Gareth Potter
@garethpotter.com
Reposted by Gareth Potter
It’s a tiny thing, but I’m glad this has happened. Feels like a gentle sticking up of a finger to the people who felt that our great city wasn’t worthy of being trusted with its own governance.
The King has commanded that the Greater London Authority (GLA) shall be allowed to use the coat of arms that once belonged to its predecessor, the GLC.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...
The King grants the Mayor of London permission to use the GLC’s historic coat of arms
The King has commanded that the Greater London Authority (GLA) shall be allowed to use the coat of arms that once belonged to its predecessor, the GLC.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM
It’s a tiny thing, but I’m glad this has happened. Feels like a gentle sticking up of a finger to the people who felt that our great city wasn’t worthy of being trusted with its own governance.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Everyone's dunking on Polanski for this. But it's a sign of the general dearth of public intellectuals that there are so few good high-profile leftist economists.
Pinched this video from @cjsnowdon.bsky.social on Twitter because Bluesky has to see it.
Nothing can prepare you for the punchline here.
Nothing can prepare you for the punchline here.
December 2, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Everyone's dunking on Polanski for this. But it's a sign of the general dearth of public intellectuals that there are so few good high-profile leftist economists.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Among other issues with Zipcar's model in London: Having to negotiate individually with 32 boroughs, some of which charged thousands of pounds per car. Meanwhile, Croydon council outsourced much of their employee car fleet to Zipcar and may be a bit screwed. www.londoncentric.media/p/zipcar-lon...
Why Zipcar gave up on London
The car-sharing scheme was hit by rapidly increased costs, a new congestion charge, and a lack of support from councils.
www.londoncentric.media
December 2, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Among other issues with Zipcar's model in London: Having to negotiate individually with 32 boroughs, some of which charged thousands of pounds per car. Meanwhile, Croydon council outsourced much of their employee car fleet to Zipcar and may be a bit screwed. www.londoncentric.media/p/zipcar-lon...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
every time Argentineans post their little crybully rants about the Falklands it's a reminder of the mentality that resulted in their incompetent fascist junta getting hundreds of their own conscript soldiers killed in an unprovoked invasion.
December 2, 2025 at 1:07 AM
every time Argentineans post their little crybully rants about the Falklands it's a reminder of the mentality that resulted in their incompetent fascist junta getting hundreds of their own conscript soldiers killed in an unprovoked invasion.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I wonder if it's time to retire the role of "political editor" altogether
Return most of the coverage to the Economics Editor, the Health Editor, the Home Affairs team & so on.
Leave the "who-said-what-to-whom" & "what-does-it-mean-for-the-polls" to others. The BBC doesn't need to foreground this.
Return most of the coverage to the Economics Editor, the Health Editor, the Home Affairs team & so on.
Leave the "who-said-what-to-whom" & "what-does-it-mean-for-the-polls" to others. The BBC doesn't need to foreground this.
Watched BBC 6 o clock news. Just a completely unserious broadcast. Chris Mason, acting like a children's entertainer, giving a prolonged impenetrable editorial. Not a whiff of informative content about the Budget or what it means for the country. Just playschool blah blah bollocks.
December 1, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I wonder if it's time to retire the role of "political editor" altogether
Return most of the coverage to the Economics Editor, the Health Editor, the Home Affairs team & so on.
Leave the "who-said-what-to-whom" & "what-does-it-mean-for-the-polls" to others. The BBC doesn't need to foreground this.
Return most of the coverage to the Economics Editor, the Health Editor, the Home Affairs team & so on.
Leave the "who-said-what-to-whom" & "what-does-it-mean-for-the-polls" to others. The BBC doesn't need to foreground this.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Since it has been formally announced we have moved to the far more important story, did it hurt the lobby's feelings?
The inherent difficulties in projections, and the government's actual policy decisions, somehow spun into "did you lie to me? Laura K/Bobby P/Chris M, The protagonist of reality?"
The inherent difficulties in projections, and the government's actual policy decisions, somehow spun into "did you lie to me? Laura K/Bobby P/Chris M, The protagonist of reality?"
December 1, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Since it has been formally announced we have moved to the far more important story, did it hurt the lobby's feelings?
The inherent difficulties in projections, and the government's actual policy decisions, somehow spun into "did you lie to me? Laura K/Bobby P/Chris M, The protagonist of reality?"
The inherent difficulties in projections, and the government's actual policy decisions, somehow spun into "did you lie to me? Laura K/Bobby P/Chris M, The protagonist of reality?"
Reposted by Gareth Potter
There was maybe a 45 minute window where you could get coverage of what was actually in the budget and it was, crucially, the period when it was leaked by the OBR but before it was announced.
December 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
There was maybe a 45 minute window where you could get coverage of what was actually in the budget and it was, crucially, the period when it was leaked by the OBR but before it was announced.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
the processology of the budget leak really isn't anything more than a footnote but nonetheless I want to note that it appears a reporter (who I assume is @bruceandy.bsky.social) was just spending the morning hitting refresh on a hunch they *might* at some point upload it early and I respect that
December 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
the processology of the budget leak really isn't anything more than a footnote but nonetheless I want to note that it appears a reporter (who I assume is @bruceandy.bsky.social) was just spending the morning hitting refresh on a hunch they *might* at some point upload it early and I respect that
Reposted by Gareth Potter
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 1, 2025 at 11:29 AM
No that's not *your* on *our behalf*. Your job is to report the story, presenting all sides fairly and then *we* call it. What Mason is saying here is fundamentally not what the bbc is for!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Feel like I'm going mad. The Budget's 'headroom' is based on frankly irresponsible and wildly optimistic claims about what Labour will do in the final year of the forecast, and on ignoring a bunch of upward pressures on spending, and the claim is that she was being exaggeratedly *pessimistic*?
Suggestion Rachel Reeves exaggerated fiscal pressures is absurd
Chancellor was instead far too optimistic about public finances and government’s ability to secure cuts
www.ft.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Feel like I'm going mad. The Budget's 'headroom' is based on frankly irresponsible and wildly optimistic claims about what Labour will do in the final year of the forecast, and on ignoring a bunch of upward pressures on spending, and the claim is that she was being exaggeratedly *pessimistic*?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Don’t say this lightly but Birmingham Mail’s gaming of its position on Apple News/Google to farm clicks makes it one of the most effective spreaders of false information in the country.
Could list a dozen way more egregious examples of fake ragebait it’s pumped out recently.
Could list a dozen way more egregious examples of fake ragebait it’s pumped out recently.
An online Birmingham Mail headline "Drivers with cruise control urged to press button or face £73 charge in June" breached the Editors' Code as there was no such charge - in fact drivers could "save" £73 on fuel www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/0226...
02269-25 A man v birminghammail.co.uk - IPSO
A man complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that birminghammail.co.uk breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined ‘’Drivers with cruise…
www.ipso.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Don’t say this lightly but Birmingham Mail’s gaming of its position on Apple News/Google to farm clicks makes it one of the most effective spreaders of false information in the country.
Could list a dozen way more egregious examples of fake ragebait it’s pumped out recently.
Could list a dozen way more egregious examples of fake ragebait it’s pumped out recently.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Important charts:
December 1, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Important charts:
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Have seen a few people passing around this story by Tom Stoppard from just last year, talking about how he learned he was Jewish and also much about his family history, and it's quite a read. He really knew how to write. www.huntingtontheatre.org/2024/09/11/t...
Tom Stoppard: On Turning Out to be Jewish | Huntington Theatre Company
www.huntingtontheatre.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Have seen a few people passing around this story by Tom Stoppard from just last year, talking about how he learned he was Jewish and also much about his family history, and it's quite a read. He really knew how to write. www.huntingtontheatre.org/2024/09/11/t...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Don't Panic: Britain is not broken. The UK can do better, but we shouldn't be too gloomy about things. If you look at the stats, there's a lot to be happy with (including how happy we are): adamcorlett.com/2025/11/30/d...
Don’t Panic: Britain is not broken – adamcorlett.com
adamcorlett.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Don't Panic: Britain is not broken. The UK can do better, but we shouldn't be too gloomy about things. If you look at the stats, there's a lot to be happy with (including how happy we are): adamcorlett.com/2025/11/30/d...
Reposted by Gareth Potter
The secret to early retirement; dine out rarely, fly economy and be a Google employee making $390,000/year married to a fellow Google employee 17 years older than you who likely makes twice as much as you.
37-year-old quit her $390,000 Google job after saving up $1.5 million—see the 'no buy checklist' that helps her spend less
She left a $390,000-a-year job and now uses a simple set of rules to make her savings last in Switzerland.
www.cnbc.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:23 PM
The secret to early retirement; dine out rarely, fly economy and be a Google employee making $390,000/year married to a fellow Google employee 17 years older than you who likely makes twice as much as you.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Ok so the Your Party Conference has ended with - and I promise you I am not making this up -
- With a man on stage singing Imagine.
- With a man on stage singing Imagine.
November 30, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Ok so the Your Party Conference has ended with - and I promise you I am not making this up -
- With a man on stage singing Imagine.
- With a man on stage singing Imagine.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
Until anything changes, this OCaml PR will live rent-free in my head as a case against the programming "power" of these tools
DWARF support for macOS and Linux by joelreymont · Pull Request #14369 · ocaml/ocaml
DWARF v5 Debugging Support for OCaml Native Compiler
This PR adds DWARF v5 debug information to the OCaml native compiler, allowing proper source-level debugging in GDB and LLDB.
What's Impleme...
github.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Until anything changes, this OCaml PR will live rent-free in my head as a case against the programming "power" of these tools
Reposted by Gareth Potter
The lesson of British infrastructure investment for decades has been that it's stuck in a toxic nexus of the treasury paying for it and then private developers reaping almost all the property value gains
Letting the railway share the gains as with HK MTR or post privatisation JR should be the norm
Letting the railway share the gains as with HK MTR or post privatisation JR should be the norm
November 30, 2025 at 12:11 PM
The lesson of British infrastructure investment for decades has been that it's stuck in a toxic nexus of the treasury paying for it and then private developers reaping almost all the property value gains
Letting the railway share the gains as with HK MTR or post privatisation JR should be the norm
Letting the railway share the gains as with HK MTR or post privatisation JR should be the norm
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I mean, this is nuts - HS2 should be the lead developer and owner of the land around its stations, it should be the leaseholder for both commercial and residential property around the line. Why is Labour determined not to learn any of the lessons of why British rail was crap?
November 30, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I mean, this is nuts - HS2 should be the lead developer and owner of the land around its stations, it should be the leaseholder for both commercial and residential property around the line. Why is Labour determined not to learn any of the lessons of why British rail was crap?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I would not have called it that Nestle, I would not have called it that at all.
November 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I would not have called it that Nestle, I would not have called it that at all.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I don't understand what is written on the screen in this photo, but it gives me life. Is it Dostoevsky?
November 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I don't understand what is written on the screen in this photo, but it gives me life. Is it Dostoevsky?
Reposted by Gareth Potter
I always feel some interviewers take a velvet glove in an iron fist approach - soft questions asked aggressively.
November 30, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I always feel some interviewers take a velvet glove in an iron fist approach - soft questions asked aggressively.
Reposted by Gareth Potter
