.com/4jeSUUKon.ft.comOne-third of Lower Thames Crossing budget spent on planning documentsMore than £450mn used for obtaining permission for road tunnel scheme 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 03/03/2025Tarriffs could very well be Trump’s undoing. Economically illiterate, and will push prices up for domestic consumers. Let’s not forget he won the election because voters trusted him to lower prices more than Harris. 001
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 28/02/2025Where is Starmer's statement of support for Zelenskyy. No excuses. No equivocation. 1232209373
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 28/02/2025British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has refused to comment on the Trump attack on Zelenskyy, the FT reports. The only major European leader to do so. 204887301
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 28/02/2025America is no longer our strategic ally. There is no salvaging this. We need to treat this like the national and continental emergency that it is. Our top policy priority has to be strategic independence from the US. 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Jorge Félix Cardoso @jfelixcardoso.bsky.social · 28/02/2025“Have you ever been to Ukraine? Come once” Huge balls. Huge respect. The right side of history 191
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 28/02/2025I’ve never seen anything as bad as that Trump-Zelensky meeting. JD Vance really is an odious third wheel. 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 27/02/2025Starmer been doing a good job so far; nauseating tho’ it is to see him larding on the praise on such a repulsive figure as Trump. But, his answer on Canada was shameful, implying he had no issue with Trump’s absurd, offensive claims on Canada. Starmer risks sounding overly sycophantic. 138913
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/02/2025I said he implied it. If there isn’t a divide between the two countries then by definition there isn’t a division over their approach to Canada. I don’t think Starmer actually thinks that ofc. My point is that there *is* a division and Starmer was weak not to admit it. 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/02/2025All very pragmatic and blunted Reform/Tory attack lines. But medium term I don’t think being seen to be associated with Trump is going to be good for any British politician. 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/02/2025I’ve directly quoted what he said. He had the opportunity to speak out and chose instead to say there wasn’t a “divide” between UK and US. 100
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/02/2025Starmer just implied Britain has no qualms with the US annexing Canada. The media are “trying to find a divide that doesn’t exist” Cowardice from the PM. 110
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 23/02/2025The old order is collapsing. Friedrich Merz— previously a staunch Atlanticist— is now calling for European strategic independence from the US. Keir Starmer’s attempt to build a “bridge” with the US on Thursday may be redundant if nobody wants to cross it. 030
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 21/02/2025The government has left Apple with no choice but to remove Advanced Data Protection from the UK. I wrote recently about why the government is wrong. This move erodes our privacy without making us any safer. If you use the internet you should worry. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comThe UK Government's War on PrivacyEverybody who uses the internet should be worried 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 19/02/2025It’s time for Western leaders to pick a side; they’re either with Ukraine and democracy or Trump and the demagogues. 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Andrew Donaldson @four4thefire.bsky.social · 19/02/2025Chaberlain was a colossus of deterrence compared to this 2404
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 16/02/2025It’s impossible to fit all of Trump’s failings into 1000 words, alas. There are simply too many. 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 16/02/2025The free world is on the brink. This week, Trump began trading away Ukraine’s sovereignty, abandoning NATO, and inviting Putin back onto the world stage. For the democratic right, this is a moral reckoning. ottersandinsights.substack.com/p/the-rights-moral-reckoningottersandinsights.substack.comThe Right’s Moral ReckoningReflections After Democracy’s Darkest Week 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 09/02/2025My latest on the UK’s government’s fight with Apple over end-to-end encryption. We should all be worried about this anti-democratic erosion of our privacy. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comThe UK Government's War on PrivacyEverybody who uses the internet should be worried 000
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 07/02/2025Exclusive: Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud.wapo.stU.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accountsSecret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users. 3623093
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 07/02/2025Wrote about the BBC's funding mess. Ministers want Netflix users to pay the license fee, but that won't fix a model stuck in 1946. Time to separate public service from entertainment. commentcentral.co.uk/netflix-isnt...commentcentral.co.ukNetflix Isn’t Killing The BBC - The License Fee IsThe BBC is in a financial mess, and ministers are scrambling to find ways of plugging the broadcaster's nearly £500 million annual deficit. 011
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 03/02/2025These tools would be more useful if you could choose what sources you want the model to use. The web is a mess and full of clickbait SEO nonsense. The problem with these “deep research” models is they trust that content as much as broadsheet papers, journals etc. www.theverge.com/news/604902/...theverge.comChatGPT’s agent can now do deep research for youMore accurate, and more resource intensive. 110
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 30/01/2025Wrote about Germany this week and how cartel politics is the thread that joins together desperate economic and political failings. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comCartel Politics Has Strangled GermanyOr how Germany fell out of love with consensus 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 29/01/2025I’ve already got cliche bingo listening to Reeves’ speech. 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Up bright and early this morning on Times Radio to discuss Council Tax, Donald Trump, and why young people are fed up with democracy. ottersandinsights.substack.com/p/insights-e...ottersandinsights.substack.comInsights Elsewhere - Council Tax, Donald Trump, and Young People Against DemocracyReviewing the papers on Times Radio 27.1.2025 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 27/01/2025I do wonder the extent to which people are basing their judgement of LLMs on the free models anyone can access, like GPT-4o mini and Gemini Flash. The paid models are much smarter and less likely to hallucinate but are in front of far fewer people. 010
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 24/01/2025You can almost hear the internal discussion about whether it would be inappropriate to push-alert this to 14 million people. 2213
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 23/01/2025There are many instances of the British justice system failing to put people away for long enough. We should focus on those failings instead of the semantics of the Southport sentencing. In practice, he’s never going to be released (rightly). 020
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 22/01/2025Latest post now up! I think Reform UK is fundamentally overhyped. They have a low ceiling, and they hit it in 2024. The return of Trump and Farage’s unpopular stance on the NHS will stymie their progress - if Labour and the Tories play their cards right. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comWhy I'm Bearish on Reform UKTwo big reasons the party is overhyped 022
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 22/01/2025Latest post now up! I think Reform UK is fundamentally overhyped. They have a low ceiling, and they hit it in 2024. The return of Trump and Farage’s unpopular stance on the NHS will stymie their progress - if Labour and the Tories play their cards right. open.substack.com/pub/ottersan...open.substack.comWhy I'm Bearish on Reform UKTwo big reasons the party is overhyped 022
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 21/01/2025A big problem during Trump term one was that his opponents responded to everything he did by accusing him of being a fascist. Then when he really did do things that were fascistic, the word lost all meaning. And so we end up with the “Roman salute”. 010
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 21/01/2025At what point does that stop mattering though? What’s the difference between a Fascist and someone doing a perfect impression of a Fascist. 000
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 21/01/2025There is no difference between a Roman salute and a Nazi salute. 010
Reposted by Jack Rowlett 🌐Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 19/12/2024Changing electoral donation rules to stop one donor a bad idea. To change system that has benefited established parties & stop donations that now benefit an insurgent party will confirm sense system is rigged & drive backlash. To avoid that do a change which comes into effect after next election 120185
Jack Rowlett 🌐 @jackrowlett.bsky.social · 18/12/2024Kemi Badenoch lambasts Starmer at PMQs for “playing politics” over the issue of WASPI women… and then agrees with the government that they shouldn’t be compensated. We talk a lot about Starmer being bad at politics, but Badenoch may be even worse. 022