In northern Nigeria, US-backed airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians, locals say.

The US previously announced that 175 Islamic State militants had been killed in May. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has a large neocolonial footprint on the continent.

Drop Site News reported this week:

The strikes were part of an expanding war between the Nigerian government and local Islamist groups which has drawn the increased involvement of the Trump administration, with little scrutiny. Metele, a remote community in northern Borno State near the Nigeria-Niger border, has long been affected by insurgent activities.

Reporters added:

Security sources and local residents have frequently identified the area and its surroundings as locations where fighters affiliated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate.

At the time, AFRICOM chief general, Dagvin Anderson, said:

As President Trump shared last night, AFRICOM in coordination with the Armed Forces of Nigeria, bravely and valiantly conducted a successful mission that resulted in the elimination of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, and multiple other ISIS leaders.

Nigeria: Dozens killed and injured

Reports from the ground tell a different story. Metele’s village head, Zannah Abba Aji, told Drop Site News:

The community experienced a tragic airstrike attack recently which caused heavy casualties and destruction in Metele.

Many innocent civilians were affected during the incident.

Aji compiled a list of 27 civilians killed in the strikes, including 12 women and children.

Doctor Adam Asil Tijjani confirmed that “several noncombatants had been killed in the strikes”. He told Drop Site:

…two women and four children received in the aftermath of the bombings had died from their injuries there.

Those injuries included:

…burns, fractures, shrapnel wounds, and trauma-related injuries.

Eyewitness Goni Ahmed also described the horror:

First, we heard aircraft overhead. Shortly afterward, there were loud explosions that shook the ground. After the blasts, I could hear people shouting, crying, and calling for assistance. The sounds of panic and confusion continued for quite some time.

In the moments before:

Children were playing, women were preparing meals, and there was nothing to suggest that anything unusual was about to happen.

Civilian Protection Center of Excellence scrapped

The Trump administration intentionally axed a new civilian casualty accountability unit called the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, Propublica reported in March.

The civilian protection mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority.

The outlet added:

Dismantling the fledgling harm-reduction effort, defense analysts say, is among several ways the Trump administration has reorganized national security around two principles: more aggression, less accountability.

The US practice of training local forces and backing them with airpower has shattered communities across the world. Trump cancelling a US accountability monitor has certainly compounded the issue.

However, the truth is, this is a US approach to ‘counter-terrorism’ that has thrived under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The suffering in Africa barely figures in the grand calculations of empire, whoever is running it on the day.

Featured image via Ahmed Kingimi/ Reuters

By Joe Glenton

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Fascist Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has told a meeting of Netanyahu’s cabinet that the occupation regime needs to abduct more Lebanese women and children.

He told his fellow monsters ministers that killing many Lebanese resistance fighters is good but that “arresting their women and children”…

This is what hurts them most.

Ben-Gvir/Israel’s actions met with impunity and silence

As the International Committee of the Red Cross notes, collective punishment of civilians is unequivocally a war crime. The minister is used to getting away with committing and inciting war crimes.

So far, the UK government has not condemned this one. Or even mentioned it.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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MONEY TALKS: Sherif Soliman, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s budget chief, privately briefed members of the Democratic Socialists of America on the state of New York City’s finances last week — a move that could raise ethical concerns, according to a person at the meeting and a prominent government watchdog.

The meeting, billed as a “debrief” on the DSA’s “Tax the Rich Campaign,” was held on June 1 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in Clinton Hill. An invitation to the event obtained by Playbook encouraged people to sign up to become dues-paying DSA members in order to participate in the briefing.

During the gathering, Soliman told DSA members he has “the privilege of working alongside our mayor to lead the Office of Management and Budget,” according to the person who attended the closed-door affair and was granted anonymity to divulge details about it.

“So I have the power of the purse,” the OMB director added, per that person’s retelling.

Soliman, the mayor’s lead negotiator in budget talks with the City Council, then delivered a 10-minute presentation on how Mamdani’s administration has plugged a multibillion-dollar municipal deficit this year using savings initiatives, state funding commitments and new revenue generators, including a new tax on wealthy homeowners, said the person.

Soliman’s participation in the DSA confab is a strong sign of the deep ties between Mamdani and the socialist group, which the mayor has said remains his “political home.”

A former city government official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about an issue he didn’t have direct knowledge of, said the briefing Soliman delivered sounds like the sort of detailed budget breakdowns mayoral administrations usually reserve for Council members as part of financial plan negotiations.

Under city ethics law, a non-elected public servant like Soliman cannot use “any city resources,” such as their “city title” or “city personnel,” for “any non-city purpose,” according to a municipal government handbook.

Richard Briffault, a former chair of the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, said there are scenarios where it’s okay under the law for senior municipal employees to deliver remarks in their official capacity at events hosted by political organizations.

But given that last week’s DSA forum included a membership drive component, Briffault said that Soliman’s participation — and use of his full city title — could raise legal concerns. “This strikes me as maybe on that line of using his title to promote a political organization,” he said.

Briffault said the situation would be even more serious if Soliman used municipal resources, like staffers or city government time, to help prepare for the briefing. If no city resources were used, he said, any violations at play would likely be minor.

“If there was anything wrong, it was likely minimally wrong,” he said.

Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec would not say whether Soliman — who delivered budget testimony before the City Council this morning (more on that below) — used city staff or other resources in preparation for his DSA presentation. She also would not say whether he consulted the Conflicts of Interest Board beforehand.

Pekec, however, did say it’s common for mayoral administration officials to “engage with a wide range of external stakeholders on matters concerning the city.”

Due to confidentiality protocols, the Conflicts of Interest Board doesn’t comment on possible ethical infractions involving individual city government employees.

Speaking in general, Carolyn Miller, the board’s executive director, said it “might” be an ethics law violation for a public servant to use their title in connection with a political club event where participants are encouraged to become dues-paying members.

“However, meetings of political clubs are also gatherings of City residents, and there may be circumstances where a presentation by a City official about a City policy issue (such as a DOHMH official speaking about virus transmission and prevention) would have a City purpose for which the use of City title would be appropriate,” Miller wrote in an email. — Chris Sommerfeldt 

From the Capitol

HOMAN SPEAKS: Trump administration border czar Tom Homan insisted today that the upcoming surge of ICE agents into New York won’t be like Minneapolis.

“You will not see a Minnesota,” he told SiriusXM’s Chris Cuomo in an interview. “I will not let Minnesota happen.”

Concern is high among Democrats that an aggressive enforcement effort in New York will create similar unrest that led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens earlier this year in the North Star State.

Flooding New York with federal immigration enforcement agents would be a different prospect, though — something Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has been bracing for since the start of the year.

Homan maintains that the stepped-up enforcement is needed after Hochul and the Democratic-led Legislature approved a package of measures meant to put legal guardrails around Trump’s deportation campaign.

The New York-focused push will be “well planned,” Homan said.

“It’s gonna be a controlled operation,” he said. “It’s gonna be a targeted enforcement operation. Every day we leave the office and we know exactly who we’re looking for, more likely where we will find them, because we have a targeted operation.”

On X, Hochul said the measures she backed would not provide “sanctuary” for dangerous criminals.

“We will continue working with federal authorities to target violent offenders,” she said. “But we will not stand by if ICE floods our communities with agents, separates families, and turns our neighborhoods into the backdrop for a campaign of fear.” — Nick Reisman

FROM CITY HALL

RED WHITE AND BLUE: French jets with red, white and blue exhaust plumes flew over the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty this morning as part of the country’s 250th birthday present to America. The Patrouille de France, the French equivalent of the Blue Angels, are touring the region and expected to be back in New York for a multinational armed forces review on July 4 that President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

During a Monday press conference at the French consulate on the Upper East Side, Brigadier General Pierre Gaudillière, head of the Liberté 250 mission, said planning for the flyovers began months ago to celebrate a military alliance that dates back to when the French provided aid to George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

“As Americans observe our 250th anniversary, it is especially meaningful to have one of our oldest allies helping us mark the occasion in our skies,” U.S. Air Force Maj. General Ricky Mills told reporters.

Asked about ongoing rifts over the Iran war, both Mills and Gaudillière emphasized ongoing cooperation.

“In some arenas of the world, we can share the premises where our forces are deployed and sometimes the missions differ for political reasons,” Gaudillièr said. “But there still is a very strong bond between the French and the American air and space forces.” — Ry Rivard

COUNCIL’S WISH LIST: Council Speaker Julie Menin telegraphed some of the body’s budget priorities during a four-hour hearing today.

The marathon session with the Office of Management and Budget nearly finishes the latest round of oversight hearings before lawmakers begin final negotiations with the Mamdani administration. The Council must then approve the final spending plan before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

“The Council and administration can agree to fund many programs for the success, health and safety of all New Yorkers,” Menin said before rattling off some of lawmakers’ top priorities.

She specifically name-checked the Fair Fares program, which provides discounted public transit fares to lower-income New Yorkers. She floated the idea of bringing the budget for the Department of Parks and Recreation in line with historic spending. She wants to expand the New York City Kids RISE program, which helps young New Yorkers start scholarship funds early. And Menin wants to funnel more money to oversight agencies like the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Department of Investigation.

While Mamdani just got through precariously balancing the city’s finances with a major assist from Albany, Menin’s beancounters predict the city will have around $2 billion in even more revenue this fiscal year and next to pay for some of the Council’s asks. — Joe Anuta

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

ZONED OUT: Assemblymember Grace Lee’s sleek white Tesla has accumulated two dozen parking, bus-lane and speed-camera tickets around the city over the past three years — and her car-less political opponent is trying to make it an issue as they compete for an open Lower Manhattan state Senate seat.

Records from howsmydrivingny.nyc show Lee’s vehicle has been fined $1,800 by the city in the last three years. Four of the six school-zone speeding tickets her car has received came at the exact same location — right by P.S. 97 at FDR Drive and East Houston Street, which is located in the senate district she’s running to represent. She also snagged a parking ticket for the “misuse” of her Assembly parking placard, something Niou said indicates her callous attitude toward the law.

“People make mistakes, but abusing her placard and getting six school zone speeding tickets in just the last three years, seems like she doesn’t care about the danger and doesn’t believe that the law applies to her,” former Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, who is challenging Lee for retiring state Sen. Brian Kavanagh’s seat, told Playbook in a statement.

Lee was part of previous pushes to tighten restrictions on drivers in the state and city. She joined city officials in 2024 to applaud the lowering of speed limits in the city, and the same year appeared with Hochul to celebrate a state law expanding red light camera programs.

“In Lower Manhattan, where heavy traffic and busy pedestrian areas meet daily, these expanded and newly established programs will reduce accidents and hold reckless drivers accountable,” Lee said at the time. “Together, we are building safer streets for all New Yorkers by protecting lives and preventing tragedies.”

Lee’s campaign spokesperson Austin Shafran responded to Niou’s attack in a statement.

“This attack reeks of desperation from a flailing candidate who’s been absent from the community and doesn’t have much of a record of public service to run on,” he said. — Jason Beeferman

IN OTHER NEWS

— BLANK SLATE: After pressure from Mamdani and tenant organizers, a landlord agreed to forgive millions of dollars in back rent for 5,100 apartments. (Gothamist)

— MOM AND POP: A Long Island official is pushing a resolution that would require the use of the words “mother” and “father” in town code in response to a state bill on surrogacy that seeks to remove those labels. (New York Post)

— UNEQUAL BURDEN: A new report finds New York City’s property tax system, which Mamdani campaigned on fixing, places the tax burden more on rent-stabilized buildings than high-end homes. (The City Reporter)

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

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Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians have maintained they were correct to stand alongside masked men who hurled racist and sectarian abuse at a peaceful pro-Palestine march.

MP for Upper Bann, Carla Lockhart, incongruously claimed that she showed “real leadership” by joining a 300-strong pro-genocide mob, which jeered relentlessly metres away from the roughly 1,500-strong Palestine-backing contingent.

The latter were taking part in the Great March for Gaza, an event raising money for Palestinians still being murdered by Israeli Occupation Forces. Part of the march on 6 June passed along a towpath beside the largely unionist town of Scarva, prompting hostility from some residents.

Lockhart said she was there to “ensure calm heads prevailed and no one was hurt or injured in what had the potential to be a volatile situation”.

She further claimed to have averted “an absolute bloodbath” through her actions on the day. If the situation needed calming, it was only because the DUP had done everything imaginable to whip things up to fever pitch prior to the march.

The party suggested the march route had been “deliberately chosen to provoke tensions”. In fact the organisers, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ireland (IPSC Lurgan), had selected a route that would avoid contentious areas to the maximum extent possible.

DUP stir confected outrage then play mediator

On the day of the march, Lockhart dishonestly attempted to link the march to republican paramilitaries. She also suggested the slogan ‘From the River to the Sea‘ is a “hate crime given its meaning is to exterminate the land of Israel and its inhabitants from off the face of the earth”.

Of course, its actual meaning is simply a call for one democratic state between the sea and the Jordan river, with equal rights for all who live there. The outrageous falsehood that it is anything else is purely Zionist propaganda, intended to whip up hostility to those trying to stop so-called ‘Israel’s’ holocaust in Gaza.

Lockhart published footage of herself speaking to Scarva residents prior to the Great March for Gaza’s arrival.

In it, she does request calm, and urges residents not to engage in violence. However, it’s a bit rich to get people as riled up as possible beforehand, then swoop in at the last minute and act like the stateswoman. You can’t take credit for defusing the very tension which had been partly created by your own actions.

It’s a little like when people celebrate Britain for ending slavery. You can’t do something obviously wrong for ages, then expect everyone to laud you when finally, belatedly, you cease your shameful behaviour.

At Stormont, DUP MLA, Diane Forsythe, was flipping her lid over what she described as an “excessive” policing.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was indeed out in force, bringing riot cops and water cannons to the scene. They described it as a “appropriate and proportionate policing operation“. This seems about right, given the numbers present on each side, and the wild rhetoric going out from loyalist groups beforehand.

March exposes nature of those for/against genocide

On the one hand, we’re told by the DUP that “an absolute bloodbath” was on the horizon. Yet on the other hand, we’re supposed to believe a large police presence was “excessive”. This is the non-logic of a party that knows how to whip up confected, sectarianised outrage but does nothing of actual use for their constituents.

IPSC Lurgan correctly said the march was neither “intimidating, sectarian or provocative”. It pointed out what all available footage shows — that participants were “peaceful, dignified and disciplined throughout”. This didn’t stop Forsythe outright lying.

He said:

…when the Palestine walk appeared, [they] unfurled their banners and chanted at the crowd [opposite]…

No such event occurred at any stage. In reality, the two groups on either side of Newry canal provided an unmatched depiction of those for and against the Gaza holocaust.

On one side, those waving the Zionist entity’s flag, hate-filled and throwing disgusting abuse, shoulder to shoulder with politicians that allow the slaughter in Gaza to continue. On the other, an entirely peaceful humanitarian procession, doing what little they can to support those enduring some of the worst crimes in human history.

Featured image via the Canary

By Robert Freeman

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Carmarthenshire County Council has rejected Bryn Bach Coal Ltd’s second attempt to expand and extend the currently dormant Glan Lash opencast coal mine, about 15 miles north of Swansea. This followed hundreds of hand-written and online objections from residents in the county.

The decision reflects a clear, strategic commitment to climate leadership, rare habitat protection, and safeguarding the health of surrounding communities.

There are no live applications for new coal mines, and only two active coal mines remain in the UK. One is a large underground mine in Aberpergwm, Glynneath, the other a small underground mine called Ayle Colliery in Northumberland. There is a further proposal (pre-application stage) to mine the Bedwas coal tips of waste coal.

Coal emissions

The proposed expansion was the mining company’s second application. And it followed unanimous rejection by councillors of the company’s first application in September 2023.

The second application reduced the amount of coal to be mined from 95,000 tonnes to 85,000 over 5.4 years, with a slightly smaller area to be excavated. However, the latest application remained incompatible with Wales’ coal and protected habitats policies.

Rejecting this application has prevented the release of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 and methane. It also avoids exhaust emissions from years of heavy machinery use.

The would-be commercial buyers of this coal, as listed by the mining company, sell anthracite coal to burn on the international market, undermining the company’s claims that coal from Glan Lash would not be burned.

Selling Glan Lash coal on the international market would fuel dependence abroad on the world’s number one dirtiest fossil fuel, whilst the UK itself transitions to greener, cleaner industry and air quality.

Habitats and planning

Beyond emissions, an independent ecologist’s report outlines in stark terms how the mine expansion would have destroyed a further 2.5 hectares of woodland, including sections of listed ancient woodland, as well as over 400 metres of precious hedgerow habitat.

It also would have delayed the excavated area’s restoration (which planning permission originally required by 2019) by a further 5.4 years. The mining company originally committed to start restoring the site in 2018. But it delayed this with successive attempts to extend mining instead.

These delays have coincided with the deterioration of protected habitats on the site such as those supporting threatened marsh fritillary butterflies, whose numbers have plummeted across the UK by 64% since just 2005.

This refusal paves the way to require the company finally to return the land for the benefit of nature and local communities.

With the closest homes just 30 metres from the edge of the opencast site, the application was also clearly incompatible with the 500 metre minimum buffer zone. Welsh government policy requires this to protect surrounding communities from excessive noise, dust, and air pollution and disturbance.

Carmarthenshire Planning Authority’s decision reflects alignment with the Welsh government’s positions on coal, climate, and nature recovery, the UK government’s commitment to prevent new coal mining licences, and the international movement to phase out coal.

Local campaigner Philip Hughes said:

Following yet another year of record-breaking temperatures we are so grateful that Carmarthenshire County Council has rejected the application.

As was mentioned by so many residents visiting the petition stall, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, create green jobs, and protect our beautiful county.

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Agreeing this application would have been disastrous on so many levels. Coal is our heritage but it is not our future.

Daniel Therkelsen, campaigns and communications manager of Coal Action Network, said:

We congratulate the Local Planning Authority on making the right decision for Carmarthenshire’s sustainable future.

We worked alongside local campaigners to secure this outcome, and we’ll continue to engage with the Authority on the restoration to ensure it is delivered to the standard promised, and to avoid the tragic outcome currently unfolding at the Ffos-y-fran ex-opencast coal mine site, also in South Wales.

Featured image via Coal Action Network

By The Canary

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A video filmed in Armagh shows a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer repeatedly punching a grounded man who poses no meaningful threat.

At least three cops restrain the man, with the most violent officer completely on top of him.

Appallingly, the PSNI has attempted to defend the attack, claiming “it was necessary for officers to use a degree of force in order to safely make [the arrest]”.

A PSNI spokesperson gave background to the cop’s attack:

At around 10.30pm on Saturday night, 6 June, police received reports a man had been attacked at a bar on Railway Street in Armagh.

It is alleged the victim had been punched a number of times to the face, and head-butted by a female suspect who then along with a male suspect, is believed to have caused criminal damage to the bar, including smashing a window.

Upon police arrival both suspects appeared to be fighting with each other in the street.

When approached both the man and woman lashed out at police, punching and kicking violently.

PSNI misuse of force must be condemned

Regardless of what preceded the PSNI brutality, there is no justification for repeatedly striking a grounded man who at that point was barely resisting.

Sinn Féin councillors, Sarah Duffy and John O’Kane, have produced a rather weak response failing to condemn the assault.

They said:

Given the level of concerns that have been raised with us by members of the local community, we have requested an urgent meeting with the PSNI to discuss the matter and to receive an update on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA, Colin McGrath, has also equivocated.

He said:

It is important to remember that police officers carry out their duties in often challenging circumstances.

However, public confidence depends on transparency and accountability when questions are raised.

The incident is strikingly similar to a recent ‘arrest’ made by thugs in Coleraine. They attacked Mohammed Manai and held him hostage, likely motivated by his ethnicity.

Police had accused Manai of attempting to gain entry to a primary school, without providing any evidence. The PSNI subsequently arrested Manai, but not any of his assailants, despite footage proving their violent assault against him.

Recently, Zack Polanski sadly backtracked after rightly criticising police in England for “kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by taser”.

The attack happened during an attempt by police to subdue Essa Suleiman, who is accused of stabbing three men in London.

Once again, however, it’s important to emphasise that we ought never justify extreme, needless violence from police, even in extreme situations.

Amnesty criticise rising police aggression

Doing so leads to appalling crimes, particularly against marginalised groups, such as when a thug in uniform carried out the manslaughter of ex-footballer, Dalian Atkinson, in 2016.

Benjamin Monk kicked Atkinson with “such force that his bootlaces left an imprint on his forehead”. 

Amnesty International has drawn attention to increased PSNI use of force. In 2024, the NGO raised the “deeply disturbing” 21% increase in such methods from the previous year.

Recently, it raised concerns about the police service’s decision to bring in a “‘Taser 10’ (T10) electro-shock weapon”. Amnesty International said the weapon “carries significant new risks, with the potential for serious unintended injuries”.

It cites the most recent PSNI statistics on use of force, which show a 36% increase in drawing tasers and a 38% increase in firing them.

The Armagh incident raises questions about whether PSNI officers can control themselves even when unarmed, so handing out new tasers seems liable to pose an even greater danger to the public.</p>

Featured image via Niall Carson/ PA 

By Robert Freeman

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Iran has suffered a fresh blow just days before the start of the 2026 World Cup, after the Iranian Football Federation announced the withdrawal of its allocated share of fan tickets for its three World Cup matches.

The move has sparked widespread controversy and led Tehran to question whether political considerations are influencing the organisation of the tournament.

Iran fans left disappointed

Reuters cited the Iranian Football Federation, which said it had already begun distributing and selling tickets for the national team’s group stage matches, before it learnt about the tickets being withdrawn.

This means Iranian fans will be denied access to tickets through the federation’s official channels.

The federation added that a large number of Iranian fans had already finalised their travel and accommodation arrangements. Depriving them of their official allocation, it argued, “contradicts the spirit of international competitions and the principle of equality among participating nations”.

The Iranian Football Federation stressed that the decision raises “serious questions” about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the World Cup.

FIFA under pressure

According to tournament regulations, each participating federation receives 8% of the tickets for its matches to distribute to supporters. However, the Iranian Football Federation has not disclosed which body took the decision to withdraw the tickets.

It has also called on FIFA to intervene and uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness and the applicable regulations, warning that political issues could affect the atmosphere of the tournament.

FIFA has not yet released an official comment despite requests from the media for clarification on the reasons behind the decision.

A series of crises before kick-off

The ticket crisis comes amid a series of complications faced by Iran since qualifying for the World Cup, against a backdrop of political and security tensions that escalated following the air strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran in late February.

These circumstances prompted the Iranian Football Federation to negotiate moving the team’s base from the US state of Arizona to Mexico.

After weeks of uncertainty, all of Iran’s players received their US entry visas just 10 days before their first match in the tournament. Meanwhile, several members of the administrative and technical staff did not receive the required visas.

In an attempt to defuse tensions, FIFA announced that its general secretary, Mattias Grafström, had held a “positive” meeting with the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj.

The meeting followed the team’s arrival at their training camp in Mexico, emphasising that dialogue and cooperation would continue to ensure Iran could compete in the tournament under the best possible conditions.

The Iranian national team begins its World Cup campaign against New Zealand on 15 June, before facing Belgium on 21 June. Iran concludes its group stage matches against Egypt on 6 July.

Featured image via Amin M. Jamali/ Getty Images 

By Alaa Shamali

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Kemi Badenoch has announced her intention to “repeal the public sector equality duty in its entirety”.

The PSED, or simply “the duty”, requires public sector leaders to abide by equality considerations set out in the 2010 Equality Act.

Principally, this means working to prevent discrimination against people with protected characteristics (race, sex, disability etc), and monitoring the outcomes of that work.

The news comes just a week after Nigel Farage weaponised the tragic murder of Henry Nowak as an excuse to attack diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Vickrum Digwa, a British Asian man, stabbed Nowak, then told police he had been the victim of a racially-motivated assault. The police arrested Nowak even as he lay dying, ignoring his pleas and him saying he’d been stabbed.

Shamelessly, the Reform leader used the incident to claim that the UK is a “two-tier system” biased against white people.

He called for an “end to DEI and positive discrimination” and “a country that treats everybody equally and fairly before the law”.

Badenoch claims laws ‘delivering perverse outcomes’

In today’s speech, Badenoch followed suit, trailing after her further-right counterpart. She claimed that the public sector equality duty had led to a pursuit of “equality of outcome” rather than “equal treatment and equality under the law”.

Badenoch went on to brand the duty a “Blairite legal settlement”, and claimed that she was installed as Tory leader to undo it.

Likewise, she added:

There are many laws which were brought in with good intentions but are delivering perverse outcomes and unintended consequences.

Demonstrating that there are truly no depths to which she won’t stoop, the Tory-in-chief attacked the Macpherson report. After the racially-motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, and the disdainful reaction from law enforcement, the landmark report recognised that the UK policing is institutionally racist.

Badenoch claimed that the report “wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s”.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong: that a racist incident is racist, if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

This may have made sense in a different context long ago, but today when we look at the response to Henry Nowak’s murder, and the police’s acceptance that the murderer was correct when he accused Henry of racism, it’s clear that mere accusations are being accepted as facts.

‘Fear of being called racist’

As examples of ‘equalities law overreach’, the Badenoch named the Southport murders, Nottingham stabbings and the Manchester Arena bombing.

She claimed:

All these crimes could have been stopped if people had intervened instead of having a fear of being called racist.

An official inquiry into the Southport debacle highlighted that the Prevent counter-terrorism agency repeatedly ignored referrals for the murderer, Axel Rudakubana, because his ideology wasn’t terror-related.

At the Canary, we phrased this another way:

The UK has invested so much in the very idea that (Muslim) terrorism is the greatest threat to our safety that we’ve actively started to damage the capacity to respond to non-terror threats.

That’s a far cry from the police being afraid of being called racist. However, we’re not exactly surprised that Badenoch has failed to take basic facts into account. There’s no other way you could get to the conclusion that the police are somehow too anti-discrimination.

Labour and Reform condemned by Tory leader

In spite of presenting what amounts to a watered-down Farage talking point, Badenoch attacked both Reform and Labour in her speech. The latter were, in her words, “not yet sure anything is wrong”.

Meanwhile, Reform’s plan to rip up the Equality Act completely, as announced by ex-Tory turncoat Suella Braverman, would apparently “make it legal to discriminate against white people”.

Badenoch’s words have been truly vile. She’s ignored years of findings on police racism, yet again betraying Black and Brown people across the country. What’s more, she and others have ignored Nowak’s parents’ plea not to use his murder to stir up hatred and division.

Beyond that, however, there’s something so desperately pathetic about the Badenoch right now.

She’s outflanked on the right by Nigel Farage, the figurehead of a party of white supremacists and bigots. Meanwhile, on her (near) left, Starmer has managed to sleepwalk into becoming prime minister simply by not being a Conservative.

The racist scum that used to vote for the Tories have a white man to vote for now. There’s no level of self-hatred that Badenoch can display that will win them back. One day, she might even realise that.

Featured image via Alishia Abodunde/ Getty Images 

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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Donald Trump’s vanity will have taken a hit when fans booed him after being shown on the big screen at a basketball game in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In contrast, cheers were heard as Zohran Mamdani strode into the arena ahead of the New York Knicks – Spurs game on Monday.

The FT reported.

President Trump attends Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals to cheer on his hometown team — but as Trump was shown on the jumbotron during the national anthem, the crowd erupted in loud booing. https://t.co/uQCepUP70B

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 9, 2026

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CBS News wrote:

By The Canary

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