Utility Week

Community a study by researchers at Brown University in Indiana has found a quarter of posts about climate change on Twitter were written by bots. The research team analysed 6.5 million tweets from the period surrounding president Donald Trump's June 2017 announcement that he was removing the US from the Paris climate accord. The € ndings showed 25 per cent of tweets on climate change were likely posted by bots. Most of those tweets centred on deni- als of global warming or rejec- tions of climate science. The great man is intrigued to know if the researchers were able to identify who was behind them. It is easy to see how a given state player may think it's in their interests if a certain political candidate was victorious in an election, but who – other than actual robots – bene€ ts if we make our planet uninhabitable? Whoever is behind it, Discon- nector can't help but assume that they're not big picture thinkers. Trouble brewing The Tories' attempts to rebrand themselves as the party of the Northern working class was never going to be easy, but many MPs are only now getting a measure of the task in front Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Content director: Jane Gray, janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004; Editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Digital editor: James Wallin, 01342 332015, jameswallin@fav-house.com; Intelligence editor: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@ fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Water correspondent: Ruth Williams, e: ruthwilliams@fav-house.com, t: 01342 332069 Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £950+VAT per year. Contact Jo Nikiforov on: 01342 332077 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the regulator of the UK's magazine and newspaper industry. We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint, please contact the Editor. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you want more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk. man assumes they already have garages full of the things, having invested a lot of their personal funds into printing lea‹ ets and all the rest before Nigel told them he'd changed his mind. Thinking outside the bot We're becoming increasingly familiar with the use of "bots" on the internet. Basically, AI- driven accounts on social media platforms that are used by mal- contents (usually state players) who want to cause mischief and destablise a country, economy or political party. They came to most people's attention at the last US presi- dential election where they were credited with disseminating a lot of fake news on Facebook and Twitter with the aim of discredit- ing Hilary Clinton. There were also mutterings that bots played their part in stirring up feelings during the Brexit referendum. In both cases, the intelli- gence community has pointed a € nger € rmly in the direction of Russia. Whether or not that's the case, there is little doubt that malicious so™ ware bots are being deployed in an eš ort to cause trouble, and that there is a line of obvious suspects who mean us ill. However Discon- nector was intrigued by press reports that Sweet memories Despite predicting that he would "disappear" a™ er Brexit to live the quiet life he claimed was all he really ever wanted, it seems Nigel Farage is still very much with us and show- ing no signs of walking oš into the sunset. Not only has the leading Brexiteer reinvented himself as a radio talkshow host (for LBC), but he's still trying to capitalise on Brexit, this time by selling signed Brexit Party placards for 35 pounds a pop, despite the corex boards cost- ing under seventeen quid for a pack of ten. In an email sent out to Brexit Party members, they were told they had the chance to "own a little piece of his- tory" by buying one of the lightweight boards waved about on election night. Perhaps Nigel needs to make up for the loss of his circa £90,000 salary as an MEP, at least until his generous EU pension kicks in. Disconnector can't help but wonder how many of the 317 candidates he stood down at the last general election will be ordering one of the "mementos". The great UTILITY WEEK | 28TH FEBRUARY - 5TH MARCH 2020 | 31 of them. Take new chancellor Rishi Sunak, the multi-million- aire former hedge fund man- ager married to the daughter of an Indian billionaire business- man. Naturally enough the Richmond (Yorkshire) MP probably likes to play down the squillions of pounds ‹ oating around the family and play up his "ordinary bloke" creden- tials whenever he can, and such an opportunity seemed to present itself when he tweeted about taking a break from his Budget preparations and claimed there was "Nothing like a good Yorkshire brew". To add credence to the claim he was pictured holding alo™ a large bag of Yorkshire£Tea. It's not recorded how the photo opportunity went down with Conservative head o¤ ce, but it didn't go down so well with Yorkshire Tea, who suš ered a barrage of abuse from people angry that the company was "supporting" the Conservative party. Words such as "treachery" and "boycott" were bandied about, such that the company felt obliged to appeal to people to "try to be kind" and pointed out that it had no control over who drinks its tea. Disconnector can't help but feel a bit sorry for Rishi, who doubtless thought he was doing them a favour – but may think twice in future. being deployed in an eš ort to cause trouble, and that there is a line of obvious suspects who mean nector was intrigued by press reports that wonder how many of the 317

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