David Head
@davidheadviews.bsky.social
European. Translator & writer. Allergic to Brexit. Seeking justice for the disabled, the homeless, & refugees.
UK's public enemy No. 1: #Brexit.
"Research released this month by economists at the Bank of England, the Bundesbank, King’s College London and the universities of Stanford and Nottingham underscored the economic hit from leaving the EU. Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6-8%"
on.ft.com/4p1NoHv
on.ft.com/4p1NoHv
Rachel Reeves signals she will break manifesto pledge with Budget tax rises
Chancellor hopes to win support from Labour MPs by lifting two-child benefit cap
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:23 AM
UK's public enemy No. 1: #Brexit.
Reposted by David Head
Joe makes a fair point that Trump is all about grinding nuisance claims and wearing down opponents through attritional costs, whatever the merits of the case.
But I feel like the relative flimsiness of his potential claim is not really getting a lot of air time in this furor.
But I feel like the relative flimsiness of his potential claim is not really getting a lot of air time in this furor.
I don’t know if it was broadcast in US. But that, and the actual malice threshold, are beside the point where Trump litigation is concerned. The strategy is to force defendants to fight an increasingly expensive and invasive case in the hope that they cave.
November 11, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Joe makes a fair point that Trump is all about grinding nuisance claims and wearing down opponents through attritional costs, whatever the merits of the case.
But I feel like the relative flimsiness of his potential claim is not really getting a lot of air time in this furor.
But I feel like the relative flimsiness of his potential claim is not really getting a lot of air time in this furor.
Reposted by David Head
So, indeed, Trump can no longer bring a defamation claim in the English High Court. He apparently wants to file one in Florida, but I doubt Panorama was actually broadcast there. Proving damages seems tough in my non-expert view (coupled with higher bar for defamation of public figures in the US).
November 11, 2025 at 9:18 AM
So, indeed, Trump can no longer bring a defamation claim in the English High Court. He apparently wants to file one in Florida, but I doubt Panorama was actually broadcast there. Proving damages seems tough in my non-expert view (coupled with higher bar for defamation of public figures in the US).
Reposted by David Head
One amusing thing that just occurred to me in the whole Trump/BBC furore: because the Panorama documentary was first broadcast over a year ago, isn't he time-barred from bringing a defamation claim in English courts anyway?
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
One amusing thing that just occurred to me in the whole Trump/BBC furore: because the Panorama documentary was first broadcast over a year ago, isn't he time-barred from bringing a defamation claim in English courts anyway?
Reposted by David Head
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Reposted by David Head
Well, this is quite a serious allegation. I do hope the BBC shows true impartiality and investigate whether or not some of its Board members are systemically biased. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC board member with Tory links ‘led charge’ in systemic bias claims, say insiders
Sources say Robbie Gibb amplified criticisms of Trump, Gaza and trans rights coverage, and had ‘a lot of oxygen in the room’
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Well, this is quite a serious allegation. I do hope the BBC shows true impartiality and investigate whether or not some of its Board members are systemically biased. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by David Head
Gibb and co will need to go too. There's so many great things about the BBC but the people at the top are not great at all.
November 10, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Gibb and co will need to go too. There's so many great things about the BBC but the people at the top are not great at all.
Reposted by David Head
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by David Head
“When I was [at the BBC], at the height of Boris Johnson’s strength, that fear was ubiquitous. Scripts were sometimes written with a view not solely to their impartiality or truth, but the management of perception of impartiality from one side of the spectrum.“ @lewisgoodall.com
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
goodallandgoodluck.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:21 PM
“When I was [at the BBC], at the height of Boris Johnson’s strength, that fear was ubiquitous. Scripts were sometimes written with a view not solely to their impartiality or truth, but the management of perception of impartiality from one side of the spectrum.“ @lewisgoodall.com
Reposted by David Head
The Telegraph routinely spreads myths about a range of subjects - especially climate change.
It has been forced to publish over 100 corrections this year so far.
Yet it has the gall to lecture the BBC - and whip up a national panic - about journalistic standards
It has been forced to publish over 100 corrections this year so far.
Yet it has the gall to lecture the BBC - and whip up a national panic - about journalistic standards
The Telegraph’s Record of Climate Falsehoods
The Telegraph, which has accused the BBC of bias and a lack of editorial rigour, has been forced to amend a swathe of climate inaccuracies. The BBC’s director-general and CEO resigned this weekend aft...
www.desmog.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:42 PM
The Telegraph routinely spreads myths about a range of subjects - especially climate change.
It has been forced to publish over 100 corrections this year so far.
Yet it has the gall to lecture the BBC - and whip up a national panic - about journalistic standards
It has been forced to publish over 100 corrections this year so far.
Yet it has the gall to lecture the BBC - and whip up a national panic - about journalistic standards
Reposted by David Head
Important contribution from Lewis Goodall, who describes in devastating detail his own personal experiences - and suggests Robbie Gibb and David Grossman should be removed from their current posts.
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Important contribution from Lewis Goodall, who describes in devastating detail his own personal experiences - and suggests Robbie Gibb and David Grossman should be removed from their current posts.
Reposted by David Head
The Telegraph's "attacks on the BBC are not remotely done in good faith & are the result of the publisher’s ideological & commercial interests. There is no world in which The Telegraph’s output would survive the level of scrutiny applied to the BBC’s journalism.”
open.substack.com/pub/writesbr...
open.substack.com/pub/writesbr...
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The Telegraph's "attacks on the BBC are not remotely done in good faith & are the result of the publisher’s ideological & commercial interests. There is no world in which The Telegraph’s output would survive the level of scrutiny applied to the BBC’s journalism.”
open.substack.com/pub/writesbr...
open.substack.com/pub/writesbr...
Reposted by David Head
Why can't the BBC just be more impartial towards President Trump, like GB News, says Nigel Farage.
GB News:
GB News:
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Why can't the BBC just be more impartial towards President Trump, like GB News, says Nigel Farage.
GB News:
GB News:
Reposted by David Head
You might have thought Question Time was biased.
But you never realised how much.
UKIP never even had a single MP.
But you never realised how much.
UKIP never even had a single MP.
November 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
You might have thought Question Time was biased.
But you never realised how much.
UKIP never even had a single MP.
But you never realised how much.
UKIP never even had a single MP.
Reposted by David Head
A vile country isn't a country that can't feed its children, a vile country is a country that *won't* feed its children.
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 PM
A vile country isn't a country that can't feed its children, a vile country is a country that *won't* feed its children.
"Trump pardons Giuliani and others Involved in effort to overturn 2020 Election. The pardons of former Trump aides, which would only apply in federal court, are largely symbolic and cannot shield them from ongoing state-level prosecutions." (New York Times)
November 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
"Trump pardons Giuliani and others Involved in effort to overturn 2020 Election. The pardons of former Trump aides, which would only apply in federal court, are largely symbolic and cannot shield them from ongoing state-level prosecutions." (New York Times)
Reposted by David Head
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Enforced veganism’: Ofcom lets GB News flout accuracy rules, say climate campaigners
Exclusive: Regulator has received 1,221 complaints about UK broadcasters since 2020 but found no breaches of its code
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by David Head
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
November 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.
iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
Reposted by David Head
The BBC will fuck things up from time to time. Lots of major news organisations do; just look at The Times having to memoryhole several fake news stories in a matter of weeks.
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UK newspaper editor calls Bill de Blasio fake interview blunder ‘humiliating’
A Times associate editor reportedly addressed situation in an email to staff, saying: ‘We should have been on our guard’
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The BBC will fuck things up from time to time. Lots of major news organisations do; just look at The Times having to memoryhole several fake news stories in a matter of weeks.
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No one is calling for the abolition of The Times, however.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by David Head
French fishermen are sending fishing nets to Ukraine to protect against Russian drones
Fishermen from the coast of Brittany have created a organization,Kernic Solidarités,to aid Ukraine 🇺🇦.They have already sent 2shipments of horsehair fishing nets,totaling 280km in length,according to The Guardian
Fishermen from the coast of Brittany have created a organization,Kernic Solidarités,to aid Ukraine 🇺🇦.They have already sent 2shipments of horsehair fishing nets,totaling 280km in length,according to The Guardian
November 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
French fishermen are sending fishing nets to Ukraine to protect against Russian drones
Fishermen from the coast of Brittany have created a organization,Kernic Solidarités,to aid Ukraine 🇺🇦.They have already sent 2shipments of horsehair fishing nets,totaling 280km in length,according to The Guardian
Fishermen from the coast of Brittany have created a organization,Kernic Solidarités,to aid Ukraine 🇺🇦.They have already sent 2shipments of horsehair fishing nets,totaling 280km in length,according to The Guardian
The Right is like Saturn. It eats its children.
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.
November 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The Right is like Saturn. It eats its children.
Reposted by David Head
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.
November 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
It’s ironic but predictable that the BBC duo -who tried so hard to please the right wing papers-are removed by the right wing papers.
Reposted by David Head
Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage
Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage
Davie tells staff departure was “my own decision” but it comes with the BBC preparing to apologise for the way it edited a Trump speech
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and the head of BBC News have resigned after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.
In a shock move, Davie said his depature was his own, but comes with the BBC preparing to apologise for the way the broadcaster edited a Donald Trump speech. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general after accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in coverage