The more I think about, the more I realise that the attack on the BBC really is terribly thinly veiled - and listening to @newsagents.bsky.social’s episode today, you can see just how dangerous things are right now. A very good episode from the people who know the BBC best.

What Liz is trying to say isn't that there are no impartial bodies in public life - she's saying that the ones that she has worked with didn't instantly bend over and do what she wanted. Which makes sense when we consider... well, that she's Liz Truss.

This from @bearlypolitics.co.uk is a ferocious take on the whole BBC story. All journalists and politicians should read it, and the govt should do something about it. open.substack.com/pub/iratusur...

Should read: Farage says small business owners who thought Brexit would cut regulation have been betrayed - by charlatans like himself who spearheaded their betrayal. Fixed it.

Hmmmm… Suspiciouser and suspiciouser.

Oh dearie me! How shocking? Any ideas of just who, exactly, may have betrayed small business owners? I guess we’ll never know.

"All of these things should make each and every one of us sit up and pay attention - because whatever we think of the BBC, the moment that the Trump machine celebrates your decapitation, you can be almost certain you’ve found yourself smack bang in the middle of someone' else story" Truly excellent.

The BBC’s week from hell might look like accountability - but there is more than a whiff of orchestration about it all. When the Telegraph cheers and Trump claps, you have to ask yourself: Who, exactly, benefits when the Beeb bleeds?

Pollie Parsons, 1886: typesetter, caricaturist, editor and delivery woman for Toby. When her husband was jailed for its words, she kept the presses rolling. A forgotten pioneer of grassroots media. eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hi...

I started tapping away at it last night and will continue doing so on the train - I have a lot of thoughts, many of them conflicting, and more than that, I have questions.

“It reflected a “cultural problem across the BBC” which treats issues of gender and sexuality as ‘a celebration of British diversity’ rather than a complex and contentious subject.” Just a second - what exactly is contentious about sexuality and gender identity?

It’s been a helluva week here at Bearly Politics for the editorial team*. Monday was kicked off with reflections on sexy moustaches and mental health - specifically how we can now much more easily say “it’s okay to not be okay”, access to actual help remains patchy. *Me - I’m the editorial team.

It’s been a brutal year for progressives - but @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's victory and the Green Party surge show that hope can still be strategy, not sentiment. This is a long one. Pour something strong.

The answer is no - and the follow up comment is that this is a moronic headline.

@bearlypolitics.co.uk ~ Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four ~ https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/bearly-newsworthy-issue-four

I have an extremely exciting Saturday afternoon ahead of me.

I appear to have inadvertently told a fib - my Twitter Blue Tick Status will only disappear on the 25th of November, so the timing of the Sky investigation wasn't as poetic as I thought it was. C'est la vie, and the point remains.

Having a coffee and browsing for something to read? I have you covered with Bearly Newsworthy Volume 4. Have a fab Saturday, all. 🐻

Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four is live a day early. Highlights this week include: 🧠 Proper journalism 🤡 Improper politicians 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bunting-based chaos in Kent I contain multitudes.

Beyond just the absurdity of this photograph of Trumplethinskin standing around bemused in the Oval Office, I also can’t help but think he is really, really looking old now. As in, probably needs assistance in hygiene and other ADLs old with an associated high frailty score.

QUICK THREAD 🧵: This is another excellent article from Bearly Politics @bearlypolitics.co.uk coming out of the Sky News investigation into Twitter now called X, that I posted about yesterday.

Oh, will no one think of the poor landlords?!

Is there anything redeemable left of Twitter? My thoughts are no, there is neither use nor benefit to the platform anymore. It’s time to burn it to the ground and salt the earth for good measure.

They really seem to be writing the mid-term campaign messaging for the Democrats, aren’t they.

Walglik.

Useful as a crochet condom - the whole damned lot of them.

Seems a damned good read to me.

HT to @bearlypolitics.co.uk who I've been reading for a while now via Substack & rate as absolutely excellent on political analysis for summarising this absolute dunk on X/Twitter/Musk. Also huge HT to @news.sky.com for this in-depth, data-driven investigation into X/Twitter's biased algorithm...

Follow the bear.

X is designed to radicalise people. The algorithm promotes Elon Musk's agenda to promote racists and people who want violence bought - specifically - to the streets of Britain. Members of Parliament, major institutions and the media should not be there. news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

Today marks the official death of my Twitter blue-tick - and fittingly, Sky News published an investigation proving the whole thing’s an algorithmic bin fire. It’s been real, it’s been ragey, it’s been hell. Let it burn. Let it all burn to the ground.

Great to hear @bearlypolitics.co.uk getting a well deserved shout out on this episode. If you don't follow The Bear nor listen to The Trawl, I suggest you do both, especially if you are even vaguely interested in UK politics.

This is a genuinely fascinating piece of research done by Sky on the sewer previously known as Twitter. Having been largely off it for a bit over a month, and having jumped on yesterday for a half an hour to search for insane right wing responses to Mamdani’s win, I can’t tell you just how 1/

Sorry-excuse-me-what-the-titty-fuck-now?! South Africa? Communist?! What? What?!

How badly have the foghorns on the right taken the electoral victory of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social? I put on my biohazard level waders to find out - and it got ugly (and very unhinged - including, for some reason, camels).

Dedicated to my 416 American followers: you, my friends, are doing the lord’s work by merely living in your country right now, so I’ve waded through the cesspit of X so you don’t have to to collect the finest meltdowns. Spoiler Alert: The Fannywobbles are exquisite. Enjoy. 🐻

So, the right is reacting pretty much exactly as expected to @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social becoming NYC mayor - with froth, fury and the most fabulous of fannywobbles. How unsurprising.

Let’s take a look at the whole “there are too many black people on TV” thing, shall we? After Pochin claimed Black people in TV adverts “made her mad”, all her supporters tried to use 👇🏼 as their excuse for why she was somehow justified in her overt racism. Spoiler - she isn’t! 🤨 🧵 1/22

As a side note, I am now 12 people away from reaching 6,000 subscribers to Bearly Politics. Does it make a material difference whether I reach it or not? Not really - it’s just a nice milestone and my love of round numbers. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so below 👇

So, I tipped him a coffee, and now I'm sharing. Because it's worth it. @bearlypolitics.co.uk learned a bit about copyright & fair use. open.substack.com/pub/iratusur...

Writing tuition fees: £0. Substack account: free. Picture of Nigel Farage: £500. Education: priceless.

One minute you’re promising to torch bureaucracy, the next you’re begging the markets not to set fire to your manifesto. Fiscal gravity is a helluva thing - and Nigel Farage has found that out this week, in spades.

The Bear reminds us Movember is upon us. Beneath the cheeky posters & fundraising stunts it is about men’s health, physical and mental. East Anglia is blessed with the Norfolk Clubhouse - an 'enlightened model giving purpose to life' says Sir Norman Lamb, of its approach to mental health support.

I can just sense the meltdown that’s happening after this news. This is an incredible win for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social - I’m genuinely excited to see what his term as Mayor of New York City will produce.

⚠ Delicate eyeball warning ⚠ 🔥- Rage Humour Ahead -🔥 🚨 Right wing Care Bears & Snowflakes Meltdown Alert 🚨 Christmas Light Rage [CLR] & Poppy Rage Hormone Overload [PRHO] A guide to help you cope with your misplaced anger at Sadiq Khan and Poppies with a hint of Rainbow. @bearlypolitics.co.uk 😘

For this week, you can get a Bearly Politics subscription for 20% off. On top of that, 20% of subscriptions this week will go to Movember to support the fantastic work they’re doing for men’s health awareness.

Movember is brilliant at getting us to talk about men’s mental health, write's The Bear. But when men finally do talk, he points out there's "no apparent plan or plot on what happens next." @eastangliabylines.co.uk @bearlypolitics.co.uk

#OnThisDay 75 years ago the European Convention on Human Rights was signed. As the family of British artisan David Maxwell Fyfe we have been celebrating ECHR's protections with performances of our song cycle Dreams of Peace & Freedom. Watch our #ECHR75 video 🎞️⬇️ #soundon

This is going to cause so much internal conflict for some people.

Another brilliant article by The Bear that’s well worth a read. Quote: Farage admitted to the cameras, normally his friends, that huge tax cuts just aren’t “realistic”, to which you could hear the ghost of Liz Truss choking on her salad and a chorus of people shouting “No shit, Sherlock!”