Jack Blackburn 🇺🇦
@HackBlackburn
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History Correspondent & Deputy Diary Editor of @TheTimes . There’s an awful lot happening in the past. Also tweet film, food, sport jack.blackburn @thetimes .co.uk
London, UK
Joined February 2009
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Pinned Tweet
My father John died on Saturday evening. He spent his last days with his wife and sons before passing peacefully with the words of their love and gratitude. He laughed with them in his last hours and heard some final readings from the King James Bible and PG Wodehouse.
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Sir Ian McKellen has received the Covid vaccine. “Anyone who has lived as long as I have is alive because they have had previous vaccinations... you’re having it not just for yourself but for people who you are close to – you’re doing your bit for society.”
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Look, all I’m saying is that Marcus Rashford goes out for a night in Belfast and days later there’s a return to devolved government in Northern Ireland.
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“Of course, it’s painless… it’s convenient, and getting in touch and meeting NHS staff and saying thank you to them for how hard they’ve been working is a bonus, I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine.”
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🚨 BREAKING 🚨
An expedition in Antarctica has found the shipwreck of Endurance, the ship which carried Ernest Shackleton and his crew into disaster in 1915.
#Endurance22
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I’m beginning to think that government policy is being written by manatees picking balls out of a tank.
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Your mum defending you against people who say you are too young is unfortunate
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Michelle Donelan update - having scoured lists of centuries worth of ministers, I believe that she is the shortest serving Secretary of State ever.
The record has stood for almost 239 years, since the 3rd Earl of Temple resigned from Pitt the Younger's government after 4 days.
It will not surprise you to learn that Michelle Donelan is the shortest serving education secretary we’ve ever had.
A sad day for previous record holder Richard Law who, as Minister for Education, clocked in at 2 months and 1 day as a caretaker.
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Many will be pleased to know that The Times’ writers have been instructed to drop the term the Queen Consort.
Whatever clarifying use it had during the mourning period has expired. Queen Camilla is now to be referred to as such or, if there is no risk of confusion, as The Queen.
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So, I got married, it was great, restrictions couldn’t dampen it, we saw people we hadn’t seen in ages, and England absolutely smashed it and we are driving through London and people are singing “It’s Coming Home” and drivers are honking their horns in delight. Best day ever!
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I feel this sends the wrong message to someone you’ve just convicted of bribery.
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Workmen on London Bridge incinerate social distancing signs on the pavement
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My colleagues on
@thetimes
reporting this morning that Williamson stays at the Department for Education but the permanent secretary goes. Is nothing the fault of ministers?
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He must have been incredibly evil if he inspired that novel which came out when he was 7.
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Rory Stewart - years of patient, intelligent, diligent service gets him a rating of 27% for competence from Tory members.
Boris Johnson - years of lies, cock-ups of different kinds and being the worst foreign secretary in living memory. HE GETS 61%?
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This would activate the Queen.
Lascelles Principles will direct her to decline his request for a dissolution. She then is left with the choice to dismiss him or not.
Well-placed source convinced Boris Johnson won’t quit, even if the 22 change the rules, and he loses a VONC.
Instead, he’ll claim he has a mandate from 14m voters, and will threaten to force an election - but not before deselecting everyone who voted against him.
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🚨NEW 🚨
I was on site at Pompeii shortly after they made the stunning discovery of exquisite frescoes of figures from the Trojan War in a newly uncovered winter dining room.
Story from the site is here:
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I have lost almost all sense of British exceptionalism, save for the obvious superiority of our plugs.
I call to UK 🇬🇧 join the global - European standards for plugs 🔌
Makes sense - it is not a ideological issue - just common sense …
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This is absolute gold, but the best bit is a sequence of two clips. One sees Heath talk over the Queen. The second sees her, and I cannot stress this enough, absolutely body him.
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The first photo. The waters under Antarctic ice are crystal clear. They saw it from 100 feet away.
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Just calling out fake news when I see it. The Tory MPs started cleaning first and were told they were likely to cause more damage so a professional cleaner came in to do the job (as reported by
@carldinnen
here: ).
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“I unintentionally walked into the raucous disco, which I implicitly felt was a night long vigil for the Duke”
🚨EXCLUSIVE
Number 10 held two boozy parties the night before the Queen mourned Prince Philip alone.
Staff drank and at points danced until the early hours of the night of April 16.
Hours later, the Queen went to a socially-distanced funeral for Philip.
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I don’t think there’s been enough scrutiny of Oliver Letwin’s current profile photo
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Honestly - go to Hawksmoor and then donate several hundred pounds to charity.
Sneak peek inside Salt Bae's new London restaurant where a steak costs £630
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It didn’t have to be like this. We could have been in Rory Stewart’s utopia where lockdown happened hard and fast, the pavements are covered with trees, we all sleep in each other’s houses and try opium at weddings out of embarrassment.
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Today, 29th February, has only happened about 510 times. Here are some of the events that occurred on this rarest of days
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Cricket Australia step into the breach and publicise the County Championship
A mouth-watering battle is on the cards tonight as Marnus Labuschagne's Glamorgan take on Shaheen Afridi's Middlesex from 8pm.
Michael Neser & Pete Handscomb also face off in the same match. Get the latest scores from all nine County Championship fixtures
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The gesture as if the driver should have let him go is pure art
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Judging from the conversations I’ve had with Tory members, the one they’d like to see do well over the next few weeks is Kemi Badenoch.
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Sometimes I worry that I don’t actually have imposter syndrome
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Big mistake for the Head of MI6 to sign this
Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C
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Ultimately, it would be Johnson putting the Queen in a terrible position for self-expedient reasons.
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This is the best moment of TV this year. Hands down.
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Just a quick plea: if you read an article which you really enjoy, just leave a quick, pleasant comment beneath it. Really makes a difference in depressing times. We’re encouraged to read the comments and it is a territory for the misanthrope. Would love kinder souls to prevail.
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Don’t think I’ve seen anyone post this 30 Rock bit, but the Zachary Taylor line makes me howl without fail
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The internet strikes again
🚨NEW 🚨
I was on site at Pompeii shortly after they made the stunning discovery of exquisite frescoes of figures from the Trojan War in a newly uncovered winter dining room.
Story from the site is here:
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Tim Martin has seen Mike Ashley’s bid in “Most Bastardy Rich Bastard 2020” and has decided to raise it.
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Extraordinary - Clive Myrie delivering the news from Kyiv with great dignity, and a tear on his cheek.
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People say we don’t have social mobility, but 25 years ago this sort of headline was only ever about the sons of Prime Ministers
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In tonight’s edition of my life is weird, I saw someone come back from their holidays
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In happy personal news, thrilled that I have been promoted to Deputy Diary Editor of The Times.
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“David Attenborough said our actions are too divisive.”
“We’ll prove him wrong - let’s harass that nationally adored bastard.”
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Love how the ermine only makes Ken Clarke look more dishevelled.
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While I agree with the measures introduced by the PM, “use online supermarkets where possible” is clearly an instuction which comes from someone who hasn’t looked into whether it is currently possible to use online supermarkets.
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Somehow it will be Verstappen.
🔴
@Arsenal
v
@LFC
🔴
🔵
@ChelseaFC
v
@SpursOfficial
⚪
🏆 Who do YOU think will be lifting the
@Carabao_Cup
?
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The ship is in remarkably good condition, with the crew’s personal effects and crockery found amongst the wreckage. Even the word “Endurance” is still visibly painted on the side.
Pictures and videos have just been released. This story will update.
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For the uninitiated, this is how Princess Anne responded to her attempted kidnapper on this day in 1974
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Of course, Queen will be reluctant to do this and she may feel that the conditions are not met and will thus allow an election.
However, after the prorogation controversy three years ago, she may feel that she needs to take advice on this before granting the request.
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I bloody love that the Rory Stewart drug scandal is opium. It’s so on brand. He should own it more.
“Theresa May ran through a field of wheat, but what’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?”
“I huffed a Victorian drug we fought a war with the Chinese over. Beat that Boris.”
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And here is the video:
We have super high definition film of the wreck, multi beam sonar and a hugely accurate laser model. Nothing has been touched or retrieved.
#Endurance22
is coming home.
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The interviewer was asking you about why all your colleagues think you're unfit to be PM. Not at all relevant to people’s day-to-day lives.
Corbyn: As you may have noticed, the MSM can be hostile. I did an interview for Sky and they kept asking me about racism and why people were leaving the party, rather than things I wanted to talk about.
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It is interesting as to why Queen Consort stuck. I suppose the chief reason was unfamiliarity with having one. It was on the statement announcing the late Queen’s death and so perhaps people thought it was proper.
However, no Queen has ever had that title in their style.
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Should also add that we are absolutely not to refer to Charles and Camilla but the King and Queen. Which is of course absolutely right.
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I learn from Times Radio that Liz Truss is wooing backbenchers with various parties. Fizz with Liz is one event. Bizz with Liz is another. Probably wise if the rhyming titles go no further than that.
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Well, no denying it - huge victory for Jeremy Hunt.
#MattHedges
must be thankful that he didn’t have the last foreign secretary batting for him.
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Someone had lit up a huge spliff near a major police operation. That’s the modern Blitz spirit.
#LondonBridge
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Netflix’s new documentary series posits a lost, Atlantis-style civilisation which spurred us on to greatness.
Archaeologists say it’s an assault on their profession.
Me in today’s
@thetimes
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Told our legal department this, just for a laugh.
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We have not been directed as to how we should refer to Elizabeth II, with that title sounding far too formal and blunt a transition. I imagine “the late Queen” will suffice for an extended period of time.
After then, the old Queen perhaps? Or maybe straight to Elizabeth II?
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The Rest is History has done what no podcast (or indeed any broadcast) has done before.
It has been awarded the
@BritishAcademy_
’s President’s Medal.
Congrats do
@TheRestHistory
,
@dcsandbrook
and
@holland_tom
, to whom I spoke here…
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Excellent sermon from the Archbishop. "But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten." That felt rather pointed in the current gathering.
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🚨 Professional News 🚨
Delighted to announce that my business cards now need an appendix as I have been made the History Correspondent and Deputy Diary Editor of The Times.
Thrilled to be doing these fascinating and fun jobs
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How on Earth would Trump be able to tell if he lost his sense of taste?
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Imagine that means Julia will be getting that new barn conversion
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick talks to Julia next.
Watch the show live ►
@JuliaHB1
|
@RobertJenrick
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Just before the hackers got through the final firewall, they were offered a cut-price pack of Haribo and a bottle of Buxton mineral water.
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Queen Mary was Queen Empress while her husband lived, before reverting to Queen Mary.
The other probable reason why it took hold was Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. This was a one-off, in order to differentiate between the two Queen Elizabeths.
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If a British rebellion were moving up the M4 toward the capital, I reckon they would have a fatal collapse of morale at Reading services.
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Prince William agrees to strengthen ties with himself
Wales and Cornwall sign agreement aimed at strengthening ties
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@Christo86984167
@carldinnen
@christopherhope
Huge responsibility. He’s the chap on the 11-strong WhatsApp group who says “Monday. 11am. Committee Room 17. Anna’s turn to bring the biscuits.”
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Also worth noting that the Royal Family website refers to her as The Queen Consort.
The Times view is that this is an “awkward designation”. Plenty of our readers agree.
The Palace and the paper of record are simply having a disagreement over style.
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@realDonaldTrump
Absolutely not the link. Rise in crime was not linked to terror. And we also have exceptionally low gun deaths. Gun control works.
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So, this bit of background chatter from
#Industry
has been brought to my attention. Coincidences happen and I'll take it (I mean, if I'm a magician when it's limp then things could only get better). The thing is... I was at college with the writers...
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.
@jameskirkup
is right to raise this, but I would say the chief reason why my generation are having fewer babies, later on, is quite simply because they are unaffordable. We desperately want kids, but we know that we do not have the *combined* salary to afford the childcare.
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Newham council promised a new pool and they delivered!
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The lack of the
@CountBinface
surge is disappointing. Everyone said they were voting for him. Now he knows how Ed Miliband felt.
Count Binface still struggling to reach 2%.
His biggest problem is that, while his policies might be individually popular, Londoners just don't believe he can deliver on them.
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What’s happening inside the Trappist monasteries? There’s been nothing but total silence.
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The shortlist has been announced for the 50th Wolfson History Prize, Britain’s most valuable non-fiction book award. The nominees are…
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Not having an overnight visitor was very much my experience of freshers week
Unis are going to ban freshers from having parties and overnight visitors
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And there is this point on the late Queen’s statement for her Jubilee. Did it indicate a wish that Camilla be a Queen? Or was it a statement of a preferred title which has never been used before?
Either way, a monarch cannot bind the hands of their successor.
@hiltonholloway
She did indeed say that it was her “sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort”. However, that does make her Queen Camilla and, in the absence of any other, the Queen. The two are not contradictory, merely differences in style.
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But if you both live alone, you must continue in your delayed gratification hell. We don’t know why. We do not question the manatees!
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“The bearer party, wearing the formal
black overalls of Historic Environment Scotland…”
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A lot of people saying it isn’t quite Osborne getting booed at the Olympics. It isn’t. It’s worse. People booing politician who’s in front of them: happens a lot. People spontaneously heckling a politician who’s nowhere near… that’s a different level of unpopularity.
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The King’s decisions for the coronation will be interesting on this matter.
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Must admit to having spine-tingles, a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye having stood to applaud Alastair Cook at the start of his last innings. Amazing moment for an amazing cricketer.
#ThankYouChef
#bbccricket
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It’s true that the Goths and Vandals were uncontrolled immigrants, much in the same way that the East India Company were adventurous holidaymakers.
WTAF
“When the Roman Empire fell, it was largely as a result of uncontrolled immigration. The empire could no longer control its borders, people came in…and Europe went into a dark ages that lasted a very long time. The point is that it can happen again”
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PRs - I'm a diary journalist. Unless your press release is about how the budget is going to impact canapes and warm prosecco, I'm not going to read it.
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We were being run by people who were stupid enough to film an illegal lockdown party.
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Barry Cryer has died. He was everything you’d want. Funny, obviously, but very, very kind and generous and lovely. I will have few greater highlights in my life than when he pointed at me and said “Don’t trust this man. He’s a journalist. Only joking - he’s a mate.” RIP.
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12th December will be the one year anniversary of Theresa May winning a no confidence vote, meaning that no Tory could challenge her for 12 months
#generalelection2019
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Liz Truss not running. My thoughts are with the Adam Smith Institute at this difficult time.
@ASI
Tory leadership latest.. Raab in, Hancock in, Rudd OUT, Truss OUT.. Gove sort of in but being a flirt.
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