Nick B 🔶

@aviarm

Proud grandfather. Blogger and freelance writer covering aerospace & defence issues. Chair of Cheltenham Liberal Democrats. Has never shouted at a hotel.

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Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 5d

Anyone doing the "legitimate concerns" dance to appease racists can f🤬ck off. Statements like this validate the *sentiment*, and when this comes from a Government Minister it tells them they are right to feel this way, that the *hate* is OK, just don't take things too far.

"This government is taking action to deal with the legitimate concerns that people have around immigration, particularly the challenges around small boats.

"There are people who have legitimate concerns who know how to voice them and I don't want those people conflated with the violent thugs we've seen on our streets, who seem to suggest on one hand they're concerned about public safety and public order in relation to asylum seekers, while at the same time going out and breaking the law as violent racist thugs."

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 13d

Imagine stumbling across this in the woods. Stuff of nightmares..... www.satyress.com

Satyress centaur-style robot holding a chainsaw by a pickup truck in the woods.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 14d

Because it's just not tenable to believe we can live longer and take more money out of the system in health, care, welfare etc costs than we put in via tax during our working lives.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 14d

🧵 The number of people aged over 90 years in England & Wales has increased by 16% since 2015. Here's the thing - we can't afford to live this long without a reasonable level of net inward immigration, to provide working age taxpayers and people to care for us.

We’ve published datasets with estimates for people aged 90 years and over to 105 years and over in England and Wales.

There were an estimated 581,400 people aged 90 years or over in mid-2025. This has increased by:

• 16.3% since mid-2015
• 3.0% since mid-2024

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 18d

I get really annoyed by this persistent basic failure to correctly report how tariffs work 😡 No, the UK isn't paying *any* tariffs. Neither is the EU. Tariffs are paid by the *importer*, not the exporter. The ones getting "hit" are US consumers and companies importing goods and components.

Britain has lost its advantage over the EU when it comes to trade, the head of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said, after it emerged the UK will pay higher tariffs than the bloc following Donald Trump’s new wave of tariffs.

The US president is set to hit dozens of countries with renewed tariffs as time-limited levies, introduced in response to a Supreme Court defeat, expired yesterday.

However, while Britain and the EU will face the same 10 per cent tariffs, the bloc will pay less due to differences between the two deals negotiated with Mr Trump.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· 28d

If Franz Kafka worked in defence procurement.... The Government is conducting a review into the reviews of Ajax armoured vehicle programme. I'm not making this up 👇

A ministerial review was conducted to examine the quality of advice given to Ministers, senior officials and military leadership—I provided an update on this in my statement to the House on 22 Jan 26, and on 28 Apr 26 advised that a further review had been commissioned. This further review will be chaired by Jonathan Simcock and will evaluate the four previous reviews, looking specifically at the events leading up to the declaration of initial operating capability.
Toggle showing location of Column 75WS
Jonathan Simcock has significant experience of Government major projects, having led the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, as well as holding a portfolio of non-executive and advisory positions across Government. This review is due to complete by the autumn. I will provide a further update to the House on this review in due course.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jul 10

The article is hilarious. On a technical level we know how aircraft stay in the air, but on the "nontechnical" level there is controversy 😂 If nonspecialists don't understand something, then nobody does....

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 23

Amazon seem to be modelling their packaging on those Russia dolls now. Ordered a fan, and it came in a box, inside a box, inside a box....

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 22

The Lectern of Doom has appeared, harbinger of career death.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 22

Checking out flights to Reykjavik, where it will be 12 C on Thursday....

Weather forecast showing peak temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade on Thursday.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 18

Randomly stumbled across this New Model Army track from *1983*, and the lyrics gave me goosebumps (not in a good way). Somehow even more relevant 40+ years later. "Hatred makes the adrenaline flow Stir up the fire watch it grow" @lordbonkers.bsky.social youtu.be/0yiGljVwcJ4?...

New Model Army – Christian Militia

There's a witch hunt coming, screaming out on it's rebirth
There's a crusade coming, Hellfires back here on earth
See the light in their eyes shine, listen to their words like swords
The Christian militia is marching now
There's a witch hunt coming, born out of all the American fears
There's a new purge coming, an inquisition for all of us here
Hold onto your sanity as best you can
While some Hitler claims to speak for the Son of Man
The Christian militia is marching now
Hatred makes the adrenaline flow
Stir up the fire watch it grow
Everybody loves a righteous cause
Old lives forgotten in holy wars
Everything forgotten in holy wars

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 16

This is fascinating. While a large majority of parents believe social media is harmful, they mostly think it's harming *other people's children*. And by a small margin, a majority of parents don't believe the ban will be effective. yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 16

The nonsense of the situation is illustrated by these two charts 👇 The number of arrests has rocketed, yet 95% of those arrested are out on bail. Real terrorists would be too dangerous to let out on the streets and would be in prison on remand.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 15

The good news is that any 16 year old who was signing up to any social media accounts while their umbilical cord was being snipped will be spared age verification.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 14

Old enough to work, old enough to pay tax, old enough to vote (maybe) - ✔️ Old enough to watch a TikTok video at 9 pm - ❌

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 13

🧵 Never mind kids, it's politicians who need to be banned from using disappearing messages and chatting to strangers online. 1/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The measures to be announced by the prime minister include restrictions on “safe” social media apps, meaning under-16s will be banned from receiving or using disappearing messages, chats with adult strangers, and livestreaming.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 10

Protest arrests tally: Southampton - 11 "Unite the Kingdom" - 43 Belfast - ? Palestine Action - 5͟0͟0͟ Who, exactly, are the terrorists?

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

Apparently the technology is already on our devices, and just needs to be switched on....

Under new plans, tech giants such as Apple and Google could be required to activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to detect and block nude images for children.

Responding to criticisms over privacy concerns, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the plans are about "stopping the coercion and sextortion of children, not surveilling or policing people’s phones".

"This technology is already on devices. The tech firms just need to switch it on to block children from seeing nude imagery.

"There is no reporting, no data collection, no monitoring, and no images leaving the device," she adds.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

So in just *3 months*, Apple and Google have to force install updates on *every* phone to include client-side scanning of all your images and then force age verification is they fail? Including on all the hand-me-down or secondhand phones that kids use, but manufacturers no longer support/update?

The government has released further detail about Starmer's announcement that the government wants tech firms to prevent children from sending and receiving explicit images.

Here's an overview:

Britain will become the first country in the world where it is impossible for children to take, share or view naked pictures on their devices, the government says
Big tech companies like Apple and Google must activate built-in features or implement technical solutions to detect and block nude images for children on both new and existing smartphones and tablets it says, which would block nudity across the whole device by default
Those over 18 would still be able to take, share or view nude content through an age verification process, it says
If the companies do not act within three months, the government will bring forward legislation to force them to activate blocking technology, it says
This would include fines for companies failing to comply, it says, adding "nothing is off the table", and as a last resort the government is exploring criminal liability for tech bosses who fail to comply
The government says 91% of online child sexual abuse reports recorded in 2024 contained self-generated content from children themselves and the average child now views pornography by age 13

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

And of course the Data Centre will provide small fraction of the employment that the soap factory used to provide...

Keir Starmer begins by saying it's tempting to jump straight to the future when talking about AI and technology - but chooses to talk about what is happening today.

He focuses on Warrington, a town in Cheshire. He says the closure of a long-running soap factory became "a symbol of a community left behind".

But now that factory is being transformed into a new AI data centre, creating new investment, skilled jobs, and opportunities.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

And we roll over and give the AI companies everything they want? Screw over artists, writers, musicians etc whose work is stolen for training? Avoid making them liable for the impact of all the mistakes, hallucinations and disinformation? Turn a blind eye to the vast energy and water consumption?

Starmer continues, and says tech companies need the right conditions to succeed, saying they need the freedom to move fast.

He says the government has simplified regulations, created a global talent task force and unlocked investment for them to do so.

Britain has every reason to be confident, he says, adding "we're on the precipice of something truly extraordinary".

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

I mean, how is this going to work, without some truly Orwellian implications? Intrusive age verification on *ALL* devices (PC, laptop, tablet, phone), for *everyone*, to establish if you are a child, and then client-side scanning before an image leaves the device? This is impossible as presented.

Starmer says today he is calling on tech companies operating in the UK to introduce device controls that prevent children from sending and receiving explicit images.

"If they choose not to, then we will act, and we will change the law," he says.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· Jun 8

So it turns out there is a really simple way to make yourself completely immune to two thirds of online scams?

More than two thirds of fraud cases reported to Lloyds first targeted customers on Meta platforms, the bank’s head of fraud prevention has said.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 28

Very much this. I use /e/OS from Murena on my phone and tablet which blocks baked-in app trackers by default. The number of trackers and the frequency that they attempt to leak data about you is staggering. Even apps that you haven't manually launched....

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 27

So Tony Blair's keen on AI. With his institute funded by Larry Ellison and Bill Gates, and his son's company partnered with Palantir, and his greasy fingers still digging deep into various Government orifices.... www.opendemocracy.net/en/dsit-civi...

In one case, the TBI hired a senior civil servant tasked with leading the government’s AI programme, then seconded them straight back to their old job in the department – a potential loophole in rules intended to stop former civil servants from using their connections to lobby old colleagues.

The government is not required to declare secondments, meaning there is no public record of the companies that gain significant access and influence through these arrangements – nor the policies their secondees advocate for.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 26

Has Spotify found a new way to screw over artists? I refuse to believe that any genuine fan would do this..... uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/spotify...

A headline announcement was the launch of Remix, a new paid add-on developed in partnership with Universal Music Group that will allow fans to create AI-generated covers and derivative works while sharing economics with rights holders. Pricing was not disclosed, though management said the initiative is expected to be margin neutral to accretive and does not require participation from all major labels. UBS said it expects a deal with Warner Music Group to follow before year-end.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 22

And guess what? Most of these "terrorists" are out on bail. Because if people really were terrorists, they would be dangerous, so obviously you'd send them back out on the street......

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 22

🧵 Latest figures from the Government show what a total nonsense the Palestine Action prohibition has been. This is the chart of "arrests for terrorist-related activity" 👇 Because in 2025, 2,779 out of a total 3,034 arrests (92%) were of Palestine Action supporters.....

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 22

I mean..... Two contradictory statements *from the same document* 👇 Make it make sense.

2.52 A trans person will be protected from discrimination because of gender reassignment, whether they have a GRC or not.

13.177 Requesting confirmation of sex in such circumstances may not have a harassing effect and, even though the approach may place trans people at a particular disadvantage, it is likely to be justified. Read Chapter 8 for more detail on harassment.

Nick B 🔶@aviarm· May 22

So obviously contrary to the Gender Recognition Act, which the Scottish Supreme Court effectively nullified by denying what the Act says in black and white even for those with a certificate. The guidance about how this is to be enforced is a clusterfuck that will keep lawyers employed for years.