Members of the PCS Union employed by G4S as security officers, receptionists, cleaners, caterers and porters at the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Cabinet Office, on strike over pay, terms and conditions in London, November 2024 (Karl Black/Alamy Live News)

3 min read1 hr

For too long in this country, some of the key functions of government have been outsourced to private companies that care first and foremost about turning a profit.

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They do that by driving down the pay and conditions of workers and by providing a lower level of service to the public.

About a third of government spending – some £341bn – is spent on private companies, enabling shareholders to cash in at the public expense. It’s wasteful, inefficient, and leads to worse public services for all of us.  

When Labour was elected in 2024, they pledged to undo this scandal with the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. And this week, Rachel Reeves announced the critical first step in this journey. From 2028, when government contracts with outsourcing companies come to an end, thousands of staff working in government buildings will be brought back in-house. 

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It might surprise you to learn that you can work in a government building where all of your colleagues are civil servants – and be entrusted with keeping the nation safe – but be employed on an insecure private sector contract.  

We met a security guard who puts his own safety on the line protecting the people working in a government department. But unlike his colleagues inside the building, he isn’t entitled to a decent pension or flexible working to enable childcare – in fact, he’d been disciplined by his employer for taking time off to care for his kids.  

For most of his time working for the government, he wasn’t even entitled to decent sick pay – but alongside his colleagues, he went on strike and won that right last year.   

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Put simply, there’s a two-tier workforce in the public sector, where outsourced staff are on worse pay and conditions than their directly employed colleagues. That means many people delivering public services are forced to choose between eating and heating their homes in the winter – or going straight from work at a government building to a foodbank.  

Caterers, security officers, cleaners, porters, engineers, plumbers, electricians, receptionists, handypersons and messenger service workers have been denied the dignity and security afforded to white-collar civil servants who work in the same building as them.

The sheer injustice is compounded when you consider that these staff are disproportionately women, Black or from other ethnic minority backgrounds.  

And these contracts are often inflexible and bad value for the taxpayer – with even minor changes to the way services are delivered hampered by complex and costly contract negotiations.  

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The scourge of outsourcing can be felt all the way through our public sector. That’s why today’s announcement should represent a signal of intent – and kickstart a serious programme of insourcing contracts across the public sector.  

Enough is enough. The big outsourcing companies trying to squeeze a profit from the public purse are in the Chancellor’s sights. Today must be the beginning of the end of the scourge of public sector outsourcing.

Paul Nowak is TUC general secretary and Fran Heathcote is PCS general secretary

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A location-sharing app can be an invaluable tool for families. Whether it’s used by parents to keep an eye on their kids while travelling home from school or to find each other in crowded areas, they can help families feel safe and more in sync.

However, many apps provide constant location sharing that can raise questions about privacy. HeyPolo, on the other hand, offers a considered location sharing solution.

Instead of everyone’s whereabouts being tracked 24/7, its key features can be adjusted to suit the situation and to fit what everyone’s happy with. Whether that means sharing a general area rather than a specific location or sharing a location for a limited period of time, HeyPolo can be adjusted to suit different tracking needs.

This level of flexibility is particularly useful for families thinking to the future, as it leaves room for younger members to become more independent.

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So, what is HeyPolo?

HeyPolo provides a variety of location tracking features, from emergency location sharing to everyday location tracking, which can be adjusted to you and your family’s needs and preferences.

Launched by the cybersecurity company Surfshark, which offers a number of online privacy services including VPNs and antivirus software, it’s no surprise that privacy is a defining feature of HeyPolo. While subscribers can feel confident and reassured, the idea is that boundaries won’t be overstepped.

When it comes to downloading the app, HeyPolo is designed to run seamlessly whether you use Android and iOS. Once you’ve signed up for your HeyPolo subscription, it’s free for the rest of your family to join. And there’s a live chat available between 9am to 5pm, so you can get support from a real person.

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There’s exact location sharing, and scheduled location sharing. The latter is particularly useful when it comes to keeping tabs on everyone during busy weeks packed with after-school activities and daily morning commutes. You’ll also be able to set up alerts, so you’ll get handy notifications that keep you updated on arrivals, when they’ve left a certain location, or when they’ve updated their privacy settings. Instead of checking their status every 10 minutes, you can get on with your day reassured by the knowledge you won’t miss anything important.

There’s also a very useful speed monitoring feature, so you can receive real-time alerts when your young adult is driving over the speed limit. Plus, the live compass element offers directional navigation which is built into the app’s map interface, so you can find your family members at a festival, shopping centre or amusement park.

Keeping everyone connected, HeyPolo allows you to create groups with your family too, making it easy to stay up to date on everyone’s whereabouts, with all their locations conveniently in one place. Whether it’s a group for friends or family, you’ll be able to add people to the group at any time, and you can remain in a group without sharing your own location if you don’t want to.

Ok, but what makes HeyPolo different?

HeyPolo lets you decide when a location will be tracked, for how long, and by who. This location sharing isn’t set up by one person, but instead needs to be agreed on by everyone. This way, everyone will be happy with the setup, and if they aren’t, the settings can be adjusted. Flexibility is a key perk of the app, something which is especially important for accommodating growing families that want to give children the space and the trust to become more independent.

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For instance, HeyPolo allows you to share a location for a couple of hours, rather than 24/7 like some location tracking apps. Similarly, you could also choose to have the approximate location of a family member shared, instead of zooming into the exact location. Locations can be shared in specific emergency situations, with certain people, and for a limited time, so there’s more control allowed there, too.

There’s often concern about what data when using location sharing apps like HeyPolo. For those who are concerned about what happens to their data, HeyPolo doesn’t sell your data to third-party advertisers, and your data is never shared. It’s also worth noting that you won’t see any ads popping up in the app while using it, either.

How much is HeyPolo?

Easy to manage, you’ll just have one HeyPolo subscription and this will cover everyone you invite. This means once you have your subscription set up, it’s free for anyone else to join. If you want to give HeyPolo a try before you commit to a full year, you can opt for the paid monthly subscription, which costs £4.48 per month and renews automatically every month. Or there’s the annual subscription, costing £47.88 for a year, which works out as £3.99 per month.

With a variety of location sharing options to suit different scenarios, the HeyPolo safety app will appeal to families who want to respect privacy, build trust and support kids’ growing independence. To see whether the HeyPolo app is right for your family, sign up for a subscription now.

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For more information, visit HeyPolo.

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Amnesty International has published a new investigation. It has accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing against Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank. It claims the occupation’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Area C is “state-sanctioned, state-driven, and state-implemented.”

Settler violence — the goal is ethnic cleansing

The report is titled Erasing Anything Palestinian: Israel’s ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities. It documents how entire communities have been driven from their land. This has been carried out through a combination of settler violence, home demolitions, land seizures and settlement expansion. Restrictions on access to water and grazing areas also play an important role in this displacement.

Area C of the occupied West Bank is fully controlled by the Israeli occupation.

Amnesty says the forced displacement of Palestinians in Area C amounts to the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer, and the crime against humanity of forcible transfer or deportation.

Israeli officials and most of the western media make it seem as though the settler attacks are the actions of a violent fringe operating beyond government control. But Amnesty presents settler violence as a key mechanism for removing Palestinians from strategic areas of the occupied territory.

Palestinian families described repeated raids on their homes and villages, consisting of physical assaults, death threats, theft of livestock and vandalism. Vital infrastructure was also destroyed, and water tanks were smashed. Electricity supplies were cut. Grazing land was fenced off. Many people who fled and later attempted to return found their communities destroyed. Others faced new attacks that forced them out again.

Ethnic cleansing since 1967 but dramatically increased under Netanyahu

The violence and displacement have been ongoing since 1967, but have escalated since December 2022. Netanyahu’s Likud party formed a coalition government with the far-right Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties. This government openly embraced the settler movement’s vision — the vision of a “Greater Israel” stretching across the occupied Palestinian territories.

In September 2025, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich set out plans to annex more than 80 percent of the West Bank. He said the guiding principle should be “maximum land, minimum Arab population.

While national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Israeli “sovereignty” across the occupied territories.

Because this is our land, and because we need to tell the whole world: ‘this is ours forever and ever’… Sovereignty, and also encouraging [Palestinian] voluntary emigration, which we should do also in Judea and Samaria.

These words by politicians have been matched by actions on the ground.

Between 2023 and 2025, Israeli occupation authorities advanced plans for more than 50,000 settlement housing units. Nearly 28,000 were approved in 2025 alone, the highest annual figure on record. Across the occupied West Bank, new settler outposts have also appeared at a rate never seen before. By April 2026, more than half of all existing outposts had been established during the current government’s time in office.

Illegal settlements at record rate while Palestinian development blocked

Along with settlement growth comes the rapid development of settler-only infrastructure, including roads and security systems. This continues to isolate Palestinian communities and restricts their movement.

But while settlement expansion continues at unprecedented speed, Palestinian development has effectively been frozen. No Palestinian housing plans were approved in Area C during  2023 and 2024. And only a handful of building permits were issued.

Thousands of demolition orders have been carried out against Palestinian homes, schools, animal shelters and water systems. Between January 2023 and April 2026, Israeli authorities destroyed more than 3,400 Palestinian homes and structures. Almost 3,000 Palestinians were displaced.

The report raises serious questions about the role Israeli occupation authorities play in enabling and protecting the violence. Amnesty documents Israeli occupation soldiers being present during settler attacks. And also being directly involved in incidents of harassment, intimidation or violence against Palestinians. Witnesses described them standing by while settlers assaulted residents, destroyed property and drove shepherds from grazing land. In other cases, “Israeli” soldiers arrived alongside settlers, coordinating with them during the violence.

Without accountability, violence towards Palestinians increases exponentially

Following 7 October 2023, Israeli occupation authorities dramatically expanded firearm licensing and distributed weapons to illegal settlers.  Many settlers began wearing military uniforms. It became difficult for Palestinians to know whether the people entering their communities were occupation soldiers or settlers. This has further increased the risks faced by Palestinian communities.

Ein Samia is a Bedouin community in the central occupied West Bank. Residents faced increased intimidation, harassment and violence before leaving the area in 2023. Ayman Suleiman, a Palestinian man displaced from Ein Samia, described to Amnesty how the situation changed.

For almost a year, I didn’t cross the highway [Allon Road]. They [settlers] used to harass me and other shepherds, and we’d try to avoid them, but then the army started showing up and protecting them, shooting in the air.

The report argues that the atmosphere of near total impunity has led to an exponential increase in the violence. Between 2005 and 2025, only three percent of investigations into crimes by these illegal colonists against Palestinians resulted in partial or full convictions. Many Palestinians interviewed said they no longer report attacks because they see little chance of justice. Others told researchers they were the ones questioned, detained or fined after reporting violence carried out against them.

You cannot separate settler violence from political aspirations

Amnesty argues settler violence cannot be separated from the wider political goal of expanding Israeli control across the West Bank. A deliberate campaign is taking place in Area C to permanently reshape the demographic reality of the occupied West Bank. This is, of course, at the expense of the Palestinians who have lived there for generations. The aim is to remove them from their land, to create space for further settlement expansion.

The legal framework which the Israeli occupation uses to govern the West Bank strengthens this system of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing. Since 1967, “Israel” has used military orders to control the lives of Palestinians in the territory, although under international law an occupying power can act only as a temporary administrator. Palestinian lives have been reshaped into tightly controlled enclaves, especially in Area C, where the occupation maintains full control.

 A system designed to entrench the Israeli occupation’s dominance

Some Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank have been emptied, the residents forcibly displaced after sustained attacks and demolitions. Others remain under constant threat, surrounded by expanding illegal settlements and outposts which continue to tighten control over surrounding Palestinian land.

Amnesty’s report argues that there is a deeply entrenched culture of impunity. Even if courts issue rulings in favour of Palestinian residents, including orders allowing displaced families to return to their villages, enforcement often does not take place. The Israeli occupation’s police and military often fail to implement court decisions, leaving families without any meaningful protection or solution.

Amnesty International concludes that the displacement of Palestinians in Area C is part of a structured system of control. This is designed to entrench the Israeli occupation’s dominance over Palestinian land while reducing Palestinian presence. For the Bedouin and herding communities of Area C, this means emptied villages, shrinking grazing land, destroyed livelihoods, and families scattered from the places they have lived for generations.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

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A survivor of rape is attempting to return ‘Shame’ to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Dolly Sen has carved the word “SHAME” out of wood. She’s then covered it in facts and figures about rape in the UK, as well as quotes from survivors. And she’ll attempt to deliver the art piece to Windsor or to his home in Norfolk.

Sen says:

I am doing this for Virginia, for Gisèle, for myself, and for the 2000 women who be raped this week and the vast majority will have no justice.

Gisèle Pelicot requested a public trial of the more than 50 men who raped her while she was unconscious. She wanted to raise awareness of ‘chemical submission’ and give encouragement to other survivors. Pelicot has now written about her experiences in a book with the subtitle: “Shame has to change sides”.

Before her untimely death, Virginia Giuffre alleged that Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein had groomed her to have sexual encounters with rich and powerful men, including Windsor.

Sen lays out the grim statistics around rape and sexual assault:

• 1 in 4 women have been raped or sexual assaulted.
• Fewer than 3 in 100 rapes in 2024 recorded by police resulted in someone being charged, let alone convicted.
• On average, approximately 10,000 women are sexually assaulted and 2,000 are raped every week in England and Wales.

Windsor may avoid court

Sen also says:

Some say Andrew hasn’t been convicted as a sexual predator or abuser, it is all alleged. This is the problem. It will always be alleged. 1,200 women were abused under Epstein and not a single person has been charged, let alone seen the inside of a court room. I believe Virginia Giuffre. I also believe he will never go to trial because of his status.

What will be interesting is that I may get arrested for this action even though there will be no violence involved. I will probably see a court before Andrew does.

He is a symbol of entrenched privilege and lack of accountability. There is a special gravity for certain bodies – they fall upwards, buoyed by privilege, cushioned by silence. Elsewhere, we are pinned down.

The Epstein files case has become a stark symbol of systemic failure, where survivors’ voices are dismissed and influential abusers evade accountability: the shame belongs not to those who survived abuse.

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We are reclaiming our voices, our power, and returning the shame where it belongs: to abusers and the institutions that enable and protect them. My body is no longer the site of shame or apology. It is a site of truth and resistance.

Sen is calling for:

• Transparent investigations and accountability for all perpetrators, regardless of wealth or status.
• Stronger legal protections and support for survivors.
• Greater investment in survivor services, including counselling and legal aid.
• Education campaigns challenging systemic gender inequality and toxic cultures that normalise abuse.

And Sen concludes:

By returning the shame, women are refusing to be silent, reframing the conversation, and forcing society to confront the manufacturers of shame that allow sexual violence to persist.

This is about our right to justice and dignity. We do not get it from the police, the media, or the court system. We are done carrying shame.

Sen is a writer, artist, and activist whose fearless work centres on social justice and challenging institutional abuse and discrimination. Through her public speaking, creative practice, and campaigning, she has consistently amplified the voices of marginalised people.

Some of her previous activism includes Sectioning the DWP and creating Help the Normals, an art piece featureing charity collecting cans. This challenges assumptions about pity, disability, and who society defines as “normal”. Help the Normals is now part of the Wellcome Collection’s Being Human exhibition.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

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Campaigners have warned that a motion tabled in the Senedd to end Welsh government spending on international relations would damage Cymru’s reputation as an open, outward-looking nation and weaken its ability to respond to global challenges such as climate change.

Llyr Powell from the Reform UK party has submitted a motion calling for the cessation of all Welsh government international relations spending. Critics have called this a step backwards for a nation that has built its global reputation on partnership, sustainability and solidarity.

The Welsh government’s international relations budget represents a very small proportion of overall public expenditure. It’s around £9.2m in total, of which approximately £1m supports international sustainable development activities. That’s equivalent to roughly 0.003% of total Welsh government spending.

Campaigners argue that despite its modest size, the budget delivers disproportionate value. They point as a clear example to the Mbale tree-planting initiative in Uganda, which plants a tree for every child born in Cymru.

The scheme has already sequestered an estimated 1.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to around a quarter of Cymru’s annual transport emissions. It also supports local livelihoods, reduces landslide risk and strengthens climate resilience in vulnerable communities.

Cymru’s place in the world

A spokesperson from Global Climate Justice Cymru said:

We regret Reform UK’s isolationist approach to Cymru’s place in the world.

At a time when climate change, economic inequality and conflict are global challenges that do not respect borders, turning inward and cutting off the partnerships that help us respond to them is not strength, it is retreat.

Cymru cannot insulate itself from the world by pretending it isn’t part of it.

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The warning echoes the UK government’s own National Security Risk Assessment, which identifies biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as top-tier threats to national security, economic stability and public wellbeing.

Environmental degradation, including deforestation in critical ecosystems like the Amazon, is linked to food insecurity, rising prices, instability and displacement worldwide.

The campaign also pointed to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. This requires Cymru to consider its contribution to global well-being as part of its approach to domestic policy. It’s not an optional extra, but a defining feature of how the nation is governed.

A spokesperson from Wales Overseas Agency Group said:

Cymru’s reputation as an outward-looking, internationally engaged nation has been hard-won. It reflects decades of leadership on sustainable development and global solidarity.

Cutting this funding would not save meaningful sums but it would send a damaging signal that Cymru is turning its back on the world.

Campaigners stressed that the costs involved are negligible in the context of overall public spending. The £1m sustainable development budget is equivalent to roughly 40 minutes of health spending in Cymru. While the entire international relations budget would barely cover six hours of healthcare spending.

They argue the real impact of cutting it would be reputational and economic. Around £8m of the budget supports international economic and cultural links. These are increasingly vital in the post-Brexit context, where Welsh exporters face new trade barriers, regulatory complexity and delays.

Campaigners are calling on Members of the Senedd to oppose the motion when it comes to a vote, and instead to recommit to Cymru’s role as a globally responsible, engaged and forward-looking nation working in partnership with others to advance shared prosperity, climate action and social justice.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

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A parliamentary question by a Muslim Labour MP has revealed UK military collaboration with the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued unbroken through genocide and numerous illegal attacks.

Apsana Begum asked Starmer’s ministry of defence:

whether the agreement signed in December 2020 by the Chief of the Defence Staff and his Israeli counterpart formalising military collaboration between the UK and Israel remains in place; and whether it has been (a) reviewed, (b) modified and (c) amended.

The curt answer was provided by Israel-supporting defence minister Luke Pollard, who confirmed that military agreement with Israel has been in place unamended:

The UK-Israel military cooperation agreement, which was signed in December 2020, remains extant.

A litany of shame

Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023, the IOF has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza and is starving more than a million. It has committed murder, ethnic cleansing and hundreds of abductions in the occupied West Bank. It has committed terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Qatar, murdered thousands in Lebanon, Iran, and Syria and illegally invaded and ethnically cleansed large areas of Lebanon and Syria.

And Pollard’s brusque ‘extant’ is masking the real extent of the UK’s extensive, direct collaboration in Israel’s crimes. It has provided aerial surveillance during the murder of aid workers – including British citizens – along with tens of thousands of children, hundreds of journalists and thousands of medics and rescue workers.

The Starmer government is a genocide regime providing direct military support as well as legislative and political cover to the terror colony. All confirmed in a ministerial response – as if more confirmation were needed.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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