Samira Shackle
@samirashackle.bsky.social
Freelance journalist (mostly for the Guardian Long Read) and author of Karachi Vice. I am also on Substack @samirashackle. Currently on maternity leave!
Reposted by Samira Shackle
Reposted by Samira Shackle
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
Really interesting thread.
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 5:50 PM
Really interesting thread.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
lol she got his ass and he knows it
November 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
lol she got his ass and he knows it
WHERE’S YOUR FUCKING POPPY: the definitive history www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
Has poppymania gone too far?
The long read: Over the past 20 years, the symbol of remembrance for the war dead has become increasingly ubiquitous – and a culture of poppy policing has grown with it
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:51 AM
WHERE’S YOUR FUCKING POPPY: the definitive history www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
Reposted by Samira Shackle
"When I picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried… My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens.”
November 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
"When I picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried… My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens.”
Fascinating dive into workaholism by @jennykleeman.bsky.social. I related to much of what Jenny writes about using work as a coping mechanism during difficult times www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Even when unthinkable things were happening to me, my first instinct was to work. Am I addicted?
It was only years later, when I heard the word workaholic being used seriously for the first time, that I wondered whether I had a problem
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Fascinating dive into workaholism by @jennykleeman.bsky.social. I related to much of what Jenny writes about using work as a coping mechanism during difficult times www.theguardian.com/money/2025/n...
Kept saying "WHAT" as I read this (fascinating) story on a woman who fixated on continuing to have babies well into her 60s www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/m...
She Was Ready to Have Her 15th Child. Then Came the Felony Charges.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Kept saying "WHAT" as I read this (fascinating) story on a woman who fixated on continuing to have babies well into her 60s www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/m...
Labour comms is such a mess. They are so weird and equivocal about everything that it ends up drawing more attention to whatever mundane thing they need to say. Sadiq Khan managed it!
November 5, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Labour comms is such a mess. They are so weird and equivocal about everything that it ends up drawing more attention to whatever mundane thing they need to say. Sadiq Khan managed it!
Reposted by Samira Shackle
left-winger wins: BUT WILL HE DELIVER
right-winger wins: WHY ARE THE LEFT SO OUT OF TOUCH
right-winger wins: WHY ARE THE LEFT SO OUT OF TOUCH
November 5, 2025 at 11:15 AM
left-winger wins: BUT WILL HE DELIVER
right-winger wins: WHY ARE THE LEFT SO OUT OF TOUCH
right-winger wins: WHY ARE THE LEFT SO OUT OF TOUCH
Can’t see any issues with this plan
A former adviser to Keir Starmer and Tony Blair has urged the Prime Minister to reinvent himself as a 'social media star', warning that his cautious communication style is leaving voters cold
Keir Starmer told to ‘be a social media star’ in bid to win back voters
www.thenational.scot
November 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Can’t see any issues with this plan
Reposted by Samira Shackle
once again struck by the way the left always has to moderate itself in left wing areas in case it puts off moderates elsewhere and the right just... never thinks about that? at all?? and no one calls them on it???
![Screenshot of article that reads: “A Mamdani victory is a serious political problem for those in the party who believe, as we do, that our primary focus must be on flipping red and purple seats blue, expanding the map for Democrats, and creating a path back to Congress and the White House,” Matt Bennett, executive vice president of center-left think tank Third Way, told MSNBC. “The [Democratic Socialists of America] platform — which Mamdani has not repudiated — hands a potent set of weapons to Republican ad makers eager to tie Mamdani-style politics to Democrats running in much tougher places than deep blue New York.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ozma3timm5c32fa7bimb4zaj/bafkreidedpbe5cweyx6x5pz66ypn74fumifyvinjjr4prysjpvopaqi4vi@jpeg)
November 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
once again struck by the way the left always has to moderate itself in left wing areas in case it puts off moderates elsewhere and the right just... never thinks about that? at all?? and no one calls them on it???
Reposted by Samira Shackle
They just gutted Teen Vogue which had top notch political journalism. The media is continuing to purge any sort of political dissent to Trump and the oligarchs.
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
November 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
They just gutted Teen Vogue which had top notch political journalism. The media is continuing to purge any sort of political dissent to Trump and the oligarchs.
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
www.vogue.com/article/teen...
Reposted by Samira Shackle
If your newspaper is giving Donald Trump softer headlines and gauzier coverage than People Magazine, that should be a bit of a wake up call.
someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives
November 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
If your newspaper is giving Donald Trump softer headlines and gauzier coverage than People Magazine, that should be a bit of a wake up call.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
How depressing that they feel they must make this the headline.
November 2, 2025 at 11:01 AM
How depressing that they feel they must make this the headline.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
I should’ve learned this by now but DO NOT use FedEx. The diseased monkeys I ordered haven’t arrived and I can’t get a straight answer on what happened to them
October 29, 2025 at 2:18 AM
I should’ve learned this by now but DO NOT use FedEx. The diseased monkeys I ordered haven’t arrived and I can’t get a straight answer on what happened to them
Reposted by Samira Shackle
2/2 There can be no public trust in BBC impartiality while it is still in the form engineered by the last Tory government to wage ‘anti-woke’ culture war. Talking points about “illegal” immigration drawn from the right wing press will drive its news agenda until it becomes more impartial again.
October 29, 2025 at 7:28 AM
2/2 There can be no public trust in BBC impartiality while it is still in the form engineered by the last Tory government to wage ‘anti-woke’ culture war. Talking points about “illegal” immigration drawn from the right wing press will drive its news agenda until it becomes more impartial again.
This is absolutely appalling. This is a top broadcaster on a major channel essentially asking if it’s “realist” to object to people on the basis of their skin colour.
Is the Reform MP who says she’s driven mad by TV adverts full of Black & Asian people a racist or realist? How many migrants would the Tories expel? & should the UK be selling fighter jets to Türkiye?
Join LIVE at 9PM on X & YouTube or on ITV1 at 1045PM 📺
#Peston
Join LIVE at 9PM on X & YouTube or on ITV1 at 1045PM 📺
#Peston
October 28, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is absolutely appalling. This is a top broadcaster on a major channel essentially asking if it’s “realist” to object to people on the basis of their skin colour.
She wasn’t talking about immigration. She said it makes her angry to see black and Asian faces on adverts. This should not be difficult for a Conservative minister to condemn. The party has really jumped the shark.
October 26, 2025 at 2:32 PM
She wasn’t talking about immigration. She said it makes her angry to see black and Asian faces on adverts. This should not be difficult for a Conservative minister to condemn. The party has really jumped the shark.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
We're going to use military force to ethnically cleanse a nation of at least 10% of it's population: sensible politics of the everyman
We're going to tax rich people more so everyone except rich people aren't totally fucked the whole time: fantasy politics of the metropolitan elite
We're going to tax rich people more so everyone except rich people aren't totally fucked the whole time: fantasy politics of the metropolitan elite
the Biggest criticism of Polanski seems to be that his politics are utopian and unrealisable in practice - these same people saying this are voting for parties who are all arguing about who can ethnically cleansed Britain the fastest, so you know… pinch of salt pinch of salt
October 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
We're going to use military force to ethnically cleanse a nation of at least 10% of it's population: sensible politics of the everyman
We're going to tax rich people more so everyone except rich people aren't totally fucked the whole time: fantasy politics of the metropolitan elite
We're going to tax rich people more so everyone except rich people aren't totally fucked the whole time: fantasy politics of the metropolitan elite
Reposted by Samira Shackle
"Unfortunately it's not in our strategic interests to say the racist part out loud" is quite the advice.
October 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
"Unfortunately it's not in our strategic interests to say the racist part out loud" is quite the advice.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
Found out about this one from the Labour press release condemning it, and it was a real trip to learn that this wasn’t “a Labour staffer with a tape recorder at a private event” story but a “she just said it on national TV” story.
The quotes in this are so fucking bad I had to check several times it wasn’t a deep fake
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
Reform UK MP says seeing adverts 'full of Black people' drives her 'mad'
Sarah Pochin was responding to a question about whether her party will do anything about the 'representation of demographics in TV adverts', and claimed white people were 'demonised'
www.mirror.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Found out about this one from the Labour press release condemning it, and it was a real trip to learn that this wasn’t “a Labour staffer with a tape recorder at a private event” story but a “she just said it on national TV” story.
I liked it better when there were some consequences for flagrant racism. We’ve got to a very dark place very quickly.
Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin, “It drives me mad seeing adverts full of black people, full of Asian people, full of anything other than white"
Followed by that time Sarah Pochin said, "My kids say: mum, you're such a moron" 👀
Followed by that time Sarah Pochin said, "My kids say: mum, you're such a moron" 👀
October 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I liked it better when there were some consequences for flagrant racism. We’ve got to a very dark place very quickly.
Reposted by Samira Shackle
Someone should definitely do this.
If I were running Labour comms I would commission an app called 'Will the Tories/Reform deport you?' then let the reactions on TikTok and Instagram do their work.
October 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Someone should definitely do this.