Politics
families speak out after acquittal
In the aftermath of the acquittal of six of the Filton 24, pressure groups and the families of the vindicated prisoners have spoken about what the verdict could mean.
Pressure group CAGE responds
The refusal to convict any of the six defendants of any charges, including on the most serious of charges, is a powerful affirmation of jury equity and brings to a humiliating end one of the most politically charged trials of this year thus far.
The decision made by the jury critically undermines the rationale used to proscribe Palestine Action, and underscores the urgent need for that ban to be lifted. This case was the most significant test of the government’s claim that acts of conscience against arms companies constitute a threat to public safety.
An independent jury, guided by conscience and moral clarity, rejected that narrative despite extraordinary political pressure, ministerial intervention, and an environment shaped to shield Israeli state-aligned interests from scrutiny.
The verdict echoes a wider public rejection of Zionist impunity, and growing support for direct action against companies complicit in genocide.
The trial has exposed how pre-trial detention and public spectacle were used to punish the defendants in advance and to deter others from challenging Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. The proscription of Palestine Action must now be lifted, and all those held as a result of this political process in prison should be released immediately.
The trial demonstrated that counter-terrorism and national security frameworks are being used in line with their established purpose: to silence dissent and shield state complicity in crimes from accountability. Context was excluded, and scrutiny of Elbit systems – Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer – supplying an ongoing genocide was treated as a matter to be suppressed rather than examined.
Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE, said:
This is a huge victory for the movement but nationally and abroad who campaigned on behalf of the defendants, and a powerful affirmation of jury independence and moral courage in the face of extraordinary political pressure.
Though they cannot get back the 17 months of their life taken from them unlawfully, they should all be compensated and the remaining 18 defendants of the Filton 24 should also be released on bail. This case was used to justify the ban against Palestine Action, a decision that should now be overturned.
CAGE calls for full compensation for those acquitted, a lifting of the ban on Palestine Action, an independent review into the political handling of the case, and the abolition of terror laws. The acquittal should prompt serious reflection on how easily due process can be eroded when political interests are at stake.
Filton24 Defence Committee
lisa minerva luxx, a representative of the Filton24 Defence Committee said:
Today’s significant victory delivered by the jury has vindicated the six defendants, who are the first six on trial from the Filton 24.
There are still 18 more defendants imprisoned across the UK in connection with this case. They are being held under joint enterprise which means they each have the same 3 charges whether they are accused of being present at the action or not. Now that the first 6 have been liberated of the most serious charge, Aggravated Burglary, and none were convicted of a single offence, it follows that the rest must immediately have this charge dropped against them, and be granted bail.
This was a trial by media. Yvette Cooper and Keir Starmer took evidence in this case out of context and broadcast it on televisions and tabloids across the country in order to justify proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, despite forewarning that this will prejudice the trial.
By acquitting the defendants of aggravated burglary, the Jury aligned with the defence case that the items taken in to the warehouse were not weapons, but were tools used to dismantle and neutralise Israeli weapons.
Now that a court of law have vindicated the first six of the Filton 24 of the exaggerated charges against them [and found that the actions against Elbit Systems that night were reasonable], we should all expect Shabana Mahmood to do the reasonable thing herself and lift the ban on Palestine Action.
It’s time for the British state to accept that the movement for a liberated Palestine has been, and will continue to be, justified.
Filton 24 relatives respond
Clare Rogers, mother of Zoe Rogers said:
Our loved one’s action against Elbit Systems and the state’s brutal response have exposed the true values of the government. The government is determined to do business with Israel and protect its weapons industry at any cost. Our loved ones dared to poke this beast – and no expense has been spared in policing prosecuting and imprisoning them without trial. Imagine if the government had put the same amount of money, resources and political will into preventing a genocide.
As the court heard, these are six young people of conscience and compassion. They took action against Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol, because they could not sit by and do nothing while their country armed Israel’s genocide. They had tried everything else – marches, petitions, writing to MPs, encampments – and they could see that the government was not only breaking international law but was ignoring the will of its own people. They felt they had no option but to take action themselves, to try to save as many lives as they could.
Inside the Elbit facility, they found deadly quadcopter drones packed up ready for export, and were able to destroy some of them with crowbars and sledgehammers. These are the type of drones the Israeli military uses in Gaza to drop explosives, typically after a bomb has been dropped, to target survivors.
Emma Kamio, mother of Leona (Ellie) Kamio said:
The police strategically released selected clips of footage during the trial, including the incident where Sam had struck a police officer. This was devoid of all context. The public were not told that Sam had just been blinded by PAVA spray and acted to protect my daughter while unable to see.
Ellie had been tasered twice at this point, the second time by accident, and the police officer who did so was dragging her up off the ground in one handcuff while standing on her abdomen and screaming at her to stay down. The whole time she had painful tazor barbs still in her arm and thigh as he dragged her around.
So she was screaming in pain, and was never resisting arrest. At this point, Samuel Corner had witnessed a security guard strike his co-defendant with a sledgehammer, and had witnessed excessive force repeatedly by the security. Whilst blinded by PAVA spray, and hearing screams from Ellie, screams which even the police described as “blood curdling”, he could only make out what he thought was a security guard, causing more pain, and did what he could to make it stop.
Striking the police officer was a terrible mistake that I’m sure Sam deeply regrets, but he simply reacted to protect Ellie when he heard the blood curdling scream that came from the second electrical current passing through her body, and all this after having witnessed the violence they experienced from the security guards that night.
Sukaina Rajwani, mother of Fatema Zainab Rajwani said:
‘When they are told, “Do not spread corruption in the land”, they reply, “We are only peace-makers”. Indeed it is they who are the corruptors, but they fail to perceive it.’ (Holy Quran 2:11-12)
I am grateful for every heart that has turned towards this movement, for every hand that has raised in prayer for us, and for every word that has amplified our voice in seeking justice for the Filton 24. Despite the state’s best efforts to silence us and oppress our loved ones; we stand united in strength and power against a corrupt government and an unjust legal system.
Our fight does not end here. We will continue to expose Elbit Systems and British complicity in genocide.
Brogan Devlin, sister of Jordan Devlin said:
Despite having all the odds stacked against them, I can now say with the biggest smile that Jordan has been acquitted of aggravated burglary and violent disorder, and none of the defendants have been convicted of a single offence. The jury could see through the state lies, the political interference and the corruption.
Today we celebrate, tomorrow we rest, but this is not over – Angelo Volante is the name of the Elbit Systems security guard who assaulted my brother multiple times. My heart sank watching the footage of my brother unarmed, being attacked by Volante with a sledgehammer. Jordan was attempting to deescalate the situation when Angelo Volante kicked, choked, struck and even attempted to bit my brother.
The jury was shown Jordan’s black eye, bruised body and sledgehammer marks. Why was this never released to the media? Throughout the trial we have been silenced by reporting restrictions in a bid to protect Elbit Systems and its violent employees.
Angelo Volante and Elbit Systems should be the ones on trial, not my brother. Thankfully ordinary citizens of the jury could see that and so we leave today with our heads held high and our loved ones by our side.
Featured image supplied
The Mail reports that HMS Dragon, the only warship of Britain’s in the Middle Eastern region, has withdrawn to port “for repairs and logistics after experiencing issues with its fresh water supplies.” No comment…
The Home Office is routinely detaining so-called “age-disputed children” as adults as part of its ‘One in, one out’ asylum scheme. That’s according to an investigation from the independent Humans for Rights Network.
Despite Labour’s increasingly far-right anti-asylum posturing, it remains illegal to detain unaccompanied child asylum seekers in adult detention centers. However, the Home Office is routinely ignoring this rule by claiming that these children are, possibly, adults.
Home Office – ‘one in, one out’
In the seven months since ‘One in, one out’ began last September, the Home Office has detained 76 ‘age-disputed’ kids. However, Freedom of information (FOI) requests issued to local authority children’s services have found that claimants treated as adults by the Home Office are often later determined to be children by social workers.
Indeed, of the 76 detainees, 26 have either been reassessed as children by Social Services, or are in the process of being. Meanwhile, 11 kids are waiting for age assessment. The Home Office has already forcibly deported 13 to France.
Damningly, one child was confirmed to be a minor after being forcibly deported.
Among the kids in question, a large proportion are Sudanese, Eritrean, or Afghan – all zones of intense and brutal conflict. Humans for Rights Network spokesperson Maddie Harris stated that:
Many of these children are survivors of torture and trafficking and are experiencing acute declines in their mental health as a result of what is often months of detention in the UK.
These children are additionally prejudiced from accessing the care and support they are entitled to as children as well as adequate, social worker-led local authority age assessments. No child should be detained, with those who remain in detention immediately released to allow them to recover and to ensure they are able to access age assessments conducted in the community where required.
The National Age Assessment Board
Home Office age assessments fall under the domain of the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB). Watchdog groups like the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium (RMCC) and Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) have raised pressing concerns about NAAB’s processes and transparency.
In particular, NAAB blurs the boundaries between ‘independent’ social workers and immigration enforcement. Likewise, it also has a massive negative impact on the kids in its ‘care’, and its decisions are deeply questionable. An RMCC report stated that:
Multiple legal cases have found NAAB assessments to be flawed, with issues including failure to apply the benefit of the doubt; reliance on subjective or culturally inappropriate indicators; and the dismissal of credible evidence from professionals who know the child. Judges have criticised the NAAB’s approach as being adversarial, inconsistent with guidance, and lacking in objectivity.
Back on 25 March, the High Court was forced to step in to prevent the Home Office from deporting two ‘age-disputed’ kids. Solicitor Elizabeth Cole, who represented one of the children, explained the level of disregard the Home Office displayed:
The Home Office’s contention that claimed a child’s age need not be determined as a matter of fact prior to their removal is highly concerning, and clearly warrants proper consideration by the court. This is particularly so as children are an extremely vulnerable group. We hope this decision will encourage the Home Office to think twice before trying to remove any disputed children to France, in order to alleviate the distress and harm which will inevitably ensue by result.
Routine inhumanity
The Guardian confronted the Home Office with the Humans for Rights Networks’ record of its mistreatment of asylum seekers. However, the government department chose to issue a stock response:
This government is bearing down on small boat crossings. We have stopped over 42,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the channel since the election. We have removed or deported almost 60,000 people who were here illegally.
But we are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country and increase removals and deportations of those with no right to be here.
Apparently, those “incentives that draw illegal migrants” include the laws which require treating traumatised children with the care they so desperately need. After all, all the Home Office needs to do is state that they’re lying about being kids. Then, miracle of miracles, it’s free to deport them. No reasonable doubt needed.
If you still needed proof of the utter routine inhumanity of successively more anti-asylum governments, then look no further.
Featured image via the Canary
#BREAKING Israeli jets struck around 10 railway segments and bridges in Iran, Army Radio says pic.twitter.com/hYeI5VfOPR
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) April 7, 2026
Israel seems to believe warnings negate war crimes
The IOF tweeted an urgent warning in Farsi earlier Tuesday, telling people across Iran to avoid trains and railway lines until 9 pm local time.
‼️ هشدار فوری به استفادهکنندگان و مسافران قطارها در کشور ایران.
⭕️ شهروندان گرامی، به منظور امنیت شما، خواهشمندیم از این لحظه تا ساعت ۲۱:۰۰ به وقت ایران، از استفاده و سفر با قطار در سراسر ایران خودداری نمایید.
⭕️ حضور شما در قطارها و در مجاورت خطوط راهآهن جانتان را به خطر می… pic.twitter.com/Fm3BAAEFra
— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) April 7, 2026
Iran’s cultural heritage minister, Reza Salehi Amiri, wrote to UNESCO on Tuesday following the IOF’s war crimes.
Following the Zionist regime’s threat to attack the Iranian railway, which is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts sent an official letter to the Director-General of UNESCO. pic.twitter.com/MElfmaBKjk
— Tehran Times (@TehranTimes79) April 7, 2026
He called IOF’s actions a clear attack on the common heritage of humanity, calling for a clear, immediate, and deterrent stance from UNESCO, as the Tehran Times reported.
Trump has called for further escalation. In his latest bizarre rant on Tuesday, Trump said he would wipe out the country unless it opened the straits of Hormuz ahead of a deadline he’d set for 8 pm on 7 April 2026. Trump said on Truth Social:
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?
The whole US administration is either too ignorant to understand the nuclear threat behind Trump’s rant or is just going along with it. JD Vance, seemingly, endorsed Trump’s policies, whatever they may be, after the expiration of the deadline.
“I hope they make the right response,” says @VP on Iran.
“They’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. @POTUS can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct.” pic.twitter.com/UUiQ5SdEO5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2026
The IOF and the US are operating without any restraint in their war against Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran, using similar tactics of total war, with no distinction between military and civilian targets.
Featured image via the Canary
A petition started by Zack Polanski to kick Palantir out of UK public services has nearly 160,000 signatures.
At nearly 160,000 signatures – my petition to stop Palantir.https://t.co/oqsZdtN3pZ
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 6, 2026
Essentially, the company helps government spy agencies collect huge amounts of private data about citizens – including ICE in the US and the Israeli military.
But it also provides terrifying AI-powered military tools to the Israeli government, which it uses to carry out its Genocide in Gaza, along with its recent attacks in Iran and Lebanon.
Peter Thiel co-founded the company. Unsurprisingly, he is a billionaire Trump donor and close friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
However, the UK CEO is Louis Mosley, grandson of British fascist, Oswald Mosley.
Palantir infiltrating Britain
The company has slowly made its way into British infrastructure. During the pandemic, the government suspiciously handed Palantir a huge contract – supposedly worth only £1. This was to create a COVID-19 data store that would provide ministers with real-time information on health services and the pandemic.
Now, it has contracts worth over £500m with the UK government alone. This includes software which NHS doctors and nurses are flat-out refusing to use because of ‘privacy’ and ‘human rights concerns.
🚨 We must kick this dangerous company OUT of our national infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/KKmgR0WFKe
— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) April 5, 2026
Palantir also has a £240m deal with the UK military. Again, there was no competitive tender process, and the government just handed Palantir the deal.
Stopping “Palantir” is the most vital campaign there is for the UK at the moment. Please support it. https://t.co/tMAuhEn3Tl
— Leo (@hanwayplace) April 6, 2026
The Petition to kick Palantir out of UK public services, started by Zack Polanski, has close to 160,000 signatures. It emphasises:
But right now we’ve got a major chance to get their NHS deal scrapped – and kick start a domino effect that sees ALL their contracts ended.
How? Ministers actually have the option to cancel the NHS deal early. But with these contracts flying under the radar, it’ll take all of us speaking up to make that happen. If you agree that our NHS and other public services shouldn’t be cutting deals with a private company that helps armies kill people, sign the petition now!
Featured image via 38Degrees
The US president’s latest deranged Truth Social post came just hours before the deadline he imposed for Tehran to start allowing traffic to pass through the key waterway.
Around one-fifth of the global oil supply is transported through the strait, but it has been effectively closed since America and Israel began bombing Iran at the end of February.
Trump announced over the weekend that Tehran had until 1am tomorrow UK time to confirm they were ceasing attacks on ships trying to use the strait or else “all hell will reign down” on them.
In a follow-up post on Truth Social on Sunday, he said: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”
Posting on Tuesday morning, Trump said: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalised minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”
His comments were widely condemned online, with leading Republican and former White House official Bill Kristol calling for Trump to be impeached.
Veteran journalist and broadcast Andrew Neil said: “Is there anybody, any group, capable of staging an intervention in the White House?”
Piers Morgan, a former Trump supporter, described the president’s statement as “a brazen pre-admission of genocide … which would obviously be a war crime”.
Other responses on X were equally critical of the president’s comments.
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
Alison Hammond has ruled herself out of hosting Strictly Come Dancing, as well as extinguishing hopes of an appearance on Celebrity Traitors.
Alison competed on the show back in 2014, where she was partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec and ultimately became the sixth celebrity to be eliminated the same year Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev went on to win the coveted glitterball trophy.
In an interview with Radio Times, Alison revealed she had, indeed, been in talks about stepping into the Strictly presenter role, but that she was unable to take on the mammoth task.
“I have, actually,” she said, responding to whether she’d been approached about the job. “You didn’t expect that answer, did you? I can’t lie, I’m incapable.”
Alison explained that her packed schedule meant she wasn’t able to commit to Strictly, while also ruling herself out of another fan favourite show that she’d previously been rumoured for.
She continued: “I’m so busy, babes, that I’m not sure it’s going to happen. It’s unrealistic. I’m so happy they considered me but, like Traitors, I can’t do it because everything clashes.”
“I would have loved to have done it – anybody that gets it, they’re going to land the perfect job. But I’m so happy with everything I’ve got. What would I drop, to do Strictly?”
Alison was originally reported by tabloids to be undergoing “chemistry tests” for the Strictly role while she also made no secret of her hopes to host the show during an appearance on Loose Women back in December.
“I’m absolutely Claudia – I’m upstairs,” she said, referring to which of the live show’s roles she’d be best suited to.
“Whoever gets that job, what an amazing job to get. It’s the dream job,” she added, before joking that the Strictly presenting gig was made for her. “The BBC don’t know it yet, but it’s going to happen.”
As for who will replace Tess and Claudia, names reportedly still in the running include Zoe Ball, Emma Willis, Angela Scanlon and Johannes Radebe.
There’s no denying that misogyny has been a hot topic in Westminster in recent months.
Politicians have not been shy when it comes to weighing in on moments like Louis Theroux’s recent documentary, Inside The Manosphere, and last year’s Netflix drama Adolescence.
Both cultural moments raised serious questions about the way men are being influenced in the modern era and how women are protected.
But the subject has hit close to home for several in Downing Street, too.
Keir Starmer has been accused of setting up a “boys’ club” at the top of government while female cabinet ministers claim unnamed officials have been issuing “sexist briefings” against them.
The topic then came to a head earlier this year when the depth of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was revealed by the US Department of Justice.
The former Labour peer was chosen by prime minister to be the ambassador to the US last year. Though he was fired after a handful of months in the job, questions remain over just why he got the plum role in the first place.
How was his association with Epstein – elements of which had been reported on by the time of his appointment – overlooked by senior figures in the government?
Labour vowed to champion equality when in opposition, celebrated when a record number of female MPs were elected in 2024, and rolled out a Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy earlier this year.
But, as politicians face accusations of not reflecting these attitudes in their everyday lives, there are fears this is akin to paying lip service to a wider issue – especially with women in Westminster often feeling the direct effects of sexism themselves.
During Thursday’s episode of Commons People with guest Millie Cooke – The Independent’s political correspondent – we look at how Westminster deals with misogyny – and what else can be done to improve it.
Listen to find out more below…
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
When I tripped over my daughter’s bathroom stool and hit my head on the bathtub, I thought it was harmless. I didn’t lose consciousness or even have a bump on my head.
It wasn’t until hours later that I started feeling fatigued and a bit off. A few days later, I thought I felt back to normal until I tried to work on my laptop — and the world started spinning. A pounding headache and intense brain fog followed, and then I knew I was dealing with a concussion.
“Many people who experience a concussion don’t actually feel any of the symptoms until hours later,” explained Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, the chief of Spaulding’s brain injury rehabilitation program and co-director of the Sports Concussion Clinic at Mass General Brigham in Massachusetts.
Additionally, symptoms can “intensify or evolve over the first several days,” added Dr. Kevin Bickart, an assistant professor in neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Because of this, the criteria for diagnosing a concussion now include symptoms that appear within a 72-hour window, according to the 2023 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
While many know to pay attention to symptoms right after a head injury, it’s often overlooked to watch for those that may appear hours, days or even weeks later. And because head injuries are common and can be debilitating, it’s important to know what to look for and when you need to seek help.
We talked to neurologists and concussion experts about these unexpected delayed symptoms, why they may not appear right away and what it means if you’re experiencing them.
First of all, what is a concussion exactly?
A concussion is a brain injury that’s “caused when the cells in the brain, the neurones, stretch or get otherwise damaged,” explained Daneshvar. “What happens then is the cells that are normally well-regulated in sending messages … [to] one another start sending messages erratically and in an uncontrolled fashion.”
These brain cells start using way more energy than they receive, and this “energy crisis” causes symptoms to appear, he said.
Concussion symptoms can really vary because this is “happening in the brain that controls everything from balance [and] headache[s] [to] vision, mood [and] memory,” added Dr. Shae Datta, a neurologist and co-director of the NYU Langone Concussion Center.
These changes in the brain are microscopic and often don’t appear in imaging like a CT or MRI scan, she said. Imaging only detects larger structural issues, like a brain bleed, significant swelling or skull fracture. So identifying symptoms is a key part of diagnosing a concussion.
What signs or symptoms should you watch for after you hit your head, even hours or days later?
One of the first signs people often look for after hitting their heads are bumps, bruises or other marks of injury. But this doesn’t necessarily mean you have a concussion.
“There isn’t a great connection between what you see on the outside of the skull and what’s going on inside,” Daneshvar noted.
While every individual is different, usually in the first 24 hours after a concussion you may experience more physical symptoms, like dizziness, headaches, nausea and sensitivity to light and noise, Bickart said. About three to seven days later, cognitive and emotional symptoms may pop up, such as anxiety, irritability, trouble focusing, memory issues and brain fog.
“This ‘second wave’ often catches patients off guard because they thought they were recovering,” he explained.
That said, every brain injury is unique, so any of these symptoms could appear immediately or later on, Datta added.
For example, “it doesn’t always happen that no irritability occurs immediately,” Bickart said. “Some people after a concussion can become completely emotionally dysregulated in the moment … crying hysterically … It’s not the most common thing that occurs, but it can.”
Symptoms can also transform over time. For instance, the pain of headaches (the most common concussion symptom) may feel different days or weeks later. Initially, it might feel like “pressure and pounding” all over the head and then eventually be “more intermittent … and only on one side,” he explained.
Disruptions in your sleep-wake cycles may change from feeling like you need to sleep more to actually having insomnia later on, Bickart said.
Vision issues could also evolve and include blurred or double vision or difficulties with focusing the eyes and tracking objects, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Fiordaliso via Getty Images
Why can symptoms appear delayed?
“Immediately after a hit, the brain dumps adrenaline and burns [energy] rapidly … which can mask symptoms,” Bickart said. “It is only hours or days later, when the brain’s energy fuel … is depleted” that symptoms may become more apparent.
Especially if the injury happens in a sports environment, it may not be “until the adrenaline wears off that you start to notice, ‘Hey, I’m feeling kind of tired actually’ or ’I’m having trouble concentrating,” Daneshvar explained.
Additionally, damage from the injury can lead to inflammation in the brain and affect different cells, he said.
Inflammation “often doesn’t peak until three to seven days post-injury,” Bickart said. This is what can “drive that ‘second wave’ of brain fog and fatigue.”
Lastly, as an individual returns to work, school or other everyday demands after resting, they may observe new symptoms “because they [haven’t] exposed … or pushed themselves” in this way yet.
What should you do if you experience delayed symptoms?
“Just because the symptoms are delayed, it doesn’t [necessarily] mean something catastrophic is going on,” Daneshvar said. “The important thing to note is … if symptoms are worsening rather than improving … or if … [there are] red flag symptoms.”
Red flags that you should go to the emergency room include a worsening headache, increased confusion, repeated vomiting, losing consciousness for more than 30 seconds, blood or fluid coming from the ears or nose, changes in your vision, constant ringing in the ears, weakness, seizures, difficulty speaking and large head bumps and bruises, according to Mayo Clinic.
If you experience delayed symptoms (after 48 hours) that don’t require emergency care, reach out to your primary care doctor and they can help you decide if a referral to a neurologist or imaging is necessary, advised Dr. Dharti Dua, a neurologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
You also want to get adequate rest and be careful not to get another concussion soon after because this makes you “more prone to a delayed recovery,” she said.
“If symptoms appear days later, stop the activity that triggered them, but do not retreat to a dark room for days,” Bickart said. “We now know that strict rest beyond 48 hours actually prolongs symptoms.”
For symptoms that last beyond two weeks, active treatments are recommended, he added. For example, vestibular rehabilitation therapy treats dizziness and balance issues, and cognitive therapy teaches strategies for managing brain fog.
Datta advises looking for concussion centres because they specialise in brain injuries and offer a multidisciplinary team.
“It takes more than one kind of doctor to diagnose and manage you,” she explained.
These centres often include concussion experts from neurologists to physical therapists to neuro-ophthalmologists.
“The hopeful sentiment is that a concussion is very treatable. Most people recover pretty quickly, within a week or two,” Bickart said. For those who may have delayed or longer lasting symptoms, “there are tons of treatments out there … [and] you can still get the right help and recover.”
Politics
What does ‘greater ambition’ in UK-EU relations look like – and what are the chances of it?
Carolyn Rowe, Ed Turner, Tobias Hofelich and Jannike Wachowiak consider what a more ambitious UK-EU relationship could look like and the key challenges and opportunities it would present.
In May 2025, EU and UK leaders agreed a roadmap to soften the edges of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). At the time, the summit agenda was widely considered a pragmatic way forward, evidencing a new era of UK-EU relations under Keir Starmer, and part of a wider ambition to ‘reset’ that framework. But the world has not stood still. With Trump upending the global order and threatening European allies, the incrementalism that has characterised the rapprochement so far, looks a little like ‘fiddling while Rome burns’. How can the two sides be more ambitious in recalibrating this relationship?
While the stakes are certainly higher, it is far from certain whether the EU and the UK will be able to use the second proposed summit this summer to add new substance to their existing agreements. One key issue is bandwidth (or the lack thereof). Officials on both sides are mainly focused on implementing the Common Understanding agreed at last year’s summit. Following a slow start in the second half of last year, EU and UK officials are now getting into the meat of talks on a food and drinks deal and work towards the linking of their emission trading systems. These talks are deeply technical and, whilst there has been some squabbling over the finer detail, agreement should be possible. But on the much-touted youth experience scheme, particularly regarding university tuition fees, the negotiating partners remain far apart. Unless a landing zone can be found, the whole ‘reset’ could still come tumbling down: the EU has linked a solution on youth mobility to other areas where the UK is demandeur.
Another issue is around who takes initiative. The EU sees the ball as being in the UK’s court: i.e. if the UK wants a different relationship, it is up to them to make a clear ‘ask’. As the Commission’s chief spokesperson put it as recently as February, the forthcoming 2026 summit will be ‘the occasion to discuss with UK what, exactly, they have in mind, and how they propose to go about it’.
It is far from clear, however, that UK’s proposals would fly in Brussels. While the Chancellor’s Mais lecture identified deeper UK-EU relations as one of the UK’s biggest opportunities for economic growth, the government’s desire to pick and choose access to some areas of the single market (while rejecting the free movement of people and regular financial contributions à la Switzerland) is likely to be met with little enthusiasm in Brussels.
One way forward would be for the UK to present proposals which align directly with the EU’s stated ambition to strengthen relations with the UK on issues such as energy, people-to-people contacts, resilience and security. This is most likely in the deepening of UK-EU defence cooperation. Of all of the many challenges facing the EU at present it is on defence, primarily, where the UK is seen as part of the solution.
This could mean negotiating an agreement on the Ukraine loan which will be open to purchases from third countries who either have a SAFE agreement or are ‘providing significant financial and military support to Ukraine’ and agree to share ‘fair and proportionate financial contribution to the costs arising from borrowing’. A successful agreement would restore confidence and prepare the ground for a resumption of the collapsed SAFE talks.
On resilience, there is much more that could be done to coordinate policies and approaches in areas like supply chain security, investment screenings, and critical infrastructure. The UK could work with the EU towards greater ‘resilience’ as a wider European project, in which a broad alliance of like-minded EU partners such as the UK, Canada, Australia and Norway are incorporated into these new frameworks on a structured basis. A more ambitious agenda could focus on enhanced coordination in areas such as supply chain security, investment screening, and critical infrastructure. The people-to-people dimension of the relationship could also be strengthened. EU officials have indicated an interest in seeing UK participation in Creative Europe, an EU programme that supports cultural projects and the mobility of creatives.
Timing is crucial. Partly because of the rapidly evolving global context and partly because of domestic factors which, otherwise, might block progress. On the EU side, the negotiations on the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) will take up EU bandwidth throughout 2026 and into 2027. So, too, will the 2027 French Presidential Elections. What is more, EU member states are currently debating policies with potentially far-reaching consequences for the UK: ‘Made in EU’ targets could, in the future, shut out certain British products and technologies from European supply chains. There is never a perfect time to move forward on UK-EU relations, but these externalities create urgency from the British perspective.
On the UK side, no significant advance in the UK-EU relationship will happen unless the Prime Minister decides to throw his political weight behind it and make the case at home and in Brussels. Currently, Keir Starmer’s government is cautious, but worries about fragmentation to the left, or even a leadership contest with candidates outbidding each other to appeal to a pro-European party membership, may change the dynamic.
No matter who leads Labour, forging a genuinely strategic partnership that matches the geopolitical challenges of the moment will require political direction and courage, as well as a willingness to take the conversation to Brussels and member states. With this in mind, the months leading up to the next summit will be a stress test for the seriousness of the Prime Minister’s EU ‘reset’ ambitions.
By Carolyn Rowe, Head of Department, Society & Politics at Aston University and Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe; Ed Turner, Reader in Politics at Aston University and Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe and acting chair of the International Association for the Study of German Politics; Tobias Hofelich, Research Associate, Aston University; and Jannike Wachowiak, Research Associate, UK in a Changing Europe.
This blog draws on a series of roundtables organised by the Aston Centre for Europe and UK in a Changing Europe in March 2026. The discussions were supported by funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
A recent poll of the London region suggests the Green Party could make significant gains in the May 7 local elections. It predicts a serious blow to incumbent Labour councillors who have long held a majority. In fact, well over a third of wards are projected to turn green as voters are set to abandon Starmer’s Labour Party.
Likewise, the poll reveals that far-right Reform UK’s chances in the region are thankfully much lower than previously feared. The map shows Reform UK appear to be contenders in roughly 10% of seats in the region. This is particularly likely in eastern and southeastern areas of London.
However, the party set to have the biggest defeat with likely hundreds of councillors unseated is the Labour Party. If the polling is indeed accurate, Labour would be lucky to win even a quarter of the seats in the UK’s capital.
Oh, how the corrupted are falling – and what a beautiful sight it is!
Green Party set to inflict a huge loss on Labour
Labour currently has 1,046 elected councillors in the London region with more sitting councillors than all other parties combined. Nonetheless, in a clear show that the British public have lost hope in establishment parties, they appear likely to make huge losses both to the Green Party and Reform UK.
In fact, the Labour Party’s poor performance has allowed the Tories to gain ground—despite over a decade of harmful austerity policies and their disastrous showing in the 2024 general election. Essentially, Labour’s authoritarian and Orwellian policies make even a pile of shit like the Conservatives seem more appealing by comparison.
Thankfully, the Green Party have leaned further into socialism and are likely to be rewarded for their principled efforts.
Needless to say, the battle is a close one with recent polls for seats across the UK show the Green Party with a marginal lead but Reform closely behind. Nevertheless, a trend is appearing to show Reform losing support whilst the Greens are seen to gain, which highlights how hate can only be defeated by solidarity and compassion:
‼️BREAKING | Greens surge into LEAD (1st!!)
🟢 Grn: 21.4% (+2.1)
➡️ Ref: 20.9% (-1.4)
🔵 Con: 20.5% (+0.2)
🔴 Lab: 17.0% (-0.4)
🟠 Lib: 9.2% (-1.9)Poll: @LordAPolls, 26-30 Mar (+/- vs 19-23 Feb) pic.twitter.com/oDVw4cDaFC
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 5, 2026
2024 saw huge gains for billionaire-owned, far-right Reform UK which escalated fears that the far-right were likely to take power in 2029. Thankfully, those fears seem exaggerated, as UK voters make a clear choice between love and hate – and love appears to be winning.
‼️POLL | Who would you rather have in power?
🟢 Green Party – 57%
➡️ Reform UK – 43%Overwhelming majorities of Labour (81%) and Lib Dem voters (79%) would pick Greens over Reform.
Source: @LordAshcroft, 26-30 March pic.twitter.com/9PYhJBobIU
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 5, 2026
Green leader Zack Polanski has recently posted on X following a “remarkable poll” from Lord Ashcroft, stating that the Greens are clearly replacing Labour:
Remarkable poll this evening from Lord Ashcroft. The Greens in joint 1st place.
We are replacing Labour and ready to take on Reform in the local elections on 7th May.https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp pic.twitter.com/9leBG92kPd
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 5, 2026
Vote splitting on the far-right – few to split with on the left
Undoubtedly, far-right competition from Restore Britain is driving Reform UK’s declining support, with Restore Britain projected to capture 8% of the vote. Even more disheartening, voters find Restore Britain more appealing than Your Party, which is only expected to secure a measly 1% of seats.
No surprise really, given Corbyn and his team’s inability to figure out what they actually are as a party whilst they stand deselected Tories:
🚨 NEW: A new poll shows Restore Britain would get 8% of the vote
➡ Reform UK: 25%
🟢 Green Party: 19%
🔵 Conservatives: 16%
🌹 Labour: 16%
🔶 Lib Dems: 10%
🇬🇧 Restore Britain: 8%
🟣 Your Party: 1%Via @FindoutnowUK, 2948 sample, 25th March
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 26, 2026
These polls show that hate can be defeated through positive policies that put people above power and profit. In turn, this will undoubtedly see a sigh of relief from socialists across the country. They have long insisted that the real cure for the harms we see in our communities and across the UK is for unapologetic, unbending socialist policy.
It’s clear the left faces little competition: Labour abandoned left-wing voters long ago, and the Greens are offering them a political home. In fact, their gains are likely to come whilst engaging with working agreements with progressive candidates in the London region. These include both in Camden and in Southwark.
Therefore, if these arrangements succeed, this election will see solidarity push back against the malicious bile of the far-right.
Even better, it might even win.
Featured image via the Canary
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