The BBC is broken. Calling the riots in France “mostly peaceful” tells you everything you need to know. Reform will scrap the TV licence fee.

The BBC has given up claiming that the riots in France are about education and now says they are about “the cost of living and other issues”.

The Free Speech Union just signed up its 50,000th member, making it larger than the following unions: • NAHT – 49,785 • Equity – 48,606 • Royal College of Midwives – 48,568 • Community – 43,595 • PDA Union – 38,024 • POA – 36,715 • British Association of Occupational Therapists – 36,015 • Musicians' Union – 34,563 • Society of Radiographers – 33,971 • Fire Brigades Union – 33,717 • ASLEF – c.25,000 • ASCL – 24,778 • FDA – 24,422 • NUJ – 23,066 • Accord – 21,451 • Nautilus International – 19,089 • Affinity – 18,574 • TSSA – c.17,000 • British Dental Association – 15,698 • Social Workers Union – 15,335 • Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union – 14,645 • BALPA – 14,375 • Society of Authors – 12,390 • Nationwide Group Staff Union – 12,361 • British Dietetic Association – 11,656 • App Drivers and Couriers Union – 9,205 • Workers of England Union – 8,862 • Royal College of Podiatry – 8,736 • Financial Services Union – 8,651 • National Association of Racing Staff – 7,809 • United Road Transport Union – 7,557 • IWGB – 7,380 • NAPO – 6,345 • Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association – 5,966 • Professional Footballers' Association – 5,834 • Advance – 5,512 • British Association of Dental Nurses – 4,585 • Association of Educational Psychologists – 4,256 • Aegis – 4,093 • Equality for Workers Union – 3,972 • United Voices of the World – 3,881 • National Crime Officers Association – 3,666 • UCAC – 3,644 • IWW – 3,332 • NSEAD – 3,085 • ISU – 3,080 • Writers' Guild of Great Britain – 3,074 • HCSA – 2,894 • AHDS – 2,774 • Association of Revenue and Customs – 2,676 • Currys Trade Union – 2,601 • Scottish Artists Union – 2,458 • CAIWU – 1,830 • Criminal Justice Workers Union – 1,796 • National Union of Professional Foster Carers – 1,735 • PFA Scotland – 1,618 • Fire and Rescue Services Association – 1,604 • British Orthoptic Society TU – 1,511 • Association for Laboratory Medicine – 1,407 • Leeds Building Society Colleague Association – 1,356 • News Union – 1,299 • RSPB Staff Association – 1,216 • Artists' Union England – 1,200 • Driver and General Union – 1,193 • G4S Care and Justice Services Staff Association – 1,080 • Prison Governors Association – 1,079 • Independent Pilots Association – 1,020 • UK Private Hire Drivers Union – 891 • NHBC Staff Association – 869 • Fire Officers' Association – 780 • Association of Local Council Clerks – 761 • British Association of Journalists – 731 • Retail Book Association – 706 • Skyshare – 635 • Rugby Players' Association – 590 • Professional Cricketers' Association – 534 • Stage Directors UK Union – 471 • Confederation of British Surgery – 450 • Locum Doctors' Association – 447 • Society of Union Employees – 434 • Security Industry Federation – 405 • Independent Federation of Nursing in Scotland – 395 • Union of General and Volunteer Workers – 354 • ALACE – 350 • Association of Flight Attendants – 328 • Cabin Crew Union – 278 • Empower the Workers' Union – 271 • Employees United – 232 • Union Workers' Union – 212 • Sales Staff Association – 209 • UPECC – 206 • National Union of Mineworkers – 196 • Solidarity – 185 • Equal Justice the Union – 145 • Women's Rugby Association – 125 • Palm Paper Staff Association – 117 • Welsh Rugby Players Association – 116 • WALGAS – 113 • Independent Oxfam Union – 105 • Warwick International Staff Association – 82 • NUM (South Wales Area) – 73 • Employees General Union – 27 • Solid Trade Union – 15

BREAKING: 'How can French people do this to France?' French President Emmanuel Macron has said the country is feeling 'anger and shame' over recent protests in the country. Calling for peace, the president said 'nothing' justifies the riots and damage caused in multiple cities.

🚨 NEW: The BBC has now suspended its secondment scheme for civil servants after revelations they helped write and fact-check stories on contentious issues such as small boats

Polska nie powtórzy błędów innych europejskich państw, nie będzie też za nie płacić. Twardo bronimy granicy przed nielegalną migracją, mamy własną politykę azylową (nie przyjmujemy wniosków), deportujemy tych, którzy łamią polskie prawo. W kwestii bezpieczeństwa będziemy bezwzględni. To usłyszeli ode mnie liderzy Europy w Brukseli.

Whitehall Inside the BBC: Who Really Shapes the News? For years the BBC has insisted that its journalism is independent of government. Now we learn that serving civil servants have been working inside its newsroom, helping shape coverage of politically sensitive issues in Britain. Migration, crime, elections, Covid and public spending. A woman seconded from the Welsh government during the pandemic acknowledged that her advice had led to BBC news lines being changed and new stories being told. That raises the question: how far should serving government officials be involved in shaping the editorial output of a broadcaster whose independence from the state is supposed to be sacrosanct? Another secondee drafted material on migration and crime statistics. Officials from Defra and other departments helped prepare coverage of Budgets and government figures. These are subjects on which Whitehall has its own institutional interests, preferred explanations and its reputation to protect. Yet civil servants were helping the national broadcaster decide how the numbers should be understood and presented to millions of viewers. The recruitment advert for the 2027 intake sought candidates able to influence decision-making. That wording alone does not prove political interference, but it makes the BBC's blanket assurances deserving of scrutiny. Government statisticians have described helping journalists select figures, develop explanations and shape reports. Some have been credited under BBC News or BBC Verify bylines without their civil service positions being sufficiently clear. The public was entitled to know who was contributing to these stories. Instead, the BBC has promised to amend bylines only after The Telegraph began asking questions. The financial arrangement deepens the concern. The secondees remain on salaries paid by their government departments while working inside the BBC. Taxpayers therefore fund officials who help produce coverage of policies, statistics and controversies involving the institutions employing them. Nobody needs to allege secret instructions from ministers to recognise the conflict this creates. The permanent state is capable of shaping public debate through shared assumptions, professional habits and institutional loyalties. When those responsible for producing official figures also help shape how the national broadcaster explains them, the separation between government and journalism becomes dangerously blurred. Professor Carl Heneghan, director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, has questioned whether officials with competing interests can remain impartial. His concern goes to the heart of the matter. A civil servant may act conscientiously, correct genuine errors and still approach a controversy through the assumptions of the institution in which their career has been formed. The BBC argues that statistical expertise improves accuracy and that its journalists retain final editorial control. That defence deserves examination, not automatic acceptance. Who checked the secondees' contributions? Who decided which interpretations were challenged? And how often did advice from Whitehall change the story that reached the public? Thirty-nine civil servants have passed through this scheme in eight years. The BBC now promises greater disclosure while maintaining that editorial independence was never compromised. But independence requires more than an assurance from the institution whose conduct is being questioned. It requires visible safeguards, honest attribution and scrutiny of how stories are produced. As ministers consider extending compulsory BBC funding to streaming households, the public discovers that serving officials have been helping shape its news. The corporation asks Britain to trust its independence. It must now explain why serving officials from Whitehall were helping shape its journalism, and why the public was not clearly told who they were.

France currently shows the highest risk among major European economies. Public debt reached 119% of GDP in Q2 2026 with deficits near 5.4%, and bond spreads over Germany hit 2011-12 euro-crisis peaks. Political gridlock and the 2027 election heighten uncertainty. A severe fiscal crunch with potential eurozone effects is more plausible than for Italy or others, though outright state collapse remains unlikely given ECB tools and economic scale.