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Alan Burkitt-Gray

@alanburkittgray

Full-time tech and telecoms journalist from 1973 to 2023. Now taking a break from daily journalism, but talking lots about the history of telecoms. Blackheath, London SE3

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Latest posts by Alan Burkitt-Gray @alanburkittgray

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75th anniversary of the Ferranti Mark I, the world’s first general-purpose computer - Archives of IT It has been 75 years since the first Ferranti Mark I, the world’s first commercially available general-purpose computer, was delivered to the University of Manchester on 12 February 1951.

Bloody hell. I'm younger than the Ferranti Mark I computer. By three months

archivesit.org.uk/75th-anniver...

11.03.2026 15:21 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A speed read of the Mandelson files indicates:
1. Starmer was warned.
2. J Powell has covered his arse
3. Clinton, Mandelson and Blair were keen for Blair to meet Epstein in 2002
4. Mandelson will lie to his last breath, including his resignation note about Epstein "20 years ago" (try "9" Petey)
...

11.03.2026 14:29 👍 6 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 1

It's looking increasingly like these guys thought that if they could wreak more death and destruction than the other side then they would be respected as strong powerful men and they would "win" and that would make them big important heroes. Very possibly they had no rationale deeper than that.

11.03.2026 01:57 👍 11774 🔁 2018 💬 7 📌 211
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Hello! I know you’re really busy but could I borrow you for 1 min? This is important 🚨

We think private equity might be moving in on the NHS - attracted by making money from the huge waiting lists. And we want to investigate what’s going on and tell as many people as possible..

11.03.2026 07:04 👍 32 🔁 21 💬 1 📌 1

Because its one of the few decent papers left

10.03.2026 13:52 👍 38 🔁 3 💬 3 📌 0
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This very straight news piece buried deep within the FT never uses words like corruption or insider dealing but every detail is quietly devastating. Why is the FT virtually alone in the UK media in covering this important story?

10.03.2026 13:48 👍 1582 🔁 783 💬 61 📌 39
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10.03.2026 12:09 👍 17558 🔁 5143 💬 484 📌 239
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🛢️🛢️

09.03.2026 16:33 👍 3459 🔁 1217 💬 118 📌 49

And grands fours

07.03.2026 20:51 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Because people are still stupid

07.03.2026 18:13 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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.
For the survivers . . .

... and for Virginia Giuffre:

Release the damn Epstein Files !
COMPLETELY !!

💠 👊 💠

06.03.2026 21:03 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
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> @benstiller.redhour.com

06.03.2026 19:36 👍 11147 🔁 2311 💬 154 📌 81

Surely they should all be Big Macs?

07.03.2026 16:42 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Hi Nigel Farage, will you be meeting with the US Secretary of War Crimes when you visit this weekend?

05.03.2026 18:50 👍 627 🔁 153 💬 30 📌 9
Black-and-white formal portrait of Alva Myrdal (1902–1986), the Swedish diplomat, sociologist, politician, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is photographed against a dark background, resting her chin thoughtfully on her left hand, which displays a large, ornate ring. Her expression is calm, wise, and slightly introspective, with deep-set eyes, fine lines of age, and a gentle smile. Her silver-gray hair is styled in a soft, voluminous updo typical of the mid-20th century, and she wears a dark tailored jacket or dress with a simple collar, along with a distinctive metal wristwatch on her left arm. Alva Myrdal was a pioneering figure in social policy, women's rights, and international disarmament. With her husband Gunnar Myrdal, she co-authored the influential 1934 book Kris i befolkningsfrågan (Crisis in the Population Question), which shaped Sweden's progressive family and welfare policies. She served as Sweden's Minister for Disarmament and Church Affairs (1966–1973), headed UNESCO's social science department, and played a key role in the United Nations. In 1982, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Alfonso García Robles for her lifelong work on nuclear disarmament and peace advocacy through organizations like the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Pugwash Conferences. Known for her intellectual rigor, feminist principles, and commitment to global justice, she remains an icon of principled leadership in diplomacy and social reform.#AlvaMyrdal #NobelPeacePrize #Disarmament #SIPRI

Black-and-white formal portrait of Alva Myrdal (1902–1986), the Swedish diplomat, sociologist, politician, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is photographed against a dark background, resting her chin thoughtfully on her left hand, which displays a large, ornate ring. Her expression is calm, wise, and slightly introspective, with deep-set eyes, fine lines of age, and a gentle smile. Her silver-gray hair is styled in a soft, voluminous updo typical of the mid-20th century, and she wears a dark tailored jacket or dress with a simple collar, along with a distinctive metal wristwatch on her left arm. Alva Myrdal was a pioneering figure in social policy, women's rights, and international disarmament. With her husband Gunnar Myrdal, she co-authored the influential 1934 book Kris i befolkningsfrågan (Crisis in the Population Question), which shaped Sweden's progressive family and welfare policies. She served as Sweden's Minister for Disarmament and Church Affairs (1966–1973), headed UNESCO's social science department, and played a key role in the United Nations. In 1982, she shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Alfonso García Robles for her lifelong work on nuclear disarmament and peace advocacy through organizations like the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Pugwash Conferences. Known for her intellectual rigor, feminist principles, and commitment to global justice, she remains an icon of principled leadership in diplomacy and social reform.#AlvaMyrdal #NobelPeacePrize #Disarmament #SIPRI

Alva Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist, diplomat & a prominent leader of the disarmament movement. She shared the #Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 (w/A. Robles) "for their work for disarmament & nuclear and weapon-free zones." #WHM

It's International Day for #Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness.

05.03.2026 14:37 👍 1930 🔁 559 💬 12 📌 18
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Latest in Broken Britain – crowds gather in the warm sunshine in Trafalgar Square and ... realise that nothing is happening, so they can sit and relax

05.03.2026 16:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Migration is part of what makes this country great.

We're not an island of strangers - we're an island of neighbours.

The Green Party will always support fair & managed migration.

05.03.2026 08:29 👍 2788 🔁 542 💬 58 📌 51
NHS official pushed to add patient data to Palantir platform whilst also advising company

NHS official pushed to add patient data to Palantir platform whilst also advising company

A lobbyist who worked directly for Peter Mandelson, on the Palantir board, and on the board of *four* NHS trusts.

Lobbying the NHS to hand over even more patient data to Palantir.

This absolutely stinks. Get Palantir out of the NHS. Sign my petition:

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

05.03.2026 08:50 👍 3425 🔁 1563 💬 139 📌 73
Reform fury as someone else wins
by Our By-election Editor
Tim Shipsink
The losing candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwhinge, has demanded an immediate re-run of the election on the grounds that he lost
comprehensively to someone else.
"It's totally unfair and rigged,"
said Goodwhinge.
"I shouldn't
be required to sit there and suck it up, just because I lost."
Mr Goodwhine continued, *I can't believe that all those voters I demonised failed to back me.
Especially after I was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and ten million Russian bots on X.
"We have clear evidence of family voting, where people voted in order for me to stop deporting their families."
Mr Badloser concluded. "I'm the victim of colour prejudice.
They didn't vote for me simply because I'm not green."
Reform leader
Mr Farage,
speaking from a sun lounger on a rock near the Chagos Islands said,
"It's a tragedy that the people of Manchester won't see Matt in Westminster, but my constituents don't see me in Clacton either."

PLUMBER DEFEATS
MATT GOODWIN

Photo of Hannah Spencer with speech bubble saying… 
I've stopped the cock

Reform fury as someone else wins by Our By-election Editor Tim Shipsink The losing candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwhinge, has demanded an immediate re-run of the election on the grounds that he lost comprehensively to someone else. "It's totally unfair and rigged," said Goodwhinge. "I shouldn't be required to sit there and suck it up, just because I lost." Mr Goodwhine continued, *I can't believe that all those voters I demonised failed to back me. Especially after I was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and ten million Russian bots on X. "We have clear evidence of family voting, where people voted in order for me to stop deporting their families." Mr Badloser concluded. "I'm the victim of colour prejudice. They didn't vote for me simply because I'm not green." Reform leader Mr Farage, speaking from a sun lounger on a rock near the Chagos Islands said, "It's a tragedy that the people of Manchester won't see Matt in Westminster, but my constituents don't see me in Clacton either." PLUMBER DEFEATS MATT GOODWIN Photo of Hannah Spencer with speech bubble saying… I've stopped the cock

Beautiful from Private Eye on the massive toddler-tantrum that Matt Goodwin and Reform are having, because they got whooped in Gorton and Denton.

05.03.2026 07:35 👍 4367 🔁 1455 💬 92 📌 79
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Is this bad? It seems bad.

03.03.2026 16:59 👍 15853 🔁 4832 💬 611 📌 206
Bernie Sander’s 2028 litmus test would strangle America’s golden goose

Bernie Sander’s 2028 litmus test would strangle America’s golden goose

Surprise! The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post is against my 5% billionaire wealth tax. I wonder why?

If enacted, Bezos would owe $12 billion in taxes, and an average family of 4 would receive a $12,000 direct payment.

Poor Jeff would be left with just $224 billion to survive.

03.03.2026 17:09 👍 6943 🔁 2023 💬 194 📌 114
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Drusilla Beyfus obituary Stylish newspaper and magazine journalist who enjoyed great success with her book Modern Manners, a guide to etiquette

Drusilla Beyfus obituary

03.03.2026 19:12 👍 14 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 3

"Britain and the UK"? What do you mean by that term?

02.03.2026 17:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

“To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”

Judgment of the international Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany.

28.02.2026 13:04 👍 612 🔁 296 💬 2 📌 17
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ONLY COVERUPS........
👇

28.02.2026 15:56 👍 23 🔁 16 💬 1 📌 1
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BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.

28.02.2026 12:33 👍 3121 🔁 2018 💬 162 📌 744

things every single republican president of your lifetime has done

- started a war in the middle east
- completely destroyed the economy

28.02.2026 14:20 👍 26306 🔁 8895 💬 290 📌 333
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"I really want to encourage more people from backgrounds like mine to get into a system that has always shut us out."

Hannah Spencer MP: plumber, plasterer, parliamentarian

27.02.2026 10:18 👍 1614 🔁 478 💬 41 📌 65

The numbers to treasure this morning are not just 14,980, the number of votes the inspiring Hannah Spencer won yesterday, but 706, the total tally for the unmissed Conservatives. 706!

27.02.2026 10:36 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0