JoelTaylorhack
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joeltaylorhack.bsky.social
JoelTaylorhack
@joeltaylorhack.bsky.social
Ink-stained hack, writer, dad

Politics, cricket, music, food, travel, books… not necessarily in that order

Bird hellsite - @JoelTaylorhack

Substack - https://joelbtaylor.substack.com
When Donald Trump threatens to sue the BBC ("for $1bn" in true Dr Evil style) now is the time for every other media organisation to stand with the BBC
November 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Still quite surprised that these commentators haven’t pointed out that a major difference between Traitirs & Celebrity Traitirs is the comparative lack of swearing in the latter

Makes a huge difference for whole family viewing

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
How The Celebrity Traitors reversed TV’s most troubling trend
Fandom memes, influencers and TikTok deal helped secure industry’s holy grail: gen Z loyalty
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Horrifying
November 7, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
Joey Barton has been prosecuted for social media posts on X that crossed the legal line. It is unusual for things to get prosecuted in court.

The X platform has no serious or even tokenistic effort to prevent much stronger stuff that is clearly highly unlawful
www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Joey Barton found guilty of sending offensive posts on social media
Former footballer guilty of six counts of sending communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Not the brightest spark is he, Joey Barton?
November 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
This is about the most irritating column I've read in a long time

Provides no insight into Venice and just is just unbelievably smug

www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/tr...
Amazonica's insider guide to Venice
From sublime hotel rooftop views to hidden museums and occult stationers, the A-list’s go-to party DJ finds her alternate reality in the Italian city
www.standard.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
So, in the wake of this BBC Panirama row, are we pretending Trump didn’t encourage the mob storming Capitol?
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I don't think people need to have entitlement for time off for IVF appointments

Any reasonable employer should just allow them to attend the appointments without question anyway

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Calls for legal right to paid leave for IVF treatment
Campaigners say IVF treatment should be less stigmatised in the workplace and come with legal entitlements to time off
www.bbc.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Feel the Reeves speech is entirely unnecessary. She's such a bad performer in set pieces

Much better at doing Q&As and lower pressure set pieces
November 4, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Jonathan Raban’s encounter with Philip Larkin, in Coasting, is quite enchanting

Apologies for the stream of photos
November 3, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Oh dear, Chris Philp has been allowed out in public again #r4today
November 3, 2025 at 7:14 AM
My friend wrote this the other day about the Rising Sun pub in Kent

Easy each from London & a complete time warp

Landlady there since early 1990s but it could be the 1930s

Most eccentric pub I’ve been to in England & may not be open much longer so try & catch it

www.thesun.co.uk/travel/37097...
Incredible time-warp pub that's so hidden it's not even on the internet
THERE are plenty of quirky pubs around the UK, and some of the best are the ones that take you by surprise. I recently stumbled on one of the most extraordinary pubs I’ve ever been in – only …
www.thesun.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
One further cruelty has not been spotted about the Conservative Mass Deportation bill proposed by Chris Philp, Katie Lam, Matt Vickers et al

Bill would block all people on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Scheme of 2016-21 from ever getting ILR in Britain
+ revoke any past grants of ILR to those on it
October 23, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
My latest, on a quiet celebration of family at one of London's best spots joelbtaylor.substack.com/p/rennies-ba...
Rennie's Bar: a quiet celebration at the National Theatre
In a place of egalitarian joy, it's only fitting a coal miner/publican from Durham is remembered
joelbtaylor.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Thankfully, she may have had a stupid fine cancelled, but may well face deportation by the Tories as only true-born English people can pollute our waterways www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain
Burcu Yesilyurt, who poured coffee down a drain in Richmond, welcomed the cancellation of the
www.bbc.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 7:29 PM
My latest, on a quiet celebration of family at one of London's best spots joelbtaylor.substack.com/p/rennies-ba...
Rennie's Bar: a quiet celebration at the National Theatre
In a place of egalitarian joy, it's only fitting a coal miner/publican from Durham is remembered
joelbtaylor.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Serious journalism
October 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
One wonderful legal fact is that the provision effectively giving licence to agent to commit crimes abroad is...

...section 007 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994.

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/1...
Intelligence Services Act 1994
An Act to make provision about the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters, including provision for the issue of warrants and authorisations enabling certain actions...
www.legislation.gov.uk
October 22, 2025 at 10:48 AM
What an utterly miserable state we have become where opposition parties are in a twisted competition for the most insane, unpleasant, completely unworkable migration policies, while a Labour government appears to watch on wondering how it can get involved
October 22, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
Nigel Farage's mass deportations plan is wrong in principle, not serious in practice, and polls badly, says Chris Philp, who has a nearly identical policy

conservativehome.com/2025/10/19/h...
Home Office is where the heart is, for the man with a spring in his step | Conservative Home
'The only way you can stop these boats is with a removals deterrent, so anyone crossing the Channel illegally knows they are near certain to be rapidly, within a week, removed from this country'
conservativehome.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Should have just gone to the loo

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Kew woman fined £150 for pouring coffee down drain in Richmond
Burcu Yesilyurt says the fine is
www.bbc.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
Idi Amin deported 80,000 Asians from Uganda in 1972. So although the Conservatives want to propose the first mass deportation of legal migrants since Idi Amin - especially with the retrospective changes in ILR - Lam is proposing to deport 20 times as many people as Idi Amin.
October 22, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
Boris’s Children: my SKETCH of Today in subjects he loves to forget.
Boris’s children | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine
“My memory is now contaminated.” It was one of the more accurate statements we heard from Boris Johnson on Tuesday morning, though this is never a high bar. He was speaking, again…
thecritic.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM