Politics
London’s grooming gangs shame Sadiq Khan
In a now notorious exchange, London mayor Sadiq Khan said last year there was no ‘indication’ that grooming gangs – of the kind that have plagued towns such as Rotherham and Telford – exist in London. Evidence uncovered by the BBC last week has exposed the foolishness of this claim. It is now indisputable that vulnerable women and girls, some as young as 14, are being lured into a world of rape and exploitation by grooming gangs in London.
The revelations make for bleak reading. Some women said they had been raped as ‘payment’ for unpaid drug debts. Others said they were groomed specifically for sex.
The BBC investigation followed a decision by the Metropolitan Police, in October, to reopen 1,200 cases of child sexual exploitation from between 2010 and 2025. The decision was made by the Met after an investigation by the Standard found that many young girls in London reported allegations of rape, but were met with indifference by police.
Khan’s belief that London was somehow immune from grooming gangs was always fanciful, if not outright dishonest. Perpetrators have tended to work on taxi networks and in fast-food outlets, taking advantage of unsupervised young women – many of them also victims of a crumbling care system. Obviously, the capital isn’t short on taxis and fast-food shops.
Met deputy assistant commissioner Kevin Southworth has said that grooming-gang activity is ‘very high’ on the force’s ‘threat and risk radar’, and said it was committed to putting as much of its resources into tackling the problem ‘as possible’. These comments are indeed a relief, particularly when Khan himself, who is directly responsible for policing in London, has shown such little interest in the scandal.
The findings of the BBC’s investigation into London’s grooming gangs present a complex picture – one that includes drug dealing, phone theft and even weapons trading. But it also undeniably shows vulnerable women and girls being groomed for sex.
One survivor the BBC spoke to called ‘Milly’ (not her real name) recounted her experiences with grooming gangs in London. It is a mirror image of what has taken place for decades in towns such as Rotherham, Rochdale and Oldham. As a 15-year-old girl, she ‘was getting passed around different men every night – sometimes 10 or 15 a month’. She was plied with alcohol and drugs before she was raped. ‘Milly’ revealed that the perpetrators were South Asian, with some commenting on the fact that she was ‘a nice, young white girl’.
Another London survivor, ‘Ruth’, was also exploited for sex. She told the BBC that men of South Asian heritage ‘took advantage’ of her feeling ‘low’, by giving her expensive gifts to make her feel wanted in exchange for sex.
It is important to note that the gangs operating in London come from much ‘wider ethnic backgrounds’ than in other towns – reflecting the capital’s demographic diversity. ‘We do not see a disproportionate number of any one particular ethnicity or nationality within our suspects’, Southworth said.
To this extent, the grooming-gangs phenomenon in London appears to be different from other parts of the UK. Last year, Louise Casey’s audit into the scandal found that men of Pakistani Muslim heritage were overrepresented among the perpetrators. Casey lamented the lack of ethnicity reporting by police, yet concluded that there was enough evidence to show ‘disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds’ were behind the crimes across three regions – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Her report also found that police ‘shied away’ from pursuing grooming gangs out of fear of being labelled racist.
Sadiq Khan was wrong to bat away claims that grooming gangs are rampant in the capital. He appears to be as deluded on this issue as he is about every other. There is now mounting evidence that shows it is a problem that should be treated with the utmost seriousness by London’s relevant institutions, such as City Hall and the Met. When it comes to this never-ending scandal, no stone should be left unturned.
Rakib Ehsan is the author of Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong about Ethnic Minorities, which is available to order on Amazon.
Politics
Farage unbothered by death threats reposted by his councillor
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has refused to condemn death threats re-posted by Reform councillor, Simon Evans.
Nigel Farage refuses to apologise and condemn Reform councillor Simon Evans for sharing a death threat against Labour MP Natalie Fleet 😱
Keir Starmer explained what happened and invited Nigel Farage to apologise, especially after Keir Starmer spoke out against a death threat to… pic.twitter.com/AKwV6LZpjq
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) February 25, 2026
These threats bring to bring the tragic death of the late Labour MP, Jo Cox. As such, it’s essential that members of the House of Commons show responsible leadership.
This is especially true now as more than half of elected MPs feel ‘unsafe’ as a result of threats they’ve received, according to the Financial Times.
Simon Evans
Rather than addressing the issue, Farage chose to deflect, which is revealing and concerning.
🚨 WATCH: Keir Starmer urges Nigel Farage to condemn and sack a Reform UK councillor who shared a post saying MP Natalie Fleet “should be shot”
Starmer says he condemned threats against Farage and expects the same “decency”
Farage responds by raising the Chagos Islands#PMQs pic.twitter.com/mi7TyoCYPS
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) February 25, 2026
This raises grave concerns about his appetite for violence when directed at those in opposition to Reform.
As we reported on 24 February, the councillor in question is Lancashire’s Simon Evans. Evans denies noticing the death threat included in the post he shared and offered a hollow apology.
However, people aren’t convinced by his “I didn’t notice” excuse. Irrespectively, the incident exposes a degree of negligence and, by extension, Evans’s unsuitability for public office.
Posts like this are so common I don’t bat an eyelid.
But they remind me why my husband & kids *begged* me not to stand.
I felt huge responsibility; last lab gov helped me, I wanted to help others.
But…we should be able to fight for our areas w/o death threats as standard. https://t.co/rygygMqikY
— Natalie Fleet MP (@NatalieFleetMP) February 24, 2026
To take disciplinary action against the councillor involved would be in step with prior incidents. Reform have actually disciplined a significant number of their new politicians, too, as we’ve reported:
Reform UK Review 2025:
Reform UK councillors that have been suspended, resigned or defected this year alone. This includes a Council Leader, Ian Cooper, white supremacist.
➡️ Kicked Out
Brian Black
Oliver Bradshaw
Paul Thomas
Bob Ford
Bill Barratt
Ed Hill
James Regan
Mark… pic.twitter.com/yH8NoLsg9q— Reform Party UK Exposed 🇬🇧 (@reformexposed) December 26, 2025
However, for whatever reason, Farage doesn’t think this threat of violence warrants consideration.
“No wonder he’s been endorsed by Tommy Robinson”
The PMQs clash between Starmer and Farage transpired as follows:
Keir Starmer: A death threat was shared by Reform’s Deputy Council Leader in Lancashire against the brilliant Member for Bolsover. It said she should be shot. When death threats were made against the Member for Clacton, I stood at this Dispatch Box and condemned them outright. If he has any decency or backbone, he will stand up, apologise, condemn the comments and sack the individual in his party. Will he do so?
Instead of rightfully condemning the death threat, Farage deflected to one of his comfort zone issues – the Chagos Islands:
Nigel Farage: At the age of 14, Michel Mandarin was forcibly removed from his home, the coral atoll of Ile de Croix, dumped on the quayside in Mauritius, forced to live on food scraps out of bins. He has resettled those islands and yet now faces a removal order from yet another Labour Government. So maybe twice in one lifetime, he’s going to be asked to leave his homeland.
Can I ask the Prime Minister, for a government that is full of human rights lawyers, within and without, why do the opinions and human rights of indigenous Chagossians not matter to him at all?
Speaker of the House, Hoyle: Prime Minister.
Starmer: So, he has neither the decency nor the backbone. condemn a death threat to a member of this House, whichever party they are in. He does not have the decency or the backbone to condemn it and to sack the individual. That just shows that his party has got nothing to offer the country but grievance and division. Look at their candidate in Gorton and Denton, a man who says anyone who is not white cannot be English.
No wonder he’s been endorsed by Tommy Robinson. It doesn’t represent our country.
Farage appears to support ‘righteous’ violence
We can’t forget that Farage is a close pal of Donald Trump. The orange US President has wreaked havoc since returning to power through his ICE squads. These masked agents have literally murdered US citizens like Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. And alarmingly, Reform have talked about importing this model to Britain:
If you want concentration camps in the UK, people being grabbed off the streets, or murdered on them, five year olds being separated from their parents and locked up vote reform, but they’re still going to make you poorer https://t.co/KxmOVfDe9J
— Daniel Lismore (@daniellismore) February 23, 2026
Motives for violence are subjective.
There must be red lines which prevent us descending into barbarism.
Farage is making it clear that those lines may not exist under his watch.
Nigel Farage who just said the violence is the fault of the Left, threatening to pickup a rifle and attack the Government. pic.twitter.com/UM8qsxYs01
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) July 14, 2024
And as this disturbing video shows, Farage is more than happy to encourage people to pick up guns.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
DWP cut Access to Work support for disabled theatre director
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have cut the Access to Work support of an artistic director working at a disabled led theatre company by 50%. Jenny Sealey, who has led Graeae for over 28 years, says the cuts feel “punitive” and a result of her speaking out about AtW delays.
DWP cut disabled director’s support
Sealey said:
This feels political.
Sealey is considered a leading voice in disability arts. As well as leading and directing for Graeae, she was also one of the artistic directors for the London 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony.
Now, however, her work may have to be scaled back, as the DWP has decided she doesn’t need Access to Work funding.
Jenny is deaf, so she requires a BSL interpreter for her typically 47-hour production rehearsal weeks. She was informed that from now on, the DWP would only be funding 10 hours of BSL interpretation a week.
DWP blames Graeae for Sealey’s lack of support, which they’re cutting
To make this even worse, the DWP blamed Graeae for Jenny struggling, not that they were cutting her support. In a statement, Graeae said:
In feedback on her application to Access to Work, the body claimed that Jenny’s employer has not put adequate support in place to meet her needs. They state as appropriate support was not established from the outset, it is evident that the customer struggles to fulfil the role.
Graeae employs around 200 deaf and disabled people a year, which is about 57% of their total workforce. Many of these people, of course, require extra support and funding. The charity provides this across the board, whether or not it can be reclaimed.
In 2024-25, Graeae covered £198,445 in access costs; just £86,800 of this was able to be reclaimed from Access to Work. For the DWP to then blame Sealey’s employer, after they do so much to support disabled workers, is absolutely vile.
Another reason for support being cut
Sealey, however, suspects there’s another reason for her support being cut. She has been one of the most vocal campaigners about Access to Work in recent years. In the statement she said:
This feels punitive. I dared speak out about the 15-month delays to the system, the battles our community are facing with each and every application, and I feel like I’m being told to get back in my box.
She also commented on how “insulting” the changes to her support are:
The recommendations around how to make reasonable adjustments are an absolute insult and show no understanding of Graeae and the work I do, running a company, training, rehearsing and advocacy. I am not sure how I can do this on a 10 hour a week interpreter allowance. Graeae cannot be expected to cover interpreters for 30+ hours a week, that goes way beyond reasonable adjustment. This is an infringement of human rights.
Executive Director Graeae Kevin Walsh spoke on the horrific idea put forward by the DWP that Sealey struggles in her role and that this is their fault:
To suggest that Jenny struggles to fulfil her role is ludicrous. She has passionately and successfully led Graeae for the last 28 years and she has a right to continue to do so. Her job has not changed; it’s hard to understand why her support has changed.
He also warned about the excess cost that Graeae is supposed to cover because Access to Work do not:
What more can we be doing as an employer when we are already raiding our reserves to the tune of £100k a year to meet costs for staff not covered by Access to Work. Everyone has a right to a fair and accessible workspace. We are doing our bit, not just for Jenny but for all staff, participants and audiences. DWP need to re-instate this support.
DWP want disabled people dead
The most ridiculous thing about any of this is that whilst they continue to quietly cut disabled peoples in work support, they’re hellbent on pushing rhetoric about getting disabled people back to work. It’s clear the DWP doesn’t actually care about supporting disabled people into work – they want us to work ourselves to death, or cut our benefits until we die that way. Either way, they just want us to stop complaining about them.
Featured image via Graeae
Politics
Tommy Robinson associate incites violence against Muslims
Considering the moral panic whipped up by the media at every mention of Palestinian resistance – ‘intifada’, which means shaking off chains – or anti-genocide protest, there’s a strange silence at the moment.
Daniel Thomas is a close mate and sometime bodyguard of fascist Tommy Robinson. Robinson is on the run at the moment, so perhaps ‘Danny’ is at a loose end, but it’s no excuse. Thomas has put out a Nazi-like “blood and faith” call for violent retribution against ‘those in Whitechapel’ – far-right shorthand for Muslims – for their supposed ‘attacks’ on “English Christian men”:
Thomas, of course, is more a Welsh surname than an English one. But ‘DannyTommo’, as he likes to style himself, has a criminal conviction for armed kidnap connected to drugs and has been accused of planning anti-migrant riots on French beaches, so his incitement is no joke.
So far, there has been no sign of action from police – even as Islamophobia reaches “epidemic” levels.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Labour resorts to dirty tricks to dupe Gorton & Denton voters
Labour has been owned and humiliated by a social media wag after the party tried to scam voters in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Earlier this week, Labour posted leaflets from a supposed ‘tactical voting’ organisation, named exactly that ‘Tactical Choice‘ – creative.
The paraphernalia they posted advised Gorton and Denton voters to support Starmer’s rotten corpse of a party to defeat Reform. The only catch is the organisation was completely made up…by Labour. It didn’t take long before the scam was humiliatingly exposed.
Satirists, responding to Labour latest dirty trick, set up a ‘Tactical Choice’ account on X – criticising Labour for stealing its logo.
The mockery starts right from the off with the account describes itself as a:
definitely completely real Tactical Voting Organisation.
Its first post warns voters that it has been “made aware” of Labour’s scam – and advises voters to vote Green:
Tactical Choice has been made aware of fake leaflets distributed by Labour in Gorton & Denton that falsely purport to be from our organisation.
Please be aware, we DO NOT advocate voting Labour in tomorrow’s by-election.
To stop Reform, the best vote is for the Green Party.
— Tactical Choice (@tacticalchoice_) February 25, 2026
And it has threatened Starmer’s party with legal action over the scam:
Labour have ILLEGALLY falsified our copyrighted logo and brand to send entirely fake leaflets purporting to be from Tactical Choice in Gorton and Denton.
We will be taking legal action.
Do NOT vote Labour.
Vote Green. pic.twitter.com/rt3USHkyWl
— Tactical Choice (@tacticalchoice_) February 25, 2026
‘Tactical Choice’ has also shown a satisfying willingness to out individual MPs who participated in the scam, knowingly or otherwise. Starmeroid MP Oliver Ryan, for example:
We’re suing you. https://t.co/6R6ExdZAOu
— Tactical Choice (@tacticalchoice_) February 26, 2026
And it had a bit of fun with Labour’s DIY logo:
No, Labour didn’t make up the Tactical Choice logo.
They STOLE it!
From us! https://t.co/qyrL0QwmV0
— Tactical Choice (@tacticalchoice_) February 26, 2026
Of course, there will always be some people who don’t get satire.
Someone, perhaps one of Labour’s few remaining supporters, taking a break from fitting into a phone box, felt ‘Tactical Choice’ merited a ‘community note’:
Ah well. Vote Green in Gorton and Denton. Don’t vote for Labour anywhere.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Labour lie-truck toured Gorton and Denton smearing Greens
Labour’s desperate, dirty tricks in the Gorton and Denton by-election took a disgraceful new turn on polling day 26 February 2026.
The party had already been caught out delivering leaflets purportedly from a fake ‘tactical voting’ organisation — that it had made up — to try to scam voters into avoiding Green party candidate Hannah Spencer. But on the day local voters went to the ballot box, it toured the constituency with a video truck playing a string of lies against Spencer and party leader Zack Polanski.
The smears were a clear attempt to use locals’ children to scare them away from the Greens — a sick irony given the all-pervasive presence of paedophiles and other sex offenders among Starmer’s faction:
It’s not the first time Labour has resorted to such scandalous tactics. In 2023, the party waged a sewer-level smear campaign against independent left-winger Sam Gorst in Garston in South Liverpool.
That campaign backfired when Gorst and his colleague Lucy Williams trounced Labour in what had previously been a stronghold. Let’s hope the gutter party sees its foul tactics blow up in its face in Gorton and Denton, too.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Mothin Ali receives death threats
Green party deputy leader Mothin Ali has made a defiant response to death threats from fascist Israel supporters, telling them that he’s not hiding.
One threat came from a racist X account “WillyBrams3”, telling Ali that he hopes Israel finds and kills him soon. Ali’s response: “Hi, I’m not playing hide and seek”:
Hi, I’m not playing hide and seek… pic.twitter.com/caWlNHakBX
— Mothin Ali (@MothinAli) February 26, 2026
Ali has long been on the Israel lobby’s hate list for his willingness to call out Israel’s Gaza genocide and to challenge UK politicians who act as mouthpieces for the apartheid colony.
The Willy Brams account is a flood of Islamophobic and anti-left hate speech, including support for further destruction and slaughter in Gaza:
The devil in disguise . Let them bleed Israël https://t.co/LCbFfRjl3z
— Willy Brams (@WillyBrams3) February 26, 2026
Unsurprisingly, given the prevalence of sex crime in the colony, he’s also a keen sharer of Israel’s ‘thirst trap‘ soft-porn posts and other far-right misogyno-racism:
Ali is no stranger to such fascist threats. In 2024 he was threatened repeatedly for daring to say “Allahu akbar” – “God is Great” – at the end of a speech. Israel’s campaign against the Greens has intensified since party members put forward a motion to the party’s approaching conference correctly declaring Zionism to be racism.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Mandelson document release now out of Starmer’s control
Keir Starmer has lost control of which documents are made public relating to his appointment of Peter Mandelson as his senior adviser and UK ambassador to the US.
Starmer had indicated he would decide which information was released and keep some back for “national security and international relations”. This was barely-disguised shorthand for withholding information concerning Israel. Serial child rapist Jeffrey Epstein is now known to have been an Israeli intelligence asset. Mandelson, whose closeness to Epstein has been further exposed but was known by Starmer when he appointed him, is also a Zionist.
But the parliamentary ‘Intelligence and Security Committee’ (ISC), made up of peers and MPs, has now said that it will hold sole control over what files are released. Of course, Starmer will still try to influence decisions and his home secretary Shabana Mahmood, to whom police forces report, will have more influence than she should.
Mandelson documents
Number 10 has already said that the Met has agreed some documents should not be disclosed, including reports of three questions Starmer asked Mandelson about Epstein. Parliamentarians on the ISC may also have an eye on potential political or future legal consequences for themselves if they withhold material information, but Starmer’s handlers are evidently still trying to minimise damage.
The Met Police and the Starmer regime have also stipulated a supposed ‘framework’ for agreeing which documents can be made public without prejudicing its criminal investigation into Mandelson, who was arrested on 23 February 2026. Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle had told police that Mandelson was planning to flee the country.
Mandelson’s protégé Morgan McSweeney resigned as Starmer’s chief of staff two weeks earlier in an attempt to save his boss. Since then, Starmer has tried to portray himself as shocked, but has tried to hide behind police process to avoid confessing what he knew about Mandelson and Epstein when he appointed him — which seems certain to be more or less everything.
Documents are likely to start coming out as early as next week.
Featured image via author
Politics
Your Party elections and what the results mean for members
On 26 February, Your Party members decided who would sit on the Central Executive Committee (CEC). The election results rolled in just before lunchtime. Jeremy Corbyn’s team ‘The Many‘ secured 14 successful candidates, giving them a majority on the CEC. In contrast, Zarah Sultana’s ‘Grassroots Left’ saw 7 gain a seat with three independent candidates completing the CEC.
However, questions remain about what this means for the ‘peoples party’. Will this mark a line in the sand and prompt genuine efforts to work together? Or will factionalism double down, leaving sore winners and resentful losers across the political divide?
Jeremy Corbyn, his slate, and his team have faced considerable member backlash for controlling and divisive tactics that have turned what was once an exciting project into a toxic, polarised environment. After all, not letting people have a say or seat at the table is bound to increase suspicion and provoke defensive actions from those blocked out. This resulted in accusations of toxic ‘Labour Right’ tactics being rampantly deployed in a fight for a small few to control the process.
The Many must remember that cheering a victory for one faction will sting those who backed the other. That’s hardly a recipe for bringing people together.
Congratulations to Jeremy Corbyn and @TheManyYP for a clear victory in the CEC elections!
Your Party can now move forward to build a mass party that defends the interests of the many, not the few. pic.twitter.com/OKxW2kCk0u— Socialist Action (@SocialistAct) February 26, 2026
Party politics and factionalism putting off members
Despite the party having had a reported interest of 800,000 people following the announcement from its co-founders last July, that transpired to approximately just 60k members at the time of its inaugural conference. The announcement of results today informed that membership now lies at 40,985, with just 25,347 votes received to decide the party’s pivotal direction of travel. Not a great indictment on how either leader has read the room, with factional games undeniably having a role in the loss of enthusiasm among the wider public.
For instance, losing nearly 20k members after the conference could either be due to the public fighting and briefing, in which both sides were at odds with each other. Corbyn’s team deplorably chose to brief the right-wing press about ‘communist takeovers’ prior to it commencing, drawing accusations of similarities shared with the ‘Labour Right’ intrinsic in his downfall.
Unfortunately, this has highlighted that public leaders have not sufficiently taken note of public feeling: and that is that there is no time to waste fighting with each other with the far-right at our door.
One Your Party member despairingly told us:
How can we win people over from the far-right if we can’t even navigate disagreement together on the left?
At the Canary, we have faced relentless abuse and criticism for insisting on transparency and holding those in power to account. Yet we have refused to back down, because we believe all power deserves scrutiny — not just the power of those we oppose. After all, power corrupts, and humans are fallible.
The left must get it together
From the very outset, members made it abundantly clear that one of the most important factors in building this party was the safeguarding of democracy. When so many are left feeling unheard and sidelined, this party was meant to be the salve that healed that wound by allowing all engaged to be heard. This led to pushes for a member-led democratic party, which was overwhelmingly voted through at conference.
However, since then we have received multiple reports supported by verified evidence which informed the suggestion that Corbyn and his team were more than happy to subvert democracy for their own desire to control the party building process. Considering reports from the outset of Sultana being blocked from contributing equally, seemingly preferring for her to be seen and not heard, a significant proportion of members have raised alarm over patriarchal ‘sexist man club’ attitudes inherent in The Many.
We wrote earlier this year about Corbyn ally Karie Murphy’s shady tactics to fix the odds, saying:
Originally, members of Your Party made it clear that they wanted an elected oversight committee formed ahead of the CEC election. Supporters argued that this approach would make committee members more representative of the entire membership, bridging divides and differences of opinion.
However, figures on The Many slate allegedly objected, instead pushing for – and implementing – a sortition process that selected five members to carry out crucial oversight. Given the public bickering and clashes driven by strong views on both sides, members generally accepted this compromise as fair in principle.
However, it now appears that principle and process are not the priority for those gearing the party’s democratic processes.
The Canary has been told that Karie Murphy excluded one sortition member from being involved in the Your Party committee, literally blocking her number and ignoring her very existence.
NEW: Jeremy Corbyn set to become parliamentary leader of Your Party after his slate won 14 seats to 7 on the central executive committee
— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) February 26, 2026
Corbyn to be Your Party’s ‘parliamentary leader’
It is being widely reported that the significant TM-majority on the CEC will elect Corbyn to be Your Party’s representative in Parliament. This undoubtedly raises questions as to whether this victory for TM will be used to force a sole leadership model that members overwhelmingly voted down at its inaugural conference. It equally raises fresh concerns that what will unfold now will be akin to the ‘Labour Right’ jostling for power, excluding and sabotaging others in the process, to create a party in their image alone.
Not too unlike the warnings we heard from Sultana that a Labour Party 2.0 was awaiting if her slate and aligned independents didn’t win a majority.
An unavoidable dichotomy has surfaced: if members voted for collective leadership to ensure that decisions are made fairly with no centralised power in the hands of one person, it’s hard now to see how that really can be delivered upon. Those aligned solely with Corbyn’s TM slate have made it abundantly clear they wanted sole leadership from the start. Equally, they have made clear in practice that they won’t work in tandem with people who aren’t on ‘their team’. Now they have control of the party’s decisions, it’s impossible to avoid the optics of the birth of a ‘Labour 2.0’.
This is especially true when we consider the briefing and ‘attack dog’ sabotage tactics that belong firmly in the Labour right playbook.
Undoubtedly to cause frustration among members, we have a sole leader with a majority overseeing the foundational processes of a party formed on a collective leadership model. Square peg, round hole springs to mind.
Something that it appears Zarah Sultana alludes to in her public statement after the results were announced:
In November, Your Party conference voted for a collective leadership.
From today, that work begins. Congratulations to everyone elected to the CEC! pic.twitter.com/1jOaDL616y
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) February 26, 2026
Change comes from uplifting people, not suppressing them
In conclusion, Corbyn and those aligned with him would do well to remember that the vast majority of the public watching this unfold are likely more emotionally mature than those in powerful, privileged positions. Equally, Sultana’s team will have a tricky line to tread, yet again, where they maintain scrutiny on how much power the members actually have, whilst not being seen to be the ’cause’ of people losing interest.
The vast majority see that we have to hear each other to find a way forward, not shut the door from the very outset if we don’t like what we’re hearing. This has unsurprisingly put people off and hindered the movement as a whole.
Nevertheless, Corbyn and his allies have achieved victory and the ‘control’ that comes with it. We hope they choose now to listen to all of us without fear or favour. How he chooses to wield this control will have wide-reaching consequences for YP members, and the viability for the party to truly compete against the rising far-right.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
AstraZeneca boss receives ridiculous pay
The boss of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s pay rose to £17.7 million in 2025. That’s after Keir Starmer’s administration bent over for Donald Trump and Big Pharma in December last year, accepting a 25% increase in pricing for NHS drugs.
AstraZeneca— Extracting wealth from people’s healthcare
Unsurprisingly, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot welcomed the increased NHS costs in February. He called them a “very positive step”, suggesting he wants to milk even more from the NHS.
That’s all despite AstraZeneca cancelling investment plans in the UK.
Big pharma companies stopped nearly £2bn in investments in the UK in 2025. For example, US drugmaker MSD announced that it would abolish its £1bn London research centre. Shortly after, AstraZeneca said it would scrap a £200m investment in research facilities in Cambridge.
It was the US ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, who asked chancellor Rachel Reeves to enable pharmaceutical companies to drain more resources (via profit) from the NHS.
Trump and big pharma holding the NHS to ransom comes despite MSD, for instance, making £3.27bn in net income in the first quarter of this year.
End privatisation
The price gouging makes it clear that big pharma should be brought in-house to relieve pressure on the NHS. Moneyed rewards can remain with nationalisation. Scientists already receive prizes for breakthroughs and the same could be done in a public sector pharmaceutical division to further incentivise discoveries beyond public good.
That way private suppliers cannot use their position to demand more and more money from the NHS. Indeed, drug company Roche has refused to offer the NHS drugs for terminal cancer because of its excessive profit motive. It’s worth noting that a lobbying firm that has represented that company also donated £55,800 to former Labour cabinet minister Anneliese Dodds.
Healthcare should be public including all its resources. That means pharmaceuticals and land.
Although, it seems Starmer is in the pocket of the corporate extractors.
Featured image via DW
Politics
Israel spouts debunked lies at Greens
The official Israeli embassy ‘X’ account, with the colony’s typical arrogance, has publicly demanded the UK Green party drop its anti-Zionist motion. The party’s conference will debate and vote on a motion that accurately describes Zionism as racism. It will also affirm support for the Palestinians’ legally-guaranteed right to resist Israel’s occupation by “any available means”.
Cue an entitled hissy fit from the official account, which spouted “utter condemnation” at the “extreme” motion and absolutely demanded the party reject it:
The Embassy of Israel expresses its profound concern and utter condemnation regarding the “Zionism is Racism” motion currently under consideration for the Green Party’s upcoming spring conference. a motion so extreme, so hostile, and so intellectually bankrupt that its very inclusion on the agenda raises urgent questions about the direction of the party.
Zionism is the fundamental right of the Jewish people to self determination in their ancestral homeland. It is not an ideology of exclusion, but one of liberation. By seeking to categorise Zionism as a form of racism, this motion attempts to revive the long discredited and hateful equation once promoted by UN Resolution 3379. That resolution was a moral stain on the international community and was decisively revoked by the UN General Assembly in 1991. To attempt to resurrect this falsehood in 2026 is a regressive and dangerous step.
But antisemitically spouting that ‘Jewish self-determination’ entitles Israel to steal the Palestinians’ ancestral homeland so Zionism can’t possibly be racist wasn’t enough. ‘@IsraelinUK’ needed to throw in some genocide-justifying atrocity propaganda. It ignored — of course — that all its lies have been disproven. And the genocidal colony, which has murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, whined that a party motion “creates a hostile and threatening environment”:
Furthermore, the motion’s explicit support for “armed struggle” is nothing less approval of terrorism. To suggest that “all available means” should be supported is to provide a blank cheque for the same atrocities witnessed on October 7th, 2023: mass murder, torture, rape, and the kidnapping of civilians. To endorse this is to abandon every moral and humanitarian principle the Green Party once claimed to uphold.
Just the existence of such a declaration creates a hostile and threatening environment, providing a justification for further antisemitic hostility. The Green Party should feel nothing but shame for allowing such a motion to reach its conference. Instead of championing social justice, equality, and human rights, this proposal transforms the party into a welcoming refuge for those who hate the different, despise minorities, and promote violence.
The Embassy of Israel calls on the Green Party to reject this motion decisively and unequivocally, to make an effort to prevent their platform from being hijacked by extremism.
“Mass murder” — nope. Israel itself killed most Israelis that died on 7 October 2023 through its ‘Hannibal directive‘. It even admits it did, since just days after it happened — but only in Israel. When it’s trying to mug British people and other nations, that ‘never happened’.
“Torture” — nope. Israel routinely tortures thousands of innocent Palestinians in detention. But there is no evidence of torture of Israelis, either on 7 October or during the captivity of some Israelis in Gaza.
“Rape” — nope. The UN found not one credible account of rape during the 7 October raid. Even Israel’s own prosecutor had to admit it. You know who does rape — every day? Yep, you’ve guessed it: the ol’ genocidal colony itself.
“Kidnapping of civilians” — almost entirely nope. A small number of civilians were kidnapped. Children taken to keep them with their parents. A few old people. But apart from the kids, everyone in Israel has to do military service. Many of those taken were on active duty or military reservists. The kidnapping of civilians is a crime — but it was almost absent on 7 October. Israel, by contrast, has abducted thousands as a means of terror — and continues to do so.
Writer Matt Kennard summed it all up perfectly:
Embassy under control of a war criminal wanted by ICC thinks it has right to tell Green Party it must censor a conference motion
Too late. Levees have breached. Zionism is racism—and the whole world knows it. Armed resistance to occupation is also legal under international law https://t.co/3WReiGQkFx
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) February 24, 2026
Featured image via Twitter
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