Politics
The House | These are uncertain times for our steelworkers. They need government on their side

4 min read
Let’s be clear. After long years of neglect and failure under the Tories, we do now have a Labour government which recognises the importance of our steel sector.
We saw that with the historic intervention at British Steel last year, through the decisive action taken to save SSUK from liquidation, and with the publication of the long-awaited steel strategy earlier this year.
Andy Burnham has indicated that steel will be a priority for his government too. Just last week he spoke in Parliament about the importance of protecting the steel industry in South Wales, and insisted that steel will be at the top of the agenda in upcoming trade talks with the European Union.
We welcome this signal of intent, but steelworkers know that words mean little if they are not backed up with meaningful action.
Community is a Labour-affiliated union and proud of it. But that doesn’t mean we will shy away from challenging any government – including this Labour government – to ensure that we get the best possible outcomes for our members.
And let’s make no bones about it, many of our members across the steel industry are hurting and feel frustrated. Sites that are critical national assets – and which ultimately sit at the heart of the government’s steel strategy – are facing huge uncertainty.
Workers at SSUK’s plants in South Yorkshire – where green steel technologies produce high-quality products for aerospace, power generation and industrial engineering – want clarity about what the future holds. If the preferred bidder for SSUK is unable to step up, then the government must be prepared to nationalise these strategically important businesses.
There’s similar uncertainty at Liberty’s Dalzell site, where chronic problems with supply over recent years have often left the workforce unable to get on with their job of producing the best steel plate on the market. Dalzell has a long history of supporting the defence industry, and with the right modernisation can power the burgeoning offshore wind industry for years to come. The government cannot sit by and let the country’s only remaining plate mill struggle – or tolerate foreign steel plate being used in defence contracts.
Tata’s Llanwern works produces some of the highest-quality galvanised steel money can buy, and is a key part of the supply chain for the UK’s automotive sector. At present, the increase in duty-free steel imports from Asia is posing a real threat to the plant, and the government must adopt a more robust approach to ensure that the sustainability of this historic works is not jeopardised. The current situation – with nearby Newport docks piled high with cheap galvanised steel imports from Vietnam – is completely unacceptable.
At Tata Steel, it is imperative that we see Port Talbot grow and develop beyond the construction of the new Electric Arc Furnace (EAF). Government has a vital role to play in ensuring that Tata fulfils its promises for investment at Port Talbot and at downstream sites including Llanwern, Trostre, Corby, Shotton, Wolverhampton and Hartlepool.
At Port Talbot, with delays to the grid connection delaying the EAF going live, government must work with the unions to hold Tata to their commitments to maintain employment levels across the business. Our members have been through more than enough pain and turmoil, and they will not pay the price for failures to meet the agreed timeline for the EAF.
And at British Steel, nationalisation – which we fully supported – is not a panacea. We need to see a long-term plan in place for the future of the business, which will be absolutely central to the government’s plans to invest in British rail and for major infrastructure projects like a new runway at Heathrow.
The government also need to deliver on some of the longstanding issues which have plagued the entire UK steel sector. This must include further action on procurement and trade, and addressing the burden of eyewatering industrial energy costs, which continue to place our steelmakers at a huge competitive disadvantage against the French and Germans.
We need robust climate measures to protect us from dirty steel imports, and meaningful incentives to ensure that steel from these shores is used for defence, energy and infrastructure projects. And we need a firm commitment from the government that it is committed to maintaining primary steelmaking capacity in the UK for the long-term, with all technological options remaining on the table.
This isn’t just about policy, it’s about people and the communities our steel sector supports. It’s also about the kind of nation we want to be.
With the right support from government, there is no reason why steel sites across the UK should not have a bright future – demand for steel is rising, and will continue to rise as we move towards a greener economy.
Letting our steel industry wither on the vine would not just be uneconomical and unthinkable – it would be unforgivable.
Alasdair McDiarmid is Community Assistant General Secretary
Politics
Splits Emerge In Reform Over Masked Anti-Migration Protesters
Splits have erupted among Reform UK’s top team in response to the masked anti-migrant protests which erupted at the weekend.
Hundreds of men gathered in Dover on Saturday, dressed in all black and wearing balaclavas, to demonstrate against small boat arrivals. Their blockade brought the local port to a standstill but was largely peaceful, with no arrests.
Another protest erupted in Portsmouth on Sunday night, this time blocking coaches transporting around 120 asylum seekers to a processing centre after arriving from Normandy.
Approximately 200 people – again dressed in black, wearing face coverings – ended up being removed by the police with threat of arrest. A few officers suffered minor injuries and a handful of vehicles were damaged.
Both events were reportedly organised by far-right agitator, Daniel Thomas, who has also been linked to far-right figure Tommy Robinson.
Reform UK’s core messaging is around stopping the small boats and cutting down on immigration – but the party appears to be deeply conflicted over how to respond to these particularly intimidating demonstrations.
Party leader Nigel Farage condemned the masked protests in Dover at the weekend, telling GB News: “It’s disgusting. Nobody in any political protest, on the left or right, should appear in balaclavas.’
Writing in the Telegraph on Monday, he also called for a ban on all full-face coverings in public spaces.
He said wearing anything from a gang member’s balaclava to an Antifa mask is a “menacing” act designed to intimidate the public and undermine trust in society.
That is in line with past Reform suggestions to ban face coverings such as the burqa.
However, Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf then appeared to defend the protesters on X on Tuesday.
After Tory leader Kemi Badenoch condemned the “thuggery” of the protesters, Yusuf said: “How dare you call them ‘thugs’?
“Badenoch and the Tory party threw open our borders and let in 130,000 invaders by boat.
“She and her party forced these men onto working class communities.
“British working class women and girls were raped and murdered.
“Now she calls the people whose lives are being turned upside down ‘thugs’?
“The Tories sneer at voters from their ivory tower. This is why the Tory Party must be destroyed.”
Yusuf visited Portsmouth on Monday and met protester organiser Thomas, who urged Reform not to criticise his supporters for wearing balaclavas.
The far-right activist said: “What do you expect the men of this country to do when they see violence against women, sexual assaults, what would you do as a man… just wait?”
Thomas told Yusuf his followers had been told not to take drugs, drink, shout or carry out acts of violence, and alleged they were acting lawfully.
Yusuf said he would take that message back to Farage, adding: “I think it’s important we listen to people. He was making his points respectfully.”
But, in another twist, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick said police should “arrest” and “lock up” anyone who blocks the life of everyday Brits.
The mixed messages coming out of Reform’s senior team comes amid growing pressure from the far-right splinter group Restore Britain, which has defended the masked protests.
Its leader Rupert Lowe wrote on X: “I don’t like face coverings. I hate seeing them. But I hate the invasion FAR more, and if new lawful methods manage to make progress where politicians have failed, then that is a price worth paying.”
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Politics
Shark LED Face And Body Mask Review 2026
Here at HuffPost, we’re big fans of everything SharkNinja does. Seriously, the ChillPill, Creami, and TurboBlade have been keeping us going all summer. Until now, they could do no wrong in our eyes.
So when I heard that Shark had released a new version of its CryoGlow LED Face Mask (which our Head of Content Dayna loves BTW) I knew I had to try it.
The £549.99 price tag, however, threw me off. That’s an extra £210 on the original, which accounts for the fact the new Shark CryGlow Clinic Face and Body System also comes with an LED body system. Not to mention it’s supposed to have significantly improved on the original.
I hadn’t tested the previous iteration of the mask myself, but I heard from Dayna and our readers that the number one concern with the mask was that it’s a) a little bulky, so it doesn’t sit flush against the face, and the battery life was rubbish.
Once the monstrous box arrived at my desk, it was time to put whether its improvements on the original could really justify the cost.
My review of the Shark CryoGlow Clinic Face and Body
The USP of Shark’s new LED mask is that it’s supposed to give you ‘clinic-quality’ LED treatment at home. What is essentially £550 for the mask might sound like a lot, but considering one professional LED session alone can cost you anywhere between £30 and £120, you make up the cost per wear within just the first week of using it.
First impressions
Upon unpackaging the mammoth box it came in, it certainly looked clinical grade. It comes with the LED face mask, an LED body panel, the remote control, two connecting wires, and a charging wire.
You hear all the time that your hands show the first signs of ageing (in fact, hand ‘tweakments’ are on the rise) so as well as getting a dose of LED’s anti-ageing properties to your face, you can also use Shark’s body panel on your hands, chest, neck, or back.
The body panel is easily malleable, so fitting it onto any of those body parts is a doddle; Shark has even made it suitable for different sized chests.
Like the first iteration, the face mask has been moulded using the structured GlowShell design, which is designed to sit 150mm away from the skin so it has more coverage than some of the malleable LED masks that don’t shine light evenly across the whole face.
What’s changed from the OG?
I mentioned that Shark claimed to have seriously upgraded its offerings on this mask, and it means it: it’s improved the LED power by two times the amount of power than the previous iteration.
It’s done this by adding twice the amount of LED lights, which, unlike other masks on the market, are overlapped for more coverage, so no blemish is missed.
That means faster results for anti-ageing and blemish reduction, in as little as four weeks.
Not to mention, the LED face mask is also the first of its kind to use hot and cold under-eye contrast therapy for at-home use.
Unlike the first iteration of the mask, the under-eye pads can heat up and cool down with any of the modes, meaning there are 17 different ways to wear the mask.
There’s even a ‘Dual Tempt Restore Mode’, which alternates between hot and cold therapy, helping to vasodilate the area under your eyes to depuff and brighten.
Using the mask

I tested the mask for three weeks, which is supposedly the amount of time it takes for the skin on your face to replenish.
Admittedly, I’m only 26, so I haven’t seen any visible signs of ageing on my hands or my chest yet.
However, I do have some slight sun damage and spots from the gym on my chest, so I was curious to use the panel there to see if it made a difference.
If I were repurchasing this, I’d probably opt to buy it without the body panel, which you can sign up for the waitlist for right now. This also makes it significantly cheaper, at £379.
However, the body panel could be handy for mature or more problem skin.
I will say, though, that after just a week of using the face mask, I was getting noticeably more compliments on my skin.
Several friend and family members have commented that I look much more glowy, and when I’ve had blemishes begin to prop up, using the mask has made them disappear almost instantly.
I’ve particularly loved the under-eye panels, which can make your eyes depuff in minutes in the morning.
As for the anti-ageing effects, I’ll have to use the mask more over time to tell how effective it is, but for the time being I’ve been loving it.
Final verdict
+ The remote charges separately, which makes it less of a drag to charge
+ Comfortable to wear
+ Easy to use
+ Cooling and heating under eye pads makes a big difference
+ Battery is much longer-lasting than the last mask
+ Love that the body panel is malleable so you can use it on any area of the body
+ More LED coverage and faster results
– It’s expensive, but worth it
– Quite bulky to store, I wish it came with a storage pouch
Overall, the LED mask was the best I’ve used so far. It’s super handy that you can charge the remote separately.
Although people had problems with the charge on the previous mask, I found that it could last over a week of uses without running out of power (mostly from just using the face mask).
The fact they’ve added heating and cooling to the eye masks is a huge plus, and the results are clear: more LED coverage leads to glowier, blemish-free skin.
I definitely saw results on my face in the three weeks promised.
It’s still quite bulky as a mask, but you only have to wear it for up to 10 minutes at a time, and really there are bigger problems in life than your £550 LED mask being too bulky.
That doesn’t take away from it sitting comfortably, either, as it comes with two straps to fasten it to fit your head perfectly.
While £550 sounds like a lot, it’s definitely worth it if you’re using it over a long period of time.
Politics
‘I've never lost:’ Rahm Emanuel makes his case for the White House
Politics
The House Article | Solving our jobs crisis will require a deep policy reset

4 min read
Rebuilding the job market is one of the biggest challenges facing Andy Burnham. But it can be done.
New statistics show that there are still not enough vacancies for those looking for work, and employment rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Our new Prime Minister’s early pronouncements suggest he recognises the need for a fundamental change to our education, employment and skills policy, especially for the youngest generations.
Andy Burnham recently called for a “complete rethink of how we support the next generation to succeed.” A rethink is exactly what we need.
Britain’s post-pandemic labour market sets us apart from our international peers. The UK has seen a rise in health-related inactivity not seen in other countries, and the proportion of young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) is set to rise to over 16 per cent by the end of the decade.
More fundamentally, work has not truly delivered for working people for decades – one reason why Burnham’s diagnosis of the UK being “forty years on the wrong path” has cut through to the public. Despite improvements in minimum wages, in-work poverty has not budged because there aren’t the good-quality jobs, at the hours needed, to give people enough earnings to enjoy a decent living standard from work.
Solving these problems will take a three-pronged approach.
First, Burnham and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should follow an investment-led approach, increasing work opportunities for the people and places who need them most.
For too long, the UK’s labour market policy has focussed on a very narrow range of interventions, founded on the myth that those who are out of work are simply not willing to find a job. This has clearly not worked. Upcoming research from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) will show how the rise of precarious and insecure work is helping drive people out of the workforce.
We invest far too little in re-training and skills for those out of work, with countries like Denmark putting us to shame. And we have done too little to address the systemic and place-based barriers to work – such as a lack of local vacancies in the most deprived job markets.
This needs to change. As a start, there should be a major expansion to the Youth Jobs Guarantee, a state-funded wage subsidy to support employers to place young people furthest from the labour market into work. Delivery of new placements should be devolved locally, as they were with the previous government’s Future Jobs Fund.
Second, investment in skills and training, especially vocational and technical education, needs to be significantly upgraded.
We have fallen backwards on apprenticeship starts since 2010, with those in deprived communities losing out the most. A modest increase in employer Growth and Skills Levy contributions – perhaps as a quid pro quo for lowering firms’ overheads and hiring costs – could reverse this trend. A portion of this funding could then be devolved to councils and integrated within Burnham’s planned local Good Growth Funds.
Firm training investment is much lower than in other advanced economies, and young people are unable to up-skill or retrain due to high up-front costs – making them vulnerable to AI-driven change. Introducing a Skills Tax Credit for firms, or even elements of a ‘Skilling Wage’, could deliver a major upgrade in firm-level investment.
Like France and Singapore, we should give every young person access to their own Individual Learning Account to spend on education and training. This fund could be added to by employee contributions and targeted state top-ups at particular ages.
Finally, the new government should rethink how the state engages with people who are out of work, to re-focus priorities on delivering higher-quality employment opportunities.
The welfare bill is a symptom, and not the cause, of an underlying lack of good work, training and support.
Burnham has signalled a shift towards devolved employment services in trusted grassroots-level settings. This would be a welcome change from the rigid, inflexible and rules-based way that the DWP engages with those out of work – and a nod to the promising outcomes seen in more hyper-local and voluntary council-led engagement, including in Greater Manchester.
To build on this, young people on out-of-work benefits should be assisted in community-based settings outside of Jobcentres, with Youth Hubs devolved to councils.
To rebuild the job market, the self-employed should receive better job security and in-work pensions, and there should be a presumption in favour of worker status for gig economy workers, as the European Union has done.
This change of PM comes at a time of heightened anxieties about the future of work, which goes beyond just the immediate NEETs crisis: the vast majority of people report little confidence in the ability of new technologies to benefit workers.
This presents an immediate challenge, but also – if harnessed effectively, and with the right policy – a major opportunity for the Burnham government.
Dr Tom Stephens is a Senior Fellow at the New Economics Foundation think tank and a Fellow of the LSE School of Public Policy
Politics
Ecuadorian lawyer investigating US drone strikes assassinated
A motorcycle hitman allegedly killed an Ecuadorian lawyer investigating US drone strikes. Alexandra Bravo and her sister were killed on 14 June 2026 when a hitman “aboard a black motorcycle opened fire”. This may be the latest phase in a renewed US bid to dominate the Americas.
US drone strikes probe
Drop Site News reported:
Upon arriving at the crime scene, officers say they found five 9mm shell casings and Bravo’s injured driver, but no sign of the police detail that had been assigned to protect her. The Police Directorate, which operates entirely under the executive branch, has launched a probe to determine if there’d been an internal security breach.
Bravo represented individuals hit in at-sea drone strikes. They also claimed to have been tortured in US captivity. The US-based outlet said:
Bravo is the 26th member of Ecuador’s justice system to be assassinated since 2020 and the second individual investigating state crimes murdered that week.
Besides her usual caseload of homicide and organized crime, Bravo had been working the Fiorella, Negra Francisca, and Don Maca cases—a series of drone attacks on civilian fishing ships exposed by Drop Site in April.
The US has been carrying out drone strikes against vessels it claims are connected to so-called narco-terrorism since early 2026. The US killed 261 people since September 2025, NGO Airwars claims.
US-backed dictator and Trump-allied thug
Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa is a:
Miami-born billionaire often characterized as a “U.S.-backed dictator”.
Ecuador has become what Drop Site describes as
a central testing ground for Operation Southern Spear, Washington’s extrajudicial bombing campaign purporting to target “narco-terrorists”.
There is no evidence that many of the victims, including those in Bravo’s investigation, had engaged in drug trafficking.
Human rights lawyer Fernando Bastias told the outlet:
I can’t make any assertion regarding it being a political assassination, but evidently, when a prosecutor is killed it’s because of the investigation they’re conducting.
That’s something we’ve learned from our experience in Ecuador.
A police source told Drop Site, Bravo was
under pressure from her superiors at the Attorney General’s office to treat the U.S. attacks as exclusively “cases of disappearance.”
Bravo’s work was reportedly in the early stages of her investigation.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reported drone strikes have had no negative impact on cocaine flows into the US:
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 27, 2026
Military boat strikes haven’t reduced U.S. cocaine supply, DEA assesses
An internal DEA report reviewed by The Washington Post found that U.S. military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats have not reduced cocaine supply in the U.S., instead prompting traffickers to…
Donald Trump’s administration intends to bring the Western Hemisphere under American control. The peak so far has been the 3 January kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro by US special forces. That spectacular raid is to be just the start of renewed US violence in the Americas.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
Politics
Greater Manchester’s working class rallies against far-right advance
Across Greater Manchester, the last few years have seen a rise in openly racist street activity and anti-Muslim attacks. Unprecedented electoral success for Reform in the recent local elections met and likely spurred this on. This mirrors familiar trends across Britain, wider Europe and internationally.
Open fascism swells in Greater Manchester
The first half of 2026 saw far-right group Britain First call two major national mobilisations on the streets of central Manchester. There, Greater Manchester Police were ‘disproportionately’ hostile towards antifascists and counter-demonstration organisers, rather than countering openly fascist elements. Further evidence, if it were needed, that the British state’s hired muscle cannot be depended on to protect our communities.
Street racists held countless smaller, local protests across the ten boroughs too, targeting migrant accommodation and minoritised communities’ spaces. These accompanied racially-motivated fire-bombings of Muslim prayer rooms and family homes, from Stockport to Bolton and beyond. Both are generally met with the sound of crickets from Britain’s mainstream media.
At the ballot box, Reform made huge gains in May’s local elections, while their more openly racist rivals Restore, a party heavily supported by neo-Nazis, were able to pick up 6.8% of the vote in the recent Makerfield by-election. And, in the May 2026 local elections, Reform won around half (105) of the available seats across Greater Manchester. Prior to 2026, far-right parties had won seats in only five wards.
Blackburn Muslim family’s home firebombed. MSM, politicians silent
Organising for working-class unity
Trade unionists and other community organisers have been out on the streets responding to this. But they know that short-term counter-demonstrations alone won’t be enough.
That’s why, on Wednesday 29 July, Greater Manchester Workers’ and Tenants’ Association (GMWTA) will launch. One of its primary objectives is to bring together people who want to tackle the long-term causes of the rise of the far-right, rather than waiting to deal with the dire consequences.
Edward, a Manchester HMO tenant who’s involved with the newly launched GMWTA, said:
Reform want to pose as a radical alternative to the existing elites, but look at who they’ve announced as their mayoral candidate. Sian Astley is a property developer and a landlord, who owns both houses and Airbnbs. In other words, she buys up properties that could be used for affordable housing, and rents them out to tourists instead, directly contributing to the housing crisis that drives people out of the areas they grew up in.
Reform aren’t an alternative to business as usual, they’re a new set of faces for the same old business interests. Workers and tenants who want real change can’t look to politicians like Astley, we need to be looking to our coworkers and neighbours to stick up for each other instead.
Organisers with GMWTA take particular inspiration from the ongoing struggle against care home closures in neighbouring Lancashire. There, a united campaign by local residents and care home workers — many of whom are migrant workers — managed to force the Reform-led county council to back down on threats to close local care homes. GMWTA organisers see this as an example of how working-class unity can play a crucial role in defending both ordinary people’s jobs and essential social services.
The GMWTA launch event on Wednesday 29 July will feature speeches from historian Taj Ali, author of the upcoming book Come What May, We’re Here To Stay, and by local activists, tenants and trade unionists. These include one worker who was part of the Lancashire care home campaign. There will also be ice cream from the local Ginger’s Comfort Emporium and music by members of local band Brown Wimpenny. There will also be an open discussion about shaping the organisation’s strategy moving forward.
Sign up to attend the GMWTA launch event here. It will run from 5:30–8:30pm on Wednesday 29 July, in a central Manchester location.
“No to Manchesterism built on the backs of renters” — tenants tell Burnham ‘freeze the rents’
Featured image via the Canary / GMWTA
Politics
Disgusting video exposes brutal reality of gannet hunt
Horrifying new footage has come to light revealing the real cruelty behind the infamous Scottish Guga hunt. As workers race across the protected gannet colony on Sula Sgeir, wildlife campaign group Protect the Wild shared the video before it was scrubbed from the internet. This damning footage comes just days before NatureScot will decide whether to grant new hunting licenses for the annual massacre of the protected sea birds.
Terrified chicks and bloodied sacks
The now-deleted YouTube video is vile. It shows three men racing through the middle of the breeding colony. The macabre footage shows them using the very sacks intended for collecting the smashed corpses of the chicks. The bottom of the sacks are soaked in blood. It begs the question, who thought that posting that video was a good idea? Come on.
This now deleted video shows a shocking disregard for the welfare of the Gannets. But then again, were the Guga hunters ever going to respect their victims? pic.twitter.com/efy8AQo9Z0
— Protect the Wild (@ProtectTheWild_) July 25, 2026
Adult gannets and chick alike fled in terror as the hunters mindlessly fool around. They evidently don’t give a shit about the birds, or the rules they have to follow to hunt them. Later in the video, we see them run around with sacks full of dead chicks on their backs.
The remote island of Sula Sgeir where the hunt occurs is around 70 miles from mainland Scotland. Far away from the prying eyes of the government and regulation. Because of this isolation, no government observers or animal welfare groups can keep an eye on them. And as a result, this is what happens. Hunters are entirely unsupervised in the wild.
Northern gannets enjoy ‘full’ protection under UK law. Yet the Scottish government permits an annual license to hunters, and it allows the senseless murder of up to 2,000 chicks per year. And this is under the guise of a traditional delicacy, popularised by Gordon Ramsey. Urgh.
Why, in 2026, are ministers allowing people to hunt protected wildlife? It doesn’t make any sense.
Government failure to protect gannets
NatureScot is the regulatory body that issues the licenses to hunt the defenceless gannet chicks. They issue licenses under authority from Scottish ministers. But under strict licensing rules, hunters are told they must take due care and attention to avoid any unnecessary disturbance or damage to the colony. So why the hell are these ghouls racing around in blood-soaked sacks? This footage proves hunters treat the legalities with contempt. They have turned the gannet breeding grounds into an obstacle course, and the chicks are the hurdles.
The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission previously concluded that the Guga hunt can’t be carried out in a humane way. Yet, despite this, ministers continue to shield the gruesome massacre through a legal loophole in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Protect the Wild has launched a direct action tool demanding NatureScot finally take action. Their demands are simple, suspend all licenses immediately. The Scottish Government can’t claim to champion these birds, whilst allowing this ‘traditional’ torture to continue. Ministers, step up and revoke this outdated and brutal hunt for good.
It’s 2026. We shouldn’t have to watch innocent chicks being harassed and murdered by cruel and mindless hunters. Revoke the licenses.
Featured image via the Canary
By Antifabot
Politics
Burnham backs ‘conditional’ welfare support in first PM interview
In Andy Burnham’s first interview as PM, the newly-minted Labour leader spoke about the need to “get really serious as a country” about “getting the welfare bill down”.
And how exactly does he plan to accomplish this feat? Well, Burnham claimed that he didn’t want to “blame” people on benefits, before adding:
It’s about changing the nature of the support, and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented.
Implying that people on benefits having been taking the “opportunities that are presented” sounds an awful lot like blame, to us.
Blame by another name
The BBC recorded its interview on Thursday 23 July, and plans to air it this evening (Monday 27 July). Toeing the current mainstream media attack line, the show hammered the idea of phantom benefits cheats.
Presenter Laura Kuenssberg asked the PM about whether some people were claiming support they don’t need, in his opinion. Burnham replied:
Well, I wouldn’t necessarily go straight to blaming those people. What I would say is that there are people in the benefits system, young people in their 20s, who have been, I would say, quite seriously let down because the support wasn’t there for them when it should have been there.
So I don’t blame them. I don’t think the support has been there for them in the way that it should have been.
Aww, well that’s nice isn’t it? He’s singling out young people on benefits, but he’s also saying it’s not their fault. That’s some fairness and balance for you right there.
‘Changing the nature of the support’
Kuenssberg pressed the issue, asking if he planned to remove or reduce any benefits from anyone. The PM answered:
It’s about changing the nature of the support, and making some of the support conditional upon people taking opportunities that are presented.
I think it’s a good thing that the government has given guarantees of opportunities for young people. I think we need to continue down that approach. Where mental health support is needed, for instance, it’s provided in work to support people in an opportunity.
Wait a minute, we’re confused. Are people not being supported, or are they being offered opportunities and turning them down in favour of benefits?
Surely, if making benefits conditional on “taking opportunities” would make an appreciable difference, then Burnham is very much blaming benefits claimants. He’s just trying to find a ‘polite’, interview-friendly way of phrasing it (and hoping that no-one listens too closely).
Likewise, making benefits conditional on “accepting opportunities” (like a job, for example) only actually works if the likes of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) can be relied upon to discern whether or not somebody is fit to accept that opportunity. And, naturally, we know for a fact that we can’t rely on the DWP for fairness.
No ‘crude cuts to benefits’
Of course, there’s also another reason why the new PM is tiptoeing around the subject of benefits ‘reform’. His predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced a rebellion from his own back-benchers when he tried to implement cuts of around £5bn to welfare spending in 2025.
As such, Burnham has stated that he doesn’t plan on:
a kind of crude approach, crude cuts to benefits to get the welfare bill down.
Unfortunately, finessed, graceful cuts to benefits are still benefits cuts. He continued:
Often that just pushes people into even more crisis and then even more public spending in another part of the system.
We need a system that sets people up for success rather than pays for failure.
It’s almost as if the people claiming benefits actually need them. So, when the government slashes them, “other parts of the system” have to pay instead. For example, if people don’t have enough money to eat, suddenly hospitals are filled with patients suffering from malnutrition.
If only our shiny new prime minister had enough wherewithal to think how that might pair with his desire to “get really serious” about bringing the welfare bill down. Spoiler: the other government bills go up instead. That’s what happens when people don’t have enough money to live.
Burnham’s “way forward”
Earlier this month, the interim report from the Timms Review into Personal Independence Payments (PIP) acknowledged the benefit’s inadequacy to meet disabled people’s needs.
It also stated that PIP can punish people for coping with their disability, or use the fact that they have a job as evidence that they aren’t disabled enough to need support.
If we want to talk about welfare reform, let’s talk about welfare reform. We can start with working to create a system that truly acknowledges that people need help – and one that isn’t working actively to snatch that support away at the earliest excuse.
And yes, that does cost money. It won’t bring the benefits bill down. Of course, it may save money in other parts of the system, but in a society that actually cared about its citizens, that would be a secondary concern at best.
That’s a system that “sets people up for success”, as Burnham put it. It’s also the exact opposite of making benefits more conditional.
Featured image via the Canary
By Grace
Politics
White House boasts of deportation concentration camps
The White House‘s official X account has posted an image glorifying its racist ICE thugs and its ‘deportation maxxing’ concentration camps. While human beings responded with disgust, many US right-wingers don’t think it was racist enough.
‘Be more racist’
The rabid ‘MAGA’ right responded to the post with a howl of outrage – that the Trump regime is not going far enough in deporting Black and Hispanic people. So-called ‘Christian nationalists’ showed no hesitation in posting blasphemous racist trash:
— Richard M Masliah B, Sc. LLL. LLB. (@Richard4m) July 24, 2026
So-called ‘reverends’ were no less rabid, accusing Trump of lies and laxity (that’s laxity, he doesn’t need laxatives, allegedly):
LIE!
LIE!
LIE!
LIE!
Like the FAKE number of arrests and the ZERO of the OVER 4MILLION Illegal Immigrants here via VAWA Immigration Marriage Fraud arrested!!https://t.co/SN0VO2HKVThttps://t.co/vkefphgOMG https://t.co/WFzYe3gWmR @NewsNationTV @FoxNews @DLoesch pic.twitter.com/r2NgHs3ekr— Rev. Dr. Paul P. Waldmiller
(@DrWaldmiller) July 24, 2026
Unsurprisingly, Black people were the targets of much of the outpouring of bigoted bile:
Have you seen Canal St??? NYC is invaded by violent African illegals. We need 100,000 NICE to sweep Canal Street @RealTomHoman when?? @SecMullinDHS cordon off Canal no illegal escapes! @JDVance send 20 battalions of @ICEgov ASAP please! https://t.co/LktnKYtcxA
— David Gobaud (@davidgobaud) July 24, 2026
So were brown-skinned people:
Yes, the FLORIDA PANHANDLE. It’s infested with “new foreigners.” I see a lot of women and children, and they are in packs. None of them speak English. Not even the kids.
I feel like I live in a damn foreign country. Can’t even go shopping for the day without having to listen to… pic.twitter.com/BqztiFxfTO— Paula (@PaulaC_mj1981) July 24, 2026
Some MAGA types moaned that the ‘tip line’ was another Trump scam that prevented people squealing on their neighbours:
— Grace Chong, MBI (@gc22gc) July 24, 2026
America-firsters complained that Trump is monkey rather than organ-grinder:
— America 1st Patriot (@America1st25) July 24, 2026
ICE — The ‘new Gestapo’
But many who still retain their humanity also replied with justified disgust at Trump’s ‘new Gestapo’ (nazi secret police):
— Laurie (@Laurie0801) July 24, 2026
Some thought the Gestapo’s successors, the East German ‘Stasi’, were a more appropriate comparison:
Sounds like STASI has come to the US pic.twitter.com/SO4aS3Scwo
— Citizen By X (@CitizenByX) July 24, 2026
Others pointed to the (way more than physical) similarities between Trump’s chief propagandist and race-theoretician Stephen Miller and the original nazis’ version Josef Goebbels:
— MP (@TexasBristolian) July 24, 2026
Some pointed out some of ICE’s best-known murder victims:
Pro-Tip: FUCK YOU
ASSHOLES! pic.twitter.com/HSty63mjsS
— Justice For Hedgehogs
(@LakeLouise1988) July 24, 2026
Others drew attention to Trump using the concentration camps, like everything else, to fill his pockets:
trump is warehousing people
How is this not a form of human trafficking? pic.twitter.com/OWZyUe42u5
— I TELL IT LIKE IT IS – LIKE IT OR NOT (@DawgzRuul) July 24, 2026
Some opted for a pointed, arguably more humorous approach:
“ICE, I know an illegal immigrant prostitute.” pic.twitter.com/IA8FzUsQsa
— 𝕯𝖊𝖑 Ω (@DownWith710) July 24, 2026
Some pointed to the fact that Trump’s wife Melania reportedly worked as a model in the US while there only on a tourist visa:
— Ginger Edwards
(@ginged78) July 24, 2026
Others reacted with pure disgust to the Trump regime’s racist deportation focus on people with more skin pigment:
What a disgusting post. pic.twitter.com/xIpV0TkoZ3
— Laurie (@Laurie0801) July 24, 2026
And to the awful calibre of people filling its ranks:
— Martyn Peel #FBPE (@martynpeel) July 24, 2026
And even some on the right were unhappy at Trump’s propaganda about deportations while he squanders billions on endless wars for Israel:
@realDonaldTrump 81 going on 100. Incoherent. Speech slurring. Wearing adult diapers. Smells like SHIT.
Needs a NAPPY every hour. Endless wars!! Highest inflation in years. Failing America!!!! We DESERVE BETTER!!!! God Bless the USA!!
pic.twitter.com/xy2Sdgj9c2
— Taylor (@TaylorIndiana) July 24, 2026
The nazis modelled much of their ideology and laws on the racist laws of the southern US. The US white supremacist right that inspired them only (barely) masked itself for a few decades and is now free to be its disgusting self again without restraint.
By Skwawkbox
Politics
Elon Musk throws his support behind ethnic cleansing
Elon Musk – the world’s richest buffoon – has thrown his weight behind the policy of ‘remigration’. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it’s the right-wing plan to ethnically cleanse Europe of all ‘non-indigenous’ people. And this makes it a very strange policy for him to support, because he’s a white South African living in America:
Anyone who opposes remigration is a traitor
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2026
So is he going to self-deport then or what?
Tweets of a clown
The UK group Remigration Now describes ‘remigration’ as follows:
Remigration is the act of returning immigrants and their descendants to their country of origin through both voluntary and mandatory measures.
They say ‘immigrants’, but what they mean is People of Colour. And you know they mean this, because there’s no campaign to deport anyone who has an Irish grandad or an Austrian nana (both of which this writer has).
Basically, then, remigration is just Nazi-grade racism with a fresh coat of paint. And everyone knows this stuff never ends with deportations.
For whatever reason, these people aren’t yet comfortable enough to admit their goal is white supremacy. That’s why they’re talking about ‘migrants’ instead of ‘People of Colour’. And as such, Elon Musk’s involvement is both a positive and a negative:
- Positive: Elon Musk has turned Twitter into one of history’s most powerful propaganda machines.
- Negative: Elon Musk is literally a migrant and a descendant of migrants, making it pretty clear that this policy is just white supremacy.
The remigration shtick doesn’t work at all with American politics, because America is a nation of migrants. Most Yanks are smart enough to realise this and leave it to the Europeans; Musk is not smart enough, obviously, which is why he’s tweeting like he is.
Oh, and Elon Musk is an even tougher sell for the serious remigration sellers, because the South African:
- Is a migrant to America.
- Had a maternal grandparent who was Canadian before moving to South Africa.
- Has roots which trace back to Europe.
In other words, he may be the least indigenous man in existence. Which is fine, obviously; it’s just not fine if you hold the opinions of Elon Musk.
Elon Musk isn’t immune to the “remigration” agenda
On paper, super-migrant Elon Musk is precisely the sort of person the remigration activists want to subject to ‘voluntary and mandatory measures’. The fact that they instead welcome his support shows what this is really all about. Because the following are all prominent remigration activists:
The choice is easy: Don’t be a traitor.
Sign the @SaveEuropeAct.https://t.co/fRo1EkASsa https://t.co/M5X4U0KOfB pic.twitter.com/CsNeV0AAtQ
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) July 26, 2026
The worlds richest man supports remigration. https://t.co/k24PRmpy1E
— Steve Laws
(@Steve_Laws_) July 26, 2026
It’s time for these cowards to admit what they actually are. That or it’s time for Elon Musk do deport himself back to whichever dark corner of Europe his ancestors crawled out of.
Featured image via the Canary
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lead image
(@DrWaldmiller)
ASSHOLES! 

(@LakeLouise1988)
(@ginged78)
Needs a NAPPY every hour. Endless wars!! Highest inflation in years. Failing America!!!! We DESERVE BETTER!!!! God Bless the USA!!
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