Exclusive: Reserves at public service arm drop 66% as broadcaster undertakes large cuts in effort to save £500m

The BBC has spent hundreds of millions of pounds of its cash reserves in a single year, increasing concerns at the corporation over the perilous state of its finances.

Cash reserves at the BBC’s public service arm slumped by 66% in the last financial year, from £369m in 2025 to just £125m, according to analysis by the Guardian. This is the lowest figure in the last decade of accounts.

Recent instances of Nigel Farage’s party trying to gain sympathetic coverage lead to debate over reporting practices

The Telegraph and Reform UK are facing claims of undermining public interest journalism and eroding trust between reporters and politicians, after Nigel Farage’s party gave the newspaper stories first uncovered by other outlets.

It is understood there is unease among editorial staff at the Telegraph about Reform’s repeated use of the outlet for “spoilers”: a media tactic designed to pre-empt a problematic story by placing it with a title seen as more sympathetic.

Adolescence co-writer criticises government inaction and calls for laws banning secret use of AI to generate scripts

Jack Thorne, one of Britain’s most successful screen and stage writers, has warned that some people in his profession are using AI “to cheat”, as he called for laws banning the secret use of the technology to generate scripts.

Thorne, who co-wrote the hit Netflix drama Adolescence and wrote the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, said that “writers need to be squeaky clean” in the face of AI models that “steal” the creative industry’s work.

Former primetime TV host films himself eating dog biscuits, doing ‘munchie runs’ and addressing pool death case

Filming from the driver’s seat of his car, with his pet whippet, Lara, in the background, Michael Barrymore shows an array of dog treats he has collected to test to the camera. There’s a twist, though: it won’t be the dog doing the testing.

In a series of quick edits, the fallen star of primetime 1990s television grimaces his way through cheese biscuits and pork sausages. The lamb spaghetti is particularly challenging, though he claims to quite like the chicken sausage slices.

Tech mogul calls director Alex Gibney a ‘bitter old man’ who has ‘zero integrity’ in series of posts on X

Elon Musk has issued an angry tirade at the film-maker behind a four-hour documentary about his life and influence, labelling the director, Alex Gibney, a “bitter old man” who has “zero integrity”.

Gibney, who has previously made films about the collapse of Enron, WikiLeaks and Vladimir Putin, premiered his Musk documentary at the Venice film festival this week. He said he believed the world’s richest man was “extremely dangerous”.

Matt Brittin says ‘cupboard is bare’ after staff reject average 2.1% pay rise in dispute

The BBC’s director general has conceded there is a real prospect of strikes at the broadcaster, as he faces a continuing dispute over pay and pushes ahead with plans to cut as many as 2,000 jobs.

In a call with staff on Tuesday, Matt Brittin faced a series of questions over the corporation’s plans for huge cuts, as well as pay talks in which staff rejected an average 2.1% salary increase.

Podcast is now on YouTube site of Mike Graham, fired from TalkTV after racist post appeared on his Facebook page

• UK politics live – latest updates

When Liz Truss launched her podcast last year, she declared it would bring a “counter-revolution” to take on the “deep state”, which, she said, “tried to destroy” her.

The revolution, however, has not yet arrived. Truss, whose stint as UK prime minister abruptly ended after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the economy, has so far failed to find a wide audience in her media career.

US embassy says Downing Street’s plan to give BBC, ITV and other established media more online visibility carries risk of ‘censorship’

The Trump administration has raised “serious concerns” over Downing Street’s plan to force YouTube and other digital platforms to hand more prominence to established broadcasters, warning the move risks “facilitating censorship”.

In a pointed intervention, the US government said the proposals to boost traditional media outlets in social media algorithms could “establish a template that authoritarian regimes could invoke to justify more control over online content”.

Amelia Dimoldenberg says publicists ignored her interview show for years but she can now be picky over A-list guests

Just a decade ago, Amelia Dimoldenberg found it impossible to drum up any mainstream celebrities to come on her mock date YouTube show, in which she chats awkwardly with guests over chicken and chips.

Even persuading a local actor connected with her London youth club to come on took years of prodding. Managers of A-listers with movies or albums to push instead battled to claim a spot on the hallowed cushions of the primetime TV chatshow sofa.

Podcast co-host says tongue-in-cheek that ex-Manchester United captain would like to sign up for his show

With an all-conquering podcast empire and a new deal that will make his football punditry show a regular fixture on Netflix, there seems little left for Gary Lineker to wish for.

However, while the former Match of the Day presenter is full of praise for Alan Shearer and Micah Richards – the fellow pundits on his The Rest Is Football show – Lineker has admitted to admiring a combative figure playing for his main rivals.

Restore Britain leader paid up to £1,476 an hour by platform, which critics say is financially incentivising inflammatory content

Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain, is on course to earn as much from the social media platform X as he does from his salary as an MP, after surging income from posts that include demands for mass deportations.

Lowe has earned £932 an hour for his posts on X, formerly Twitter, since the start of the year, according to his own declarations in the register of MPs’ financial interests, which detail how many hours he has spent on X for each payment he received from the platform.

Content creators are fighting proposal to boost traditional broadcasters in video platforms’ all-powerful algorithms

The millions who subscribe to the content creator Simon Squibb’s social media channels are usually delivered tips and hacks on how to turn their dream business idea into reality. But they were recently presented with something completely different.

In an Instagram post entitled “the government wants to control YOU”, Squibb issued an urgent call to arms. He asked his followers to fight against a proposal that he said could force content from the BBC and other traditional broadcasters into their social media feeds and recommendations whether they liked it or not.

The Sussexes are returning to the UK with significantly reduced media deals in an industry where fame alone can no longer guarantee success

Having settled in California in the aftermath of their dramatic decoupling from the royal family in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced a partnership that appeared to set a clear destination for their new lives outside the House of Windsor.

With every global media stable clamouring for their signature, the couple revealed a deal with Netflix reportedly worth $100m. The ambitions were lofty and broad, including scripted and unscripted projects, shows for all ages and documentaries.

Brandon Relph, who founded first company at 13, joins strategy team in ‘much-needed step’ for the broadcaster

A 26-year-old business prodigy and self-styled gen Z whisperer has been drafted in by the BBC as it battles to reach young audiences increasingly choosing content creators on YouTube and TikTok over traditional broadcasters.

Brandon Relph, who founded his first company aged 13, and has been praised by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, has joined the BBC’s strategy team to help counter the existential threat of falling audiences among young people.

Tributes paid across industry to provocative journalist who died after short illness

The writer and broadcaster Rod Liddle, a prominent columnist for the Sunday Times and the Sun, has died after a short illness. He was 66.

Liddle, whose provocative style attracted praise and criticism, also wrote for the Spectator magazine and earlier in his career edited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Government-backed investigation finds risks are normalised amid ‘a narrowing of the public conversation’

Journalists are self-censoring their reporting on rightwing protests, Donald Trump’s administration and trans issues because of growing concerns about their personal safety, with newsrooms accused of “normalising” the risks they face.

Hundreds of journalists from across the UK have anonymously disclosed increasing nervousness over their security. Some have reported avoiding or altering coverage on certain topics due to intimidation, leading to self-censorship and “a narrowing of the public conversation”.

MPs and others condemn behaviour of CT Group, which offered cash for positive coverage of clients

A political lobbying firm secretly paying journalists for articles favourable to its clients is facing calls to reveal full details of the payments, after the practice was denounced as a dangerous “attack on democracy”.

MPs, senior lobbyists and transparency campaigners all condemned the behaviour of CT Group, the firm co-founded by the campaign strategist Lynton Crosby, an election guru previously hired by David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

BBC’s average audience was 9.7m, four times as much as its rival – similar to its lead four years ago

Their respective World Cup studios have been pored over, their lineup of pundits analysed almost as much as the matches. But when it came to the tournament’s final, the result was clear – audiences once again picked the BBC over ITV.

Four times as many people turned to the BBC to watch Spain secure victory over a belligerent Argentina, very similar to its lead over ITV four years ago.

‘Strong confrontation’ comes at fragile moment for Reform’s relations with rightwing media as coverage turns negative

Nigel Farage is no stranger to expressing his ire at what he regards as the liberal establishment, but even figures close to him were surprised at the tirade of anger he unleashed upon the editor of the Times.

The exchange, which is said to have included an expletive aimed at Tony Gallagher, was triggered by the Reform UK leader’s outrage that the paper was planning to run a story about his houses, which he said endangered his family.

Republican Josh Hawley accuses Mark Zuckerberg’s firm of relentlessly pursuing and attempting to bankrupt her

A US senator has accused Meta of using lawfare in “efforts to destroy” a whistleblower who made allegations about the social media company’s dealings with China and its treatment of teenagers.

In a letter to its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, the Republican senator Josh Hawley demanded to know what measures Meta had taken to monitor Sarah Wynn-Williams, Facebook’s former global head of public policy, and her family.