Gail Parker
@gailp.bsky.social
💙💛
Climate, law, politics, health, dogs, cats, science, reading. Not in any order and not necessarily all at once.
A bit of whimsy is good too. And food.
Wivenhoe, Essex
Climate, law, politics, health, dogs, cats, science, reading. Not in any order and not necessarily all at once.
A bit of whimsy is good too. And food.
Wivenhoe, Essex
Reposted by Gail Parker
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Yes to this by Gita Gopinath in @financialtimes.com : too much policy uncertainty in the UK, & not just on fiscal measures. on.ft.com/4oztILv The UK’s fiscal problems aren’t just about growth
The UK’s fiscal problems aren’t just about growth
Reassessing taxes and spending every six months introduces excessive policy uncertainty
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Yes to this by Gita Gopinath in @financialtimes.com : too much policy uncertainty in the UK, & not just on fiscal measures. on.ft.com/4oztILv The UK’s fiscal problems aren’t just about growth
Reposted by Gail Parker
Reposted by Gail Parker
@bjennings90.bsky.social absolutely nails it. (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...)
November 11, 2025 at 6:58 AM
@bjennings90.bsky.social absolutely nails it. (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...)
Reposted by Gail Parker
This isn’t a disagreement about a documentary, it’s a full-blown attempt to bring down our public service broadcaster. And these rags are loving it.
November 11, 2025 at 7:09 AM
This isn’t a disagreement about a documentary, it’s a full-blown attempt to bring down our public service broadcaster. And these rags are loving it.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted by Gail Parker
NEW: Rachel Reeves signals she intends to remove the two-child cap *in full*
"I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.
"I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
NEW: Rachel Reeves signals she intends to remove the two-child cap *in full*
"I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.
"I don't think a child should be penalised because they're in a bigger family through no fault of their own," she tells BBC.
Reposted by Gail Parker
The two child cap is a test of the government’s seriousness: if you are serious about child poverty, you lift it, and if you are serious about not wasting money, you don’t fritter away cash on dumb things like vouchers to try and manage the PLP.
If the government chooses to keep the 2 child limit and spend money on vouchers and parenting programmes instead, child poverty will rise and this will be a conscious and deliberate political choice in defiance of all the evidence
Scrapping the cap entirely is both good policy *and* good politics.
Half measures will "save" some money short-term, but will piss *everybody* off and still leave very large numbers of children suffering from a policy designed to make them poorer.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
Half measures will "save" some money short-term, but will piss *everybody* off and still leave very large numbers of children suffering from a policy designed to make them poorer.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
The two child cap is a test of the government’s seriousness: if you are serious about child poverty, you lift it, and if you are serious about not wasting money, you don’t fritter away cash on dumb things like vouchers to try and manage the PLP.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Public trust in media (Reuters/Oxford) 2024
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
November 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Public trust in media (Reuters/Oxford) 2024
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
Reposted by Gail Parker
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
Reposted by Gail Parker
I fear that if Johnson were asked this today, there would be lot of umming & erring, some guff about "the custard of conciliation" & "the tiramisu of time", but he would refuse to answer.
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
In 2020, Boris Johnson said that Trump "encouraged people to storm the Capitol ... I believe that that was completely wrong. ... I unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol".
Does he still think that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCi...
Does he still think that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCi...
Boris Johnson condemns Trump after Capitol attack: 'Completely wrong'
YouTube video by Guardian News
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:45 AM
I fear that if Johnson were asked this today, there would be lot of umming & erring, some guff about "the custard of conciliation" & "the tiramisu of time", but he would refuse to answer.
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
That a US President tried to overthrow an election is now unsayable on the British Right & in much of the media
Reposted by Gail Parker
YIKES
November 10, 2025 at 9:47 AM
YIKES
Reposted by Gail Parker
I am reminded here of the @dsquareddigest.bsky.social piece about the stupidity of attempting to reduce one’s attackable surface - on this case, that strategy has made the BBC more vulnerable to attack (because its product is weaker).
Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.
The impossible dream some people on the British right are chasing is that you can have a BBC News operation that retreats from detail and expertise, that takes dictation from the government, but this will only create incompetence and failure when it suits you:
November 10, 2025 at 11:05 AM
I am reminded here of the @dsquareddigest.bsky.social piece about the stupidity of attempting to reduce one’s attackable surface - on this case, that strategy has made the BBC more vulnerable to attack (because its product is weaker).
Reposted by Gail Parker
The big problem with the BBC isn't so much a bias against left or right, but a bias against understanding: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/being-a-ne... There's little chance that a change of DG will remedy this.
Being a news avoider
Even with the best journalists, the news gives us a distorted picture of the world.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:32 AM
The big problem with the BBC isn't so much a bias against left or right, but a bias against understanding: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/being-a-ne... There's little chance that a change of DG will remedy this.
Reposted by Gail Parker
It’s not something I’ve seen mentioned so far in all of this, but panorama implying that Trump was responsible for inciting Jan 6th puts it in the same category of the majority of the US senate. Quite why that isn’t worthy of a mention in response to the implication of radical left bias is strange.
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
It’s not something I’ve seen mentioned so far in all of this, but panorama implying that Trump was responsible for inciting Jan 6th puts it in the same category of the majority of the US senate. Quite why that isn’t worthy of a mention in response to the implication of radical left bias is strange.
Reposted by Gail Parker
This is very clear, sensible and balanced.
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:38 AM
This is very clear, sensible and balanced.
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
What I would add is that they also need a much more convincing explanation of how government will use money to make people's lives better. Just saying we will spend eleventy-squillion on the NHS is not enough...
Reposted by Gail Parker
They are needed because the ordinary tax payer also needs to pay more. Here, some old fashioned social-democratic arguments need to be made much more forcefully.
November 10, 2025 at 7:48 AM
They are needed because the ordinary tax payer also needs to pay more. Here, some old fashioned social-democratic arguments need to be made much more forcefully.
"This is a critical moment for the BBC. It is rightly held to higher standards than other media organisations, but the departure of Davie and Turness is not about standards. It is a result of a political attack that exposes structural flaws in the BBC’s independence."
observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...
observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...
The Observer view: political interference at the BBC | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:03 AM
"This is a critical moment for the BBC. It is rightly held to higher standards than other media organisations, but the departure of Davie and Turness is not about standards. It is a result of a political attack that exposes structural flaws in the BBC’s independence."
observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...
observer.co.uk/opinion-and-...
Reposted by Gail Parker
I agree with @arusbridger.bsky.social about BBC governance. Although v hesitant about another rearrangement, the single corporate-style board is massively flawed, not least because there needs to be some distance for the governors/board members from editorial decisions
Michael Prescott and Sir Robbie Gibb both bailed out of journalism years ago, and enjoy lucrative careers in corporate PR. And now they are the arbiters of BBC editorial standards. Go figure www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM
I agree with @arusbridger.bsky.social about BBC governance. Although v hesitant about another rearrangement, the single corporate-style board is massively flawed, not least because there needs to be some distance for the governors/board members from editorial decisions
Reposted by Gail Parker
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Yes, absolutely there is an impartiality crisis at the BBC. But it's not the one the billionaire media insists it is. novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/b...
BBC Gives Israeli Deaths 33 Times More Coverage, New Study Reveals | Novara Media
An analysis of over 35,000 broadcast segments and articles found that the BBC referenced the 7 October attacks in at least 40% of its coverage - but only 0.5% of articles referenced Israel’s decades o...
novaramedia.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Yes, absolutely there is an impartiality crisis at the BBC. But it's not the one the billionaire media insists it is. novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/b...
"Care is not about diagnoses or prescriptions. It relies on something more fundamental: the provision of support to the other alongside the cultivation of an inner experience of concern toward others."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart
A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 AM
"Care is not about diagnoses or prescriptions. It relies on something more fundamental: the provision of support to the other alongside the cultivation of an inner experience of concern toward others."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Gail Parker
Depressing that the BBC has so little inherent institutional strength, it is kicked about so easily.
This is not good sign for our polity.
This is not good sign for our polity.
November 9, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Depressing that the BBC has so little inherent institutional strength, it is kicked about so easily.
This is not good sign for our polity.
This is not good sign for our polity.
Reposted by Gail Parker
Bill Nighy for DG BBC. observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
November 9, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Bill Nighy for DG BBC. observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Reposted by Gail Parker
Losing both the director-general and the very obvious heir apparent as the result of such an orchestrated attack is truly existential stuff for the BBC.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Losing both the director-general and the very obvious heir apparent as the result of such an orchestrated attack is truly existential stuff for the BBC.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.