Hywel Da
@hjd.bsky.social
Former producer/reporter at BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera. Just shortlisted for the Emerging Author Dagger by the Crime Writers’ Association. Needs a literary agent. Interests: politics, writing, travel, London, rugby and cricket.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Reform in Kent are “a threat to public safety”, the Fire Brigades Union said.
Reform haven’t signed off on fire brigade budgets, “failed to govern and lead the fire service” and haven’t even met with the fire service which is one of their responsibilities.
Reform haven’t signed off on fire brigade budgets, “failed to govern and lead the fire service” and haven’t even met with the fire service which is one of their responsibilities.
Reform leader branded “captain chaos” as Kent fire authority in disarray
The Fire Brigades Union has slammed the record of Reform’s ‘flagship council’ as it emerged that Kent and Medway Fire Authority was in disarray following the removal of five councillors, including its...
www.fbu.org.uk
November 12, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reform in Kent are “a threat to public safety”, the Fire Brigades Union said.
Reform haven’t signed off on fire brigade budgets, “failed to govern and lead the fire service” and haven’t even met with the fire service which is one of their responsibilities.
Reform haven’t signed off on fire brigade budgets, “failed to govern and lead the fire service” and haven’t even met with the fire service which is one of their responsibilities.
Yup, really impressive reporting on the BBC and the attempt by the right to clip its wings - the best I’ve seen anywhere.
This article is just one reason why I'm a subscriber to @bylinetimes.bsky.social
Independent media is critical now, more than ever, for shining a light where others choose not to.
Subscribe for yourself, or as a gift for someone, to allow them to continue speaking truth to power
Independent media is critical now, more than ever, for shining a light where others choose not to.
Subscribe for yourself, or as a gift for someone, to allow them to continue speaking truth to power
🧵On our revelations today about the BBC Coup and the Prescott Dossier.
The leaked ‘BBC Bias’ memo Trump used to attack the BBC was authored by Michael Prescott — a Hanover lobbyist paid by US tech/media giants tied to Trump. Full story: bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/b... 1/12
The leaked ‘BBC Bias’ memo Trump used to attack the BBC was authored by Michael Prescott — a Hanover lobbyist paid by US tech/media giants tied to Trump. Full story: bylinetimes.com/2025/11/11/b... 1/12
November 12, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Yup, really impressive reporting on the BBC and the attempt by the right to clip its wings - the best I’ve seen anywhere.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Information underpins democracy and the BBC is a key part of that.
We need to protect our institutions
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
We need to protect our institutions
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
Information underpins Democracy – why the BBC must be defended
Recent events at the BBC have wide-reaching implications for our democracy - and the sooner we realise it, the better
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Information underpins democracy and the BBC is a key part of that.
We need to protect our institutions
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
We need to protect our institutions
open.substack.com/pub/christin...
So much for impartiality on the BBC Board..."In a talk to the TaxPayers’ Alliance in March 2020, Gibb described himself as “a long-standing Conservative. I’m not a Chris Patten apologist-type Conservative. I’m a proper Thatcherite Conservative.” He is, (says) the Telegraph, a “lifelong” Brexiteer."
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about the extraordinary influence of former Tory spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC. It's still a helpful backgrounder for what's going on now. New readers start here: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
How the government captured the BBC
A right-wing cabal, largely unaccountable, is waging war on the principles that made our public broadcaster great. It must not succeed
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 11:35 PM
So much for impartiality on the BBC Board..."In a talk to the TaxPayers’ Alliance in March 2020, Gibb described himself as “a long-standing Conservative. I’m not a Chris Patten apologist-type Conservative. I’m a proper Thatcherite Conservative.” He is, (says) the Telegraph, a “lifelong” Brexiteer."
Reposted by Hywel Da
Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
Reposted by Hywel Da
M&S are advertising on GB News, a channel notorious for its coverage targeting migrants, Muslims and the LGBTQ+ community while promoting far-right propaganda. Click on the link and sign a petition to urge Marks & Spencer to stop funding hate. #StopFundingHate
actionstorm.org/petitions/ma...
actionstorm.org/petitions/ma...
November 9, 2025 at 10:02 PM
M&S are advertising on GB News, a channel notorious for its coverage targeting migrants, Muslims and the LGBTQ+ community while promoting far-right propaganda. Click on the link and sign a petition to urge Marks & Spencer to stop funding hate. #StopFundingHate
actionstorm.org/petitions/ma...
actionstorm.org/petitions/ma...
Reposted by Hywel Da
Reposted by Hywel Da
Good news for a change.
Train hero Samir Zitouni wakes in hospital and speaks to wife
The injured crew member is credited with saving multiple lives during a mass stabbing incident.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Good news for a change.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Oh for the love of
Sharing, since I just googled these so I could leave angry voicemails telling these motherfuckers to hold the line
Schumer's DC office number: 202-224-6542
Gillibrand's DC office number: (202) 224-4451
Sharing, since I just googled these so I could leave angry voicemails telling these motherfuckers to hold the line
Schumer's DC office number: 202-224-6542
Gillibrand's DC office number: (202) 224-4451
Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.
November 9, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Oh for the love of
Sharing, since I just googled these so I could leave angry voicemails telling these motherfuckers to hold the line
Schumer's DC office number: 202-224-6542
Gillibrand's DC office number: (202) 224-4451
Sharing, since I just googled these so I could leave angry voicemails telling these motherfuckers to hold the line
Schumer's DC office number: 202-224-6542
Gillibrand's DC office number: (202) 224-4451
Reposted by Hywel Da
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 Hywel Da
Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
More than 50 child asylum seekers still missing after disappearing from Kent care
Council data obtained by the Guardian shows 345 children have gone missing in recent years, many probably taken by traffickers
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Hywel Da
Bat and Moon — Yamada Hōgyoku, c. 1830
October 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Bat and Moon — Yamada Hōgyoku, c. 1830
Reposted by Hywel Da
"It is the first moment in my lifetime that I am aware of a piece of legislation materially impacting my life in a positive way. I think this is what enfranchisement is supposed to feel like."
Pippa Bailey on the Renters' Rights Act
Pippa Bailey on the Renters' Rights Act
The Renters' Rights Act may be the first law to improve my life
Labour should make more of a fuss of these long overdue reforms
www.newstatesman.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:37 AM
"It is the first moment in my lifetime that I am aware of a piece of legislation materially impacting my life in a positive way. I think this is what enfranchisement is supposed to feel like."
Pippa Bailey on the Renters' Rights Act
Pippa Bailey on the Renters' Rights Act
Reposted by Hywel Da
Honey, who was sold for £400 in a car park and turned out to be both pregnant and epileptic, has single-pawedly spent our whole operations fund. Help please? 😬
Our operations fund disappeared overnight
We recently took in a beautiful British shorthair called Honey who was sold for £400 in a car park.
Her new owner quickly found that she was a) pregnant and b) epileptic.
She gave birth to 10 kittens, of which 8 survived. When they'd all been sold, her new owner decided she didn't want her anymore because of her (untreated!) seizures. And so she came to us.
We took her to the vets and ordered some phenobarbital, which we've used with great success on two other epileptic cats. However, before it came in, poor Honey had a severe seizure and then two more in the space of a day. Our fosterer took her to the emergency vet, where she had to be kept in on an IV to get her phenobarbital level up quickly to stop the seizures.
She's recovering beautifully, but her treatment has completely emptied our bank account, and we had quite a few operations planned that we still need to do:
- Lemon, an old lady found on the street needs a full dental and a scan to find out why she's so wheezy
- Thomasina, another golden oldie stray, needs a full dental now she's stable on her thyroid meds
- Lenny, who spent 2 years wobbling on the streets, needs his neuter and jabs
- Sabrina, who survived the panleukopenia that killed her kittens, needs her spay and jabs
- Kirby, a sweet grey wobbler, needs his neuter and jabs
- Boots, a handsome orange boy who recently spent his 14th birthday outside as his owners didn't want him anymore, needs a fair bit of treatment, plus a birthday party!
If you can help with any of this, we would hugely appreciate it. I'm taking some of my jewellery to be sold at the weekend but I don't think it's worth very much unfortunately.
I'm really glad we could help stop Honey's constant scary, debilitating seizures, so I know we did the right thing. It's just that the others have been waiting so patiently for their treatment so they can find wonderful new homes, and I don't want to let them down.
Thank you. Love Holly and the moggies x
www.paypal.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Honey, who was sold for £400 in a car park and turned out to be both pregnant and epileptic, has single-pawedly spent our whole operations fund. Help please? 😬
Reposted by Hywel Da
Three Tory Home Secretaries wasted billions of pounds on a chaotic, costly and mismanaged asylum accommodation system, a new highly critical report from MPs reveals. Priti Patel, Suella Braverman & James Cleverly presided over a huge surge in the cost of providing accommodation for asylum seekers.
🔴The Sheer Scale of Conservative Mismanagement of the Asylum System Revealed
Billions of pounds were wasted by successive Conservative Home Secretaries on a chaotic and costly system that left vulnerable people at risk, according to a new Parliamentary report
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/27/t...
Billions of pounds were wasted by successive Conservative Home Secretaries on a chaotic and costly system that left vulnerable people at risk, according to a new Parliamentary report
bylinetimes.com/2025/10/27/t...
The Sheer Scale of Conservative Mismanagement of the Asylum System Revealed
Billions of pounds were wasted by successive Conservative Home Secretaries on a chaotic and costly system that left vulnerable people at risk, according to a new Parliamentary report
bylinetimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Three Tory Home Secretaries wasted billions of pounds on a chaotic, costly and mismanaged asylum accommodation system, a new highly critical report from MPs reveals. Priti Patel, Suella Braverman & James Cleverly presided over a huge surge in the cost of providing accommodation for asylum seekers.
Reposted by Hywel Da
It's that moment again for National Trust members to vote to keep the entryists out.
Quick and easy to vote and please do so by 31st of October
Quick Vote link keeps the AstroTurfers out.
Then share. Thank you.
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Quick and easy to vote and please do so by 31st of October
Quick Vote link keeps the AstroTurfers out.
Then share. Thank you.
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Log In
Welcome to the National Trust 2025 voting website, hosted by independent voting service provider Civica Election Services.
secure.cesvotes.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:11 AM
It's that moment again for National Trust members to vote to keep the entryists out.
Quick and easy to vote and please do so by 31st of October
Quick Vote link keeps the AstroTurfers out.
Then share. Thank you.
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Quick and easy to vote and please do so by 31st of October
Quick Vote link keeps the AstroTurfers out.
Then share. Thank you.
secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
Reposted by Hywel Da
“This Idi Amin style migrant expulsion system signals to every migrant living here, every migrant thinking of living here and every foreign government that the British government’s commitments to permanent resident foreign citizens are not worth the paper they are written on. Is that good policy?”
October 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
“This Idi Amin style migrant expulsion system signals to every migrant living here, every migrant thinking of living here and every foreign government that the British government’s commitments to permanent resident foreign citizens are not worth the paper they are written on. Is that good policy?”
Reposted by Hywel Da
New Reform MP and former Tory Danny Kruger says the police in England and Wales would lose ‘operational independence’ and be put under the control of any Reform government. This is how MAGA fascism creeps in.
October 21, 2025 at 8:03 AM
New Reform MP and former Tory Danny Kruger says the police in England and Wales would lose ‘operational independence’ and be put under the control of any Reform government. This is how MAGA fascism creeps in.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Westminster is still on X and either oblivious or simply doesn’t care that it has become a toxic information environment.
Apropos of nothing, I really do think UK journalists and politicians need some reminding that mass deportation of LEGAL immigrants, particularly those with permanent status, is far more extreme than even Trump's America and would basically place Britain completely on its own among democracies.
October 19, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Westminster is still on X and either oblivious or simply doesn’t care that it has become a toxic information environment.
Grifting liar.
Nigel Farage now says that any suggestion he's been soft on Putin is "just nonsense".
Here's a quick reminder of what he's said in the past
Here's a quick reminder of what he's said in the past
October 17, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Grifting liar.
Reposted by Hywel Da
National Trust members, remember to vote to keep out Restore Trust. The quick vote may not be your favourite thing, but it's the best way to stop them and not split the vote.
Remember there's an easy quick vote version to support the National Trust's top choice candidates. If you do wish to select your own candidates, here are the Restore Trust ones to AVOID: Gibbs, Goldman, Jenkins, Kerr, Omrani and Streeter. 2/2
October 13, 2025 at 1:52 PM
National Trust members, remember to vote to keep out Restore Trust. The quick vote may not be your favourite thing, but it's the best way to stop them and not split the vote.
Reposted by Hywel Da
This is Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and considered to be the first person to write a computer programme which was for Babbage's Analytical Machine. She died in 1842
In her honour, today is Ada Lovelace Day and is all about encouraging women and girls in mathematics, science and engineering.
In her honour, today is Ada Lovelace Day and is all about encouraging women and girls in mathematics, science and engineering.
October 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
This is Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and considered to be the first person to write a computer programme which was for Babbage's Analytical Machine. She died in 1842
In her honour, today is Ada Lovelace Day and is all about encouraging women and girls in mathematics, science and engineering.
In her honour, today is Ada Lovelace Day and is all about encouraging women and girls in mathematics, science and engineering.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
September 29, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
I often defend the BBC but this is pitifully low down the BBC News agenda...A significant political figure taking bribes from a Russian intelligence asset! Even if he hadn’t been caught, he would have been wide-open to FSB blackmail.
Nathan Gill is no fringe politician.
He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.
A Brexit Party MEP.
A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:
"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."
This is a MASSIVE story
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.
A Brexit Party MEP.
A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:
"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."
This is a MASSIVE story
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery
Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 27, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I often defend the BBC but this is pitifully low down the BBC News agenda...A significant political figure taking bribes from a Russian intelligence asset! Even if he hadn’t been caught, he would have been wide-open to FSB blackmail.
Reposted by Hywel Da
Reform predictably support Putin's interests whether it's war in Ukraine, Brexit or mad culture wars.
The only question is whether they are paid or do it for free.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The only question is whether they are paid or do it for free.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges
Gill admits eight counts of bribery relating to pro-Russia statements made in European parliament and articles
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reform predictably support Putin's interests whether it's war in Ukraine, Brexit or mad culture wars.
The only question is whether they are paid or do it for free.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The only question is whether they are paid or do it for free.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...