BBC’s frozen licence fee pushes annual savings of £285m as broadcaster fights vicious talent wars July 12, 2022 The BBC have aired concerns that the current funding settlement, where the licence fee is frozen for two years despite crippling inflation, could spell danger for the broadcaster’s long-term future. Discussing the Beeb’s annual results this morning, BBC Chairman Richard Sharp said the “working assumption is that this [a frozen fee] will open up a [...]
‘You can only block it out for so long’: Sir Mo Farah says he was trafficked to the UK as a child July 12, 2022 Olympic legend Sir Mo Farah has revealed he was brought to the UK illegally as a child. Speaking to the BBC, Farah said his real name is actually Hussein Abdi Kahin, and he was flown over from the east African country of Djibouti at the age of eight or nine by a stranger and forced [...]
Record industry could save £200m as court order extends pirate website block to mobile networks July 12, 2022 The music industry celebrates this morning after a High Court Order forces mobile providers to start blocking pirate music websites, potentially saving the record industry £200m a year. Website blocking acts as a powerful legal remedy for those who own and invest in copyright and brands from music, film, sports and gaming industries, whose rights [...]
Revealed: Facebook is allowing the sale of rich Brits’ data in open groups for as little as 16p July 11, 2022 Social media giant Facebook is allowing the sales of thousands of peoples personal data to take place in open groups with tens of thousands of members for as little as 16p. Favoured by hackers and scammers, posts advertising data sets such as “UK Old Age High Income Leads” went seemingly unnoticed on the site. The [...]
Channel 4 privatisation still on track despite political turbulence July 10, 2022 Channel 4's privatisation is still on track, despite reports that Boris Johnson's resignation may have scuppered the broadcaster's £2bn sale.
Royal Mail chairman says firm is at ‘crossroads moment’ as it balances union action with productivity woes July 10, 2022 Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams has said unions can't expect a no-string pay deal "where nothing changes", as the company tries to balance dwindling productivity alongside rising union tension.
Calls to criminalise ‘downblousing’ and sharing pornographic deepfakes are gaining momentum July 10, 2022 The sharing of “downblouse” images and pornographic “deepfakes” without consent should be made crimes, according to recommendations to bring laws on intimate image abuse into the smartphone era. The Law Commission said a “patchwork” of criminal offences has not kept pace with technology and is failing to protect all victims, while perpetrators evade justice. It [...]
Royal ruling: Judge finds Mail on Sunday story about Prince Harry’s claim against Home Office is defamatory July 8, 2022 Parts of an article in The Mail on Sunday over the Duke of Sussex’s legal claim against the Home Office were defamatory, a High Court judge has ruled. Harry is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) after the paper ran a story following the first hearing in the duke’s separate High Court claim over his security [...]
Merciless verdict: ‘Mortally wounded’ Boris Johnson urged to leave Downing Street ‘with dignity’ July 7, 2022 If Boris Johnson picks up any of the papers this morning, it does not make fine reading for the Prime Minister as he is encouraged by almost all of the papers to abandon his attempts to save his premiership. The overall mood amid resignations and potential leadership challenges is best summarised by The Times’ leading [...]
Sign-up economy falls apart as Brits ditch costly subscriptions en masse due to fast-shrinking budgets July 7, 2022 New figures out this morning show that the growth of the “subscription economy” is stalling rapidly as living costs squeeze household budgets and people return to pre-coronavirus pandemic routines. More than a third (36%) of people say they have cancelled at least one subscription because their disposable income has fallen as interest rates and inflation [...]