Politics
Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe And Johannes Radebe Are New Strictly Hosts
The worst-kept secret in showbiz is finally out: Strictly Come Dancing finally has its new hosts.
On Tuesday, the BBC announced in an Instagram post that Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe would be stepping into the ballroom as the new hosts of Strictly when the show returns to our screens later this year.
Emma said: “It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Strictly – I’ve cheered and danced along from my sofa for years – so to be stepping into the Strictly ballroom is something I can’t quite comprehend.”
“It’s impossible to fill the shoes that Tess and Claudia have left behind – two wonderful, iconic women who have been the beating heart of Strictly for so long,” she continued. “I can only hope that we are able to help to steer the ship as beautifully as they have, into this new chapter.
“I can’t wait to spend my weekends with Josh and Jojo, the incredible dancers and the judges. Fingers crossed for a 10 from them!”
Johannes also enthused: “To be returning to Strictly Come Dancing in this new role is beyond anything I ever imagined. This show has always stood for joy, heart, and togetherness, and I feel deeply honoured to now help carry that magic forward.
“To do it alongside the formidable Emma Willis and the utterly brilliant Josh Widdicombe makes it even more special. I’m ready-sequins, nerves, and all… please bear with me.”
Referencing his brief stint in the ballroom two years ago, Josh said: ”“Dancing the Charleston dressed as a penguin for the 2024 Christmas Special of Strictly remains my career high point, so I am giddy with excitement, honoured and a little overawed to be given the chance to step into the biggest shoes in television.”
He added: “I adore Emma and Jojo and can’t wait to spend my weekends with them. I’ll dust off the penguin costume.”
During last year’s series of Strictly, long-term hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced they’d both be stepping down as its presenters at the end of the season.
In the months since, there has been widespread speculation in the media about who would be replacing the pair, with The Sun reporting in mid-May that Emma, Josh and Johannes would make up the new presenting team, now confirmed to be the case.
Before her exit in 2025, Tess had been the host of Strictly since it launched in 2004, first co-presenting with Sir Bruce Forsyth and later with Claudia, who took over as its permanent full-time host in 2014.
Notably, this marked the first time in history that a presenting team made up of two women had fronted a live primetime show together.
Tess said last year: “This isn’t a goodbye to glitter, sequins, or Saturday night sparkle (I could never say goodbye to those!). Strictly will forever hold a special place in my heart – but it does feel like the right time to hand over the reins.”
Claudia also issued her own statement, in which she remarked: “Strictly is a magical, glittery, fake-tanned train and it’s been a privilege to be a tiny part of it. The extraordinary talent of the dancers, the band, the hair and makeup and costume teams, the unbelievable production crew and creatives – all utterly amazing.
“I’ve always believed it’s best to leave a party before you’re fully ready to go and I know the new hosts will be magnificent, I look forward to watching them take Strictly to new heights.
“As for Tess – I’m so, so lucky I got to stand next to you. You’re funny, kind, whip smart and a true friend and I love you.”
In addition to its shiny new hosts, it seems the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing is going to look markedly different, with a slew of the show’s resident professional dancers confirming they will not be back on the show in 2026.
One of my favourite YouTube blunders is from creator Brittany Broski, who complained to drag queen Trixie Mattel (busy giving the online star a heavy-lashed makeover at the time): “When I close my eyes, I can’t see.”
It’s hard not to laugh at Trixie’s disbelieving “Well…”, given that we all know the world goes dark when we lower our lids.
Except ― does it? While we clearly can’t “see” the real world when our eyes are closed, many of us do start to notice patterns, shapes, and colours when our retinas are deprived of light.
Why is that, how common is it, and what does it mean?
It’s technically a hallucination
According to health information site Healthline, these are called “closed-eye hallucinations.”
They’re technically hallucinations because, well, when you close your eyes you can’t see ― the visions come completely from your brain.
Common “closed-eye hallucinations” include swirling shapes, pixel-like squares, seemingly random objects, and even flashing lights.
Mine often look a bit like the ever-moving Windows ’98 screensavers and it never occurred to me that not everyone sees them.
These come from phosphenes, healthcare providers Cleveland Clinic explains, which create “flashes of light with or without structure that you see when there isn’t an actual source of light entering into your eye.”
They’re most often present when there’s pressure on your eyes (I sleep with my face mushed into a pillow, so that makes sense) ― but they can also arise from your brain or retina.
Are closed-eye hallucinations a sign of something else?
The illusions “may or may not be” a sign of medical issues, Cleveland Clinic says ― though Healthline assures us that, “Closed-eye hallucinations aren’t typically a cause for concern.”
They can sometimes arise after a blow to the head, as a result of retinal or neurological conditions, due to chemo and radiation, or as a withdrawal symptom.
They can also appear when you cough or rub your eyes and even reveal low blood pressure.
“If you see phosphenes frequently and you have other symptoms that worry you, like double vision (diplopia) or blurry vision, you should consult an eye care provider, such as an ophthalmologist,” Cleveland Clinic shares.
“If you know you have diabetes, or if you’re seeing floaters in conjunction with the phosphenes, you should also consult an eye care provider.”
Healthline adds that “if closed-eye hallucinations are so significant that they cause insomnia or anxiety, consider seeing a doctor.”
The majority of cases, however, are nothing to worry about.
The CPS has added Lewis Chiaramello from the ‘Brize Norton 5‘ to the prosecution of the ‘Filton 24’ anti-genocide activists – making them now the Filton 25. Chiaramello is scheduled to enter his plea this Thursday, 21 May 2026. The move comes as the state pushes to sentence four of the group as terrorists, despite them being convicted only of criminal damage. The Filton incident took place before the Starmer regime unlawfully banned Palestine Action as a terror group at the behest of the Israel lobby.
Filton 25: a show of support
Supporters have asked everyone who can do so to join them from 10am on Thursday 21st May outside Westminster Magistrates’ court for a demonstration. The “Free the Filton 24” campaign said:
The Filton case now has 25 defendants. We stand with Lewie, and Lewie stands with Palestine.
So do Skwawkbox and the Canary.
Featured image via Getty/Brook Mitchell
By Skwawkbox
The Bayeux tapestry, an almost thousand-year-old artwork that depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings, will be on display in the British Museum later this year.
The roughly 70-metre-long artwork is on a controversial loan from its usual French abode.
“This will be the first time the Bayeux Tapestry has been in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago,” Dr Nicholas Cullinan, OBE, director of the British Museum, said.
Recently, the British Museum revealed how it will display the UNESCO-designated tapestry in what they call a “first look”, too, with an outdoor display already visible.
Here’s everything you need to know:
When will the Bayeux tapestry be on display to the public?
It’ll be out for us to see from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.
Tickets will first go live on 1 July, 2026.
“Members will need to book a free, timed ticket for The Bayeux Tapestry in advance, available from 16 June,” the British Museum’s site added.
The tapestry will be on display in The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, Room 30.
How will it be displayed?
The museum will lay the entire 70-metre-long tapestry flat “for the first time”.
This is a significant change to its usual display. In its Normandy home, the Bayeux tapestry has been stored vertically, rolled up in a vitrine; “In previous permanent displays, the Tapestry has been displayed vertically and from 1700 until 1842 it was usually rolled out for academics and important individuals to see”.
It’ll lie under a specially-made display case. That means visitors will be able to enjoy all 58 of its meticulously embroidered scenes, and, the British Museum said, offers new opportunities for “digital elements”.
It’ll be surrounded by relevant items from the British Museum’s own collection, as well as some loans, like a charter of Edward the Confessor granting lands to Westminster Abbey and a horde of silver pennies believed to have been buried for safekeeping during the Norman invasion.
The Museum called the display a “40-minute experience”.
Why are there birch trees outside the British Museum?
The Museum has put out a Tapestry of Trees, including 37 silver birch trees, which will be on display from 16 May to 2 June 2026.
These trees will “create a canopy across the Museum’s forecourt, their black and white bark echoing shades from the Tapestry and their branches casting a dappled light on the ground,” the Museum said.
This is completely free and includes work from garden designer Andy Sturgeon.
Trees are used as a storytelling device and a divider throughout the tapestry.
How much will a ticket cost?
The prices are £33 for adult standard tickets. Off-peak pricing is £27, while those attending during super-off-peak hours can get in for £25.
Prices differ for disabled visitors, students, jobseekers, young adults, and those with a National Art Pass. Members and under-16s can go free.
What’s the Bayeux Tapestry’s link to England?
The tapestry has a long history with England. Not only does it show events surrounding the Norman conquest, but, the British Museum said, it was “Likely commissioned by a Norman patron and made by English embroiderers, using manuscript drawings from Canterbury.”
But that link has always existed, while the tapestry has stayed in France for the guts of a millennium. A loan was first suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018, the BBC said, which became a reality in 2025.
Dr Cullinan has since said, “The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations.
“It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum, and we are profoundly grateful to everyone involved.”
What if the tapestry gets damaged?
One of the major concerns some experts have about the loan is that the tapestry is incredibly old and delicate, rendering its journey from one country to another an “unacceptable” risk.
For instance, art specialist Didier Rykner said that “Tapestry specialists, the restorers working on it, and the curators, say there is a risk of tears and material loss due to handling and vibrations during transport. It is unacceptable to risk this absolutely unique work being damaged”.
In 2025, The Financial Times claimed the tapestry would be insured for “about” £800 million by the UK Treasury indemnity.
The administrative arrangement for the loan reads, “the British Party agrees to provide ‘nail-to-nail’ indemnity cover through the UK Government Indemnity Scheme, based on the value of the Tapestry provided by the French State.”
Georgia Republicans are already bracing for their bruising Senate primary to continue past Tuesday night.
Once viewed as a clear GOP pickup opportunity, the contest to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has remained largely static for months — with no candidate fully separating from the field and President Donald Trump yet to get involved.
Many expect the contest to go to a runoff, interviews with more than half a dozen GOP strategists and campaign officials reveal. Rep. Mike Collins, the front-runner, is likely to make the cut, but it’s unclear whether he’ll face fellow Rep. Buddy Carter or former football coach Derek Dooley, who’s had a late rise in the polls.
That means while the candidates are poised to duke it out until June 16 for the GOP nomination, Ossoff has free rein to shore up his cash advantage and attack lines ahead of November. The Democrat, Republicans say, is beatable — but the path to unseating him gets more difficult if their own primary drags on.
“The longer the party stays fractured … that harms the chances in the general election,” said Jason Shepherd, the former Cobb County GOP chair. “The beneficiary of all this is Jon Ossoff. All he has to do right now is continue to raise money.”
Cole Muzio, a conservative activist and president of the Frontline Policy Council who voted for Collins, said the nearly large faction of undecided voters “is wild for what was initially supposed to be the most competitive race in the country…. It is not a good scenario.”
With Trump still on the sidelines, the candidates have been largely left to battle it out on their own, exposing fault lines over MAGA loyalty. Collins and Carter, both allies of the president, have mostly aimed their fire at one another as they work to win over the far-right base.
Collins, who has the backing of the Club for Growth PAC, a major conservative super PAC, appeared at a campaign rally with Trump earlier this year, while Carter has presented himself as a “trusted MAGA warrior.” Carter has ramped up his spending in the contest’s closing weeks, but recent polling shows Dooley beating him in second place.
And that’s exactly where Dooley’s campaign says they want him to be.
Dooley jumped into the race with Gov. Brian Kemp’s backing — and he’s gained momentum in the final stretch by leaning on his status as a political outsider and emphasizing his ties to a popular governor whose approval rating is nearly 20 points higher than Trump’s in Georgia.
His rise is emerging as yet another test of Kemp’s political muscle against the party’s more hardline MAGA wing. The governor has joined Dooley at dozens of campaign stops. And Hardworking Americans, a Kemp-aligned PAC, is up on the air on Dooley’s behalf.
“I’m totally fine with the timing of where we are, because really all we lost is the D.C. chattering class thinking that Derek didn’t have a chance. I’m more than happy to overperform expectations,” said one senior Dooley adviser, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Traditionally, you want to be spending your money and peaking when people are voting or right before they’re voting, and that’s what we’ve been able to do.”
Dooley’s campaign declined to comment.
Collins spokesperson Corbin Keown said in a statement that “despite the field outspending Mike Collins 15-to-1 in advertising, Georgians have consistently shown that they want [his] conservative record.” Carter, in a statement, expressed confidence in his standing with voters and said “Ossoff is desperate to face one of my primary opponents because he knows their baggage would distract from his terrible record.”
Republicans are hopeful that Tuesday night’s outcome — especially if it’s a runoff — will finally force Trump’s hand on an endorsement, putting the national political spotlight back on the Georgia Senate race.
The Collins campaign is already looking to make a pitch for Trump’s backing after the results come in.
“We are definitely going to make the case starting Wednesday that it’s clear he’s the best candidate for the general,” said one Republican strategist close to Collins’ campaign.
Trump’s endorsement has already proven to have significant sway in Republican primaries. His efforts to run challengers against several state GOP senators in Indiana and against Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana paid off. His endorsement of Barry Moore in Alabama’s Senate race helped him become the new front-runner. And he’s fronting a challenger to Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in what has turned into a very tight — and incredibly expensive — contest.
But even though all three leading GOP candidates for Georgia Senate have had meetings at the White House, they’ve had little luck getting Trump to weigh in publicly. That has meant that other party operations, such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee — which typically follow the president’s lead or wait until a nominee emerges from the primary — have also stayed on the sidelines.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Republicans argue that outside funding will ramp up significantly once the primary concludes.
“Every race in Georgia will tighten between now and Sept. 1, and when it comes time to put resources together, Georgia will be in the fold,” said one Georgia-based GOP strategist close to Kemp. The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Senate GOP super PAC, has committed an initial $44 million in Georgia.
But in the meantime, the fractured primary field has started Republicans on their back foot while Ossoff continues to raise money. The Democrat ended the first quarter of the year with $31 million in the bank, according to federal campaign finance reports, and has largely allowed his trio of challengers to battle themselves rather than taking direct aim across the aisle.
“[The race] will tighten, I think, but right now, it’s looking a little gloomier than what it normally would just because Ossoff is building a war chest and we’re infighting and all these things,” said another Georgia-based Republican strategist, who is unaffiliated with a Senate campaign.
Beyond contending with Ossoff’s warchest, the Senate GOP candidates continue to face another hurdle: Breaking through with voters at the same time as the Republican gubernatorial race is sucking up all the political — and advertising — oxygen.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire Rick Jackson, who are locked in their own monstrously expensive primary, have spent a combined $94 million in that race so far. Their television and digital ads, paired with an overwhelming amount of physical mailers, has made it harder for candidates in other races to attract Georgians’ attention.
“The challenge for the Senate race is you’re not going to see a slowdown in spending in the governor’s race come the runoff,” Muzio said. “Can any of these guys really elevate above the noise to make a clear message?”
Shockingly, Reform UK is running away from democracy. Again. The shadowy party machine has ordered its councillors to ignore local independent journalists, telling them to only speak to the right-wing propaganda-pedaller GB News. This desperate media blackout shows a toxic, US-style assault on grassroots and public accountability. They really are afraid of us, aren’t they?
Reform tout Poundland Trump
Nigel Farage is directly importing Donald Trump’s authoritarian media playbook. And he’s bringing it directly into our communities. This strategy treats independent local reporters as the enemy, whilst building an impenetrable wall around local Reform politicians.
In Ipswich, Reform UK party chairman Shayne Pooley told newly elected councillors to completely boycott independent media. Let’s be honest, why would they speak to indie journalists who are absolutely killing their reputation when they can happily broadcast their bullshit through GB News?
And at a time when Reform councillors are dropping like flies, it’s a transparent and sinister effort to try avoid further political calamities. Independent, local journalists ask tough and essential questions about council budgets, housing, and local services. How can the right-wing studios of GB News, who are based in London, provide answers about vital local issues?
The party is abandoning ordinary voters and their local issues to protect its own branding. The hostility towards the press comes from the very top of Reform. Just recently Farage doxed a journalist by posting the name and photograph of a photographer on X. This is fucking dangerous. It mirrors the aggressive rhetoric used by right-wing politicians in the US in this push of ‘fake news’.
My security team just found this journalist from The Guardian at my property.
This is exactly why I need security.
Completely unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/pKkZ9agjqi — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 14, 2026
Farage’s personal propaganda machine
The reason for all of this is simple. GB News isn’t a fucking news channel. It says it is, it operates like it is, but it just isn’t. And yet it operates as an unchallenged propaganda outlet for the far-right, being beamed directly into the living rooms of millions of viewers all over the UK. And people eat it up, simply because they have the word ‘news’ in their name.
The channel broadcasts unchecked information constantly. On Monday 11 May 2026, Ofcom finally launched a major investigation into a GB News interview with Trump over “material misleadingness” and total failure of impartiality. The broadcast included Trump spouting bollocks conspiracy theories about climate change and immigration. And of course GB News offered no journalistic pushback.
GB News even defended its lack of objectivity in court in March 2025. Mrs Justice Collins Rice dismissed Ofcom sanctions, ruling certain political broadcasts were “current affairs” shows and not actual “news programmes”. I mean, come on. And they keep breaking the fucking rules over and over because they’re not a real news channel.
Our broadcast bulletin is out today, including a new investigation into:
Headliners, GB News, 22 Jan – comments made by the presenter related to the LGBTQ+ community.
See the bulletin in full at — Ofcom (@Ofcom) March 17, 2025
https://t.co/6dxZBhAyg9 pic.twitter.com/8b8PIIM6R4
So by forcing its councillors onto this ridiculous platform, Reform UK is putting them through a scripted, corporate PR department. The councillors simply will not face any kind of scrutiny at all. And this is beamed directly into the living rooms of millions of people in the UK.
Controlling the lackies
This media blackout is authoritarian as fuck, designed to crush local voices. National leadership doesn’t give a shit about out communities.
This rigid control is actually tearing Reform UK apart under the surface. Over 60 councillors have left the party in the last year alone. Loads have quit because national officials actually blocked them from acting in the best interests of their residents. The residents who fucking elected them under the impression they would enact change. Silly. Defectors have revealed Reform headquarters routinely order them to vote down local green initiatives and diversity policies. They’re completely ignoring what local people are actually screaming out for.
More than 60 councillors have left Reform over the past year. They tell us whyhttps://t.co/hTNvY7U1PQ
— Reform Party UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) May 7, 2026
Nick Brown, former Durham councillor, admitted he originally joined Reform because he actually believed the party stood for change. Instead, national handlers ordered Brown to tow the party line and not to bring press attention to Durham council. Brown rightly resigned before a key meeting. He was ordered by figures at the national level to vote for a shitty budget that forced a 3.1% council tax rise. Wait… by doing that, didn’t Reform break one of its key promises to voters? I think they did. National office is converting locals reps into nothing but yes-men drones.
It seems like when Reform representatives try to voice community concerns, they face crushing pressure from the central party mechanics. Many have completely abandoned the party, just to win back freedom to speak up for the residents who elected them.
Reform are running scared
Reform tries to dismiss these departures as regular political hiccoughs. However, data reveals a wonderful structural crisis. The party lost a massive 9% of its councillor base was lost in the year leading up to May 2026. That is fucking huge. It’s nearly double the 5% losses seen by both Labour and the Tories during the same time period.
This massive media boycott by Reform is not a sign of strength. It’s a party putting its head in the sand. They’re absolutely petrified. A political party which bans local reps from answering bog-standard questions from a local journalist is a party terrified of the public.
By retreating into its own propaganda studio, Reform UK lets the mask slip and shows its true face. And it’s authoritarian corporate bullshit, masquerading as a grassroots party.
And local democracy suffers as a result.
Featured image via the Canary
By Antifabot
Bezalel Smotrich has announced the imminent ethnic cleansing of an entire Palestinian Bedouin village in the West Bank. This is in response to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing a warrant for his arrest.
Smotrich, the Israeli far-right finance minister, said he was informed that the ICC in The Hague had requested a warrant for his arrest.
West Bank retaliation
In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC found that there were:
reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others.
The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians as a superior.
Smotrich is the leader of the far-right Religious Zionist party and an illegal settler who lives in the Occupied West Bank.
His Ministry of Finance owns an arms factory in the UK, which has recently been awarded contracts with the UK government.
Smotrich has repeatedly called for Israel to completely ethnically cleanse all 1.8m people from Gaza, so it can ‘be settled’.
Previously, Israeli courts tried Smotrich on charges of ‘Jewish terrorism’. According to The Times Of Israel:
He was arrested by the Shin Bet’s division for suspected Jewish terrorism during the disengagement from Gaza.
Shortly before the August 2005 operation to remove Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four more in the West Bank, Smotrich and four other activists were detained and found to be in possession of 700 liters of gasoline and oil.
He is a self-described fascist homophobe, has mocked non-Orthodox jews, discriminated against Arabs, and opposed legislation to combat violence against women. Essentially, he is an egotistical piece of shit.
According to Al Jazeera:
The ICC accusations reportedly centre on Smotrich’s forced displacement orders for Palestinians, his support for moving Israeli settlers into occupied territory, and his claim it may be “justified and moral” to starve Palestinians in Gaza.
Forced displacement
In response to the arrest warrant, Smotrich is once again going on the attack.
He announced that:
the first target that will be attacked: immediately after my remarks, we will sign an order for the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar.
This will forcibly displace the entire Palestinian community from this occupied West Bank village, which has already endured a years-long legal battle with Israeli authorities for its survival.
Back in 2018, Israel’s supreme court permitted the illegal terrorist state to forcibly transfer the entire Bedouin community from Khan al-Ahmar. At the time, this consisted of 173 people in 32 families. However, the government then delayed the decision.
The community belongs to the Jahalin tribe, which came from the area of Tel Arad in the Negev desert. The IOF originally expelled it in the 1950s. Now, it is the largest refugee tribe in the West Bank.
The members first leased land to live on and to graze their flocks. However, Israel then built the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. The IOF once again forcibly displaced them, and they settled in their current location.
For years, Israel has been attempting to forcibly transfer the community a third time.
The community already suffers constant harassment at the hands of the Israeli authorities, making life there unbearable, with a view to making residents leave.
Israel has also refused to connect the community to the electric grid and roads and has repeatedly demolished structures.
Now, Israel is planning to demolish every single structure in the community and expel the residents. The settler-colonial state will now demolish the local school. It also serves the children of 11 other Palestinian communities.
War crimes
According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), forced displacement is a war crime in international and non-international armed conflicts.
Additionally, when it is committed as part of a “widespread or systematic attack” directed against any civilian population, deportation or forcible transfer of populations in occupied territories are “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions.
They can also be qualified as crimes against humanity under Article 71 of the Rome Statute.
Of course, international law does not seem to apply to Zionists. Moreover, ethnically cleansing a whole village is just another day in the life of Smotrich and the Zionist regime.
It has been 18 months since the ICC issued warrants for the arrests of Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. Since then, multiple countries have allowed them to enter without enforcing the warrants, which does not leave much hope for Smotrich’s arrest. However, it does reaffirm what anyone paying attention already knew – Smotrich and Israel are war criminals.
Featured image via Amir Levy / Stringer/Getty Images
By HG
On 14 May, King’s College London (KCL) and Cranfield University announced that the two institutions planned to merge following August 2027. However, student-led activist coalition KCL Stands for Justice (KCL SfJ) has spoken out against the merger, due to Cranfield’s deep links to the arms industry.
In a statement on social media, KCL SfJ wrote that:
Cranfield reported an £8.2m deficit for 2024-25, and KCL is stepping in to absorb all of its debt and financial obligations.
How does KCL justify taking on millions in debt while its own staff are forced to work multiple jobs and live outside London because their pay rises don’t even meet inflation?
Simple, management is sacrificing staff livelihoods to directly benefit from and integrate with the military-industrial complex.
*Oh, and don’t forget Vice-Chancellor Shitij Kapoor earns over £300k a year.
Over the 2023-24 financial year, Cranfield actually made a £29m surplus. However, its fortunes suddenly plummeted in 2024/25, which the university blamed on a drop in international student recruitment.
The universities insist that the merger will not necessitate job losses. However, KCL stated that:
In merging with Cranfield, King’s, as the larger partner, will take on Cranfield’s assets and liabilities, including borrowing commitments
In return, KCL hopes to benefit from Cranfield’s “longstanding partnerships with industry and government”.
KCL and ‘Longstanding partnerships’
So, what do those “longstanding partnerships” look like exactly? Cranfield began life in 1946 as the College of Aeronautics, specialising in aircraft research and design. It’s now a predominantly postgraduate institution specialising in technology, management and applied research.
Part of that ‘applied research‘ includes COTEC, the Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre. KCL SfJ claimed that:
– COTEC built a dedicated arena to physically test the fragmentation and velocity of 155mm high-explosive shells for Rheinmetall Italia.
– In January 2024, Rheinmetall delivered 10,000 rounds of precision tank ammunition to Israel.
– Rheinmetall partnered with the Israeli genocide manufacturer, Elbit Systems, to co-develop a fully-automated wheeled 155mm self-propelled howitzer – the type of artillery weapon used to fire 155mm shells.
Likewise, Cranfield has also boasted of its:
enduring partnerships with organisations such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems
Airbus subsidiary Airbus DS Airborne Solutions has a long-running partnership with the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
Rolls-Royce is a major supplier for the Israeli military (IOF). In particular, the company signed a $180m dollar contract to supply diesel engines for the IOF’s Eitan APC.
Likewise, BAE Systems has held four military export licences to Israel since 2021. This includes the company’s role as the main UK company involved in the production of F-35 aircraft, which is also used by the IOF.
Israeli military links
KCL SfJ also highlighted Cranfield’s role in founding the ‘Technology and Growth Alliance’, stating that:
Cranfield is the only university to be a founding partner in a new defence alliance, which brings together defence firms, academics, investors, accelerators and organisations from across the defence industry.
Other founding members include BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, Helsing and ADS.
Much like Rolls-Royce and BAE, Thales, Leonardo, and ADS have links to the Israeli military. Helsing insists that it has no weapons deployed in theatres other than Ukraine; however, it has direct contracts with several other companies which do.
Beyond its links to the arms trade, Cranfield also has form for suppressing pro-Palestinian protest. FOI requests have revealed that the university has admitted to sharing students’ personal data with the police over their support of the Palestine movement, and even referred up to four students to Prevent.
‘Completely shut out’
Obviously, KCL SfJ are deeply unhappy that their university is being merged with an institution with so many links to the armourers of Israel’s genocide.
Adding insult to injury, the activist group also stated that students and staff weren’t consulted on the merger:
The decision to merge with a highly militarised university was allegedly made at a private dinner between the two vice-chancellors, Shitij Kapur and Karen Holford.
Both students and staff were completely shut out of the decision-making process. Instead of being given a voice on whether our university should absorb a failing defence hub, we were simply told via national news.
Management’s only real communication to students dismissively claims the merger will have “no impact” on their day-to-day experience.
In response, KCL SfJ wrote:
We demand a voice.
Say NO the the Cranfield merger!
Say NO TO GENOCIDE!
Tag @lifeatkings and let them know we will not let this go by quietly!
As more and more universities across the UK are facing dire financial straits, many are reaching for desperate solutions like cutting courses and jobs to the bone.
In the KCL/Cranfield merger, we’re instead seeing an appeal to the seemingly-infinite pockets of weapons manufacturers. However, as KCL SfJ have demonstrated, the student body won’t let themselves be dragged into complicity with Israel’s genocide without a fight.
Featured image via Getty/Dan Kitwood
By The Canary
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Mike Newton was Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wolverhampton West, and worked for the Bank of England during his career in the financial markets.
My plan for Saturday afternoon was to lounge on the sofa with our bulldog Albert and watch Celtic and Hearts slug it out, but it was interrupted by a call from a distinguished central banker. He has been a guiding force behind his own country’s financial stability for decades and not a worrier for its own sake. But he was seriously concerned about developments in the gilt and sterling markets.
On Friday, as markets woke up to the full gravity of the political crisis and a potential Leftist Burnham government, the benchmark ten-year gilt increased by 18bp to its highest level since 2007. The pound was hammered versus every other currency.
‘What is the right price for gilts now?’ my caller asked. That is a very good question, and the problem for Labour is that no one in the markets seems to really know the answer.
The implications of that are extremely serious. The post-1970s consensus on fiscal stability has completely broken down and no one knows what is coming next other than much higher volatility.
The foundations are in very poor shape. What is known professionally as the UK’s ‘fiscal metrics’ (its capability to issue and pay debt) have moved adversely for some time now.
These include factors such as sovereign debt to GDP ratio (93 per cent of GDP), economic growth (1.4 per cent in 2025 dropping to 0.6 per cent in the first quarter) and the highest weighted average debt maturity in the G7 (fourteen years), which effectively means that when bond markets come under pressure, the UK is hit harder than anywhere else.
It is also worth noting that 25 per cent of total outstanding debt is linked to inflation (if inflation moves higher this debt becomes more expensive to service). Again, this is the highest in the G7.
Perhaps none of this would matter if Labour was a centrist government committed to fiscal responsibility, and allowing the private sector to get in with the job of creating wealth and employment. It would also matter a lot less if inflation was low and stable.
Labour’s policies on employment, energy and regulation have put a structural premium on UK inflation at a time when it is going up globally. The markets have also greatly reduced confidence in the Bank of England to control inflation.
The value of the pound is perhaps a bit less important than the situation in gilts, but the two are linked as a collapse in the pound would have very serious implications for the cost of borrowing, given its impact on inflation and the value of gilts for foreign investors who ultimately need to repatriate profits (or losses) into their home currency.
The pound has now started to sell off as global investors internalise the seriousness of the situation, and the implications of the closure of the North Sea to new drilling as announced in the King’s Speech. Sterling has now become a ‘reverse petrocurrency’ at a time when it has never been more important to be one.
So what happens next? Well markets never travel in a straight line, but the broad direction looks set: higher gilt yields and a weaker pound. But are we heading for a real crisis or just volatility?
I think crisis: and I sense we are in one now. Labour is going to lurch to the left whatever happens, and Burnham’s lack of respect for the bond market is being imitated now by Streeting, and of course Miliband and Rayner are already fully signed up members of that club.
Rather than arguing why gilts should yield 6 or 7 per cent, I think it is now more of a case of saying ‘why shouldn’t they? The burden of proof has shifted.
Burnham’s plans to have a separate class of gilt for defence, infrastructure and the NHS is particularly insane, as the idea that different types of expenditure can be ringfenced has been proven over the years to be a complete non-starter. The markets set a price for debt based on how much there is, not what the proceeds are used for.
It is frightening ignorance. If it was a workable fix, believe me it would already be done by every government in the world.
There is no handbrake from Labour’s MPs or grandees for any of this. When Liz Truss made her mistakes, the Tory machine stopped her. The Labour Party is the other way round on this. It actively wants the mistakes to be made!
Labour blowing up the gilt market will go one of two ways: interest rates on gilts rising to such highs that new issuance becomes so expensive it is unsustainable and reverses course, or it runs the car off the road and must ask for an IMF loan.
The latter would of course come with very stringent conditions, and given that the US effectively runs the IMF, the terms that the Trump Administration would offer a Socialist Britain would be eyewatering. It might even be the case that the UK Treasury instead asks for help from the European Central Bank and tried to peg sterling to the Euro, which would suit the Rejoiner motivations of Labour’s elite very nicely.
As Conservatives, we need to have a stringent alternative, and that is to structurally stabilise the public finances through a smaller state. I believe philosophically that government exists primarily to facilitate individual opportunity, and the state should not, and cannot, be involved in our lives to the extent it is. And now it cannot be afforded either.
Andrew Griffith MP wrote here last week that ‘the solution has to be a Conservative one…built on the hard truth that no government has run a fiscal surplus since 2001.’
Andrew is dead right. In addition to a radical re-examination of what the state pays for, there needs to be very serious consideration of the introduction of something like the German debt brake (die Schuldenbremse) through legislation, which limits the government’s ability to take unnecessary risks with the public’s money.
While we continue to rebuild trust under Kemi, we should be mindful that we are going to have to provide clear and hard headed solutions for the problems Labour has created, and the solvency of the country unfortunately looks to be top on the to-do list.
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