iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 5h

Oh, I've just seen they've dropped the opposition to nuclear this week. So it is a one-in, one-out approach on terrible policies

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 5h

Greens have been wrong on green issues for years. I think many voters just assumed they were right based on vibes, and their increased visibility only showed up their wrongness

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 9h

The problem is, that only emboldens those who want to see the end of an impartial Civil Service built on the principles of Honesty, Integrity, Impartiality and Objectivity. You don't show your integrity by concealing the process for review. As philosopher queen Princess Leia says:

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 9h

This to me is a system hunkering down and feeling like it has to do this behind closed doors. Because "people don't understand the issues" and the review will have to grapple with (for example) those who want to politicise the Civil Service.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 9h

1) Senior Civil Servants are no longer trying to uphold the intent of FoI legislation. S35 is intended to protect the content of policy discussions, not the fact that they are happening. 2) As Gavin suggests, is the CS just asking the "usual suspects" for input?

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 9h

If things are still as they were when I was SCS five years ago, a Deputy Director at least will have had to have signed off this FoI exemption. This should worry us for several reasons:

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Very good by Sam. The Euro in/out dynamic will be interesting. If opting out of ERM is basically an open-ended veto, I can't see how the EU could make the Euro a condition of membership. Better to yield the point in negotiation than have the "states rights" point proved in the years after agreement

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

YOU might think it is cute but all I see is the imminent environmental chaos caused by AMOC collapse and a bear driven away from its natural food sources by El Nino

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Bah. This just takes all the fun out of it. Whenever someone outside of govt used to email me articles (press or scientific), it would be a fun game of "can I access this or will I need to go to them grovelling to send me a PDF?"

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's been coming since the (I think very prescient) Jess Phillips resignation letter.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Agreed. Tiny point - I still find it ridiculous when they use "Conference" as a collective noun. Realise there may not be anything better, but it sounds so odd.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"We're going to put those homes... under the hammer"

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It has been a while since they had a top-10, but the exception is Kidz Bop. I was trying to explain to my kids why listening to straight covers is usually less enjoyable than the originals, while they ignored me and put on I'm Good (Blue) for the 120th time (the Kidz Bop cover, of the remix...)

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

3/ For English follows thinking "how big a deal is this", this short read is good - my (non-expert) view is this is at least as febrile an issue as Cash-for-Ash was in 2016, and that collapsed the NI Executive for three years. sluggerotoole.com/2026/09/28/w...

sluggerotoole.com

Will Sinn Féin or the DUP collapse Stormont?

There are many things from the ’90s you don’t mind seeing a comeback: Take That, Oasis, the return of vinyl, and even, more bizarrely, cassettes. But one thing that the majority of us were happy to se...

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

2/ Honestly not sure what has happened. Are that team no longer in place? Have they fundamentally misread the communities? Is Secretary of State not listening? (Most unlikely) Is there some kind of grand strategy? Something has gone seriously wrong and will take hard work to improve it from here.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

1/ In my experience, there are a very small number of officials at NIO who understand the dynamics of parading. They work incredibly hard behind the scenes to ensure the Secretary of State is well-briefed and, most importantly, no one on any side gets any surprises. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Drumcree: Orange Order parade dispute continues as main players hold talks

A controversial march was due to take place on Sunday morning but was blocked by protesters on the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

That Pullman bar is an absolute nightmare. Though this "game changer" will require a lot of politicos to stand in the pissing rain and wind blowing off the Mersey while they drink their pints.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Its great. It gives me licence to get off and barge people out of my way with no moral qualms.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Are you sure this isn't one of your photoshop efforts? That is a laughably small cake!!

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

If you said it in the 2000s about bankers, it wouldn't be believable. The sex/drugs bit maybe, but the extremely weird philosophy/cultishness, no chance. Everyone believes it in this case.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The first nursery year is absolutely mental. Once they go through that gauntlet, though, it gets better!! Everyone still gets ill in September, but it doesn't drag on until Christmas like the first year...

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In case anyone else missed it too bsky.app/profile/segy...

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

So NOW I understand all the references to the Aella sankey chart and Harry Potter fanfic on here yesterday. I think I preferred ignorance, tbh

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Give it a week. He will have a "Senior Director, Geostrategy" post at a Tufton Street thinktank.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"Competitive NCT Championships". Unbelievable.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It only took seven months for this level of self-awareness. Better late than never I suppose!

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It is like a person on a horse with wheels

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Noooo. Because of the position he plays he is more like the equivalent of a Viera or Keane. Great at the position but not the most important player in his team. And then, as you say, if Patrick Viera married Madonna.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

CRJ has some other bangers too, though. Good Time is as good as Call Me Maybe, I really Like You only a step behind.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Had the delight the other day of a conference with four decent bean-to-cup machines. Queues were not insignificant but it was worth it.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Introduce equestrians to the debate. Make it interesting.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Noooooo! bsky.app/profile/owen...

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Agreed. Other than small refs to ITER, it is a very US-skewed article. No mention of STEP/Culham, First Light et al or the strong German sector (Proxima etc). The article points out the issue of pilot/commercialisation but doesn't then discuss the leading pilot projects outside of the US.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Oh god, it's "UK urban pedestrians vs UK urban cyclists" Day on Bluesky already! It comes around earlier every year.

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Party with humanities grads: ultra-sexy and cool. Gitanes and negronis Party with STEM grads: someone builds a beer tower Party with economists: everyone drinks perry because it is best price/ABV

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Honestly, Science Ministers keep falling into this trap. While I think it is inexcusable and we're right to be annoyed that this keeps happening, we really ought to stop calling them "Science Minister" and, you know, actually give it a title which describes what it actually is supposed to be!

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The removal of Olly Robbins was a travesty which deprived the FCDO of the kind of leader it needed during a period of upheval. Talk about silver linings, though - Lindy Cameron is part of the small cadre of genuinely top quality officials in Whitehall www.ft.com/content/360d...

ft.com

Foreign Office to appoint first female head after Mandelson turmoil

Lindy Cameron becomes top civil servant at the department that was rocked by the sacking of predecessor Olly Robbins

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Don't get a chance to do as many conferences as I'd like these days, but excited to be at @nestauk.bsky.social's #PolicyLive today. If you see me, say hi!

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

McDonnell at 9 is a master-stroke. Centrebacks won't know what hit them.

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Reposted by Owen Jackson

Stuart Whomsley @stuartwhomsley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

@lordbonkers.bsky.social would you put Corbyn in goal?

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Owen Jackson @owenjackson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Just set up a new monthly donation to RNLI through Give-As-You-Earn. Top people.

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