Philippa Ritchie 💙

Radio and audio producer, specialising in the arts, actor

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

Audio Announcements at all bus stops for visually impaired people https://t.co/akngKar90o via @UKChange

[Samira Ahmed @SamiraAhmedUK]

Travelled through 30 years to interview Patrick Stewart four times. He was born in a lost world in which a working class boy from a mining village could join one of many am dram clubs &win a scholarship to drama school with backing from his council. https://t.co/ljNThXHdEq

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

Audio Announcements at all bus stops for visually impaired people - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/bgRXIcj6te via @UKChange

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

I am not a blank cheque! Today, Thames Water’s creditors are deciding whether to hand over a £2.4 billion bailout. Rewarding water companies for failure will affect bill payers like me during a cost of living crisis. @andyburnham block the bailout & let them go bust! @We_OwnIt

[Petronella Wyatt @PetronellaWyatt]

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the extraordinary finale to “Swing Time” (1936), widely regarded as their greatest film. The routine was so difficult that Astaire made Rogers practice for weeks. On set, they shot a series of takes before Fred was satisfied. Rogers recalled feeling “numb”, and said that when she took off her shoes she was horrified to find they were full of blood.

[Harriet Williamson @harriepw]

EXCLUSIVE: Palantir sent ‘intimidating’ letters to British MPs who criticised or asked difficult questions about the US spytech firm in parliament.

Read the full report here: https://t.co/gSPjIjHJG5

[Cat Hobbs @CatHobbs]

4 DAYS TO GO until Thames Water creditors meet to agree *another* bailout at our expense

Voters will not forgive @andyburnham if he lets a bunch of US hedge funds get away with this

Take back Thames Water, slash the debt, bring it into PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

https://t.co/aVROspQejT

[Toby Hadoke @TobyHadoke]

I made a little show as an extra for BBC Radio 4 Extra (pretty much in my own time): it’s being repeated to mark 20 years since the death of Nigel Kneale. This sort of bonus (dare I say it Reithian?) content will not be possible once the station goes:

https://t.co/JktMkCofpP

[dave lawrence 🐟🐟🐠 @dave43law]

Patriots one and all 🤣🤣🤣

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

The BBC is set to scrap Radio 4 Extra. 📻 Losing this treasure trove of classic comedy, archive drama, and timeless storytelling would be a massive blow for millions of us.

Sign the petition to help save Radio 4 Extra 👇 https://t.co/R3GMRva4zy via @38degrees

[Marina Purkiss @MarinaPurkiss]

I rarely do this…

But @Shearings you are a disgrace. My in-laws, in their 70s, spend their pension on a holiday with you in St Ives

…and this is where you sent them?!

My father-in-law has Parkinson’s too - so well done for stressing him out.

And my mother-in-law cried on the phone to you asking for a full refund

And YOU REFUSED?!

[Artur Nadolny @ArturNadol7566]

SHE DIED WAITING

Heather Earley, mother of three, has died waiting for her money. @PostOffice kept her waiting so long she ran out of time. Impressive logistics.

Lawyer @SimonMGoldberg (well worth to give him a follow) shared the sad news today.

Heather Earley was one of 555 postmasters who took the Post Office to the High Court and won, and she died before getting her redress, the money owed to put her life back together.

He points to a @BBCNews article from 2024 on victims who died before getting redress. Winning in court and never seeing the money is a rare talent.

Heather Earley was a mother of three who ran a local shop with a Post Office counter in Mossley, Newtownabbey, in Northern Ireland. In December 2013 the Horizon computer system said she was £10,000 short. A computer said so, and in the Post Office computers are never wrong..

She says one customer kept using a flaw in the system. Every time that customer withdrew £100, the system added £100 to the balance instead of taking it off. I wish my bank worked like that.

Heather Earley called the police, and the customer was prosecuted and convicted. That put the blame on the customer, and the Post Office still demanded the £10,000 from her, took money from her wages and refused to give it back even after the conviction. Crime solved, victim billed ...

She borrowed from family and maxed out three credit cards just to buy stock for the shop. She cashed in £50,000 of her pension to save the house and clear her debts. Her village lost its post office and its shop, a truly generous service to the community.

In 2019 the Post Office settled the group case for £57.75M. Around £46M went on legal and funding costs, which left roughly £20,000 for each of the 555 people. The judge, Mr Justice Peter Fraser, had said the Post Office at times acted as though it answered only to itself, and it seems to have taken that as a challenge.

Reports say at least 350 Horizon victims have died before their final payouts, so at this pace the scheme will finish the moment nobody is left to be paid.

Heather Earley wanted justice and enough money to rebuild what was left of her life. Simon Goldberg says the lawyers and other parties who held up and nickel and dimed her redress should feel nothing but shame, though shame does not appear to be billable. Stop fighting these people and pay them before it is too late.

Heather Earley never got her cheque.

RIP Heather

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

I just wrote to my new MP, asking them to pledge their support to #StopRosebank

For a safe climate and affordable energy, we need to stop expanding oil & gas production NOW.

Please write to your MP too. https://t.co/nJ3Qcrt4d2

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

https://t.co/u5EmhwAASs

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

I’ve signed @AlzResearchUK’s petition calling on Government to get the NHS ready for new dementia tests and treatments. Will you join me? https://t.co/5OwchMg73p

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

https://t.co/3S5efSDN0k

[Philippa Ritchie 💙 @PippaRitchie]

Andy Burnham! Stop the State Pension being taxed: Raise tax threshold: Support Colette
https://t.co/dtCBSrHlv0 via @UKChange

[Shallow Shielder @shallowshielder]

@NeffAppliances The inner glass panel of my cold oven shattered spontaneously it's out of warranty - serious safety issue. Customer services phone and website unhelpful, please provide address for formal written complaint.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

I don't just like it... I love it.... 👏👏👏

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

Delaying scrutiny will not make questions about Britain's role in Gaza disappear. The government must establish an inquiry into British complicity in genocide, now.