An online petition is circulating. They want to cancel me for my journalism... and cancel GB News too - Bev Turner

This is story about the weird world of online petitions and the way in which this binary perspective of left versus right no longer makes any sense and, in fact, is stopping us working towards a better country.

You might have heard of 38 Degrees. Their motto is people, power, change.

It's a concept with which I totally agree, and it's time that the politicians remember that they work for us, not the other way round.

And, in fact, have signed many of the petitions that pop into my inbox from 38 Degrees.

Let me give you an example or two, which will, I promise you, bring us on to why it was so disappointing to find that I was the subject of one of their petitions.

"Beverley," says the email, "You're one of over 164,000 people who've already signed the petition to reject plans for a mandatory digital ID.

"If these proposals go ahead, we could soon need a digital pass or Brit card," they say, "just to go about our daily lives to access services, prove our identity and simply be trusted.

"This is a dangerous step and it must be stopped."

Yes indeed. I totally agree. I signed it - although to be honest, the official petition has nearly three million signatures, so don't feel too chuffed with yourself, 38 Degrees.

"Here's another. It's outrageous, Beverley," they begin - and it's that personal touch of your name that wins you over, isn't it, on these emails?

"While our NHS cracks at the seams, Britain's richest pharmaceutical companies are quietly receiving billions in tax breaks, money that could go towards hospitals, nurses and care for our loved ones." I couldn't agree more.

"A scandalous new investigation," they say, "just revealed that one company alone, GlaxoSmithKline, cut its tax bill by £3.4billion, the cost of five new hospitals."

I'm not sure that's strictly true, but it is a ton of money via a "government scheme," they say, "meant to boost innovation and protect jobs whilst cutting UK jobs and moving manufacturing abroad."

They go on...

"It's going to take all of us kicking up a huge fuss to get this onto their radar. So Beverley, will you sign the new petition today calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the big pharma tax breaks?

"It'll just take 30 seconds. But if we hit 100,000, we'll splash this across the news," they said.

Then, if you don't fall for such persuasion and you don't sign their petition, which I did, incidentally, they want to know why. It's concern, you see, not massive data harvesting to generate profit, of course.

They sign it off. "Thanks for all that you do. Olivia. Alicia, Matt and the 38 Degrees team."

You're very welcome, Olivia. Alicia and Matt. I do what I can to help.

There have been other petitions that I've signed. Hospital parking charges, the dodgy role of Trump tech bro, Peter Thiel getting his digital claws into the NHS.

The Government letting Thames Water off the hook. I am with you, Olivia, Alicia and Matt on all of these issues and more.

So imagine my surprise when I received this in my inbox just a couple of weeks ago.

"Dear Beverley. Did you see GB News interview with President Trump?"

Oh yes, I did see it. It was actually me!

"It was a sickening love-in where Trump was given free rein to peddle lies about the climate change and crime in London, call London Mayor Sadiq Khan a nasty person, rant about the BBC and describe immigrants as scum, and the GB News 'journalist' didn't challenge a word.

"That is just not good enough," say 38 Degrees.

Now, if this was written by my boss, fair dos, I'd take it on the chin.

But what an extraordinary mindset to take the time to watch, critique and then start a petition about an interview on the telly that you didn't like! They go on.

"GB News legally has to ensure it is impartial and doesn't spread false information. It utterly failed. The latest in a long list of times it has corrupted the news, as well as the content that many people see on social media."

Actually, Olivia, Alicia and Matt, that's not strictly true. Yes, our shows as a whole must display a pictured balance of events due to Ofcom regulations, and that is a responsibility we take very seriously.

But if you'd watch the broadcast of the Trump interview, you would have seen how hard we worked that night to book commentators very last minute with opinions opposite to the President, in order to provide that very balance.

Some of them were painful to watch, and they rather got in the way of the programme.

Nevertheless, it was the right thing to do. But 38 Degrees go on. They say: "Media regulator Ofcom could choose to investigate GB News for this, and ensuring that they stop spreading such biased news in the future.

"But Ofcom, they say, is notoriously toothless and rarely investigates, well, anything."

So hang on a minute, 38 Degrees. You want the public to report me and GB News for an organisation you don't actually rate or respect anyway?

Well, that makes perfect sense. In other words, you're just happy causing division and whipping up hate.

And this is where they ramp up the manipulation techniques. They say: "It's going to take a huge show of public outrage to get them to act.

"If enough of us come together today, we could make that happen."

"So Beverly," they say, talking to the person who did the interview, "can you sign the petition demanding that Ofcom investigate GB News over its awful Trump interview?"

Funnily enough, I didn't sign this one.

Instead, when they asked me why I had not typed in the box and signed it, I said because I am blooming Bev Turner and this petition is about me and you're all clearly mad.

They finished their email with "GB News, and their pandering to Trump could not come at a more important time. Why? GB News had just expanded into the US.

"You can bet Trump will be hoping this move will help polish up his UK image. We need to act now to stop that happening."

For a start, he's the President of America and I'm not sure that he's particularly preoccupied with his image in the UK and if he wanted it polishing to get people to like him, he wouldn't be bothered about annihilating the London mayor, who is in his third term in office.

In Britain in 2025, polishing political image does not come from being counter-narrative on everything from renewable energy to immigration and advocating for free speech.

They sign off.

"Thanks for being involved."

You're welcome. It was a very good interview, I thought.

"Together," they say, "we can stop GB News, toxifying our media landscape."

What they mean is we, whoever these money grabbers really are, have decided from our lofty perch that you, the GB News viewers, do not know your own minds.

You shouldn't enjoy watching that channel. You should be watching. I don't know the BBC perhaps, or just sitting at home signing petitions instead of actually doing something to help the community.

I thought that the petition had probably gone away. And then today I got another email from them.

"Beverley, we have just two days left to send our giant complaint to Ofcom, demanding they investigate GB News over their outrageous interview with Donald Trump.

"This isn't just about calling out bias. This is about making sure broadcasters can't air unchallenged lies and false information ever again.

"With the deadline looming, we need to move fast and get as many of us behind this as we can, piling on the pressure for Ofcom to investigate Bev Turner and GB News."

And as if you're watching a shopping channel, they ramp up the sales technique.

"After Thursday, our chance will be gone. Add your name now to make sure it's included in our complaints, and Ofcom knows just how many of us demand that they investigate GB News.

Bad news though, 38 Degrees, because GB News now has officially more viewers every day than Sky and the BBC News. Some shows have more than both channels combined.

As an organisation that says it believes in freedom so much that it hates digital ID. How can you want to take away the freedom of people to watch what they want to watch?

You don't have to watch us. You can turn us off. Just go away. We'll be fine without you, because people have powered change and they've decided that they love GB News. They like President Trump.

They quite like me, so jog on.

The irony is that so many of the topics at 38 Degrees support Trump would also be on board with.Maybe you just have a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, which stops you listening to the issues.

Or maybe 38 Degrees are just picking whatever topic they think will get the clicks and make them the money.Because at the end of every email you get this beseeching message."

This year, we budgeted for support from our large funders to keep our work sustainable. But global instability has made it so much harder to get that funding."

Maybe you're just rubbish?

"That's left a real gap, one we need to close with regular support from generous people like you. Beverly, if you don't already do so, will you start a monthly gift today?"

You'll give us the stability to plan ahead, hire dedicated staff, upgrade our activist tech, and keep campaigning for a better country in 2026 and beyond."

Well, funnily enough, that will be a hard no. But if you want to get involved with 38 Degrees, don't let me stop you.

They send a survey out to each day to see what's on your mind right now.

They want to know what issues you think they should be focusing on, and what are your hopes they say, for the country's future.

So feel free to tell them.