Kes, Cultural Commentator & Style Guru.

@darrensharp73 @ArturNadol7566 @SamiraAhmedUK @BBC @theJeremyVine What about the “massive” gulf in talent. Ball wasn’t worth 20K a year. Whereas Evans was light years above her and brought multi millions to Children in Need through his showbiz and business connections. Evans was cheap by comparison.

@ArturNadol7566 @SamiraAhmedUK @BBC @theJeremyVine i believe the same was with the Radio 2 breakfast show, when Zoe Ball took over from Chris Evans, same show, Chris was on peak salary of £2.25 but dropped to £1.6m whereas Zoe's peaked at £1.36 mi, so quite a gap at their max

BBC PAID HIM 6X MORE. THE TRIBUNAL SAID THAT WAS ILLEGAL. THE BBC SAID IT WAS COMPLICATED. Samira Ahmed @SamiraAhmedUK presented Newswatch on @BBC for years. Same format. Same length. Same job. Read viewer feedback on camera, wrap it up, go home. Jeremy Vine @theJeremyVine did exactly the same thing on Points of View. She got £440 per episode. He got £3,000. Ahmed spent years trying to fix it quietly through internal BBC processes. The BBC said there was no problem. She filed for tribunal. In January 2020, the tribunal ruled unanimously in her favour. The BBC could not explain the difference. They tried. They argued Vine needed "a glint in the eye" and to be "cheeky." The tribunal said that was not a skill. It was a story the BBC told itself. The total underpayment was close to £700,000. Sarah Montague, another BBC woman, settled separately for around £400,000. The National Union of Journalists flagged around 70 more cases waiting resolution internally. After Ahmed won, 700 BBC women received pay rises. The BBC's statement after losing? They regretted it had gone to tribunal. Not that they paid a woman six times less than a man for the same work for years. Just that it became public. Sources: @guardian, @BBC, @IFJGlobal, Others

@AllisonPearson There’s an awful lot looking to vote Plaid who are worse than Labour and SNP combined. So not foregone I’m afraid.

I got very emotional writing this. 👇🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 7th May is the day Labour is kicked out by the Welsh. If there’s no safe seat in Wales Labour has no safe seat. Farage is winning the battle for the soul of my beloved Wales telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/2…

@piersmorgan Words and boasts don’t win titles. Application and effort required. As you’ve just witnessed

22yrs of Title-less pain, 6yrs of Arteta’s project.. in terms of its importance to the Club, this is Arsenal’s biggest game of the Millennium, and possibly in our whole history. I believe in this manager, and this squad. We’re going to win. COYG. 👊

@tom_watson Starmer doesn’t lie! That’s the best joke this year. Shouldn’t you have added, “Except when his lips move.”

He is many things but Keir Starmer is not a liar.

@PolitlcsUK Doing his bit for the environment in he? Fuckin stay there.

🚨 NEW: Keir Starmer is flying to Paris this morning to co-host a virtual meeting of the "Strait of Hormuz Maritime Freedom of Navigation Initiative"

@kelvmackenzie @BethRigby A pile of shite from Beff. She is to journalism what piles are to a jockey. Mandleson was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

Just read on X a pile of old shit from Sky’s alleged political editor @BethRigby in which she trotted out Starmer’s defence that he didn’t know Mandelson had failed his security vetting, That’s not her job. Starmer has comms to do that. Her job, on behalf of viewers/voters is to take Starmer’s story apart. Nobody in their right mind believes Starmer wasn’t party to the cover-up. Just to post crap on X or broadcast it on Sky News is beyond poor. Journalism is about investigation and revelation. Not PR for a lying Prime Minister.

@JuliaHB1 Utter bollox. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

Just to be clear... Lord Mandelson, a proven liar, failed security vetting to be the UK's most senior diplomat trusted with vital state and security secrets - but no one at the Foreign Office bothered to tell the PM or anyone else at Number 10 about it. Do they seriously expect us to believe this claptrap? Just how dumb do they think we are?! The Prime Minister is either a liar or a fool. Either way, he has to resign.

@afneil It’s Utter bollox Andrew and you know it. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

We now have the Government response: Neither the PM nor 10 Downing Street nor the Cabinet Office knew the Foreign Office had decided to ignore the fact Mandelson had failed his security vetting. Call it the ‘know-nothing’ government. But it leaves a major question unanswered: why would the FO take it on itself to make such a huge judgement call — and not inform/consult Downing Street? What was in it for the FO? It hadn’t even necessarily wanted Mandy, unlike Starmer and the 10 Downing Street operation. Doesn’t add up.

@piersmorgan @ByrneBarry Utter bollox. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

This was a lie. The Prime Minister now has urgent questions to answer.

@BBCBreaking Utter bollox. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

PM was not aware Lord Mandelson failed security vetting for US ambassador job until this week, UK government says bbc.in/41D0z8g

@PippaCrerar Utter bollox. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

BREAKING: Downing Street says that neither Keir Starmer nor David Lammy knew that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting - and lays blame with Foreign Office official for overruling the decision.

@Peston Utter bollox. It was Starmer’s appointment at the request of Blair. They’ve just found a fall guy in the FO to take the rap. He’ll be kicked up to House of Lords for his trouble. Stinks like an open sewer.

Downing Street says neither the PM or the then foreign secretary David Lammy knew that Peter Mandelson failed security vetting to be US ambassador till a few days ago. Sources say they are incandescent that they were not told. The clear implication is that the permanent under secretary at the foreign office Olly Robbins over-ruled the vetting recommendation and never told ministers. If that is right, and no official is denying that, it is impossible to see how he keeps his job

@TheAliceSmith I’ll truly believe in colour blind and disabled casting when we see someone like Nelson Mandela played by a blind white man or Chairman Moa portrayed by …………. You get my drift. Only works one way

A message to Hollywood and the narrative media. Merely race or gender swapping established characters is not innovative or imaginative. It is an exercise in politics, not art. It is proof of creative bankruptcy, which will lead to financial bankruptcy.

@NotFarLeftAtAll That’s in the true spirit of Easter. Fuck em all. We’ll have this lot.

This isn’t very British; it’s simply greedy they left nothing for anyone else. Tesco should have limited it to 4 per customer

@CatharineHoey @DominicFarrell @RoyalFamily He is the head of the Christian CofE and takes an oath as defender of the faith. He then decides not to issue an Easter message so he’s renaged on his responsibility. So he should resign or in his case abdicate. Am I wrong?

Is it true that the King is not delivering a message for Easter. ? If this is true why is he not ? We need to have a reason. If he can give messages to Muslims on their special religious days surely he must send a message to Christians. @RoyalFamily

@darrengrimes @boblister_poole God delusion. Time for the blunt scissors and crayons methinks.

Mad Miliband genuinely believes that countries are looking at the UKs sky high energy prices in some sort of amazement. Is he really that delusional?

@toadmeister @DCBMEP So by Rory’s own reasoning if you criticise Christiany that also makes you racist. Religion is not a racial characteristic, it’s a belief system. So you see Rory your reasoning doesn’t work. Does it, you plank?

People who criticise Islam are "racist" and it's "completely demented" to single out Islam for criticism, former Tory minister turned podcaster Rory Stewart has said. dailysceptic.org/2026/04/02/peo…

@JuliaHB1 @donnabainbridg1 Playschool. “Bin em through …. (thinks) …. The round window.”

Good lord 🤦🏻‍♀️

@toadmeister @DCBMEP How?

Ed Miliband has decreed that imported electricity will count as being as 'clean' as wind and solar even when it comes from burning coal and gas, in a move critics have branded "cheating" and "bonkers". dailysceptic.org/2026/03/30/mil…

@afneil This Week was essential viewing and was the last time we had “balance” (remember that) on a BBC political show.

It was a late night political talk show which didn’t take itself too seriously. And aspired to a sense of humour (needed after Question Time). I didn’t aspire to run the country. Or sit in parliament. So your analogy is pathetic. But thanks for reminding us all what a fun show it was.