Ian Dovaston
@dazzle-camouflage.bsky.social
Private maths tutor. Former Sky and BBC broadcast journalist. Parkrunner (2025 pb: 22min 59sec). Love music, mainly 60s, 70s and 80s. Songwriter with Macclesfield’s finest original indie folk band, Midnight + The Patio Chairs.
So pleased Andy Burnham has applied to fight the by-election. Excellent news.
January 24, 2026 at 5:09 PM
So pleased Andy Burnham has applied to fight the by-election. Excellent news.
Interesting from Labour. Stop Burnham and maybe Gorton and Denton gets a Reform MP. And that would be a victory, would it?
If anybody ever asks you what ‘pyrrhic’ means … there it is.
If anybody ever asks you what ‘pyrrhic’ means … there it is.
January 23, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Interesting from Labour. Stop Burnham and maybe Gorton and Denton gets a Reform MP. And that would be a victory, would it?
If anybody ever asks you what ‘pyrrhic’ means … there it is.
If anybody ever asks you what ‘pyrrhic’ means … there it is.
Now again, people come along, like Nigel Farage, saying they ‘don’t do computers’. I wonder if you can think of any of them.
January 22, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Now again, people come along, like Nigel Farage, saying they ‘don’t do computers’. I wonder if you can think of any of them.
Nigel Farage doesn’t do computers, he reckons. He’s 61. In 1995, as the internet came into general use, Farage was 30 years old. At that age, he was working in the city as a commodities trader. But he doesn’t computers. No. Of course he doesn’t.
January 22, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Nigel Farage doesn’t do computers, he reckons. He’s 61. In 1995, as the internet came into general use, Farage was 30 years old. At that age, he was working in the city as a commodities trader. But he doesn’t computers. No. Of course he doesn’t.
youtu.be/KDSX8T0FLPw?...
This is priceless archive from the BBC, in light of current events at Manchester United.
This is priceless archive from the BBC, in light of current events at Manchester United.
1995: MICHAEL CARRICK - Future FOOTBALL STAR? | Live and Kicking | Classic BBC Sport | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 8:18 AM
youtu.be/KDSX8T0FLPw?...
This is priceless archive from the BBC, in light of current events at Manchester United.
This is priceless archive from the BBC, in light of current events at Manchester United.
I think ‘Prize Idiot’ in the Metro wins headline of the day. I can imagine Trump sat with his hawks saying, ‘Well if I can’t win a decent prize for peace, can I get one for war?’
January 20, 2026 at 7:19 AM
I think ‘Prize Idiot’ in the Metro wins headline of the day. I can imagine Trump sat with his hawks saying, ‘Well if I can’t win a decent prize for peace, can I get one for war?’
I want to hiss at Starmer when he urges not to retaliate against US tariffs. So typical, I think. But then I’m reminded of a quote that goes something like, ‘Don’t fight with pigs. You’ll only get dirty and they’ll enjoy it.’
And now I’m not so sure.
And now I’m not so sure.
January 20, 2026 at 7:15 AM
I want to hiss at Starmer when he urges not to retaliate against US tariffs. So typical, I think. But then I’m reminded of a quote that goes something like, ‘Don’t fight with pigs. You’ll only get dirty and they’ll enjoy it.’
And now I’m not so sure.
And now I’m not so sure.
If Trump says something’s an ‘act of great stupidity’, you’ve got to listen haven’t you? I mean, if there’s a leading authority right now in acts of great stupidity, it’s gotta be him hasn’t it?
January 20, 2026 at 7:08 AM
If Trump says something’s an ‘act of great stupidity’, you’ve got to listen haven’t you? I mean, if there’s a leading authority right now in acts of great stupidity, it’s gotta be him hasn’t it?
This Beckham feud nonsense reminds me of when Del and Rodney finally became millionaires. I couldn’t watch it after that.
January 20, 2026 at 7:05 AM
This Beckham feud nonsense reminds me of when Del and Rodney finally became millionaires. I couldn’t watch it after that.
I drop in on my home town, Chester-le-Street. I love the place and I’m appalled by the place. There is no celebration of its cricket ground as you arrive at its railway station. There is nothing to tell me that once upon a time the England and Manchester United football captain came from here. Why?
January 19, 2026 at 11:58 AM
I drop in on my home town, Chester-le-Street. I love the place and I’m appalled by the place. There is no celebration of its cricket ground as you arrive at its railway station. There is nothing to tell me that once upon a time the England and Manchester United football captain came from here. Why?
I’ve just been reading about something called Git Repositories. And then I figured Git Repository might be a good name for Reform UK, now it’s taking in damaged goods from the natural home of gits …the Tory Party.
January 16, 2026 at 1:04 PM
I’ve just been reading about something called Git Repositories. And then I figured Git Repository might be a good name for Reform UK, now it’s taking in damaged goods from the natural home of gits …the Tory Party.
If hunger strikers like Heba Muraisi are left to die, then something dies in us all.
January 13, 2026 at 7:37 AM
If hunger strikers like Heba Muraisi are left to die, then something dies in us all.
The US lecturing Iran about killing protestors. Ironic.
January 13, 2026 at 7:26 AM
The US lecturing Iran about killing protestors. Ironic.
So, if the failed manager of Middlesbrough is the favourite for the Manchester United interim manager’s job, why were Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt sat alongside Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford directors’ box yesterday?
January 12, 2026 at 12:55 PM
So, if the failed manager of Middlesbrough is the favourite for the Manchester United interim manager’s job, why were Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt sat alongside Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford directors’ box yesterday?
London’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade. So maybe Sadiq Khan is not such a terrible mayor after all, Mr Trump?
January 12, 2026 at 8:24 AM
London’s murder rate has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade. So maybe Sadiq Khan is not such a terrible mayor after all, Mr Trump?
I reckon Kemi Badenoch will go for the social media ban stuff in this week’s #pmqs So, Keir Starmer be warned. You better have your ducks in a row by Wednesday. And you better be on the right side of the argument by then because, at the moment, you don’t seem to be.
January 12, 2026 at 8:18 AM
I reckon Kemi Badenoch will go for the social media ban stuff in this week’s #pmqs So, Keir Starmer be warned. You better have your ducks in a row by Wednesday. And you better be on the right side of the argument by then because, at the moment, you don’t seem to be.
If the opposite of being woke is another four letter word beginning with ‘c’, then, yes, I’m woke.
January 12, 2026 at 8:12 AM
If the opposite of being woke is another four letter word beginning with ‘c’, then, yes, I’m woke.
Peter Mandelson told Jeffrey Epstein once, ‘Everything can be turned into an opportunity …’ I think his interview with Laura Kuenssberg is Mandelson taking his own advice.
January 12, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Peter Mandelson told Jeffrey Epstein once, ‘Everything can be turned into an opportunity …’ I think his interview with Laura Kuenssberg is Mandelson taking his own advice.
‘Epstein kept me ‘separate’ from his sexual side because I’m gay’, Mandelson tells BBC.
But this reads like someone who was being controlled. A senior politician, a holder of important positions, a man supposedly with our interests at heart, a man honoured by the British monarchy. Being manipulated.
But this reads like someone who was being controlled. A senior politician, a holder of important positions, a man supposedly with our interests at heart, a man honoured by the British monarchy. Being manipulated.
January 11, 2026 at 4:03 PM
‘Epstein kept me ‘separate’ from his sexual side because I’m gay’, Mandelson tells BBC.
But this reads like someone who was being controlled. A senior politician, a holder of important positions, a man supposedly with our interests at heart, a man honoured by the British monarchy. Being manipulated.
But this reads like someone who was being controlled. A senior politician, a holder of important positions, a man supposedly with our interests at heart, a man honoured by the British monarchy. Being manipulated.
I don’t believe a word Lord Peter Mandelson says. Just saying.
January 11, 2026 at 10:59 AM
I don’t believe a word Lord Peter Mandelson says. Just saying.
Just read ‘The Second Coming’ by William Butler Yeats in The Observer. Wow! Everyone should read. Why have I never seen this poem? ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer …’.
January 11, 2026 at 9:34 AM
Just read ‘The Second Coming’ by William Butler Yeats in The Observer. Wow! Everyone should read. Why have I never seen this poem? ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer …’.
A World Cup in the US? Wake up everyone. Wake up.
January 9, 2026 at 7:40 AM
A World Cup in the US? Wake up everyone. Wake up.
Strange that we haven’t heard from that Rutte guy at NATO on the subject of ‘daddy’ Trump threatening Greenland. Or maybe not strange.
January 7, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Strange that we haven’t heard from that Rutte guy at NATO on the subject of ‘daddy’ Trump threatening Greenland. Or maybe not strange.
This statistic about over 70s being disproportionately involved in accidents. Is it only eye sight that is at play here, as the experts are suggesting. Or, on the roads, are older people being bullied to the point where they have to drive too quickly for their fading faculties? Just a thought.
January 7, 2026 at 7:34 AM
This statistic about over 70s being disproportionately involved in accidents. Is it only eye sight that is at play here, as the experts are suggesting. Or, on the roads, are older people being bullied to the point where they have to drive too quickly for their fading faculties? Just a thought.
I used to want to stay up late to watch Starsky & Hutch and Match of the Day. Now kids need to stay up to watch the junk food ads.
January 6, 2026 at 8:13 AM
I used to want to stay up late to watch Starsky & Hutch and Match of the Day. Now kids need to stay up to watch the junk food ads.