Jonathan Lynn: ‘People are running the country who have never had a proper job'
T here is nothing so ex as an ex prime minister. It has been a long time since Jim Hacker rose to the top of the greasy pole. Now in his eighties he is a sad and diminished figure, leaky in mind and bladder, increasingly forgotten by an ungrateful nation.
The fellows of the Oxford college that bears his name, thanks to an oligarch's endowment, want to remove him as their master, them having a different understanding to the Lords of what 'job for life' means, and in desperation he calls an old friend. Alas, Bernard Woolley can't come to the phone — Hacker forgot that he had attended his funeral — and so he turns to an old adversary. Can the man who became PM
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Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Children could be banned from spending more than two hours on any one phone app and blocked from social media after 10pm in new anti-doomscrolling measures
The government is considering measures to ban children from spending more than two hours on any one mobile phone app at a time. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle is mulling a move to cap the amount of time per app youngsters can spend on their phone as part of a swathe of measures designed to reduce 'doomscrolling'. The package could also include preventing children from accessing social media apps, such as TikTok or Snapchat, after 10pm and during school hours. 'My approach will nail down some of the safety challenges that people face online, but also start to embrace those measures that deliver a much healthier life for children online,' Mr Kyle told the Mirror. 'That's what I want young people to have, a developmental safe and nourishing childhood online, just as we strive to for young people offline.' He is focused on exploring how curfews and restrictions on accessibility to apps as a starting point and is aware such measures may not solve the problem entirely. The MP for Hove and Portslade has reportedly held discussions with former and current employees of social media sites, who are open to the idea of preventing access to apps at night or during school. They are also said to be willing to restrict how long children can use an app for, by blocking access once they have reached a certain time limit. There have been suggestions this could be up to two hours. However, Mr Kyle has not yet made a decision on what age bracket these changes could apply to, according to The Mirror. He is also reportedly exploring raising the age at which children consent for their personal data to be processed by online sites. This currently applies to youngsters aged 13 and above, although ministers could raise this to 16. Mr Kyle has previously said that he has taken a keen interest in TikTok's recent introduction of various tools to limit screen time. These include a 10pm curfew for under-16s, which features the device screen being taken over and calming music played, although the tool can be dismissed to continue using the app. Another tool, Time Away, allows parents to set specific times that TikTok is available on their teen's devices. Children can request extra time to remain on the app, but their parents must approve it. Mr Kyle said he wanted to see evidence of how these tools are helping young people before implementing anything, but said he was especially interested in anything that will 'empower parents' to control how long their children are spending on social media platforms. Experts have long cited social media as a factor that can disrupt young people's sleep, relationships and socialisation skills. Data from the Millennium Cohort study, published last January, revealed 48 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds felt they had lost control over how much time they spent online. A team at the University of Cambridge examined data from the study which tracks the lives of 19,000 Britons born in 2000-2002. When those in the cohort were aged between 16 and 18, they were asked about their social media use. The survey revealed 48 per cent of the 7,000 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: 'I think I am addicted to social media.' Girls were most affected with 57 per cent agreeing, compared with 37 per cent of boys, according to the data reported by the Guardian.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Oscar winner reveals his friends 'canceled' him for voting for Trump
An Oscar winner revealed that he had been 'canceled' by close friends after revealing he had voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Producer Brian Grazer, 73 - who is known for working on films such as A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 - opened up about the reaction he received for supporting Trump during a Fox Nation docuseries titled Art Of The Surge. The star - who has previously been a donor to the Democratic party - could be seen in the documentary at the Army vs. Navy football game in December 2024 which Trump also attended. At one point, Grazer paused to take a photo with the then-president elect inside a VIP suite at the stadium and informed those nearby that he had cast his vote for Trump, per The New York Times which reported on the docuseries. Brian also recalled telling a few women who he had voted for - and expressed that it had felt like he was 'getting canceled.' The producer added, 'All the women looked in and go, "You mean, you're not voting for Kamala?" And I go, "I just can't do that."' Brian continued, 'And then, one of them leaned in further, and said, "Are you voting for Trump?" And I said, "I am." I swear!' He later further explained the reasoning behind his vote for Trump in the election last year while talking to the New York Times. 'As a centrist, it was because I could feel and see Biden's deterioration and the lack of direction in the Democratic Party at that time,' Grazer stated. The Hollywood producer has supported Kamala Harris in the past - and was one of the contributors to her U.S. Senate campaign back in 2015. Brian also was a producer on the movie Hillbilly Elegy (2020), which notably is based on the memoir written by current vice president JD Vance. The film - which was directed by Ron Howard - garnered mixed reviews upon its release on Netflix, but received two Academy Award nominations. Grazer is known for his decades-long career in the entertainment industry, and has collaborated with Howard on a number of projects. The pair won an Oscar for Best Picture for the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind - which raked in seven additional Academy Award nominations. Aside from A Beautiful Mind, Grazer has been nominated for three other Oscars for the movies Splash (1984), Apollo 13 (1995) and Frost/Nixon (2008). Other projects that Brian has produced over the years include How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), 8 Mile (2002), Cinderella Man (2005), and The Da Vinci Code (2006). He has also been involved on a number of TV shows such as Arrested Development, Parenthood and Friday Night Lights. Both Grazer and director Ron Howard also founded the production company Imagine Entertainment together back in 1985. While talking to the Los Angeles Times in 2019, Brian opened up about why both he and Howard decided to adapt JD Vance's memoir Hillbilly Elegy. 'Ron and I like making movies about family. Everybody roots for family,' the producer explained to the outlet. 'We had the slightly dysfunctional extended family in "Parenthood," and we had the highly dysfunctional family in "Arrested Development," and this is another extension of the American family.' He continued, 'Everybody thinks their family is [messed] up. You cherish your family, no matter how [messed] up you think your brother is.' Other Hollywood stars have voiced their public support for Donald Trump - such as actor Zachary Levi. During a recent interview with Variety, the Shazam! star stated that he knows people who also voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election - but were 'afraid' to go public. 'I know it to be true because I've gotten messages from lots of people who I won't name but who were very grateful to me for taking the stand that I took,' Levi said. 'And also they would tell me, "I want to do that, but I'm so afraid." And I would tell them, "Listen, you're on your journey. I'm on my journey. You've got to keep trusting God."' He added, 'And if you feel compelled to step out in that way, then do it boldly and know that you're going to be OK. And if you don't feel that conviction yet, then don't. It's all good.' In October of last year, Zachary also urged 'closeted conservatives' in Hollywood to publicly speak out for Donald Trump ahead of the election. The actor - who had initially been in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - said on Instagram at the time, 'My cry to all of you out there, you closeted conservatives, closeted Trump voters, y'all, it's now or never, you know what I mean? 'Do whatever you feel like you need to do. If you need to come out publicly and say it, if you feel like you still can't, then don't.' Levi added, 'I would never pressure you to do that, but know that if what you're afraid of is somehow the backlash of an industry that's not going to exist very soon, then don't let that hold you back.' While he admitted to disliking Trump in the past, Zachary stated that he was straying away from voting Democrat due to the 'massive corruption' in the government. Other Hollywood celebrities who have voiced support for the 47th president of the United States also include Vince Vaughn, Mel Gibson and James Woods.
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Musk was Trump's tweeter-in-chief. Now he's using X against him
Elon Musk's X profile is like a window into his psyche: an inescapable stream of consciousness where impulsive tweets reveal his unfiltered thoughts and shifting moods. Musk harnessed his social media platform to propel Donald Trump to the White House, feeding anti-Democrat content and election conspiracy theories to his followers. Now Musk is turning that same platform – home to nearly 600 million monthly users – against him. After posting earlier in the week that Trump's signature budget policy was a 'disgusting abomination' that will 'drive America into debt slavery', the billionaire is openly taunting Trump on X, even calling for his impeachment. An analysis of Musk's tweets by The Independent shows that Musk has undergone a dramatic shift in both the tone and volume of his posts since his initial support of Trump in mid-2024 to when he began distancing himself from his governmental duties earlier this year – weeks before the White House announced his Washington tenure had finished. And now the platform has chronicled the rise and fall of the world's most powerful bromance. Musk began tweeting incessantly after he publicly endorsed Trump in July last year following the first attempt on the president's life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then, once Musk was tapped in November to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, he emerged as Trump's tweeter-in-chief. Despite his new White House commitments, not to mention running six companies – including SpaceX, Tesla, and X itself – Musk appeared more glued to his keyboard than ever, using the platform as his primary news source, and place to share his views and stir up controversy. The first 50 days of the Trump administration arguably marked Musk's most fervent display of support for the president, both in terms of tweet content and frequency. On February 7, he mused that, 'I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.' Take President's Day, February 17, his most prolific 24-hour posting spell to date. Musk posted 262 times, according to The Independent 's analysis, with messages ranging from single emojis to lengthy missives attacking Democrats. All told, the posting spree equated to one message every five-and-a-half minutes, with no breaks. Musk had a busy Q1 — between January 20 and March 10, he posted 6,778 times – averaging more than 135 X posts per day. And he stayed on message, tweeting about his government-slashing force DOGE more than any other topic in that period, quickly followed by 'Trump' and 'president.' Social media analytics firms like Social Blade were forced to stop tracking tweets after X said these businesses had to pay for an Enterprise subscription, at $42,000 to $210,000 a month. The resulting gap has made transparency on X murkier than ever; and is also why The Independent could only analyze Musk's posts until mid-March. In early spring, Musk's public pledges of MAGA allegiance and trollish squibs began to slow down, and the subjects of his posts moved from Trump administration duties to his own commercial interests. Buyers of his electric vehicles protested against his shift to right-wing politics and efforts to dismantle federal departments, with Tesla's stock price plummeting, and a Rome dealership set ablaze. In April, Musk announced plans to significantly reduce his involvement with DOGE, opting to work remotely and allocate more time to Tesla. A month later, Musk's X daily posts at points reached single figures. In hindsight, it might be considered the calm before the storm. By the end of May, Musk came off the platform to deliver a gut punch to the Trump administration. He told NBC News that Trump's showpiece tax bill 'undermines' the work done by DOGE, without directly mentioning the president. Musk landed a heavy blow on Tuesday, blasting the president's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' as an 'outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination.' But it was after a press conference with the German Chancellor where Trump said he was 'disappointed' with Musk's comments, that Musk went on his most destructive X rampage yet — calling Trump ungrateful, calling for his impeachment and saying he's linked to Jeffrey Epstein. And these claims get read and spread by a wide audience: his Thursday post declaring 'Trump would have lost the election' if it weren't for his support garnered nearly 15 million views in a single day. This is more than just a playground spat between the two rich powerful men, because Musk's ownership of X allows him to reach a vast audience, some of whom are skeptical of mainstream media, and control a narrative — and his posts have been known to set off market reactions, media cycles, and political waves. Those who have stuck with X, whether they are one of Musk's 220 million followers or not, have been inundated with his musings and attacks morning, noon, and night. Musk is believed to selectively issue suspensions and use algorithms to throttle foes that are critical of both him and his ventures. According to the tech news site Platformer, the self-styled 'free speech absolutist' directed a team of 80 engineers to amplify his own tweets over others, ensuring they reach vast audiences (he allegedly did the same for Trump in November). Musk has subsequently blurred the line between platform owner, political provocateur and propagandist. How will he next use X to punish the social media-reliant, legacy media-averse president?
