Paul
@bitoclass.uk
SE Londoner, in Lewisham. Been here ages, enjoying the "2008 Twitter" vibes. Interests include: London, transport, politics, food, feminism, music, arts, culture, Manchester, the media. Hoping for Leveson 2
Mine was Only Connect, so let's hope my kidnapping is actually an elaborate escape room setup and then I'll be absolutely fine
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Oh god. I am so fucked.
Oh god. I am so fucked.
November 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Mine was Only Connect, so let's hope my kidnapping is actually an elaborate escape room setup and then I'll be absolutely fine
Reposted by Paul
yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
I don’t like subtweeting people I consider online friends, but there is a subset of people who are very worried about the ongoing radicalisation of our political elite but won’t ever acknowledge the echoes with the radicalisation of their colleagues on trans rights
And few who are sympathetic to us, some who are friendly with me on here, will ever stick their head above the parapet
November 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
Reposted by Paul
All the supposedly progressive people saying 'Nigel Farage's racism doesn't matter. His fans love it'.
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
All the supposedly progressive people saying 'Nigel Farage's racism doesn't matter. His fans love it'.
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
It matters whether the leader of the party leading all the opinion polls is an outright racist. It matters if he called black people 'wogs' and said 'gas them' to Jews. Not everything is a game
Reposted by Paul
Wrote this a couple of weeks ago. Feels more relevant still after today. And it’s a deficit of self awareness which goes far beyond some members of the BBC board.
November 24, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Wrote this a couple of weeks ago. Feels more relevant still after today. And it’s a deficit of self awareness which goes far beyond some members of the BBC board.
Reposted by Paul
When I asked Nigel Farage's spokesman last week, he flatly denied that his boss had ever racially abused anyone.
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
November 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
When I asked Nigel Farage's spokesman last week, he flatly denied that his boss had ever racially abused anyone.
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Now Farage is only saying he never did so in a "hurtful way".
Does he think there's a non-hurtful way to racially abuse someone?
Reposted by Paul
Oh Nigel was doing gentle and kind racism, stand down everyone
“I would never ever do it in a hurtful or insulting way”
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
Nigel Farage responds to allegations of racist behaviour from when he was a teenager at school
@itvnewspolitics.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Oh Nigel was doing gentle and kind racism, stand down everyone
Reposted by Paul
BBC board member Robbie Gibb, whose previous jobs have included being Conservative communications director to Theresa May, and helping to set up GB News, tells MPs that he is "hugely impartial"
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
BBC board member Robbie Gibb, whose previous jobs have included being Conservative communications director to Theresa May, and helping to set up GB News, tells MPs that he is "hugely impartial"
Reposted by Paul
Boris Johnson didn't apologise to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, even when she told him in person the lasting impact his comments about her had on her detention in Iran, her husband tells the BBC
November 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Boris Johnson didn't apologise to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, even when she told him in person the lasting impact his comments about her had on her detention in Iran, her husband tells the BBC
Reposted by Paul
To add to this - it's not like the public is being well served by broadcast news moving at the pace of 24 hour scrolling and the politically obsessed - it just means every election large numbers of people end up googling 'what is austerity?' 'What is brownfield?' etc. etc.
This is bizarre. Like the editor of the guardian or mail or any other paper complaining repeatedly about the front page lead they decided to run with.
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
It’s a sign of how insane the news cycle is these days that this historic failure of government policy got just one day of news coverage this week.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
November 23, 2025 at 12:33 PM
To add to this - it's not like the public is being well served by broadcast news moving at the pace of 24 hour scrolling and the politically obsessed - it just means every election large numbers of people end up googling 'what is austerity?' 'What is brownfield?' etc. etc.
Reposted by Paul
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The fact that in both 2019 and 2024, the winning party did so with a set of manifesto promises that could not be kept and dissolved upon contact with actual office is something that as an industry we should be much more bothered by than we are.
Reposted by Paul
The agenda moves quickly, Paul, because you are all on X and allow a foreign owned media organisation with an agenda against this country to set that agenda. That's on you and your bosses.
November 23, 2025 at 12:26 PM
The agenda moves quickly, Paul, because you are all on X and allow a foreign owned media organisation with an agenda against this country to set that agenda. That's on you and your bosses.
Reposted by Paul
Relief for rail passengers as fare freeze in England announced for 2026
Relief for rail passengers as fare freeze in England announced for 2026
Chancellor will confirm the measure, intended to help commuters on expensive routes, in her budget speech
Rail fares in England will not be increased in 2026, the government has announced, surprising passengers with the first fare freeze in 30 years.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will confirm a freeze on fares in this week’s budget, a move designed to limit inflation, ease the cost of living and support economic growth. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Relief for rail passengers as fare freeze in England announced for 2026
Reposted by Paul
WANTED: A Chair that does not give way when sat on.
November 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
WANTED: A Chair that does not give way when sat on.
Reposted by Paul
The same people who convinced the British public to back a catastrophic Boris Johnson premiership are now pulling the same trick again with Nigel Farage
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-confid...
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-confid...
The Confidence Trick That Put Boris Johnson Into Power Is Now Being Used on Nigel Farage
The same people who convinced the British public to back a catastrophic Boris Johnson premiership are now pulling the same trick again with Nigel Farage
www.adambienkov.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 11:12 AM
The same people who convinced the British public to back a catastrophic Boris Johnson premiership are now pulling the same trick again with Nigel Farage
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-confid...
www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-confid...
Reposted by Paul
Yeah, I think Ulez is a useful analogy for so many things, which is that ultimately 'is that true?' does really matter - people who could vote in the London mayoral election who sincerely believed their 2019 era car was gonna get hit by Ulez did not still believe that after Ulez had been introduced.
A perpetual quirk of voter psychology (and one I'm not really sure you can 'solve') is people automatically assuming that all punitive measures will apply to them. See ULEZ in London for another example
It does make pushing through policies harder than it probably should be
It does make pushing through policies harder than it probably should be
A thing that I remember vividly from GE2015 is when you'd knock on the door of a never-gonna-be-hit-by-the-mansion-tax house that was never going to be hit by a mansion tax who really thought their house's inflated price meant it might be close to it. Turns out that has spread to officials!
November 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Yeah, I think Ulez is a useful analogy for so many things, which is that ultimately 'is that true?' does really matter - people who could vote in the London mayoral election who sincerely believed their 2019 era car was gonna get hit by Ulez did not still believe that after Ulez had been introduced.
Reposted by Paul
Because I wanted to write about something a bit more positive for a while, I wrote about a new book I read and loved recently and what it tells us about Labour's policy and promises on immigration in today's newsletter:
Why the small boats won’t stop
Risky journeys across the Channel are the result of tough border control, not its failure
www.ft.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Because I wanted to write about something a bit more positive for a while, I wrote about a new book I read and loved recently and what it tells us about Labour's policy and promises on immigration in today's newsletter:
Reposted by Paul
a preview :)
November 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
a preview :)
Is Robbie Gibb just straight up producing the news shows now everyone else has resigned?
The Today programme there, both-sidesing the immigration debate by platforming, er, two people who are anti-immigration
November 17, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Is Robbie Gibb just straight up producing the news shows now everyone else has resigned?
We now have the most right-wing final in ITV Big Brother history, if that signifies anything about where the UK is at
November 14, 2025 at 3:51 AM
We now have the most right-wing final in ITV Big Brother history, if that signifies anything about where the UK is at
Reposted by Paul
yes I think @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com has talked about this, it's deeply alienating to find out that the vast majority of people do not want the curated timeline / engagement / discussion version of social media that I find to be the only good version of the experience
November 12, 2025 at 1:24 PM
yes I think @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com has talked about this, it's deeply alienating to find out that the vast majority of people do not want the curated timeline / engagement / discussion version of social media that I find to be the only good version of the experience
Reposted by Paul
It does seem to be what the people want but man, as someone who’s thrived on true social media SINCE the days of chat rooms and boards, I find it totally alienating. I don’t want to be shown posts the algorithm thinks I’ll like, I want to be shown the posts I’ve chosen or my friends think I’ll like!
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
It does seem to be what the people want but man, as someone who’s thrived on true social media SINCE the days of chat rooms and boards, I find it totally alienating. I don’t want to be shown posts the algorithm thinks I’ll like, I want to be shown the posts I’ve chosen or my friends think I’ll like!
London's most cursed trains
London's enormously delayed new Docklands Light Railway (DLR) trains have been immediately withdrawn because of issues one of them had with stopping in the rain.
November 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
London's most cursed trains
So that's where Lisa Nandy gets it from
"Robbie Gibb should have no role in appointing the next Director General, and given the Royal Charter gives the government the power to remove him will the Prime Minister sack him now?" asks Ed Davey.
Starmer says he won't interfere in running the BBC
Starmer says he won't interfere in running the BBC
November 12, 2025 at 1:43 PM
So that's where Lisa Nandy gets it from
"I've designed that logo you asked for, boss. Yeah, I based it on one of the words from the hotel name, like you said"
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 AM
"I've designed that logo you asked for, boss. Yeah, I based it on one of the words from the hotel name, like you said"