@ianfraser.bsky.social you've got to wonder if this wasn't happening with that Harry, Barry, Ali and Sally school fees story in the Tel (different PRs, obvs) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Lobbying giant filmed offering reporter payment for flattering client coverage in national press
Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinion
www.theguardian.com
July 22, 2026 at 5:24 PM
@ianfraser.bsky.social you've got to wonder if this wasn't happening with that Harry, Barry, Ali and Sally school fees story in the Tel (different PRs, obvs) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Annie Shaw
"Ben owns a farm. He employs 100 workers. His payroll is $10 million/year. One day, he buys a mule, which provides the worker who uses it a modest 10% productivity gain. Benjamin fires 99 of his workers and purchases 99 mules, expecting a 1000% productivity gain."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...
AI Economics for Dummies
“Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 bi...
www.mcsweeneys.net
July 16, 2026 at 2:07 PM
"Ben owns a farm. He employs 100 workers. His payroll is $10 million/year. One day, he buys a mule, which provides the worker who uses it a modest 10% productivity gain. Benjamin fires 99 of his workers and purchases 99 mules, expecting a 1000% productivity gain."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ai-...
Reposted by Annie Shaw
I see today is a day to be concerned about pension schemes investing in Thames Water.
Could someone let the hard-pressed pension scheme trustee know when they can next expect to be criticised for not investing enough in infrastructure?
Could someone let the hard-pressed pension scheme trustee know when they can next expect to be criticised for not investing enough in infrastructure?
June 24, 2026 at 8:56 AM
I see today is a day to be concerned about pension schemes investing in Thames Water.
Could someone let the hard-pressed pension scheme trustee know when they can next expect to be criticised for not investing enough in infrastructure?
Could someone let the hard-pressed pension scheme trustee know when they can next expect to be criticised for not investing enough in infrastructure?
Reposted by Annie Shaw
Putting former Barclays bankers in charge of financial regulators usually ends in disaster.
Worth remembering the role of ex Barclays investment banker Sir Callum McCarthy, a man who didn't actually believe in financial regulation, as chair of the FSA from September 2003 to September 2008.
Worth remembering the role of ex Barclays investment banker Sir Callum McCarthy, a man who didn't actually believe in financial regulation, as chair of the FSA from September 2003 to September 2008.
![excerpt from Ian Fraser's Shredded: Inside RBS [NatWest] The Bank That Broke Britain, on former FSA chairman Sir Callum McCarthy.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hkymayju75fztvcvalleli3a/bafkreibtivvn6xdaq6hn6yvuc5sp7znqchzdpl7vrh2bffi3r63k3cl4lm)
May 20, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Putting former Barclays bankers in charge of financial regulators usually ends in disaster.
Worth remembering the role of ex Barclays investment banker Sir Callum McCarthy, a man who didn't actually believe in financial regulation, as chair of the FSA from September 2003 to September 2008.
Worth remembering the role of ex Barclays investment banker Sir Callum McCarthy, a man who didn't actually believe in financial regulation, as chair of the FSA from September 2003 to September 2008.
Reposted by Annie Shaw
This show needs to be shut down right now - it shouldn't be able to survive this. And more broadly, I hope it signals the beginning of the end of shows where people are thrown together in the hope that they'll shag each other and then have dramas. It's a shit, exploitative model that needs to die
Channel 4 boss apologises after Married at First Sight sexual misconduct allegations
Priya Dogra says she believes channel acted appropriately, but that she is ‘deeply sorry’ for distress of participants
www.theguardian.com
May 20, 2026 at 1:51 PM
This show needs to be shut down right now - it shouldn't be able to survive this. And more broadly, I hope it signals the beginning of the end of shows where people are thrown together in the hope that they'll shag each other and then have dramas. It's a shit, exploitative model that needs to die
Reposted by Annie Shaw
106 years ago today, on May 7th, an undergraduate at Christchurch College, Oxford, drank a glass of port then left through the main gates for a walk. I've been thinking about him, & his walk, for years now. It's taken a long time for me to figure out why - why I've kept returning, near obsessed.
May 7, 2026 at 10:04 AM
106 years ago today, on May 7th, an undergraduate at Christchurch College, Oxford, drank a glass of port then left through the main gates for a walk. I've been thinking about him, & his walk, for years now. It's taken a long time for me to figure out why - why I've kept returning, near obsessed.
Reposted by Annie Shaw
Michael Haas @forbiddenmusic.bsky.social Korngold - Up Close and Personal forbiddenmusic.org/2026/04/30/k...
Korngold – Up Close and Personal - Forbidden Music
Two publications available for the first time in English - the memoirs of Erich Korngold's wife, conceived as a biography of her husband and a separate collection of family correspondence. One can fin...
forbiddenmusic.org
April 30, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Michael Haas @forbiddenmusic.bsky.social Korngold - Up Close and Personal forbiddenmusic.org/2026/04/30/k...
Reposted by Annie Shaw
The Oval Office looks like the display window of a darts trophy shop I once saw in Withernsea
March 3, 2026 at 5:16 PM
The Oval Office looks like the display window of a darts trophy shop I once saw in Withernsea
This absolutely wins the internet for today. 😂
This is an extremely fun way to kill a few minutes on a by-election day: generate your own Allister Heath headlines. Here's mine.
February 26, 2026 at 11:37 AM
This absolutely wins the internet for today. 😂
Reposted by Annie Shaw
This is an extremely fun way to kill a few minutes on a by-election day: generate your own Allister Heath headlines. Here's mine.
February 26, 2026 at 11:27 AM
This is an extremely fun way to kill a few minutes on a by-election day: generate your own Allister Heath headlines. Here's mine.
Reposted by Annie Shaw
#LunchPun
With turmoil at number 10 I think the 3rd Miliband brother should be the Prime Minister. Steve would be a great PM. Abracadabra, problem solved.
With turmoil at number 10 I think the 3rd Miliband brother should be the Prime Minister. Steve would be a great PM. Abracadabra, problem solved.
February 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM
#LunchPun
With turmoil at number 10 I think the 3rd Miliband brother should be the Prime Minister. Steve would be a great PM. Abracadabra, problem solved.
With turmoil at number 10 I think the 3rd Miliband brother should be the Prime Minister. Steve would be a great PM. Abracadabra, problem solved.
Reposted by Annie Shaw
Imagine being so corrupt and authoritarian even Sepp Blatter thinks you've gone too far.
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Sepp Blatter suggests fans should not travel to US for World Cup
The ex-Fifa boss showed his support of a Swiss lawyer who called for a boycott of the tournament due to security concerns in the US
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Imagine being so corrupt and authoritarian even Sepp Blatter thinks you've gone too far.
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
🎯
Since WASPI are back in the news, here’s an article I wrote about the subject 8 years ago. My views remain largely unaltered.
www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/ar...
www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/ar...
The persistence of lack of memory. How the state retirement age was changed and communicated – politicalbetting.com
www1.politicalbetting.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:50 AM
🎯
Reposted by Annie Shaw
first the internet got me to side with Michael O'Leary in his spat with Musk, now this.
end times.
end times.
Sepp Blatter suggests fans should not travel to US for World Cup
Sepp Blatter suggests fans should not travel to US for World Cup
*
Ex-Fifa boss shows support for boycott calls
*
Security concerns over tournament have risen
Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on Monday suggested he supports fans boycotting World Cup matches in the United States this year due to security concerns.
Blatter gave his support to comments from Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth, who worked with Fifa on potential reforms when Blatter was president, saying fans should stay away from the US for the tournament. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:36 PM
first the internet got me to side with Michael O'Leary in his spat with Musk, now this.
end times.
end times.
uh oh! Who'd a thunk?
Early days for “CDC” (collective defined contribution” pension schemes) but this arrived in the virtual post about the Royal Mail.
(Today’s FT.)
(Today’s FT.)
December 22, 2025 at 9:41 AM
uh oh! Who'd a thunk?
Reposted by Annie Shaw
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Reposted by Annie Shaw
It’s been a dreadful week in a rough year…decade…forever, and the only solution for the weekend is to finally treat myself to this wonderful book by @municipaldreams.bsky.social. Bookmark from the mighty @bookhaus.bsky.social. A refuge for a couple of days
November 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It’s been a dreadful week in a rough year…decade…forever, and the only solution for the weekend is to finally treat myself to this wonderful book by @municipaldreams.bsky.social. Bookmark from the mighty @bookhaus.bsky.social. A refuge for a couple of days
Reposted by Annie Shaw
My second book, A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates, is a full colour hardback so not cheap but it's currently discounted and obviously worth every penny. It would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone special in your life. 😊
www.ribabooks.com/a-history-of...
www.ribabooks.com/a-history-of...
A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates
Buy A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates by Boughton, John from the RIBA online Bookshop. ISBN 9781914124631
www.ribabooks.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM
My second book, A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates, is a full colour hardback so not cheap but it's currently discounted and obviously worth every penny. It would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone special in your life. 😊
www.ribabooks.com/a-history-of...
www.ribabooks.com/a-history-of...
Reposted by Annie Shaw
lol abolishing stamp duty is a policy that will prove hugely popular with the wonk set before absolutely blowing up the moment they announce what would replace it - or, alternatively, how they'd fund the lost revenue
October 8, 2025 at 11:25 AM
lol abolishing stamp duty is a policy that will prove hugely popular with the wonk set before absolutely blowing up the moment they announce what would replace it - or, alternatively, how they'd fund the lost revenue
Reposted by Annie Shaw
We're celebrating International #RepairDay at the Barbican Centre with an exciting session for those at any point in their repairing journey! 🪛🧰🔧
October 8, 2025 at 11:38 AM
We're celebrating International #RepairDay at the Barbican Centre with an exciting session for those at any point in their repairing journey! 🪛🧰🔧
Reposted by Annie Shaw
At #HMAwards25 with all the team including of course @bbcdanw.bsky.social and @paullewismoney.bsky.social
July 16, 2025 at 9:05 PM
At #HMAwards25 with all the team including of course @bbcdanw.bsky.social and @paullewismoney.bsky.social
Reposted by Annie Shaw
The business model of acting to satisfy my demands as a drama consumer make no sense. You spend your career working your way up to a role in what I watch [obvs the pinnacle of your output] and then retire, as you are unable to suspend disbelief in the next thing, always associated with the last one
July 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
The business model of acting to satisfy my demands as a drama consumer make no sense. You spend your career working your way up to a role in what I watch [obvs the pinnacle of your output] and then retire, as you are unable to suspend disbelief in the next thing, always associated with the last one
So Keir Starmer says Rachel Reeves is "going nowhere". I think we can all agree on that 🙄
July 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
So Keir Starmer says Rachel Reeves is "going nowhere". I think we can all agree on that 🙄
Reposted by Annie Shaw
John Major had a good question which he said could be asked of anyone interested in a political career: what would you resign over? If there’s nothing, you’re just someone who wants to be an MP. You need something that you believe in.
June 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
John Major had a good question which he said could be asked of anyone interested in a political career: what would you resign over? If there’s nothing, you’re just someone who wants to be an MP. You need something that you believe in.