Elon Musk has given me a great idea

The realisation that I am about to lose my blue tick on Twitter has had a sobering effect. I was gifted this little piece of prestige not in recognition of my own genius but simply because I write for a major news organisation. The one purpose was to guarantee to others that I was me and not some cheap impersonator.

Alas, Shrimsley-impersonators are not a growth industry, which must be some kind of comment on my brand recognition. I never see them in south-west London, posing as me to score a free sourdough at Gail’s, though I was once mistaken for Jon Sopel by a Labour MP who grabbed my collar in fury at some report I hadn’t done on the BBC. I was mildly amused by this, though my supposed doppelgänger — taller, slimmer and considerably better-known — had less reason to be flattered. Now, deprived of my blue tick, Sopel will be able to impersonate me on Twitter at will.