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Ian Fraser

@ianfraser.bsky.social

11K followers 640 following 840 posts

Author and journalist. Latest edition of my book ‘Shredded: Inside RBS The Bank That Broke Britain’, about the pivotal role of what's now called NatWest in the global banking crash, was reissued in 2024. Recovering financial editor.

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · Aug 10

This revised and updated paperback edition of my book Shredded: Inside RBS The Bank That Broke Britain was published in 2024 and is available from:

Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/Shredded-Ins...
Hive: www.hive.co.uk/Product/Ian-...
Bookshop UK: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/shre...

‘Shredded: Inside RBS The Bank That Broke Britain’ by Ian Fraser. New paperback edition published in 2024.

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Reposted by Ian Fraser

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 11h

The regime gets more deranged every day. A rightwing conspiracy theorist assassinated a Democratic lawmaker - which the attorney general presents as an example of leftwing political violence in order to justify an authoritarian crackdown on the opposition…

We’re in incredibly dangerous territory.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Bondi: "We've been living through a horrific cycle of political violence in this country ... night after night antifa wrecks havoc on the streets of our cities. In Minnesota, a gunman murdered a state lawmaker and her husband."

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1h

Prince Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein “we’re in this together” the day after the infamous photo of him and Virginia Guiffre photo emerged.

Andrew told Epstein ‘we’re in this together’ day after Virginia Guiffre photo emerged

Duke of York also reportedly told paedophile friend ‘we'll play some more soon’ in email sent three months after date he insisted he had severed contact with disgraced financier

www.independent.co.uk

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 8h

This is why the UK dropped its case against two alleged China spies — Christopher Cash, 29, and Christopher Berry, 32.

Why has the UK dropped its trial of two alleged China spies?

Prosecutor hinted at lack of backing from Downing Street but legal experts argue prosecution was still possible

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 10h

Richard Tice and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is the political wing of the fossil fuel industry.

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 11h

Every day is a good day to point out that 92% of Reform's donations were found to come from figures and groups linked to the fossil fuel industry. @desmog.com

Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Has Accepted £2.3 Million from Fossil Fuel Interests, Climate Deniers, and Polluters Since 2019 Election

Reform UK has received more than £2.3 million from oil and gas interests, highly polluting industries, and climate science deniers since December 2019, amounting to 92 percent of the party’s donations...

www.desmog.com

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Reposted by Ian Fraser

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 1d

Free trade and laisser faire are not the same thing. Unfortunately, we’ve spent the last few decades assuming that they are, with consequences tgat are all too apparent on.ft.com/48YLOBs A bad bet on globalisation — and the new age of tech autocrats

A bad bet on globalisation — and the new age of tech autocrats

Bill Clinton emerges as something of a prophet in a book about a gamble on free trade, while Giuliano da Empoli offers a stark warning on the coming world order

on.ft.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 10h

Israel used 3D scans developed by the Scottish Maritime Museum in propaganda animations, which were a key part of its attempts to justify attacks on hospitals and residential areas in Gaza, Syria and Iran. The 3D scans, developed for boatbuilding workshops, were used without the museum's knowledge.

How a Scottish maritime museum ended up in Israel’s 3D propaganda

An analysis of dozens of Israeli army animations discovered digital assets sourced not from classified intelligence but commercial libraries and content creators.

www.972mag.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 11h

Worth noting that Labour deputy leadership candidate Bridget Phillipson has been handed £60,000 by the Israel lobby, and that pro-Israel former hedge fund manager Stuart Roden has donated £80,000 supporting the office costs of Phillipson and Lisa Nandy? #bbclaurak

Israel lobby funded half of Keir Starmer’s cabinet

Exclusive: Labour’s top team has accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds from pro-Israel funders.

share.google

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats Neil.

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

Remember how the ‘Big 4’ accountancy and consultancy firms “blackmailed” the Labour government into ensuring they could enjoy LLP status? I did a piece on that, based around an interview with @premnsikka.bsky.social, nearly 21 years ago

Prem Sikka accuses Big 4 firms of blackmail over liability

Prem Sikka accuse EY and PwC of "hiring" the legislature of Jersey to enact a law on limited liability partnerships to lever LLPs into the UK

2025.ianfraser.org

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Reposted by Ian Fraser

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

Limited liability is one of our weird silences. It's a massive free gift society makes to plutocrats, seldom remarked upon, let alone contested.
Shareholders should have to buy limited liability, like any other insurance. The insurers would then be liable. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Will UK taxpayers get their £122m back from PPE Medpro?

The high court told the company linked to Michelle Mone to pay up over the supply of defective gowns, but there appears no clear route to reclaim the funds

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

In July 2019, Channel 4 News' @ayshahtull.bsky.social successfully exposed Brexit Party MEP Alex Phillips claim that she did not work for Cambridge Analytica on the 2017 Kenya elections to be a lie. Now, Nick Watt is greasing up to Phillips on the BBC Newsnight couch.

Brexit Party MEP worked for Cambridge Analytica

YouTube video by Channel 4 News

youtu.be

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

The Brexit Party MEP Nathan Gill who recently plead guilty to taking bribes to ask pro-Russian questions in the European Parliament. Reform has been trying to distance Farage from Gill, giving the impression Gill was a fringe politician who Farage barely knew.

Reform tries to distance Farage from a crook he was pictured with many times

Zia Yusuf said 'most people in the senior leadership team have never really heard of the guy'

www.walesonline.co.uk

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, look who was standing closest to Nigel Farage when a group of Brexit Party MEPs arrived in Strasbourg to take up their seats in July 2019

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

Can't believe they've got ex-GB News presenter Alex Phillips (who worked for Cambridge Analytica on the very problematic Kenyan election) on Newsnight. Her contributions are inane.

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

Stock markets plunge, with the Nasdaq down 3.56% today, following Trump’s threat of higher tariffs on China.

Dow drops almost 900 points, S&P 500 declines the most since April after Trump's new China tariff threat

The Trump post sparked a rapid sell-off in stocks Friday.

www.cnbc.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

It was a great choice of debut track! Hadn't realised that Trevor Horn, described as “the man who invented the 1980s,” wrote that. He talks about the track here:

Virgin Radio Classic Artists - Trevor Horn

YouTube video by Virgin Radio UK

youtu.be

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

End of an era as New York-based MTV, which transformed the music industry by popularising music videos, axes . . . music videos.

MTV to axe its music TV channels in the UK

The broadcaster will stop showing music videos in December, but its main channel will remain on air.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

“And so we end here, with Robert Jenrick: a degenerate little bore, as inept as he is amoral, who will say anything, no matter how vile and disreputable, in order to secure attention.” Well said @iandunt.bsky.social

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 2d

The empty horror of Robert Jenrick iandunt.substack.com/p/the-empty-...

The empty horror of Robert Jenrick

We deserve a better class of villain. Or at least a more memorable one.

iandunt.substack.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

The collapses of First Brands and Tricolor could be the canary in the mine of financial markets

“The fear is the private debt market has been too hot and [has been] giving out money at high rates to companies that just can’t pay it back,” says @ucirvine.bsky.social accounting professor Ben Lourie.

First Brands: why a maker of spark plugs and wiper blades has Wall Street worried

Investors fear that the collapse of the car parts company – and the size of its debt – could portend wider problems

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Jordan Peterson’s daughter Mikhaila has issued a tearful update on her father’s health. Posting on X, Mikhaila Peterson, 33, said Peterson, 63, has spent nearly a month is ICU “suffering from pneumonia and sepsis” and urged people to “pray” for the Canadian self-help guru.

Jordan Peterson's daughter issues tearful health update

Mikhaila Peterson said her father spent nearly a month in ICU suffering from pneumonia, calling it, "Heartbreaking and brutal."

www.newsweek.com

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Kudos to the subs. “Degrading practice” article is now the second most read on the Guardian site.

You won’t believe what degrading practice the pope just condemned

Communication must be freed from clickbait and misguided thinking, head of Catholic church tells journalists

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

In case anyone’s unaware of the background to this case, here’s the 2 June article from the Guardian on 50-year-old Kurdish-Armenian Hamut Coskun being found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence.

Man fined after burning Qur’an outside Turkish consulate in London

Hamit Coskun, found guilty of religiously aggravated public order offence, was ‘motivated at least in part by a hatred of Muslims’, judge says

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Craig Mearns’ apology over racist remarks made at Edinburgh Castle isn’t washing with Historic Environment Scotland staff.

The operations director at the quango, Mearns previously ran the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base at Faslane.

Racism row heritage boss faces furious employees in 'painful' staff meeting

A TOP director of a heritage body embroiled in a racism row faced furious employees who called on him to be sacked at a “painful” staff meeting,…

www.thenational.scot

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Climbing...

Shredded: Inside RBS The Bank That Broke Britain reaches number three in the Amazon bestsellers chart [in the International Business and Finance category]

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction when he doesn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize 🇳🇴

“Peace prizes are earned through sustained commitment, not social media tantrums or intimidation. Supporting the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas doesn't erase years of enabling violence and division.”

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize

US president may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, analyst says

www.theguardian.com

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