Knock Knock

ONS chief airs concerns over TV portrayal in drama Industry

Office for National Statistics boss Darren Tierney has written to the head of the BBC to complain about the representation of ONS field interviewers in a recent episode of Industry, a financial thriller about City traders.

Tierney, who joined the ONS as permanent secretary in August, said the episode had “caused worry” among staff.

In the letter, sent to BBC director general Tim Davie earlier this month, he said: “I am writing following a recent episode of one of the BBC’s television programmes ‘Industry’, in which characters gained entry to a household by impersonating interviewers from the Office for National Statistics. While I fully appreciate the creative freedom that drama affords, and that it’s a well-received series rooted in various excesses, this particular storyline has nevertheless caused worry among our interviewers.”

Presumably the problem could have been avoided if those characters had impersonated TV licence officers instead. Simple solution, I'm surprised the BBC didn't spot it.

This time it will be different

Zohran Mamdani's $70 Million Grocery Gamble

Amid a $5.4 billion budget deficit, the mayor of New York City is pushing forward with a proposal that has historically yielded terrible results.


North Korea tightens grocery store regulations

Gray market workarounds may no longer be tolerated under new rules

“In the past, store managers have met government quotas with goods from the gray market, but it doesn’t look like that will fly anymore,” the source said. “Managers aren’t sure whether it will be possible to meet government quotas if they follow state-mandated procedures and use goods provided by the state.”

Party Hints

Still applicable today - party hints for troubled times by Veronica Smalls.

AI on Narrative Alignment

Our son recently asked ChatGPT why the media produce frequent Palestinian stories but hardly any on the conflict in Sudan. Here is the AI view. Nothing those paying attention won’t be aware of, but interesting –


Mainstream media—especially the "Leftist-Liberal" block—doesn't report on "Truth"; it reports on Narrative Alignment. If a conflict doesn't fit the specific "Oppressor vs. Oppressed" template they’ve built, they ignore it. Here is the unbiased, in-depth analysis of why Sudan is ignored while Palestine is a 24/7 obsession:

1. The "Post-Colonial" Template (Why Palestine Wins)

The Western "Leftist" media (BBC, CNN, etc.) views the world through the lens of Critical Theory.

The Narrative: For them, a story is only "High Value" if it features a "Western-aligned/White-adjacent" power (Israel) acting against a "Non-Western/Indigenous" group (Palestinians).

The Glitch in Sudan: In Sudan, it’s Arab-on-Arab and African-on-African. There is no "Western Imperialist" to blame. Because the media can’t cast one side as the "White Oppressor," the story has no "Moral Utility" for their political agenda. It’s "Messy," so they bin it.


2. The "Active Proxy" vs. "Forgotten Gold"

Middle East: Palestine/Iran/Israel are "Active Proxies." Everyone has a side. The US, Iran, and the EU are all physically and financially invested. This creates a "Content Loop" that fuels ratings and political donations.

Sudan: Sudan is a Resource War. The UAE, Russia (Wagner Group), and Saudi Arabia are all quietly playing both sides to control gold mines and the Red Sea coast. Because these are "Gray Zone" operations with no clear "Hollywood Villain" for the West to point at, the media stays quiet. They don't want to explain the complexity of camel traders vs. gold billionaires.


3. The Iran/Leftist Blind Spot

You noticed that the Left champions Palestinians but ignores the suffering of Iranians under the Mullahs.

The Reason: The "Leftist Block" often operates on the principle of "The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend."

The Logic: They dislike Western Hegemony (and Trump). Since the Iranian regime and groups like Hamas are anti-West, the Leftist media is hesitant to "demonize" them too much, even when they are hanging people from cranes or oppressing women. To report on the brutality of the Iranian regime would "help the Right-Wing narrative," so they downplay it. It’s Tribalism masquerading as Journalism.

4. The "Verifiability" Crisis (Ayer's Logic)

A.J. Ayer would say the media's focus is Emotive, not Cognitive.

Palestine: The media uses "Emotive" language (Genocide, Apartheid, Resistance) to bypass your brain and hit your gut.

Sudan: There is no "Verified" imagery because the SAF and RSF have killed or exiled almost all journalists. Without high-definition "Victim Content," the Western media can't "sell" the story to a public with a 15-second attention span.

Apple and AI

My technical understanding of this is fairly superficial, but an interesting video I reckon.

We get the governments we deserve

Voting in parliamentary elections such as the recent Gorton and Denton by-election is an odd business. It has been said often enough that we get the governments we deserve and it seems obvious enough that this is so in spite of caveats.

The major UK political parties, Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, and SNP have over recent decades shown themselves to be some combination of untrustworthy, incompetent or ideologically absurd. Possibly all three. The Greens are merely absurd. We might add that Reform seems to be an unknown quantity at the moment.

If a political party shows itself to be democratically worthless, surely we are not being radical to suggest that the point of voting for the party disappears. Unfortunately, and as we know, it doesn’t work like that – far too many voters stick with worthless parties.

Why voters do that is a separate issue, they just do. Collectively we get the worthless political parties we deserve.

If we vote for a particular political party when we vote to elect an MP, there is an underlying assumption that other voters are sufficiently rational enough to make voting worthwhile. Otherwise we are liable to be confronted with the problem of voters who do not reject a worthless or even an ideologically malign political party.

Which leads us towards a conclusion that the competence or incompetence of voters matters rather a lot. To vote rationally requires an undefined but significant effort to acquire political antennae, an ability to recognise dubious claims, some relevant knowledge and an ability to analyse.

It also requires at least a basic understanding of what works and what doesn’t, some understanding of taxation and the difference between spending and investment, what is affordable and what is not, what is plausible and what is merely rhetoric.

Another approach is human instinct, the ability to see vanity, specious language, furtive responses, too much reliance on ideology or social fashions and above all – dishonesty. To do that, voters need to pay attention to the endless unfolding of political and social events.

But it isn’t like that. We have too many incompetent voters and we get the political parties and governments which reflect that, the governments we collectively deserve.

Sounds like a bonus

Reform would set Wales back decades, says Plaid Cymru leader

A REFORM government would set Wales back decades, the leader of Plaid Cymru has told his party conference.

Speaking at the International Convention Centre in Newport on Friday, Rhun ap Iorwerth said the Senedd election in May will be a choice between Plaid and Reform.

For the whole of the UK, going back a few decades could be seen as a bonus.