The above chart shows traffic to US news sites from July 2024 to July 2025. Most saw a decline in people visiting them including the BBC. However the BBC’s decline was modest compared to Fox News, Trump’s favourite US site.
The size of the BBC bubble indicates something that is not mentioned all that much in the UK media. Namely that its the most visited news site in the US. Reportedly only a weather site is more trusted.
Of course there are many issues with the BBC’s reporting for example on Gaza but taking a broader comparison it still stands out as a beacon of actual journalism compared to what Trump calls ‘fake news’.
Trump has been taking on US media sites that have been critical of him but the BBC represents a bigger challenge. Hence his $5bn legal case.
Launching a new left party: The Independent Labour Party 1893 began with a split
Questions for parties of the left: federation or national centre. The Independent Labour Party 14th January 1893
With the current issues around launching a new political formation of the left some familiar issues are open to discussion. For example whether there should be a loose federation of the many existing independent left campaigns, groups etc, or an attempt to have one national structure. Perhaps these issues will at least be discussed at the forthcoming Your Party Conference
The issues are not new, and neither are disagreements. Sometimes this is a result of small group sectarianism but looking on from 1893 to the formation of the Communist Party in 1920 it can be seen that there were genuine differences of approach.
What kind of organisation was needed was discussed at the founding conference of the Independent Labour Party in January 1893. It’s worth noting that until the Webbs 1918 Labour Party Constitution it was not possible to be a member of the Labour Party. Rather membership or support lay with local and regional structures of various kinds.
It will be noted that the result was a split with both the Fabians and the SDF who had been involved in earlier discussions deciding not to participate. They did of course when it came to the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which looked at rather different political questions but even then the SDF departed again, while the Fabians in the shape of the Webbs got to write the 1918 Labour Party Constitution.
All of the organisations mentioned above went on to have a significant influence on how socialist and working class politics developed in Britain in the twentieth century. Whether that influence could have been more effective and had a bigger impact, the historical jury is still out on that.
Report Glasgow Herald
Mr W.H. DREW, of Bradford, moved, “That this conference of delegates of numerous local organisations all over the United Kingdom pledges itself to the principle of independent labour representation on all legislative, governing, and administrative bodies; hereby agrees to federate for the speedier accomplishment of their one common object: and declares that the style and title of the new federation shall be the Independent Labour party of Great Britain and Ireland.”
Mr SHAW MAXWELL seconded the resolution.
Mr A. FIELD moved as an amendment the omission of the word “federate,” and the substitution of the words “to amalgamate their organisation into one national Independent Labour party.” The difference between federation and amalgamation was discussed at great length, and eventually the resolution was passed in its original form without opposition; but after announcements from the representatives of the London Fabian Society and the Social Democratic Federation that their associations had no intention of affiliating with the Independent Labour party, though they were glad to give it every possible assistance.
Understanding our history is important. It provides a perspective on the present but not of course any more that
The above graphic appears in the Guardian (14/15th November) and it raises some good points in a way appropriate for the format.
Of course its possible to pay £10 for a pint of beer in London and most other parts of the UK. We’re talking strong double IPAs and imperial stouts that are designed to be consumed in two-third and one-third measure.
The graphic rather is focused on the price of mainstream lagers and judging by the beer named ‘NeckJooce’ at what might be termed big craft beer. Neck Oil is produced by Beavertown in Ponders End and is 4.4% abv. Beavertown is owned by global brewer Heineken who have a habit of hiking prices. Neck Oil back in the day (ten years ago) was designed by Logan Plant to be something like Bathams Best Bitter. Those times are past.
I think the beer retails for around £6-7 a pint in London and probably not much less elsewhere. As Stephen Collins rightly indicates pubs are under a range of cost pressures that means prices continue to up. Of course drinkers also have cost pressures.
Beyond all this, is it possible to get a beer for under a fiver a pint in London? As the Sunday Times beer columnist Pete Brown pointed out recently, it certainly is. Wetherspoons of course is a reliable place to find an arguably more than reasonably priced pint. However once you move away from the (other) big pub chains the pint for less than a fiver can be found. We’re talking cask beer here rather than generic lagers or big craft brands. But pubs like the Cock in Hackney and the Pocket in Islington, or the Euston Tap and Waterloo Tap (and others) will sell you a decent, well kept pint of beer at a price that won’t require an overdraught at the bank.
Not the BBC but the Telegraph is in ‘existential’ crisis as latest ownership bidder pulls out
According to the Daily Telegraph (10th November 2025) the BBC is in an ‘existential crisis’. Noting that the Telegraph may not be quite on top of the works of Sartre, it can be agreed that the Panorama Trump editing issue is a crisis that has seen the departure of the DG and Head of News
As former BBC journalist Robin Lustig has noted while the error was serious the real problem was the week’s delay in apologising for it. At the root of that seems to be an issue that while ex-DG Tim Davie was a former Tory candidate he was just not right-wing enough for the likes of BBC Board member and Boris Johnson protege Robbie Gibb.
However while the BBC faces a crisis so does the Telegraph as this paragraph from a recent Sky News report underlined
The Telegraph’s ownership has been in a state of limbo for nearly two-and-a-half years after its parent company was forced into insolvency by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran out of patience with the Barclay family, the newspaper’s long-standing owner.
The latest potential owner was US based Redbird Capital. The BBC is now reporting that Redbird have pulled out leaving the Telegraph not only without an owner but also at the moment without a potential owner
The Times reported last week that according to the Telegraph’s auditors until the ownership issue is settled their remains a doubt over whether the Telegraph will remain a going concern.
Morgan McSweeney dropped from Beard of the Year longlist
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, will shortly unveil the longlist for the Beard of the Year 2025.
A notable absentee is Downing St Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney. He was on the original list but the difficult decision has been made to drop him. It has become clear that while his beard is highly impactful in the public domain it does not always present a positive image of the hirsute
The 12 names will be reduced to 8 through on-line polling. Final voting rounds will take place in December 2025 with the Beard of the Year announced on 28th December
The campaigners underline that the longlist is not about beard styles or beard lengths but rather the positive impact the beard wearer has had in the public eye during the year.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, as ever we expect Beard of the Year 2025 to end up being a close shave. We deliberate carefully over the names on the longlist and after careful consideration have decided to exclude Morgan McSweeney for 2025.
Storm Claudia: Hirsute urged to act to avoid wet weather beard rot
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that with heavy down pours of rain forecast for much of England and Wales over the next 24-48 hours the hirsute need to take care to avoid possible beard rot.
The campaign group says that after a prolonged period of wet weather the beard may become water logged and beard rot may set in.
Precautions are advised and the obvious way to keep the beard dry and avoid the danger of beard rot is to wrap it in a scarf or cover it with a snood to protect against the rain. Alternatively a special beard umbrella can be used.
The campaigners say that careful marination in a glass of imperial stout may also ‘wet proof’ follicles against the rain but this is entirely optional
If the beard does become water logged gently drying it through with a hair dryer as soon as possible is recommended.
BLF organiser Keith Flett said, we urge extra vigilance in respect of Storm Claudia at the moment. Once beard rot sets in the beard is unlikely to survive. Taking precautions such as wrapping the beard in a scarf is prudent
The Times on Zack Polanski: the personal is political
The Hackney social justice warrior is a phenomenon despite never having been elected to Parliament.
A carless vegan he moved to London where he lived off Hare Krishna lentils while trying to make money as an actor and a hypnotist
If today’s rabble rousers and agitators become the two polarised parties of Government the fact that one of them has a CV that includes breast enlargement by hypnosis is going to be the least of our problems
Alice Thomson, The Times, 12th November
In between making derogatory personal comments about Polanski the article does run through some Green Party policies all of which of course are dismissed as impractical or worse. A sign that the Murdoch’s have noticed the Greens. The next step, as they have done with Farage, is to note the appeal of Green politics but to suggest that in order to have political power they must adapt and be more ‘mainstream’
Labour leaders & the Celebrity Traitors. A brief history
The hunt for the person responsible for briefing that Wes Streeting wants to replace Keir Starmer as PM continues. It can be understood why there might be moves to replace Starmer at some point but Streeting doesn’t appear to be an ideal alternative..
There is a wider point. The desire of the Tory Party to replace their leaders is well documented. They have had six since 2010. Labour who have had three leaders in the same period is traditionally less keen, not least because in recent times a smidgeon of democracy beyond the Parliamentary Labour Party has become part of the process.
Media coverage, as ever for the moment and only for the moment, has been for the most part unaware of Labour’s history not of leadership challenges as such but of suspicions of them.
Prof Tim Bale (Times 13th November) has noted some. Harold Wilson worried about a challenge from Roy Jenkins. In the end Jenkins and others challenged by splitting to form the SDP. Blair was perpetually concerned about a Brownite challenge. That did indeed happen after the 2005 Election, which Blair won. Brown in turn thought David Miliband might challenge him as the 2010 Election came into view.
Spotting the genuine traitors and in particular working out who the faithfuls are is a game with high stakes in Westminster but probably not one that attracts the kind of audience that the recent BBC series did.
13th November has been designated as Michael Rosen Day when all things to do with reading will be celebrated, shared and no doubt argued about on occasion.
Britain still has the fewest public holidays in Europe and there have long been calls for a further public holiday to bridge the long gap between the late August Bank Holiday and Christmas. 13th November is ideally situated between the two holidays in that respect.
Socialist historian Keith Flett noted that while public holidays are often associated with religious occasions such as Easter, Whitsun and Christmas they are also mark long surviving traditional activities.
As well as reading Michael Rosen Day Holiday will surely want to celebrate, beards- as Rosen is a former Beard of the Year- football (in Michael Rosen’s case Arsenal but other teams are available) and of course chocolate cake.
Its something that Lisa Nandy Minister for Culture, Media and Sport needs to put on the national agenda
Michael’s Manifesto for Reading
Read as many different types of books as you can – books give you language, thoughts, ideas and feelings.
Books show you places and cultures very near and dear to you – and others you may not have come across before. Books can take you anywhere.
Books help you to walk in other people’s shoes, and to see things from someone else’s point of view.
Read books, share books, talk about books and, most importantly, CHOOSE what YOU want to read. It’s your imagination, so choose what you want to feed it.
‘The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.’ Gramsci
