From GB News to Prince Harry and Brexit: Byline Times’ Biggest Stories from 2023

2023 was a big year for Byline Times. We thought we’d take some time to share some of the major inroads the paper made into exposing wrongdoing – both the egregious and the bizarre – in the UK and elsewhere.

As editor Hardeep Matharu and exec editor Peter Jukes told supporters this week, we faced off against the aggressive lawyers of deep-pocketed public figures, endured direct physical threats to our staff, and chased leads that other papers wouldn’t dare touch.

As always, our brilliant network of supporters carried us along the entire way. So thank you to everyone who read, shared, subscribed, and donated last year. You made all this happen.

We know that 2024 – a major election year both at home and abroad – will bring a whole new set of challenges and opportunities. But first, a look back at some of our biggest stories of last year.

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10. Piers Morgan’s Statement on the Prince Harry Phone Hacking Case – Annotated

In December, the High Court ruled that phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering (“UIG”) occurred throughout Piers Morgan’s editorship at Mirror Group Newspapers – and that Morgan knew about it and published articles he knew came from it.

Morgan denied hacking a phone or telling people to do so – but his statement was mercilessly torn apart by strategist Dan Harris, who worked on the case. Well worth a read.

9. BBC Chairman Donated Tens of Thousands of Pounds to Right-Wing Group Funding Criticism of BBC

Next up among 2023’s most-read hits was our investigation into then-BBC chairman Richard Sharp, a Johnson appointee who faced endless scandal during his brief time as chair. 

We found that he had given tens of thousands of pounds through his personal charity to an organisation that funds right-wing organisations in the UK – several of which back the privatisation of the BBC. 

Richard Sharp – who has donated more than £400,000 to the Conservatives – gave the money to the Institute for Policy