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‪@adambienkov.bsky.social‬

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has drawn up plans to win over Reform voters by changing its news and drama output.

BBC Director General Tim Davie and other execs discussed altering "story selection" in order to win the "trust" of supporters of Nigel Farage

https://bsky.app/profile/adambienkov.bsky.social/post/3lr5x5ezafs23

They're averaging 30% in the polls so I suppose the beeb can't ignore them.

From the story linked from the tweet:-

The BBC has previously been criticised by some viewers for heavily featuring Reform UK politicians on its programmes, despite the party only having five elected members of Parliament. Previous research has identified Nigel Farage as being among the most invited guests on the BBC’s flagship Question Time discussion programme.
https://bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/bbc-news-tim-davie-robbie-gibb-reform-voters-nigel-farage-trust/

‪@adambienkov.bsky.social‬

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has drawn up plans to win over Reform voters by changing its news and drama output.

BBC Director General Tim Davie and other execs discussed altering "story selection" in order to win the "trust" of supporters of Nigel Farage

https://bsky.app/profile/adambienkov.bsky.social/post/3lr5x5ezafs23

So much for the BBC's rigorous demand for balance.

Davie and Gibb are a real problem for Starmer (and for the impartiality of the BBC). Starmer can do something about this immediately. The headlines are going to be terrible anyway, so take the shots.

In what way is it *not* balance to seek to broadcast stories of interest to people of all political persuasions?

There is a substantial difference between "reporting" and "promoting" a party.

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I see that Hamas chief Sinwar's body has been found, in a tunnel underneath a hospital. With journalists being taken to the tunnels underneath the hospital.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62veqrq3yzo

I seem to recall @bondegezou insisting a few days ago that Hamas were actually using a school, not the hospital, a few metres away as the human shields, so that makes it OK by Hamas and a war crime by Israel to strike at him at the hospital where his body has now been found.

Good on Israel for striking another Hamas leader. A shame for the poor, innocent Palestinians who are caught in the middle and being denied refuge from this war by neighbouring states until Hamas surrenders.

The tunnels situation is quite interesting. In such a densely-packed area as Gaza, it's quite possible that a tunnel network starting from (say) a shop, spreads not just downwards, but laterally, to cover an area that encompasses the footprints of both a school and a hospital. They may (or may not) be connected to those buildings (*), but even if they are not connected, they are using those civilian structures as cover.

The idea that "it starts from a school, not the hospital" seems rather simplistic.

But on the other hand: if the network is widespread, how could the journalists know whether they are under the hospital or elsewhere (given the tunnel was apparently accessed through freshly-dug earth just outside the hospital)?

(*) It would make sense for them to be connected, even if not the primary route used.

It is astonishing that some (not you) still try to pretend that hospitals and schools are not used by Hamas for their command and control centres making them both legal targets for the Israelis and putting their own vulnerable people at risk. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.

Does this excuse what Israel is doing? Of course not. Much of what they are doing are war crimes. But bombing hospitals used in this way is not. It’s merely abhorrent.

Abhorrent but sadly necessary to defeat Hamas.

Too many here don't want to see Hamas defeated, or their unconditional surrender though.

The Tamil Tigers were defeated. There's no reason Hamas can't be. All it takes to end the fighting is for them to surrender.

What do you think of Israel’s latest plan to defeat Hamas, by arming ISIS-affiliated groups in Gaza? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/middleeast/israel-arming-hamas-rivals-gaza-intl

I think it's bloody stupid and Netanyahu is the wrong person to be Israeli PM.

Israel should be seeking a monopoly of violence, as any state does.

Thank goodness Israel is a democracy and Israelis have had multiple opportunities (checks notes: since 1996) to get rid of Netanyahu, unlike the vile Gazans who bear all responsibilty for Hamas being in power since a single election in 2006.

If I had one wish it would be that someone would drop Bartholomew Roberts in the middle of Gaza with his laptop and see whether he develops into a human being

I want the war to end, with the surrender of Hamas.

That won't happen until the grievances that Hamas feeds off are addressed. Even if Hamas were somehow destroyed, some successor organisation would take its place.

Unlike, say, the Ukraine war, which is basically one man's folly, though he is backed by a band of opportunists and fanatics, the Palestinian cause seems genuinely popular and has survived God knows how many military defeats.

Until Israel offers genuine concessions and deals with the Palestinians as equals, entitled to at least some share in the land the Israelis occupied last century, the tragic, pointless sore will continue to fester.

Israel has repeatedly offered genuine concessions, this century. Such as the agreement spurned by Arafat, or the subsequent withdrawal from Gaza which Hamas then stepped into the void with. Both were before Netanyahu returned to power.

I would love nothing more than to see Hamas defeated, then some Palestinian leadership stepping into the void that settles and ends the fighting. I'm confident most Israelis would vote for that too, if it were an option.

Its not an option until Hamas is eradicated though.

The way Israel is carrying on is more likely to radicalise not only Palestinian opinion but Arab and muslim opinion more widely (as indeed we see in this country).

But I don't accept the premise that a Hamas regime was inevitable; it wasn't in the West Bank (which admittedly wasn't kept under such tight restrictions - though the restrictions followed the Hamas coup rather than vice versa). That the Palestinian leadership have previously rejected genuine offers is their own stupid fault; that doesn't give Israel a green light to make even worse decisions.

Hamas does need removing from Gaza; that's not going to happen militarily unless you remove the population - which seems to be the conclusion Israel has come to: and a a war crime and a crime against humanity. It's also a bloody stupid precedent given that extreme Arab opinion holds much the same view of the presence of the state of Israel.

If peace isn't possible without the population being moved then the population should be moved, which happens regularly in conflicts most recently in Azerbaijan without so much as a murmur from most of the world.

Though hopefully it won't come to that and Hamas can surrender instead, as the Tamil Tigers did.

And for those who say the problem can be solved by the removal of Israel? Once you start down that road, be careful where you go.

If Israel is attacked and loses that will happen. Laws be damned.

If the only way to end the conflict is for them to win instead and to remove those who are attacking them, why shouldn't that happen?

Realpolitik not "laws" that won't mean jack if Israel ever loses a war.

If Israel refuses to abide by those laws then it loses the right to be defended by them. In any case, by your argument, if you can remove a troublesome population if you win a war against it then you legitimise the policy of those who don't recognise Israel in the first place - providing they can win.

...

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I see that Hamas chief Sinwar's body has been found, in a tunnel underneath a hospital. With journalists being taken to the tunnels underneath the hospital.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62veqrq3yzo

I seem to recall @bondegezou insisting a few days ago that Hamas were actually using a school, not the hospital, a few metres away as the human shields, so that makes it OK by Hamas and a war crime by Israel to strike at him at the hospital where his body has now been found.

Good on Israel for striking another Hamas leader. A shame for the poor, innocent Palestinians who are caught in the middle and being denied refuge from this war by neighbouring states until Hamas surrenders.

The tunnels situation is quite interesting. In such a densely-packed area as Gaza, it's quite possible that a tunnel network starting from (say) a shop, spreads not just downwards, but laterally, to cover an area that encompasses the footprints of both a school and a hospital. They may (or may not) be connected to those buildings (*), but even if they are not connected, they are using those civilian structures as cover.

The idea that "it starts from a school, not the hospital" seems rather simplistic.

But on the other hand: if the network is widespread, how could the journalists know whether they are under the hospital or elsewhere (given the tunnel was apparently accessed through freshly-dug earth just outside the hospital)?

(*) It would make sense for them to be connected, even if not the primary route used.

It is astonishing that some (not you) still try to pretend that hospitals and schools are not used by Hamas for their command and control centres making them both legal targets for the Israelis and putting their own vulnerable people at risk. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.

Does this excuse what Israel is doing? Of course not. Much of what they are doing are war crimes. But bombing hospitals used in this way is not. It’s merely abhorrent.

Abhorrent but sadly necessary to defeat Hamas.

Too many here don't want to see Hamas defeated, or their unconditional surrender though.

The Tamil Tigers were defeated. There's no reason Hamas can't be. All it takes to end the fighting is for them to surrender.

What do you think of Israel’s latest plan to defeat Hamas, by arming ISIS-affiliated groups in Gaza? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/middleeast/israel-arming-hamas-rivals-gaza-intl

I think it's bloody stupid and Netanyahu is the wrong person to be Israeli PM.

Israel should be seeking a monopoly of violence, as any state does.

Thank goodness Israel is a democracy and Israelis have had multiple opportunities (checks notes: since 1996) to get rid of Netanyahu, unlike the vile Gazans who bear all responsibilty for Hamas being in power since a single election in 2006.

If I had one wish it would be that someone would drop Bartholomew Roberts in the middle of Gaza with his laptop and see whether he develops into a human being

I want the war to end, with the surrender of Hamas.

That won't happen until the grievances that Hamas feeds off are addressed. Even if Hamas were somehow destroyed, some successor organisation would take its place.

Unlike, say, the Ukraine war, which is basically one man's folly, though he is backed by a band of opportunists and fanatics, the Palestinian cause seems genuinely popular and has survived God knows how many military defeats.

Until Israel offers genuine concessions and deals with the Palestinians as equals, entitled to at least some share in the land the Israelis occupied last century, the tragic, pointless sore will continue to fester.

Israel has repeatedly offered genuine concessions, this century. Such as the agreement spurned by Arafat, or the subsequent withdrawal from Gaza which Hamas then stepped into the void with. Both were before Netanyahu returned to power.

I would love nothing more than to see Hamas defeated, then some Palestinian leadership stepping into the void that settles and ends the fighting. I'm confident most Israelis would vote for that too, if it were an option.

Its not an option until Hamas is eradicated though.

The way Israel is carrying on is more likely to radicalise not only Palestinian opinion but Arab and muslim opinion more widely (as indeed we see in this country).

But I don't accept the premise that a Hamas regime was inevitable; it wasn't in the West Bank (which admittedly wasn't kept under such tight restrictions - though the restrictions followed the Hamas coup rather than vice versa). That the Palestinian leadership have previously rejected genuine offers is their own stupid fault; that doesn't give Israel a green light to make even worse decisions.

Hamas does need removing from Gaza; that's not going to happen militarily unless you remove the population - which seems to be the conclusion Israel has come to: and a a war crime and a crime against humanity. It's also a bloody stupid precedent given that extreme Arab opinion holds much the same view of the presence of the state of Israel.

If peace isn't possible without the population being moved then the population should be moved, which happens regularly in conflicts most recently in Azerbaijan without so much as a murmur from most of the world.

Though hopefully it won't come to that and Hamas can surrender instead, as the Tamil Tigers did.

Do you not see that Bibi is 50% of the problem? Bibi requires this to continue to keep out of an Israeli jail.

How many dead Gazans is acceptable? If the number of dead Palestinians reaches a 7 figure number, does that cross a line?

No dead Palestinians are acceptable after Hamas surrenders unconditionally.

Only a rank antisemite would show the level of disregard for Israeli lives that you show for Palestinians.

There’s been a lot of criticism of Elon Musk lately, but there are worse people than Elon Musk.

Like his dad: https://kyivindependent.com/elon-musks-father-attends-pro-kremlin-event-in-russia-hosted-by-far-right-ideologue/

South Africa is the only place I've worked where I met and worked with people who had as a group a really unpleasant attitude. An almost Israeli level arrogance. I don't know the Musks but I always sense the White South African in him every time he hits the news

I would actually agree with this. I've found a general trend, but obviously not always, towards arrogance, wyth both those groups.

The South African trend seems to me more chilly and impenetrable, thiough, with a tendency towards being proudly rude, on the other hand, among some Israelis too.

.

I see that Hamas chief Sinwar's body has been found, in a tunnel underneath a hospital. With journalists being taken to the tunnels underneath the hospital.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62veqrq3yzo

I seem to recall @bondegezou insisting a few days ago that Hamas were actually using a school, not the hospital, a few metres away as the human shields, so that makes it OK by Hamas and a war crime by Israel to strike at him at the hospital where his body has now been found.

Good on Israel for striking another Hamas leader. A shame for the poor, innocent Palestinians who are caught in the middle and being denied refuge from this war by neighbouring states until Hamas surrenders.

The tunnels situation is quite interesting. In such a densely-packed area as Gaza, it's quite possible that a tunnel network starting from (say) a shop, spreads not just downwards, but laterally, to cover an area that encompasses the footprints of both a school and a hospital. They may (or may not) be connected to those buildings (*), but even if they are not connected, they are using those civilian structures as cover.

The idea that "it starts from a school, not the hospital" seems rather simplistic.

But on the other hand: if the network is widespread, how could the journalists know whether they are under the hospital or elsewhere (given the tunnel was apparently accessed through freshly-dug earth just outside the hospital)?

(*) It would make sense for them to be connected, even if not the primary route used.

It is astonishing that some (not you) still try to pretend that hospitals and schools are not used by Hamas for their command and control centres making them both legal targets for the Israelis and putting their own vulnerable people at risk. The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.

Does this excuse what Israel is doing? Of course not. Much of what they are doing are war crimes. But bombing hospitals used in this way is not. It’s merely abhorrent.

Abhorrent but sadly necessary to defeat Hamas.

Too many here don't want to see Hamas defeated, or their unconditional surrender though.

The Tamil Tigers were defeated. There's no reason Hamas can't be. All it takes to end the fighting is for them to surrender.

What do you think of Israel’s latest plan to defeat Hamas, by arming ISIS-affiliated groups in Gaza? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/middleeast/israel-arming-hamas-rivals-gaza-intl

I think it's bloody stupid and Netanyahu is the wrong person to be Israeli PM.

Israel should be seeking a monopoly of violence, as any state does.

Thank goodness Israel is a democracy and Israelis have had multiple opportunities (checks notes: since 1996) to get rid of Netanyahu, unlike the vile Gazans who bear all responsibilty for Hamas being in power since a single election in 2006.

If I had one wish it would be that someone would drop Bartholomew Roberts in the middle of Gaza with his laptop and see whether he develops into a human being

I want the war to end, with the surrender of Hamas.

That won't happen until the grievances that Hamas feeds off are addressed. Even if Hamas were somehow destroyed, some successor organisation would take its place.

Unlike, say, the Ukraine war, which is basically one man's folly, though he is backed by a band of opportunists and fanatics, the Palestinian cause seems genuinely popular and has survived God knows how many military defeats.

Until Israel offers genuine concessions and deals with the Palestinians as equals, entitled to at least some share in the land the Israelis occupied last century, the tragic, pointless sore will continue to fester.

Israel has repeatedly offered genuine concessions, this century. Such as the agreement spurned by Arafat, or the subsequent withdrawal from Gaza which Hamas then stepped into the void with. Both were before Netanyahu returned to power.

I would love nothing more than to see Hamas defeated, then some Palestinian leadership stepping into the void that settles and ends the fighting. I'm confident most Israelis would vote for that too, if it were an option.

Its not an option until Hamas is eradicated though.

The way Israel is carrying on is more likely to radicalise not only Palestinian opinion but Arab and muslim opinion more widely (as indeed we see in this country).

But I don't accept the premise that a Hamas regime was inevitable; it wasn't in the West Bank (which admittedly wasn't kept under such tight restrictions - though the restrictions followed the Hamas coup rather than vice versa). That the Palestinian leadership have previously rejected genuine offers is their own stupid fault; that doesn't give Israel a green light to make even worse decisions.

Hamas does need removing from Gaza; that's not going to happen militarily unless you remove the population - which seems to be the conclusion Israel has come to: and a a war crime and a crime against humanity. It's also a bloody stupid precedent given that extreme Arab opinion holds much the same view of the presence of the state of Israel.

A part of it is that some Israelis have picked up the mirror image of the "Death To Israel" position of (some) of their opponents. They see this as playing on the same playing field. So they are now playing the same game as the despots - who have stolen land and pushed various groups around the Middle East like Risk counters.

Indeed. And in so doing they are throwing away some of their best diplomatic counters and soft power.

By placing themselves on the same playing field as terrorists, despots, radicals and extremist governments, where then lies their moral superiority? Israel could be championed as a democracy with freedom of speech, rights for minorities, rule of law and so on. In theory it still can. In reality, those things mean previous little if they can't constrain crimes against humanity. That always gave it the right to ask for support because they were the better side. True, there were always grave concerns about how it acted on its borders and it did regularly overstep the mark but it also had the not-unreasonable argument that when its enemies were committed to its eradication, prudence makes it wise to err on the side of excess when the cost of erring on the other side could be permanent.

But if Israel is to act no better than these terrorists and extremist governments itself, that negates the values arguments for supporting it.

a

FPT

Digital ID cards could be Starmer’s poll tax
...
The Telegraph has reported the concerns of senior risk and cybersecurity staff working on One Login in some detail. The system was being accessed and modified by staff and contractors without the required level of security. Parts of the system were being developed in Romania, a fact that had eluded top management at the Government Digital Service (GDS).

“It’s Horizon all over again,” one global security expert told this newspaper in April, referring to the notorious Post Office computer system. Of the 39 requirements in the National Cybersecurity Centre’s cybersecurity checklist list CAF, One Login still only meets 21.

But instead of taking the warnings seriously, One Login’s senior management at GDS turned on the messengers who had brought them the bad news, dispersing the independent risk and cybersecurity team that first raised the issues. One Login’s management subsequently began to mark their own homework.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/06/08/digital-id-cards-could-be-starmers-poll-tax/ (£££)

Paywalled but you should be able to read it via this ‘gift’ link:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/292dadc29ac6aa19

Good morning, everyone.

First I've heard of digital ID cards, which sound like a hellish thing.

I d heard of the id cards - what I haven’t heard is about any issues with the One Login system which really should have been focus of the article.

And I’m at a loss as to what is wrong with the digital id scheme, if you need to show your id or prove your right to do something it will make things rather easier. It’s not like the police will stop you and ask to see your id without a valid reason which seems to be the thing people hate

Not being able to prove you are human while online is becoming a serious problem. Digital ID solves this problem, and the benefits are huge while the risks, so far, are very small. It is long overdue that the UK takes the threats in the online world a lot more seriously.

The problem with ID cards isn't the ID cards.

The problem is the insane requirement that every government database be linked up, and access provided to everyone who asks. *Without* segregation of data.

So, under the ID card scheme that was beginning to be implemented, a contractor, working for the council on fly tipping, could see your NHS records.

Yes, they really specified the system that way. So that "administrative friction" wouldn't slow down "necassary work".

When they realised there was a problem, the response was that data for "Important People" (decided by the government) would be segregated in a separate database with limited access.

ID cards without this bullshit would be fine.

From ComputerWeekly - https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366623991/Security-tests-reveal-serious-vulnerability-in-governments-One-Login-digital-ID-system.

The problem is not simply the database. It is that to work effectively the police must have the right to ask for them - which raises a whole host of other problems.

What would be sensible is

- An ID card (both physical and digital), that consists of a unique identifier (with elaborate checksumming etc built into the identifier), a name and a photo.
- The unique identifier can be used to code other databases - indeed, it should. That doesn't mean that they are linked, though.
- The ID card database should be simple, and separate
- It can be built, quite cheaply, by a small team of developers. No exotic tech is required.
- Use the best-of-breed, but existing, coding standards, security protocols etc.
- Simplicity makes it easier to secure.
- The big money is in validating entries. Even the passport database is full of fake entries.
- Hosting the database isn't a big issue- the main issue is security and stability under load. Again, standard stuff.
- All access to the database will be logged and monitored. Again, standard best practise in the industry is fine. And also solves the legal issues.
- Anyone suggestion Minority Report style unification of all government databases should be impaled. Painfully,

But we need to combine databases in order to save rainbows or whatever is the fashionable cause du jour. Think back to Covid and Cummings demanding access to various NHS databases, or in America, Musk and 150-year-old pensioners. Won't anyone think of the children?

No seriously, the children. If a young girl is kidnapped, she will need to be fed by her captors, so obviously the police must have access to everyone's supermarket loyalty cards, Deliveroo and credit card accounts to see who is buying Angel Delight and fish fingers in April who wasn't in March.

And there you have it. Privacy nerds are as bad as child-killers.

One senior civil servant described a simple database of ID, name and photos, as "unsellable" and "boring" as a project, in conversation with me.

It wouldn't need a new agency, a new headquarters building. There would be limited avenues for policy initiatives, changes, re-specification. Even the specification documents would be "un-professionally short".