Thomas Massie, US Congressman, has demanded the US reopen its investigation into the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, which he suspects was not an accident.

The attack on the US Navy ship killed 34 service members and injured 171 others.

Massie marked the 59th anniversary of the attack by delivering a speech to the House of Representatives.

The Israeli government has always maintained the incident was a “friendly fire”. However, some crew members from the USS Liberty have argued with that assessment, saying the attack was deliberate.

Their stories question the official version of the events.

Previously, Al Jazeera published audio recordings from the day of the attack. These suggested that the Israeli military knew the ship was American before it launched its attack. However, the mainstream media and Western governments have pretty much ignored this.

Now, in his speech, Massie pointed out the unlimited visibility and the American flag which was flying above the USS Liberty.

Massie also referenced several top diplomatic, intelligence and military officials. These included the former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the ex-top General Thomas Hinman Moorer. Both said they believe the attack was deliberate.

Massie said:

None of these distinguished men think this was an accident

They think it was intentional murder by the country of Israel, either as a false flag operation or because they simply didn’t want anybody observing what they were doing that day.

Israeli impunity?

The incident was during the Naksa, or six-day war, where Israel illegally seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Syria’s Golan Heights.

As the Canary previously reported:

It began on 5 June, when “Israel” launched surprise attacks against Egypt and quickly entered a conflict involving Jordan and Syria. By the time the fighting ended, six days later, the criminal regime had devastated its Arab neighbours. It had also seized and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. Although victory was swift for “Israel,” for Palestinians the effects of the Naksa are ongoing.

In only six days, the IOF forcibly displaced 300,000 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Israel had already displaced most of these people in 1948. They spent twenty years rebuilding their lives in refugee camps – just for Israel to uproot them again.

The US sent the USS Liberty into international waters near the area for ‘observation and intelligence collection’.

However, on June 8, 1967, Israeli jets opened fire and dropped napalm – an incendiary weapon – on the USS Liberty. They then torpedoed the vessel.

In his speech, Massie pointed out that Israeli jets had been seen surveilling the vessel the day before the attack and:

were intent on leaving no survivors.

Decades later, in 2003, Ward Boston, a US Navy official and adviser to the court of inquiry, released sworn testimony that the lead investigator had been pressured to rule the incident a case of mistaken identity.

‘Certain’

However, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assessment, which was released in 2006, claimed that Israeli pilots “failed to identify” the USS Liberty as a US ship.

Then, in a 2007 article, Ward Boston wrote:

Israel claimed it was an accident. Yet I know from personal conversations with the late Admiral Isaac C. Kidd — president of the Court of Inquiry — that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of “mistaken identity”.
The ensuing cover-up has haunted us for forty years. What does it imply for our national security, not to mention our ability to honestly broker peace in the Middle East, when we cannot question Israel’s actions – even when they kill Americans?

The authorities only gave Boston and Kidd one week to gather evidence. A proper court inquiry would have taken at least six months. Boston added:

We boarded the crippled ship at sea and interviewed survivors. The evidence was clear. We both believed with certainty that this attack was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.

Boston was “certain” the Israeli pilots and commanders knew the ship was American. He said:

 I saw the bullet-riddled American flag that had been raised by the crew after their first flag had been shot down completely. I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivors. Not only did they attack with napalm, gunfire, and missiles, Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned at close range three life rafts that had been launched in an attempt to save the most seriously wounded.

Crucially, the cover-up started right at the very top. Boston concluded:

Admiral Kidd told me that after receiving the President’s cover-up orders, he was instructed to sit down with two civilians from either the White House or the Defense Department, and rewrite portions of the Court’s findings.  He said, “Ward, they’re not interested in the facts.  It’s a political matter and we cannot talk about it.”  We were to “put a lid on it” and caution everyone involved never to speak of it again.

After his speech, the USS Liberty Veterans Association, a group of survivors who have been calling for accountability in the case, praised Massie on social media.

Featured image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube

By HG

Source link

Laila Cunningham is Reform UK’s candidate for the mayor of London, and, in a new interview, she disputed the claim that Nigel Farage wants to force the UK to abandon free health care in the form of the NHS for a US-style insurance model. The problem is that Farage has publicly voiced this opinion on camera, as commentator Farrukh highlighted:

Mick Lynch repeatedly humiliates Reform UK's Laila Cunningham

She then accuses Mick Lynch and Labour of spreading lies to "win the argument" denying that Nigel Farage wants an insurance-based NHS

Here are two clips of Nigel Farage saying,

Advertisement

1. He doesn't want the NHS funded… pic.twitter.com/joAvIQ2YQ0

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 8, 2026

Death to the NHS

In the first clip Farrukh highlighted, Farage says the following to Sky’s Beth Rigby:

I do not want [the NHS] funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work. It’s not working.

In an older clip, Farage says:

I think we’re going to have to think about health care very, very differently. And I think we’re going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care. Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the marketplace of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100bn a year to central government and expecting them to organise the health care service from cradle to grave.

What Farage is talking about is a US-style system; a system which offers the worst of all worlds to taxpayers. As Health System Tracker note:

analysis shows that 20 million people (nearly 1 in 12 adults) owe medical debt. The SIPP survey suggests people in the United States owe at least $220 billion in medical debt. Approximately 14 million people (6% of adults) in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt and about 3 million people (1% of adults) owe medical debt of more than $10,000. While medical debt occurs across demographic groups, people with disabilities or in worse health, lower-income people, and uninsured people are more likely to have medical debt.

The reason we say it’s ‘the worst of all worlds’ is because the US pays more per head for their healthcare.

That’s right.

A private health insurance system doesn’t just lead to inescapable personal debt and worse health outcomes; it also costs taxpayers more than the alternative. And the reason it costs more is because the industry is a massive scam.

As congressman Ro Khanna said in April this year:

The U.S. spends far more on healthcare than other rich countries. $15,000 per person (almost double), 18% of GDP (nearly twice as high), and healthcare inflation is 7% (roughly double others).

Yet outcomes are worse. Life expectancy is lower, infant & maternal mortality higher, and chronic disease like diabetes and heart disease higher. Canada with single payer has far lower costs than the US, and even than Germany & Switzerland, and provides better, universal coverage.

Unimpressive

The NHS point wasn’t the only question that Cunningham struggled to answer:

"Nigel Farage hasn't held a press conference for 40 days, since details of his £5 million gift from his billionaire crypto friend in Thailand was reported in April."

"He's out there speaking to people."@vicderbyshire interviews Reform UK's Laila Cunningham.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/M9X5pQB9z2

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 8, 2026

Farage isn’t just ducking questions, either; he’s also skiving from work. As we reported on 3 June:

There have been 525 votes in this parliament, and Farage has shown up to just 169. At 32%, this means he’s shown up for less than a third of the votes he should have done. Do you think you could get away with missing seven days out of every ten at work?

Further demonstrating how unimpressive she is, Cunningham admitted the following to Lynch:

I don’t even understand what you said.

Generally, it’s better to have politicians who understand things. This is how you end up with something like the NHS. Reform, meanwhile, is how you end up with a chaotic, US-style insurance system.

Featured image via Leon Neal (Getty Images) / Carl Court (Getty Images) / Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

Many have accused Reform politicians of having regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. They’ve accused them of this because Reform politicians have regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. And as such, it’s unsurprising the party attracts far fewer female candidates than its rivals.

In the latest example of the party not being the safest place for women (allegedly), a councillor from the 2025 intake has defected to the Tories:

Another Reform councillor has quit, citing bullying, sexism and misogyny within the party. And in Staffordshire alone we’ve also seen repeated racism controversies involving Reform representatives.

This isn’t a few bad apples. Reform is institutionally racist and misogynistic. https://t.co/3KwnKili5R

Advertisement

— Will Barnish (@WillBarnish365) June 8, 2026

“Natural home” in Reform…

The ex-Reform councillor in question is Charlotte Kelly of Leek Rural, Staffordshire. Rather than stepping down, she’s defected to the Conservative Party, of which she was previously a member. She’s now described herself as a “traditional Conservative”, and said that Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party is her “natural home”.

Of course, if this is true, it suggests she originally switched to Reform because she’d have a better chance of winning under their banner. She certainly wasn’t wrong to suspect this. In the 2025 locals, the Tories lost as many seats as Reform gained:

Speaking on her reasons for leaving, Kelly said:

Unfortunately, as a member of the Reform group I have experienced bullying and sexism on a regular basis.

Reform’s leadership has not been willing to deal with the issue and this has made it impossible for me to continue as a member of that group.

In response, Reform politicians made accusations of their own:

It comes as no surprise that councillor Kelly has left Reform UK. She has been a source of ongoing disharmony within the group and is currently subject to a formal complaint.

It is regrettable that she has chosen to defect to a party with a dire track record of mismanagement in Staffordshire – one that has driven the council into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt through reckless and uncontrolled spending.

Advertisement

According to the Stoke Sentinel, Kelly also lodged formal complaints – two in fact. Reportedly, she made these complaints two months ago, and is still waiting for action to be taken.

The Sentinel also reported that Kelly blamed ‘toxicity’ for her departure, and that:

a local party official ‘yelled and swore’ on multiple occasions, and her name was added to a lobbying letter against her wishes. She believes she was treated this way because she is a young woman, with most of her fellow party members being older men.

Not the first

As reported by the Guardian, Reform UK struggles to attract female candidates:

Reform UK has the smallest proportion of women on ballot papers in the local elections in England, at 23%. Labour is the closest to achieving gender parity, with 42% of its candidates women, followed by the Green party (41%), the Liberal Democrats (33%) and the Conservatives.

Reform also has issues holding on to female councillors.

On 3 March, Kathryn Shaw and Joanne Blythe of West Northamptonshire Council left the party to sit as independents. Blythe blamed ‘misogynistic undertones’; Shaw said the move was necessary to ‘more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems’.

It’s easy to see why Reform would attract sexists when you listen to its bigwigs. For an example of this, take no-fault divorce, which senior Reform politicians have discussed ending. Should this happen, women would once again find themselves trapped in abusive marriages because they can’t tick the correct box on a government check sheet.

'We need more prosperous families which lead to a more prosperous country.'

Reform's Richard Tice dodges @AndrewMarr9's question over whether reversing no-fault divorces is his party's policy. pic.twitter.com/9RpwHoFxU5

Advertisement

— LBC (@LBC) February 24, 2026

Farage himself has repeatedly demeaned female journalists in interviews. He was also accused of using the grooming gangs scandal for political capital – and accused by the victims themselves, no less. These same women demanded an apology from Farage after he lied about their situation.

Oh, and there’s also this:

A man is judged by the company he keeps. pic.twitter.com/vOZLwzKTje

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) October 28, 2025

A sign of things to come

It’s obviously completely inappropriate for men to belittle, bully, or harass their female colleagues. Such attitudes could become far more normalised if Reform takes power, however, and we get a government which is three quarters male, pale, and racist.

Before even taking power, Reform is threatening to tear up the Equality Act. The party claims this won’t lead to women losing the hard-won rights they enjoy today. Personally, however, we would advise women to take a long, hard look at Reform UK’s record before trusting them on this.

Featured image via Finnbarr Webster (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

Around 100 well-known public figures have signed an Artists for Palestine open letter describing the government’s plan to impose terror sentencing on four humanitarian activists as a “miscarriage of justice”.

Signatories include author Sally Rooney, activist Greta Thunberg, filmmaker Terry Gilliam, actor Steve Coogan, comedians Jen Brister and Alexei Sayle and law expert Lord John Hendy KC. After failing to gain convictions in their first trial, the state rigged the retrial of six ‘Filton 24’ activists to ensure convictions. The judge prevented the jury hearing that they had a right to acquit the defendants. He banned media from reporting on the fact that sentencing would be escalated as ‘terrorism’.

Even so, two activists were acquitted completely; all were acquitted of any violent intent. Four – Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – were convicted of criminal damage to an Israeli weapons factory. Sentencing is scheduled for this Friday, 12 June 2026. The judge has refused to recuse himself from the sentencing hearing because of the conflict of interest in his long links to UK security services.

Feeble state excuse for the Filton 24

The letter’s signatories urge judge Jeremy Johnson to drop use of a ‘terrorism connection’ in Friday’s sentencing, because imposing such sentencing after banning mention of it during the trial would be to:

bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone,

The letter, also signed by actors Zoë Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, and Zawe Ashton, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Labour MP John McDonnell and musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash, notes the state’s feeble excuse for demanding terror sentencing: that the activists were trying to influence the Israeli government. Nobody believes the Israeli government was going to be influenced – the action was to damage weapons and save Palestinian lives.

Authors Marina Warner and Kamila Shamsie, scholars Paul Gilroy and Jewish academic Avi Shlaim, and actors Brian Cox and Tobias Menzies have all put their names to the call. Irish novelist Sally Rooney, herself a frequent target of Israel lobbyists for her stand against genocide, said:

Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.

Singer Charlotte Church added:

The government failed in its duty to prevent genocide in Palestine. Now the courts are lashing out at young people who acted to try and stop it, when it’s those making weapons for Israel that should be facing jail.

Supporters have been asked to gather at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday to increase awareness of the state’s abuse of justice and process to protect Israel. The letter and signatories are reproduced below:

We, the undersigned, urge you to drop the use of the ‘terrorism connection’ in the sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona (Ellie) Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani on June 12th 2026.

The four defendants were not charged with terrorism offences. They were not tried under terrorism laws. The jury was never informed of any proposed ‘terrorism connection’ during the trial and did not find any of the defendants guilty of any terror-related crimes. The proposed ‘terrorism connection’ is founded simply on a guilty verdict in relation to criminal damage. To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone.

It is a consensus view within the international legal community that Israel’s campaign of mass killing in Gaza has crossed the threshold of genocide. International law prohibits arms exports to any nation committing genocide or other atrocity crimes, but the UK has continued to supply Israel with weaponry. The defendants in this trial tried every means at their disposal to call for an end to this illegal arms supply: they marched in the streets, wrote to their MPs and joined university encampments. But the export of lethal weapons, and the mass killings they facilitated, continued.

Finally, in August 2024, the defendants took action. They entered a UK facility run by Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems, and dismantled weapons themselves. Their actions may well have saved lives. And yet, when facing trial, the defendants were not permitted to explain their motivations to the jury. Deprived of the full moral and humanitarian context, the jury found four of the six defendants guilty of ordinary criminal offences.

The conscientious motives of these activists – suppressed throughout the trial – may now be brought against them at the sentencing stage through the use of a ‘terrorism connection’. The only stated basis for this connection is that the defendants were ‘attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons’. But virtually every international humanitarian organisation, including a group of expert UN Special Rapporteurs, has called for the same thing: the restriction of Israel’s access to weapons, in accordance with international law.

Advertisement

In this case, the purported ‘terrorism connection’ could extend the defendants’ prison sentences, require them to ‘rescind’ their deepest moral beliefs in order to be eligible for parole, and impose harsh restrictions on their freedoms even after their release. Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case. The implications for civil liberties in Britain are difficult to overstate.

Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 20,000 children. The Filton activists acted to uphold international law and defend human life. To sentence them on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself. We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.

The Filton 24 letter has so far been signed by:

Alaa Abd El-Fattah, writer, campaigner, software developer
Khalid Abdalla, actor
Abubaker Abed, journalist
Susan Abulhawa, author
Mark Adderley, producer, director
Lolly Adefope, actor
Travis Alabanza, artist
Anthony Anaxagorou, poet, publisher
Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney
Zawe Ashton, actor, playwright
Krystel Ball, independent analyst
Ronan Bennett, screenwriter
Emma Breschi, model, DJ
Jen Brister, comedian
Dunstan Bruce, musician
Debbie Campbell, ecologist
Joanna Carolan ,comedian
Grace Chatto, musician
Louise Christian, solicitor
Charlotte Church, singer-songwriter, actor
Caryl Churchill, playwright
Steve Coogan, actor, comedian, writer
Brian Cox, actor
Jasmine Cruickshank (jasmine.4.t), musician
Clare Daly, former Member of European Parliament
Jessica Darrow, actor, singer
Siobhan Davies, artist
Robert Del Naja, musician
Mohammed El Kurd, author, poet
Theo Ellis, musician
Brian Eno, composer, producer
Paapa Essiedu, actor
Bobby Gillespie, singer-songwriter
Terry Gilliam, film director, screenwriter
Paul Gilroy, writer, scholar
Lambrini Girls, band
Kerry Godliman, actor and comedian
Denise Gough, actress
Katharine Hamnett, designer
Misan Harriman, photographer
Eleanor Harrison, director
Rima Hassan, Member of European Parliment
John Hendy QC
Billy Howle, actor
Noah Huntley, actor
Sue Jones, casting director
Mali Koa Hood, musician
Florence Kosky, director
Yorgos Lanthimos, film director
Ruth Lass, actor
Paul Laverty, screenwriter
Alex Lawther, actor
Sophie Lewis, writer, scholar
Ken Loach, film director
Mikaela Loach, writer
Lowkey, rapper
Moshé Machover, professor, philosopher
Shirley Manson, musician
Miriam Margolyes, actor
Francesca Martinez, comedian, writer
Victoria Mary Clarke, writer
John McDonnell MP
Tobias Menzies, actor
Kate Nash, musician
Nyome Nicholas-Williams, model, writer
Fionn ó Loingsigh, actor
Ardal O’Hanlon, actor
Lola Olufemi, writer, researcher
Alice Oswald, poet
Maxine Peake, actor
Max Porter, writer
Bella Ramsey, actor
David Renton, barrister, historian
Sally Rooney, writer
Nadia Sawalha, TV Presenter, actor
Alexei Sayle, comedian, author, broadcaster
Graeme Segal, scholar, mathematics
Nadine Shah, singer-songwriter
Kamila Shamsie, writer
Avi Shlaim, emeritus professor of International Relations
Laila Souief, assistant professor of mathematics
Jack Steadman, musician
Maggie Steed, actor
Rahel Stephanie, chef, writer
Juliet Stevenson, actor
Joelle Taylor, writer, poet
Greta Thunberg, campaigner
Zing Tsjeng, journalist
Yanis Varoufakis, economist, academic and author
Bobby Vylan, musician
Harsha Walia, author
Mick Wallace, former MEP
Harriet Walter, actor, author
Zoë Wanamaker, actor
Marina Warner, writer, historian
Roger Waters, musician
Boff Whalley, writer and Musician

Jeremy Corbyn has called on potential new PM Andy Burnham to guarantee an independent public inquiry into UK state collusion in Israel’s genocide. Keir Starmer’s war on UK justice and human rights should put him behind bars in the Hague.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Source link

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that benefits assessors are once again failing disabled claimants. Even worse, the assessors who are putting vulnerable people at risk are getting away with it.

In a new report, the DWP admits that there were 767 concerning incidents reported in the first six months of the Functional Assessment Services from September 2024.

This saw the department hand new multi-billion contracts and farm out benefits assessments to Ingeus, Capita, Maximus, and Serco. It also managed the DWP’s own smaller clinical teams.

The assessors are contracted to carry out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for Universal Credit (UC).

DWP failing vulnerable people, again

301 incidents were related to ‘information governance, ‘ which includes missing data, incorrect information recorded and data breaches. The fact that there’s no further elaboration into what these incidents were is especially concerning, as who knows what sensitive information could have been leaked and to whom.

Disgustingly, not one of these incidents was deemed important enough to be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

238 of the incidents were complaints against clinicians. As Benefits and Work states, the report gives barely any details about what the complaints were, so we don’t know the severity of them all. One ‘illustrative case example’ states:

A complaint was received stating assessor was late and abrupt. The complaint was investigated and upheld. The healthcare professional undertook further training and reflection and their work was monitored. No further issues have been identified.

However, the report also says:

100% were closed with reflective learning or policy updates, further support/ training and ongoing review.

So nobody faced any consequences for the way they treated vulnerable disabled people. Cool.

DWP doesn’t take safeguarding seriously

Just as worryingly, 152 incidents involved safeguarding. Typically, the examples given here are both cases where the safeguarding issue was identified by a second person after the first assessor missed it. The report does not mention the thousands of people who will slip through the net and have their needs ignored.

The DWP claims that just four of these incidents were serious enough to require action. But this only amounted to additional training or personal reflection from the healthcare professional. Yes really. According to them, no harm occurred to any claimant, but considering that we know the DWP phone lines leave claimants feeling suicidal, this feels unlikely.

The report also broke down the incident reports by provider. Of the 767,  507 incidents came from Ingenus. However, the report has an excuse for this, too. You see, it’s based on the companies self reporting, and Ingenus are apparently more transparent.

A law unto itself

So this begs the question, how many weren’t reported? We already know that private contractors report feeling despised and that the DWP struggles to retain these assessors. We also know that 1 in 5 privately contracted benefit assessors aren’t safeguard trained.

The fact that assessors only have to do a bit of training if they cause potential harm to a claimant means they essentially have free rein to be as vile as they want, with no fear of being disciplined or losing their jobs.

With the department pushing ahead with plans to move the UC health element to PIP, even more disabled people will be forced to engage with these cruel assessors who face no consequences for their actions.

This report proves that the DWP is a law unto itself. Despite various committees trying to bring it under control, the department desperately needs to be held to account, before even more disabled people die.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey

Source link

Zack Polanski has accused the Telegraph of fabricating quotes. And he’s got good reason to do so, because the way the Telegraph presented the following information clearly gives an entirely false impression:

We're at the point where the Telegraph are literally making up quotes.

I said when veg is sold for pennies in supermarkets, it's a sign someone's not being paid properly.

Farmers being paid a pittance for their produce.

Advertisement

Workers on less than a living wage in supermarkets. https://t.co/rQOSII9l1p

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 9, 2026

‘This is not a quote’

Something we should explain is that there are two key ways of quoting people:

• Direct quote: A quote which presents what was said as written or spoken, indicated with “double inverted commas”.
• Paraphrase: A quote which alters the wording but retains the same meaning, indicated with ‘single inverted commas’.

As you can see above, the Telegraph used single inverted commas around ‘Food is too cheap’, indicating a paraphrase. The question is whether they’ve retained the same meaning. The answer – we believe – is no (or ‘yes’, if you’re the Telegraph).

By saying ‘food is too cheap’ rather than ‘veg is too cheap’, the impression given is that Polanski meant all food is too cheap. This is obviously very different to the point he actually made. And he didn’t even say all veg is too cheap either.

Here’s what the Telegraph reported about Polanski:

Speaking to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union on Monday, he said: “That is not a sign of a healthy system. Someone is being exploited somewhere, and if you’re paying 7p for vegetables, then something is not right.

“It is those supermarket bosses who are taking record profits … meanwhile paying their workers poverty wages. We cannot go on like this.”

He called for tighter regulation of supermarkets, saying the sector had “not been regulated enough” and was exploiting “both the workers in the supermarkets and the farmers and agricultural workers”.

Advertisement

Even if they went with the more accurate ‘some veg is too cheap’, it wouldn’t really be a paraphrase of what he said. It would be a summary, certainly, but not a paraphrase given the gist of his wording.

An actually appropriate paraphrase would be something like:

‘7p veg a sign of exploitation’.

Or:

‘Supermarkets exploit farmers and their own workers’.

“Absolute bullsh*t” says Polanski

So yeah, it’s understandable Polanski has also now said:

Sections of the media are just absolute bullshit.

They’ve always been a problem – but now they’re literally lying and making up things that have never been said.

The only way to defeat the billionaire media is to organise around them.

Advertisement

The Media Reform Coalition backed him on this:

Zack is 100% right – our media is bullshit.

So join us & the Greens’ deputy leader @rachelmillward at the Media Democracy Festival, Sat 27 June, to build a democratic, independent media that serves us instead of billionaires: https://t.co/SJSs50vozv https://t.co/BuHbJ3hN9D

— Media Reform Coalition (@mediareformUK) June 9, 2026

Advertisement

This isn’t Polanski’s only run-in with the Telegraph this week either, as Ed Sykes reported for the Canary on 8 June:

Notorious pro–Israel bigot Stephen Pollard has written a desperate, antisemitic article trying to smear Zack Polanski. He did this in response to the Green leader backing calls to hold potential war criminals to account. And he did so in the Telegraph, which has joined other right-wing rags in publishing antisemitic Polanski caricatures.

The above is a direct quote of what Sykes wrote; a paraphrase would be ‘bigot Pollard smears Polanski as antisemitic’. You can see the difference, right?

We’re pretty sure the Telegraph can too; they’re simply lowering their editorial standards to attack a political enemy.

Featured image via Jeff J Mitchell (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

The Israeli regime’s sacking of deputy Mossad chief – known only as ‘Aleph‘, Hebrew for ‘Alpha’ – is an admission, Skwawkbox believes. Aleph was removed, according to Israeli media reports, “over failed Iran regime change efforts”.

Not that there was any doubt to any honest observer that Israel and the US were directly behind the mobs that rampaged through Iran, murdering police officers and their own rioters. Senior Israeli and US figures publicly congratulated themselves and each other on arranging the riots. Yet the official claim – and state-corporate media narrative – continued to be that the riots were a grassroots uprising. And the supposed popular uprising was supposedly brutally crushed by Tehran.

Stronger than before (not Mossad)

In fact, Iran used its own intel and assistance from China to roll up vast Israeli and US spy networks and the whole operation failed. Just as with the criminal US-Israeli war on Iran, the cost to the aggressors was enormous yet it left Iran stronger than before. Now ‘Alpha’s career head has rolled and the new director of Mossad has zero intelligence experience.

And the reason for the removal puts beyond any doubt that there was no popular revolt in Iran, only a Mossad op. Which is no doubt why the UK and other western ‘mainstream’ media have opted to ignore it entirely. Just as they have with Israel’s 7 October 2023 slaughter of hundreds of its own people.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Source link

The Labour right and their friends in the media are constantly urging the party to become more regressive to appeal to Reform voters. As we’ve reported in the past, though, Labour actually lost four times as many voters to parties on its left. And now, we have a clearer picture of what pushed them in that direction.

EXCLUSIVE: More than half of former Labour voters who intent to back a centre or leftwing party in the next general election have cited the government's record on Gaza as a reason for abandoning Labour, new polling shows.

— Harriet Williamson (@harriepw) June 8, 2026

Labour genocidaires

Labour offered both political and material support to Israel and its genocide on Palestine. An example of the political support was denying Israel’s actions constituted ‘genocide’, despite the UN and human rights watchdogs saying otherwise. An example of the material support was continuing to send arms.

Conducted by Opinium, the poll was commissioned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE). Highlighting what was found, PSC produced the following infographic:

BREAKING: New polling shows that Labour’s policy on Gaza is a significant factor in progressive voters ditching the party in huge numbers pic.twitter.com/9ftj4Y1QWQ

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

Advertisement

The Green Party has been the primary beneficiary of Labour’s losses.

These voters overwhelmingly support stronger action for Palestine (4/6): pic.twitter.com/9NB2ah3SSd

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

Advertisement

These findings come as Israel escalates its violence against Palestinians.

The Labour government must heed this message and finally end its shameful complicity in Israel's genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.

For the full results, see here (6/6):…

Advertisement

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

What the above shows is that a new PM could potentially win back a substantial cohort of voters by adopting a moral stance. In other words, it would be a win-win. The question is whether any of Starmer’s potential replacements care more about winning than saving Israel’s blushes.

Mealy-mouthed Andy Burnham has refused to describe Israel’s actions as a genocide, stating:

I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.

This might wash if he wanted to remain a regional mayor, but he doesn’t. And if he’s unable to make big decisions now, maybe he’s not cut out for a more important role?

Burnham also said:

But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.

In other words, he wants a lengthy inquiry which concludes years after everyone responsible is out of office.

Wes Streeting – the other man angling to become PM – is also not to be trusted on this matter:

You spent two years supporting genocide and now pretend you didn't? Just staggering dishonesty from
these human pieces of excrement. https://t.co/Vz7iEYsHIW

— Bog Standard Marxist (@muskeatsbogeys) June 2, 2026

As HG wrote for the Canary:

Streeting has no backbone. If he truly cared about Gaza, he’d have spoken out and publicly condemned Israel’s war crimes. He would not have just done it via text to Epstein’s pal. He also wouldn’t wait until now, when there is a potential leadership contest in the not-so-distant future. It’s pretty convenient that he’s suddenly taking a hardline stance against a genocidal terrorist state. What good are your faux morals if they only appear to benefit your potential run as party leader?

‘Sensible’ politics

At this point, we have to stop pretending these Labour politicians are pursuing ‘sensible, grown-up politics’.

Supporting genocide and apartheid isn’t just morally evil; it’s a certified vote loser. This means they’re not doing it for electability reasons; they’re doing it because they’re ideologically committed to the far-right ideology of Zionism.

Featured image via WPA Pool (Getty Images) / Amir Levy (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

A Geolocator has revealed new satellite imagery from the EU’s Copernicus program, which appears to show that an Iranian ballistic missile directly hit a warehouse at Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel.

Satellite imagery confirms yesterday’s Iranian ballistic missile attack scored a direct hit on a warehouse at Ramat David Air Base, located at 32°39’43.65″N 35°10’53.39″E.

Ramat David is the Israeli Air Force’s only major base in northern Israel, about 46 km from Lebanon. https://t.co/oFS5Pfrlbj pic.twitter.com/NVI1WaNHgm

— Egypt’s Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) June 8, 2026

Ramat David is the main base the IOF uses for aerial operations toward Lebanon and Syria. It is also the only Israeli Air Force airbase in the northern occupied territories.

False color layer gives a better result, even in low resolution, we can confirm that warehouse at Ramat David Air Base was indeed destroyed. https://t.co/Lo6RpAlgvp pic.twitter.com/7pP1nk7iUV

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) June 8, 2026

On Sunday, June 7, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said that its Aerospace Force targeted Ramat David Air Base with ballistic missiles. It said that the attack was a warning and that, if aggression is repeated, Iran’s responses would be:

broader and include all US-Israeli targets in the region.

According to Iran International, the IRGC had put its missile units on full alert after Israel struck the Dahieh district of Beirut. This led to commanders requesting authorisation to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.

This came after Iran had already warned that it would target northern Israel with missiles if Israel attacked Beirut.

In response to Israel’s bombing of apartment buildings, Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s foreign policy and national security committee, wrote on X:

We will give a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime’s attack on the suburbs … Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight.

Of course, Western media outlets, including the Guardian, reported the retaliation as “shattering a fragile ceasefire”. As usual, this completely disregards Israel’s brutal daily ceasefire violations for the last two months.

The Zionist nation is a genocidal terrorist state which has murdered and displaced tens of thousands of people is never the bad guy.

In a statement, the IRGC said:

Our acceptance of the ceasefire on April 7 (Farvardin 19) was conditional upon a cessation of fire across all fronts. However, as always, the United States and the Zionist regime failed to adhere to their commitments. They not only continued their aggressions and atrocities in Lebanon but also repeatedly violated the ceasefire by targeting Iranian coasts and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the Indian Ocean.

Tonight’s operation was a warning. Should these aggressions be repeated, the responses will be far more extensive and will encompass all American-Zionist targets across the region.

Israel respond with more lies

Of course, Israel claimed it intercepted all of Iran’s missiles.

The Times of Israel reported that:

All of the Iranian missiles launched at Israel this morning were intercepted, according to the military.

The IDF assesses that an impact reported in an open field in the West Bank was likely a large fragment following an interception.

Advertisement

Israeli media also reported extensive interception operations over Southern Israel, including the Dead Sea, Dimona and Beersheba areas.

Rockets and shrapnel debris fell near Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, and in the Negev region around Beersheba. Additionally, a rocket fell near the illegal Itamar settlement in the northern occupied West Bank. Israel has not reported any damage or injuries.

Boom boom

Meanwhile, Iranians cheered and danced as the missiles were launched and flew over their airspace.

Moment of the launches in Iran. https://t.co/LFXSXpidO9 pic.twitter.com/hwkGQsVS60

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) June 7, 2026

Advertisement

Every other party managed to adhere to the ceasefire, but for some reason, yet again, it was a bit too much for the Zionists. And in its very short history, Israel has not managed to stick to a single ceasefire. Yet the genocidal terrorists start crying when Hezbollah or the IRGC retaliate and defend themselves.

From carpet bombing, displacing and starving people in Gaza, to ethnically cleansing and illegally occupying Southern Lebanon, the only language the settler state knows is aggression and violence.

Israel needs to learn that actions – especially ones which are highly illegal under international law – have direct consequences.

Featured image via Amir Levy/ Getty Images

By HG

Source link

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has written to the candidates in the Makerfield by-election – but only the Green Party candidate has responded so far. Specifically, they’re asking what each candidate will do to “uphold the rights of Palestinian people”. Green Party candidate Sarah Wakefield has now responded, seemingly making her the first to do so. Front-runner Andy Burnham, meanwhile, is still refusing to get off the fence.

Green Party candidate steps up

The letter from PSC reads:

Millions of people across Britain are rightly horrified by Israel’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinians. The strength of these sentiments is seen not just in the national marches for Palestine – the largest sustained mass mobilisation in Britain since the suffragettes – but also in elections and polling. For example, polls show that the overwhelming majority of people, including in the North West, oppose Israel’s military actions in Gaza, with more than 80% of voters believing that Israel is guilty of genocide.

A vast array of experts and human rights organisations, including the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, have conducted their own investigations and found that Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people amount to genocide. A similar consensus exists regarding Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians, including the July 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, which found Israel to be in violation of international prohibition against apartheid.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues – with almost 1,000 Palestinians violently killed by Israel since the so-called “ceasefire” began, alongside ongoing severe restrictions on aid and life-saving organisations. So too does Israel’s ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid. In light of this, if you are elected as the Member of Parliament for Makerfield, will you:

Advertisement

1. Act, if the findings of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry amongst others that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and the July 2024 ICJ ruling that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians?
2. Support a total ban on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements and all other trade that aids or assists Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory?
3. Support comprehensive sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo?
4. Support the reversal of the authoritarian use of public order and anti-terror legislation to suppress protest in support of Palestinian rights?

In the interests of transparency, we will publish this letter and any replies we receive. We would also be happy to meet to discuss these matters with you.

Answers

In a refreshing change of pace for a UK politician, Wakefield has actually provided answers to the above questions (emphasis added):

Thank you for getting in contact with me about this. It’s so important that all politicians are held accountable on this issue.

Opposing genocide is not optional. For those of us seeking political power, using that power to work to end the ongoing genocide in Palestine is not optional. Under international law, all countries have a duty to actively work to prevent genocide – but in this country our responsibility goes beyond that.

The UK government has been more than a bystander to the genocide in Gaza. It has been, and remains, complicit. It sells weapon components to Israel, has provided diplomatic cover for Israel, and refuses to accept the overwhelming expert consensus that what is being inflicted on the Palestinian people is, indeed, a genocide.

I unequivocally accept the findings of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry and numerous other expert bodies that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. I additionally accept the 2024 ICJ ruling that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.

Advertisement

I fully support a total ban on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements and all other trade that aids or assists Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. I also support comprehensive sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo. Without doubt, I support reversing the authoritarian use of public order and anti-terror legislation to suppress protest in support of Palestinian rights.

Every politician who sincerely believes in human rights, international law, and the sanctity of human life should be able to say the same.

Labour let downs

Wakefield has been clear on her stance. Front-runner Andy Burnham, meanwhile, said the following when asked if Israel’s actions constitute a genocide:

I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.

When politicians refuse to commit to a position, it’s because they don’t want to be held to it later. Going off the actions of Labour, we have to assume Burnham doesn’t want to stand up to Israel because he knows his Labour colleagues won’t stand behind him. Going off his own actions, we have to assume he’s probably in agreement with them:

https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/yCaxsotv6n

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 9, 2026

His stance on the genocide isn’t the only time Burnham has proven to be non-committal or right-wing in this by-election campaign either:

• Burnham ‘to support’ Mahmood’s racist immigration changes.
• Burnham is silent on wealth taxes – not a promising sign from potential PM.
• Andy Burnham’s role with Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank just shows he’s more of the same.
• Burnham WON’T back proportional representation this parliament.
• Shapeshifting Burnham ditches trans rights to panic-grab Reform votes.
• Burnham slammed for saying he won’t renationalise Thames Water.

Free Palestine

Before the genocide, Israel subjected Palestinians in Gaza to decades of apartheid. And they did so with support of the political establishment in Western countries like the UK.

For many of us, this status quo cannot continue. And if politicians like Andy Burnham don’t learn that lesson, they’re going to have a problem come the next general election.

Featured image via Christopher Furlong (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link