DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 28

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin have been at loggerheads over how to close New York City’s multibillion-dollar budget gap.

Mamdani has maintained the deep deficit can only be plugged if the state raises taxes on millionaires and large corporations. Menin has countered that the gap can be addressed by trimming municipal bloat — a proposal Mamdani panned as “unrealistic” just weeks ago.

Today brought a major deescalation: The two leaders joined forces to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to scale back a tax credit largely benefitting millionaires. Doing so would generate $1 billion in new revenue for the city, a windfall that could go a long way in helping the city balance its books, Menin and Mamdani said at a joint press conference.

“We are standing together today, we will stand together again,” Mamdani said, appearing alongside Menin in the City Hall Rotunda. “If we were to reduce this tax credit by just a quarter, as the speaker said, we would be talking about raising nearly $1 billion in additional revenue that would be critical in our city’s ability to balance this budget.”

Hochul, who’s still grappling with a state budget that’s now nearly a month late, immediately threw cold water on the new push from Mamdani and Menin, putting a dent in their unusual alliance.

“It’s not happening. We’re not changing the PTET,” Hochul told reporters in Albany later in the day, using an acronym for the Pass-Through Entity Tax credit eyed for reform by Mamdani and Menin.

In slamming the door on the proposal, Hochul is leaving Menin and Mamdani without a clear path forward on how to fill the city’s budget hole. The governor’s opposition to the tax credit push also creates an unusual new front in the negotiations on this year’s overdue state budget, with Mamdani and Menin on one side and Hochul on the other.

The fraught dynamic comes at a politically delicate time for the Buffalo-born governor, who is gearing up for a reelection bid and will need deep blue New York City if she wants to cruise to a second full term. Being at odds with Mamdani, who draws support from a fervent left-leaning base, would complicate Hochul’s political standing with many Democratic voters.

Mamdani and Menin made the joint plea for the tax credit changes in tandem while announcing they had agreed to push back the release of the mayor’s executive budget proposal until May 12, a deal first reported by POLITICO on Monday night.

The executive spending plan, which forms the basis for the final stretch of negotiations before the mayor and the Council must finalize a city budget by July 1, is technically due this Friday.

But as the state budget is now nearly a month late with its own budget, Mamdani and Menin are agreeing to delay the executive plan’s release in hopes that Albany will have its fiscal outlay in order by May 12. Without knowing how much revenue will flow to the city from the state, Mamdani and Menin both said there will be holes in the city’s spending plan that would be hard to reconcile.

Read the full story from Chris and Nick in POLITICO. 

FROM CITY HALL

SHELTER MOVES: A man died by suicide after he was abruptly moved out of a shelter as part of Mayor Mamdani’s plan to close the long-decaying Bellevue intake center on East 30th Street in Manhattan.

Mamdani announced the closure plan on March 5, kicking off a weeks-long rush to clear out two East Village shelters and convert them into intake centers for homeless men and adult families requesting beds. Mamdani said the move was a proactive measure based on expert guidance, noting the Bellevue intake center’s state of “severe disrepair.”

Advocates who work with homeless New Yorkers warned that the relocations posed serious health risks if not done in a careful and coordinated way.

Then Steven Rosa — who was moved from an East Village shelter with on-site behavioral health services to a hotel-turned-shelter in Brownsville, Brooklyn — seemingly fell through the cracks.

Rosa’s family told POLITICO his depression worsened after the move, and he started spending much of his time alone in his hotel room. He was found dead in early April.

“We are saddened by this tragic loss, and our hearts are with this individual’s family and loved ones during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for Comptroller Mark Levine’s office said in response to POLITICO’s reporting. “The deployment of care and support for vulnerable New Yorkers is extremely delicate and our office had raised concerns with the City about the effect changes may have on New Yorkers. We are seeking to better understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”

A Department of Social Services spokesperson called Rosa’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy” but said the agency cannot comment specifically on his case due to client confidentiality.

“We continue to build on our efforts to assess potential risk factors — which might not be evident based on self-reported information and case history available to the agency — while strengthening connections to healthcare for all clients,” DSS spokesperson Neha Sharma said in a statement.

The new intake sites were supposed to open on May 1, but the timeline is in flux due to pending litigation. — Maya Kaufman

HIGH STAKES: There was a woman in candy stripes on a stilt. There was Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato wearing her lucky shoes. There was Nas doing shoutouts to Resorts World during a rendition of his 1996 hit, “If I Ruled the World.”

All of this at 9:30 this morning for a ribbon cutting at New York City’s first full-fledged casino.

Resorts World is the first of three newly licensed casinos to have live table games as it begins a massive expansion of its existing gambling facility at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

Boosters hail the economic opportunity from the coming overhaul, which would add a new resort and make the casino among the largest in the world. The company has also promised $2 billion in community benefits that local leaders have high hopes for.

“I have to allude to the fact that we lost a 15-year-old, Jaden Pierre, in this community,” Borough President Donovan Richards said during his remarks at the ribbon cutting. “So these benefits are largely not just about benefits for this site, it’s about the lives that this site will save.”

Resorts World was a surprise winner of a casino license following a years-long process. Proposals from Bally’s in the Bronx and billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen also were awarded licenses in December.

Amato, who chaired a community advisory board that tested local support for the casino, began wearing a pair of shoes studded with baubles and fake diamonds during the process. She wore the same pair to the opening of the casino, which she already visits regularly.

Other speakers, like Richards and City Council Member Ty Hankerson, made a point of saying they don’t gamble, but that they want the casino to do well.

Former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who is running for lieutenant governor on Hochul’s ticket — said Resorts World first approached her about building a gaming facility at Aqueduct 15 years ago, when she was working for the NAACP. She said it took a while for the civil rights group to trust Resorts World but she now views the company as an “amazing” partner who has been held accountable to its community and its promises.

The head of Genting — Resorts World’s Malaysian parent company — came to do the ribbon cutting.

“Our planned expansion will bring a world-class integrated resort to this site, and when it is complete, New York will have something no other city in America can match,” Genting chair KT Kim said.

From closer to home, Nasir Jones, the New York rapper known as Nas, wore a tuxedo to help roll the ceremonial first dice.

Resorts World’s parent company has a history of late or overbudget projects, which even the body that recommended it received a license warned about, but it has some advantages: It’s open now, years before the two others will be. It also has pledged an enormous share of its revenue to the state.

It also outlasted other bidders, most notably a trio of developers who wanted to put casinos in Manhattan, including Caesars’ plan to have a gaming emporium in Times Square. Ironically, one of the older slot machine rooms at Resorts World is called Time Square Casino – and it’s the only one in New York for the foreseeable future. – Ry Rivard

From the Capitol

CLIMATE TANGO CONTINUES: The debate over changes to weaken New York’s 2019 climate law appears to be moving toward an end. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s latest proposal is for emissions reduction regulations by 2028 with an interim flexible target in 2040 and keeping the firm 2050 mandate.

“It is certainly better than it was,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday. “We’re trying to work on an entire package. … It is a huge push to make sure that we do not lose ground that we should not cede while we are waiting for the promulgation” of the regulations.

Stewart-Cousins said that rebates to help New Yorkers with high energy bills and proposals to accelerate solar investments were on the table as part of the discussions.

Hochul’s proposal includes the controversial accounting change long sought by the governor that would essentially require less aggressive action to reduce fossil fuel use, particularly natural gas, according to four people familiar with the agreement.

Some Democratic lawmakers remain dissatisfied with the proposal, and environmental groups like Food and Water Watch and New York Communities for Change are calling for them to vote no on any budget that includes changes to the climate law.

“I don’t really understand why we have to compromise so much when the entire environmental advocacy community is saying that’s a bad idea,” said Democratic Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. “We passed the climate law. We don’t want to roll it back so dramatically.”

Hochul on Tuesday declined to commit to providing estimates of how much her proposal would cost businesses and households. She’s raised concerns about the cost of abruptly implementing a cap-and-trade program to meet the near term 2030 deadline in the climate law.

Her push to update the law would moot that target and the lawsuit over regulations to achieve it brought by environmental advocates. Hochul originally championed “cap and invest” in 2023 but has soured on the program.

“I don’t know if there will be cap and invest,” the governor said. “If there’s cap and invest, is it capped cap and invest? Is it set at a certain number? All that is unknown right now. All I know is that to give some breathing room for New York families and business I have to have a longer runway.”

The governor’s proposal currently under discussion would specify cap and invest would be part of the regulations due in 2028, according to the people familiar with the discussions. — Marie J. French

HOOD IN THE HOOD: Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood pledged to be an active lieutenant governor if elected on Republican Bruce Blakeman’s ticket this fall.

“I’m definitely not a sit-in-the-office kind of guy,” Hood said.

There’s been a split in visions for the office in recent decades – with some candidates characterizing the role as a cheerleader for the governor, and others saying it should be an independent office. Hood falls in the former category, saying his job would be to help Blakeman succeed at lower taxes and heating costs.

The Republican was at the Capitol as part of the NY Sheriffs’ Association lobby day, where he railed against Hochul’s plan to ban 287-g cooperation agreements with ICE, saying that “cutting off communication between agencies makes everyone less safe and reverses post-9/11 progress.”

Like his ticket-mate, the sheriff took a tough-on-crime approach.

“There are tons of false allegations against police,” he said when asked about a Hochul-backed plan to let New Yorkers sue ICE agents who infringe on their rights. “That’s what I’ve seen the most of in my career, are lies.”

Hood also downplayed the uproar over the recent killings of Renee Good — saying she was using her vehicle as “a deadly instrument” — and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.

“Yeah, you’re fighting with a police officer with a loaded firearm on you and that weapon is discovered – that’s bad things,” he said of Pretti. — Bill Mahoney

RFK JR. BEWARE: The state Assembly is pushing back against federal policy changes to vaccine recommendations with a package of six bills that would strengthen the state’s laws surrounding immunization.

Lawmaker says the package of bills is aimed at countering efforts by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to roll back immunization recommendations issued by the federal government.

The package includes legislation that would allow the state Department of Health to recommend vaccine schedules for New Yorkers using longstanding medical standards and taking into consideration recommendations from the American Academy of Family Physicians, a private professional association not beholden to recommendations made at the federal level. The state previously relied on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal panel responsible for making vaccine recommendations that Kennedy attempted to overhaul in an effort to install his allies before a judge blocked the appointees.

“Vaccines are foundational to public health and have long been a trusted and effective bulwark against harmful and deadly diseases, especially for our most vulnerable populations,” Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement. “New York will stand on the side of proven science as attacks on lifesaving immunizations continue from the federal administration place our residents at risk. This legislation puts the health and well-being of New Yorkers first and ensures that these vital resources remain accessible for our communities.”

The package also includes legislation that would require college students to be immunized for Hepatitis B, a bill that would set immunization mandates for children attending summer camps and a bill that would require health insurance coverage for vaccines without cost-sharing.

An additional measure was passed that would create liability protections for health care providers administering vaccines that follow state and local guidance, a protection that could become key if providers’ actions are alleged to contradict federal guidance. — Katelyn Cordero

CAR WARS: Hochul wants to address how car insurance companies set rates for premiums — potentially a key provision that would help resolve a major sticking point in the ongoing state budget talks.

“Yes, we are looking closely at how insurance companies set their rates and what criteria they use,” Hochul told reporters Tuesday. “So there’s two sides of the equation. One is I want to make sure that some of the drivers of why we have such high insurance premiums in the state are addressed, but also the insurance companies, we’re taking a close look at their practices as well. “

POLITICO reported Monday that Hochul and state lawmakers have discussed addressing so-called flex increases that car insurance companies use to raise premiums.

Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick Reisman here. 

IN OTHER NEWS

— NEVER THE SAME: Timothy Brown, the man police beat in a Brooklyn liquor store, which went viral on social media, is suing New York City for $100 million in damages, saying he will never recover from the incident. (Gothamist)

— NEW PROTOCOLS: The New York Police Department has stalled or rejected policy changes recommended by the Department of Investigations regarding its controversial gang-database, which critics argue is used to target Black and Hispanic youth. (THE CITY)

— GETTING PERSONAL: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin will meet with Hochul to discuss New York City’s direction following a quarrel with Mamdani after the mayor announced a proposed new tax on pricey second-homes in front of the billionaire’s Manhattan penthouse. (Bloomberg)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

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London’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, may reportedly try to block the Metropolitan police from buying an AI tool from authoritarian US tech firm Palantir. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office stated that Khan had:

concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values.

Back on 22 April, the Guardian reported that Palantir was in talks with the Met police to supply AI tools for use in criminal investigations. The talks sparked concerns within the force itself over allowing the shady tech company access to sensitive data.

‘We don’t need £100m AI’

As the Canary has previously reported, other police forces have already struck contracts with Palantir. However, the Met would be by far the largest and most prominent in the UK to do so. However, this potentially multimillion-pound deal has met opposition within the force itself.

In particular, the issues relate to allowing the deeply unethical company access to highly sensitive data. This could include otherwise-confidential intelligence on criminal activities, and even victims’ personal information. Other concerns relate to the potential waste of public money, with one anonymous source stating:

We don’t need £100m AI. We would like the more basic systems we already have to work properly.

Beyond this, there are also massive issues with the use of AI for policing in general. Whilst AI decision-making is perceived as unbiased and emotionless, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, it simply obscures—and replicates—the human biases present within its training dataset.

Mayoral scrutiny

However, the potential Met-Palantir contract isn’t a done deal just yet. Let’s assume—probably quite safely—the massive ethical issue with the tech company won’t put off the Met police. Even so, the deal would still need to make it past the mayor’s office.

This is because anything the Met wants to spend more than £500,000 on has to face the scrutiny of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. A spokesperson explained that the office would consider the data security of London’s populace in its decision, along with any potential technical, financial, legal issues.

It’s here that Khan could exert his influence — particularly if he refuses to grant approval. However, the mayor’s spokesperson didn’t volunteer any details:

We can’t comment on live procurement processes. However, as a general point the mayor would have concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values.

Of course, whether Palantir is actually “contrary to London’s values” is another matter. The capital is by far the most-surveilled city in Europe, with some studies suggesting that for every 10 people, there is one CCTV camera.

Palantir – the genocidal choice

Still, we’d like to hope that Palantir is a step too far even for the UK’s panopticon-cum-capital.

The distinctly amoral tech giant has supplied AI tools to the Israeli military and Trump’s murderous anti-immigrant militia, ICE. As the Good Law Project previously reported:

Palantir has worked with US agencies accused of separating children from their parents, wrongfully detaining thousands of US citizens and forcibly sterilising women. The day after Israel was accused of genocide at the International Criminal Court, the company signed a deal with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to provide “support for war-related missions”. And Palantir’s predictive policing project in LA was cancelled in 2019 after accusations that it entrenched racism and didn’t reduce crime.

The company also boasted that AI technology doubled the pace of attacks over the opening days of the war on Iran. This sparked fears among employees that they were responsible for the US bombing of an Iranian girls school, an attack which murdered at least 175 individuals.

Almost inevitably, Palantir is also embroiled in the scandal surrounding disgraced ex-US ambassador Peter Mandelson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Global Counsel, a lobbying firm which works for Palantir, just happened to be co-owned by Mandelson.

Despite the adverse media, the tech firm still holds £600m in contracts with UK public bodies. These extend from the Ministry of Defence to law enforcement, and even to the NHS — and they’re a growing scandal for the Labour government.

For his part, Khan has previously failed London on police failures. As such, we can only hope that the Labour mayor shows a shred of moral fibre and blocks the Met’s contract with Palantir.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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Defence minister Al Carns resorted to the tired old ‘security concerns’ excuse to deny the British public basic details about our involvement in the Iran War. Carns—a former Special Forces colonel—refused to answer Your Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s question about US military bases.

Corbyn asked:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times United States aircraft taking off from Diego Garcia have conducted strikes on Iran since 28 February 2026.

Diego Garcia is a colonial military outpost in the Indian Ocean, often used by the US for Middle East operations.

Carns answered:

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is considered in terms of legality.

Corbyn asked a similar question about US use of bases in the UK, and was given the same answer.

The official UK positions is that the UK only has a defensive role in the unprovoked US and Israeli attack on  Iran. This argument barely stands up to even the most basic scrutiny, as the Canary has reported.

Decolonisation cancelled

In May 2025, the UK signed an agreement to hand Diego Garcia to Mauritius while retaining significant basing rights. That is until US president Donald Trump complained about it. The deal is currently on hold.

US outlet The Hill reported on 11 April 2026:

The agreement to transfer the islands to Mauritius, which would allow for continued use of the base, stemmed from a decades-long legal battle to address Britain’s colonial past.

Trump called the move a “great act of stupidity” in January 2026 — and ultimately the British said they were:

permanently abandoning the agreement with Mauritius, stating that it cannot go forward with the transfer without U.S. support.

The Hill reported:

But the government noted that ensuring the Diego Garcia base’s “long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority –– it is the entire reason for the deal,” according to an official statement.

“We are continuing to engage with the U.S. and Mauritius,” the British government stated.

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US-Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

The US has achieved none of its original war aims. Iran predictably closed the Straits of Hormuz, a vital oil channel, once attacked – creating a global energy crisis. Far from being defeated, Iran has said the war will continue until:

the enemy’s inevitable and permanent humiliation, disgrace, regret, and surrender.

Trump came to power on an anti-war ‘America First’ ticket but now faces spectacular humiliation.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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I’m pretty sure the Huckleberry Finn guy once said that politicians and nappies should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons. And folks, never has this been more painfully obvious than with Keir Starmer.

May I remind you, the man was elected on a platform of change — bold, principled, transformative change. Instead, we’ve got the same old rotten stench wafting from Downing Street: broken pledges on nationalising energy, U-turns on workers’ rights, grovelling to billionaires while the poor queue at food banks, and a foreign policy that makes Tony Blair look like a fucking pacifist.

Dirty diapers

We were promised a sunrise. We were promised “change.” We were promised a government that would finally put working people first after fourteen years of Tory chaos. Instead, what we got was a fresh budget-brand nappy slapped on the same old backside — and within months, it was already full, leaking from the sides, and making the entire country hold its nose.

This isn’t leadership. This is political incontinence on an epic scale.

You wouldn’t leave a dirty nappy on a baby for five years hoping it magically sorts itself out, would you? Yet here we are, expected to tolerate Starmer’s rotting government as it spreads its rash of disappointment across the country.

Are you supposed to sit politely while this government marinates in its own broken pledges for another three years because the Labour Party hasn’t got the guts to get rid of Keir Starmer?

The Labour Party must face the mirror — preferably whilst holding its breath. No amount of slick relaunches, bodged reshuffles or relentless spin will scrub away the fundamental betrayal of the hopes invested in 2024.

Keir Starmer is taking them down with him whether they, who refuse to act, like it or not.

Pressure must build – not for cosmetic change, but for a fundamental shift in Labour direction and a leadership that is prepared to deliver one.

Starmer: enough, already

Keir Starmer is a dead man walking in political terms. His wooden delivery, his endless “context matters” deflections, his instinct to placate the establishment while punishing the left – these are not quirks. They are the symptoms of a politics that has hollowed itself out.

The only question left is how many more months — or weeks — this embarrassing, principle-free spectacle can stagger on before the Labour movement finally does what any decent parent would do: rip off the soiled mess, bin it, and start again with something clean.

The country can smell it from coast to coast. The left is actively retching. Time is running out, and history will judge those who sat in the stench while pretending it smelled of oh-so-sweet progress with exactly the contempt it deserves.

Keir Starmer didn’t just change the Labour Party — he changed sides. From pledging to scrap cruel Tory benefit rules to defending them, from bold green promises to fossil fuel dependency and fiscal caution that starves public services.

This is a government for the suited professionals, not the people who change actual nappies at 3am after a 12 hour shift for crap wages. Starmer’s Labour talks of working people while governing like the Oxbridge establishment it once railed against from the left.

The time has come to take that old nappy wisdom seriously.

Change the nappy, now

Keir Starmer and his inner circle have had their chance. They’ve soaked up the inheritance of Tory failure only to add layers of their own compromises, scandals, and treachery.

The Mandelson scandal — complete with overruled vetting, parliamentary denials, and desperate sackings — stands as the final, foul proof that this is not Labour reborn, but the old Blairite corpse reeking under a fresh coat of paint.

I must admit, I didn’t plan to write about nappies and corpses today, but we are being stiffed by a government that is so utterly full of shit it makes a backed-up sewer look like a perfume counter.

The deeper tragedy here, at least for ordinary people like us, is that Starmer’s survival so far stems from the absence of an obvious successor ready to take Labour back to its natural home on the left.

Starmer’s brand of hollow centrism isn’t just disappointing, it’s actively toxic. If he doesn’t go voluntarily or get pushed after the looming Green-inspired local election drubbing, the Labour Party will complete its journey down the path of no return.

I cannot see Keir Starmer clinging on for much longer without accelerating the very decline he’s overseeing.

All that is left to wonder is whether enough Labour MPs — who are facing a brutal anti-Starmer backlash at the next general election — can find the spine that so often escapes their leader, and ruthlessly flush away the toxic stench of Number 10, Downing Street.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachael Swindon

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The Resolution Foundation has continued its descent into a cronyist benefit-cutting architect for the ableist Labour government. The supposedly progressive think tank the Canary previously revealed spearheaded the recent Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) welfare cuts, is now calling for a conditionality regime for young disabled claimants.

It comes as a DWP minister has hinted at further forthcoming “reforms” to coerce young disabled people into work.

Resolution Foundation: DWP health benefits to blame for youth unemployment

A new DWP-related report the think tank published Tuesday 28 April claims to investigate the causes behind the UK’s rising rates of young people “not in education, employment, or training”. Specifically, the publication states that it examines:

why the UK’s NEET rate has been rising since 2019, and why it has long been higher than in many other countries.

The think tank cautioned against attributing the rise to a lack of job opportunities for young people, stating:

On the face of it, a lack of jobs availability is not the explanation, since current rates of youth unemployment are not especially elevated relative to unemployment in the wider population.

It seemed to miss the fact there are regularly less than 10 remote, part-time, ‘Disability Confident’ roles available on the government’s own jobs website.

Throughout the report, the think tank compares the situation for so-called NEETs in the UK to other OECD countries.

And for a think tank that proclaims – in the report no less – its dedication to “lifting living standards”, it’s curious that it omitted any mention of the very different living standards for young people across the OECD.

Funny then that the same Resolution Foundation previously found that housing in the UK costs 44% higher than the OECD average. It also highlighted how families in the Netherlands are 39% better off and 21% better off in Germany. Irrelevant systemic background noise, if you read its latest report.

It also pointed to a number of “disadvantages” that act as barriers to work. For instance, this included a lack of GCSE qualifications, disability, and no family support. However, it failed to explore broader structural barriers – racism, ableism, and classism – stopping young people accessing work.

In step with the corporate capitalist Labour government

Instead, the Resolution Foundation offered two main causes for the numbers of so-called NEETs.

The first revolves around low levels of “education participation” for over 16s in “vocational education”. By that, it seems to broadly mean traineeships and apprenticeships, and any work experience-focused education outside university.

Of course, the conclusion aligns nicely for the government busy shunting young people into low-paying McJobs. That’s naturally all while subsidising wealthy corporations to do it through various DWP-related youth employment schemes.

It also makes no mention of the government’s continued abysmal failures around SEND provision. That would be  an obvious factor impacting the accessibility of further education.

However, the think tank’s second conclusion disgustingly opened the door to vilifying young disabled people even further.

Calling for DWP benefit conditionality for young people

Notably, the report argued that the “large gap” between Universal Credit’s standard allowance and its limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) component:

created a strong incentive to claim incapacity benefits on top of the standard allowance.

It also stated that:

This was a key reason why the Government acted last year to cut the UCH element for claimants from April 2026 from £99 to £50 per week, alongside a commitment to above-inflation increases to the standard allowance until 2029-30.

This was of course the same health element the think tank had suggested the DWP should slash in half. And that’s precisely what the government did this April (2026) – all thanks to the Resolution Foundation.

Now, the shameless think tank has said that under 25s claiming the DWP health element should have “tailored work requirements”. In other words, it wants the DWP to introduce a punitive conditionality regime for young disabled people. This will of course be young disabled claimants it has literally assessed as too sick to work.

Because if you’re young and disabled, you should just ‘pull up those bootstraps’ and ‘overcome’ your debilitating health condition.

It also seemed to suggest the government doesn’t need to worry about improving young people’s health to solve the so-called NEET ‘crisis’.

It said:

the cross country data shows that poor health can be consistent with high participation levels, so even if we cannot improve the health of young people in the UK, it should be possible to achieve progress on the UK’s NEET problem with action elsewhere.

In short, other countries have forced chronically ill and disabled young people into work – so the UK can too, via the DWP! The think tank obviously makes no acknowledgement that coercing young disabled people into employment could actually worsen their health.

Laying the groundwork for Labour’s next attack on disabled people

The Resolution Foundation published its report just a day after DWP disability minister Stephen Timms refused to rule out plans to stop the health element for under 22s.

He told parliament that:

Alan Milburn’s review on this will report in September, looking at the NEET problem more broadly, and we are going to wait until then for deciding whether to delay until age 22 access to the Universal Credit health element. If we did decide to do that, there would need to be exceptions.

He also said that:

We think better support might help young people more than extra cash.

The Resolution Foundation’s report did come out against the plan to restrict LCWRA. However, Timms’ answer also highlighted how the think tank’s conditionality proposal could sneak its way into future plans.

It’s highly likely that the Resolution Foundation will be feeding into the Milburn review.

And the think tank has already cemented its servile role in laying the groundwork for this Labour government’s callous benefit cut agenda. As the Canary has repeatedly pointed out, now DWP minister and neoliberal Labour darling Torsten Bell(end) did head the organisation right up until his run for parliament.

So nobody should be surprised if the think tank’s DWP conditionality proposal for under 25s shows up in some form in the Milburn review’s recommendations.

It’s now abundantly clear that disabled people can no longer trust the Resolution Foundation to have their backs when it comes to the DWP.

Featured image via the Canary

By Hannah Sharland

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The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia has secretly amassed a vast multimillion-dollar property portfolio in Dubai, recently exposed by the investigative outlet Sentry.

The genocidal RSF is backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a UK ally and major arms customer, and has carried out a litany of unforgivable atrocities in Sudan.

US investigative outlet Sentry reported details of the multi-million portfolio, owned and enjoyed by RSF chiefs and aligned individuals:

A network of family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leadership of Sudan’s brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia owns a $24 million real estate portfolio in Dubai consisting of over 20 properties.

Sentry said:

These properties shed further light on the RSF’s relationship with the UAE. While the UAE adamantly denies supporting the RSF, this investigation is the fourth alert by The Sentry that reveals the intricate connections between the Dagalo family, the RSF, and the UAE.

The Dagalo family includes RSF commander Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo Musa, known as Hemedti, and his brothers.

A sorely underreported war

As the Canary has previously reported, the UAE has been a major backer of RSF in its war with the Sudanese government. Turkey, Egypt, Israel and many more countries are pursuing their own interests in Sudan too. British military components has also shown up on the battlefield in RSF hands. The UK is a major arms supplier to UAE.

As the Canary has said in our previous coverage of this poorly understood genocidal conflict:

The war in Sudan is theoretically between the Arab supremacist RSF and the Sudanese government. But foreign states pursuing their own interests are backing the combatants. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, backs the RSF with arms and equipment. Egypt backs the government, alongside Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Israel has backed both sides at different times.

The mounting death toll is mind boggling:

RSF has killed Sudanese civilians in vast numbers. And some estimates say 150,000 people have died and over 10mn have been displaced by fighting.

You can read more of our reporting on RSF and Sudan here.

Thousands held in RSF detention camps

Al Jazeera reported on 27 April that thousands of civilian are trapped in RSF detention camps. The NGO Sudan Doctors Network claimed:

RSF is reportedly committing “severe violations” inside the detention centres in el-Fasher, “including killings during torture and interrogation, as well as ethnically motivated killings”.

The group reports that 370 women and 426 children are among those held in facilities including Shalla Prison, a children’s hospital, and cargo containers.

A recent UK media report singled out the UK for having abandoned Sudanese civilians, leaving them to fate to “avoid pissing off the Emiratis [UAE].”

The authors warned this wasn’t just a matter of generalised humanitarian failure. The UK – and US – were key players in the eventual massacre:

To frame El Fasher within the timeworn narrative of collective international failure avoids the darker truth.

Decisions were taken that ensured help never came. Both the US and UK suppressed or sidelined warnings that would have helped avoid the slaughter.

And they said that when it comes to it, the British government will have few excuses:

Central to the UK’s approach was the Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (Jacs), conceived to assess whether genocide was likely and, if so, intervene suitably.

The UK’s own intelligence, sources confirm, said the RSF wanted to “eliminate” the city’s non-Arab population.

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Sudan has not drawn the same intense media coverage that other conflicts have. This may be why the UK has escaped the level of criticism over Sudan that it has attracted over its complicity in the Gaza genocide.

The fact remains that the UK’s involvement is a shameful, born of indifference, politicking, and an enduring colonial attitude to Sudanese lives.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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The former North of Tyne metro mayor, Jamie Driscoll has said that the Green Party will ensure society is inclusive for disabled people. However, it remains to be seen after the Green Party rally in Newcastle yesterday.

Speaking exclusively to the Canary, Driscoll, who is currently standing as a Green Party councillor in Newcastle, said:

People have had all sorts of promises from politicians that they don’t believe. When it comes to disabled people, it is about a social interpretation of disability, not this idea that disabled people are somehow separate. Society should work for everybody and be inclusive for disabled people.

Asked specifically what the Greens would do about the benefits system, Driscoll said:

In local elections, of course, you don’t have any control over the welfare system, but nationally, we need to be moving towards a universal basic income anyway, and you know what that puts everyone on an even footing.

Speaking of local elections, the Canary asked Driscoll what the Green Party would do locally for disabled people:

It’s largely about inclusivity, and it can be tiny, little things like drop curbs. But nobody thinks to ask, or if they do, it’s tucked away on a website somewhere, but then you’ve got digital exclusion where people can’t access it, or you don’t have the disability friendly version for partially sighted people or neurodivergent people.

With all these things, what it actually comes down to ‘nothing about us, without us’ and it’s inclusivity that makes a difference.

Polanski brings hope to Newcastle — not for the disabled community

Driscoll welcomed Green Party leader Zack Polanski to Newcastle to launch the Greens’ new ‘boost for buses’ policy. Under the plans to renationalise buses, Green councillors would scrap bus fares for anyone 22 years and under.

However, what was noticeably missing from this conversation were disabled people. Buses are notoriously inaccessible, and yet bus accessibility didn’t come into it at all. There was also no mention of extending disabled bus passes so they could be used all day, something Labour and the Conservatives voted against.

The Canary asked Driscoll specifically what the party would do to help disabled people get buses:

It’s a question of how much of the public transport is actually accessible for people with different kinds of disabilities…. Again, it comes back to putting people with lived experience at the centre of design.

Polanski also spoke at a rally in Newcastle later that afternoon. He highlighted the importance of centring local issues in these elections, and not whether Starmer will be out soon. However, he said:

Losing council seats in places like Newcastle sends a very clear message to the entire country that after 14 years of conservative austerity, when people voted labour because they wanted or expected something different, what they’ve received is just more of the same. In fact things have arguably got worse.

And so when people vote green in record numbers in 10 days time that shows very clearly that the Green Party are here to replace Labour and stop Reform in their tracks

He also spoke about Labour MPs defending the right to be pissed and go vote and took a stab at Ed Balls’ ‘journalism.’ But what was noticeably missing from Polanski’s speech about standing up for minorities was disabled people.

Disabled people need action, not just words

After the event, the Canary spoke to Green Party member and disabled activist Lee, who wasn’t convinced

It was that whole message of hope, but we need more than just hope. Zack spoke about the plan, but in terms of me, my community, my future, what is that plan? We’ve heard a lot from Zack and some members of the Green Party using the slogans of ‘Nothing about us, without us’ but what does that mean in reality? Because as of yet, I’m still waiting to see disabled voices pushed to the fore.

Lee, involved in Crips Against Cuts North East actions against last summer’s PIP cuts, continued:

I feel slightly let down. I’m hearing the right things, I’m seeing the right things, but none of that’s turned into action. And that’s kind of why I’m involved with the Green Party now, because we’ve got to start making sure our voices are raised, pushed to the front. Because I’m sick and tired of being forced into the background, especially with the rhetoric that’s being pushed from the likes of Labour and Nigel Farage, who are demonising people who are on welfare and scapegoating us for the issues that this country faces.

Lee finished by saying:

We need to be holding these politicians to account, and the only way we can do that is if disabled people are at the front doing it.

Possibly the most symbolic part of the day was a disabled member of the party, who usually uses a wheelchair, having to use crutches because the stage she was due to speak on didn’t have a ramp.

While the Green Party is saying all the right things — these words still haven’t turned into action for disabled people. For a group who have been so let down by politicians, it’s going to take more than them saying ‘nothing about us without us’. In fact, they need to actually prove it.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey

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The Democratic Republic of Congo has created a new paramilitary “mining guard” funded by $100 million from partnerships with the US and the UAE to secure its mining sites and mineral supply chains.

The DRC produces nearly 70% of the world’s cobalt and substantial shares of global copper and coltan. These minerals are essential for everything from electric vehicles to advanced weapons systems.

The Financial Times, Reuters and Bloomberg all reported on the initiative. They cited the General Inspectorate of Mines (IGM) as the primary source for the creation of the unit, its $100 million budget, and its planned expansion to 20,000 personnel by 2028.

The force will secure production, ensure traceable transport of minerals and replace “defense forces currently deployed in mining zones”, according to the statement.

The announcement was met with disdain on social media with heavy criticism for the US and the UAE.

Translation: Israel, the US and the UAE tighten their grip on the DRC https://t.co/8kXX0EFTZu

— Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) April 28, 2026

Journalist Carolyn Hinds said:

This means the Congolese men, women, and children being made to work in the mineral mines controlled by the same people funding the genocide in Sudan.

They’ll be held at gun point to mine materials to operate the AI datacenters, the Meta spy glasses, electric vehicles, vapes etc. https://t.co/ueNKbc7jG5

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— Carolyn Hinds #FreePalestine #CongoInCrisis (@CarrieCnh12) April 27, 2026

The UAE has been a major backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its war with the Sudanese government. Other US allies — Turkey, Egypt, Israel — and many more countries are pursuing their own interests in Sudan too. British military components have also shown up on the battlefield in RSF hands. The UK is a major arms supplier to the UAE.

US eyes making money

Trump has been explicit that the aim of the so-called “peace deal” he brokered between the DRC and Rwanda last year.

Speaking in December, he said:

We’ll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries…

And we’re going to take out some of the rare earth, take out some of the assets and pay. Everybody is going to make a lot of money.

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He later announced:

Today, the United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals and provide economic benefits for everybody.

The peace deal he brokered was just an American corporate heist of the DRC with assistance from Rwanda.

The gall to call it a “peace deal” when the US has actively destabilised Congo for decades is extraordinary.

A new book called Rwanda’s 30-Year Assault on Congo documents how the US has enabled Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, to wage a generation-long war of conquest on the DRC.

Black Agenda Report, in its review of the book, quotes the author Judi Rever, saying:

The truth is that the violent exploitation of Congo has been an economic engine for the developed world. For decades, international companies have engaged in illicit yet institutionally sanctioned trade of Congolese minerals that have been laundered by Rwanda, a country that faces no violent conflict inside its borders, where the roads are nicely paved and supply chain logistics are efficient.

The US’ corrupt ways under the guise of the “peace deal” have already been exposed.

As Reuters reported just last week, a US firm central to the administration’s minerals push overstated its mining experience.

Virtus, an American firm, claimed on its website to run a plant in Likasi, DRC, that hasn’t operated since 2012 and never belonged to it. Reuters added that the US State Department said it “fully supports” Virtus Minerals’ efforts to acquire and develop the assets. This is despite Reuters flagging Virtus’ inconsistent reporting of its experience.

Virtus is led by Braun, a US Army Green Beret veteran, and Andrew Powch, a former US Navy officer, who didn’t respond to Reuters for comment.

The only interests the US is interested in guarding are those of American corporations. The heist the US is running on the DRC is as clear as day.

Featured image via Getty Images/ Junior Kannah/ AFP 

By Nandita Lal

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German Chancellor Merz said that Washington appeared to lack a clear military strategy in Iran. He also questioned the possible ‘exit’ scenarios for the Trump administration. During a public visit in his home town region of Sauerland, Merz said:

The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either.

Back in March the chancellor delivered a soft rebuke of similar nature, warning that:

We [in reference to European leaders] should not let the region slide into a perpetual war with unclear objectives.

This time around, Germany’s remarkably unpopular chancellor — who previously endorsed Trump — has delivered a clear rejection of Trump for allowing the US to be ‘humiliated’ by Iran. If memory serves us, Merz was the first European leader to have met with Trump in Washington. This meeting happened after initial strikes against Iran were ordered on 3 March.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says Iran has appeared more resilient than the US expected and warned that the conflict is escalating without a clear exit strategy. He said an “entire nation” has been humiliated by Tehran. pic.twitter.com/trbPOON55Q

— DW News (@dwnews) April 27, 2026

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Merz famously said of last year’s illegal US-Israeli attacks on Iran that “Israel is doing the dirty work for us all.”

Although Merz was wary of the rising oil prices, he sat by as Trump criticised Spain at the White House meeting.

Merz had said at the White House, expressing hope for a “new government” in Iran. Trump, in turn, said Germany had been “helpful.”

Adding that:

That’s the reason [oil prices] why we all hope that this war will come to an end as soon as possible, and we are hoping that the Israeli and the American armies are doing the right things to bring this to an end.

Merz had hitched his wagon to Trump — securely.

Now that the war isn’t going as expected and Iran has shown its resilience, Merz is berating Trump for the same strategy he once endorsed.

Arnaud Bertrand asks a good question: If the Americans are as strategically stupid as Merz is saying, why doesn’t Germany and other European leaders insist on tying their future to them?

The bigger question here (pic.twitter.com/FNQtooyCWX) is if the Americans are as strategically stupid as Merz is saying, why do Germany and the rest of the European leadership insist on tying their future to them?

Where is Germany or Europe’s independent strategy on Iran?…

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— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) April 28, 2026

Merz, Starmer, and Macron could learn a thing or two from Spain. Notably, Spain has refused to let the US wage attacks on Iran from its airspace and bases. These European leaders have instead stood by as the conflict escalated.

Now, with inflation rising and war-induced shortages looming from a war Merz rubber stamped, the chancellor is adopting a hard line against Trump — whom he appears to be blaming.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

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The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has submitted its recommendations for sanctions against sixty-two Israeli parliamentarians and lawmakers. It’s because of their responsibility for passing and adopting the death penalty bill. The ICJP has sent its list to the foreign secretary.

Pursuant to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, the recommendation proposes that the individuals named are responsible for or engaging in serious violations of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, most notably the right to life, and the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. They should therefore be sanctioned in accordance with the current UK legislation.

The new penal law which exclusively and purposefully targets Palestinians, marks an extreme escalation in Israel’s genocidal policies against Palestinians and consolidates Israel’s apartheid judicial system, embedding racist discrimination against Palestinians into law and once again allowing Israel to violate international norms.

ICJP proposals

If the Foreign Office adopted ICJP’s sanctions recommendations, it would send a clear message to the Israeli government that the UK will not tolerate Israel’s apartheid regime and systematic discrimination of Palestinians within its legal system.

In doing so, the government would be sending a strong message that lawmakers using the law to veil illegal practices and crimes committed against a protected population including the accelerated practice of killing Palestinians, will not be tolerated.

By adopting such sanctions, the UK would be affirming its strong condemnation of Israel’s use of the death penalty against Palestinians and ensuring its commitment to the UK’s obligations under international law, particularly positive obligations towards preventing practices amounting to torture or cruel treatment.

The submission argues that the UK government should take a leading stance and sanction the proposed individuals to set a precedent in tackling grave violations of human rights. The government should not wait for evidence of the application of the death penalty bill, but should take a preventative measure towards attempting to pressure the Israeli government into repealing this law.

The expressions of concern from many Western governments since the passing of the death penalty bill is a futile response and remains, at best, perfunctory. An urgent and comprehensive sanctions package is needed to combat the growing discrimination and violation of the right to life for Palestinians by Israel.

The UK must make clear its opposition to Israel’s intentional and targeted killing of Palestinians, and its explicit apartheid legal system, that is further compounded by this death penalty law.

Órlaith Roe, ICJP’s public affairs and communications officer, said:

In apartheid South Africa, 95% of people sentenced to death were Black. Thanks to this law, in apartheid Israel, 100% of people who will be sentenced to death will be Palestinians.

Our recommendations for sanctions to the Foreign Office are crucial for the UK government to adopt if it wants to stand on the side of human rights, international norms, and equality before the law, as these are the priorities the UK government claims to care for.

The UK has both the responsibility and the leverage to act – sanctions can still serve as a preventative tool, applying real pressure before irreversible harm is done. The cost of inaction will, once again, be measured in Palestinian lives.

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By The Canary

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