Politics
Andy Burnham is just Starmer in northern drag
Are there two other words that better capture just how lost the Labour Party is than ‘Andy Burnham’?
Yes, that Andy Burnham – the long-lashed, Blair-era frontbencher who crashed and burned in two successive Labour leadership contests (in 2010 and 2015), before decamping from parliament to become mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. At the time, he described life in Westminster as ‘poisonous’ and a ‘living nightmare’.
As incredible as it may seem, a party that once roundly rejected Burnham as its leader is now touting him as Britain’s next prime minister. Inside the Labour Party and among its media sympathisers, this hitherto unremarkable career politician is being presented as the answer to their party’s and the nation’s woes. It doesn’t even matter that he is not actually an MP at the moment. With the Parliamentary Labour Party finally set to evict Keir Starmer from his Downing Street squat, Burnham remains the clear favourite to replace him. As one Labour MP told the Guardian last month, ‘It’s Andy or bust – nothing else works’.
The ambitious Burnham clearly agrees. While he spent much of last autumn publicly flirting with the possibility of launching a leadership challenge – something Starmer himself tried to prevent when he and his supporters on Labour’s National Executive Committee effectively blocked Burnham from standing in February’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
That seems to have only stalled rather than floored Burnham. According to reports, he has been quietly preparing some sort of manifesto, and has identified several possible seats in Greater Manchester and Merseyside where a possible by-election could allow him a route back to parliament.
The Labourite calls for the so-called King of the North to head south have only intensified since Labour’s disastrous showing in Thursday’s local elections. Indeed, just hours after Starmer delivered his AI-generated ‘reset’ speech on Monday, former deputy PM Angela Rayner was busy backing Burnham, telling the Communications Workers Union that her north-west comrade should be allowed to stand as an MP.
It’s desperate stuff. Burnham may well be more likeable than his rivals for Starmer’s crown, from the smarmy, Mandelson-lite charms of Wes Streeting to the achingly self-righteous gobster Rayner herself. But what, beyond the vibes, does Burnham offer?
This is not a fresh-face, fresh-ideas candidate. The 56-year-old, Aintree-born Burnham is very much a product of the New Labour years. Having started working as a researcher for the Labour Party not long after graduating from Cambridge, he became MP for Leigh in 2001, aged just 31. He then rose from a junior health minister in 2005, via the Treasury, to become secretary of state for culture, media and sport in 2008. While he now poses to some extent as a political outsider, ostentatiously playing on his northern roots, he was the very embodiment of the professional political class – a character forged in the lifeless, technocratic New Labour machine. He was managerialist in ethos, gently ‘progressive’ in posture and bled a centrist pink.
He put his name forward for the Labour leadership in 2010, but scored a meagre eight per cent of the vote in the first round and was promptly eliminated in the second. He tried again in 2015, but amid criticism from the unions for his New Labour-ish trappings, he was easily outflanked by the then the insurgent middle-class left and its poster-OAP, Jeremy Corbyn.
That was Burnham then. And there’s little that’s different about Burnham now. Yes, he was re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor with a healthy 63 per cent of the vote in 2024. Polls suggest his personal approval ratings are higher than Labour’s other contenders. But what about the substance?
As mayor, he has, to his credit, taken parts of Manchester’s bus network back under local control, keeping ticket prices low, and has made a decent fist of tackling homelessness. But there’s not much more to Burnham. Politically, he is associated with a left-of-centre, Corbyn-lite Labour faction called, tellingly enough, Mainstream, which seems to be advocating little more than tax-and-spend wealth redistribution. He’s woke-adjacent when it suits, and wouldn’t resist the culture-warring tendencies of the political and cultural establishment. There is nothing to indicate that this soft-technocrat, shot through with the prejudices and worldview of a political class now in its twilight years, is capable of rising to the profound challenges we as a nation and a society face today.
The productivity crisis that has crippled the economy since the 2008 financial crash is deepening. Over 20 per cent (or 9.12million) of people aged 16 to 64 are economically inactive. Wages and living standards continue to fall. A well-founded sense of decline, hopelessness and real peril now haunts the lives of millions of people.
Meanwhile, the public realm continues to degrade. Infrastructure, be it energy or transport, is dilapidated and expensive. Housing is in painfully short supply. Deeper still, the social contract is being torn apart by high levels of immigration, multicultural ideology, and a British state that reveals its incapacity on a daily basis.
So what are Burnham’s answers? A slow-motion effort to rejoin the EU, some sort of wealth tax, a vague plan to re-nationalise some public utilities and to expand the welfare state. And of course, a staunch commitment to Net Zero. This, in practice, is no different to what we’ve got in power at the moment. A technocratic state, happy to immiserate many in the name of climate change, and willing to decommission vast swathes of the working class under the guise of welfare. All the while, Britain will cleave ever closer to the dysfunctional, anti-democratic EU in a marriage of unhappy, unblissful decline.
This is Starmer’s government in northern drag, the same hopeless managerialist band, but with a more genial frontman. His soft ‘progressive’ poses and his welfarist gestures may well warm the cockles of Labour’s public-sector and middle-class support base, keen as they are to reassure themselves that they’re the Good People. It may even entice back some of the affluent progressives currently expressing their ‘virtue’ by voting Green. But it will do nothing to improve the lives or address the demands of millions of working-class Brits who want more control over their lives and communities, and who voted for Brexit, and now largely back Reform UK.
This is not just an Andy Burnham problem, of course. This is a Labour problem, too. It’s the problem of a party whose historical roots in Britain’s working-class communities have long since withered. A party that speaks not for the majority of people, but against them, in tones alternately patronising and contemptuous. A party that, like the orthodoxies of the managerialist era to which it’s wedded, is now passing away before our eyes.
Burnham will no more solve Labour’s problems than a fresh coat of polish can burnish a turd.
Tim Black is associate editor of spiked.
More than 40 Holocaust survivors and their descendants have sent an open letter to lame-duck PM Keir Starmer. The letter condemns him for linking attacks on Jews with pro-Palestine marches. It also demands action to put right his smear and end his promotion of the antisemitic idea that all Jews support genocidal Israel.
The letter also addresses his soon-to-be-former home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and shameless Met Police commissioner Mark Rowley. It deplores Starmer’s weaponisation of Jewish fears and safety to attack UK freedoms – a tactic likely to increase antisemitism. It reads:
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you as Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors of the Holocaust.
We have noted that you have expressed support for the banning of pro-Palestine marches and protests following the recent attacks on Jewish people and property. Your statements have given the impression that you agree with those who call these marches “hate marches” and who claim that they are a source of antisemitism and an incitement to violence against Jews.
The Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner have made similar statements and we are copying this letter to them.
While we condemn the attacks that have taken place against Jewish people and property, we reject the notion that these attacks result from demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people and in protest against the crimes of the Israeli government and its armed forces.
We and numerous other Holocaust survivor descendants have participated in almost every one of the national marches for Palestine. We have stood under the banner “Holocaust Survivor Descendants against Gaza Genocide” and we have individually worn placards that clearly identified us as Holocaust survivors or descendants of survivors.
Never once have we experienced the slightest hostility from the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who have marched past us. On the contrary, just like the thousand or more Jews who march as part of the Jewish Bloc, we have been shown nothing but solidarity and even poignant displays of affection.
The only hostility we have experienced has been from the small but over-amplified pro-Israel counter-demonstrations, whose participants have clearly resented our presence. Yet their offensive and even racist language has largely been without consequence.
We therefore strongly oppose any attempt to instrumentalise the attacks on Jewish people in order to further restrict the right to protest, in particular in relation to Palestine. Not only would this be a further assault on all our freedoms, but it could also lead to resentment against Jews if it appears that this repression is happening because of a disingenuous and opportunistic exploitation of concerns for Jewish safety and prioritising this over the safety of other groups who also suffer violent attacks.
The Jewish community is not one homogeneous bloc. Many Jews, including those in our group, condemn Israel’s crimes in Gaza and elsewhere. We resent that you should even consider preventing us from expressing that condemnation, even as Jews and as Holocaust survivors and descendants of Holocaust survivors.
There is a real danger that the anger caused by Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and others in the region leads in some cases to wholly inexcusable attacks on Jewish people in the UK. If you genuinely wish to reduce the danger of this occurring, then further restricting the right to protest against these crimes is not the answer. Instead, we urge you to publicly acknowledge that Israel is not acting on behalf of all Jews and that its crimes are condemned by many Jewish people in Britain and around the world.
Yours sincerely,
Holocaust Survivors
Doctor Agnes Kory, Child survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary
Stephen Kapos, Child survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary
Descendants of Holocaust Survivors
Mark Etkind, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Carolyn Gelenter, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Professor Emerita Miriam David, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Germany and Hungary
Ann Jungmann, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Germany
Daniel Vulliamy, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Professor Emeritus Richard Wistreich, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Rachel Richardson, Granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Professor Emeritus Robert Reiner, Son of Holocaust survivors from Hungary
Erica Levy, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Miranda Pinch, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia
Professor Yosefa Loshitzky, Daughter of survivors of the Holocaust in Poland
A M Poppy, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from the Netherlands
Colonel (Retd) Christopher Romberg, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Peter Frankental, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Charlotte Reynolds, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Sylvia Finzi, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Italy and Germany
Professor William Schabas, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Elizabeth Morley, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Hungary
Sonja Linden, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Vicky Moller, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia
Talora Leigh, Great-granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Tony Whiteson, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Karel Michael Schling, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia
Eva Turner, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia
Perdita Heller, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Professor Anne Karpf, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland
Helen Martins, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Germany
Anthony Gimpel, Son of Holocaust survivors from Germany and Austria
Oliver Rakocevic, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Mike Brecher, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Andrew Feinstein, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Amanda Sebestyen, Granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor from Hungary
Glenn Bassett, Grandson of Holocaust survivors from Austria
Peter Perrett, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Caroline Hearst, Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Germany
Peter Hall, Son of Holocaust survivors from Austria
Doctor Mark Smith, Son of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Charlotte Monro, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia
Helen Marks, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Poland
Angie Eden, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Austria
Doctor Diana Warner, Daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Germany
Lola Karpf, Granddaughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland
“Zionist without qualification” Starmer will, of course, have no interest in acting. Given today’s resignations and calls for Starmer to quit, he is unlikely to be in a position to do so. He hasn’t even had the spine yet to sack Mahmood despite her call for him to step down.
Featured image via Wikipedia
By Skwawkbox
Far-right US president Donald Trump had a busy mid-January 2026. US special forces had just kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Canada, Mexico, Cuba and other nations were also on the agenda if Trump was to be believed. And so was Greenland…
Trump officially backed down on annexing the arctic island – a semi-autonomous Danish territory (or a colony, for short) – at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos. That was on 21 January 2026. By late February, Israel had led Trump into a disastrous war with Iran. Greenland seemed forgotten…
Today, 12 May, it has been revealed that NATO ally Denmark and the US have actually been negotiating a deal for three US bases in Greenland “since mid-January”.
The talks have been kept quiet, but the BBC has now reported:
The US has been holding regular negotiations with Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland, according to multiple officials familiar with the discussions, with talks between both sides progressing in recent months.
US officials are seeking to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, as they work to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump when he threatened to seize Greenland by force.
It does beg questions… What was all the fuss about? Why has Denmark conceded quietly? And what are the implications of giving the bullying Trump what he wants?
Danish and US agreements
Both the White House and Denmark have confirmed talks are under way. Negotiating teams have met five times since January. A tight-lipped Danish official said:
There is an ongoing diplomatic track with the United States. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not go into further details at this time.
The BBC said:
The bases would be in southern Greenland and primarily focus on surveillance of potential Russian and Chinese maritime activity in an area of the northern Atlantic between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom known as the GIUK Gap.
Trump’s imperial plan, the November 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS), had a strong focus on ‘hemispheric control’ over the Americas. Here’s the Canary write-up of some of its white-supremacist framing.
The NSS said the US would step away from hostility to China and Russia – and be less involved military in the Middle East. Trump’s more isolationist vision was quickly derailed after Israel led the fumbling US president into a poorly planned attack on Iran.
At the time, Trump may also have been over-confident after military success in the Venezuela raid. And he was under severe pressure over revelations about his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC reported:
The two sides have not formally agreed to anything yet and the final number of bases could change, the sources said. One of the new bases would likely be located in Narsarsuaq, on the site of a former US military base that housed a small airport.
Any other new military bases would likely also be located on sites in Greenland that have existing infrastructure such as airfields or ports, which could be upgraded at a lower cost than building new facilities, analysts said.
The outlet also reported that talk of the US annexing or seizing Greenland by force had not come up in the negotiations. It said the talks had been a “delicate diplomatic effort” led by Michael Needham, a senior state department official.
Greenland PM Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Tuesday 12 May at a meeting in Copenhagen that the US had:
taken some steps in the right direction.
Why fight when you can negotiate?
The BBC pointed out that Greenland was once home to many US bases:
The US currently has one military base in Greenland, down from approximately 17 military facilities during the height of the Cold War. Pituffik Space Base is located in northwestern Greenland – it monitors missiles for NORAD but is not configured to conduct maritime surveillance.
It seems Trump’s plan for hemispheric control is proceeding after all. It is very much Trump’s blustering style to bully those who oppose him in a bid for a better deal. That clearly failed with Iran. But with Denmark, it has had some effect. In Venezuela, where the post-Maduro regime has proven to be much more pliable, Trump’s belligerence has also paid off.
One former US defence official said:
Why threaten an ally with a military operation or invasion when what you want is something that could be negotiated quite easily?
While retired US general Glen VanHerck, who once led Northern Command (Northcom), said:
Wherever the US and our allies leave a vacuum, that vacuum is often filled by China and Russia.
This kind of view is not uncommon in US strategic circles. The (rather arrogant) suggestion is that anywhere where the US is not dominant, nothing exists but a ‘vacuum’. This kind of arrogance colours US foreign policy even under Democratic presidencies – though it has taken a severe beating in regard to Iran.
The problem for Denmark – and NATO – is that having gained ground through threats, Trump is prone to demanding more. The fact that Greenland is effectively a Danish colonial possession, whose indigenous people were subject to centuries of dispossession, is also unresolved here. And, unlike the negotiations the negative environmental, political and social impact of US overseas bases is no secret.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
If you’re not counting down to sunnier days all year, you’re lying to yourself. There’s something electric about the summer: it means freedom, holidays, frolicking, and picnics.
It’s pretty much perfect, aside from of course the impending doom of hayfever and the fact you need to find the right sunscreen to wear.
Should you be unfortunate enough to be afflicted by sensitive skin like me, you’ll know the struggle of trying to find an SPF that sufficiently protects you from the sun, is easy to apply, won’t pill, or break you out into hives and blemishes every time you use it.
It’s enough to ruin the thrill of sitting in the sun, but this year I was determined to not let a few pesky rays ruin my fun.
To save all of the sensitive skin sufferers out there, I made it my mission to find the best sensitive skin face sunscreens on the market right now.
And good news: I found a range of options from high street to K-beauty, which come in between £5 and £26.
How I tested the best sensitive skin face sunscreens
With some of the sunniest days ahead of us, I tried out 15 of the best face sunscreens for sensitive skin.
To make sure they were up to the mark, I tested them multiple ways, including: on top of my usual skincare, without any skincare at all (à la post-swim skin), underneath makeup, on top of makeup, and as a top up half way through the day.
I also wore them while inside, on my commute, on a long hike, and when going swimming to see if they’d break me out or leave a white cast.
For each sunscreen, I considered value for money, formula, UVA and UVB protection, active ingredients like green tea and hyaluronic acid, bottle type, and volume.
My 15 favourites are outlined below.
The 15 best face sunscreens for sensitive skin to shop now
Should the sun add insult to injury for your dry skin, this Eucerin sunscreen will keep you plenty moisturised under its glare. It’s loaded with hyaluronic acid, which helps to keep your face looking plump and fresh, and won’t leave a white cast. It’s a little thicker than other options, though, so it’s not ideal for those with skin on the oilier side.
Rating:4/5.
Like the Eucerin formula, this scent-free sunscreen applies fairly thick, but it melts into your skin almost immediately. Unlike other pump bottles, this one doesn’t get stuck and has no problem dosing out the perfect amount. As well as being vegan and cruelty-free – and of course filtering out UVA and UVB rays – Green People’s formula also contains key antioxidants to support your skin texture.
Rating:4/5.
As someone who often gets a rash on her face, I’m a big fan of SOS’ face and body serum for cooling and soothing my skin. This sunscreen feels just as gentle on the face, and while it’s quite oily-feeling on first application, it is barely noticeable on the skin within seconds.
Rating: 4.5/5.
Fresh pharmacy brand Avène has been my go-to for dry, rash-prone skin for most of my life. Shoutout to its Cicalfate range for getting me through some rough years of extremely visible neck eczema. So it’s no surprise, really, that this sunscreen leaves your skin feeling nourished and doesn’t break you out. Be warned, though, some reviewers say it has a slight tinted tinge on darker skin tones.
Rating: 4/5.
Honestly, I’m a sucker for anything cute. I love this round pink packaging, which homes a sweet-smelling watermelon sunscreen. Admittedly, it’s not for everyone, and I was at first suspicious of using a scented sunscreen on sensitive skin, but I haven’t had any problems with it. In fact, it leaves my skin looking glowy (as the brand name suggests) and it’s easy to pick up and chuck in my bag.
Rating: 4.5/5.
This tiny stick is in the running for my favourite sunscreen on the list. Not only is it minuscule – it’s only slightly bigger than an AirPods case – but it’s so invisible, you can barely tell you’ve applied something to your face. While that might be a little offputting for some users, I love that I can just do a quick swipe while I’m out and about without having to think about getting my dirty hands all up in my face. I find that it even mattifies my skin a little, which is much needed when I start sweating profusely the second a hint of moisture hits the air. TBC on how much the product stretches, but I’ll definitely be repurchasing.
Rating: 5/5.
If you’re not sure about whether you want a thick or a light formula, this Q&A option is the perfect in between. The pump bottle is small enough to fit in your hand luggage, and it delivers a non-greasy sunscreen that is suitable for combination, oily, and dry skin alike. Should you feel dubious towards face moisturisers that claim to contain SPF, this is an ideal formula to wear under makeup as it also hydrates your face and (supposedly) boost collagen, so you look plump and fresh.
Rating: 4.5/5.
When they say silky, they mean silky. There’s really no other way to describe the texture of this cream, which slips and slides over your skin when it’s first applied, before drying to feel glossy and somehow matte. It won’t pill or leave a white cast, making it great to wearing under makeup. You might end up feeling shiny half way through the day, though.
Rating: 4/5.
Forking out £20 on a face sunscreen isn’t everyone’s prerogative, and that’s okay. I’ve relied on this Boots number to keep me burn-free on holidays for years. It has a nice sheen to it, is small enough to fit in your carry-on and, more importantly, won’t break you out.
Rating:3.5/5.
“Years ago, I went to a dermatologist to find out once and for all which products could save my “problem” skin. She recommended La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios SPF 50, which I’ve never parted from since. It’s super-lightweight, it doesn’t make me break out, it sinks in quickly, and (most importantly) it consistently safeguards my very sun-sensitive skin. Its fragrance-free formula and broad-spectrum coverage means it’s ideal for anyone who wants high-strength protection with zero irritation — and who doesn’t?“ – HuffPost lifestyle writer, Amy Glover.
Rating: 5/5.
For even more of a budget option, this Superdrug ‘face fluid’ is half the price of the Boots formula, for the same volume. It’s slightly more greasy when it hits your skin, but sinks in quickly. It does pill quite easily, though, so may be best reserved for when you’re bare-faced on a beach.
Rating: 3/5.
Call me vain, but I love how my skin looks with this sunscreen on. Plump, hydrated, and glowy as hell. The formula feels creamy when you put it on, so you know the areas you’ve applied it to (that’s none of my business to remember off the top of my head). Fine, K beauty knows its stuff.
Rating: 5/5.
Yet another example of K beauty killing it, this spreadable formula is almost completely transparent. If you tend to get any unwanted redness with SPF, that’ll completely disappear with this sunscreen, which is packed with green tea extract to reduce just that. It’s also blended with PDRN (AKA salmon DNA) to improve your skin elasticity and centella to soothe irritation. Once again, full marks.
Rating: 5/5.
Unfortunately after testing these products I’m going to have to take back my initial suspicion of Korean skincare. This dewy serum is designed to sit under moisturiser, and truly makes my skin look like I’ve had some kind of injectable done immediately after putting it on. Of all the formulas on this list, this one makes the best combo for face makeup.
Rating: 4.5/5.
Maybe I’m lazy, but anything that comes in a stick formula is automatically irresistible. Or maybe it’s just that every time I think about trying to put sunscreen on at the beach, I have a full-body reaction. Attitude has created a mineral sunscreen stick that would be great for kids and adults alike, thanks to providing UVB and UVA protection and going on in less than a few seconds. It feels a little waxy on the skin, but not in an awful way, and it means you can trust it’s there.
Rating: 4.5/5.
Muslim footballer Lamine Yamal raising the Palestinian flag during celebrations after Barcelona won the Spanish league title has sparked a wave of outrage and incitement in the Israeli media.
Yamal, 18, stole the spotlight during Barcelona’s La Liga victory parade on an open-top bus after he appeared waving the Palestine flag.
However, Israeli media outlets, as well as politicians and activists, were quick to attack the Spanish player, claiming that his display of the Palestinian flag carried “political messages” during a sporting event.
Lamine Yamal condemns ignorance and racism
Israel’s Channel 12 said that Yamal “exploited the soccer event to express his political stance”. He highlighted how Barcelona players celebrated with the club’s scarves while the young player chose to celebrate with the Palestinian flag.
Daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, noted that this is not the first time Yamal has expressed his support for Palestine. He made remarks following a match between Egypt and Spain, when he criticised chants from fans that the newspaper described as “offensive to Muslims”.
Yamal had said at the time:
Praise be to God, I am a Muslim, and I believe that using religion for mockery on soccer fields is a sign of ignorance and racism because soccer was created for enjoyment and empathy, not to hurt people because of their beliefs.
The Hebrew website, Walla, adopted the same narrative, arguing that the player “exploited the sporting event to express a political stance”. Meanwhile, the sports website, Sport 5, merely noted that Yamal is Muslim and of Moroccan descent.
In contrast, the Hebrew website ICE went further, stating that the player “chose to oppose Israel when he raised the Palestinian flag in front of the world”, describing the moment as “one of the most controversial scenes in Barcelona’s celebrations”.
Israeli minister attacks Yamal
The campaign of attacks extended to politics after Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, launched a sharp attack on the Barcelona star.
He said:
Someone needs to explain to soccer player Lamine Yamal that he is raising the flag of a non-existent entity.
Then added:
Anyone who chooses to identify with the flag of terrorism should not be surprised by Israelis’ hatred toward him.
The attack was not limited to Ben-Gvir, as Israeli journalists and activists joined the campaign of criticism against the teenage player. Some comments even wished for him to get injured and miss the 2026 World Cup.
Despite the controversy, Yamal continued celebrating with Barcelona fans, emphasising during the parade the importance of the bond between the team and its supporters.
He said:
It’s unbelievable. The fans are always with us on important days and difficult days — this is the club of our lives.
The young star also stressed the need to appreciate every title the team wins, before expressing his dream of winning the Champions League and celebrating it with fans in the streets of Barcelona.
Winning isn’t easy. We’ve gone through tough years, but now we’re enjoying the moment.
Featured image via Josep Lago/ AFP
By Alaa Shamali
I’m pretty diligent about applying sunscreen; I reckon I hit the NHS-recommended seven teaspoons for your entire body most times I hit the beach.
But to be honest, I don’t sunbathe often. I burn easily, so I prefer to get a tan from a can if possible.
According to Melanie Brownlow, founder of self-tanning company St Moriz, however, combining some self-tanners with sunscreen might not be ideal.
She said, “As summer approaches, many will be looking to pull back on their makeup and focus more on using bronzing products for a sun-kissed complexion. However,”
Don’t mix self-tanning products with SPF
Brownlow said: “When it comes to bronzing drops, or any self-tan products for the face, this is safe to mix in with your go-to moisturiser. However, when it comes to sunscreen, never mix any tanning products directly into this.”
This is because an active ingredient in the bronzing items can interfere with how effective your SPF is.
“The active ingredient – DHA – in self-tanning products interferes with sun protection products, diluting the SPF and reducing its effectiveness against sun damage,” she explained.
She’s not alone in sharing concerns. Dermatologist Dr Janelle Vega told L’Oréal Paris, “In general, it’s best not to mix any other products into sunscreen because it can change the measured sun protection factor”.
It means that the concentration of SPF carefully titrated by the manufacturer of your suncream changes, so you don’t know for sure how much protection your sunscreen offers anymore.
How should I apply sunscreen if I use self-tanning products?
“I would recommend using your tanning drops in the evening, allowing it to develop overnight, and just keep to your SPF and any cosmetic products in the day,” Brownlow advised.
(Psst – that “SPF foundation” you’ve been using probably isn’t doing as good a job as you think).
“The same principle applies to using tanning products and sunscreen on the body, because no, having fake tan does not prevent you from burning from sun exposure,” the self-tan expert added.
“To avoid any risk, apply your self-tan to your body in the evening, allowing this to develop for at least 12 hours before you apply sun protection. The tan should be properly rinsed off as any remaining DHA on the skin can degrade SPF.”
The NHS recommends using a sunscreen with at least an SPF 30 and at least 4-star UVA protection.
Labour want to make defending international law a criminal offence, as they appear set to criminalise any criticism of Israel’s actions. Bearing in mind that Zionist Israel has long been conducting a genocide of Palestinians, escalated further since October 7th 2023, the continuation of this blatant politicisation of the UK’s criminal justice system should terrify us all.
Frankly, this move by Labour would be pretty similar to making criticism of the Nazi regime in 1930s Germany a criminal offence in the UK. Nevertheless, it would hardly be surprising if people at the time made efforts to push exactly that outcome, given that the Daily Mail openly aligned itself with Hitler’s camp and has been an enthusiastic supporter of antisemitism generally.
But the Holocaust showed the world where that path leads, and the thought of British leaders enforcing this kind of draconian authoritarianism back then should send shivers down the spine.
As a result, no one should play naive to lawfare at the behest of a hostile state committing genocide against Palestinian men, women and children.
Deranged.
The claim here is that it's antisemitic to accuse Labour of complicity in genocide.
It's clear where this is heading:
They want to make it illegal to criticise Israel's crimes. pic.twitter.com/nTVQoacBs7 — Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) May 11, 2026
Ignoring international law has consequences
Alex Hearn, member of the campaign group ‘Labour against Antisemitism’, has seen fit to push the electoral commission to investigate alleged antisemitism in campaign material from the local elections. The offending material is a flyer quoting Keir Starmer’s enabling, and legally ignorant, statement, which he made when Israel was escalating its military aggression and illegal siege on Gaza.
During this siege, Israel cut off access to food, water and medicine to Palestinians, leaving them bombarded, deprived, displaced, and completely without the resources they desperately needed to survive.
However, according to ‘Labour against Antisemitism’, exposing this complicity in the actions and words of the UK PM amounts to antisemitism. Once again, we are watching Zionists continue their attempt to criminalise the defence of international law.
In response, Owen Jones has posted on X:
Deranged.
The claim here is that it’s antisemitic to accuse Labour of complicity in genocide.
It’s clear where this is heading:
They want to make it illegal to criticise Israel’s crimes.
Protecting Zionist Israel is what the British government do
This isn’t the first time that the UK government has sought to shield Israel from legal accountability.
Discussing the intimidation and threats made by then-foreign secretary David Cameron, our own Skwawkbox wrote:
A Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request has forced the Foreign Office (FCDO) to admit – finally – that then-foreign secretary David Cameron called International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan to threaten him and the ICC, and demand the withdrawal of an arrest warrant for Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.
The FOI was filed last month by ‘Unredacted’ a University of Westminster research unit focusing on national security.
Unredacted asked the FCDO to confirm who was present on the 23 April 2024 call to Khan. It confirmed that David Cameron was the only one. Karim Khan confirmed last month that a “senior British official” had threatened to withdraw the UK from the ICC if Khan’s application for warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant was not withdrawn.
Furthermore, the next Foreign Secretary then worked to construct pro-Israel propaganda to seek to ‘justify’ the genocide of Palestinians.
Exclusive: The UK gave an Israeli government-aligned project £90,000 to produce a report claiming sexual violence on and after 7 October was "systematic", a thinly-evidenced claim neither the UN nor Amnesty has been able to verify.
The Dinah Project's UK-backed report was… pic.twitter.com/HrTy4XM0Ov — Novara Media (@novaramedia) March 2, 2026
Foreign Secretary David Lammy awarded 90% of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) entire annual budget to the Dinah Report. The authors of this highly questionable report were explicitly instructed to conclude that Hamas used sexual violence as a weapon of war on October 7th, 2023.
We wrote at the time:
This blatant bias and conflict of interest should come as little to no surprise. Ever since October 7th, we have seen a concerted push by Israel and its lobby groups to manipulate data, grief and material facts in their own interest. All whilst conveniently and simultaneously demonising Palestinian resistance. If we have learned anything through this horrific 2.5 years, it is the reminder that every life matters and civilians should not pay the price for the sins of the powerful.
Going further, we have also learned in the most disgusting way that the saying ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ applies all the more in times of conflict. Especially when we consider Israeli and western tactics to manufacture consent for what has been one of the most brutal bombing campaigns the world has ever seen. On the backs of the lack of condemnation afforded by the UK government for crimes against Palestinians, our governments complicity in Israel’s crimes cannot be ignored.
No evidence, no crime – apparently
Recently, we also learned that the FCDO was closing its ‘war crime monitoring unit’, a move which conveniently enables the British government to avoid documenting evidence of the egregious crimes being inflicted on Palestinian civilians.
Exposing this serious threat to international law and the rule of law itself, we wrote:
The closure also means the government is losing access to a database of at least 26,000 verified incidents involving Israel and its military in occupied Palestine and Lebanon, committed since the start of Israel’s Gaza genocide in October 2023. The ‘lost’ evidence includes videos, photographs, satellite imagery and other media – all mapped to the locations in which the atrocities were perpetrated.
‘Losing’, of course, may not be the correct word. The Starmer government has shown less than zero interest in holding Israel to account for its crimes. Starmer’s previous gig as head of the Crown Prosecution Service was also marked by conveniently disappearing evidence relating to notorious crimes and his involvement in decisions not to prosecute.
Certainly this ‘loss’ is very convenient for a UK police state all too eager to continue collaborating in Israel’s genocide, crimes against humanity, land theft and illegal wars of aggression. Human Rights Watch director Yasmine Ahmed described the decision to throw away evidence of Israel’s crimes as “damning”.
Lawfare at play to protect Zionists
Zionist and pro-Israel groups have long been using lawfare to shut down dissent against the genocidal state. The European Legal Support Center has catalogued these sinister attempts to subvert law in their database, suitably named ‘Britain’s Index of Repression’.
Subsequently, this apparent move to make ‘calling a spade a spade’ a criminal offence, whilst speeding up the prosecution of hate crimes, is deeply terrifying. After all, authorities will clearly use it to shut down and criminalise anti-Zionists, while continuing to ignore genuine antisemitism among Reform UK councillors and Nigel Farage himself.
British people must wake up sharpish and stop this before it is too late.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Politics Home | Labour Mayor Says Andy Burnham’s Return To Government Should Not Be Blocked
Andy Burnham is reportedly meeting with MPs today (Alamy)
2 min read
Exclusive: Labour mayor Helen Godwin has told PoliticsHome that Manchester mayor Andy Burnham “should not be blocked” from returning to Westminster and that she “wouldn’t dislike the idea” of Burnham being Prime Minister.
Speaking to PoliticsHome, Godwin, who was elected mayor for the West of England last year, said that she “does not know” if Keir Stamer can deliver the reset government needs.
She added that she did not know if Starmer would lead Labour into the next election.
PoliticsHome has reported that Labour leadership hopeful Burnham is to meet Labour MPs in London today in the hope of ensuring there is a timetable for a leadership change that would allow him a run.
Burnham is one of the candidates favoured among Labour MPs to replace Starmer, but he would first have to return to Parliament as an MP.
On Tuesday afternoon, pressure was growing on Starmer to resign. Two ministers have so far resigned, and four junior aides quit on Monday evening.
Starmer attempted another reset on Monday at a speech in London, where he set out plans for the nationalisation of British steel and for closer ties to the European Union.
Speaking to PoliticsHome on Tuesday afternoon as resignations continued, Godwin said: “The reset, if it’s coming, needs to mean something to people. And I don’t think, as yet, we’ve been able to get that.”
Asked if Starmer can deliver that reset, Godwin replied: “I don’t know.”
PoliticsHome also asked Godwin if Starmer would lead Labour into the next election, to which she also responded: “I don’t know.”
On Burnham, Godwin said: “He would be great if he was an MP again. I feel he gets us. He speaks really well. He connects with people down here, he’s obviously mayor of Manchester, and does a brilliant job at that. But people down here seem to connect with him as well. We should have all our best people in government.
“If that’s where he wants to be, I don’t think he should be blocked.”
Burnham put himself forward for candidate selection for the Gorton and Denton by-election this year but was blocked by the NEC.
Godwin said she “wouldn’t dislike the idea of Burnham as Prime Minister,” if Starmer were to step down.
Emma Willis has now been a staple on British TV for more than 20 years.
The presenter is best known for hosting shows like Big Brother, The Voice and The Circle, and was recently introduced to a more international audience when she and her husband Matt Willis began presenting Netflix’s British iteration of the dating series Love Is Blind.
If rumours are to be believed, she’s since landed the biggest gig of her career, as she’s set to take over as the new host of Strictly Come Dancing, taking over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
But while you’ve probably watched Emma on some of the UK’s biggest reality shows over the years, there are plenty of other presenting gigs throughout her extensive resume you might have completely forgotten about.
Here are the ones we dug through the archives to find…
The Hot Desk (2008)
Emma got her start on music TV in the early 2000s, presenting segments for MTV as well as the UK version of the iconic TRL.
In 2008, Emma joined another British music show called The Hot Desk, whose other hosts included the likes of All Saints’ Nicole Appleton and Melanie Blatt, Laura Whitmore, Sarah Jane Crawford and Alice Levine.
At the end of each interview, the host would ask their celebrity guest to sign the “Hot Desk” with a pen (isn’t that just oh-so 2010s?).
One of Emma’s biggest interviews from that era was with a young and bright-eyed One Direction on The Hot Desk in 2011, a year after they came third on The X Factor.
Live From Studio Five (2010)
In the peak of 2000s gossip mags and celebrity interview panels, there were plenty of shows out there like Live From Studio Five.
Emma joined a line-up of co-presenters – including Brian Dowling and Ian Wright – who would conduct interviews and discuss topical issues, celebrity gossip and big news stories.
However it didn’t do too well with ratings, and ultimately came off the air after around a year and a half.
Girlfri3nds (2012)
Even as far back as 2012, Emma was clearly discovering that she had a bit of a knack when it came to reality TV.
She presented two seasons of this British show about single women looking for love, which saw three pals searching for their ideal guy out of 100 auditioning men.
Prize Island (2013)
Emma co-presented this sunny series alongside Alexander Armstrong back in 2013.
Prize Island placed four pairs on an Island (obv) off the coast of Mozambique, with each team participating in rounds of games to uncover prizes, ranging from a TV to a luxury holiday.
At the time, there were reports that it might not air at all, after it looked set to rival (ironically) The Voice. The show ultimately only last six episodes across one season.
Prized Apart (2015)
Another oft-overlooked game show from Emma’s TV past was the ambitious Prized Apart.
Prized Apart saw two groups of adventurous hopefuls trying out assorted physical tasks in Morocco (overseen by Emma’s former The Voice co-host Reggie Yates), putting their teamwork to the test in the hope of landing a hefty cash prize of £100K.
After facing criticism due to its convoluted gameplay (not to mention its carbon footprint, as contestants were repeatedly flown backwards and forwards depending on how they’d performed in tasks) it was axed after one season.
The Brit Awards (2017)
Do you remember that time Emma hosted a whole Brit Awards? Honestly, we’d forgotten too.
Back in 2017 she took to the stage for the UK’s biggest night in music alongside co-host Dermot O’Leary.
Dermot and Emma were brought in as somewhat last-minute replacements when the night’s original host, Michael Bublé, was forced to back out due to his son’s illness.
That year’s Brits saw One Direction, Little Mix, The 1975 and more take home awards.
Emma Willis: Delivering Babies (2019)
This one marked a huge change for the presenter as she swapped reality TV and game shows for a hospital maternity unit.
Across the course of four seasons, she worked on a labour ward working NHS hours while training to be a maternity care assistant.
Whether she was making beds, cleaning floors or offering support during births, it made for pretty emotional viewing.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to our screens in the autumn.
A growing list of ministers have resigned from government and urged Keir Starmer to quit as discontent towards the prime minister grows.
Labour is in turmoil after voters gave the party a beating at the elections in England, Wales and Scotland last week.
More than 80 MPs have publicly called for the prime minister to resign as a result – along with multiple ministers.
None of his rivals have publicly challenged Starmer yet and 20% of the Parliamentary Labour Party (81 MPs) need to rally behind one replacement candidate to formally trigger a leadership contest.
However, ministerial resignations make it much harder for the PM to run a government as it undermines his authority.
Cabinet ministers have reportedly been urging the PM to resign behind the scenes, too.
Even so, Starmer has dug in so far and has insisted he is getting on with the job of governing.
Here’s a breakdown of all the ministerial resignations so far…
1. Miatta Fahnbulleh
The junior minister for devolution, faith and communities, Fahnbulleh was the first minister out the block on Tuesday.
She told Starmer: “The public does not believe that you can lead this change – and nor do I.”
In a letter to the prime minister shared on social media, she said: “We have not acted with the vision, pace and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us. Nor have we governed as Labour Party clear about our values and strong in our convictions.”
She added: “Therefore I urge you to do the right thing for the country and the Party and set a timetable for an orderly transition so that a new team can deliver the change we promised the country.”
According to the BBC, she has already backed Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to take over No.10 – even though he needs to win a seat in parliament first.
2. Jess Phillips
Phillips quit as safeguarding minister with a brutal letter of resignation to Starmer.
An ally to Wes Streeting, the health secretary widely expected to challenge Starmer, she wrote: “I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things however I have seen first-hand how that is not enough.
“The desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.”
She continued: “Labour governments come around rarely is the constant refrain at the moment. It’s true they are precious.
“Every Labour government in my and my family’s lifetime has forged progress that changed our country and the world for the better. I know you care deeply, but deeds, not words are what matter.
“I’m not sure we are grasping this rare opportunity with the gusto that’s needed and I cannot keep waiting around for a crisis to push for faster progress.”
She added: “Politics is as much about feelings as policy, especially at the moment.
“I want a Labour government to work and I will strive as I always have for its success and popularity, but I’m not seeing the change I think I, and the country expect, and so cannot continue to serve as a minister under the current leadership.”
3. Alex Davies-Jones
The minister for victims and violence against women and girls handed in her resignation letter on Tuesday afternoon.
Davies-Jones said the scale of losses in the Senedd and across the UK have been “catastrophic”.
“The country has spoken and we must listen,” she said. “We waited fourteen years to get into power and change the lives of those we represent.
“The time now is for bold, radical action. I know you to be a good and honest man. But in my heart are my constituents, the victims I have had the honour of working with every day, including the Hillsborough victims and their families, and all those who demand better of us.
“I implore you to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure.”
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
(Alamy)
2 min read
Jess Phillips has resigned as a minister, claiming she has “given up” believing the prime minister was doing enough to clamp down on violence against women and girls.
Phillips, the safeguarding minister, wrote that she believed Starmer was a “decent man” but no longer had confidence in him.
She is the most senior minister to date to resign from the government so far. The former minister is also a close ally of Wes Streeting, who is expected to run for the Labour leadership if Starmer steps down and a contest takes place.
Phillips’s resignation plunges the prime minister into further chaos after 86 MPs have called for him to resign and set out a timetable for his departure.
The letter, first published by SkyNews, claimed the prime minister had no “desire to have an argument”, which left opportunities for progress on clamping down on violence against women and girls “stalled and delayed.”
It read: “I think you are a good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things. However I have seen first-hand how that is not enough. The desire not to have an argument means we rarely make an argument, leaving opportunities for progress stalled and delayed.
“Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves. 91 per cent of online child sex abuse is self-generated by children groomed, tricked and exploited into abuse.
“The technology exists to stop children being able to take naked images of themselves.
“We could make this possible on every phone and device in the country. We could stop this abuse. It has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten. This is the definition of incremental change. Nothing bold about it.”
Phillips added: The announcement was meant to be in March, I’m still on a promise this will happen in June, I’ve given up believing it. How many children were left without a safety net in the time we dully dallied and worried about tech bosses?
“This is just one example.”
Phillips said she wanted a Labour government to work but she could not see the change the country expected and could not serve as a minister under the present leadership.
Sport helping displaced Lebanese living in stadium to cope
ABC Shows A Backbone In FCC Fight, Shows FCC Manufactured A Controversy Surrounding James Talarico
Greggs worker says customers have ‘unlocked’ new ‘pet peeve’ that ‘never stops’
Manchester United reach agreement with Casemiro over contract clause amid transfer speculation
US brings back mandatory military draft registration
Steven Gerrard disagrees with Gary Neville over ‘shock’ Chelsea and Arsenal claim | Football
-
Crypto World4 days agoHarrisX Poll Found 52% of Registered Voters Support the CLARITY Act
-
Fashion4 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Marianne Dress
-
Crypto World5 days agoUpbit adds B3 Korean won pair as Base token gains Korea access
-
NewsBeat5 days agoNCP car park operator enters administration putting 340 UK sites at risk of closure
-
Fashion21 hours agoCoffee Break: Travel Steam Iron
-
Fashion2 days agoWhat to Know Before Buying a Curling Wand or Curling Iron
-
Tech2 days agoAuto Enthusiast Carves Functional Two-Stroke Engine from Solid Metal
-
Politics16 hours agoWhat to expect when you’re expecting a budget
-
Politics3 days agoPolitics Home Article | Starmer Enters The Danger Zone
-
Business3 days agoIgnore market noise, India’s long-term story intact, say D-Street bulls Ramesh Damani and Sunil Singhania
-
Tech1 day agoGM Agrees To Pay $12.75 Million To Settle California Lawsuit Over Misuse Of Customers’ Driving Data
-
Crypto World6 days agoBlackRock CEO Larry Fink Discusses a New Asset Class
-
Entertainment5 days agoSarah Paulson Called Out For Met Gala ‘Hypocrisy’
-
Sports6 days agoNBA playoff winners and losers: Austin Reaves is not loving Lakers vs. Thunder matchup, but Chet Holmgren is
-
Entertainment6 days agoBold and Beautiful Early Spoilers May 11-15: Steffy Revolted & Liam Overjoyed!
-
Entertainment5 days agoGeneral Hospital: Ric & Ava Bombshell – Ric’s Massive Secret Exposed!
-
Crypto World5 days agoRobinhood says Wall Street is building onchain
-
Politics5 days agoSimon Cowell Says He Was ‘Horrible’ To Susan Boyle During BGT Audition
-
Sports5 days agoUEFA Champions League final schedule, teams, venue, live time and streaming | Football News
-
Tech6 days agoApple and Samsung are dominating smartphone sales so thoroughly that only one other company makes the top 10
You must be logged in to post a comment Login