iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I quite like the John Lewis shopping environment but it’s true that the last time I visited Peter Jones which was a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t attract or even find a member of staff to help me and I left without buying the air fryer I had gone in to purchase.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Meanwhile the also 17 year old Sandie Shaw was at number one in the charts with her first hit, Always Something There To Remind Me by Bacharach & David (No.1 for 3 wks from 22 October to 11 November, 1964).

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Which is the more ridiculous lord - Frost or Hannan? Frost - a pompous droning-on-and-on bore who never says or does anything interesting or worthwhile ever… Or Hannan - an absurdly preening Tory whose vanity means he’ll never admit to being stratospherically wrong about everything?

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Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

We're just at the end of your last ten year plan. Not gonna lie, the results ain't that great.

DAVID FROST

I too have a 10-year plan – but unlike Burnham's, mine works

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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The Starmer government was one of the most left-leaning we’ve had that was almost never identified as such.

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Carol Hedges @riotgrandma.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🙄🙄 They hounded him over a curry They hounded him over a pair of glasses They hounded him over a suit They hounded him over using a quiet flat to let his son revise They hounded him if he went abroad They hounded him if he stayed in the UK Meanwhile Farage pockets £gazillions, lies, incites riots..

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Can someone please put BBC News to sleep. Honestly the BBC is the architect of all its current travails & if change doesn’t come quickly will be the architect of its own downfall.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Give me the name of a recent PM who has? Cameron? No. May? No. Johnson? Absolutely not. Truss? Lol! Sunak? No. The media has demanded considerably higher standards from Starmer than have been expected of others.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

But surely it’s irrefutable that in a democracy you need a GE mandate to change a 200 yr old voting system, or a referendum. Referendums are a blunt instrument as we’ve seen so the way forward for PR has to be an organised national discussion & consultation, a compelling case & a manifesto pledge.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Why is anyone surprised? He’s always been a flip flopper … see both leadership bids in which he refused to give a straight answer to questions or said whatever he thought people wanted to hear …

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Paul Singh 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @paulsingh.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

You’ve got to wonder if these MPs understand how they’re infighting is effecting the economy, bond markets, the job market, investment decisions? Because they’re undermining the stability this country needs for personal ambition & ego driven politics. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

But Starmer has courage in abundance as he keeps demonstrating

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Hmmm but just a few weeks ago Jess Phillips was lauding Starmer as a great supporter …so this isn’t about policy & delivery this is about their self interest & fear of losing their seats in 2029. And politicians & political commentators wonder why people are cynical about politics & politicians!

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Morten Morland @mortenmorland.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

From the archive

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Hmmm … what came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Speak for yourself … I know it’s taking me & other ordinary people us to a better place than we were in for the previous 14 years … NHS investment, increases in minimum wage & public sector pay, enhanced employment & renters rights , improved relations with the EU etc

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

This is disingenuous. The media labelled it a “loveless landslide” from day 1 & has been undermining Starmer & the Govt ever since. And as you know full well the economy & black hole that Labour inherited have prevented it from achieving “whatever it wanted”.

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Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Any Labour politician who doesn’t constantly link inflation with Farage for his Brexit and his Trumphilia is lacking basic competence

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

The political media is only interested in scandal, failure, personality & process … the good news and actual achievements are barely reported

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

So book for the second service? But my tip for a really enjoyable restaurant meal is, book a table for a late lunch, say at 2pm & sit back & relax … the staff is less stressed at this time & often happy for you to linger all afternoon until they have to start to prepare for first evening service.

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Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 12/04/2026

Hungary has chosen Europe. Europe has always chosen Hungary. A country reclaims its European path. The Union grows stronger.

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Just wanted to remind folks, especially the GOP and the FDD, that Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal didn’t give Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz or allow it to keep 60% enriched uranium. It sent $1.7 billion to Iran versus the tens of billions Iran will now make from tolls. 🤷🏽‍♂️

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Because a long forgotten golf player crashed his car (again) 3,000 miles away on the other side of the world… & you know, priorities

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Johnson and Gove should be pariahs … Hannan, Frost & all the rest of their sorry gang too … but still they are given credence! It’s inexplicable

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Well that’s a depressing state of affairs but yes it is mirrored in the history of working class people repeatedly voting against their own best interests in the UK & the USA

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Yes I get this George … the Keunssbergs, Masons, Pestons, Littlejohns, Tomneys & Vines of the media world … & the editors too …but what about the ordinary jobbing journalists & technicians who must make up the majority of media employees & who have so much to loose from the right’s agenda?

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Wow there is going to be a lot of vinegar in the market place … the price should plummet!

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

But why do rank & file journalists & other ‘ordinary’ people involved in producing & delivering the media go along with it? They won’t all be on big salaries, & their families certainly won’t be … they’ll have mortgages & be reliant on the NHS, social services & state education like the rest of us 🤷🏽‍♂️

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

He’s great … The Shape of Water was truly great … Frankenstein, not so much.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

We don’t have TbyJ in most cases now & the ltd extension was recommended by Leveson to address backlogs. Natalie Fleet MP who was groomed as a girl & speaks for victims of sexual abuse has said she supports it on the basis that currently defendants play the system & victims can wait yrs for justice

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Warren Oates @warrenoates1.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

The Guardian has a positive article about Labour today on the benefits of the Employment Rights Act 2025, much of which comes into force next month. Please read the article and share it widely, to let the Guardian know this is more the sort of content we want! www.theguardian.com/law/2026/mar...

theguardian.com

New Employment Rights Act ‘a huge boost for women in the workplace’

Government says new rights for parental leave and sick pay will increase equality and economic growth

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Hmmm 3 things: 1. Half the residents of those posh Wiltshire villages are 2nd home owners from London 2. Chalke has a stated aim to improve diversity of content so GM/AR as 2nd generation immigrants should be right up their street 3. Tom Holland is a big music fan!

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Enjoyed seeing you at the Chalke History Festival a couple of years ago. Any chance you’ll be back this summer to talk about the new book?

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Also Andrew was a Boris Johnson fan & voter in 2019 which has somewhat defiled my memories of Wham. I’ll always love George though (who I’m pretty sure wouldn’t have been) & am looking forward to reading the book.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Would be nice to think The Guardian at @theguardian1.bsky.social , might be taking its own advice & adopting a self-help plan to become “a better, happier, more successful You” too.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I have no sympathy for Andrew W or Sarah F but another unsavoury aspect of the story is the way sycophantic royal correspondents now tell us they always knew they were ‘bad ‘uns’. So why didn’t they say earlier? Could it be because they are royal lobbyists & institution gatekeepers first & foremost?

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I’ve no sympathy for Andrew or Fergie but another unsavoury aspect of their story is the way sycophantic royal correspondents are suddenly claiming they knew they were ‘bad ‘uns’ all along. So why didn’t they say so at the time? Because they are lobbyists & institutional gatekeepers 1st & foremost!?

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

I wish I was as reassured … Johnson & Truss still have platforms & a significant number of followers … & Farage is given credence & touted as a future PM despite everything we know about him

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Paul Singh 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @paulsingh.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The feral media think they have the power to make & unmake Prime Ministers - and this belief has led to some of the most thinned skinned individuals in journalism becoming some of the most heavily criticised people in our media

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Paul Singh 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @paulsingh.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

People are seeing through the media’s campaign of disinformation

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Yes the right wing media but also so many individual political hacks who don’t have the guts to break ranks & always go for the low hanging fruit rather than do the difficult investigative stuff.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Apart from Dubai-based patriots

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I always enjoy your work Gaby & agreed there are multiple stories here but I don’t think they’ve been prioritised objectively or fairly. I also think that Laura, Chris, Nick, Beth & the BBC et al should reflect that when journalists become the story, they transition from observers to participants.

gaby.do

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Literally nobody is saying all govt problems are caused by media & most of the comments I’ve seen have been pleas to media & politicians to focus on the real story, the men whose names appear repeatedly in the E files & the testimony of the victims rather than hijack it for party political purposes.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Sorry but the general public are increasingly seeing political hacks, podcasters & presenters as the bad guys and rather than getting defensive and doubling down you should ask yourself why. Maybe we don’t want constant manufactured outrage & upheaval.

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

This is disingenuous. Back office staff have been pushed & ministers were positioning themselves because they thought the media was going to succeed in bringing down the PM. Nobody is defending Mandelson now but plenty supported his appointment in the circumstances of the time e.g., Gove & Farage

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Mark Hirst @markhirst.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

You’ve been right on Europe since 2016 Graham but you are wrong about this

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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

BREAKING: A Downing Street spokesman says: “Keir Starmer is one of only four Labour leaders ever to have won a general election. “He has a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change, and that is what he will do.”

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