Okay, I am sick of writing about this ‘Amelia’ AI schoolgirl now. But yet again, it appears a far-right group has adopted this fake child as some kind of mascot.

Although this time, it’s a group of women. Odd.

We’re fed up of the safety of women and girls being sacrificed for the comfort of migrant men.

WE ARE ALL AMELIA! The movement has just begun. pic.twitter.com/p7QtuPtLVy

— Women’s Safety Initiative (@WomenSafety_UK) February 7, 2026

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Why are you cosplaying as a literal schoolgirl?

You see, the issue I have with the far right using Amelia as some kind of mascot is where this avatar came from.

Amelia is a purple haired goth girl, and she wasn’t born in some racist WhatsApp group. She was created by the government to be a part of a video game called Pathways which taught kids about extremism.

Oh, and she’s a fucking college-aged child. 16 to 18 years old. Yet the amount of knuckle-draggers on the internet sexualising her is absolutely disgusting:

Amelia’s emergence over the last week was explosive, injecting a sexually charged, romantic energy into British nationalism. AI image generation enables ownerless memetic characters to be collaboratively generated faster than ever before. Amelia was the first to step through this… pic.twitter.com/NAbBxERJOw

— John Carter (@martianwyrdlord) January 17, 2026

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#Amelia #ai pic.twitter.com/yJeFEizMXU

— ASHURA (@Ashura_GG) February 2, 2026

She’s meant to be a fucking child. Yet here we see the Women’s Safety Initiative cosplaying as her and drinking a pint.

Come on girls, do better. When you put yourself under a banner of protect all women, surely you shouldn’t be masquerading as a fucking child whilst doing so?

Let’s look a little deeper at who is in that video

On closer inspection, you can see the founder and director of Women’s Safety Initiative, Jess Gill, right there in the video. And she loved it:

“Anon, why didn’t I see you at the mass deportation protest?” https://t.co/j9QjnYEwUA pic.twitter.com/W2wV53Y2k3

— Jess (@jessgill03) February 7, 2026

Bit weird.

Jess, who claims to be British but hates everything about British food, has become a polarising figure at demonstrations. I mean, surely if you’re going to attend a demo to ‘protect our women’ with the racist Pink Ladies, you wouldn’t be happy to share a space with ex-Reform MP and known wife beater James McMurdoch?

Well done to the Pink Ladies in Chelmsford today.

This brave lot are standing up for the safety of women and girls. The shame of course is that they shouldn’t be having to do this at all.

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“I’m not far right. I’m worried about my kids” pic.twitter.com/8ZlhHk1eTk

— James McMurdock MP (@JMcMurdockMP) November 22, 2025

Now you’re cosplaying as an underage teen girl and quaffing pints?

Using women’s rights for political clout

As a woman, I am absolutely sick to fucking death of the far right using women’s safety as a weapon.

I don’t get it guys. When 97% of rape claims have not even been brought to charge, why are these women playing dress up as a kid? And a goth kid at that? I thought you hated bright coloured hair?

Can we stop dressing up as heavily sexualised kids as some kind of icon and actually focus on the absolute state of policing? Rape is borderline legal in the UK now when you look at conviction rates, and it pisses me off that these far right women don’t actually give a fuck. The only time they care about women is when they’re whipping up hatred against migrants.

Using attacks against women to hide your racism is fucking disgusting.

Featured image via X

You’d think that Blairites would be wary of ex-military personnel. After all, Tony Blair unites most War on Terror veterans on one thing only: a deep contempt for Tony Blair. But this isn’t the whole picture when it comes to Labour.

In recent days, ex-special forces soldier-turned-defence minister Alistair Carns has been touted a possible replacement for Keir Starmer. Starmer is currently hanging on to power by a thread after revelations about Peter Mandelson’s friendship with serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein.

Someone has even reportedly registered a webpage for Carns’ leadership bid, according to the centrist New Statesman. The paper describes Carns as a “dark horse”, adding that:

Supporters believe that his background as a colonel in the Royal Marines will help Labour win back support it has lost under Starmer.

And this is the key point. It is Carns’ background as a colonel in the Royal Marines that makes him a good shout. Not his commitment to democracy, or ethics in public life, or his values. He may have all of these, but Carns is appealing to some on the basis of his military credentials. That reveals something important which well-meaning socialists may miss about the nature of the Labour Party…

Labour party’s military fetish

Carns’ main draw is the nonsensical view that a former military man could sort out Britain’s political mess.

If I even need to say it again, there is nothing about military service which guarantees someone will be a good MP. At least no more than someone being a good nurse, or binman, or, God forbid, journalist.

I mean…have we already forgotten about Johnny Mercer? And let’s not forget the track record of the British military in Iraq — an abject failure and a stain on Blair and new Labour.

But weird soldier fetishism isn’t new and often rears its head. I first noticed it with Labour security minister Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer who served in Afghanistan.

Jarvis’ military credentials were routinely flaunted as if they qualified him to lead the country — even during the Corbyn days. And almost always by people, including journalists, who’d never worn a uniform.

Now there are all kinds of explanations for this. I enjoy the lowbrow ones. For example, Blairites are basically fantasist dweebs who read too many Andy McNab books. Or perhaps the authoritarian nature of the military appeals to their own Stalinist leanings. Or it could be a residual sense of our own imperial history that makes some  yearn for the power and status which accompanied those times.

These might all be true in part. But I also think that soldier-worshipping holds up a mirror to the Labour Party. It reminds me of a passage in Richard Seymour’s book ‘Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics‘ (2016).

Seymour asked, at a time when Labour’s future was being fought over, if the Labour Party is Marxist (we can laugh now)? Or is it, as Tony Blair said at the time, built on some sort of dusty English Methodism.

Seymour’s answer is that it was neither:

What seems to have more enduring significance for the distinctive shape and trajectory of the Labour Party is its origins in Victorian Liberalism.

This offers a far better explanation of why the party is so in love with militarism and war. It’s because the party is still operating on Windows 1870.

Seymour goes on:

In fact, whatever else changed about the Labour Party in this era, one of its abiding attributes was to be the priority it accorded to the interests of the ‘nation’, and the deference it accorded to extant constitutional arrangements and military commitments.

He adds that:

Those Labour MPs who, today, find simply unthinkable the break-up of the United Kingdom, the repudiation of Trident, and the end of the ‘special relationship’ with the United States, are in fact authentic legatees of their party’s traditions.

The truth is, Starmer and his allies, are right in their assessment that the Labour Party — a militarist party of capital and empire — is theirs by right. And with this in mind, why wouldn’t centrists get excited about Carns as a candidate?

While it might seem a little out of date, that book is worth picking up ten years on. Because it leaves you in no doubt that the Labour Party was never ours to begin with. And, in all honesty, given it is wedded to empire to the degree that it is, why the hell would you even want it anyway?

Featured image via the Canary

Once again, Reform have publicly shit the bed, and this time it’s over Bangor University. Well, more specifically, the Bangor Debating and Political society, but that didn’t stop Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf threatening the whole fucking uni:

Bangor University have banned Reform and called us “racist, transphobic and homophobic”.

Bangor receives £30 million in state funding a year, much of which comes from Reform-voting taxpayers.

I am sure they won’t mind losing every penny of that state funding under a Reform… pic.twitter.com/piUPlBzEcY

— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) February 9, 2026

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Very normal behaviour there, Yusuf.

Well done Bangor, you’ve pissed off Reform

Personally, I would like to say well done to the debate society. But members of Reform massively shit the bed over it, including wannabe councillor Nick Pritchard:

The only issue I have with Pritchard kicking off is why in the name of hell does anyone care about the opinion of a man who “fabricated allegations” about a local resident trying to procure someone to shoot him?

Pritchard, mate, you’re in no position to debate anyone.

And of course Richard Tice spat his dummy out about it:

Simple

In line with our values, if Bangor Uni does not believe in free speech, then British taxpayers should not have to fund them.

Perhaps remove all government funding and no student loans for Bangor students

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The phone will ring very soon https://t.co/3ZmtmbXea8

— Richard Tice MP 🇬🇧 (@TiceRichard) February 10, 2026

This is the same Tice who recently claimed we should ban children with sensory issues from wearing ear defenders in school.

Not a man who should be commenting on anything educational, it seems.

’30p Lee’ Anderson, meanwhile, made it clear that Reform are making threats:

This gives me a great idea on how to save the taxpayer £30 million.

We’re coming for you. https://t.co/QRu61qJCG0

— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) February 10, 2026

I mean, all the evidence is there

Credit where credit is due, Labour MP for Bangor Claire Hughes called out Reform for being pathetic.

Reform offer nothing but division.

Fancy accusing Bangor University of “banning” Reform and issuing threats. All because a debating society turned them down…?

Pathetic. We will fight them all the way. https://t.co/XLXKl0yTQI

— Claire Hughes (@clairehughesBA) February 9, 2026

Threatening to remove funding to a university purely because one of their societies called you racist is absolutely wild. Especially when Reform absolutely seem to be racist: e.g. when Reform MP Sarah Pochin complained there were too many Black and Asian people in adverts.

I think this is a case of ‘there’s no smoke without fire’. And the embedded racism in Reform is an inferno.

All of this screaming about free speech, but Reform have to learn that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequence.

Featured image via Bangor University PigeonCowSheepGoatBaaa (Wikimedia)

Urgh, I already hated Kid Rock, because he’s always seemed like a greasy nonce. Now, a newly resurfaced clip seems to confirm it:

BREAKING: Disturbing video of Kid Rock has resurfaced, as he wonders why American men were waiting for the then-14 year old Olsen twins to turn 18. “if there’s grass on the field, play ball!”

That’s who MAGA supports. https://t.co/qrEJw40Spr

— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) February 10, 2026

And shit like this makes me so fucking angry.

Has anyone even listened to Kid Rock’s lyrics?

How the hell did people not pick up on this? In 2001, for the kids film Osmosis Jones, Rock sang the following on track ‘Cool Daddy, Cool’:

Young ladies, young ladies. I like ’em underage see? Some say that’s statutory but I say it’s mandatory.

Excuse me, but what the fuck?

It’s not just actual confirmation that Rock is attracted to children, but also how the fuck were these lyrics allowed in a kids film?

How many checks did this pass? How many executives listened to these exact lyrics and thought ‘oh yeah, they’re perfect for a kids film‘.

Rock was 30 years old at the time.

Reminder that Kid Rock did a song for a children’s cartoon where he said he liked underage girls https://t.co/dUjiEJGbXo pic.twitter.com/7nY8X0Fd5k

— evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) February 12, 2025

Stop platforming these predators

Kid Rock has been in the news because he performed at Turning Point USA’s Superbowl half-time alternative. As we reported, Rock’s performance did not go down well:

all that build up for a man that couldn’t lip sync to his own song :/ https://t.co/dm3i7ESawi

— matt (@mattxiv) February 9, 2026

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Viewership numbers:

Bad Bunny – 127 million
Turning Point – 5 million

Let’s all take a moment to point and laugh at their puny safe space LOLOL 😂🫵🏾

— Isaiah Martin (@isaiahrmartin) February 9, 2026

It’s incredibly evident by the viewing numbers that people weren’t impressed with the predator-packed halftime show. Who wants to watch a saggy old nonce pretending to sing?

But cancelling people such as Rock isn’t enough. We need to be actively rejecting these losers in a bigger way.

There’s no room for predators in music or in politics, and it’s time to get them out.

Featured image via needpix

Military tech firm Palantir are hosting a lavish party at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to celebrate their massive new contract. The firm’s founders, who have expressed far-right and anti-democratic views, seemed pleased at having penetrated the highest echelons of the British state. And their takeover has disgraced Labour politician Peter Mandelson’s fingerprints all over it.

In a bizarre twist, the head of MI5 just warned about Chinese infiltration of British universities. But not a word was uttered about how a CIA-linked, Trump-aligned military data firm has penetrated British military and health infrastructure.

The Times reported on 10 February 2026:

Senior military officers and civil servants have been invited to the evening reception in Mayfair on Wednesday to mark the company’s £241 million three-year deal to “boost military AI and innovation”.

As well as UK military contracts, Palantir has also penetrated the National Health Service (NHS). And both the Labour and the previous Conservative government have gladly invited them in.

An invitation seen by The Times said:

Join us for an evening reception as we reflect on our decade-long support of the armed forces, thank those who have been part of the journey and look towards an ever more ambitious new chapter — one that will deliver cutting-edge data and AI capabilities to UK defence, establish London as our European defence headquarters, and see investment in British innovation, jobs and national security.

Other military and arms firms like Babcock will also demonstrate their wares at the event.

Palantir have a Mandelson link

Disgraced peer Peter Mandelson was a key architect of the deal. The Guardian described the situation succinctly:

Palantir, a $300bn company that provides military technology to the Israel Defense Forces and AI-powered deportation targeting for Donald Trump’s ICE units, has UK government contracts worth more than £500m. Global Counsel, a lobbying company Mandelson co-founded and part-owns, also works for Palantir.

UK PM Keir Starmer, who is hanging on by a thread over allegations he knew about Mandelson’s links to Epstein before making him US ambassador, visited Palantir HQ in February 2025. That meeting was allegedly brokered by Mandelson:

But there is no formal record of what was said. The Foreign Office says it holds no emails confirming the arrangements.

Defence secretary John Healey has defended the £240m deal. Palantir has up to £500m in UK contracts overall:

Peter Mandelson has no influence on any MoD contracts. The Palantir decision was mine.

Adding:

did not appear in the prime minister’s register of visits and came to light later in subsequent disclosures.

The Times reported:

Palantir was and still is a client of Global Counsel, the lobbying firm that Mandelson co-founded. His shares are in the process of being divested and Mandelson would not have financially benefitted from the deal, it is understood.

Thiel and Karp

Alex Karp and Peter Thiel are the most prominent figures at Palantir. Both Karp and Thiel are linked to Donald Trump. Their politics are openly far-right. And now they have access to great swathes of the British state, including defence and health. In a bizarre twist, Palantir’s UK chief is Louis Mosley – grandson of British fascist leader Oswald Mosley.

As Action on Armed Violence‘s Iain Overton warned on April 2025:

But make no mistake: Palantir is no neutral software vendor. It is the digital vanguard of a globalised military-industrial complex that sees citizens not as people to be protected, but as data points to be mapped, managed — and monetised. It’s own tag line (according to a series of posters recently put up in University campuses) is “We build to dominate.”

And let’s be clear, this is no mere tech firm. Palantir is another example of the imperial boomerang, born out of the War on Terror and the CIA:

Palantir grew rich off the back of the post-9/11 security state, with seed funding from the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel. It developed its tools in tandem with US intelligence, border enforcement, and drone warfare programmes.

Overton added:

It helped track “terrorists” abroad, surveil migrants at home, and model crime in cities riddled by systemic inequality.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has railed against Palantir’s role in the NHS:

And advocacy group, the Citizens, is currently lobbying for a full debate on Palantir’s UK contracts:

Despite the company’s deep embedding in government systems, there has been no comprehensive scrutiny of costs, data governance, ethical risks or national sovereignty.

They also warned:

Internationally, Palantir has been linked to controversial immigration enforcement in the US, criticised for its role in military operations in Gaza, and rejected by authorities in Switzerland over data and dependency concerns.

The British government, shaky as it is, seems absolutely determined to keep Palantir onboard. The situation is frankly bizarre. For example, the head of MI5 has just issued a warning that Chinese intelligence is trying to infiltrate British universities. Ken McCallum also announced a £3m round of measures to secure UK educational institutions. Yet Palantir, a foreign firm with deep links to the intelligence agencies of the current crackpot US regime, has taken over parts of the UK’s critical defence infrastructure and services – and been paid handsomely for the pleasure.

Featured image via the Canary

On social media, Green party leader Zack Polanski used a single word to tear apart Keir Starmer’s ‘I’m not resigning because I’m noble‘ shtick.

Polanski: “Mandates…”

Mandates…. https://t.co/GaJxZPf8xL pic.twitter.com/rNZeUQBubE— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 10, 2026

Indeed, Starmer was elected Labour leader on a mandate to carry out policies that party members support. But as soon as Starmer became Labour leader he gradually ditched every single one of those pledges — as Polanski highlighted.

Starmer tore up his mandate

On the pledge sheet sent to Labour members, Starmer promised raising income tax on the top 5% of earners. But in September 2023, the MP for Holborn and St Pancras walked that back, stating there would be no increase. It was a lie and Polanski is right to point this out.

He also pledged “support[ing] the abolition of tuition fees”. Instead, Labour has raised tuition fees by £285 — another lie. This should reduce Starmer’s mandate to tatters and he should be recalled for another election.

It’s increasingly clear that words mean very little to Starmer. He also promised that he would “put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do”.

And yet again, in February 2024, the Labour leader dropped a £28bn per year commitment to green energy. And in government, he’s propping up fossil fuel firms with £22bn for carbon capture projects that don’t even work.

Another pledge from Starmer was “no more illegal wars” and to:

“put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.

But the Labour government has provided diplomatic cover, arms, and logistic support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. So that’s another lie.

Starmer also claimed that “public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water.”

But in similar form, he dropped plans to re-nationalise energy, mail and water. On rail, Labour is only nationalising the services, not the actual trains themselves. We will still rent those from rolling stock companies.

Another betrayed pledge was to “defend free movement as we leave the EU”. But in November 2022, he reversed his position. He branded free movement a “red-line” that “won’t come back under my government”.

Under another, Starmer expressed his commitment to working:

shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people.

But then he demanded that his shadow cabinet do not join picket lines.

Resign

With these broken pledges in mind, the lies are stacking up, and Starmer should have resigned long ago.

In the UK, manifestos and commitments are treated as a joke — a means used by politicians to slide into power. Given the current state of UK politics, the public has grown attuned to these lies, but we must hold the elite to account and demand better — for all!

Featured image via the Canary 

US president Donald Trump is determined to starve Cuba of oil in his bid for control of the Western hemisphere. Cuba buys oil from Mexico despite heavy US sanctions. Now Trump is threatening to hit Mexico with tariffs.

Trump has also been channeling a mix of Cold War and War on Terror rhetoric to justify himself. He’s accused Cuba of hosting Russian spies AND Hamas and Hezbollah agents. Any one will do, right?

Trump increasing belligerence

The New York Times reported that although Trump did not name the US’s southern neighbour:

The threat seemed to be directed at Mexico, one of the few countries still delivering oil to Cuba. Earlier this month, he even said that he had specifically asked President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico to cut off its supply.

Mexico is a key regional ally of the Cuban government:

Mexico and Cuba’s long alliance — rooted in economic and cultural cooperation and a shared wariness of U.S. intervention — survived and even deepened after the Cuban Revolution, when Mexico preserved ties with Havana even as much of the region aligned with Washington.

Anti-communism

Trump is no more a fan of having a ‘communist’ nation close by than any other US leader. But his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a son of Cuban refugees, is even more neurotically anti-Cuba.

The Cuban ambassador to the UN Ernesto Soberón Guzmán laid into Rubio in a Newsweek interview on 7 February:

What is clear to me is that Rubio has never come to Cuba, and he’s talking about something he knows nothing about.

He said Rubio’s position was contradictory because of how own family had fled the pre-Castro US-backed regime:

His parents came to the United States before the revolution. It’s false this image people have that they came to the United States running away from the revolution.

They came to the United States fleeing the dictatorship that existed in Cuba, which was supported by the U.S. government at the time, under [then Cuban President Fulgencio] Batista.

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Guzman suspected Cuba lived rent-free in Rubio’s head:

Whether it’s harmful or not, whether it’s clinically harmful or not, whether it’s clinically proven, that’s something you have to find out as a journalist.

But there is a also bigger geopolitical picture beyond the contents of Rubio’s brain.

The bigger picture

Oil politics and the personal obsessions of Trump’s goons clearly play a part in the current situation. It’s also important to recall Cuba was effectively the first colony in what would become the US’s global empire. And US policy now has reverted in some ways to the gunboat diplomacy of an era which saw the US attack Cuba, the Philippines, and China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS) demands control of the hemisphere. In some ways, this is a return to the old Monroe Doctrine which helped drive US empire building in the first place.

The NSS asserts:

The United States must be preeminent in the Western Hemisphere as a condition of our security and prosperity—a condition that allows us to assert ourselves confidently where and when we need to in the region.

For the US, is it ‘our way or the highway’ on the American continent. Or rather: our way or you’ll be starved, shot, drone-struck, and/or kidnapped into submission.

Accusations about foreign influence in Cuba echo the NSS precisely:

Some foreign influence will be hard to reverse, given the political alignments between certain Latin American governments and certain foreign actors.

And at the heart of US strategy, as ever, are the demands of the American market:

The choice all countries should face is whether they want to live in an American-led world of sovereign countries and free economies or in a parallel one in which they are influenced by countries on the other side of the world.

The Trump administration is driven by greed, ego, and a yearning for hegemony. This isn’t so different from its predecessors, Trump and his lackeys are just more open about it. What is different is that the US empire’s decline is rapidly turning into a freefall. And a wounded beast is a dangerous thing, as Cubans and Mexicans are well aware.

Featured image via the Canary

Health secretary and all round wrong ‘un Wes Streeting has revealed his messages with disgraced paedophile’s mate Peter Mandelson. Or at least some of them. It was a huge self-own and more revealing than he may have wished.

Streeting may have been hoping that openness would rescue his ambitions to replace his boss when he is (soon) forced out. However, the resulting disgust and mockery have surely put a final nail in the coffin of that nightmare scenario.

Not least because Streeting’s Mandelson association is just the latest such link.

Streeting was asked by Sky’s Beth Rigby about his messages. It was short and may well have been an exercise intended to neuter the impact of them. But it was still grim:

Streeting might as well have said ‘I am toast at the next election’

However, a look at some detail of the messages reveals not just how chummy the health secretary and Mandelson were, but how terrified Streeting is after almost losing his seat in 2024, as PoliticsUK pointed out in an X post. It exposes Streeting’s own low opinion of his own party. And it proves that Streeting continued to support Starmer despite having lost faith, and deny that Israel is committing genocide, despite knowing otherwise (emphases added):

[28/03/2025, 11:36:06] Wes Streeting: I fear we’re in big trouble here – and I am toast at the next election. We just lost our safest ward in Redbridge (51% Muslim, Ilford S) to a Gaza independent. At this rate I don’t think we’ll hold either of the two Ilford seats.

[28/03/2025, 11:39:54] Wes Streeting: There isn’t a clear answer to the question: why Labour?

[28/03/2025, 11:48:44] Lord Mandelson: The government doesn’t have an economic philosophy which is then followed through in a programme of policies.

[28/03/2025, 11:49:15] Wes Streeting: No growth strategy at all

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“Israel is committing war crimes”

[24/07/2025, 23:00:29] Wes Streeting: Am sure this will come up in coming days, so wanted to check in with you on recognition of Palestine and the domestic politics of it.

Keir’s statement today was excellent, but Macron’s statement tonight ups the ante.

Morally and politically, I think we need to join France.

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Morally, because Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes. Their government talks the language of ethnic cleansing and I have met with our own medics out there who describe the most chilling and distressing scenes of calculated brutality against women and children.

Politically, a Commons vote will be engineered in September on recognition and we will lose it if we’re not ahead of it. There are no circumstances in which people like me or Shabana could abstain or vote against, for example. Conference will be a sea of Palestinian flags and the moderates will be waving them.

We need to be leading the charge on this. The alternative is being dragged there with enormous damage to Keir, the govt and the party.

I’ve never been a shrinking violent on Israel. I’ve supported LFI for over 20 years. Our sister party, Haaretz, and progressives are clear about what’s being done in their name and they oppose it.

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I appreciate these things are always more complicated than they appear to those of us who aren’t up close as you are and I also appreciate how much Keir and David are giving to this personally.

But it is what it is. We need to lead, not follow.

[24/07/2025, 23:11:47] Lord Mandelson: I can see all this but I am worried that such a gesture now could blow a 2 SS out of the water if Israel decided that unilateral recognition justified further WB annexation which the US would be powerless to stop or reverse. That would be the end of it.

So I think we need to employ practical means to get a 2SS, not quickly I grant but realistically [written by Mandelson after almost two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza]. The PA with reform and new leadership can advance this with Arab/US/European support. The alternative is a further deadlocked death spiral on an even greater scale than now.

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[24/07/2025, 23:12:10] Wes Streeting: Israel is doing it anyway.

[24/07/2025, 23:12:39] Wes Streeting: This is rogue state behaviour. Let them pay the price as pariahs with sanctions applied to the state, not just a few ministers.

But Mandelson is far from unique in Streeting’s circle. His former office manager Sam Gould was convicted of child sex offences. One of his closest associates and now fellow MP Jas Athwal was accused of “serious” sexual assault, and the allegations remain murky. Streeting’s colleague Ivor Caplin was arrested in January 2025 in a paedophile sting. His other colleague Conor McGinn has just been charged with sex offences.

At what point does a coincidence become a pattern – one that releasing a few direct messages can’t mask?

As the @solutionsilford X account commented:

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, September 2025 (PA Images / Alamy Live News)

3 min read30 min

Labour activists and MPs who have been door-knocking in the Greater Manchester constituency ahead of the by-election later this month have reported that they are cautiously optimistic that Labour could hold the seat, which some party sources had briefed would be impossible when it was first vacated.

Gorton and Denton is a typically safe Labour area. The party won the constituency with a majority of over 13,000 at the 2024 general election, making it one of 70 seats that Labour won with an absolute majority. Defeat there would represent a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is trying to shore up his position in Downing Street. Both the Greens and Reform UK believe they can win it.

Andrew Gwynne stood down as the seat’s MP last month on health grounds. The former health minister took the decision after he was dismissed from his post and suspended from Labour over leaked offensive messages he sent on a WhatsApp group called “Trigger Me Timbers”.

Burnham announced his intention to seek the Labour candidacy, but he was blocked by the Prime Minister and his allies on the basis that the sitting mayor of Greater Manchester would trigger a costly mayoral by-election if successful in his parliamentary bid.

Although Burnham appeared to dismiss Labour’s chances of winning the by-election, after he was barred from running amid a bitter row, he has become central to the party’s efforts to hold the seat.

Burnham is making regular visits to the campaign trail and is featured prominently on some Labour campaign literature, which also centres the Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia rather than Starmer. 

Angela Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne – another Manchester seat – and former deputy prime minister, is also considered a key asset to the local campaign. She is widely thought to be a potential successor to Starmer, though she gave him her explicit support on Monday.

The Prime Minister has not visited the seat so far, and a well-placed source said he has no plans to do so.

PoliticsHome understands that when canvassers come across a resident who is a Burnham fan on the doorstep, which is described by sources in the area as a frequent occurrence, they can tick a box to indicate that the party should send a letter from the mayor to that constituent.

Multiple people who had door-knocked in the seat said they did not find that the scandal around Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador was being raised by locals, but that residents were proactively bringing up the “Trigger Me Timbers” story and could even name the WhatsApp group.

Labour sources indicated they were increasingly confident of Labour holding the constituency because the party looked like it could be a “strong second” to the Greens and Reform respectively in different wards.

“Our vote in the Muslim community is holding up really well,” reported one Labour MP. “The by-election is anything but written off, and some of it will depend on getting out the vote – where one would assume Labour has an edge.”

“Nobody talked about the selection row, but people did praise Burnham,” they added.

On Monday night, a minister told PoliticsHome that the by-election on 26 February would be the next “trigger point” for the Prime Minister after a call by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar for the Prime Minister to resign failed to trigger a wider move against him.