Friday 07 August 2026 3:46 pm  |  Updated:  Friday 07 August 2026 3:47 pm

The BBC shouldn’t push Londoners to accept antisocial phone behaviour 

By: Matt Kenyon

Digital Editor

Share

Facebook Share on Facebook X Share on Twitter LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp Email Share on Email

Life is already hard enough. The public don’t need commentators telling them that playing music out loud on public transport is a kind of performance art, writes Matt Kenyon

A few years back, I was sitting on a Chiltern Rail train opposite a woman who didn’t realise her headphones weren’t properly plugged in, as her phone belted out ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille at a heroic volume. A few knowing smiles were exchanged around the carriage, before she clocked that everyone could hear the 2013 indie hit in immaculate detail, and we all had a laugh. 

This is a niche case, and the far more typical experience for London commuters is glaring, bleary eyed at someone as they play Tiktok videos out-loud on the Tube. According to a BBC London opinion piece published this week, the various loudspeaker intrusions on buses and on the tube is, in fact, an important part of the capital’s social fabric. There is even a word for this:........

© City A.M.