iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 7h

To adapt a metaphor, an empty taxi pulled up at the Berlin Chancellery and Andy Burnham got out ….

071

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 7h

In Berlin this week …depressing to report that British pms visit seems to have gone unnoticed …

333

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 7h

An author with big thoughts with flimsy underpinnings … my thought is that political book of year is Jan rugers Great Powers about Anglo-german relations and film (by many miles) De Gaulle parts one and two….

020

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 14h

I'm sorry if this is obvious but the Tory proposal to exempt family homes completely from IHT will lead to 1] pensioners buying the biggest houses they possibly can 2] pensioners refusing to downsize which can only be bad news for younger families trying to buy family homes

85951233

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

For all the culpability of the centre are we now watching the far left in the process of gifting France to the far right?

241

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Of course we Tories are not climate change deniers …it’s just that we want to abandon the net zero target, scrap environmental controls. and expand Heathrow ….

0197

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Free childcare for the rich and lower benefits for jobless young …well at least we know Badenoch isn’t pitching for the youth vote….

1168

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Please give me a winnable seat ….

120

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

They seem weird because, well, this lot are pretty weird…and Badenoch has now decreed “her party” as it now is must behave as a devoted cult rather than political movement

041

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

What has happened to standards at the FT!

120

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Forget hysteria of Westminster commentariat hailing Burnham as either Messiah or Marxist. FT's @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social head and shoulders above pack in political profiling of PM. Informed and sober, interesting not hysterical. www.ft.com/content/62f7...

ft.com

The Burnham tell

The prime minister’s conference speech was authentically Andy

1205

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Sad to seeBritish prime minister fall at feet at UAE …is this the promised change?

062

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

After disastrous opening weeks British Museum excels itself by turning away Bayeux Tapestry tickeholders to accommodate a corporate sponsor ….still i suppose it is chaired by George Osborne British Museum turns away Bayeux Tapestry visitors for corporate event www.thetimes.com/article/2c85...

thetimes.com

British Museum turns away Bayeux Tapestry visitors for corporate event

Angry ticket holders accuse the gallery of putting corporate sponsors ahead of the public after they were shut out of the exhibition

494

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Petrus Crinitus @petruscrinitus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Timely. This was just delivered in the las hour:

002

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Am I alone in thinking use of the C word carries more than an undertone of misogyny …it’s an insult favoured by the likes of Boris Johnson …I don’t hear women saying it …

380

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I had thought Andy Burnham had promised to fix social care…now it seems he is only offering a “vision” to be implemented at some indeterminate date beyond the 2029 election …and the politicians wonder why they have lost the trust of voters…

3167

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

No you are not …seems when Burnham made all those promises to oust Starmer the invisble fine print included a proviso they were not for the present parliament …word in Whitehall is that upcoming 10-year plan will include all the promises he cannot keep! Used to be called kicking into long grass..

031

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 27/09/2026

Everyone is twelve 🙄

910013

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Tony Blair’s think-tank offers political access to $25,000-a-year corporate members. Blair selling access …nothing new there …

081

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Yes..Howard Davies report was a bad joke

100

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Dear Mr Putin I write so you are in no doubt that Britain is ensuring our armed forces can respond robustly to Russian aggression. Do not be misled by our cancellation of training for our reserve forces in order to save money. Our resolve is undimmed. Yours Wes Streeting, UK Defence Secretary

1111

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

One day everyone is going to realise that Heathrow is never, ever, going to have a third runway and at last begin a useful discussion about Britain's airports.. www.ft.com/content/0206...

ft.com

118516

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

So what's going to be in Andy Burnham's much promoted 10-year plan? Adviser: "Everything! All the promises he is slowly accepting that he can't keep".

133

Reposted by Philip Stephens

David Clark @david-k-clark.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Who to believe? A politician with a long track record of being wrong or actual experts in the subject? It’s a tricky one.

2198

Reposted by Philip Stephens

RossMoffat @rossmoffat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The Times & Telegraph can't help themselves, but if in some small way, a poll that shows Reform falling behind nudges the editorial team at the ostensibly neutral BBC into giving them a proportionate amount of (i.e. less) airtime, it'll have done something useful.

022

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Last year vast screeds were written predicting Nigel Farages effortless match into no 10 …now forests are being felled for the pundits to explain Britain is heading for a Lab Lib pact in 2029 …political commentary used to be half serious .

0172

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Much better if everyone just shut up about these voter intention polls

1103

Reposted by Philip Stephens

paulusthewoodgnome @paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Britain... It's a class act. 🎩 Privately Educated: Senior Armed Forces 63% Senior Judges: 62% House of Lords: 52% Foreign Office Diplomats: 53% Newspaper Columnists: 50% Political Commentators: 47% Leading Podcasters: 45% BBC Executives: 38% General Population: 7% elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

Elitist Britain 2025

912369

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

British Museum boasting that if you have a timed slot for Bayeux it will now only make you wait for an additional hour or so before hustling you through …

001

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

After the shallowness of 0dysseus the brilliance of De Gaulle …vive la France!

012

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Congratulations, Annette. That's fantastic!

051

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 21/09/2026

Good idea - we all trust the US, after all

79817

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Musa Okwonga @okwonga.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

They always sound so excited, too. “It’s a political earthquake! It’s a shockwave!“ Well yes, that’s the rumble of approaching jackboots. Why are you so hyped?

15772140

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Over the last few months these guys made me proud to be British: kind, practical, profoundly moral, a testament to this island. Now they're targeted by the very worst of us. I just gave them a bunch of money. You should too. Show those fascist clowns what's what. rnli.org/support-us/g...

rnli.org

Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea

Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.

451393440

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Seems only yesterday that all those pundits obsessed by opinion polls were previewing Farage’s stroll into No 10

2114

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It’s a longstanding trick that used to be the property of tabloids in days when they would ask “Do you beat your wife?”

030

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

BBC: Mr Davey are the Lib Dems sleepwalking to irrelevance under you leadership? Davey: No BBC headline: "Davey denies he is sleepwalking his party to irrelevance" So much for BBC impartiality.

1213

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Alan B. Goode @albgoode.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Same here on Thursday evening. Got the 5-6pm slot, got in at 6.10 to be told they were turning the lights off at 6.20. Farcical.

131

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Legal C @legalclaret.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Wait 18 months. Book a trip to Bayeux. Walk into the exhibition without any queue. Browse at your leisure. Take as long as you need.

2353

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Nothing makes me think the King behaved well after the death of princess Diana but it does strike me there could be no more thoroughly obnoxious and self serving a witness as Charles Spenser …

1131

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Kate Allen @kateallen.ft.com · 20/09/2026

I’m afraid this is par for the course for the BM. Their entry process is always an absolute shitshow. Timed tickets mean nothing. It’s ridiculous. Perhaps you could call George Osborne and ask him to sort it out?!

041

Reposted by Philip Stephens

Felix Drost @felixdrost.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Plus Bayeux is a lovely town with two other wonderful musea, a total treat.

041

Philip Stephens @philipstephens.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Hopefully BM will have got a grip by then....

130