The Metropolitan Police have arrested two Green Party candidates over deleted social media posts.

Green Party candidates arrested

On Thursday, April 30, the Met detained Saiqa Ali, who is standing in Streatham, in the borough of Lambeth, and Sabine Mairey, the candidate for Clapham Town, also in Lambeth.

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The Met arrested both on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred for allegedly posting antisemitic comments online.

As LBC reported, the posts by Mairey include a:

picture of a man holding a placard that reads “ramming a synagogue isn’t anti-Semitism, it’s revenge” above a picture of two children that the post claims were “murdered by Israel”.

She also claimed 9/11 was an Israeli “false-flag attack”.

We, of course, do not condone her antisemitic comments.

However, some of her other points have merit behind them.

She claimed the government is over-represented with “Zionist Jews”.

It is, of course, important to state that not all Jewish people are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jewish people. However, around 180 British MPs have accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups or individuals during their careers. This includes around 130 Conservative MPs and 41 Labour MPs. Why are foreign agents funding our government?

Some of Mairey’s other posts include mentioning that Nazi Germany had to “hide what they were doing”, and stating that Israel has not.

We cannot argue with that latter point.

The whole world has watched Israel livestream a genocide, blowing babies up and double-tapping health workers and journalists.

She also claimed that Israel uses the Holocaust to justify genocide in Gaza. Again, she has a point. It is well recorded among genocide scholars that Israelis use the Holocaust to justify mass violence against Palestinians.

Once again, we do not condone her antisemitic comments, but she has a fucking point.

As reported in the Telegraph, one of the social media posts by Ali depicts an image of an armed man in a Hamas headband. On the image, is the slogan “resistance is freedom”.

Ali has previously apologised for her social media comments.

Armed resistance

Of course, the UK government has proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

However, armed resistance is not illegal under international law.

Hamas was founded in Gaza in 1987, shortly after the start of the first Intifada, an uprising against Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Hamas’s goal is to:

liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project.

The group holds armed resistance to occupation as one of its founding principles, with its 2017 Document stating:

Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws.

And Hamas is correct in its interpretation of international law.

Armed resistance is not illegal under international law. A United Nations General Assembly resolution states:

The General Assembly,

Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle;

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Israel and the West have labelled Hamas as a ‘terrorist group’ and called for their disarmament, when they’re only defending the land they are native to.

Now, Westerners, like these Green Party candidates, are being labelled as antisemitic – purely for upholding the same standards as international law.

Permanent annexation of a territory, as Israel has done to Gaza, is illegal under international law. But armed resistance is not.

Antizionism ≠ antisemitism

Additionally, anti-Zionism – that is, opposing the Jewish ethnostate of Israel- is not the same as antisemitism, which is dangerous and totally incompatible with any movement for collective liberation.

Zionism is the equivalent of white supremacy. It has resulted in the expulsion of 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians from their land and homes. Being anti-Zionist means standing against a system of apartheid, in which one group of people have exclusive rights above another.

It is more important than ever that we stamp out actual antisemitism, while also remembering that Zionism is the equivalent of white supremacy and has no place in society.

But we can already see it playing out – Jeremy Corbyn 2.0.

As we head into local elections, where the Green Party could gain as many as 555 seats, of course, the media are mixing real antisemitic comments with anti-Zionist ones. They are muddying the waters on purpose, and it’s important that the Green Party and Zack Polanski stand firm. Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are not the same thing.

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By The Canary

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Centrist politicians in the UK and US are going to increasingly extreme lengths to protect the reputation of Israel. The latest example of this is a US Democrat prioritising the public condemnation of Hasan Piker — a streamer and Israel critic — over measures to stop the illegal US war on Iran:

we’re hitting a state of genuine psychosis https://t.co/ZW8wIWL5MY

— onion person (@CantEverDie) April 29, 2026

Priorities

Much like the Canary, Turkish-American Piker is a longtime critic of the state of Israel. There’s a lot to criticise, too, whether it’s the recent genocide, the years of apartheid, or whatever the fuck this is:

There is no dispute that dogs can be trained to rape people.

In Pinochet's Chile, a German Shepherd named Volodia was trained to rape inmates.

In the case of Israel, we have multiple testimonies from Palestinian detainees, as well as Israeli guards. https://t.co/S9OZuq9UFN pic.twitter.com/uEHRQtG080

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— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) April 25, 2026

Israel has made itself a Jewish ethnostate, and it claims to represent the international Jewish community. This is used by Israel and its defenders to label critics of the violent and expansionist nation as ‘antisemites’. It is not antisemitic to criticise a rogue foreign state, though, and increasingly the people of the world are wise to this.

This shift in public opinion means Israel’s defenders have to conduct themselves in desperate and unhinged ways. That’s why US politicians are moving Hell and Earth to bring the power of the state down upon one of the nation’s most prominent advocates for Palestine:

When was the last time Congress voted to condemn a private citizen? McCarthy era? https://t.co/1RtPf7AnZq

— Kate Willett (@katewillett) April 29, 2026

The stated reasons for condemning Piker include a long list of selective quotes which paint Piker in an unflattering light (all of which he’s explained many times over). In the past, it was right-wing streamers sharing these selective quotes — now its supposedly serious politicians.

As Piker himself noted:

This is a Democrat doing this [Gottheimer]. The same Democrat that is supposed to be advancing the war powers resolution that is already two months late on Iran. And instead of that, this is the bill that they advanced this morning. Think about that. What a joke of a country we’re in,

Speaking on Gottheimer, Piker added:

Representative Josh Gottheimer famously, after October 7, blamed Islam straight up with an earshot of Muslim congressional representatives – a racist monster, a ginormous piece of shit. …

Okay, here is the silver lining. If you want to know what the silver lining in this madness actually is, Josh Gottheimer knows that the information environment is uncontrollable. So, they’re testing out the boundaries of how much disciplining they can do with congressional resolutions like this.

That’s it. They’re trying to see if if social media companies will bite on this nonsense.

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They know that they can’t win this conversation back, but the very least they can do is, you know, buy and sell Tik Tok with the hopes that people stop saying mean things about Netanyahu in Israel with the hopes that they can enforce this action upon Amazon and Twitch so that other content creators will think twice.

For a further idea of how terrified the establishment is of Israel’s critics, this is how Fox News has been behaving recently:

Fox News has now covered Hasan Piker for 25 days straight. More than any politician in the Democratic Party. pic.twitter.com/RlV22rSYDx

— Hasanabi productions (meme account) (@HasanabiProd) April 29, 2026

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Hasan Piker — Never back down

Piker has also said:

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D) and Mike Lawler (R) have just introduced a resolution to condemn Hasan Piker.

Earlier this month, Piker had this to say to his critics:

"Their boos mean nothing when I’ve seen what makes them cheer."https://t.co/VqwJsEjyxh

— Zeteo (@zeteo_news) April 29, 2026

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At this point, Israel is a weight around the neck of every establishment politician. While those attacking Hasan Piker may never back down, they will eventually be replaced. Just be prepared for things to get worse before they get better.

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By Willem Moore

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Last night, Israeli forces illegally attacked and intercepted vessels participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, damaging boats, stranding hundreds on board, and detaining activists at gunpoint. The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) calls on the UK government to take urgent action to protect UK citizens and other global humanitarian civilians who are under attack.

UK Green Party member Zak Khan is among the flotilla seafarers that Israel has detained. An emergency rally will take place at 6pm on 30 April outside the Greek embassy in London. This is because, although Israel attacked the flotilla in international waters, the Greek island of Crete was the nearest land.

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The flotilla had sought to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza at a time when Palestinian people continue to face malnutrition and starvation, due to Israel’s intentional restriction of humanitarian aid, as part of its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Israeli forces smashed vessels and forcibly intercepted the flotilla, preventing it from continuing its mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Activists were detained following the assault, in a deliberate effort to disrupt and punish attempts to stop the Israeli blockade.

This is a clear example of Israel’s continued disregard for international law. The targeting of civilian vessels and detention of unarmed activists, including British citizens, raises further concerns in the context of the enforcement of the Gaza blockade.

UK silence over flotilla equals complicity

ICJP says the UK government must unequivocally condemn Israel’s latest aggression, following the suit of countries such as Italy. Inaction would put at risk the international rules-based order and all other vessels sailing at international waters. Norms of Law of the sea are mostly customary ones by which states have abided by for years now.

ICJP calls for Israel return all seized vessels and to immediately release the reported 175 people from 55 countries who have been detained. Reportedly, at least 22 boats were intercepted, and approximately 36 boats are still sailing.

In April 2025, ICJP also wrote to the Foreign Office, highlighting how Israel’s conduct targeting the previous Gaza Freedom Flotilla was in stark violation of international legal norms. In that case, Israel targeted the Madleen, a UK-flagged ship, amounting to an attack against the territorial jurisdiction and sovereignty of the UK.

ICJP also asked the Foreign Office what measures the UK would put in place to ensure the protection of future UK vessels undertaking humanitarian missions operating in international water nearby occupied Palestinian waters. It is clear that its inaction on that matter has directly led to Israel’s continued impunity, meaning the UK government must be held responsible for its role in failing to protect UK citizens.

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By The Canary

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6 min read15 min

Angela Rayner has accused Reform UK of being anti-working class in a bid to help Labour keep hold of a London council that it has controlled since its inception over six decades ago.

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On Wednesday night, the former deputy prime minister campaigned in Barking and Dagenham, east London, where Nigel Farage’s party is hoping to make a major electoral breakthrough in the capital at the 7 May local elections. A YouGov poll published last week gave Reform a slender four per cent lead over the Labour Party.

The Manchester MP’s visit to the outer London area came a day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer avoided being referred to the Privileges Committee over the Lord Mandelson affair, and amid intense speculation about how much longer he has in No 10.

Speaking to Labour activists at the Trades Hall working men’s club in Dagenham, the party’s former deputy leader, who resigned from cabinet in September over unpaid stamp duty, joked about the current negativity within Labour as it braces for a bruising set of nationwide results next month. On the same night, pollster and Tory peer Lord Robert Hayward projected that Labour would lose a huge 1,850 council seats across the country.

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“The one thing I say about Labour is we’re not happy unless we’re unhappy. So, we do like to know about the things we haven’t got, right?” said Rayner.

Accompanied in east London by a videographer, as well as her partner, Sam Tarry, a former Labour MP who was also previously a Barking and Dagenham councillor, Rayner sought to frame Reform UK as a threat to the area’s working-class communities.

“The kids here, he [Farage] wants those kept in poverty.

“He doesn’t want employment rights, and we’re delivering employment rights in the biggest way for a generation. We’re bringing down waiting lists in the NHS. He wants to make sure that we go to an insurance-based system. He doesn’t want a free NHS at the point of use anymore.

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“So that’s not going to work for our communities here.”

Rayner added: “I talked about the poverty I grew up in when I was a child, but the one thing that never occurred to me, and was never an issue, was that I could be evicted from my council home, and that’s why we need the biggest wave in a generation of council homes, and we need to build them now.”

The local Labour MP, Margaret Mullane, who used to be a barmaid at the working men’s club, told PoliticsHome that Rayner’s working-class roots made her an effective campaigner in that part of the capital. One Labour activist described her as a “future prime minister”.

While Rayner is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Starmer in Downing Street, her political future is currently complicated by an outstanding HMRC investigation into her tax affairs, which many Labour figures believe must be completed before she can launch a bid to become prime minister.

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She could also face a competition with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to secure the support of the Labour left and soft left. Burnham, who PoliticsHome revealed last week is also campaigning in London ahead of polling day next week, must find a parliamentary seat before launching a leadership bid of his own.

Rayner showed no signs of rebellion on Wednesday night, using her speech to campaigners to talk up the Labour government’s achievements after nearly two years in office.

“I’m so proud to have had the opportunity to represent you as your deputy prime minister, and make no apologies for being part of this Labour family and to continue believing what Labour does, because I’ve seen in action what Labour has done to give me opportunities that my mum never had,” she said.

However, should 7 May go as badly for Labour as the new Lord Hayward research suggests, then Starmer’s position in No 10 will almost certainly come under renewed pressure at the end of next week, which in turn will likely push Rayner back into the spotlight.

As well as losses in London, where Zack Polanski’s Greens are expected to be the primary beneficiaries, Labour is set to lose council seats across England, go backwards in Scotland, and fall out of power in Wales for the first time since Cardiff’s devolved institutions were established at the turn of the century.

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Defeat in Barking and Dagenham would be particularly painful for Labour, with the party having won all 51 council seats when they were last up for election four years ago.

Local Labour councillor Phil Walker said that the Mandleson vetting row was being brought up by residents on the doorstep in Barking and Dagenham, compounding the PM’s unpopularity. “They think Starmer is stupid”, he told PoliticsHome. “It adds to an image that isn’t good.” Another councillor said the issue had cut through “even to kids”. 

Walker added that next week’s elections pose Labour’s biggest test in this London council “since 2006 when we kicked out the BNP (British National Party)”.

“The one thing I say about Labour is we’re not happy unless we’re unhappy,” Rayner tells activists

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The Dagenham wards seen by Labour activists as most at risk of falling to Farage’s party are Village, Heath and Eastbrook. A collapse in support in this part of east London would be especially ominous for Mullane, who will be defending a majority of just over 7,000 at the next general election. “There is real pressure to keep Village – it is the heart of the constituency,” she told PoliticsHome.

Many residents who opened their doors to Labour activists on Wednesday night described themselves as undecided, which Mullane said demonstrates that “turnout will be crucial” for Labour if the party is to stave off the threat of Reform in Barking and Dagenham.

The cost of living and crime dominated doorstep conversations, as did the recent five per cent council tax rise. Labour’s decision early in government to make the winter fuel allowance means-tested, later amended after a major backlash, was cited as having caused “so much damage” with voters in the area, even nearly two years later.

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Shortly after being visited by Labour activists, one resident came out of his house to dispose of the party’s literature in the recycling bin. 

Speaking earlier this week ahead of the locals, the Prime Minister’s political spokesperson said: “These local elections come down to a simple choice.

“Labour on your side, with your local Labour council working in partnership with a Labour Government, or Nigel Farage and Reform, who would put your family, your NHS and your community at risk.”

 

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Labour Friends of Israel vice-chair and “Temu Enoch Powell” Mike Tapp has condoned wanton and unnecessary police violence against the Golders Green stabbings suspect, an already immobilised man living with mental health issues.

Tapp’s eagerness to attack Jewish Green Party leader Zack Polanski is clearly huge. So huge that he doesn’t care that attacking someone for condemning criminal violence isn’t a good look — and we’ve got the receipts to show.

That’s exactly what he did when Polanski shared a post condemning Met police officers for repeatedly kicking the Golders Green suspect in the head.

The man has a known history of mental health issues and violence and had just stabbed two people at random. However, he was already down, not moving, and almost incapable of resistance:

Tapp was incensed that Polanski had dared to ‘repost’ a critique of Met officers for “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head.”

As far as Tapp is concerned, he is “disgusted” that anyone who opposes such violence is in politics. Opposing police violence, or even sharing a post that notes it, is “a new low”, he thinks:

I’m disgusted that anyone with this view is leading any political party. The Green Party has hit a new low. https://t.co/praIgHGusn

— Mike Tapp MP (@MikeTappTweets) April 30, 2026

The ‘Temu Powell’

Tapp earned the nickname ‘Temu Enoch Powell’ for his enthusiasm for deporting immigrants and falsely linking paedophilia to Muslims. Of course, it would be churlish to suggest that this has anything to do with their skin shade or religion.

Tapp’s vile views no doubt appeal to a certain section of the knuckle-dragging public. Happily, it also disgusts lots of more thinking people and his post got short shrift:

It is clear to anyone who watches the video that the police used unnecessary force. Kicking a suspect repeatedly in the head whilst they lie on the ground is a disgrace. Officers should be sacked immediately.

— Zak (@BoufontZak) April 30, 2026

The suspect had been handcuffed and tasered. Police had no need to keep repeatedly kicking him in the head. Why would any reasonable human being think otherwise?

— NotaBot (@shimla321) April 30, 2026

Genocide supporting pic.twitter.com/mw5O6pr9u3

— just me #corbynwasright (@JCorbynwasright) April 30, 2026

Genocide supporting pic.twitter.com/mw5O6pr9u3

— just me #corbynwasright (@JCorbynwasright) April 30, 2026

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This your new campaign slogan? pic.twitter.com/wFMuy8QKdY

— Synistrall (@synistrall) April 30, 2026

Others pointed out, perfectly accurately, that if anyone has a paedophile tendency, it’s the Israel-supporting Labour right to which Tapp belongs:

I’m disgusted that you’re part of Labour Friends of Israel which has had three paedo cases on its books recently and that you represent a party which expels “the wrong kind” of holocaust descendant by the dozen.

— markmandelson.bsky.social (@NeworpK) April 30, 2026

Still, as a ghoulish friend-of-genocidal-Israel, Tapp may have a bit of a blind spot. Such violence is routinely perpetrated by Israeli police and troops against helpless Palestinians.

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By Skwawkbox

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New York’s left-wing mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on King Charles to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The British nabbed the gem from India in the 1840s. They have a bit of habit of that sort of thing, if you haven’t noticed… The diamond currently sits in the Queen Mother’s crown.

Mamdani was asked at a press conference on 20 April what he would say to the king if they met in private. He told reporters:

If I were to ‌speak to the King separately from [the purpose of the event], I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

The two later came face-to-face at an event for 9/11 victims. They appeared friendly:

Charles met Zohran Mamdani, and the press started going mad.

They had to be moved back. pic.twitter.com/Ell2pvWxjX

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) April 29, 2026

Far-right Reform UK wally Zia Yusuf later posted on X that the diamond would stay where it is:

This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London

That is where it will stay.

Mamdani may be looting New Yorkers, but he will have no joy in Britain.

Unless he retracts this insult to our King, as Home Secretary I would ban him from entering Britain. https://t.co/gEaDSw839R

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— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) April 29, 2026

Not that either King Charles or Zohran Mamdani are likely to care what the eternally clout-chasing Yusuf thinks – if they know who he is at all…

Yusuf also snarked that Mamdani:

may be looting New Yorkers, but he will have no joy in Britain.

This nonsensical claim appears to be a reference to Mamdani doing public good with public money, like providing free childcare, affordable public transport and forcing parasite landlords to fulfil their obligations.

Though it is understandable why that sort of behaviour might upset Reform UK  – a party which is just several wealthy oil and gas interests hiding in a big trench coat.

As the Good Law Project kindly pointed out on 30 April:

What these extraordinary numbers make clear is that Reform is less a political party and more a very highly paid public-facing lobby group for oil and gas interests https://t.co/Nn6nZncjXb

— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) April 30, 2026

Mamdani’s anti-imperialist roots

Mamdani, of course, comes from a lineage of strident anti-colonialists. He makes no secret of the fact. His middle name is ‘Kwame’:

after Kwame Nkrumah, a Pan-African icon and the first democratic president of Ghana.

He was born in Kampala, Uganda. His father, Mahmood Mamdani is:

a well-known academic, who has written extensively on colonialism and empire, was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, in 1946, to Tanzanian-Muslim parents with roots in Gujarat, India.

And his mother is the renowned filmmaker Mira Nair, whose work challenges conventional views on race, gender and class”:

When Mamdani was seven, his family moved to New York City. Zohran has said that his formative years in Africa helped shape his sense of self and identity, as well as his ability to navigate multiple cultures.

Like Mamdani himself:

Both of his parents are pro-Palestinian.

Rooted in left-wing politics, Mamdani is almost the antithesis of King Charles and the Royal family. And one can only imagine that Zia Yusuf’s brazen toadying to a long-dead British empire would raise a few eyebrows in the Mamdani household.

King Charles’ trip, during which he also met US president Donald Trump and, erm, “attended a block party“, ends on 30 April.

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By Joe Glenton

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Green party parliamentarians have written publicly to Keir Starmer and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper demanding urgent action from the British government to protect the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla attacked by Israel.

In their letter, Green MPs Ellie Chowns, Hannah Spencer, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, along with peers Natalie Bennett and Jenny Jones, tell Starmer that the flotilla is under “grave threat” and call on them to act immediately:

Inaction and impunity

The call is the right thing to do. However, the pair’s record of selling out to Israel suggests the Greens should not hold their breath. When previous flotillas have been attacked, Starmer has done pnothing of any substance. In fact, he has often failed to say anything, let alone anything meaningful, about Israel’s piracy against previous flotillas.

Both he and Cooper have collaborated with the Israel lobby to wage war on the civil and human rights of British people. Cooper’s successor as home secretary — clearly under Starmer’s orders — is still fighting to maintain Cooper’s unlawful ban on anti-genocide protest group Palestine Action.

Starmer, Cooper, and all his other war criminal partners should be in the dock, not in high office. Make way for someone who will actually stand up for UK citizens and international law.

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By Skwawkbox

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The assassination of Lebanese reporter Amal Khalil is the most recent and blatant evidence of a broader, more sinister military strategy. Her death brings the toll of journalists killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since October 2023 to 17 (6 in 2023-24, and 11 in 2026, all while they were on duty).

That number exposes a systematic policy of silencing the independent witness. This is not the “fog of war”; it is a clear-eyed effort to achieve narrative totalization. By eliminating those who carry the cameras and the pens, the occupational force seeks to transform the Lebanese front into a dark room where the only permitted light is the one shed by its own propaganda.

The deliberate targeting of reporters like Khalil is a functional necessity for the Israeli occupation. It highlights a parallel battlefield where the ultimate objective is to ensure that, when the dust of southern Lebanon settles, there is no one left to tell the truth about who turned the soil into a graveyard.

The threat was not a warning; it was a promise

In September 2024, Amal Khalil received a text message from an Israeli security number that detailed the precise coordinates of her location, followed by a chilling vow:

We will reach you when the time comes.

On 22 April 2026, even as a fragile ceasefire supposedly held the border in a state of suspended animation, that time arrived while documenting the aftermath of strikes in the southern village of Al-Tiri.

Khalil and photojournalist Zeinab Faraj were forced to seek shelter in a nearby building after an Israeli drone strike incinerated a civilian vehicle just meters ahead of them. Minutes later, the building itself was directly targeted in what investigators describe as a classic “double-tap” strike.

As Khalil lay trapped beneath the debris, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) systematically obstructed rescue efforts. For seven hours, emergency crews were repelled by stun grenades and direct gunfire, ensuring that by the time the Red Cross and Civil Defense reached the site, Khalil, a woman who had spent two decades documenting the endurance of the South, was deliberately killed.  

Israeli excuses are obsolete

The standard defense offered by the Israeli military apparatus following the killing of a journalist is a practiced script of “operational necessity” or “unintended collateral damage.” However, in the high-tech theater of Southern Lebanon, the technical reality renders these excuses obsolete.

When a military prides itself on “surgical strikes” and the use of Artificial Intelligence to identify targets, the persistent hitting of individuals wearing ballistic vests emblazoned with “PRESS” ceases to be a technical failure. It becomes a statement of intent.

But why? Are they plain blood-thirsty psychopaths willing to kill all forms of life wherever they roam? Or is there another motive? 

To argue that a drone operator capable of identifying a specific individual in a crowded apartment block cannot distinguish a camera tripod from a rocket launcher is a logical fallacy. Instead, the precision of these strikes suggests that the journalists are not being hit despite their identity, but precisely because of it. By targeting the lens, the occupational force is attempting to blind the global audience to the ground reality of its military conduct.

Creating an ‘information vacuum’

Beyond the immediate tactical goal of removing individual witnesses, the systematic targeting of the press serves a broader geopolitical function: the creation of an ‘information vacuum’.

In this void, the complexities of the Lebanese reality are replaced by a sanitized, state-monitored broadcast. This is not merely about hiding crimes; it is about the wholesale manufacturing of an occupation where the only voice permitted to exist is that of the aggressor – in this case: Israel.

By eliminating reporters who specialize in social and human-interest stories, those who document the life, memory, and heritage of South Lebanon, as well the war crimes conducted by the Israeli factions operating there, the occupation forces strip the conflict of its human face. Without the work of journalists like Amal Khalil, the village of Al-Tiri is no longer a place of homes and history; it is reduced to a “launch site” or a “strategic coordinate” on a digitized military map. This dehumanization is a prerequisite for total war, allowing the international community to view the destruction of Lebanese society as a purely technical or military necessity.

Post-mortem character assassination

A recurring pillar of this strategy is the post-mortem character assassination. When evidence of a targeted strike becomes undeniable, the Israeli military apparatus shifts to a secondary battlefield: delegitimization.

In addition to that and terms of warfare, the “winner” is often not the one with the most tanks, but the one who tells the story first and loudest. This is similar to what Nazi Germany’s minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels worked on during WWII. 

Moreover, by killing independent witnesses and obstructing rescue efforts, the occupational force ensures that the evidence is incinerated; meaning that strikes like the one that trapped Khalil for seven hours ensure that, by the time investigators or other reporters arrive, the scene has been altered or the window of “live” truth has closed.

Narrative frames are restricted through murder

With local journalists killed or deterred, global news agencies are forced to rely on “official briefings” or footage released by the military itself. This allows the occupational force to frame every civilian casualty as “unverified”, while their own tactical claims are broadcast as objective fact.

This is something we witness daily in Lebanon when Israeli spokespersons claim that “the military is conducting widespread airstrikes on Hezbollah’s military infrastructure”. In reality– and as I personally saw on the ground when visiting the targeted towns – they were civilian houses, mosques, shops, and residential buildings, like the airstrike that killed an 85-year-old man, his wife, his daughter-in-law, and his two grandchildren in Jibchit (southern Lebanon) on the night of the 28th of April.

Impunity is a tool

The persistence of these attacks, totaling at least 17 media workers in Lebanon by April 2026, reveals that impunity is not a side effect, but a tool.

By demonstrating that they can kill journalists with high-precision drones during a ceasefire and face zero legal consequences, the Israeli military sends a message of absolute deterrence. They are not just silencing the individuals they kill; they are psychologically besieging every reporter who considers picking up a camera in the South.

Nevertheless, as a journalist on the ground, the battle for Lebanon is not just over land or rivers; it is a battle for the right to exist in the global consciousness. And as long as there is a single witness left standing, the occupational narrative will never be more than a well-funded lie.

Featured image via the Canary

By Mohamad Kleit

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Transport underpins everything we do. It’s how we get food into the shops. How we get to work. It’s how we get to see our loved ones.

I recall talking to an 18-year-old from Blyth who’d been offered a job in Team Valley in Gateshead, but had to turn it down because he couldn’t get there on public transport. Car insurance would have cost him £3000.

We used to have pretty good networks. In Tyne & Wear, they were fully integrated with the Metro system, much as buses and tubes are integrated in London today.

Deregulation has worsened services

In 1986, Margaret Thatcher’s transport secretary, Nicholas Ridley, ‘deregulated’ buses outside of London. He prophesised that removing “the dead hand of regulation” would lower fares, improve services, and more people would travel.

The exact opposite happened. Research for Transport for the North shows that 3.3 million people in the North of England suffer from transport-related social exclusion. Across England, the figure is 11.2 million.

That’s 11.2 million people missing out on jobs. Missing out on education. Missing out on a full life because they can’t get around. Even if people do have a bus pass, there’s often no bus that goes where they need to be. If you’re disabled or a have a chronic health condition, using public transport can be an ordeal.

One 81-year-old gentleman from South Shields made the local news. Cuts to his bus service left him walking long distances up steep hills. Exhausted and carrying two bags of shopping, he had a fall and was injured:

If a car had come over the top of the bank, it would have run me over.

Franchising

After 30 years of failure, the law was changed to allow “bus franchising” in selected locations. I negotiated with government and won these powers for the North East, despite opposition from some local Labour politicians.

But even franchising is thin gruel. The transport authority doesn’t own the buses. It contracts a private provider to run them, according to a schedule set by the transport authority. It basically takes the risk off the private providers and transfers it to the transport authority. So without major investment, the network is still patchy and buses are still way slower than cars. The government is still spending 15 times more on new roads than on the bus services that could use them.

Buses are not “pleb-wagons”

Too many decisionmakers still think buses are “pleb-wagons”. We need to make a step change and see public transport for the critical infrastructure it is.

It pays for itself in the long term, many times over. Research shows that every £1 of investment in bus services generates £4.55 in economic activity. High streets revive. Social isolation falls. Health improves. But those economic returns go to the Treasury, not to the transport authority. So local authorities can’t reap the rewards of their investment.

The key is rethinking transport. We should stop thinking of moving vehicles, and instead think about moving people. We need to see mobility as a service that boosts long-term use and brings in more money. It costs the same to run a bus whether there’s one passenger on board or 50 passengers on board.

Making public transport free for young people is a long-term investment. Teenagers gain independence. If you’ve grown up getting around by public transport, you’ll keep that habit as an adult. And get a few more steps in and stay healthier as you age. At least if the service is good, you will. It’ll save you money, too.

Greens pledge free travel for under-22s

As Zack Polanski said on his recent visit to Newcastle, the Green Party will make travel free for all under-22s.

My 2024 manifesto made a similar commitment – make public transport free for all 18s and under, and everyone in full-time education. Pressed on the issue, Labour’s Kim McGuinness said she would match this, and provide free travel to all on means-tested benefits. She has not kept those election promises.

We need a Total Transport Network A single intelligent network covering the North East from Berwick to Barnard Castle. A network where every bus has a transponder so the passengers can see its location on an app, in real time, and be sure that it’s coming. A network where your account is keyed to your smartphone or smartcard and automatically charges you the lowest fare – so once you’ve hit a price cap, you get unlimited travel for free, whether you switch between bus, Metro, National Rail, or e-scooter.

We need a network where you can reserve a bike locker in town, so you no longer worry about theft. A network with investment in an accessible, zero-emissions fleet. A network with a dedicated fleet of highly-accessible on-demand vehicles for people whose age or disability makes bus travel untenable.

We need a network where every traffic hotspot has a bus gate, so when the bus approaches, the traffic lights change and give it priority while the cars wait. Once public transport is comparable to cars in speed and reliability, the lower cost will see people shift through choice. It takes cars off the road. Who likes cruising around looking for a parking space? Who likes sitting in traffic jams?

Fewer cars on the road means a plumber with a van full of tools or a doctor on call can spend their time doing their job instead of sitting in traffic. Better public transport is better for motorists, better for passengers, better for the economy, and better for the planet.

Featured image via the Canary

By Jamie Driscoll

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When Reform UK launched, the party styled itself as an alternative to the Tories and Labour. You could see why this would be popular with working class voters, because under the Tory-Labour duopoly many of them have only gotten poorer and poorer.

However, at some point along the way, Reform forgot who it wants to appeal to. This is why Reform’s Scottish leader was bragging about how many houses and boats he has in a televised debate:

I hadn't thought of a yacht tax before now, but it seems Lord Offord's fleet would raise enough to plug that hole in Scotland's finances. https://t.co/MBdjhw91iK

— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) April 28, 2026

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Reform’s man in Scotland

Of course, it’s unsurprising that lord Malcolm Offord would act and sound like a Tory. As we reported, he’s the former Tory donor Boris Johnson elevated with a peerage:

Malcolm Ian Offord is also known as ‘baron Offord of Garvel’, which is a fun thing to say out loud because it sounds like you’re speaking with a mouth full of toffee. As noted above, Offord isn’t just a peer; he’s also a millionaire and an ex-Tory donor.

Fair play to Reform for convincing anyone they represent the British working class, because it can’t be easy to pull that off when your party is waist deep in wealthy donors.

In the clip at the top, Offal of Garble is debating the Scottish Greens’ Ross Greer. Here’s what the lord had to say:

I went to London 40 years ago with £2,000 in debt. And full of ambition, I worked hard and I was successful. Today, I own six houses, five cars, and six boats. And in a 40-year business career, I’ve employed hundreds of thousands of people and paid £45m in tax. I don’t say that to boast. I ask you this question. Mr Greer, in your Scotland… Do you want more people like me or fewer people like me?

When he says ‘more people like him,’ how many more is he talking about?

10?

100?

1,000?

Because there are 5.5 million people in Scotland, and no one is deluded enough to think every one of them could own six houses. This is the problem — if the wealthy are only ever going to be an ultra-minority, why should the majority of voters care?

The ultra-minority of rich people we’re talking about have obscene levels of power, influence, and spending power, allowing them to create a situation in which they get richer and richer on our hard work. They achieve this by buying the services and properties we rent back from them; they achieve it by buying the politicians we need to represent us; they achieve it by owning the land we need to live on.

What Offord is proposing would benefit no one besides him and the six guys he plays golf with.

Fewer, thanks

Greer wasted no time in responding, hitting back:

Fewer people like you. I’m glad you finally admitted how many homes that you have, Lord Offord. I think it’s worth at this point in the debate pointing out that there are three times as many holiday homes and empty properties in this country as there are homeless children.

You don’t need six homes. You don’t even need two homes. Everybody just needs a home to live in.

Surely, if we’re to tackle the housing crisis, the super-rich, elite individuals like you should be giving up some of those homes so that people who desperately need a roof over their head actually have somewhere to live.

Absolutely right.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

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