Politics
Reform launch campaign to keep Starmer in office
Reform UK has spent a considerable amount of time arguing that we need to get Keir Starmer out of office. Now, there’s a very real chance this could happen – specifically via the challenge from Andy Burnham. Because politics is a strange game, however, Reform is now doing everything it can to stop Burnham from winning – hence the party’s new campaign:
Anywhere will do for Andy.
This expensive by-election is all about his own personal ambition. pic.twitter.com/qydZC7ZVSm
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) May 18, 2026
In other words, Reform is campaigning to keep Starmer in power.
Starmer in!
The first thing to note about the above is that Burnham and the suitcase seem to be on different horizontal planes. This is a nitpick, we know, but it does suggest Reform has hired a particularly lazy graphic designer (that or all the good ones refused to work with the party).
Getting to the important stuff, you’ll notice the suitcase lists all the places in which Burnham was rumoured to be running – specifically:
- Norwich South.
- Rusholme.
- Makerfield.
We know Burnham was rumoured to run in these constituencies because we closely follow politics; your average voter, however, will have zero idea what this is referencing. There’s also an easy comeback, because the following is the list of the constituencies where Farage ran to be an MP:
- Eastleigh (1994).
- Salisbury (1997).
- Bexhill and Battle (2001).
- South Thanet (2005).
- Bromley and Chislehurst (2006).
- Buckingham (2010)
- South Thanet again (2015).
- Clacton (2024).
And Farage really doesn’t like it when you point out that he lost in seven of these areas:
Nigel Farage really didn't like it when Nick Robinson pointed out that he had ran 7 times to become an MP & lost 7 times. "I'm sick to death of your condescending tone"#r4today pic.twitter.com/cRmPI8wA16
— Haggis_UK
(@Haggis_UK) July 26, 2023
It’s ‘did you know Burnham was rumoured to run in Rusholme‘ versus ‘Farage has lost in more constituencies than a stinkbug has legs‘.
Given this, you might say Farage is the worst person in the world to be making this argument. And the same is true of Reform’s other campaign ad, which is that Burnham will run ‘anywhere’:
EXCL: Reform will launch its attack ad blitz on Andy Burnham today. I can exclusively reveal the first set of ads the party will plaster across social media. The graphics attempt to paint Burnham as a career opportunist putting personal ambitions above the people of Makerfield.… pic.twitter.com/X6r0qfUOAg
— Noa Hoffman (@hoffman_noa) May 18, 2026
Funnily enough, there are eight segments on that wheel, which means you could literally assign one to each of the races Farage ran in.
Weak sauce
This all seems like fairly timid stuff from Reform. Early rumours suggested the party would focus on Burnham having previously voiced support for rejoining the EU. This would make sense, because the Makerfield constituency voted overwhelmingly to leave. The fact that Reform hasn’t jumped two-feet in on this suggests the party no longer thinks Brexit is the make-or-break issue it once was:
Makerfield voted 65% Leave in 2016 (the 75th most Leave seat). Over the next few weeks, there’ll be plenty of news coverage about Brexit (reset negotiations, 10th anniversary). Andy Burnham is a rejoiner. If Reform can’t make Brexit work for them here, it’ll tell us a lot.
— David Gauke (@DavidGauke) May 15, 2026
There are good reasons to criticise Burnham that Reform is ignoring. He’s already said Labour shouldn’t pursue proportional representation in this parliament, and there’s reason to suspect he wouldn’t pursue full re-nationalisation. Reform won’t pull him up here, however, because Farage & co. are all Thatcherite privatisation fetishists who want the scam to continue.
Featured image via Getty Images (Dan Kitwood) / Getty Images (WPA Pool)
By Willem Moore
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Not to sound dramatic, but the bane of my existence is my expensive pans constantly getting scratched, and thus everything I cook sticking to them.
And before you ask – no, I don’t use metal tools on them, or put them in the dishwasher. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but it’s something.
Understandably (I hope) that means when the time comes to buy a new pan, I’m always on the look out for one that won’t leave me screaming silently into my sink as I try to scrub scraps of egg away.
As an avid cook, I use a pan every day; sometimes multiple times a day – meaning I’m after a pan that won’t scratch, works on an induction hob, and is easy to clean.
Trust me, I’ve been through so many, I’ve earned the title of pan slut. But, ladies and gentlemen, I’m thrilled to say I have finally found a pan that won’t fail me.
Co-owned by Gordon Ramsay, Hexclad is designed by chefs for chefs. Using some kind of magic beyond my scientific understanding, each of its many varieties of pans uses a hybrid of stainless steel and non-stick technology.
I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve never checked out so quickly. Its 30cm Hybrid Pan (with a lid) was really calling to me, not least because it’s an ideal size for everything from cooking eggs, to a perfectly golden fillet of fish, or even a tangy Thai curry.
When it finally arrived on my doorstep, it didn’t disappoint. Thanks to those laser-etched hexagons on the base, the pan has a perfectly smooth bottom that heats up completely evenly.
The result is an even surface that browns, sears, and (joy of joys) releases in equal measures.
And, because Hexclad knows how to check all my boxes, it’s also induction hob and oven friendly (up to 480 celsius), can be chucked in the dishwasher when you’re done with it, and is chemical-free.
You might be thinking, okay, stop with all the pan PDA. Sorry, not sorry. I simply don’t care, because any true home chef will know that the right cookware makes the difference between an excellent meal and a flop on a plate.
It’s not just a plain old frying pan, either. Hexclad has saucepans, frying pans, and roasting tins for every eventuality; it even has a pizza steel and the smartest chopping board I’ve ever seen.
Okay, enough of my waxing lyrical. If you, too are looking for The Pan that will upgrade your cooking game from 0 to 100, here’s my round up of the best on Hexclad right now.
A baby version of my go-to, which is a great size for eggs, or a meal for one.
If you can’t summon up the smell of burnt milk in your mind at a moment’s notice, congrats: you’re winning at life. No prizes for guessing that it’s awful. But this pan wouldn’t do that to you! It’s non-stick, and just the right size for heating milk or making a hot choccy.
If you’re never sure whether to go for your wok or frying pan, allow me (or Hexclad) to introduce a hybrief pan – what a concept!
Wed to a wok? Don’t worry, Hexclad has you covered. You can even choose to get it with a lid, or not. Pretty sweet.
Allora, we all know the struggle of choosing the right sized pan for pasta. We see this coming in handy for your next alla Norma, or even for simmering a chilli con carne.
Who doesn’t want a pan that can do it all? Roast a chicken, check. Make a soup? Check. We could keep going…
If you’re more bound to your oven than your hob, you’ll be pleased to know HexClad also layers its technology into this frankly huge roasting pan.
Don’t think one will be enough? Go for a bundle, like this set that saves £70 on two sizes of its signature pan.
As a pancake pro, I can reassure you that a griddle is truly the best implement to get a good flip going. This one will also be great for fajita night, or your next cheese toastie (elite, IMO).
Hosting season is nigh, so you better brush up on your pizza-making skills. This steel will help you get the base of dreams, while remaining plenty light, so you don’t strain your wrists.
The moment you get excited about a chopping board is when you realise you’re truly an adult. Seriously, though, how cool is this? On one side, it’s a carving board for meat, but flip it around and you’ve got a practical smooth surface and stainless steel tray for all your offcuts. I’m fangirling so hard right now.
Just as important as a good pan is an excellent knife. I can’t think of a day when I haven’t used a paring knife, and this one made from Japanese steel is truly the best of the best.
I dare you to tell me this chef’s knife isn’t a thing of beauty. Right, you can’t, because it’s forged by a mind-blowing 67 layers of steel, and reinforced by that gorgeous forest green handle. Delightful.
The sticky-fingered Brits have actually returned stolen colonial artefacts pilfered during one of its African wars. The Ethiopian heirlooms had been held in a British Army regimental museum. And, like countless other stolen artefacts, they’d been floating around British heritage sites since being pinched in 1868. The news has reignited the debate surrounding colonial artefacts unjustifiably held in British institutions.
The repatriation of colonial artefacts
A slightly miffed Daily Telegraph reported that:
Emperor Tewodros II died in a battle with British forces in 1868, after which soldiers under Gen Sir Robert Napier looted sacred and secular treasures from the hilltop fortress of Magdala, in what was then Abyssinia.
They further explained that:
To avoid capture, the emperor took his own life with his pistol, a weapon said to have been given to him by Queen Victoria. Soldiers of the now-defunct King’s Own Royal Regiment took as trophies a braid of his hair and a scrap of shirt stained with his blood.
Commenting on the repatriation of these items, the head of the Ethiopia Heritage Authority Abebaw Ayalew Gella said:
We hope that this generous example will inspire other museums to follow suit in the near future, and that further repatriation and collaboration can be negotiated with other museums in the United Kingdom.
Sure, we agree, but we’re not holding our breath about seeing many more colonial artefacts returned anytime soon.
The Telegraph also reported that:
Among the loot were royal artefacts, which have a spiritual significance given the close connections between Ethiopia’s former Christian royalty and the Orthodox Church, and sacred tablets known as “tabots”.
The paper said that the Royal Engineers Museum, the Royal Artillery Museum, and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards all continue to hold colonial artefacts, which were pilfered during the same war.
Colonial reckoning long overdue
Another British Army regiment is under pressure to give back items it stole from what is modern-day Ghana. As the Canary reported on 25 February, the Royal Artillery has various items from its sackings (yes, they did it twice) of the kingdom of the Asante capital, Kumasi, including significant colonial artefacts.
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to repatriate colonial artefacts it held in 2024. But the Royal Artillery are still holding out on a golden ram’s head looted during a colonial butcher-and-bolt mission. This is just one example of numerous colonial artefacts still awaiting restitution.
Author Barnaby Phillips told the Guardian that he believed:
the Royal Artillery may be “embarrassed” by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city.
Bizarrely, the army blocked him on “security grounds.” Phillips said:
It’s an army institution holding the spoils of war, but they say it’s not safe to show it to me. That’s somewhat ironic.
He explained the regimental secretary’s rejection letter was “curt and categorical”:
The regiment was ‘unable to agree’ to my request to see its Asante gold ram’s head, held in the officers’ mess room at their barracks in Larkhill … ‘It has long been our policy, primarily on security grounds, not to allow public access to items held in the regiment’s private collection,’ wrote the secretary. He clarified that it was for insurance reasons.”
Empire was a criminal heist
Ghana is currently pushing to have the head returned. Hopefully, some movement on the Ethiopian artefacts will help that case progress. But even these are just a drop in the pond, considering the thousands of colonial artefacts spread across our museums. A 2025 Oxfam report calculated that between 1765 and 1900 the empire stole USD 64.82 trillion worth of wealth from India alone.
Arguably, this stands out as one of the most audacious heists in modern history — the plundering of colonial artefacts was central to wealth extraction by the British empire.
As the National reported at the time: This included extensive lists of colonial artefacts dispersed throughout British collections.
a significant number of the richest people in the UK can trace their family wealth back to slavery and colonialism, specifically the compensation paid to rich enslavers when slavery was abolished.
Oxfam also emphasised that:
This must be reversed. Reparations must be made to those who were brutally enslaved and colonised. Our modern-day colonial economic system must be made radically more equal to end poverty. The cost should be borne by the richest people who benefit the most.
There is a good history lesson in this all for flag-waving empire nostalgists who thronged London’s streets this weekend at fascist Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march.
The fact remains — Britain still needs a full reckoning with its colonial history if it’s ever going to get over itself. That includes a proper accounting of the vast crimes of empire and the colonial artefacts still held by Britain.
Featured image via Leon Neal/Getty Images
By Joe Glenton
As thousands of Tommy Robinson fans gathered in central London on Saturday 16 May, Red Letter Christians, Better Story and Christians Against The Far Right set up a ‘listening table’ to speak to marchers leaving central London following the Unite The Kingdom rally.
There were two ‘listening stations’. One for those who attended the Unite the Kingdom rally and the other for those who may have felt unsafe as a result of the march.
The Baptist ministers and Anglican priests in attendance, who are against the co-option of Christianity by the Far Right, say more polarisation isn’t the answer. Instead, they say, we need to listen and understand before we can share our different perspectives.
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah said:
One of the major concerns of people participating in this rally is that they are not being listened to. I feel that both as a priest and as a bishop, the most important thing I have to do is to listen and to hear their pain.
As a church we have a duty of care to pay attention and be present in the community rather than waiting in our churches.
Tommy Sharpe, co-founder of Better Story, said:
Across the country, we’ve got far more that unites us than divides us. We all want billionaires to be made to contribute more to our communities. We’re all angry about the way big business rips us off.
We set up listening stations today to try and find those areas of common ground that unite us.
Rev Sally Mann, Baptist minister and co-director of Red Letter Christians, said:
We are here listening today because we believe that London needs peace envoys. We are creating a listening space for those who took part in the protest, and those who got caught up in it today.
We are praying for the peace of our city. And we’re confident witnesses to the Way of Jesus – a way of love and welcome, not division and fear.
East London priest Rev Rachel Summers said:
As Christians we are all on a journey of faith, to discover more what it means to love God and to love one another. Today we are here to be with those who have taken part in the protest, and to listen to them, and to be with those who’ve been caught up in it.
We are here as Christians to remind one another of our walk in faith of love, a perfect love that casts out fear.
Featured image via Better Story
By The Canary
The US and UK have gradually hollowed out any commitment to preventing or recording civilian casualties in their wars. In the latest sign of imperial decay, the Pentagon has quietly shut down a program meant to prevent civilian deaths. The UK, as ever, are following suit.
The Guardian reported on 15 May:
A report released by the department’s inspector general concluded the US military no longer has the people, tools or infrastructure needed to comply with two federal statutes requiring it to maintain a functioning civilian casualty policy, and operate a Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (CP CoE).
The full report can be read in full here.
A similar process has been underway in the UK. As the Canary reported on 6 May:
The UK military has no way of detecting civilian casualties in war, a new study shows. And even processes developed during the failed occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan have now been virtually abandoned.
War casualties further abandoned
The NGO Ceasefire said the UK military’s own internal review:
reveals that adequate systems to track, investigate and respond to civilian harm either do not currently exist in the UK, have fallen into disuse, are not built for modern warfare, and/or are not scalable for future wars.
This revelation comes shortly after it was announced that the UK’s Conflict and Security Monitoring Project for tracking civilian casualties in Gaza had been shuttered.
Hard-right US war secretary Pete Hegseth has made it clear he thinks the laws of war and rules of engagement are ‘woke’.
As Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported:
[Hegseth] commented at a news conference on March 2, 2026, about “stupid rules of engagement,” suggesting that they may interfere with “fight[ing] to win.”
Drift into open barbarism
The Intercept’s Nick Turse has reported that in Iran, Yemen, Africa, and the Caribbean there have already been serious issues with casualty reporting. This appears to be due to severe cuts to the Pentagon’s Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan, or CHMR‑AP.
As the Pentagon has starved the CHMR enterprise, the U.S. has killed more than 2,000 civilians across the world — from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East — during Trump’s second term.
UK NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) said on 16 May:
For years, Britain and America have claimed that their militaries wage war ethically and with accuracy. Words like precision weapons, legal oversight and sophisticated targeting procedures were bandied around and, to be frank, they were done so with a sense of exceptionalism.
Adding:
They were meant to be the waging of ‘civilised war’ and they distinguished Western democracies from the indiscriminate violence they condemn in others. But two recent developments suggest that such a moral high-ground – for all of its fragility and questionable claim – is no longer being so brazenly claimed.
Needless to say ‘civilised war’ has still proven to have plenty of scope for massive violence and large-scale civilian deaths. The US and UK way of war – and the ‘liberal’ pretensions which ride with it – is shifting. From the war on terror, through Gaza, and now in Iran and elsewhere, accelerating imperial decay has pulled the humanitarian mask off – likely for good.
Featured image via Getty Images/Tim Boyle
By Joe Glenton
The post Should it be a crime to mock the burqa? appeared first on spiked.
Israel’s genocidal military has seized multiple humanitarian vessels that were en route to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The first reports came in this morning, 18 May 2026. At the time of writing, the Global Sumud Flotilla’s social media account has posted one notification after another with footage of Israel’s illegal attacks and details of the volunteer crews. Each post comes with a maritime distress message, “SOS.”
Marus
SOS – Marus (Vincovolo) Intercepted
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/KqOF1Epk4e
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Hunin
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/cYA1HHRGSF
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Al Khalasa
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/cYA1HHRGSF
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Ajjur
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/hg3BHKwQiO
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Tabariyya
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/hg3BHKwQiO
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Qazaza
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/nfaYRsiM9L
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Yazur
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/Mv7vn7TdyL
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Dayr Tarif
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/zjv9qpXR2A
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Shatila
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/vZS02aQczi— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Kyriakos X, Tenaz
TAKE ACTION for international #FreedomFlotilla volunteers on board Kyriakos X and Tenaz, abducted by Israeli Occupation Forces @IDF state pirates : demand their immediate release & an end to our governments’ complicity!
Take action NOW! https://t.co/cUjpiV2HWb pic.twitter.com/Q4yMyLI8M7— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 18, 2026
Al Qastal
the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/KTT11lGKMu
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
And footage from various boardings was compiled into a single post:
the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/KTT11lGKMu
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Israel is a terror state. The UK and other western governments have citizens among the humanitarian volunteer crews, yet continue to remain silent. Including Keir Starmer, who has found time to post on X about golf, but not about Israel’s crimes against international and maritime law:
the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/KTT11lGKMu
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
For the second time since the Global Sumud Flotilla launched last month, it has been illegally intercepted and boarded in international waters by Israeli forces. Of the 14 UK delegates, eight, at the time of publication, are confirmed as having been abducted. Their whereabouts and wellbeing are currently unknown.
At 8am BST on Monday 18 May, the Flotilla was 250 nautical miles from Gaza and roughly 75 nautical miles southwest of Cyprus when reports of interception began to come in.
Interceptions began with ribs (small military speedboats) approaching Flotilla vessels, followed by heavily armed Israeli soldiers forcing their way aboard. Communications were then invariably lost as Israeli soldiers smashed cameras and participants tossed their phones into the water.
This comes after a similar attack on Wednesday 29 April, less than three weeks ago, where 180 peaceful delegates were abducted and tortured. Two, Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Avila, were taken to Israel and subjected to brutal and inhumane treatment.
After the extreme brutality of the previous attack we are deeply concerned for all Flotilla participants and demand the UK government and governments worldwide defend their citizens and condemn the Israeli regime’s illegal and shameful actions.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is a peaceful, non-violent response to the illegal Israeli siege on Gaza. The boats are carrying life-saving aid, including food, medicine, and children’s toys. The UK government must demand the release of abducted participants and facilitate the safe arrival of the Flotilla in Gaza.
A Flotilla spokesperson said:
The Israeli regime thinks it can intimidate us into giving up on our Palestinian cousins. But the resilience of the Palestinian people will never be broken, therefore our determination to reach them will never be broken.
We will break the siege, we will end the genocide, we will free Palestine.
ICJP speaks out for Global Sumud Flotilla
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) also condemned the interception. It called the action:
Yet another egregious violation of international law and a total disregard for the law of the sea.
The interception and unlawful detention of non-violent humanitarian activists, which included armed Israeli commandos climbing on to several boats, is an act of illegal piracy intended to maintain Israel’s genocidal and unlawful siege on Gaza.
The normalisation of the occupation and Israel’s total disregard for international law is a threat to everyone. At least eight UK citizens have reportedly been intercepted, including:
- Esme Nickerson.
- Hasnain Jafer.
- Peter William Henderson.
- Richard Johan Anderson.
- Hugh Stuart Stirling.
- Cerie Bullivant.
- Dáša Raimanová.
- Veronica Otero Guillen.
Israel’s recent detention of the flotilla’s leaders, Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian national Thiago Ávila, who were allegedly tortured and abused in Israeli detention, was yet another example in the long list of Israel’s acts of impunity that deliberately maintain its genocide in Gaza and brutal apartheid across occupied Palestine.
The Global Sumud Flotilla’s humanitarian missions have become a necessary act in the face of deliberate Israeli restrictions on the import of aid, critical spare parts, back-up generators and other equipment to Gaza. The UN says such missions are being continually undermined by Israel’s policies.
Whilst Israel has intercepted the flotilla multiple times, some of the ships remain on their mission to deliver aid.
Órlaith Roe, ICJP’s public affairs and communications officer, said:
How many times must we say it – Israel’s interception and detention of humanitarian aid flotillas and their activists headed to Gaza is a total unlawful, illegal, and egregious violation of international laws.
The lack of any kind of meaningful response from international governments, whose citizens are continually detained and abused by Israeli forces who illegally board the boats in international waters, is astounding.
It is hard not to ignore the blatantly obvious double standards when it comes to humanitarian missions intended for Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation, and those of other conflicts.
Featured image via the Global Sumud Flotilla
By The Canary
Restore Britain is a Reform UK breakaway party that targets voters to the right of Nigel Farage. While the party is yet to make a dent on national polling, it has taken numerous councillors from Reform. Now, it’s hoping to take a dent out of Reform’s polling in the crucial Makerfield by-election:
I am proud to announce local businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd as our Restore Britain candidate for the Makerfield constituency.
Rebecca has spent most of her adult life living and working in the Wigan borough, where she has built and run her own small business. Through that… pic.twitter.com/3bZ6B1BfrD
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 18, 2026
As we’ve reported, Restore has already prevented Reform from winning by opposing them – specifically in the Norfolk local elections.
Reform vs Restore
Restore was founded by Rupert Lowe following a falling out with Nigel Farage. As we reported:
The timeline of Lowe leaving Reform is messy. The TLDR is:
- Lowe began criticising Farage (seemingly in coordination with Elon Musk).
- Farage suggested Lowe wouldn’t be anywhere near office without Nigel’s cult of personality (a.k.a. Reform).
- Reform suspended Lowe and reported him to the police for ‘verbal threats’ and “serious bullying” of female staffers.
- Lowe described the accusations as “vexatious”.
- Several months of back and forth ensued.
Lowe got Elon Musk in the divorce, with the South African billionaire posting favourably of Lowe:
Join Rupert Lowe in Restore Britain, because he is the only one who will actually do it! https://t.co/sa5VkSRWXD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 14, 2026
He’s posted less favourably of Farage:
Advance UK will actually drive change.
Farage is weak sauce who will do nothing. https://t.co/Vnw2uTdRRi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2025
Notably, Musk and Farage entered into a war of words on 14 May:
Farage is lying
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2026
Lowe would start tweeting about running in Makerfield the same day:
Ladbrokes have Restore Britain as third favourite in Makerfield ahead of the Greens, Tories and Lib Dems.
Interesting.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 14, 2026
It’s likely that Lowe would have run in Makerfield regardless, because he hates Farage. Still, we’re sure it can’t hurt to be on the same side as a ruthless billionaire with his own social media network.
Let them fight
Lowe is seemingly convinced that his mostly-unknown party can win in Makerfield:
Reading how the odds for Restore Britain in Makerfield have tumbled from 50/1 to 9/1 just over the weekend. Stunning progress.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that we can win Makerfield and deliver the biggest shock in British political history. — Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 18, 2026
We’re not so sure, and we suspect most of their votes will come from people who get ‘Reform UK’ and ‘Restore Britain’ mixed up.
At the same time, if Restore do start to do well, we’re not sure Lowe will like that. For a start, it will mean the wider electorate get to learn that he once had his groundskeeper shoot his pet dog in the back of the head.
Featured image via Getty Images (Dan Kitwood)
By Willem Moore
Patient-led campaign group Just Treatment and social justice organisation Global Justice Now have written to the UK government setting out why they believe it has acted unlawfully in pushing through changes to NHS drug price control frameworks. It’s the first stage of a legal challenge to a central pillar of the US-UK trade deal on pharmaceuticals.
A statutory instrument, which passed into law in April, gives ministers direct control over the key cost effectiveness threshold NICE uses to determine which medicines are routinely available on the NHS.
Trade deal impacts NHS drug price structure
The government needed this change to deliver on the promises it made to Donald Trump under the December 2025 trade deal on pharmaceuticals. It’s part of a package of changes that commits the UK to increasing NHS spending dramatically on patented medicines over the next 10 years.
But the letter (available here) sets out why the changes are unlawful. And it asks the government to revoke the legislation or face a court battle on the changes.
The claimants believe that the changes effectively end NICE’s independence from political interference, leaving medicine prices subject to political lobbying by Big Pharma corporations and the US government.
They say this poses an existential risk to the UK’s careful framework of safeguards designed to protect patients and the NHS from the excessive pricing demands of the industry. Changes the government has committed to under the Trump deal are estimated to cost the NHS billions of pounds a year by 2035, and have been widely criticised by health experts.
Diarmaid McDonald, director of Just Treatment, said:
The government caved in to threats from Donald Trump and the pharmaceutical industry and signed a deal that experts say could cost the lives of over 300,000 NHS patients. That’s more excess deaths than COVID.
Worse still, they’ve refused to publish their own assessments of the damage the deal will do to the NHS, and they’ve used a parliamentary process designed to make it extremely difficult for MPs to properly scrutinise what they are up to.
But we believe the process they have followed is unlawful, and we are ready to take them to court to defend NHS patients and our democracy.
Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now said:
The government has tried to claim this is about improving outcomes for patients and accelerating access to medicines, but everyone knows this is a move forced on the government by Donald Trump and Big Pharma.
This is a government gambling with NHS patients’ lives in a geo-political game with Donald Trump. They risk sabotaging our carefully worked out mechanism for keeping a lid on Big Pharma’s overinflated prices, and they have done so without so much as a debate in parliament.
Rowan Smith, lawyer at Leigh Day, said:
Our clients are deeply concerned about the impact the UK’s pharmaceuticals trade deal with the US could have on the price and availability of drugs and medicines.
They argue that new powers giving the health secretary direction over NICE in matters regarding cost effectiveness risk undermining an important and globally recognised health body, and could materially impact what drugs and medicines are available on the NHS.
In submitting this legal letter, our client hopes that the health secretary will consider revoking the new regulations enforcing this change.
Politicians across the board raising concerns
Parliamentarians have been trying to force a public debate on these changes, but the mechanism the government used to enact them, known as a negative statutory instrument, makes that kind of independent scrutiny almost impossible.
Nonetheless MPs and peers from Labour, Conservatives, SNP, Lib Dems, Greens, and Plaid Cymru, as well as two cross-party committees, have raised concerns.
NICE should be independent of ministerial control, but the deal the UK signed with Trump included commitments to increase the cost-effectiveness thresholds it uses to determine if medicines are good value for money and so available for use on the NHS.
That required the government to legislate to give itself the power to force that change on NICE, and it has already used it to adjust the thresholds. But the letter asserts that the intention of the changes directly contradicts the primary legislation being amended and therefore should only be made using a new primary legislative process.
John McDonnell MP has been leading parliamentary efforts to secure scrutiny of the US-UK trade deal, and started a motion opposing the legislation enacting changes in NICE. He said:
The government has ridden roughshod over the democratic process, the views of MPs and Peers, and the lives of NHS patients to force through a deal with Trump that they claim is in the interests of the UK.
But they won’t publish anything to evidence their claims, and they won’t enable time for proper parliamentary debate on this. It is an extremely dangerous precedent and I hope the government backs down or the courts re-establish the democratic principles our parliament relies upon.
The campaigners have set up a crowdfunder to cover the legal costs of the case, which needs to go to court within three months of the legislation coming before parliament.
Featured image via Alex Wong / Getty Images
By The Canary
A disturbing video from Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally in London has shown a grown man sexually harassing a teenage girl in front of her mother.
Far-right influencer EDobbin went to Tommy Robinson’s march and filmed himself harassing a 15-year-old girl in front of her mum. Even after they told him her age and walked away, he followed her, asking for her “details” and said she should have a “warning sign” on her. pic.twitter.com/Zqkzwqjhcp
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) May 18, 2026
The video above was filmed at the Unite the Kingdom rally last weekend. As the Canary reported, the rally was a hotbed of racism. On a positive note, however, it attracted fewer than half as many people as the 2025 event did. Let’s get that down to zero in 2027.
Teenage girl ogled by grown men
At the start of the video, ‘influencer’ EDobbin greets a trio of men in Union Jack suits before putting his arm around a passing child and describing her as “my little girlfriend”. After asking what her name is, the teenage girl’s mother said:
She ain’t no child bride.
When asked how old the girl is, the mother clearly answered “15”. Whoever captioned the video wrote “16”, which is the legal age of consent in the UK.
Suggesting that EDobbin definitely heard “15”, he responded:
Fucking hell. How old are you really? Please, I’m going to go to jail in a minute.
After the mother and daughter walked away, EDobbin followed behind, shouting at the teenage girl:
Excuse me, my love. Can I get your details and see you?
The mother responded:
Absolutely not.
EDobbin wasn’t deterred and disgustingly replied:
Oh, mum. Mum, look at that.
By “that”, he meant the child he was sexually harassing — something he made clear by gesturing towards the teenage girl with his hand.
He then said:
Fucking hell. You need a warning sign on you.
The girl’s mother responded again:
She’s got a mother, that’s enough.
EDobbin yelled back:
No, you’re too happy to be a barking one. Woof.
The mother and child were still walking away as this happened, clearly showing they wanted nothing to do with the freak.
Who is EDobbin?
The loathsome harasser in the video is EDobbin, a man from Rochdale who displays the following information on his Instagram page:
– Truth seeker
– Mud Fossil student
– Flat Earth, Psalms 19:1
– Mindset Architect
– Property Landlord
– Level 3 PT
‘Mud Fossil students’ are people who believe that mountains are the fossilised remains of dragons. This is odd, certainly, but not as bad as him being a landlord.
For one reason or another, he’s had multiple social media accounts banned:
@edobbin_real_one♬ original sound – EDobbin_Real_One
View this post on Instagram
He’s currently touring gyms around the UK because he was banned from the JD Sports in Rochdale because it’s “the Year of the Horse”.
@e_dobbin.live E dobbin KICKED OUT OF JD GYM #edobbin #gym #clip #fyp #meta ♬ original sound – E Dobbin Clips
As laughable as he is, what he’s doing in the video is a million miles away from funny. Being somewhat peculiar is no justification for behaving like an out-and-out paedophile, which is precisely what he did at the rally.
Predictable behaviour from Robinson allies
Of course, this sort of behaviour shouldn’t come as a surprise from an attendee of the Unite the Kingdom rally. Tommy Robinson and his lackeys like to present themselves as defenders of women, but the reality is a million miles away.
For instance, Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) is friends with the alleged trafficker and rapist, Andrew Tate. He also ran defence for Tate when right-wing commentator Lauren Southern accused him of raping her.
Lennon has consistently ignored or even defended occurrences of [sexual exploitation] in his own ranks, proving that he is more concerned with attacking Muslims than actually combatting CSE or challenging sexual violence.
Notoriously, in June 2010 Lennon’s close friend and ally Richard Price was convicted of making four indecent images of children, and possessing cocaine and crack cocaine. The vile images were found on his computer by police after he was arrested for disturbances at an EDL demonstration.
Far from condemning Price’s crimes, the EDL launched a campaign for his release. Lennon himself wholeheartedly supported Price, claiming he had been “stitched up” and that “Price has no idea how they were on his computer.” When Lennon’s claims became untenable, he switched positions and finally condemned him.
In other words, EDobbin is exactly the sort of degenerate you’d expect to find among these people.
Featured image via social media/ Leon Neal/ Getty Images
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