John Irvine

Enjoys mud, running in the rain and mountain biking (occasionally successfully). Born Shetland, lives Surrey. #StandFree

[Batfox Pictures @Batfox_Pictures]

Few bands sounded quite like Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine at the start of the 1990s. Released in 1991, “After the Watershed” mixed sharp humour, social commentary and a relentless indie rock energy, helping establish the duo as one of the most distinctive acts of the era.

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

If the subject of the £5m donation scandal was a member of the Cabinet, a senior SNP, Plaid or Green politician, he or she would be getting doorstepped an monstered everywhere they went. The double standards are sickening

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

The real weakness of the BBC, as exemplified by recent events, is its failure to stand up to ludicrous claims from the right that it is somehow hugely biased to the left. Listening to Telegraph journalists bleat about a biased BBC, or Reform MPs enjoying more platforming than any minority party in history, underlines that. This is the work of right wing journalists and owners working hand in glove with right wing forces inside the BBC to undermine it. The Labour government needs to help the BBC stand up for itself and clear out those forces that want the BBC to fail.