The Bear
@bearlypolitics.co.uk
Politics, power, propaganda - explained without the spin.
Author of Bear Necessities of Politics and Power and editor of BearlyPolitics.co.uk 🐻
Author of Bear Necessities of Politics and Power and editor of BearlyPolitics.co.uk 🐻
Pinned
The Bear
@bearlypolitics.co.uk
· Sep 2
Bearly Politics | The Bear | Substack
Welcome to Bearly Politics! I'm The Bear, your slightly exasperated guide to the strange world of modern politics. Here, I attempt to tackle the absurdities of power, with claws sharpened by satire an...
bearlypolitics.co.uk
📌 Notice 📌
If you’re looking for my longer form posts, you can now find them on bearlypolitics.co.uk.
🐻
If you’re looking for my longer form posts, you can now find them on bearlypolitics.co.uk.
🐻
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.
A very good episode from the people who know the BBC best.
Inside the BBC: What really went on
Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 10/11/2025 · 35m
podcasts.apple.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
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.
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.
Which makes sense when we consider... well, that she's Liz Truss.
November 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
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.
Which makes sense when we consider... well, that she's Liz Truss.
Reposted by The Bear
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...
open.substack.com/pub/iratusur...
The Beeb Bleeds, the Telegraph Cheers, and Trump Claps From the Balcony
The people who always hated public broadcasting finally smell blood - and the BBC seems too tired and compromised to fight back.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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...
open.substack.com/pub/iratusur...
Reposted by The Bear
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.
Farage says small business owners who thought Brexit would cut regulation have been betrayed - by charlatans like himself who spearheaded their betrayal.
Fixed it.
November 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
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.
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.
Suspiciouser and suspiciouser.
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Hmmmm…
Suspiciouser and suspiciouser.
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.
Any ideas of just who, exactly, may have betrayed small business owners?
I guess we’ll never know.
November 10, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Oh dearie me! How shocking?
Any ideas of just who, exactly, may have betrayed small business owners?
I guess we’ll never know.
Any ideas of just who, exactly, may have betrayed small business owners?
I guess we’ll never know.
Reposted by The Bear
"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.
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?
When the Telegraph cheers and Trump claps, you have to ask yourself:
Who, exactly, benefits when the Beeb bleeds?
The Beeb Bleeds, the Telegraph Cheers, and Trump Claps From the Balcony
The people who always hated public broadcasting finally smell blood - and the BBC seems too tired and compromised to fight back.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 11:11 AM
"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.
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?
When the Telegraph cheers and Trump claps, you have to ask yourself:
Who, exactly, benefits when the Beeb bleeds?
The Beeb Bleeds, the Telegraph Cheers, and Trump Claps From the Balcony
The people who always hated public broadcasting finally smell blood - and the BBC seems too tired and compromised to fight back.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:46 AM
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?
When the Telegraph cheers and Trump claps, you have to ask yourself:
Who, exactly, benefits when the Beeb bleeds?
Reposted by The Bear
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...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/lifestyle/hi...
Rise and silencing of the East End’s pioneering paper
“That’s the way to do it!” Toby, a paper named after Punch’s dog bit back at power – until satire, scandal and love brought it to heel
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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...
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.
@bearlypolitics.co.uk looking forward to reading your views about the BBC going forwards.
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
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?
Just a second - what exactly is contentious about sexuality and gender identity?
BBC trans coverage ‘censored’ by its own reporters — The Telegraph
Corporation’s LGBT desk ‘keeps other perspectives off air’, leaked internal dossier claims
apple.news
November 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
“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?
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.
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.
Movember: Great Moustaches, Terrible Mental Health Infrastructure
We’ve nailed the slogans and motivational posters. Now it’s time to build the bloody scaffolding underneath them
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:57 PM
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.
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.
This is a long one.
Pour something strong.
It Turns Out, Hope Still Polls Well
An unexpected victory, a surge for the Greens in the UK, one slightly overcaffeinated political commentator and a reminder that optimism still has teeth.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 12:54 PM
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.
This is a long one.
Pour something strong.
The answer is no - and the follow up comment is that this is a moronic headline.
November 8, 2025 at 8:38 PM
The answer is no - and the follow up comment is that this is a moronic headline.
Reposted by The Bear
@bearlypolitics.co.uk
~ Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four ~
https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/bearly-newsworthy-issue-four
~ Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four ~
https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/bearly-newsworthy-issue-four
Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four
Good reporting, bad politics, and one very flammable flag situation in Kent.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 12:13 PM
@bearlypolitics.co.uk
~ Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four ~
https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/bearly-newsworthy-issue-four
~ Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four ~
https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/bearly-newsworthy-issue-four
I have an extremely exciting Saturday afternoon ahead of me.
a blurred image of a red sphere with a black background
Alt: a blurred image of a red sphere with a black background
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:13 PM
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.
C'est la vie, and the point remains.
The X-periment: Sky News Proves Elon’s Algorithm Does Pick a Side
Nine fake British users, ninety-thousand posts and one undeniable conclusion - X is boosting the far right, and the rest of us were never meant to win the argument.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 9:57 AM
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.
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.
🐻
I have you covered with Bearly Newsworthy Volume 4.
Have a fab Saturday, all.
🐻
Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four
Good reporting, bad politics, and one very flammable flag situation in Kent.
bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Having a coffee and browsing for something to read?
I have you covered with Bearly Newsworthy Volume 4.
Have a fab Saturday, all.
🐻
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.
Highlights this week include:
🧠 Proper journalism
🤡 Improper politicians
🏴 Bunting-based chaos in Kent
I contain multitudes.
Bearly Newsworthy: Issue Four
Good reporting, bad politics, and one very flammable flag situation in Kent.
bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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.
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.
As in, probably needs assistance in hygiene and other ADLs old with an associated high frailty score.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
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.
As in, probably needs assistance in hygiene and other ADLs old with an associated high frailty score.
Reposted by The Bear
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.
November 7, 2025 at 6:58 AM
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?!
November 7, 2025 at 6:15 AM
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.
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.
The X-periment: Sky News Proves Elon’s Algorithm Does Pick a Side
Nine fake British users, ninety-thousand posts and one undeniable conclusion - X is boosting the far right, and the rest of us were never meant to win the argument.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 6:11 AM
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.
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.
Steve Bannon: If we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison, myself included.
November 7, 2025 at 6:08 AM
They really seem to be writing the mid-term campaign messaging for the Democrats, aren’t they.
Walglik.
Wanneer is genoeg genoeg? Hoeveel persoonlijke rijkdom mag een individu vergaren? En wanneer is die rijkdom een gevaar voor de samenleving, of misschien wel voor de planeet? Zomaar wat vragen.
November 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Walglik.