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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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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 15h

Congrats Neil.

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 22h

“Oh what a tangled web!” — Sir Walter Scott.

Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · 22h

Pearson Engineering is owned by the Israeli government. Now, it has hired a lobbying firm run by the husband of Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary.

www.declassifieduk.org/top-labour-o...

Top Labour official married to lobbyist for Israeli arms firm

Pearson Engineering is owned by the Israeli government. Now, it has hired a lobbying firm run by the husband of Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary.

www.declassifieduk.org

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 22h

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 · 23h

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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Reposted by Ian Fraser

Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 23h

I love this country and this city so much, mutters the patriot, that I can't bear to live there, complain about it all the time and only visit to address far-right marches and stir up racial resentment against many of the people whose vote I want.

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 23h

The violent anti fascist protests in Portland, Oregon are a figment of Donald Trump’s florid imagination

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 1d

You can draw a line from Trump's evidence-free claims about the need for troops in Portland to top Republicans insisting today that the upcoming "No Kings" rally is the work of antifa agitators. www.pbump.net/o/the-presid...

The president’s pretend enemy

There is no crisis of unrest in Portland, Oregon. One way I know this to be true is that President Trump — who is insistent that Portland faces just such a crisis — doesn't offer any evidence of it. A...

www.pbump.net

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Reposted by Ian Fraser

Edwin Hayward @edwinhayward.com · 1d

From Sunday, Brexit will deliver a big highly visible slap in the face. Hopefully that will bring it deservedly back into the news.

European Movement UK @europeanmovement.co.uk · 1d

From Sunday, travelling into Europe gets tougher for Brits.

New EU border rules mean fingerprint scans, photo registration and longer queues.

This is the real-world cost of Brexit - more hassle, more red tape, more delays.

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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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

“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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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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Reposted by Ian Fraser

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 2d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Earlier this month, Reform UK members were spreading “concern” that Kilgraston, a former boarding school in Perthshire, was to be turned into accommodation for asylum seekers. Now, they’re lying about giving the developer "pause for thought". Quality journalism by @alasdairclark.bsky.social.

EXCLUSIVE: Reform UK figures linked to fake Kilgraston School asylum hotel rumours

A councillor for Nigel Farage's Reform UK shared a petition claiming the former private school would be turned into housing for asylum seekers.

www.thecourier.co.uk

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Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 2d

Sadly, in many instances, it is. And no it isn’t.