Politics
Punch The Monkey: Why Plush Toys Help Humans And Animals
Primate expertise provided by Dr Luke Duncan, a postdoctoral research fellow, primatologist, and part of the University of Warwick’s ApeTank. Therapy comment by relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos.
If you’re 1) on social media and 2) have something resembling a heart, chances are it’s been broken by the Japanese macaque, Punch, from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.
The adorable monkey, whose mother abandoned him, has gone viral for clutching an IKEA orangutan plush to help manage his feelings of abandonment (the burnt orange stuffed toy has since sold out in multiple stores).
But why do animals, including humans, so often turn to stuffed toys in our times of need, or as a more everyday source of comfort?
One study suggests that dogs can become almost “addicted” to their toys, which another paper says may boost their welfare. Over a third of adults sleep with a plush every night.
Here, we spoke to primate expert Dr Luke Duncan and therapist Sofie Roos about the “cuddle therapy” a variety of species can get from stuffed toys.
Emotional support plushes are pretty common among adults, and could be helpful for distressed animals
Punch’s toy orangutan was given to him to help him handle the loss of his parent. According to Dr Duncan, that move makes sense.
“Young primates are biologically programmed to cling to their mother ― it’s a normal and essential part of emotional and psychological development,” he told us.
“Harry Harlow’s foundational research in the 1950s and 1960s showed that infant rhesus monkeys overwhelmingly preferred a soft cloth surrogate over a wire one that provided milk, demonstrating that tactile comfort is a powerful driver of attachment behaviour in infants.”
So, while the goal should always be to provide a “safe, living social partner of the same species,” in a pinch, “A soft surrogate, in the form of a plush toy, can… provide meaningful comfort for an orphaned infant primate.
“While a plush toy cannot replace a real mother, it may help alleviate distress in the short term.”
And Roos said that while humans – and almost certainly other animals – know our toys aren’t really alive, they can “work as a ‘transition object’, which… stands as a symbol for safety when an important person is no longer with us”.
Among adults, she added, stuffed toy use offers a kind of “cuddle therapy”, which provides a combination of physical touch and pressure that a lot of animals find soothing.
“Physical touch, [even] from an object, can make our body calm and feel safe.”
Then, there’s the fact that, generally, toys don’t leave us.
“For people who lose someone important, and have wounds connected to abandonment and an insecure attachment, the cuddly toy can give a feeling of not being completely alone, which for some becomes a saviour,” the therapist said.
“We’re born with a… need to… belong, and this need stays with us until the day we die. A stuffed animal doesn’t get any less good at giving us this just because we grow older.”
Perhaps that’s why 44% of adults hold on to their childhood toys.
The therapist doesn’t think it’s that different to using meditation apps
Lots of animals, including humans, “are born social, and seek closeness, warmth and touch. A cuddle toy can work as a complement to give that safety, care and attachment we so strongly seek, especially if we feel lonely,” said Roos.
This is not unlike what may be happening with Punch: Dr Duncan shared, “Physical contact with a soft object can help regulate [primate] stress responses and provide a sense of security during a vulnerable period”.
Roos continued, “Many also connect the cuddle toy with childhood, a time most look back at as easier and more protected, where the stuffed animal can stand as a symbol for that time when we felt cared for, comforted and soothed in another way.”
In fact, the therapist doesn’t think relying on a stuffed toy for “cuddle therapy” is all that different to other forms of self-soothing.
“When looking at what the cuddle toy does for you, it’s not far away from what using mindfulness apps, yoga, stress balls or weighted blankets do – the stuffed animal is just less socially accepted, even though in my [opinion], it works better than many other more accepted methods of dealing with stress, loneliness, overthinking and anxiety.”
Politics
British Army embarrassed by looted African relic
The British Army is refusing access to a golden ram’s head looted during a colonial butcher-and-bolt mission in 1874. The Brits stole the head from the Asante people in what is modern-day Ghana.
Ex-BBC journalist turned author Barnaby Phillips has written a book on the topic. But he was refused access to view the stolen head. Writer Barnaby Phillips asked to view the head as part of his research. The British army refused.
The Anglo-Asante war saw British troops set fire to and destroy the Asante capital Kumasi. The Brits returned in 1896 and destroyed it again.
A commander in the war said at the time:
I had shown the power of England.
And a newspaper reported in 1974:
The best trophy is a ram’s head … This is very valuable.
Anglo-Asante war loot dispersed over the years. London’s Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to repatriate pieces it held in 2024.
The army has been less forthcoming with the golden head, which remains hidden away in an officer’s mess in Larkhill, Wiltshire.
British Army — Black boys in loinclothes?!
Phillips told the Guardian he believed:
that the Royal Artillery may be “embarrassed” by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city.
Bizarrely, the army blocked him on “security grounds”.
Phillips said:
It’s an army institution holding the spoils of war, but they say it’s not safe to show it to me. That’s somewhat ironic.
He explained the regimental secretary’s rejection letter was “curt and categorical”:
The regiment was ‘unable to agree’ to my request to see its Asante gold ram’s head, held in the officers’ mess room at their barracks in Larkhill … ‘It has long been our policy, primarily on security grounds, not to allow public access to items held in the regiment’s private collection,’ wrote the secretary. He clarified that it was for insurance reasons.”
Iconic evidence of Asante prowess
Understandably, Ghana wants it artifacts back. Historian and diplomat Ivor Agyeman-Duah told the Guardian:
We are interested in negotiating with the Royal Artillery.
He added:
I hope to go to the officer’s mess when I’m next in England and I shall be writing to them. This piece is iconic evidence of Asante prowess over two centuries.
But there’s more. Barnaby Phillips said the same soldier who stole the ram’s head also pilfered:
a magnificent silver cross from a church on the controversial 1868 military expedition to Abyssinia.
He added:
Two of the most extraordinary objects that were looted by the British army are in this mess and nobody can see them, except for the regiment’s invited guests.
Phillips also told the Guardian the unnamed director of a major UK museum who had seen the ram’s head told him:
When you see those things, and you realise no one else can see them, and they will never leave this place, it’s like a punch in the stomach.
The army said:
Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases, access to military locations is controlled for security, operational and safety reasons.
They used to say the sun never set on the British empire. But that was because you can’t trust the British in the dark. The UK’s imperial past — and present — is a history of theft. In some cases this involves the looting and spiriting away of artifacts. But these thefts speak to much vaster truth. Resources, territory and people — in the case of the Atlantic slave trade — were all stolen by the British empire. The absolute least the modern British government can do is give what still possesses back to its owners.
Featured image via V&A
Politics
Zack Polanski disputes claim James O’Brien invited him on
James O’Brien wrote a book titled How to be Right in a World Gone Wrong. O’Brien also regularly makes laughable statements like the following:
‘no one believes keir starmer is a morally corrupt serial liar’
– james o brien, 2024 pic.twitter.com/Kgp6WKUzZ6
— NJ (@NoJusticeMTG) July 29, 2024
On 25 February, O’Brien spoke about Green Party leader Zack Polanski, prompting the following:
I’m pretty sure I’ve done more interviews and podcasts than any other party leader in the first 6 months.
We hadn’t spotted an invitation, @mrjamesob – but happy to chase it up and look forward to chatting! https://t.co/I6b84Dj4Rd
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 25, 2026
Zack Polanski — ‘Happy to chase up’
In the video above, O’Brien says:
Manisha says: “it’s taken a very charismatic leader to make the Greens stand out”.
All right, this is something I should probably apologise for, given that I do this stuff for a living. I haven’t really got a mental kind of picture yet of Zach Polanski.
We’ve invited him onto the podcast. I’m sure he’ll come on at the first opportunity.
But I haven’t got… I can’t picture him smashing it in a TV studio. The clips… It hasn’t filtered through my algorithms yet. I don’t have enough evidence or enough material to agree or disagree with Manisha.
According to Polanski, this ‘invite’ got lost in the post. Hopefully they can get that sorted pronto.
If you want to see more examples of O’Brien, we recommend this from No Justice:
There’s also this:
If you don’t want to see more of O’Brien, of course, we completely understand.
Featured image via Roger Green (Wikimedia) / Barold
Politics
Labour Faces By Election Accusations Over Fictitious Voting Group
Labour is embroiled in a dirty tricks row over a campaign leaflet featuring a “fictitious” tactical voting company.
The offending literature has been put through voters’ doors on the eve of Thursday’s crunch Gorton and Denton by-election.
It says: “The Tactical Choice says Vote Labour. Based on a new prediction made in the last 24 hours we are recommending voting Labour.”
However, no organisation called “Tactical Choice” appears to exist.
The leaflet says it is promoted on behalf of Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia.
Labour is locked in a three-way battle with the Green Party and Reform UK in the seat.
Bookies make the Greens odds-on favourites, followed by Reform and then Labour, for whom Andrew Gwynne won the seat at the 2024 general election with a majority of nearly 13,500.
Two real tactical voting organisations – Tactical.Vote and StopTheTories.Vote – have already recommended voters back the Greens to stop Reform winning.

A Green Party spokesperson said: “In a final throw of desperation, Labour have made up an entirely fictitious organisation called ‘Tactical Choice’ referencing them on their final leaflet.
“They’ve had to make this up because every actual tactical voting organisation has endorsed the Green Party as the best hope to keep Reform out in this election.
“We have great faith in the electorate seeing through these desperate Labour lies and uniting behind the Greens in the by-election tomorrow to beat Reform.
“Hope versus hate is on the ballot tomorrow. Let’s make sure the Greens’ message of hope wins.”
A Labour campaign spokesman did not deny that Tactical Choice appear to have been made up by the party in a bid to sway voters.
He said: “The Greens have been pumping out fake news and deploying dirty tactics for weeks. We’ll take no lectures from them.
“The only way to defeat Reform in this by-election is by backing Labour.”
Politics
Badenoch: Starmer’s Own MPs Call Labour the ‘Paedo Defenders Party’
The Labour benches didn’t like that one…
Politics
Actor Juliet Stevenson launches urgent appeal for Health Workers 4 Palestine
British actor Juliet Stevenson has launched an urgent appeal on behalf of Palestinian health workers. As Gaza fades from the headlines, Stevenson remains determined to advocate for the Palestinian families and health workers still facing unimaginable atrocities every day.
Health Workers 4 Palestine’s Ramadan appeal comes as UNICEF confirms over 100 children have been killed since the ceasefire. Furthermore, Israel is forcing 37 international aid agencies including Save The Children, Médecins Sans Frontières and Oxfam to leave Gaza. This only makes the lifesaving work of the doctors, nurses, and surgeons Health Workers 4 Palestine supports even more vital.
Amira Nimerawi, CEO of Health Workers 4 Palestine, said:
On 1 March 2026, 37 international NGOs will be forced by Israel to suspend their operations in Gaza. It has never been more important we stand with the Palestinian health workers on the ground.
They are the only lifeline for thousands of critically ill and wounded children trapped in Gaza, and the foundations of Palestine’s future.
All donations to Health Workers 4 Palestine will go to its Gaza medics Solidarity Fund. This pays stipends to Gaza medics, funds mobile clinics and rebuilds maternity wards. The fund was co-designed with Gaza medics and is administered by local Palestinian NGOs.
Stevenson has consistently stood up
Stevenson’s best known work includes Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), and her Olivier Award-winning performance in Death and the Maiden (1991-92). A four-time BAFTA Best Actress nominee for film and TV roles spanning over 30 years, Stevenson has consistently used her public profile to advocate for refugees, children affected by conflict, and the rights of Palestinians.
Stevenson said:
Healthcare is a human right. But in Gaza, it has been destroyed.
Join me in standing with the families and health workers of Palestine. We cannot abandon them now. If you can, please donate.
For this appeal, Stevenson tells the story of Ahmed, a doctor in Gaza whose family has been displaced ten times in the past year. At night, he sleeps on the streets. In the day, Ahmed treats patients and saves lives without any pay.
Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan, co-founder of Health Workers 4 Palestine and paediatrician said:
Ahmed’s story is the brutal reality for Palestinian health workers across Gaza. This Ramadan, we cannot forget them and all they are doing as the backbones of a healthcare system fighting for its survival. If you can, please stand in solidarity with doctors like Ahmed and donate to our appeal.
Health Workers 4 Palestine is an organisation of medical professionals from over 70 cities worldwide, advocating for Gaza medics and the protection of Palestinian healthcare.
To donate to Health Workers 4 Palestine’s Ramadan Appeal, go to healthworkers4palestine.com/donate
Featured image via Robin Keane / Health Workers 4 Palestine
Politics
Zionism is racism. We have to protect anti-Zionism.
An open letter to Zack Polanski over the anti-Zionism motion members have tabled in the Green Party.
Dear Zack,
As a Green Party member, I am writing to express concern about members of the party trying to derail a democratic, member-led process.
As you know, the Green Party members’ motion A105, if it passes, will be groundbreaking in UK politics for recognising Zionism as racism.
Recognising Zionism as racism and becoming the first UK political party to adopt this official line would be historical. It will also allow political support for any legal challenges against anti-Zionists. This, more importantly, will help to dismantle the documented Zionism within UK politics. Unfortunately, I must have missed your support for such an important motion.
As you would know, interpretation, unlike with art or music, doesn’t apply to historical facts. Zionism began as a racist, fascist, nationalist, and colonialist concept and ideology officially in around 1897, but its ideological roots can be traced back to as early as the 1700s in Eastern Europe. More recently, the horrific events of World War II and the terrible holocaust of Jewish people in Europe led to the British-led Balfour Declaration which is undeniably Zionism as a form of colonialism being implemented.
Regardless of faith or interpretation, this was the land of Palestine.
This meant displacing the many Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews that already lived in a secular Palestine.
This caused death and destruction, which continues today.
And it is a historical fact that Zionism was at the root of this.
Accusations from within the Green Party of antisemitism towards anyone questioning Zionism and the existence of Israel as a racist, apartheid, colonial state ignore these historical facts. And it’s very concerning.
In 1948, once the state of Israel was formed, it was asked by international law to release the Palestinian prisoners it had taken during its violent creation. Refusing to comply, the state engaged in years of documented non-compliance, aggression, and political interference, including in the UK.
Anti-Zionists, pro-Palestine campaigners and Jewish people openly denounce these Zionist actions. This includes the Jewish people imprisoned for their objection to killing Palestinians or conscription into the IDF. This history is a clear example of Zionism and a racist, colonialist, apartheid state with no compliance with international law.
The open extermination of Palestinians for over 70+ years is also documented, even though it is religiously forbidden in Judaism. These crimes against humanity are committed by Zionists; this is an international fact, regardless of other people’s interpretation.
This internationally recognised opinion should not lead to ignorant accusations of antisemitism, especially within the Green Party. An employment tribunal stated that it is not antisemitic to call for the abolishment of Israel as a racist, colonialist and Zionist state. This shouldn’t be being disputed.
Yet counterterrorism police have been contacted regarding a member-led motion just to recognise Zionism as racism. This is, along with claims in the media that Jewish members of the Green Party are in fear of this motion. I am concerned that this is a clear attempt to derail a member-led democratic process and motion. These accusations and conflation of anti-Zionism as antisemitism are also in themselves antisemitic.
I find it very concerning that questioning a full-blown genocide – livestreamed to the rest of the world – or not recognising the liberation of oppressed people is being viewed as antisemitism within the Green Party.
There is documented evidence that Israeli children are being taught to hate Palestinians in schools. They are encouraged to share with their families and friends the crimes, public humiliation, torture and murder committed by Israelis against Palestinians. These are documented crimes against humanity from a racist, colonial, apartheid state. Again, recognising this as Zionism is not antisemitic.
Another example is polling from inside Israel. For example, 78% of Jewish Israelis felt that its government made “substantial efforts” to reduce the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza – a statement that is obviously not true. Plus, 79% of Jewish Israelis have not been “so troubled” or “troubled at all” by the genocide in Gaza.
This Zionist-run society is now also calling for the execution of the Palestinian prisoners, who themselves have not been on trial. These Palestinians are currently being held in incredibly inhumane conditions. This shows the serious levels of colonialism, racism and apartheid that are being openly acted out for the world to see, this is Zionism.
Israel’s racist, colonialist, apartheid Zionist ideologies have been clear to see, even paraded with pride. It has openly shared its treatment of the Palestinians and the genocide committed. Over 70+ years of obvious Zionism, colonialism, racism, and apartheid have been witnessed globally.
Israel has not even tried to hide the fact it is committing a genocide – something many other perpetrators of these kinds of atrocities did not even do.
Yet any criticism of these atrocities is repeatedly met with an accusation of antisemitism. This conflates the true nature of antisemitism, both discrediting Jewish people and anti-Zionists.
These accusations of antisemitism also apply to members refusing to accept a two-state solution, which, in itself, as many believe, is completely flawed. If a Zionist, racist, oppressive, colonial state were to share its already stolen land with the oppressed people of Palestine.
This is effectively the same as asking the people of South Africa under apartheid to agree to have a Black half and a white half. This would disregard the liberation, human rights and an end to racism that was fought for.
The oppressed, as history has shown us, have to resist their racist colonial states for true freedom from oppression.
The South Africans, Haitians, Ghanaians, Indians, Indonesians, Vietnamese, Sudanese, Chileans, Mexicans, and Colombians, to name a few, eventually freed themselves from their colonialists through resistance.
The Palestinians are repeatedly denied this right. These human rights violations have led to Palestinians forming resistance to try to liberate themselves.
These acts of resistance from the Palestinians are classed as terrorism or even a declaration of war. This has led to Israel’s inflicting starvation and a genocide being committed against an entire population of Palestinians. This is Zionism, and to oppose this is not antisemitic.
So, while we continue our day-to-day lives, enjoying our fresh water, heating and food, many of us protected by the same white privilege that created Israel, Palestine continues to experience a genocide. This genocide has killed over 70+ thousand people. This cannot be ignored.
A state that was created for one religion to be safe to continue to commit genocide on another religion is not a solution to the original Holocaust. It is also, as you would know as a Jewish man, not Jewish or part of Judaism.
To allow any country to repeatedly maim, torture and kill innocent Palestinians shows no respect for Islam as a religion, along with putting Judaism into disrepute as a religion. These crimes continue to be committed in the name of Judaism. This anti-Muslim hate is Zionism, and it is racism. It comes from a colonial, classist, racist ideology.
There is nothing Jewish about Zionism.
This is Zionism and should be recognised as such. The high courts recognise that it is possible to compare Israel to Nazi Germany and the behaviour of the Nazi’s during WW2. As it stands, these laws are regarding Israel as a state, its behaviour, and the right to call for the racist, colonial, apartheid state to be abolished. This should be accepted and respected by Green Party members.
Sadly, this silence and complicity from liberal Zionists and successive political parties and their leaders is deafening.
As you know, we live in a heavily Zionist-influenced political, state, and media-run country. Any attempt to fight Zionism is often labelled as antisemitic, criminal or even terrorist. This behaviour from political figures, media outlets, and public figures wrongly spreads fear amongst Jewish communities. As a Jewish man, you may recognise this.
Along with the repeated use and wrongful accusations of antisemitism to stop any real democratic, political or legal challenges to Zionism.
Unfortunately, due to the fear of this motion being antisemitic, and the fear this is now causing the Jewish community, there have been active attempts to derail it. These are clear attempts to derail the motion and cause unnecessary fear within the Jewish community. This is Zionism and needs to be called out.
I am asking you, as a Jewish man understanding the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and a leader of a political party, to call this behaviour out for what it is.
Members of the Green Party, specifically the Jewish-and-non-Jewish anti-Zionist members, are not being protected from these Zionist attempts to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
This is supposed to be a democratic member-led process, and while members still have this option it should be respected.
As the leader of the Green Party, I am asking you to recognise this behaviour as Zionism and make a stand against it.
I am asking you to support the anti-Zionists who currently support you.
You have stated that you believe in a free Palestine, and this has gained you and the Green Party support from anti-Zionists, yet this democratic process is now being hijacked by Zionism.
Anti-Zionist members need you and the Green Party to recognise Zionism. The motion A105 states that Zionism is racism… this is already a historical fact.
We need you to recognise and support anti-Zionism in politics… and within the Green Party.
Thank you for your time,
Nicola.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Relooted lets players steal back Africa’s looted artefacts
If you’ve ever fantasised about pulling off a daring heist at the British Museum to get looted treasures back to their rightful owners, then a new video game allows you to get some practice in advance. Relooted was released this month by South African developer Nyamakop, and lets players take control of parkour specialist Nomali. She’s helped by a team of safe crackers and acrobats as they seek to repatriate artifacts stolen by colonial powers from Africa.
The developers describe the game’s fictional setting as taking place in a world where:
Near the end of the 21st century, the political powers that be brokered a Transatlantic Returns Treaty, promising the repatriation of African artifacts from museums. Good old fashioned diplomacy was working — until it wasn’t. An amendment switched up the terms and conditions of which objects were to be returned.
Museums, now knowing that only publicly displayed artefacts would be given back, were slowly removing artefacts from public display.
The items you attempt to take back to their country of origin all:
…exist in real-life and are of huge cultural, historical, and spiritual significance to the people they were taken from.
British museums continue to justify their theft
These include the remains of Ethiopian Prince Alemayehu, still disgracefully being held by the benefits scroungers and rapist backers at Buckingham Palace. There’s also the severed head of Mangi Meli. German colonial forces hung and decapitated him, then took his head back to Germany as a trophy.
After acting like depraved serial killers by doing that, it’s not a surprise the nation went on to shortly thereafter carry out a genocide in Namibia against the Herero people. After the Nazi holocaust, the world’s most defective political culture is now on to its third mass extermination in about 100 years by assisting the slaughter in Gaza.
That’s the incredibly dark side to the looting and mass murder that took place in Africa under the butchers of Germany, France, Britain and others. Relooted manages to adopt an upbeat tone, however, imagining an Africanfuturist world in which a flourishing continent is asserting itself by taking back its property.
Before we reach that promised land, we have to put up with a contemporary reality in which Western museums still cling on to their stolen wares like a small child that doesn’t know how to share. Despite this immature behaviour, museums and fellow theft advocates still insist on infantilising those requesting artifact return. They do this on the basis that their original owners may not be able to look after them properly.
US & Britain wrecked Iraq, and its historical treasures
They’ve got some nerve coming out with shite like that, given the greatest recent act of mass vandalism and theft involving historical treasures came as a result of the US/British led assault of Iraq. As a result of that massive crime, enormous numbers of priceless items were plundered from Iraqi museums, some dating back thousands of years.
These belonged to thriving West Asian societies in what was the cradle of modern civilisation, while Europe was still a backwater. The Americans have been compared to the invading armies of Genghis Khan for their indiscriminate murder, and destruction of ancient culture.
The criminality of the British Museum has now become a popular meme template. Variations include the attempted theft of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and empty galleries in the event of stolen items being returned.
Relooted — a refreshing change from video game war propaganda
Having a game from independent developers with enlightened politics makes a refreshing change from the war propaganda pumped out by large publishers. The Call of Duty series has become notorious as a Muslim murder simulator, where players are routinely taken to a generic West Asian Arabistan to carry out mass slaughter. Historic US war crimes are recast as the acts of others. Once example being when the horrific killing of fleeing Iraqis in the first Gulf War was retold as a Russian atrocity.
This mental imprinting of devastated West Asian landscapes and disposable Arab people has been key in laying the foundations that enable too many in Western societies to see the Gaza holocaust as unremarkable.
It forms part of what a military-entertainment complex, in which video games and films act as weapons of mass distraction, drawing people away from the actual truth about the world.
Pleasingly, Relooted doesn’t just have good politics – it’s also an excellent game. The Canary can verify this through our own thorough hands-on investigation (it’s a hard job but someone has to do it).
It’s currently sitting at a ‘Very Positive’ rating on PC games platform Steam. This would be even higher were it not for negative reviews being cast by gammons fulminating about its ‘woke’ premise, as opposed to judging it on its merits as a game. There’s plenty of good reasons to pick up a copy, and winding these people up by funding independent African developers is just one more.
Featured image via the author
Politics
Reform ‘s ‘British ICE’ plan rejected by the masses
A YouGov poll has clearly shown that the majority of Brits would not take kindly to our equivalent of the US’ ICE agency. This comes as Reform UK announced that they would work to introduce our own force of thugs in the image of a violent, rogue anti-immigration force implemented by US President Donald Trump.
Pointing out that US ICE agents have been responsible for the cold-blooded murder of American citizens, Jimmy Giant has taken to X to underscore how unappealing Reform appear to be to the electorate.
Thankfully, many Britons will be relieved to see this poll. Fortunately, it reminds us that we haven’t sunk quite so far into the abyss as our pals across the Atlantic. Moreover, it signals that Reform leader Nigel Farage may have miscalculated the redeeming qualities of his love for Trump.
Announcing a “British ICE” after two citizens were just killed in cold blood is like trying to sell flights to NYC on September 12th 2001 https://t.co/gv8Lt0lut7
— JimmyTheGiant (@jimthegiant) February 23, 2026
Far rights hateful hoodwinking isn’t working on the masses
Uh-oh, another incident highlighting that the billionaire-funded Reform have zero clue about what British people want, whilst underlining that Nigel Farage has nothing original to offer. Nevertheless, this makes it easier for voters and for the opposition, as we effectively have advance knowledge of what will come if Farage gets in. Thankfully, only a measly 11% of those polled would actually welcome thugs descending on our streets to attack immigrants and refugees.
Before we forget, let’s remind ourselves who those 11% are likely to be:
They’ll be queueing up round the block to join Zia Yusuf’s ICE-style agency if the Manchester Britain’s First march is anything to go by.🤬 #ReformUK https://t.co/pxpdjjTph8 pic.twitter.com/L62SCre87G
— The Rev. Anton Mittens 🌹👮🎓 (@MittensOff) February 23, 2026
After seeing a number of violent and fatal attacks against US citizens, this brings huge sigh of relief. Nevertheless, we cannot underappreciate the power and influence that super-rich businessmen like Farage and co have.
But let’s take the wins where they show up, right?!
Jimmy isn’t alone in pointing out the overwhelming rejection of ‘British ICE’. Immigration expert Zoe Gardner posted on X that this underscores how overrepresented Reform, its representatives and its supporters are across the mainstream media:
Again & again: Reform supporters are weirdo outliers.
Politics as a whole needs to stop pandering to them & focus on the reasonable people who don’t want unaccountable masked stasi thugs kidnapping people out of our neighbourhoods. https://t.co/0rFgsIDASk
— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) February 23, 2026
This account on X warned that Reform would use its ICE policy as a punishing stick against all of us, not just the minority they’re currently scapegoating:
We must fight any attempt to create a UK ICE terror unit.
This is a trade union issue. Migrant rights are workers’ rights and must be defended. A force like ICE will be used against all of us not just migrants.
Reform must be stopped. pic.twitter.com/nu8aqfUodH
— Simon Dubbins (@SimonDubbins67) February 24, 2026
Reform work for themselves, not for us
Once again, the pompous, hateful right-wing party has been exposed as being completely out of touch with the majority of the population. This is welcome, of course. Especially as we aren’t short of real-life examples of Reform being completely inept. We wrote a piece as 2025 came to a close on their hypocrisy and failures underscoring how shallow their ‘pledges’ are in reality.
The announcement of Reform’s ICE policy, delivered by Zia Yusuf speaking for the first time as ‘home affairs spokesman’, would appear to have been received like a damp squib among the majority according to this poll.
We wrote at the time:
On 23 February, Zia Yusuf gave his first speech in his new role as Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman. Along with unveiling deepening US-style Christofascism, he also proudly revealed details of plans to increase his party’s already vile immigrant-bashing and Islamophobia to new heights.
This included a proposal to create a UK ‘Deportation Command’ modelled on the US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agency. This agency would conduct ‘Operation Restoring Justice’, which would involve detaining ‘illegal’ immigrants in pre-fab structures before rapidly deporting them.
Yusuf also voiced ambitions to institute a visa ban against six Muslim-majority countries. Likewise, he would also refocus the already hideously Islamophobic ‘Prevent’ counter-terrorism scheme against Muslims in the UK.
This X account underscored just who Reform work for:
It’s all performative right wing bollocks, Reform Ltd have embraced Trumpism.
@Nigel_Farage
doesn’t want a democracy, he wants a far right wing dictatorship for millionaires & billionaires.If you’re neither of those, then you’re not part of their exclusive club.
Brits say ‘Fuck Off’ to Reform hate
This thankfully reassures concerns that Reform policies appeal to a significant proportion of the population. In contrast, it underscores the minority that these billionaires are attempting to incite to win votes. A minority which we saw last weekend have no problem whatsoever with being violent, in fact, they revel in it.
Making that transparent to wider public will work to maintain hope and perseverance in advancing socialist politics. After all, we are all united in the threats facing us. And they come in private jets with offshore bank accounts, not in a dinghy.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
‘I was afraid it wouldn’t get published’
The post ‘I was afraid it wouldn’t get published’ appeared first on spiked.
Politics
Trump mentions are missing from Epstein trove
Dozens of FBI files that mention US President Donald Trump are missing from the vast Epstein releases. A review by CNN shows that these include records of key FBI interviews with an alleged victim of both wealthy paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Trump.
CNN said the missing files include:
three interviews related to a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her decades ago.
The US media outlet found:
An evidence log provided to attorneys for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell includes serial numbers for about 325 FBI witness interview records – but more than 90 of those records, over a quarter of the list, don’t appear to be present on the DOJ website.
The woman had told FBI agents:
that Epstein had repeatedly abused her starting when she was approximately 13 years old, and who also accused Trump of sexually assaulting her.
Trump — privileged documents?
Another US media outlet, NPR, challenged the authorities on the missing files. NPR said:
The Justice Department declined to answer NPR’s questions on the record about these specific files, what’s in them and why they are not published.
However, after NPR published their story:
the Justice Department reached out to NPR, taking issue with how its responses to questions were framed. Department of Justice spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre reiterated DOJ’s stance that any documents not published are privileged, are duplicates or relate to an ongoing federal investigation.
Legal firm Norton Rose Kennedy describes ‘privilege’ as:
a legal right which allows persons to resist compulsory disclosure of documents and information.
The term suggests the documents are part of legal cases which are ongoing. Which cases these are is unclear.
Victims lost in the noise
Beyond this the withholding of documents by the US government remains a mystery to investigators.
Democratic Party Representative Robert Garcia told CNN:
We have a survivor that made serious allegations against the president. But there’s a series of documents, and it would appear to be possible interviews, that the FBI conducted with the survivor that are actually missing, that we don’t have access to.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. And the DOJ has insisted it was following the law and had deleted no files.
A DOJ spokesperson told CNN:
We have not deleted anything, and as we have always said, all documents responsive were produced.
CNN added:
They [DOJ] did not answer follow-up questions about specific files.
The internal goings-on in the DOJ, FBI and Trump’s camp remain as opaque as ever. The Canary has said before, the media circus around the files keeps rolling on month after month — while the needs of victims are sidelined. Victims’ desire for justice is being lost amid the noise, chaos and static produced by the institutions involved in the releases. And, in some cases, by the very individuals implicated in the files.
Featured image via the Canary
-
Video6 days agoXRP News: XRP Just Entered a New Phase (Almost Nobody Noticed)
-
Politics4 days agoBaftas 2026: Awards Nominations, Presenters And Performers
-
Fashion5 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Boden – Corporette.com
-
Sports2 days agoWomen’s college basketball rankings: Iowa reenters top 10, Auriemma makes history
-
Politics2 days agoNick Reiner Enters Plea In Deaths Of Parents Rob And Michele
-
Sports7 days agoClearing the boundary, crossing into history: J&K end 67-year wait, enter maiden Ranji Trophy final | Cricket News
-
Crypto World2 days agoXRP price enters “dead zone” as Binance leverage hits lows
-
Business3 days agoMattel’s American Girl brand turns 40, dolls enter a new era
-
Business3 days agoLaw enforcement kills armed man seeking to enter Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, officials say
-
Entertainment7 days agoDolores Catania Blasts Rob Rausch For Turning On ‘Housewives’ On ‘Traitors’
-
NewsBeat2 days ago‘Hourly’ method from gastroenterologist ‘helps reduce air travel bloating’
-
Tech3 days agoAnthropic-Backed Group Enters NY-12 AI PAC Fight
-
NewsBeat3 days agoArmed man killed after entering secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, Secret Service says
-
Tech1 day agoUnsurprisingly, Apple's board gets what it wants in 2026 shareholder meeting
-
Politics3 days agoMaine has a long track record of electing moderates. Enter Graham Platner.
-
NewsBeat22 hours agoPolice latest as search for missing woman enters day nine
-
Crypto World22 hours agoEntering new markets without increasing payment costs
-
Sports2 days ago
2026 NFL mock draft: WRs fly off the board in first round entering combine week
-
Crypto World6 days ago83% of Altcoins Enter Bear Trend as Liquidity Crunch Tightens Grip on Crypto Market
-
Business1 day agoTrue Citrus debuts functional drink mix collection
