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richardbaker.bsky.social

@richardbaker.bsky.social
186 followers 325 following 994 posts

BakeronBusiness on Twitter. Former daily newsroom Dep Ed, business editor, current comms & engagement guy, perennial inquiring mind about past & present. Xscapee.

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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Well that lasted well…
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Tedious, predictable noise. The most powerful diplomatic response would be to ignore the old fraud.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
‘Watching’? I think you’ll find that the radiogram was the proper medium for civilised children, thank you very much.
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Reposted by @richardbaker.bsky.social
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 04/09/2026
Amazon's own balance sheet presents the most compelling evidence that we are stuck in the Enshittocene, the era in which everything is turning into a pile of shit, because the worst ideas of the worst people now make the most money. 1/
Hieronymus Bosch's 'The Conjuror,' a painting depicting a medieval con artist playing a shell game for an audience of astonished peasant rubes. The image has been altered: the conman now has Jeff Bezos's grinning head, and the mouths of all the peasants have been replaced with inverted Amazon 'Smile' logos, so they are now frowning.

Image:
Steve Jurvestson (modified)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeff_Bezos%27_iconic_laugh_crop.jpg

CC BY 2.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Do it as a script for Only Murders in the Building?
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Exactly that. It’s not meant for analysis; it’s meant for today’s vibes, which are themselves part of an endless journey to a place that will never exist because it needs to keep moving. Downwards.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Bert garden reaction to all phones going off: “Last orders!”. Otherwise, zero f****s were given…
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Typical Labour. Lights going out in the middle of summer.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Why Burnham’s Britain is doomed (copyright all lobby hacks)
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Tesla Model Why
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Literally on manoeuvres. Still.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Burnham’s emphasis on giving power back to the “place where you live” is interesting. Framing it around local identity is good, but that’s about to get complicated: some of the districts and boroughs whose names have defined places for decades are about to disappear under the LGR process.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is what happens when pol eds visit the regions.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Not exactly making headlines, but it really should be: a fundamental change in the way communities across England are going to be governed and served and in what they’re going to be called - www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
14 more areas to benefit from streamlined local services
Changes will simplify local government to unlock the path towards devolution and drive economic growth
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
UK regions: So, there’s this problem with regional inequality and it’s being going on for, well, decades and it’s just a bit obvious now… The Centre: Yes but reasons…
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
BREAKING: Foul on half-way line was clear penalty, White House says.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
‘A big stain on the World Cup’.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Coming next: White House asks for recount after USA lose #stopthesteal
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Temperatures now beyond GIF levels.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
As ever, the most meaningful insight on Burnham’s Manchester story comes from @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I see X is again proving its world-beating status as the place to go if you like your political analysis to resemble a one-way conversation with a pub bore who’s five pints down.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Surely the point here is that GB News doesn’t make ‘different’ editorial choices; it makes the same editorial choice most of the time, and engages in commentary-led formats that lack plurality.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Here we are at 9:45 at night and I’ve realised I’m almost suffering content anxiety. I’ve got a book on the go, 6 podcasts I need to listen to, a history magazine I haven’t read, a trash Jack Ryan flick on Prime I’m on the verge of ditching, and an inbox full of neglected Substacks. What a failure.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Banger anger as Brits get ONE point (exclusive to all tabloids) #eurovision
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Dire, derivative beat-noise #eurovision
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Hearing from polling stations that politics has been changed forever. Again.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Readying myself for an entire Sunday spent counting the appearance of the words ‘friends’ and ‘supporters’ and the phrases ‘sources close to’ and ‘was last night in chaos’.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Iran oil shock=fuel price tipping point=EV adoption=China auto industry wins. Great pity that ex Nissan COO/Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer isn’t on BlueSky.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Must try harder department: the only photo I took in the Courtauld today.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Comes to Lewes. Go round in (Norman) circles. And this is what you see.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Compare and contrast: the rigorous, dispassionate account of @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social with the headline certainties of Nigel Farage.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Brighton Pier just now. I predict I am going to be mightily hacked off about my decision to head to the south coast on the last Friday in March.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Well, here we all are on BlueSky having probably come here to calm down a bit. Now look at us…
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
“I’ve got a mate with a speedboat and he doesn’t mess about. He could drive a supertanker dead easy”
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Loud man makes ritual noise on social media. Dogs bark. Rinse and repeat.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
If she’s in charge of the Western Hemisphere, does that mean she’s running everything left of Greenwich?
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
In the good old days, tomorrow’s Telegraph would have a first-person account from Max Hastings explaining how he single-handedly sailed a Norfolk skiff through the Strait of Hormuz.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
‘One minute I was tryna remember some stuff we’d done in Venezuela, the next we did this thing in Iran…’
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Today is the first day of the rest of your seismic days for the future of UK politics. Again.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Shot and chaser: the US-based libertarian think tank Heartland Institute does some crude Farage flag-flying and crashes straight into someone at the sharp end of UK manufacturing.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Frontline politics just now
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
That’s ’Churchill biographer’ Boris Johnson again demonstrating his galaxy-brain grasp of international relations. And the BBC interviewing the wrong people.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Ok, so hot-tip for the psephologists out there: time to start mapping voting patterns against Waze #potholereported
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Yep ‘life chances’ is definitely the language they use down the metaphorical pub.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
“Risks”? We’ve been in ‘why would I travel to the USA’ territory for nearly a year now.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
One of my favourite games in city centres is looking up. Nottingham has some remarkable buildings in its core, though I do wish they’d replace those abysmal lamp standards with something more sympathetic or interesting.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Then as now: 1945, from Daniel Todman’s balanced, comprehensive and brilliant ‘A New World 1942-47’.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
So far, this Christmas is a great advert for not ordering online, even when there’s a click and collect at the end of it. Technology’s enshittification of the customer experience continues.
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richardbaker.bsky.social @richardbaker.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
The people’s game latest.
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