Dave Madden

The real threat to BBC impartiality The BBC has suffered a week of mistakes, resignations and the threat of a $1bn lawsuit. But the biggest risks of bias are in the boardroom, not the ne...

The biggest risks of bias at the BBC are in the boardroom, not the newsroom, writes @arusbridger.bsky.social.

This too ...

BBC

Bias is often in the eye of the beholder

So let’s stick to measurable facts

During 10 yrs of debate about Brexit, BBC QuestionTime had Britain’s Members of the European Parliament on the show 50 times

Every single one was from the pro Brexit minority

47 were from UKIP/BP

23 times Farage

Starmer and Reeves drop proposal to increase income tax rates in the Budget U-turn on measures to raise revenue to fill fiscal hole sparks sell-off in gilt market

So what was the point of that weird Rachel Reeves speech last week? Or did the reaction to the speech prove that the government didn't have the political skill to break the manifesto pledge? www.ft.com/content/6cbb...

Hen Harrier ‘Susie’, whose chicks were stamped to death in 2022, has been found dead on a North Pennines grouse moor with gunshot injuries If ever there was an example demonstrating the high level of persecution faced by Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, the lack of consequences for the offenders, and the lack of justice for the victim…

If the grouse shooting industry are to be believed, Susie probably stamped her own chicks to death before turning the gun on herself.

Oh well. By a happy coincidence, less hen harriers means more red grouse for the toffs to shoot.

@raptorpersuk.bsky.social

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/14/h...

I'll never forgive the idiots who misunderstood FoM, it's simple solution to the ebb and flow of employment needs, allows people to move commitment free around 27 countries, learning new languages, trying out new jobs, all visa free and generally just a few hours flight/train journey from home.

I bet this was even higher for people from the EU when we were a member state. Do a few years here, build a nest egg, improve your English and return home to build a life. It worked for them and for us. And it was pretty much the exact opposite of the UK emigration flow - which also worked for us!

Defend the BBC before it’s gone – an open letter

The BBC isn’t perfect – but it’s ours. If we don’t defend it now, we may lose a cornerstone of British democracy | Dr Russell Jackson

@docrussjackson.bsky.social
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/politics/def...

The media needs to stop providing people with extreme fringe views such frequent platforms. And it also needs to recognise that viewpoints it rarely platforms are in fact widespread amongst the public

Stasis, sanctimony and the liberal paradox. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog with such Brexit news as there is, but mainly analysis of what 'responsible Farage' tells us about the tensions in Reform and what the BBC row tells us about Brexitism: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/stas...

Lord Edmiston worth £855m, donated £1m to Brexit.

Is now leaving the UK because it is 'chaos'.

Everyone who voted Brexit is running away or dying.

Why do we keep it?

Gilts: oh dear

on.ft.com/3Jz5PED

I wish he'd get off the fence and say what he thinks

Renters’ rights in the UK have lagged so far behind most other European countries - yet landlords & rental stock still exist in those places. Plus if they want to sell them, fine – the housing will still be there for someone to live in.

Who supports Reform and why? The charts that show who favours Farage’s party Based on largest poll of supporters, these charts and maps show five distinct groups that could hand Reform a majority

How on earth do ‘squeezed stewards’ vote Reform? 🤔 How is it possible to square a concern for the environment with support for the anti-net zero, science-denying party backed by fossil fuel money and corrupt petrostates? It doesn’t make any kind of sense.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I feel that the whole Starmer leadership challenge debacle was set up & pushed by a media class addicted to & driven by chaos.

To those paid per click it suits them financially to push gossip as fact. To those who work for organisations opposed to Labour it suits them to push falsehoods.

If you are also a scientist, sure. If you aren't, like these guys, you should probably shut the fuck up and let the people whose opinions matter talk.

Not totally surprising, surely, when every news outlet - including the BBC - is reporting that the BBC has done something bad & when even the question refers to "editing his speech in a misleading way".

It would be interesting to test a different q, eg. "for selecting different parts of his speech"

The finale of the great TV comedy show Blackadder goes Forth.
Back then I didn't expect one of the funniest programmes ever to end with a scene that makes me cry every time I see it.
Every single time.

Forget the boos. He's about to gut health care, tank the economy, and maybe start a war.

It's bad.

On Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s refusal to review the BBC Board membership of Robbie Gibb, Lib Dem culture spokes Anna Sabine MP said:

"This is the wrong choice...Gibb isn’t fit to serve on the BBC Board, & the BBC Charter gives the Government the power to sack him." PM should step in, she says.

“Trump & Brexit are not 2 different things. They‘re the same thing. Same companies. Same data. Same Facebook. Same Russians. Same Cambridge Analytica. Same Robert Mercer. Same Steve Bannon. Same Breitbart. Same Alexander Nix. Same Donald Trump. Same Farage” Carole Cadwalladr 👇

This kind of thing, btw, is one of the reasons I think it's right to use the (admittedly ugly) word 'Brexitism': there are multiple recurring threads linking Brexit to post-Brexit politics/ culture wars. So many things which aren't about Brexit per se are in/directly connected to it. 3/3

Meet the 41 top-thinkers fighting the tide of Remain propaganda Leading economists, lawyers, philosophers, historians and social scientists across Britain want to challenge the impression all academics oppose leaving the EU.

Dig a little deeper, and the founder of History Reclaimed co-edits 'Briefings for Britain' (formerly Briefings for Brexit), and he and several members/ contributors to both were members of the 2018 'Brains for Brexit' group (if anyone remembers that): www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article.... 2/3

I'm not sure if others have noticed this, but interesting that one of the Prescott criticisms of the BBC is based on those of the 'History Reclaimed' group, which is also associated with the 'Restore Trust' group's attacks on & so far unsuccessful attempts to take control of the National Trust. 1/3

You may have missed this gem yesterday. From which we learn that:

1. Betting shops are really good for the mental health of isolated people.
2. Most drug-takers are not a problem.
3. Kids put tuppence in slot machines in the hope of getting rich.
4. Farage probably has a gambling industry donor.

Also, although Donald Trump did in fact attempt to incite an insurrection, that misdeed is tiny compared to the magnitude of what he's got up to since being re-elected, so none of what the BBC is accused of even matters anyway.

The BBC is bloody brilliant. It's central to the fact that British democracy isn't circling the drain like it is in America, it preserves a common culture, and propagates respect for facts. We should defend it as firmly as we fight corruption, because it's a crucial part of integrity in public life.

It’s already started - the BBC allows Newsmax boss to opine about bias, suggest some of the Jan 6 mob were merely innocent tourists visiting Congress, without pushback

Trump's White House & fawning hacks here don't really care about the 0.001% that the BBC gets wrong. They care about all the stuff it gets right.