Ben Bagley

🇬🇧 | 🖥 Senior full stack engineer at @BBC | JS, React, Ruby on Rails | All opinions are my own

[Nasdaq @Nasdaq]

Mission: @SpaceX.
Objective: Make life multiplanetary.
Exchange: @NasdaqExchange.
Status: Initial Public Offering. $SPCX

[Nasdaq @Nasdaq]

Today. 🚀 @SpaceX $SPCX

[Tom @Syndicate]

🤯 The UK is well and truly FUCKED.

[Warhorse Studios @WarhorseStudios]

You might have heard the rumours, it's time to reveal what we are working on.

🗺️ An open world Middle-earth RPG.
⚔️ A new Kingdom Come adventure.

We’re excited to tell you more when the time is right.

#WarhorseStudios #Annoucement #lotr #KingdomComeDeliverance

[Alveus Sanctuary @AlveusSanctuary]

UMMMM

JACKSEPTICEYE JUST DONATED $100,000 TO THE SANCTUARY???? OH MY GOD

[Harrison Ford @HarrisonFordLA]

May the fourth be with you

[Ben Bagley @bbenbagley]

Absolutely perfect end to the renovations, incredible to watch all the perspectives - smashed it https://t.co/36pCL9TBKZ

[NASA @NASA]

Liftoff.

The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.

Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars.

[PlayStation Nostalgia @PlayStalgiaX]

"Movie games weren't even that good back then"

The movie game:

[INTERIOR PORN @INTERIORPORN1]

this might be the most beautiful penthouse I’ve ever seen in my life.

[iJustine @ijustine]

Just a quick trip to Japan to see Punch the monkey! What a journey — best birthday ever! 🎂🐒

[Bishop Ceirion H. Dewar FSHC @BishopDewar]

As a Bishop, I cannot stay silent. I have today drafted and sent an open letter to His Majesty King Charles III, the text of which reads as follows:

To:
His Majesty, Charles III,
King of the United Kingdom and the Realms,
Supreme Governor of the Church of England,
Bearer of the ancient title Defender of the Faith.

Your Majesty,

I write to you neither as a politician nor as a commentator, but as one of your loyal subjects who, as a bishop of Christ’s Church, cannot remain silent while the Christian foundations of this kingdom are steadily dismantled.

Sir, there are moments in the life of a nation when silence becomes a form of betrayal. If I refused to speak to Your Majesty now, this would be such a moment.

For more than a thousand years the Crown of this realm has stood in solemn covenant with the Christian faith.

The laws of this land were shaped by it.
The liberties of our people were nurtured by it.
The conscience of our civilisation was formed by it.

From the abbeys of medieval England to the parish churches of our villages, from the preaching of the Reformers to the missionary zeal that carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth, the Christian faith has not merely influenced Britain — it has defined her.

Yet today that inheritance is being quietly but deliberately eroded. Across the institutions of this nation there is a growing hostility toward the faith that built them.

Christian belief is mocked in the public square. Christian morality is dismissed as intolerance. Christian institutions are pressured to surrender doctrine in order to conform to the ideology of the age.

Within the very Church that bears the name of England, voices have arisen that appear more eager to mirror the spirit of the age than to proclaim the eternal truth of the Gospel.

Meanwhile, beyond the walls of our churches, powerful political movements openly speak of removing Christianity from its historic place within the life of this nation.

What would once have been whispered is now proclaimed openly: that Britain must become a post-Christian state.

It is in this context that I write to you, Your Majesty. For the British Crown does not stand apart from this crisis.

The Sovereign of this realm bears a title that is not merely historic but sacred in its origin and meaning: Defender of the Faith. Those words are not decorative. They are a charge.

They speak of a monarch whose duty is not merely to preside over the ceremonies of the Church, but to stand as a guardian of the Christian inheritance of the nation.

Yet many among your subjects now ask, with increasing anxiety: “Who will defend that inheritance today?”

They see a nation drifting from its foundations. And they ask whether the Crown will remain silent while that inheritance is dismantled.

Your Majesty, may I be so bold as to observe that your coronation oath was not a poetic formality. It was a solemn vow made before Almighty God to maintain and preserve the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law.

Those words bind the conscience of the sovereign. They remind the Crown that its authority is not merely constitutional but moral. The monarch is not merely a symbol of national continuity, but a custodian of the spiritual inheritance that shaped this realm.

History records moments when kings and emperors were confronted by the Church and reminded that their authority was accountable before God. In the fourth century Ambrose of Milan stood before the Emperor Theodosius I and reminded him that even the ruler of an empire must bow before the moral law of Christ.

That tradition of prophetic witness has never disappeared. Nor should it. For when rulers forget the foundations upon which their authority rests, the Church must speak — not with hostility, but with holy clarity.

And so, I write to say this, Your Majesty: The Christian character of this nation is under profound and accelerating assault.

If the Crown does not stand visibly and courageously in defence of that inheritance, history will record that the guardians of Britain’s institutions watched in silence as the foundations were removed.

The issue before us is not nostalgia. It is civilisation. Remove Christianity from the story of Britain and you do not create a neutral society — you create a moral vacuum. And history teaches us that moral vacuums are never left empty for long.

Your Majesty now stands at a crossroads that few monarchs in modern history have faced.

For the erosion of Britain’s Christian inheritance will not ultimately be judged by speeches made in Parliament or debates in the press. It will be judged by whether those entrusted with the guardianship of our ancient institutions chose to defend them — or merely preside over their quiet surrender.

You may preside over the quiet dissolution of Britain’s Christian identity. Or you may rise to the ancient responsibility entrusted to the Crown and speak with clarity about the faith that built this kingdom. The first path requires little courage. The second will require a great deal. But it is the path that history honours.

Your Majesty’s subjects are not asking for religious coercion. They are asking for leadership. They are asking that the sovereign who bears the title Defender of the Faith remember what that title means.

They are asking that the Crown hear the growing cry of anguish from Christians across this land who feel that the spiritual inheritance of their nation is being surrendered without resistance. And they are asking whether the Crown will stand with them.

For the faith that shaped Britain is not merely a cultural ornament. It is the wellspring from which our laws, our liberties, and our moral imagination have flowed. If it is cast aside, the nation will discover — too late — that it has severed itself from the very roots that sustained it.

Your Majesty, to many the Crown is a symbol of authority. But before God it is also a symbol of stewardship. And stewardship carries with it the duty to defend what has been entrusted.

May Almighty God grant Your Majesty the wisdom to discern this hour, and the courage to fulfil the sacred duty entrusted to the Crown.

Yours faithfully,

Bishop Ceirion H. Dewar FSHC
Missionary Bishop
Diocese of Providence
Confessing Anglican Church

@PhilHs10 @RevBrettMurphy @revwickland @BishopRobert1 @GBNews @TalkTV @danwootton @Jacob_Rees_Mogg @LozzaFox @BackBrexitBen @RupertLowe10 @KemiBadenoch @JohnCleese

[Amelia Rose Blaire Dechart @AmeliaRBlaire]

Happy birthday to my love, my co-pilot, my confidant, my best friend @BryanDechart I am so grateful the fates brought me to you 🍀💘 Thank you for being YOU!!

[Ben Bagley @bbenbagley]

@discord why are gif links included in the links section? Can we have the ability to filter them out so we can just see actual links please 🙏

[Richard Donaldson @RDonaldson91]

🚨 UK IN DANGER 🚨

You are not signing this petition for me. You’re not even signing it for yourself; you are signing it for our children and our children’s, children.

Right now in the UK, convicted terrorists are standing in our upcoming elections.

I will continue to use Shahid Butt as just one example.

He is an Islamic terrorist who plotted to blow up BRITISH buildings. He was caught and convicted. He is standing in the May elections, in the UK, this year.

This petition is vital!

https://t.co/U32Gnnul3S

[Steve 🇺🇸 @SilentSt0rmX]

On this day in 1993: Yukihiro ‘Matz’ Matsumoto starts work on Ruby, the elegant programming language that became the backbone of Rails and powers sites like GitHub, Shopify, and Twitter (early days).

#OnThisDay #TechHistory #Ruby

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

I am today launching Restore Britain as a national political party.

Join us.

https://t.co/RMtEuHopgV

[Netflix UK & Ireland @NetflixUK]

I believe. #StrangerThings5

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Considering starting a business in 2026? Some friendly advice from someone who has experienced both success and failure - thankfully more success than failure.

I’ve built businesses, run businesses, invested in businesses. It is hard bloody work. Do not underestimate that. Long hours. No holidays. Safety net? What safety net. It’s on you. Take responsibility.

But here’s a few thoughts that you may wish to consider if you are thinking of going for it. And despite everything, the risk is still worth it...

Cash flow is everything.

Profit is nothing until it’s in the bank. Cash is fact. Plenty of good businesses fail not because they weren’t viable, but because they ran out of money at the wrong moment. Watch it obsessively. Chase your invoices. Do it politely, but firmly. You did a job, get your money for it.

Find an unregulated or lightly regulated sector if you can.

The modern British state has an extraordinary talent for smothering initiative with compliance, paperwork, and box-ticking. Regulation favours incumbents, not newcomers. The less of it you have to navigate, the better it is for you.

Avoid fashionable sectors.

If everyone is talking about it, your opportunity is already gone. The best opportunities are usually dull, unfashionable, and misunderstood. Boring often pays very well.

Be careful with import-heavy businesses.

Sterling is overvalued. If your margins depend on a permanently strong pound, you are exposed. This is why domestic businesses, particularly tourism, can still do well. It’s good news for places like Great Yarmouth, so a good place to invest if you are considering it. I’ll happily advise any businesses wanting to invest in our constituency.

Own hard assets where possible.

Land, property, plant, stock. Always worth something. Invest where possible.

Beware of experts.

Experts are trained to tell you why something can’t be done. Entrepreneurs are paid to find a way to do it anyway. Don’t outsource judgement. Trust your gut, and beware of the advisers trying to create a role for themselves.

Don’t grow too fast.

Slow, controlled expansion lets you fix problems before they become business threatening. Bite off more than you can chew, you’ll choke. One step at a time. Ask for help if you need it. Find good subcontractors and treat them well.

Control your costs.

Small leaks sink ships. Pennies add up to pounds, lots and lots of pounds. Good approval processes save pennies, which then save pounds. It all adds up.

Credit is suspicion asleep.

Cheap money hides bad decisions and turns small problems into awful ones when conditions tighten. Use credit sparingly, understand its true cost, and never build a business that only works if borrowing stays easy. It won’t. Things will change, I expect them to soon.

Know when to say no.

Bad customers, bad partners, and bad contracts can destroy a good business. Walking away is often the smartest decision you’ll ever make. Don’t get blinded by cash. Be sensible, take your time and operate with the right people. It may mean giving up money in the short term, but it’s often worth it. Play the long game.

Understand tax properly.

You don’t need clever schemes, but you do need competence. Poor tax planning kills more businesses than competition. You are going to get screwed. Just try to get screwed as little as possible. Easier said than done. Thanks, Rachel.

Reputation is an asset.

Especially outside big cities, word travels fast. How you treat customers, suppliers, and staff will follow you. It’s worth investing a few quid in showing your customers, staff and even suppliers how much they mean to you. A small investment goes a long way.

Keep decision-making tight.

Committees slow businesses down. Responsibility should be clear. Someone must own the outcome. With success rewarded, failure punished. Incentives matters. Take responsibility. If it goes wrong, take it on the chin. Don’t assign blame. You’re the boss. Own it.

Watch the markets.

The partially gold-backed yuan challenging the dollar is happening. The era of endless money printing is wobbling (don’t get me started on QE). Just how much in 2026 is yet to be seen. Precious metals will prosper again, and I expect them to do particularly well in 2026. Ignore this at your peril!

Use the digital age properly.

Technology allows small, nimble businesses to compete with giants. But don’t overly rely on it. AI isn’t that smart. Yet.

Most importantly? Train your staff properly and treat them well.

Loyalty, pride, and competence are built - and they repay you many times over. We have employees at our companies who have been there decades. Over 50 years in some cases. It matters, more than anything else.

Without these people, your business is nothing. So act like it.

Starting a business has never been easy. It certainly isn't now. But in business let's control what we can control, and not stress too much about what we can't. Monitor, but don't let it paralyse you.

For those willing to think independently, take calculated risks, and work hard?

The reward is still worth it.

We need a Britain of entrepreneurs willing to risk their capital to make things happen. THEY built Britain, they drive the economy, they create wealth and opportunities.

Done right, it will be one of the best decisions you can ever make.

If you are considering giving it a go, I sincerely wish you well.