Politics
False messiah of polio eradication
The fallout from the Epstein files has been relentless. Those implicated in the dirty saga include UK Royals, members of our political class, the mainstream media, the “broligrachy,” and others.
Still, one area corporate media coverage has ignored is the convicted sex-trafficker’s feigned interest in polio eradication in the Global South. But why would a notorious predator and trafficker bother to involve himself with healthcare management in South Asia?
No champion of polio eradication
Among the tranche of files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Epstein appears in a video speaking with an off-camera interviewer whose voice resembles Steve Bannon’s. Responding to the interviewer, Epstein justifies his ties to “dirty money,” claiming to have helped with polio eradication in India and Pakistan — a convenient cover for a sex predator.
The Epstein files also include confidential reports on polio eradication efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, marked “CONFIDENTIAL — DO NOT CIRCULATE.”
The emerging pattern is one the Canary has repeatedly reported on. Epstein used his deep pockets to court Western diplomats, global philanthropists, and political figures. His alleged interest in polio work was another power grab. He was using cash to climb the ranks. It was never about vaccines.
He positioned himself in global health by feigning noble interests. The release of the DOJ files proves this was nothing more than a mask to hide his predatory depravity.
Epstein-Gates connection
The DOJ files show that the Gates Foundation was implicated in these lobbying efforts. The organisation — long at the forefront of global polio immunisation efforts — provided substantial funding for these IPI-led campaigns. An email exchange between Rod-Larsen and Epstein in September 2013 showed them discussing how to structure Gates Foundation funding for IPI’s polio work. And another email from the same year, sent by a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, the IPI was described as well placed to:
identify potential influencers/high-level contacts that can move the work forward and recommendations for how/whether BMGF, GPEI UN partners (UNICEF/WHO) and others should engage with such contacts.
The same email chains shows Epstein committing to $1 million per year for polio programmes in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Northern Nigeria, and Somalia — a whopping $15 million over five years. He instructed that Bill Gates’ name should not appear on a proposed peace center.
But by March 2015, the relationship had run its course, due to the reputational risk attached to Epstein’s criminal behaviour, and the funds Epstein promised which Gates never received.
Leveraging polio eradication for political gain
Epstein’s interest in polio projects in Pakistan was enabled through associates at the International Peace Institute (IPI), including senior staff.
Terje Rød-Larsen, its former president and ex-diplomat to Norway, is mentioned multiple times in the files. He stepped down from his role in disgrace after his ties to the convicted child-rapist made global headlines. Moreover, Rød-Larsen, as the DOJ files suggest, was a key ally of Epstein. He is currently under investigation by Norwegian police.
Rød-Larsen and IPI director, Andrea Pfanzelter, received intelligence briefings from a Pakistan-based field operative Nasra Hassan. They forwarded these reports to Epstein. The paper trail begins in April 2013. Emails from Hassan to Rød-Larsen describe meeting with Pakistani tribal leaders and government officials, and their changing position on polio eradication. Commenting on a chat had with a senior member of the Taliban, Hassan said:
It appears that religion-based refusal [of polio vaccination] is a very tiny.
However, the declassified files suggest interest in polio eradication ranked second to political ambitions. In June 2013, Hassan sent an email warning that Bill Gates’ public outreach to Pakistan’s ex-prime minister and opposition figure, Imran Khan, for polio support could jeopardise back-channel talks with the Pakistani Taliban:
This will harden the Pak[istani] Taliban’s position.
She noted that while the Taliban appeared more receptive to polio programmes, they remained opposed to Western involvement. She reminded Rød-Larsen that the group banned polio vaccinations in the Waziristan region in 2012:
alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage.
Hassan reiterated the need for discreet talks, stating that:
This opposite effect [the possibility of losing Taliban support] emphasizes the IPI position that polio related efforts by politicians MUST be discreet and low-key.
Epstein names Imran Khan a “threat”
Hassan’s warnings about Imran Khan’s public role — specifically his rejection of US imperialism — were echoed years later by Epstein himself. That’s little surprise given Epstein’s infiltration of Western diplomatic circles. He wooed politicians who cosied up to US — cue Peter Mandelson, Ehud Barak, among a long list of politicians he collected.
That’s little surprise given [stuff about Epstein’s political interference]”
Hassan’s warnings about Imran Khan’s public role were echoed years later by Epstein himself.
In 2018, as Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim noted, Epstein described Khan as “very bad news.”
Grim linked this to Khan’s political downfall, noting that the US State Department, with help from the Pakistani military, pushed him out of office in 2022.
Khan is subject to ongoing persecution by the military establishment in Pakistan. His party has been suppressed, and he remains behind bars.
Among his opponents, former Indian diplomat, Hardeep Singh Puri, now a senior BJP official in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, also features in the DOJ files. There were email exchanges between Puri and Epstein. There were five scheduled appointments between June 2014 and January 2017. Unsurprisingly, Puri has defended himself against alleged ties to the sex predator.
Jeffrey Epstein in 2018 was claiming that @ImranKhanPTI was “really bad news,” citing Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. The State Dept pushed him out of office with help from the Pakistani military in 2022. pic.twitter.com/isDA4dePMj
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 14, 2025
Unanswered Questions
Despite the documentary trail exposing Epstein’s attempts to insert polio-related initiatives, by leveraging his wealth, many questions — as raised by Pakistan’s Express Tribune remain unanswered. What was Epstein’s actual role in this network? Did he have ties to intelligence agencies? And why were detailed reports on Taliban leadership and polio access appearing in his inbox?
In the words of Express Tribune reporter, Shireen Qasim:
The emails raise a fundamental question: was the polio work undertaken by operatives like Hassan genuine humanitarian effort that happened to provide access to sensitive locations and information, or was the humanitarian work itself a cover for intelligence gathering – with field reports being systematically forwarded through institutional channels to someone like Epstein who had no public health credentials?
Consider the March 2013 email from Boris Nikolic, Epstein’s science adviser, asking how to deal with violence in Nigeria and Pakistan, who could mediate with the Taliban and Boko Haram, and whether these groups might ever be open to polio eradication.
It is not a stretch to imagine that was no humanitarian angle to Epstein’s interference in South Asia. A man with no background in public health, no government position, a documented history of manipulation and blackmail, and a suspicious interest in polio eradication? Added to that, a sickeningly powerful man with the connections to manoeuvre political instability? The red flag is flaming
Featured image via the Canary
Support for Reform UK has slumped with barely a month to go until crucial elections across the country.
In a major blow for Nigel Farage, two new opinion polls suggest the momentum the right-wing party has enjoyed over the last year is stalling.
A survey for pollsters Norstat for the Sunday Times shows that Reform support has fallen by four points to 15% in Scotland, where the party is in a fight with Labour to come second behind the SNP.
Meanwhile, a poll by Lord Ashcroft for the Mail on Sunday suggests Reform has lost its outright lead across the UK for the first time in more than a year.
It puts the party on 21% alongside the Tories and Greens, with Labour trailing on just 17%.
The findings will alarm Reform bosses, who regularly boast about the party’s poll leads.
Voters in Scotland, England and Wales will go to the polls on May 7 in the biggest test of public opinion since the 2024 general election.
Labour is heading for “a total bloodbath”, according to one polling expert, with the Tories also expected to suffer major losses.
Both Reform and the Greens and on course to make major gains as voters drift away from the two main parties.
Nevertheless, the latest polling suggests the scale of the Reform breakthrough may not be as significant as previously thought.
The party has endured a difficult start to the election campaign, with a succession of candidates either quitting or being dumped.
HuffPost UK also revealed last month how the party is being forced to ask people – including a Lib Dem councillor – to be “paper candidates”, suggesting they are struggling to find enough recruits.
Meanwhile, the party was forced to sack its housing spokesman over comments he made about the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Simon Dudley, who had been in the post for less than a month, said “everyone dies in the end” and “fires happen” as he claimed there is now too much regulation in the building industry.
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There’s no way to predict exactly how long any of us will live or precisely how well we’re ageing, but scientists have created a series of tests they think might give us a rough idea.
It looks, for instance, like the condition of key muscles might be linked to how we’re ageing overall. Your balance and even personality seem to matter, too.
Here are just a few of the science-backed challenges:
1) The sit-to-stand test
A recent study conducted with women aged 63-99 looked at unassisted sit-to-stand chair raises (going from a seated position to standing without leaning on something, as quickly as possible).
Scientists tracked participants’ speed in seconds for five of these raises.
“When it came to chair stands, moving from the slowest time to the fastest time in 6-second increments, researchers saw a 4% lower mortality rate,” the University of Buffalo, whose researchers were involved in the study, said.
A separate 2012 study called the sit-to-stand test a “significant predictor of mortality” among 51-to-80-year-olds.
2) The grip strength test
The same study involving older women found that for every seven extra kilograms of pressure participants could apply to a hand dynamometer in a grip test, they saw a 12% lower mortality risk on average.
It’s far from the only paper to note such a link.
Described by researchers as an “indispensable biomarker for older adults,” weaker grip strength has been linked to an increased likelihood of diabetes, fractures, cognitive decline, depression, and low quality of life.
3) Standing on one leg, nicknamed the “flamingo” test
The amount of time you can stand on one leg serves as a “valid measure of frailty, independence, and fall status and… a useful tool in identifying patients with peripheral neuropathy,” researchers have previously said.
Per the NHS, you should aim to “stand like a flamingo” for:
Even if that’s a walk (or hop) in the park for you, the NHS added, you shouldn’t stand on one leg for more than a minute.
4) The gait speed test
“A slow walk is a problem sign decades before old age,” Professor Terrie Moffit, senior author of a 2019 ageing study, told King’s College London. The trait was linked to faster brain and bodily ageing among participants; their lungs, teeth, and immune systems also aged faster.
A “gait speed” or “four metre” test can help you work out where you stack up. For a four metre test, you’ll need a 10m path, with two metres for the person to speed up to their normal pace and two to decelerate; mark it out and get a timer.
Once you pass the acceleration zone and enter the four metres in the centre, time your walk, ending once you enter the deceleration zone. Then, divide the number of seconds it took you to complete the course by the number of metres you walked.
Less than 0.8m/s is considered a low gait speed, according to the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia.
5) The NHS heart age test
Yes, cholesterol figures and your blood pressure can say a lot about your heart health. But the NHS has created a questionnaire to help you work out the approximate biological age of the organ, too (it’s only suitable for people aged 30-95 without an existing heart condition).
6) Check your instinctive response to questions like “Which country was the first to allow women to vote?” or “What does the word ‘dinosaur’ mean?”
Questions like these were among those asked in a study looking at the link between ageing and curiosity.
Participants were asked how curious they were to hear the answer to the questions; their general curiosity was also assessed.
General curiosity among people who love things like reading broadly and exploring the world – far-reaching, or “trait,” curiosity – “has been shown to relate to better cognitive outcomes,” study author Dr Mary Whatley shared.
But older people tended to have more “state curiosity,” or temporary interest in a specific question or subject, with most people’s trait curiosity declining over time.
4 min read
This Labour government must emulate the boldness shown by Gordon Brown nearly two decades ago and convene an International Energy Summit.
Even while staying out, the UK cannot avoid the consequences of the Iran war. Economic pain is rapidly approaching, and a long-threatened era of energy scarcity has begun.
As a government advisor during the financial crash, I was sceptical when Gordon Brown convened G20 world leaders. But he proved the doubters wrong and emerged with a framework for action and an even worse catastrophe averted.
The energy crisis sparked by Donald Trump’s war threatens a crisis as big as the financial crash, and which requires a response of equal magnitude. This is not simply a temporary price spike. Gulf energy underpins the world economy, with Qatar supplying a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas and a fifth of all oil and gas passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
For the second time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global dependency on vulnerable fossil fuel supply chains has been brutally exposed. Even if the war stopped tomorrow, experts warn it could take years for things to stabilise. We are entering a new era of global energy insecurity that threatens living standards, economic stability and national security. Hostile powers that control fossil fuels understand the power they hold; economic hardship and public resentment provide ideal conditions for extremist politics to flourish.
The Prime Minister’s announcement that the UK is convening 35 nations to discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a good step forward. But this crisis is global, and Britain must respond globally.
We need an International Energy Summit, convened by Britain with the same boldness as Brown’s summit in 2009. The UK has the credibility to lead the response to this crisis, with deep energy expertise and renewable energy potential. We are also living proof of the stakes, with limited gas storage, declining domestic fossil fuel production and a population that has already endured one energy price shock in recent memory.
We could be convening major global players to secure agreement to stabilise energy markets, safeguard supply chains, coordinate reserves and speed up the shift to renewables. We could also be securing consensus that energy security is global security, and the alternative is a ‘Hunger Games’ world of resource conflict, scarcity and coercion.
We cannot have a dangerous race-to-the-bottom. If the wealthiest countries pay to hoard fossil fuels, we will all pay the price. Our economy depends on supply chains that stretch across countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines. If energy prices push those economies into blackouts or recession, we will quickly feel it here too — through goods shortages, higher prices and economic disruption.
The UK must therefore adopt a war footing to protect the British people — not just immediately, but for the long term. The route to national resilience is reducing our exposure to fossil fuels, because homegrown power cannot be held hostage by dictators, petrostates or erratic American presidents. We must accelerate the move to clean power, with a modern energy system that is decentralised, efficient and flexible. Plug-in domestic solar panels should become as central to strengthening energy security as Anderson shelters were to the 1939-45 war effort, enabling ordinary people to contribute to our shared resilience while also cutting their bills.
But even if we generate more energy at home, Britain will not fully benefit until we break the link between the price of gas and energy bills. Right now, even as fossil fuel usage falls, our bills remain tied to the volatile price of gas, inflicting pain on ordinary billpayers. We must break that link so we can drive down energy costs for households and businesses.
The direction of travel is clear, but the government must be bolder. From our global convening power to tackling our domestic energy crisis, no option should be off the table – even those once dismissed as too radical. This is not simply about bills. It is about security, stability and the enduring necessity of global cooperation in an increasingly fractious world.
Polly Billington is Labour MP for East Thanet
Labour has led every Welsh government since the start of devolution in 1999 (Alamy)
11 min read
Across England, Scotland and Wales, voters will go to the polls on 7 May in what could be one of the most fragmented and unpredictable local and devolved election cycles in recent British politics.
Elections across local councils in England, Holyrood in Scotland, and the Senedd in Wales are taking place on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
Approximately 4,992 councillors will be elected across 136 councils, as well as 6 local authority mayors. Two new councils are also being elected in East and West Surrey, and all 32 London boroughs are holding elections.
The Labour Party is defending more than 2,000 seats, the Conservatives are defending more than 1,000, the Lib Dems around 600, the Greens nearly 200, and Reform around 70 seats.
All seats in both Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament, and the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, are also being contested.
The scale of these contests creates potential for huge political upheaval across all three nations.
The results are widely expected to further demonstrate the threat posed to the traditional two-party system, Labour and the Conservatives, by insurgent challengers.
Polling expert Lord Robert Hayward told reporters at a recent pre-elections briefing: “I have never known both major parties so uncertain about what they’re going to achieve anywhere in the country, because on one side, you’ve got the Conservatives being hit by Reform and a carryover from their unpopularity in 2024.
“On the Labour side, you’ve got a very unpopular government and an even more unpopular prime minister, and you’ve got the question of the Greens.”
There are suggestions that Keir Starmer’s position could come under renewed pressure if the Labour performance next month is as bad as many in the party fear.
With the elections just over a month away, what are the key contests to look out for?
WALES
The Senedd elections are likely to be the most disruptive set of elections this May, with Welsh Labour at risk of falling out of government in Wales since the start of devolution in 1999.
The Welsh voting system has also been reformed, and the Senedd’s expansion from 60 to 96 members could make the results even more complex and unpredictable, according to Lord Hayward.
Welsh voters will now cast their ballots under a proportional representation system, including 16 large multi-member constituencies.
Pollsters expect the contest in Wales to be particularly volatile, with polling mostly showing nationalist party Plaid Cymru in the lead, and Reform looking competitive with Labour for the second-largest party.
If no party can form a majority, parties might enter negotiations for a coalition – but Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said he would prefer to form a minority government than enter a coalition with another party.
Key areas to watch:
Senedd constituencies in the South Wales Valleys, such as Pontypridd or Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, are traditional Labour heartlands that are now threatened by both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.
In North Wales, seats such as Fflint Wrecsam and the Vale of Clwyd currently have a mix of Labour, Conservative, and Plaid Cymru – and could be an interesting case study of how far both the Labour and Tory local vote collapses.
Plaid Cymru already performs strongly in constituencies in the west of Wales, but these elections will be an interesting indication of whether Plaid can translate strong polling leads into further domination in their strongest areas.
In Cardiff and other urban areas in the south-east of Wales, this election could signal to what extent the Greens can compete in the urban belt of the country, with some areas seeing a three-way fight between Labour, Plaid and the Greens.
SCOTLAND
In Scotland, the results are less likely to be as disruptive as in Wales, with the incumbent SNP government leading in the polls so far. While the SNP remains on course to emerge as the largest party, the key question is who will emerge as the main opposition, and how fragmented that opposition becomes between Labour, Reform, the Conservatives, and, to a more limited extent, the Green Party and the Lib Dems.
Reform UK is gaining strength in several areas across Scotland and will try to compete with Labour for second place overall.
Professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, Tim Bale, told PoliticsHome: “The story there is the resilience of the SNP. We know Labour are going to do relatively badly.
“It’s the fact that a party that’s been in government there for so long and lost out quite badly in 2024 at the general election seems to have renewed itself under its new leader, and looks set to carry on governing Scotland. That really is quite a remarkable achievement. There aren’t many places in the world where a party is so predominant.”
In February, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on Starmer to resign, in a bid to distance himself and Scottish Labour from the Westminster Labour government.
Like in Wales, the results in Scotland could be complicated by boundary changes and new constituencies and regions, which could produce surprising results and unexpectedly boost smaller parties like the Greens.
Key areas to watch:
The constituencies in the capital, Edinburgh, are largely multi-party marginal seats dominated by Labour, SNP and the Conservative Party. Some of these constituencies were decided by narrow margins in 2021 – in some cases under two percentage points – making them among the most competitive seats in Scotland. These seats could be a key test of where the urban middle-class vote will go in Scotland amid high levels of dissatisfaction with the Labour government in Westminster.
In areas in the North East of Scotland, such as in Aberdeen, the contests have historically been SNP versus the Conservatives. However, with Labour having gained strength and Reform emerging in the polls, there are now likely to be multi-party contests here, with the cost of living and industrial energy policies being the top issues for voters.
The west and central belt of Scotland, including Glasgow, is expected to see the traditional battle play out between the SNP and Labour.
ENGLISH LOCAL COUNCILS
Across England, the council elections are likely to expose the continued fragmentation of party politics.
All five main parties – Labour, the Conservatives, Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens – could secure between 10 and 25 per cent of the national vote, making outcomes highly unpredictable under first past the post. The key question will be how far Labour and the Conservatives fall, and whether Reform and the Greens can convert rising support into gains.
Labour has the most to lose, defending more than 2,000 seats, many of them won in 2022, making the incumbents vulnerable. The Local Government Information Unit has predicted a “high churn” from these elections, with a significant turnover of councillors expected.
Professor Bale said Labour is likely to fare the worst, while the Conservatives are also expected to suffer losses. “But they are likely to be able to hide behind what happens to Labour,” he added.
Reform is expected to make gains, but its ability to take control of councils is uncertain, with tactical voting likely to play a significant role. Hayward said voters are increasingly asking campaigners on the doorstep which party is best placed to defeat Reform, with all parties deploying “bar chart” messaging on their campaign material.
There were signs of anti-Reform voting at recent by-elections in Caerphilly and Gorton & Denton.
“If ever you thought that bar charts were a unique operation of primarily the Liberal Democrats until a few months ago, I can guarantee that everybody going will be producing bar charts to say that they are in the best position to defeat Reform,” Hayward said.
However, boundary changes and disrupted election timetables may make it harder for voters to identify leading challengers. Smaller parties, including the Greens and Liberal Democrats, are likely to benefit from vote fragmentation, though the Lib Dems may struggle to translate this into large numbers of new councils.
National issues, particularly the cost of living and migration, are also expected to shape voting behaviour, though their impact remains uncertain. For Reform, the elections will be a key test of whether its polling strength can translate into meaningful local power.
For Labour, there is some hope that Starmer’s approach to the Iran war and refusal to agree to Donald Trump’s demands will give the party a boost on polling day.
Key areas to watch:
The county council contests will be a key test for the Conservative Party, with Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hampshire, and East and West Sussex all considered core Tory heartlands. The Conservatives face a Reform UK insurgency, as well as the Lib Dems in the south. In 2025, the Tory vote in local councils collapsed, and the party will be nervous not to continue the same trend in 2026.
Hampshire stands out as a bellwether council up for election, as it has been Tory-controlled since 1997, and now the Tories face a squeeze from both Reform and the Lib Dems.
The all-out election in Milton Keynes is set to be a full reset due to boundary changes. With Labour having only recently gained full control of the council in 2024, the party needs only to lose a few seats to lose control again, with this contest potentially testing Labour’s durability in towns and suburban areas.
Cambridge is an area where both the Greens and Lib Dems are competitive to challenge Labour’s very small majority on the council, making it likely it will flip to no overall control.
Councils in the north of England, such as Hartlepool, will act as the battleground over which Reform will try to win councils from Labour.
Multiple councils in the south-west of England are likely to be fragmented between Labour, Reform, the Lib Dems and the Green Party.
Lord Hayward said it could be “particularly difficult” for the Lib Dems if they face a squeeze from the Green Party as the alternative progressive party to Labour and the Conservatives.
Last month, PoliticsHome reported concern among Lib Dem figures that some MPs could switch to the Greens amid frustration with the party’s failure to capitalise on the success of the 2024 general election, when it returned a record number of MPs.
LONDON BOROUGHS
Labour could see its vote eroded in its traditional heartlands in the capital, with the insurgence of the Greens in inner London and Reform in the outer boroughs, while the Lib Dems are expected to hold onto their existing boroughs in south-west London.
Key areas to watch:
According to Lord Hayward, some of the key contests in London include:
- Reform target boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Havering, Barking & Dagenham
- Conservative target boroughs of Barnet, Wandsworth and Westminster
- Harrow and Hillingdon, which are being defended by the Tories
- Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets are all boroughs where Gaza and the war in Iran might impact voting along international issues in the local elections
- Camden, Islington, Hackney, and perhaps Lambeth and Southwark are boroughs where the Green Party is likely to be competitive with Labour.
- Kingston, Richmond, and Sutton are all boroughs which the Lib Dems are expected to hold
“Harrow is noticeable now, along with Westminster and Wandsworth, as being one of the very few places where it is purely Conservative versus Labour with a bit of others added on,” Lord Hayward said.
“They are very much the exception now as boroughs, in terms of competition.”
Camden would be a particularly symbolic victory for Zack Polanski’s Greens, as it contains Starmer’s constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.
In Redbridge, the pro-Gaza independents who nearly cost Health Secretary Wes Streeting his seat in the 2024 general election could also make inroads in the local elections. If Labour loses seats in Redbridge, it could cast doubt on Streeting’s suitability as a future leader if he is seen as unlikely to win his own seat at the next general election.
However, Hayward predicted Labour losses in the capital would not amount to a “wipeout”.
“The problem that the two legacy parties actually face is that they genuinely don’t know how many people are going to vote for them,” he said, explaining that smaller parties this time around might encourage people to vote who have not previously voted in local elections.
“Remember, the [Brexit] referendum in 2016 was effectively won by people who didn’t normally vote either.”
It is also possible that the Green Party and independent candidates could work together across London, as well as in other councils across the country – creating the potential for complex local coalitions in the aftermath of 7 May.
Trump has once again threatened to up the ante in his war on Iran. This time, he’s vowed to ‘reign down hell’ if Iran doesn’t re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The problem for Trump is that the constant escalations seem to have worked more in Iran’s favour than America’s:
Donald Trump has posted this on his Truth Social media account saying that Iran has “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them” if they don’t make a deal and open the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/Hz8WssiS64
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) April 4, 2026
Trump is flailing
Despite Trump claiming he gave Iran 10 days to make a deal, the hostilities have continued:
🗞️ U.S.-Israeli airstrikes hit Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran on April 3, targeting the Laser and Plasma Research Institute at its Velenjak campus, according to Iranian Red Crescent and university officials.
The research facility sustained significant damage,… https://t.co/nf0ovanGPN
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) April 3, 2026
The big development of the past few days has been that Iran successfully shot down an American fighter jet:
🚨 BREAKING | An Iranian official told Drop Site News that a U.S. F-15 warplane struck by Iranian forces went down over southern Tehran Province, with intense fire reported at the crash site.
The official said the nature of the strike prevented the pilot[s] from ejecting before… https://t.co/iUKD0AqRQQ pic.twitter.com/BI4TzolmZY
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) April 3, 2026
On 3 April, Drop Site reported on all the US aircraft incidents which had happened in the prior 24 hours:
▪️ One F-15E Strike Eagle (fighter-bomber): downed; 1 pilot rescued, 1 crew missing, search continues
▪️ Two HH-60W Jolly Green II (combat rescue helicopter) hit by Iran: all crew accounted for, both landed safely
▪️ One A-10 Warthog (close air support jet) crashed into Persian Gulf: pilot rescued
▪️ Another A-10 aircraft hit; made emergency landing with one engine disabled
▪️ F-16 (multirole fighter): declared emergency over Iraq; landed safely
▪️ KC-135 Stratotanker (refueling aircraft): declared emergency over Israel; landed safely
▪️ Iran also claimed it struck and downed another U.S. jet near Qeshm Island yesterday
As this has been going on, the Trump regime has been sacking senior military figures:
It’s likely that experienced generals are telling Hegseth his Iran war plans are unworkable, disastrous, and deadly.
Also, Hegseth is firing a ton of experienced generals right now. https://t.co/I2iKshfjNX
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 3, 2026
The same day that Hegseth fires multiple senior army leaders, he announces that individuals “trusted” by the administration will be able to carry arms on base…
On the same day Trump is purging his cabinet…
This is like coup level shit. https://t.co/fopaihE4R3
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) April 3, 2026
It’s also reported that War Secretary Pete Hegseth may be paranoid about potential replacements:
Fox News: Multiple sources tell us the Hegseth firing of Army Chief of Staff Randy George has to do with Hegseth’s rivalry with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who is a close ally of JD Vance & was considered on the short list to replace Hegseth at one point pic.twitter.com/lmwqaPN5Sm
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 4, 2026
The war on Iran has gone so poorly that it’s understandable the war secretary would now fear for his job. Things are so bad dire for Hegseth that Iran is actually mocking him:
An Iranian embassy trolling the Trump administration over Pete Hegseth’s purge of the US military mid-war https://t.co/IrgFxd0x7R
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 3, 2026
It’s really not a strong look for a country to start sacking its military officials in the middle of an offensive. America isn’t a strong country, though, is it? It’s a weak country with a military industrial complex to serve.
Human suffering
While the actions of Trump and Hegseth are laughable and buffoonish, it’s important to remember that real people are suffering as a result of these childish men and their tantrums. It’s equally important for us here in Europe to keep up the pressure on our leaders.
This isn’t our war, and we must not allow our leaders to drag us into it.
Featured image via Pixabay (via Canva)
Every day, Reform’s battalion of local election candidates is looking worse and worse. Today, we learned that the party has welcomed a notorious ex-Tory councillor who voiced what can only be described as hardcore, Nazi-grade genocidal intent:
Reform claimed they have the most rigorous candidate vetting in the UK; yet a simple google search of Derek Bullock’s name brings up several news articles about Derek’s racist past.
So is Reform’s vetting process broken, or do they condone Derek Bullock’s call to violence?
— thelefttake (@thelefttake) April 4, 2026
‘Shoot them on the spot’
In March 2020, the Conservatives suspended Bolton councillor Derek Bullock. As the Manchester Evening News reported at the time:
It is alleged that Coun Derek Bullock, who represents Hulton ward on Bolton Council , posted an article from anti-Muslim activist Robert Spencer’s ‘JihadWatch’ on Facebook.
In response to an article about former party chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, he reportedly added: “She’s been a cuckoo in the nest!”
In another post, from February 2015, he is shown to have shared a Daily Mail article under the headline ‘Number of Muslim children in England and Wales doubles in a decade’, adding the comment ‘the clock is ticking’.
Despite this, Bullock was actually re-selected to run for the Tories in 2023 (although he was suspended, he remained a councillor). At the time, Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi said:
…culture of Islamophobia which has been found to exist throughout the party
Moreover, this decision shows a lack of commitment to integrity and calls into question his suitability for public office and ability to represent our multicultural town.
— Yasmin Qureshi MP (@YasminQureshiMP) April 5, 2023
In response to the backlash, the Tories re-suspended Bullock, with the Mirror reporting on this truly obscene post from him:
Following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, an account in Mr Bullock’s name commented on a news article: “Shoot the P***s on the spot.”
He’s clearly woken up to the fact that he’s not getting back into the Conservative Party. The question is whether Reform will tolerate a councillor who’s expressed an intent to eradicate a sizeable UK minority group.
Reform vetting
The Canary’s Antifabot posted the following:
Hey @reformparty_uk 🙋♀️
I just wanted to know, do you screen your candidates and if you do, is being a total and utter fascist who looks like a nonce a must?
Just so you know, if you do get in, we will absolutely stand up against people like this
Fucking dickhead pic.twitter.com/qz5hP9ZpFd
— 𝔸𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕒𝔹𝕠𝕥 – AKA The Intolerant Left (@_Wrevolution_) April 4, 2026
As we reported earlier today, there is reason to believe that Reform just isn’t vetting its candidates:
Brett Muscroft is Reform UK’s candidate in Castleford Central & Glasshoughton, Wakefield.
He shows clearly that Reform UK’s vetting is nil for this coming local elections.
His posts on Islam, his support of Tommy Robinson, Enoch Powell and posting far-right and racist content… pic.twitter.com/2kDm9P5DSI
— Reform Party UK Exposed 🇬🇧 (@reformexposed) April 3, 2026
The exposed posts from Brett Muscroft were found on his personal Facebook account. When we looked into it, this account was still public, and was instantly discoverable with a search on Facebook.
This leaves two possibilities:
- Reform isn’t vetting candidates.
- Reform has decided to accept the absolute dregs of humanity.
Either way, we get to the same result.
Featured image via Derek Bennet (Wikimedia)
Animal Justice Project has staged a demonstration in Leicester Square asking people to “Skip the Lamb” over Easter. As the charity highlights, lambs are usually only a few months old when they’re slaughtered:
We’re in Leicester Square today, urging the public to ‘Skip the Lamb’ this Easter.
Joined by dedicated activists and a powerful street stunt featuring a lamb and butcher, we’re challenging passersby to confront the reality behind their choices… and who ultimately pays the… pic.twitter.com/eHD2GhHkBJ
— AnimalJusticeProject (@ajpReact) April 4, 2026
This Easter — Skip the Lamb
In a press release, the group said:
Organised by Animal Justice Project, the demonstration features a powerful visual installation exposing the reality behind lamb consumption. A performer portraying a lamb lies on a table, dressed in a white costume with lamb ears and realistic prosthetic wounds, including a slit throat and severe leg injury. A figure dressed as a butcher appears to cut into the body, while a pile of severed leg props represents the scale of animals killed.
Volunteers are holding placards and distributing leaflets encouraging passers-by to “Skip the Lamb”, while a life-size lamb prop reinforces the connection between animals and the food on people’s plates.
In a video posted to social media, the group showed their activists interacting with the public:
Over 75% of the public are meat-eaters… but what percentage realise they are eating babies?
For many, Easter is a time for eating ‘a leg of lamb’, yet the disconnect is present even in the language.
Eating a lamb’s leg means killing baby animals, sometimes as young as 10… pic.twitter.com/5VzhIMe1sY
— AnimalJusticeProject (@ajpReact) April 4, 2026
Claire Palmer (Animal Justice Project founder) said:
Easter is often seen as a time of renewal and compassion, yet it’s still associated with eating lambs — animals who are only a few months old when they’re killed.
We want people to stop and think. Behind every Easter meal is an animal who wanted to live.
Palmer added:
Traditions can change. And when they involve the lives of young animals, they should.”
Animal Justice Project also provided the following statistics:
- April: 893,336 lambs slaughtered
- June: 1,106,894 lambs slaughtered
- Lambs are typically slaughtered at 4–8 months old
A Change of Heart
Animal Justice Project are simultaneously releasing a new film titled A Change of Heart: From Sheep Farmer to Vegan. The video follows Sivalingam “Kumar” Vasanthakumar — a former sheep farmer. Kumar took his flock to a sanctuary before transitioning to a plant-based livelihood.
As the press release notes:
Previously featured by BBC News, Kumar now grows vegetables and runs a vegan street food business, Kumar’s Dosa Bar, using largely home-grown produce.
. …
“I saw them as individuals,” Kumar says in the film. “Once you see that, you can’t continue as before.”
You can watch A Change of Heart: From Sheep Farmer to Vegan here.
Featured image via Animal Justice Project
Farage’s his Reform have started their own podcast — you know — like that Zack Polanski did.
On the one hand, this is understandable, because a good idea is a good idea. On the other hand, Reform — as ever — have decided to push the truth to breaking point:
“do things differently” = “copy the Green Party” pic.twitter.com/RVaNO1zrYA
— Adam Smith (@adamndsmith) April 4, 2026
Farage — bold Politics VS bold-faced lies
As noted above, Zack Polanski runs his own podcast called Bold Politics. The most recent episode features Canary contributor Cody Dahler:
To be clear, Polanski did not invent podcasting. He’s also not the first politician to have his own podcast. He is, however, the only one who isn’t infinitely repellant (we’re looking at you, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart).
Bold Politics is absolutely a Green Party podcast, anyway; it’s not like Polanski is on there discussing true crime or recapping The Traitors. Farage can pretend otherwise, but it just makes him look like a liar and a copycat at the same time. Pick a lane, Nigel!
Perhaps what Farage means is ‘Reform is the only party with a podcast named after itself’? The problem is that this still wouldn’t be true:
Oh look @Nigel_Farage is lying AGAIN pic.twitter.com/LJtVylapWt
— Capman #FBPE (@Euro_toff) April 4, 2026
As we’ve reported, Restore Britain is a Reform UK breakaway party that is to Farage’s lot what Reform are to the Tories (i.e. a more right-wing version). Founded by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe, Restore is basically just the Conservative Party 3.0. Although, to be fair, they do have far fewer Tories than Reform does:
‘We do things differently at Reform’ pic.twitter.com/U3PcNKsYFf
— shatners (@shatners144143) April 4, 2026
The fact that we have three right-wing parties means these people are all struggling to differentiate themselves. In this instance, Reform have attempted to show that they’re different from the Tories by literally copying Restore.
People had other criticisms of Farage’s post too:
The entire fucking media is a Reform podcast. Everything you say is repeated to death.
— Oliver (@OWS1892) April 4, 2026
Preaching to the converted won’t arrest your decline in the polls. pic.twitter.com/JQI3VwScTI
— Zokko (@Zokko18) April 4, 2026
Pobcasting
We’ll be honest, we do think Reform are missing a trick. After all, they could have had Matt Goodwin host the show so they could refer to it as the Reform UK Pob-cast:
Just realised Matt Goodwin reminds me of ‘Pob’ and now I can’t unsee it 🤦🏼♀️😂😂 https://t.co/bPO2E8GxWE pic.twitter.com/Sac7lgD5qM
— Susan Cowell (@SusanCowell) February 17, 2026
If they follow our advice, they could truthfully say they’re the only party to have a podcast which is hosted by a failed MP who was recently accused of using AI to write an error-riddled book.
Featured image via Parliament
On 2 April, Donald Trump sacked attorney general Pam Bondi. Her sacking came as a great shock. Not because she was competent or deserving of her position, but because it meant Trump has found someone else who’s willing to make themselves legally culpable for improperly handling the Epstein Files.
Now, we’re once again seeing how Trump repays those who tarnish their reputation to protect him:
— evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) April 3, 2026
Pam Bondi binned
This is how the BBC reported on Bondi going:
The president’s frustration had been growing with her leadership at the justice department – particularly over her handling of the Epstein files which have become a reputational liability for the administration.
This is a bit rich from Trump, to be honest. His big issue wasn’t Bondi; it’s the fact that he’s personally named thousands of times in the Epstein Files.
While we’re sure there are people who could have pulled off a more competent cover-up than Bondi, the question is who would want to expose themselves like that? Because the task at hand is risking jail time to protect a senile creep of a president who’s accused of the worst crimes imaginable.
You could argue that Bondi did a lot to prevent the files coming out, but there was only so much she could achieve (this isn’t praise):
“She did it because we threatened contempt, we threatened impeachment, we passed a law!”
After Trump removes US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Democrat Ro Khanna on whether she deserves credit for having released 3.5 million pages of the Epstein Files.
— Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% 🇪🇺🐟🇬🇧🏴☠️🦠💙 (@g_gosden) April 4, 2026
Bondi didn’t only provide cover on Epstein either, as More Perfect Union reported:
Under Bondi the Justice Department:
– Dropped 23,000 criminal investigations including white collar and corporate crime
– Halted 159 corporate enforcement actions
– Settled the lawsuit to break up LiveNation/Ticketmaster
– Let 18 companies avoid $3.1 billion in penalties
Trump has often demanded unrestricted control of the justice department to pursue investigations into targets of his choosing, even when he was warned there was no evidence to do so.
He addressed that directly in a post directed at Bondi – saying the delays in those cases were “killing our reputation and credibility”.
The guy replacing Bondi is Todd Blanche who has suggested that Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators are safe:
Q: Is the public going to learn the identities of the men who abused the girls in the Epstein files?
Acting AG Todd Blanche: Like, what does that mean? I don’t understand what that means. pic.twitter.com/CkKLHaWcDU
— FactPost (@factpostnews) April 2, 2026
Acting AG Todd Blanche declares mission accomplished on the Epstein files: “The DOJ has now released all of the files with respect to the Epstein saga” pic.twitter.com/1Yugz7ItEA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2026
The above is not true, by the way, and Blanche is already facing scrutiny:
Congratulations AG Blanche. Now you have 30 days to release the rest of the files before becoming criminally liable for failure to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. https://t.co/LOcytrTXJV
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 3, 2026
Oh, and just because Bondi is gone, that doesn’t mean she won’t still be legally responsible for her handling of the Epstein Files or other matters
Pam Bondi, “There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime”
Ted Lieu, “You just lied under oath. There is ample evidence in the Epstein files”
Pam Bondi, “Don’t you ever accuse me of a crime”
Ted Lieu, “You just lied under oath, and this is on video tape”
Ted… pic.twitter.com/v2Feci6P4u
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) February 11, 2026
Whether this translates into actual accountability is anyone’s guess.
As many have said, crime is essentially legal in the US now if you’re one of the elites.
Good riddance
The following image is from the same hearing as the above. The women with their hands up are victims of Jeffrey Epstein. And the reason they have their hands up is because they’re answering affirmatively that Bondi’s justice department ignored them:
This photo and the Epstein file cover up will be Pam Bondi’s legacy. pic.twitter.com/FOX5wgnNAy
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) April 2, 2026
So yes, this disgraced politician does belong in the bin.
And by ‘the bin’, we of course mean ‘prison’.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Wikimedia)
On 31 March, we reported that Labour had suspended Karl Turner. Turner had criticised Labour’s plan to abolish jury trials as a universal right; he’d also given an interview to independent journalist and Canary contributor Jody McIntyre.
Following his suspension, Turner tried to distance himself from McIntyre. Now, McIntyre has set the record straight:
Last week, I interviewed Karl Turner, the MP for East Hull. Within days, the Labour Party suspended him.
Turner has since claimed that some of his comments were “misrepresented”. This is untrue.
In the interest of openness, here is the FULL interview:🧵 pic.twitter.com/HGQiDWLcmM
— Jody McIntyre (@jodymcintyre_) April 3, 2026
‘Lying bastard’ McSweeney still running Labour
As we reported at the time, much of Turner’s interview with McIntyre focussed on Morgan McSweeney:
This morning on Sky News, Keir Starmer said that it is “a little bit far-fetched” to think that McSweeney could have known that “sometime in the future there would be a request for the phone”.
Labour MP Karl Turner told me this morning that the statement is “absolute bollocks”. pic.twitter.com/ANxfikYWai
— Jody McIntyre (@jodymcintyre_) March 26, 2026
The summary of the McSweeney scandal is as follows:
In full
Now, McIntyre has provided details on his full interview with Turner:
Karl Turner told me that he has been “good friends” with Keir Starmer for many years + texts the PM “things that are very f***ing private…that I don’t want everyone knowing”.
This didn’t stop Labour officials briefing against Turner’s mental health, calling him “mad” + “nuts”.
Karl Turner said to me that he believes Morgan McSweeney was worried that messages “slagging off the Prime Minister” would be uncovered on his “stolen” phone.
He also claimed that the appointment of Peter Mandelson was the result of “weeks and weeks” of McSweeney’s lobbying.
On McSweeney, now ex-Labour MP Karl Turner told me: “I was texting Keir, ‘Sack this silly bastard immediately, you are making us all look like fools.’”
He also said that “McSwindle is a man with a history of being a lying bastard” who “needs checking out”.
McSweeney is indeed a man with a history of dishonesty, as we reported in 2024:
In a bizarre turn of events, the Guardian/Observer has revealed that Labour Party PM Keir Starmer’s top Downing Street aide Morgan McSweeney plotted to ‘destroy the Canary‘ – before ‘we destroyed the Labour right’. It shows not only how him and his closest cronies tried to kill us – but also how they brought about Jeremy Corbyn’s downfall. The intention all along? To install Starmer as Labour leader, and eventually PM.
‘the world’s biggest f***ing paedophile!’
Back to McIntyre, he added:
Karl Turner, the MP for East Hull, also complained that “McSweeney and [Matthew] Doyle, protégés of Mandelson, were asked to question a friend of the world’s biggest f***ing paedophile!”
Doyle had campaigned for a Scottish Labour councillor later convicted of child sex offences.
Labour’s recent and ongoing paedophile-related scandals include:
McIntyre continued:
A former MP I spoke to who served on Labour’s frontbench for five years identified Doyle as one of Morgan McSweeney’s “inner circle”.
The whistleblower told me: “The inner circle were tight. WhatsApp tight. They talked openly of…getting rid of every existing MP eventually.”
The former Labour frontbencher also told me that McSweeney installed his relatives “in the Whips’ office…to spy on people.”
McSweeney’s wife, Imogen Walker, was appointed assistant government whip last September.
Did Walker and/or McSweeney have a say in Turner’s suspension?
When Karl Turner, the MP for East Hull, was suspended by Labour on Tuesday, he stated that the Whips’ Office had not bothered to call him, choosing to brief journalists instead.
Turner had been a consistent and blistering critic of McSweeney, telling me he “still runs the job”.
Karl Turner told me that he believed McSweeney’s stolen phone could reveal “vicious messages…calling the Prime Minister a f***ing idiot and listing the reasons why”.
Turner said this might include McSweeney and Mandelson expressing dismay at Starmer’s “crap” Chagos deal.
When I asked now-independent MP Karl Turner directly if he thought Keir Starmer really believes Morgan McSweeney’s “stolen phone” story, he said it comes down to “psychology”:
“If you WANT to believe a person, then you will believe them rather than questioning every detail.”
At the end of the interview, Karl Turner told me that he “had to be careful” because Labour had been threatening him with suspension.
Within days, those threats came to fruition.
Were his friendship with Starmer + years of service to Labour overcome by McSweeney’s influence?
Help him take on Labour
To be fair to Turner, he is apparently struggling with mental health issues; he’s also a member of one of the world’s most toxic political organisations. At the same time, though, he needs to clarify what points he thinks were “misinterpreted”, because we’re not seeing it.
You can support Jody McIntyre and the excellent work he does via the links below:
The TRUTH about my interview with Karl Turner MP: https://t.co/iPREtRoIyF
My investigations take many hours of meticulous work. Subscribe to support what I do: https://t.co/4lb1GxXPQx
And follow @jodymcintyre_ for more Labour Party exposés.
— Jody McIntyre (@jodymcintyre_) April 3, 2026
Featured image via Parliament
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