Mike Lloyd

Entrepreneur, Writer, Thinker and veteran of the Digital Age

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@ShticksAndStews Try the Rose & Crown, a few minutes walk away, lovely Oxford pub away from the centre, with great beer

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@PolitlcsUK Praise the lord. Spent 7 years on those ironing boards ...

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@tomhfh I attended a conference earlier this year (Connected Places Summit) where the Head of HS2 said, 'we're not building a railway'. Gob smacking. 😯 Tells you all you need to know about the mindset.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

Intellectual tour de force here from Will Self. A nuanced analysis.

Well worth a read, particularly apposite on a day when, on the face of it, it appears punitive damages are awarded to the legacy media following their recent victory in court. Pour encourager les autres?

[Will Self @wself]

Will Self turns the lens on Alan Rusbridger, Lionel Barber and British journalism after Jason Arday’s death: a media machine that investigates everyone except itself–and may no longer know who is wagging whom. https://t.co/lRNKThPlZd

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@topmanjem @Middlesex_CCC @CountyChamp @HomeOfCricket I have been thinking the same.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@stevecr64387885 @CricketDad23 Test cricket has become unaffordable to many of us who used to be regulars. Given that young people over 16 are still either at school or uni, it means parents have to fork out for adult tickets. This is not how things work in theatre or even rail. ECB run by greedy b@st@rds.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

This is certainly true of my local town centre. Shoppers act rationally in economic transactions, if it's cheaper, easier to shop out of town or online then that's what they will do. If town centres are considered important then create a level playing field.

[The High Street Diaries @HighStreetDiary]

This is incorrect, the public didn’t give up on High Streets willingly.

They were deliberately discouraged out by 30 years of policies to make vehicle access to our high streets as difficult, costly and inconvenient as possible.

Whilst simultaneously approving planning permission to hundreds and thousands of out of town retail centres with free parking.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@Clair3Mari3 @Captain_Deltic Have they tested it? 😏

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@mwalker7878 @Captain_Deltic Well clearly the tests were inadequate. Inspection is not the same as proper testing. Too many excuses.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@Captain_Deltic It is quite extraordinary, given the level of expenditure devoted to the ROCs that a power failure disaster recovery procedure doesn't work. Fire alarm drills regularly tested, how come power backup not? Serious failure of leadership. Senior management must be held responsible.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@diana_blamires @danielmgmoylan Sounds like a complete absence of leadership and urgency? This should be solvable very quickly with suitable will

[Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox]

Jodrell Bank is the most visible causality of UKRI’s short sighted ‘vision’ for science, but as you’ll see below, there are many other valuable UK facilities and collaborations at risk. We became aware of the problem in the autumn of last year. It is not a result of the overall funding settlement for science after the spending review, which was quite generous I would say in the circumstances. Neither as far as we can tell is it a direct decision by ministers (all of whom have now gone in any case). Rather the problems appears to have been caused by senior management at UKRI focusing on short term economic ‘impact’ (whatever that means) rather than doing their job as custodians of the foundations of science. What must happen now is that the new ministerial team make the time (and space ;-)) to review the upcoming catastrophe, and instruct UKRI to do their job and focus on making Britain the best place in the world to do science, now and in the future.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

Ditto cricket - @ECB_cricket please note

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Let me say this very directly.

Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine.

The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.

Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

Which lanyard wearing idiot is responsible for this extraordinary decision? The funding required is a tiny piece of the annual budget. Override needed asap.

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

Jodrell Bank, home of UK's largest telescope, facing closure after losing government funding, BBC understands https://t.co/JtcG56lao8

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ sparked unexpected controversy when one of the Viking ships used during production, an authentic, hand‑built replica owned by a small maritime heritage non‑profit, was returned with significant structural damage. The vessel, normally maintained through volunteer labor and modest donations, had been loaned out under the assumption that a major studio would treat it with care and cover any repairs. Instead, the organization found cracked planks, warped ribs, and a ruined sail system that would cost more than their annual operating budget to fix.

The non‑profit reached out to the production team repeatedly, hoping for a straightforward reimbursement or at least a conversation. What they encountered instead was silence. Emails went unanswered, calls were redirected, and the studio’s representatives insisted the damage was “pre‑existing,” despite photographic documentation taken before filming. For a group dedicated to preserving Viking‑age craftsmanship, the dismissal felt not just financially devastating but deeply disrespectful.

As the story spread among local historians and maritime enthusiasts, frustration grew. Volunteers who had spent years restoring the ship felt betrayed, watching a Hollywood epic profit from their work while leaving them with a broken artifact they could no longer sail or display. The incident became a symbol of the imbalance between massive film productions and the small cultural institutions they rely on, raising uncomfortable questions about responsibility, preservation, and the true cost of cinematic authenticity.

The damaged Viking ship had actually been restored using traditional clinker‑building techniques, meaning every plank was hand‑shaped and overlapped the next, so repairing even a “small” crack requires a specialist craftsman and days of labor. That’s why the non‑profit wasn’t just upset about the cost; the damage erased work done with skills that only a handful of artisans still practice today.

#archaeohistories

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@TimesRadio @KateEMcCann Um, the 1960s is when the Labour economic plan got completely blown off course and in the 1970s the plan was nationalise 50 top manufacturers and we ended up with the IMF in. Is this what Britain wants in the 2020s?

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@ChristopherF198 If you just needed one example to show how universities have lost sight of their primary purpose and are now driven by money, this is it ...

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@qmarks22 @RMTunion @HitachiRailENG When is the @raibgovuk report due? This move certainly seems to raise important questions

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@PolitlcsUK Extraordinary and ill judged decision

[Mike Lloyd @michael_a_lloyd]

@PaddyBriggs @bbcproms Glad I wasn't the only one to find the performance disappointing. I was really looking forward to it but left feeling underwhelmed.