There are few things more taken for granted in my humble kitchen than my seemingly never-ending supply of black pepper.

Ideal as a topper for salads, scrambled eggs or even just a plate of chips, black pepper is present in most of the meals I prepare. However, I’d never once considered where it actually comes from.

In fact, much like pasta and tea bags, I assumed it just came as part of having a kitchen, tbh.

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Where black pepper actually comes from

According to McCormick Science Institute: ”Black pepper is native to Malabar, a tropical region on the Western Coast of Southern India (part of the Indian state of Kerala).

“The pepper vine is a perennial ivy-like climber which adheres itself to a support tree or man-made structure.”

Schwartz explained: “The black peppercorn is a small berry picked just as it ripens from green to red: the centre is a white seed which contains more piperine and gives the pepper its heat and bite, while the black husk is the flesh of the fruit and gives the fruity, floral aromatic character.”

However, the spice experts added that while black pepper is best when it’s been crushed by pestle and mortar or a peppermill, you need to act quickly to maintain that punchy flavour.

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They said: “Once crushed, the punchy, volatile oils concealed inside each corn soon evaporate.

“Be sure to add towards the end of cooking, or at the table – which can add a certain amount of finesse when serving. A natural companion to steak in particular, its natural flavour is enhanced by heat, and its distinct, woody aroma is instantly recognisable to many.”

I’ll never take my trusty black pepper for granted again.

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Showing that political fundraising doesn’t have to be all fancy dinners and shady crypto-related windfalls, the Green Party is instead heading for the dancefloor.

Green Space is taking its “party with purpose” model to Bristol this month, as the community and culture project builds what organisers describe as a repeatable, transparent and people-powered fundraising model for Green politics.

The Bristol event, taking place at Sawmills on Sunday 26 July 2026, will be the fourth Green Space party in the series, following two events in London and one in Leeds.

Putting the party into Green Party

Together, the first three events have raised around £37,000 for campaigning:

• Approximately £13,000 for London Greens at Heaven.
• £17,000 for Leeds Green Party.
• £7,000 for the national Green Party of England and Wales at The Cause in London.

The Bristol edition marks the next stage in proving the model can be built out beyond one-off city events, with locally rooted events raising money for local Green Parties while also supporting the wider national movement across the country.

The format offers a sharp contrast to traditional political fundraising, which is often a world of private dinners, big donors and closed-door access. Green Space events are publicly ticketed, culturally led and help people connect to politics through music, community and joy rather than formal party meetings or high-cost donor events.

The Bristol party will raise money for Bristol Green Party, with tickets accessibly priced at £10 – £15. Confirmed speakers include Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and climate justice activist Dominique “Domi” Palmer, with more speakers to be announced.

The event will also feature a large DJ line-up spanning drum and bass, jungle, techno, hardcore, and bass – sounds long associated with Bristol’s pioneering music scene.

Confirmed DJ line-up:

• Anna Prank b2b Junction 17.
• Amen4Tekno.
• Euphonique.
• DJ Hybrid.
• DJ Gurl Power.
• El-Ze b2b Josie Bee.
• Gucci Libre.
• Hardcore Energy.
• Hypershé b2b Mousai.
• IffyHype.
• Origin8a & Propa b2b Buckfast Boys Club.
• REVRT.
• Tommy Leng (My Nu Leng).
• Visla.
• Lobsta B.
• Daunder.
• Das Ist Vas x Engineer.

More artists TBA.

Polanski said:

Politics shouldn’t be funded in private rooms – and only by people who can afford expensive dinners. What Green Space is showing is that there is another way that is open, transparent, joyful and rooted in community.

These events are more than just about raising money – they are changing who politics feels like it belongs to. A ticket to a day party should never be dismissed as less serious than a private donor dinner.

In many ways, it is more democratic. It brings people together. It is transparent about what it is raising money for. And it gives people a way into politics that feels alive rather than alienating.

It’s great to see events supporting local Green Parties and helping build a national movement powered by people, culture and hope.

Niall Moore, co-founder of Green Space, said:

Bristol is the beating heart of what we’re trying to build. This is a city with deep roots in club culture, climate justice, community organising and Green politics. It represents the spirit and the sound of the movement we are building.

Whilst this event is about raising money for the local Bristol Green Party, it’s also about making politics feel social, creative and open again. We want people to leave Sawmills feeling like they’ve been part of something joyful, local and politically meaningful.

British politics is being pulled apart by hate and division. We’re putting it back together with love and community.

Green Space aims to widen political participation by reaching people who may care about issues ranging from climate, housing, inequality and public services, but may feel alienated by traditional routes into politics.

Organisers hope the Bristol edition will show how the model can be adapted city by city, connecting national politics with local music scenes, venues and communities.

Profit from ticket sales goes directly to the Bristol Green Parties. You can get tickets to the event here (£10 / £15).

Featured image supplied

By The Canary

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Reform and its backers are on something of a tear right now. With the scandals mounting, they’re doing everything they can to deflect and distract. And it seems ‘everything they can’ includes literally calling the police:

Retweeted by Isabel Oakeshott.

Very obvious that if Reform come to power, they will lock people up for criticising them. pic.twitter.com/6Vtf4f5HYq

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) July 13, 2026

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The relevance of Isabel Oakeshott is that she’s the partner of Reform deputy Richard Tice. She’s also a self-proclaimed free speech warrior. And that’s not surprising, of course, because she’s far from the first such person to call for the oppression of speech they don’t like.

At risk

As we reported, Reform politicians are doing everything they can to convince the public that Nigel Farage’s life is being put at risk. It’s not being put at risk because his rivals are stirring up violence, though (something Farage himself stands accused of); it’s being put at risk because journalists are applying scrutiny to the man’s many ongoing scandals.

Now, Reform’s backers have gone full Karen by literally calling the police. As you can see above, an account has referred Dan Hodges of the Daily Mail to the police. According to them, scrutinising the far-right Farage qualifies as “harassment” that could “incite others against him and the party”.

Here are some of tweets that the boys in blue may soon be scrolling over:

Think it's worth repeating. Zia Yusuf claimed no state support was being offered to Reform MPs for protection. In reality, Nigel Farage was offered a car, a trained driver, a bodyguard, and security on a similar level to that offered Kemi Badenoch. That's quite the deception.

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) July 14, 2026

But Hodges isn’t backing down:

"Your party has been spewing reckless hate for Reform. Starmer said Reform are not fit to be in government". So saying Reform are not fit to form a government now represents "reckless hate". As I said, this is all part of a coordinated effort to prevent legitimate scrutiny. https://t.co/5ekoOZph3s

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) July 14, 2026

Oh, that. No, you guys are deliberately trying to deflect from the £5m donation. That's self-evident. I'm not going to be apologising for that. I'm going to keep repeating it. https://t.co/dQQrfiy364

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) July 14, 2026

If you’re unfamiliar with Hodges, he’s someone who pisses everyone off (for us, his atrocious takes on Palestine). We’ve never called for his arrest, though, and we’re part of the ‘censorious left’, apparently! Reform UK, meanwhile, sells itself as a bastion of free speech.

Here’s what Tice said about us last month in response to an article from 2020:

Is this you Canary?
Do you now accept cancel culture exists?
Would you like some help from us who are Right?
Even though you have been utterly foul to us ? https://t.co/bIVrULwQwk

— Richard Tice MP (@TiceRichard) June 30, 2026

He’s lucky we didn’t call the police on him, honestly; apparently you can do that when your feelings get hurt now.

The article above did draw a distinction between actual oppression (e.g. the state arresting a journalist for doing their job) and irrelevant oppression (e.g. people calling you names online). So it’s not like we ever denied the existence of authoritarianism. We know it exists, and we know we’re looking at would-be authoritarians in Reform UK.

Inscrutable

Needless to say, all politicians face scrutiny. The billionaire-funded Reform is facing a lot of scrutiny right now, and the signs are that it’s eroding the party’s support. In response, Reform and Reform-linked journalists are lashing out.

Farage and the far-right may not like the heat directed at them, but they’ve had no problem directing it at others. On 13 July, we covered that Reform’s Zia Yusuf was complaining about the criticism his party faces. As Willem Moore noted:

If you’re going to label people ‘traitors’ — as Zia Yusuf has — then people are going to get angry. If you’re going to claim successive governments have overseen an ‘invasion’ — as he has — then tensions are going to rise.

Politicians who stoke fear and division think they can ride the wave, but hatred is more like a fire than a sea. And people who play with fire get burned.

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As Owen Jones said, it seems clear that Reform and its politicians will pursue authoritarian politics should they take power. This is despite their insistence that they will defend free speech; an example of that being the following response from Reform’s Matt Goodwin to Jones:

Unlikely given Reform is the only party completely committed to the restoration of free speech. What some of your Green party colleagues would do to you if the Islamo-Greens ever come to power is a far more interesting question, Owen.

The ‘Islamo-Greens’, he says, because he’s a racist, little gobsh*te.

People in turn replied to Goodwin:

“committed to the restoration of free speech.”

Hmmm … pic.twitter.com/xZpa0FwqlI

— M4rty (@M4rtyman) July 13, 2026

Jones responded too, noting:

Bollocks.

Reform is committed to banning protests against Israel's genocide.

Why?

Because Reform claims they are "inciting hate and violence".

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They will use this smear to shut down other protests and arrest dissidents. https://t.co/ECN6AB6jNQ

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) July 13, 2026

‘Free speech for me but not for thee‘ as they say.

Reform UK’s authoritarian streak

Reform is a party run by would-be fascists, so none of this surprises us. The casual calls for arrests should come as a stark warning to the British people, though; especially the ones who care about their democratic rights and freedoms.

Oh, and before we go, we should note that Oakeshott lives in Dubai — a country where modern slavery is rife, as well as restrictions on free speech. The alleged human trafficker Tristan Tate spends a lot of time in Dubai too, and Richard Tice was reposting him just the other day. Again, this is no surprise, because these people don’t believe in anything besides money and getting their own way. And if they need to use state violence to guarantee their rights to either, they will do.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

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The observant among you may have noticed that the mainstream media have recently rounded on Reform UK and Nigel Farage. Interestingly, the outlets ganging up on Reform include the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s the Times:

Pleased as I am to see the Murdoch and Rothermere press attacking Farage as stridently as they previously lavished praise on him, I can't help wondering what has brought on the recent U-turn

— David__Osland (@David__Osland) July 13, 2026

Reform: right-on-right violence

The broader strokes of what these outlets are reporting on are things independent journalists began covering years ago. The Times and others have certainly unveiled new information, but said information could have come out years ago had the will been there. As such, it’s understandable people are asking ‘why now?‘

The Times have broken a series of stories on Farage and Reform’s financial matters in recent months. With each new story comes fresh scrutiny for Reform, and with further scrutiny comes panic. As a result, Reform is looking less and less like the next party of government and more and more like the defendants in an upcoming legal proceeding.

Among those questioning the reality we find ourselves in is author of The Fraud Paul Holden, who said:

This is fascinating to watch. I’m not sure I understand the more subtle dynamics at play on the British right, but it does seem like Farage and Reform and the Murdoch press are openly at war.

It might be at least partially reactive, but it does also seem that Farage, Tice etc. have decided that they can win power without the Murdoch press: that a combination of social media and the support of the Paul Marshall stable (GB News/Spectator) is enough to get them over the line.

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From the outside it looks like the clash of two fractions of the right-wing power structure and eco-system, similar to how Trump faced down (and then subdued) the Fox News/Republican eco-system, and how it is resolved will have massive implications for the viability of Reform and the make-up of the next government.

My strong hunch is that it’s not going to go well for Reform!

Holden was responding to the following tweet from Reform deputy Richard Tice:

The Times Group:

You are sick

Your contempt bordering on hatred of Nigel, myself & Reform means you stoop to any low to smear & discredit us. You lie, libel and make things up.

How many more Reform politicians do you want dead?

Shame on you https://t.co/LnCCZ4YEqi

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— Richard Tice MP (@TiceRichard) July 13, 2026

As one commenter noted, Tice is making the above argument while simultaneously using the sort of language he’s complaining about being used against him:

In March 2026, Richard Tice said: “Starmer and Labour… are traitors to Britain.”

Tice knows better than most that being called a “traitor” carries severe social, psychological, and sometimes violent or even fatal consequences.

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Just hours after Nigel Farage launched the… https://t.co/bBJYZZTnFH pic.twitter.com/KSq709XdmW

— GET A GRIP (@docrussjackson) July 13, 2026

The Daily Mail

It’s not just the Times who are giving Reform UK a hard time; the Daily Mail is also putting the boot in:

Nigel has lost the daily mail. pic.twitter.com/MqIUI4gNxf

— Daniel Lismore (@daniellismore) July 12, 2026

This is despite a big recent donation from the establishment family behind this vilest of vile rags:

Only last year, the wife of Mail on Sunday owner Lord Rothermere donated £50,000 to Reform UK. I'm sure Nigel Farage can live with a bit of criticism from Dan Hodges, although that is not a lot of money by his standards.

— David__Osland (@David__Osland) July 13, 2026

End of the line

Providing a theory on the turn against Farage, the popular commentator known as the Flying Rodent said:

Times is bored of playing with Farage now, and it’s telling him to get back in his box pic.twitter.com/XpFmugEEYp

— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) July 13, 2026

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving person of course, but it really is an abysmal way to manage national affairs: having the worst people in the country build up and tear down all kinds of very unpleasant right wing frauds, out of pure self-interest and expediency.

— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) July 13, 2026

Clearly, Farage has failed to win the confidence of the billionaires who own the ‘free’ British press. As such, maybe it’s time that the right acknowledge what we did years ago; that for democracy to exist, we can’t have the majority of the media owned by a handful of major c*nts.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

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MPs gathered on the banks of the Thames on 13 July, calling for Thames Water to go into special administration.

They’re among the 112 MPs who have signed an open letter to the environment secretary and Ofwat. It calls for Thames Water to be placed into special administration without delay.

The company, which has a debt pile of nearly £20bn, is on the brink of collapse. Since June 2025, Thames Water’s creditors, a group of US hedge funds, have been negotiating with Ofwat to formally take over the utility.

As part of the proposed deal, the creditors want to waive fines until 2030. And they want to suspend or ‘significantly modify’ pollution and performance targets. The creditors also want to raise bills for households beyond the level currently set by Ofwat.

Thames Water deal is unfair

Last month, environment secretary Emma Reynolds wrote to Ofwat objecting to the current terms of the deal. She stated that it poses unfair costs to consumers. But the water regulator itself has yet to reject the deal.

This comes as the utility approaches the 16 July deadline for submitting its financial results. If the deal doesn’t happen, Thames Water’s precarious finances might trigger a ‘going concern’ warning from the auditor. This could place the utility in special administration.

Prime minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham has previously said that Thames Water ‘should’ be nationalised. And he has put forward a potential 10-year plan for public ownership of the water industry.

53 Liberal Democrats have signed the open letter, along with 46 Labour MPs, six independents (at the time of signing), all five Greens and one MP each from Plaid Cymru and the Conservative Party.

It argues that allowing Thames Water, which was responsible for a third of the worst pollution incidents in 2025, to set its own rules would create a dangerous precedent for all of England’s privatised water companies.

It also argues that special administration will allow the government to write off a greater proportion of Thames Water’s debts. And this would secure a better deal for the public purse.

Sophie Conquest, lead campaigner at We Own It, said:

Right now, this government and Ofwat are at a crossroads. They can choose to line the pockets of US hedge funds with our money. Or, they can put households and the environment first.

This is a decision which will affect every single household in England. Signing off on this deal would be to sign off on a whole new low in standards across the water sector.

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That’s why 109 MPs, from across the country and from across political parties, have added their names to the open letter calling for special administration.

The environment secretary’s objection to the creditors’ proposal on the grounds of its unfairness for consumers is absolutely right.

The next logical step is to put Thames Water out of its misery, and place it in special administration, where we can slash the debts, and put households and the environment first.

Andy Burnham has promised to secure greater public control of life’s essentials. There is no clearer test of whether he will keep that promise than what happens next to Thames Water.

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Featured image via We Own It

By The Canary

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