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Off me head, son

THE BBC’s chairman admitted what working class viewers have known for years.

That it has been failing to listen to them or make their voices heard.

EPA

The BBC’s chairman admitted that it has been failing to listen to working class viewers or make their voices heard[/caption]

Rightly condemning the rampant metropolitan liberal bias behind mistakes in the recent Gaza documentary, Samir Shah says BBC News is still not addressing licence-fee payers’ concerns about immigration.

Shah also wants to create a Line of Duty-style internal affairs unit to tackle the serial problem of powerful male stars like Huw Edwards from abusing their position.

So far, so good.

But the Chairman’s idea of showing LESS football on Match of the Day in favour of more “analysis” is a classic example of the Beeb missing the basic point of what punters want.

And in his solution to how Auntie should be funded in the future, Shah is also missing a sitter.

He dismisses the obvious idea of subscription insisting only a state-backed BBC can invest in screening things of minority or niche interest.

But that’s a myth.

Streamers are now leading the way in drama.

Sky pioneered women’s football when BBC coverage was virtually nil — and turned darts into a multi-million pound industry as BBC support for it collapsed.

Still wedded to a licence fee, Shah wants it collected via your Council Tax claiming it’s fairer and asking: “Why should the poor pay the same for the BBC as people in wealthy homes?”

Which raises this question.

Why should everyone be forced to pay for it at all?

Wave of terror

IT’S hard to think of a more chilling example of why Labour must grip the worsening small boats crisis.

A fanatical Hamas terrorist supporter from Gaza filming himself celebrating after arriving by dinghy.

Gun-toting Abu Wadei has made a mockery of Britain’s wide-open borders.

As the Home Office refuses to comment we must presume he is freely roaming our streets.

Of the 150,000 illegal migrants who have arrived by small boat since 2018, how many others were terrorist sympathisers?

The Government doesn’t have a clue.

Make it work

BRITAIN’S commitment to work was shredded by Covid and replaced instead by a widespread belief that the State should pay for everything.

In her welfare reforms, Rachel Reeves must reverse this and make handouts less attractive than a job.

People who DO work cannot afford to featherbed those that refuse to do so.

That’s not cruel. It’s only right and fair.

SHE has never been one to hold back and we can confirm Paloma Faith is more outspoken than ever on her new podcast Mad, Sad & Bad.

But sitting down with Bizarre’s Jack, Paloma proudly boasts she’s got no concerns about being cancelled because she’s always sticking to the right side of history.

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Paloma Faith is more outspoken than ever on her new podcast Mad, Sad & Bad[/caption]

“I’m not worried about being cancelled at all,” Paloma says. “I am pretty cocky about my morals and my ethics.

“I feel like my politics and everything I’ve done is OK. I was raised by a socialist in a multicultural environment, with gay, straight, trans, drag queens, everyone, all around me.”

On the first time she saw a “cross-dresser,” Paloma recalls: “I remember my cousin taking me to a house party when I was about ten and I saw a cross-dressing man for the first time in my life and them explaining to me.

“There is no way I could do anything that could get me cancelled. I have always been on the right side of ethics and morals.”

Paloma adds: “Most people getting called out are straight white men, isn’t it? They deserve it.

“You can’t just go around grabbing people’s bums and dropping drugs in women’s drinks or f***ing shouting homophobic abuse at people and then not expect it to come back on you.”

The first series of Mad, Sad & Bad sees Paloma teaming up with massive female names in the entertainment industry including the brilliant Katherine Ryan and Mel B.

“This first season, I’ve just asked people that I know – my mates – as it’s really hard to cold call people before you have a successful podcast,” Paloma explains.

“I’m lucky that I’ve got contacts and I’ve been nice enough to people along the way in my career that they have said, ‘Yes of course’. It just shows it pays to be kind.

“I only listen back to the ones that I worry about what I’ve said. In the edit I just want to check that I’ve come across as I intended.

“I know it’s easy sometimes for things to be taken out of context. Because it’s my own home, my podcast is very heart on sleeve. I wouldn’t necessarily talk as openly if it was someone I don’t know so well.

“Obviously I’ve been in the industry long enough to know what I’m doing. It’s not rushed. Some episodes are quite emotional.

“It is also entertaining. I’m mucking about a lot as that is what I’m like. It’s light and shade.”

In one episode, Paloma admits she was once caught hooking up with a bloke in an alleyway in Spain, but she never thought twice about cutting it out.

Paloma says: “I’m not ashamed of it so I’d only edit it out if I was embarrassed and I’m not embarrassed about that.

“The only edited stuff is if I think I will be misunderstood, but actually, there hasn’t been much editing as I’m quite lazy.

“After the first ten minutes I go, ‘I can’t be arsed to listen to the rest, I’m sure it’s fine’.”

Away from the podcast, Paloma is back in the studio working on her first album since 2024’s The Glorification of Sadness.

Paloma, who is dating music industry guru and former Shipwrecked star, Stevie Thomas, explains: “It’s not just sad and happy — it’s the bit in between where you are tentatively happy.

“I am pulling in from everywhere. It’s my life experiences, sometimes I have a conversation and I write things down or it’s how I feel that day. Sometimes it can be something I’ve read about that’s really struck me. It’s always been like that.

“I feel like the most structured writing I’ve ever done is the last album as it was only an album about my breakup.

“Every other album I’ve always written about lots of other areas about my life and I’m sort of doing that again. I like the lighter experience at the moment.”

LUKE LITTLER got soaked on stage after making it FOURTEEN successive wins in ten days as he retained the Belgian Darts Open. 

The teen sensation followed up his UK Open and Premier League victories over the past week by beating Mike De Decker 8-5 in Sunday’s final.

Littler, 18, is also unbeaten in Wieze after eleven matches after taking the trophy on his debut a year ago.

He picked up the £30,000 prize, making it £150,000 in a week. 

But rival De Decker poured water over his head doing the trophy ceremony to leave Littler in stitches laughing. 

He said: “I’m very happy to retain the title in front of these great fans. 

“I said it last year there should be a Premier League here.

“I think on my throw I was really good but Mike on his throw he was good at times. 

“But I had to get in the lead and hit the winning double. 

“I said after the World Championships if I don’t win anything throughout the whole year then I’m still a World Champion.

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“But I’m obviously happy to win the UK Open and come back here and do it back-to-back. Now it’s ProTours and back to the Premier League.”

Littler had beaten Dave Chisnall and James Wade in the quarters and semis while De Decker got past Gerwyn Price and Ross Smith. 

The Nuke took early control in the final zipping into an early lead and was soon 6-3 up and had silenced the home crowd. He never looked back from that point. 

He even teased the crowd by pretending to go for the bull to win with a 170 finish.

But instead he hit a single 10 and came back for tops to wrap it up. 

De Decker said: “Luke has been a phenomenal player for the last eight years, since he was about eight-years-old!

“But it’s my fourth trophy now so I’m doing a good thing.”

WHEN Ben Affleck finally married Jennifer Lopez two decades after he first proposed, it seemed like a fairytale ending for the lovestruck couple.

But on their second wedding anniversary in August last year, Lopez filed for divorce — leaving the pair facing a messy break-up.

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Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck at the Golden Globes in LA in 2013[/caption]

X17Online.com

Exes Ben and Jennifer appear close at son’s paintball party this month[/caption]

Splash News

Worried Jen drives Affleck to rehab[/caption]

Since then, who has Ben turned to time and time again for support and guidance? Not his best friend Matt Damon, or brother Casey.

But his ex-wife and mother to his three children, Jennifer Garner.

Now, sources have told The Sun that he is not just in touch with her to offer “parental support” — he also calls her multiple times a day and has started to think that perhaps he chose the wrong Jen.

Last week, Ben, 52, was seen cuddling up to Garner a decade after their marriage crumbled amid heartbreaking claims he slept with their nanny.

She has even been spotted visiting his home in Brentwood, California, where Ben has lived alone since splitting from J-Lo again.

Our source said: “Jen (Garner) often visits Ben at his new bachelor pad. She was enormously helpful in helping him rebuild his life and stay on track when things started to fall apart with J-Lo.

“She didn’t interfere or pass judgment. That’s not Jennifer’s style at all.

“Instead, she helped Ben with whatever practicalities he needed, encouraged him to stay strong and follow his gut with whatever decision he needed to make.”

Our source added: “They talk every single day. He calls her multiple times and spends as much time with her as he possibly can.

“They enjoy meals together, family days, trips to the park, other activities with the kids — all pretty healthy, wholesome stuff.”

He and Jen have three children together — Violet, 19, Fin, 16, and 13-year-old Sam. But insiders say their relationship is now about much more than putting on a united front for the kids.

The source added: “It’s true she was never a huge fan of J-Lo, but she never trash-talked her.

“If anything, she was saddened things didn’t work out (for Ben and J-Lo) because she wants nothing more than for Ben to be settled and happy.”

Ben was due to marry Lopez after their whirlwind romance in 2003, when they were affectionately known as Bennifer.

But the wedding never happened due to the pressures of fame. They eventually tied the knot in 2022, but lasted barely two years.

Now, friends say the superstar singer feels “betrayed” after a video emerged of Affleck pulling his first wife close then hugging her around the waist during a paintballing party for their son earlier this month.

Famous

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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez at Golden Globes in 2024[/caption]

On The JLo

Ben and J-Lo finally tie the knot in Las Vegas in 2022[/caption]

Although Deadpool actress Garner, 52, has been dating tech CEO John Miller on and off since her messy divorce from Ben in 2018, they have not been seen together in weeks.

“Right now, Jen is still dating John and Ben is respectful of that,” added our source. “Ben likes the guy and recognises that he’s a gentleman who respects boundaries and is a solid, kindly type of character.

“He’s not going to disrespect Jen’s choices by making a move.

“But it’s an open secret amongst Ben’s friends that he’d jump at the chance to date her again. Essentially he’s waiting in the wings. Only time will tell if Jennifer wants to turn back the clock and give Ben another chance.

“J-Lo is known to be extremely upset by all this talk about Ben and Jennifer getting back together. She always suspected that he was still holding a candle for her.

‘Number one girl’

“Even at the height of their rekindled romance, it was as though she could never compete.

“She feels very manipulated and played by Ben, like he was never truly honest with her and that he always regarded Jennifer, not her, as his number one girl.”

Ben and J-Lo are said to be barely speaking as they struggle to sell the $60million Beverly Hills mansion they bought together.

The source added: “She really hoped to have a far closer relationship with Ben once they split — something similar to what he shares with Jennifer (Garner).

“But instead, he’s pretty much ghosted her and spends every waking moment he can with Jennifer. It’s a real kick in the teeth.”

Garner continued to call Affleck the “love of my life” after their split — which they announced a day after their 10th wedding anniversary.

The actress said: “You can’t have three babies and so much of what we had . . . he’s the love of my life.”

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J-Lo looks smitten with Ben at a movie premiere in 2002[/caption]

She also gave an insight into the notoriously grumpy actor’s personality when she added: “He’s just a complicated guy. When his sun shines on you, you feel it.

“But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.”

Ben met Jenny From The Block singer Lopez in 2002 on the set of their movie, Gigli.

Despite being married to second husband Cris Judd at the time, she said: “I really felt when I met Ben, ‘OK, this is it’.”

Within months, they were engaged, but the wedding was called off at the last minute and they parted ways in January 2004. The following year, Ben wed 13 Going On 30 actress Garner.

But that marriage was blighted by Affleck’s long-standing battle with alcoholism. And the couple’s happiness crashed down in 2015 when he was accused of an affair with nanny Christine Ouzounian, which he denies.

Ben only added to the misery in a 2021 interview, when he said: “Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped.”

He later apologised for the blunt remarks, claiming he was “vulnerable” at the time, adding: “The idea (was) that I was blaming my wife for my drinking.

“To be clear, my behaviour is my responsibility entirely.”

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Garner has been dating tech CEO John Miller on and off since her messy divorce from Ben[/caption]

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Affleck was accused of an affair with nanny Christine Ouzounian[/caption]

When he relapsed in 2018, Garner — who he was no longer with by that point — staged an intervention.

She arrived at his home with a lawyer and a Bible to drive him to his third rehab stint, stopping off to get him fast food on the way.

But then Affleck got back with J-Lo, and she gushed about the “beautiful story” that meant they got a “second chance”.

She said: “It was so painful after we broke up (the first time).

“Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life. I honestly felt like I was going to die.

“It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right. But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It’s the most would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending.”

Bored to tears

The couple wed at a Las Vegas chapel in July 2022, followed by a second ceremony in Georgia the following month. But sources claimed the cracks were already beginning to show during their honeymoon in Italy.

Ben looked miserable as paparazzi pursued them, while J-Lo appeared happy to play up to the cameras.

Sources later claimed that Ben was just getting sober when he fell for Lopez again.

They added of the honeymoon: “When they weren’t in front of the cameras, they would barely speak to each other during what was meant to be the happiest time of their life.

“He sold her on him being a changed man and that lasted a very short time.”

Another source said: “He was just getting sober. He was in a vulnerable state, and whatever their chemistry (was) played into that . . . he was in a frenzied, excitable state.”

J-Lo was also seen berating her husband at the 2023 Grammys, when he looked bored to tears. The couple have also been spotted seemingly rowing in public.

The big question now is whether Ben can tempt back his original Jen — and whether, after all the hurt, she will even want him.

WHAT’S not to like about some of the noise the government is making lately?

Hiking defence spending, cutting the mind-bending aid budget, slashing the absurdly bloated benefits bill and even attempts to kickstart a new US trade deal.

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Can Sir Keir Starmer stick to his guns when the leftie howling from his own side begins?[/caption]

The drumbeat toward the Spring Statement later this month says tax hikes are out and the music will finally stop for Whitehall’s over-bearing spending habits.

And the mood music coming out of the Home Office ahead of their White Paper on tackling legal migration in a couple of weeks suggests an eye-catching wave of visa restrictions is imminent.

I’m reserving judgment while we await Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit renegotiation, which I fear will be hard to stomach, as well as some tangible NHS reform.

But credit where credit is due. This is the stuff the Tories spent the last few years merely talking about.

Albeit while the Labour Party successfully screamed “austerity” at any effort to trim our massive state or reform the public sector.

Sorely mistaken

While this change of heart in government may be music to the ears of Sun readers and columnists alike, this tack toward the common-sense centre by Starmer is fraught with danger for him.

The real test will be whether ministers can stick to their guns when the howling begins.

Do they really believe this stuff? Probably not.

Have they been forced into it by political and economic necessity? Yes.

Are they going to be met with a wave of opposition from their own side? Oh yes.

The Left is just getting warmed up and Sir Keir needs to watch his flank.

If Labour thought they had bought off their union mates with last year’s public sector pay splurge, they were sorely mistaken.

Even the TUC, which is meant to be a slightly more moderate voice, were out yesterday decrying “Trumpian” rhetoric and policies of this government

Their sin? Saying civil servants should be fired if they are useless, pay should be linked to performance and perhaps it would be a bit more efficient to use more computers in the public sector.

And look at who our old chums at transport union the RMT have just elected to be their new chief.

Devout Irish republican and socialist ideologue Eddie Dempsey is even more hardline than his old baldy boss Mick Lynch.

Another nightmare for Labour will be a second coming of Corbynista crackpot Matt Wrack, formerly chief agitator of the Fire Brigades Union, now poised to lead 300,000 teachers in the NASUWT.

With the half-a-million strong National Education Union already in the hands of another lefty-retread Daniel Kebede, it can’t be too long before this lot start making trouble.

Meanwhile keep an eye on the polling.

The ultra-lefty Greens are steadily climbing from the six per cent they scored in 2024, closer to nine.

Seared in the minds

And the Liberal Democrats — I am loath to say — are playing a smart game by becoming the permanently outraged anti-Trump party.

As Starmer does all he can not to upset the White House, the Lib-Dems are hammering from the left and saying out loud what many, many Labour MPs wish they could about the President.

Meanwhile the pro-Gaza independents have created a formal alliance with exiled Jeremy Corbyn with big plans to topple ministers Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Rushanara Ali, who all have large muslim populations and wafer-thin majorities in their constituencies.

Luckily the post-Corbyn hard Left is still dominated by clowns like Richard Burgon in Parliament and spiteful cry-bullies like the Guardian’s Owen Jones.

I can’t see the virulently anti-Israel rapper Lowkey becoming the Nigel Farage of the Left, but someone could yet.

The speed at which Corbyn was able to briefly become a thing between 2016 and 2018 is rightly still seared in the minds of Labour strategists.

And the recent German elections were a warning sign for Downing Street.

The governing left-wing SDP got spanked with its worst result since the war, with just 16 per cent of the vote, on a record post-reunification turnout of 82.5 per cent.

While Die Linke — literally The Left — forged from the old Communists came from nowhere to take nine per cent of the vote.

The BSW — hard-Left splitters — hit 4.97 per cent, which was just shy of the target needed for seats, yet hoovering votes away from the mainstream regardless.

Given Labour seized power last year on just 33 per cent of the vote, bleeding out anything near 15 per cent to the left would be curtains.

I may want to believe the Government has the stomach to do what needs to be done, but those numbers speak for themselves.

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‘GUESS who’s back’ was Nigel Farage’s refrain at last year’s election, but you’ll never guess who else is back on the scene.

Dominic Cummings.

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Dominic Cummings has been talking tactics with Reform[/caption]

Yes that’s right, the Barnard Castle eyesight testing, Boris-slaying, partygate string-puller and self-styled guru of “regime change”.

A little birdy tells me he has buried the hatchet with his old foe Farage, who he spent most of the Brexit referendum trying to stop getting on the telly.

Last seen abandoning his efforts to set up a new party and sucking up to Elon Musk with increasingly deranged rantings on X, Cummings has been talking tactics with Reform.

I hear he’s in direct communication with Nige, who I would gently suggest sups with a long spoon.

Given Reform’s MPs can currently fit in the back of a cab yet are already at each other’s throats, I’m not sure adding such a toxic influence into the mix is wise.

Cummings has blown up almost every politician he has ever worked with and that was before he departed the reservation.

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A STARTLING job advert to join the BBC’s “Jihadist Media Team”.

I thought for a moment they were formalising their commissioning of documentaries narrated by the children of Hamas terrorists or writing fawning scripts for Jeremy Bowen about the heroic defence of those brave lads against the evil Israelis.

No, apparently the team monitors jihadist media to “gain insight” and ensure “we are following reliable and up-to-date sources”.

That might explain some of the howlers of late.

Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning is entering the AFL season as a restricted free agent, but his teammates are just ready for him to shine on the field.

Coach Ken Hinkley insists he still has time to turn Port Adelaide from very good to great by winning a premiership in his final year as the AFL club's coach.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell says the central bank can wait to see how President Donald Trump’s aggressive policy actions play out before it moves again on interest rates.

Regional and rural childcare centres are offering fly-in fly-out positions, accommodation and relocation incentives to attract staff amid a critical worker shortage which is forcing some centres to shut down.

Star Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has reached 40 points for the third NBA game in a row to see off Western Conference rivals Denver in Oklahoma City.