How the established media is itself a power bloc – given the influence it can have on how a politician/party/issue is seen/positioned – is, and always has been in cases beyond Farage, part of the story. This has to be the starting point, and not only a state of affairs observable after the event.

Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 2d ago

Fascinating change in BBC news bulletins about Reform. Farage announcement on small boats only gets the third spot and is balanced by critics saying he's trying to distract from allegations over his finances. Quite the change from the uncritical coverage earlier this year.

Count Binface was a surprise guest at Byline Times' event exploring parallels in US and UK politics with @lincolnproject.us and @quietriotpod.bsky.social in Leicester Square. His message to Clacton and beyond? Vote! And value a (flawed) democracy where he can take on – and laugh at – Nigel Farage.

"The Westminster media bubble's assumptions about how people live are deeply destructive – which is exactly why we need independent media like Byline Times" Green Leader @zackpolanski.bsky.social was just one of my interesting in-depth interviewees at the 2026 Womad festival. What did he tell me? 👇

Green Leader Zack Polanski Calls for ‘Reset’ in Relations With Labour Party Under Andy Burnham

Polanski says he is open to working with Labour's more 'left-wing' leader Andy Burnham, following years of "toxic" relations between the two parties under Keir Starmer

bylinetimes.com

I did an interview with the fab @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social from @bylinetimes.bsky.social and here it is, for those who have not yet heard my lengthy discourse on why genAI often sucks, why techbros definitely suck, and why a U16 social media ban is downright stupid: bylinetimes.com/2026/07/21/t...

‘There’s a Value in What We Produce Because We Feel – and an AI Chatbot Can’t Feel’

Byline Times' Editor in Chief meets Kate Devlin, Professor of AI and Society at King’s College London, to explore how relationships with AI companions aren’t particularly new, why she believes the und...

bylinetimes.com

Insightful article and accompanying thread from @bylinetimes.bsky.social editor Hardeep Matharu: "LLMs are designed to make stuff up and I don't know people always remember that. …designed to sound convincing… bullshit machines... just spouting anything they want out of their head" - Kate Devlin

Hardeep Matharu@hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · 2w ago

"There's a value in what we produce because we feel – and an AI chatbot can't feel... But I don't find anything wrong with someone who finds genuine happiness with an AI companion" For my new 'Human Interview', I met AI & Society Prof at KCL @drkatedevlin.bsky.social to explore connection & tech 👇

Over-MAGA, over Trump, and now over HERE! @therickwilson.bsky.social & The Lincoln Project come to London next week to talk to @quietriotpod.bsky.social , hosted by me and @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social - come and help counter the authoritarian playbook www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/the-aut...

The Authoritarian Playbook: What Britain Can Learn From America - Leicester Square Theatre

With the Lincoln Project, Quiet Riot & Byline Times.  MAGA: overbearing, overreaching, and over here. The authoritarian playbook is no longer just an American story. Trumpism, populism, media capture,...

leicestersquaretheatre.com

"There's a value in what we produce because we feel – and an AI chatbot can't feel... But I don't find anything wrong with someone who finds genuine happiness with an AI companion" For my new 'Human Interview', I met AI & Society Prof at KCL @drkatedevlin.bsky.social to explore connection & tech 👇

‘There’s a Value in What We Produce Because We Feel – and an AI Chatbot Can’t Feel’

Byline Times' Editor in Chief meets Kate Devlin, Professor of AI and Society at King’s College London, to explore how relationships with AI companions aren’t particularly new, why she believes the und...

bylinetimes.com

Another new PM, another edition of Byline Times goes to press... Read our exclusive investigation on James Orr, head of policy at Reform & Cambridge professor in print - what's happening at the world-renowned university refusing to answer any of our questions? In shops / subscribe.bylinetimes.com 👇

For 6 months, Byline Times has investigated Reform policy chief & Cambridge Professor James Orr's 'political pipeline' to recruit students, some of whom he houses – & his links to Palantir's Peter Thiel. Cambridge sent our queries straight on to Orr's lawyers. What's going on at the institution? 👇

Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Reform UK's Cambridge University Recruitment Pipeline Project Revealed

The world-renowned academic institution has nothing to say in response to a six-month investigation by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at...

bylinetimes.com

WHAT A LINE UP! Quiet Riot, Lincoln Project, and Byline Times! I'm sort of annoyed not to be able just to watch. BOOK!

Quiet Riot@quietriotpod.bsky.social · 4w ago

📣 OUR FIRST EVER LIVE SHOW 📣 We are excited to join up with @lincolnproject.us and @bylinesnetwork.co.uk @bylinetimes.bsky.social in a special show at Leicester Sq Theatre on 30 July to discuss how we beat authoritarians on both sides of the Atlantic www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/show/the-aut...

There's much chatter about the established media now starting to 'turn' on Nigel Farage and Reform UK, following a number of by-election defeats and questionable gifts/donations. Farage has *always* been in need of scrutiny. That the press now decide to turn the lens on him is part of the story.

Chris Mason: Accusations around Farage leave him looking vulnerable to his rivals

The Reform UK leader is in the news and at the heart of the headlines are questions about power, transparency and money.

bbc.co.uk

I've never met a reporter with such a gleam in his eye for holding power to account in such a human and hopeful way. All of us at @bylinetimes.bsky.social are so sad to have lost David Hencke. He was a brilliant reporter, but perhaps more importantly: he was a really lovely man. Thank you, David!

Byline Times@bylinetimes.bsky.social · last mo.

⚫ David Hencke: The Journalist Who Made Us All Better Byline Times tips its hat with love and gratitude to our acclaimed investigative reporter who has died aged 79. As Mark Conrad writes, "David spent his career holding powerful people to account. Yet he never behaved as though he were powerful".

10 years ago today, the Brexit Referendum marked a defining moment in our politics. In the aftermath, I explored why my Indian immigrant parents – like many others like them – voted Leave. A fascinating, complex story of Empire, loyalty, colonised mindsets, identity, reparation... Revisit it here 👇

The Story of Brexit is the Story of Empire: Why Did Asian Immigrants Vote to Leave the EU?

The complicated love-hate relationship of immigrants from former colonies with the British Empire cannot be ignored if lessons are to be learned in post-Brexit Britain

bylinetimes.com

🔴 Burnham Wins Makerfield: Can 'Politics of Place' Now Offer an Antidote to the Poverty of Possibility? "Thatcher closed the pits with little provision for alternatives. Few benefited from New Labour's aspiration. The area was abandoned to itself" @peterjukes.bsky.social @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social

Burnham Wins in Makerfield: Can the ‘Politics of Place’ Now Offer an Antidote to the Poverty of Possibility?

Having been on Reform UK’s target list as a winnable seat, Andy Burnham’s new constituency is a microcosm of Brexit Britain and the failed legacies of Thatcher and Blair. Peter Jukes and Hardeep Matha...

bylinetimes.com

Andy Burnham won in Makerfield by focusing on the 'politics of place'. A decade on from the Brexit referendum, and abandoned by both Thatcherite Conservatism and New Labour, constituencies like Makerfield *finally* need some action. New edition of Byline Times packed with reports and analysis 👇

Fear and othering are the easiest emotions to activate. They comfort – to a point. Then, constant division with no actual solutions becomes exhausting; self-defeating: keeping people trapped in a trap they start to recognise as a trap. Burnham's defeat of Reform shows endless rage doesn't win.

"Burnham is a reversion to the mid-20th Century when Labour prime ministers were men of the people. Burnham is a giant step backwards to a better sort of British politics... Blair dismantled that world, and the deep morality and wisdom that went with it" Peter Oborne's analysis for Byline Times 👇

'Burnham is a Giant Step Backwards to a Better Sort of British Politics'

Makerfield’s new MP will face deep challenges if he makes it to Downing Street – but he can succeed where others haven't been able to

bylinetimes.com

Andy Burnham wins, warning Labour this is its "final chance". The people I met in Makerfield were engaged on local and national issues, warm, not cynical despite rightly feeling politics hadn't changed anything for them, and happy to engage. As one elderly lady said, "we all need to live together".

Byline Times' Editor in Chief @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social will be sharing her thoughts on the challenges and rewards of independent journalism tonight in this @bylinesnetwork.co.uk event. Details to join below ⬇️

Bylines Network@bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 2mo ago

Tonight, 7pm As part of #IndieNewsWeek, join us for a special webinar exploring the future of UK independent journalism How do we tackle news deserts? What role will citizen journalism play? And how does Indi News respond to AI, disinformation, Big Tech and political extremism? bit.ly/BylinesINW26

On 23 June, I'll be part of the company of actors – including Joanna Scanlan – bringing to life @peterjukes.bsky.social's new play 'Trojan Horses' in a rehearsed reading at The Cockpit theatre. Hugh Grant says it's "brilliant & terrifying". Info/tickets: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...

Richard Gadd's new show 'Half Man' will stay with me for a long time. So it was a privilege to discuss where we're at with 'toxic masculinity', vulnerability & understanding the complexities of abuse with @mrmadrigalobe.bsky.social, founder of charity We Are Survivors, of which Gadd is ambassador 👇

Half Man: ‘We’re Beginning to Get a Better, Much More Nuanced Understanding… Vulnerability is a Part of Masculinity Now'

Byline Times’ Editor in Chief speaks to Duncan Craig, founder of We Are Survivors – a charity supporting survivors of male sexual abuse – about why the ‘toxic masculinity’ narrative has been problemat...

bylinetimes.com

On 23 June, I'll be part of the company of actors – including Joanna Scanlan – bringing to life @peterjukes.bsky.social's new play 'Trojan Horses' in a rehearsed reading at The Cockpit theatre. Hugh Grant says it's "brilliant & terrifying". Info/tickets: tickets.thecockpit.org.uk/sales/shows/...

As part of #IndieNewsWeek, join Bylines Network for a special webinar exploring the future of UK independent journalism. How do we tackle news deserts? What role will citizen journalism play? And how does Indi News respond to AI, disinformation, Big Tech and political extremism? bit.ly/BylinesINW26

To mark the 10th anniversary of the EU referendum - the first reading of my epic poem Trojan Horses, about the first great information war. A stellar cast playing characters like Surkov, Dugin, Putin, Bannon, Trump, Farage - and Jeffrey Epstein. www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/trojan_...

Well deserved award from President Zelenskyy for our fearless front line reporter @zarinazabrisky.bsky.social who first revealed the ‘human safari’ in Kherson, and has continued to document the war crimes for over three years www.president.gov.ua/documents/48...

"I was full of anger but thought 'Seamus, you can't kick your shit out of somebody else'. Where I've shown most courage is actually facing up to my fear and insecurity" I spoke to Seamus Doherty on his real-life speech on masculinity in new play 'Our Public House' 👇 bylinetimes.com/2026/06/02/w...

"We all have those uncles & grandparents who say these things – we still love them. Theatre allows us to look deeper, understand, put ourselves in others' shoes" I spoke to Dash Arts' Josephine Burton about her touring state-of-the-nation play 'Our Public House' on political alienation in Britain 👇

‘We Can See Beyond the Surface and Understand that this Character, this Person, is Much More Complicated… Theatre Can Give You That’

Byline Times’ Editor in Chief speaks to Josephine Burton – creator and director of a new play ‘Our Public House’ by Dash Arts which examines political alienation in Britain today – and two real-life s...

bylinetimes.com

Enjoyed speaking to @bylinetimes.bsky.social to discuss ten years of championing the most open, diverse and successful city in the world. As the rise in disinformation shows - London’s enemies resent us because of our enduring success ⬇️ bylinetimes.com/2026/05/12/s...

Sadiq Khan Interview: 'I Know I'm Clickbait, I Know I'm Being Monetised'

The London Mayor talks to Byline Times about how ten years of rising algorithmic online hate has transformed our politics and put his own safety at risk

bylinetimes.com

In 2019, Republican strategist @therickwilson.bsky.social co-founded the Lincoln Project of moderate conservatives and former GOP members to oppose Trumpism. He warns Britain is further along the curve to "your Trump" than the US was. But the trajectory can be halted... New Byline Times out now 👇

"I understand why the public feels quite deep alienation from the political system. The basics they need to live their life aren't there" I sat down with Andy Burnham last summer to speak about his journey & why "politics has to get back to fixing the fundamentals everybody needs for a good life" 👇

Andy Burnham: 'These Dangerous, Alienating Times Call for Radical Change of Our Politics'

Byline Times' Editor in Chief meets Labour's Greater Manchester Mayor to discuss imposter syndrome and proportional representation, the 'incestuous' Westminster media-political class – and how to conn...

bylinetimes.com