Politics
Game Of Thrones Spin-Offs: House Of The Dragon And Every Film And TV Show In The Works
It may have been over six years since Game Of Thrones aired that divisive finale, but in that time, the show has continued to dominate the pop culture conversation.
Over the last few years, several spin-off projects have been released, with even more in the pipeline, including the franchise’s first ever big-screen adaptation.
As the sprawling world of Westeros only continues to expand, here’s a quick guide to what fans can expect from the Game Of Thrones universe…
First off, what’s all this about a Game Of Thrones movie?
In early March 2026, Page Six reported that a Game Of Thrones feature-length film was “in the works”, which was later “confirmed” by The Hollywood Reporter.
Little is known about the film so far, other than that the script is being written by Beau Willimon, best known for his work on the TV series House Of Cards and the Star Wars off-shoot Andor.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is being “envisioned as a mammoth, Dune-sized feature film”, which will centre around Targaryen dynasty founder King Aegon I, and his conquest of Westeros.
When is House Of The Dragon back for season 3 (and who is in the cast this time around)?
Hopefully, fans shouldn’t have too long to wait until their next fix of House Of The Dragon.
There were two years in between seasons one and two, and with production wrapping in the early autumn of 2025, the new episodes are expected to hit our screens later this year.
Joining series regulars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans in the upcoming episodes will be newcomers James Norton, Tom Cullen, Tommy Flanagan and Dan Fogler.
Barry Sloane, Joplin Sibtain and Annie Shapero will also be playing new characters in the much-hyped third season.
Showrunner Ryan Condal also recently shared that the prequel series, set centuries before the events of Game Of Thrones, will come to an end after its fourth run.
Is there going to be a season 2 of A Night Of The Seven Kingdoms?
Those who enjoyed seeing a more irreverent and comedic side to the Game Of Thrones world has reason to get excited – A Night Of The Seven Kingdoms has been renewed for a new season.
Filming is already underway on the new episodes, which will feature Lucy Boynton, Babou Ceesay and Peter Mullan as new characters, and are rumoured to be premiering in 2027.
HBO executive Francesca Orsi also claimed that the US broadcaster is eyeing a three-season run for this latest Game Of Thrones spin-off.
What about any other new Game Of Thrones spin-offs?
In November 2025, Thrones creator George R.R. Martin teased: “Apart from A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms and House Of The Dragon, there are other Game Of Thrones spin-off projects in development.
“The majority are prequels, and there are several in development – maybe five or six shows. And I’m not developing them alone, I’m working on them with other people.”
He added that these shows also include “a sequel or two”.
One of these was Aegon’s Conquest, though this would have followed a similar storyline to the recently-revealed feature-length film, so it’s safe to assume this is no longer moving forward.
There have also been two animated series teased in the past, titled The Golden Empire and The Sea Snake, while 10,000 Ships is another proposed live-action prequel, centring around the warrior queen Nymeria.
Which planned Game Of Thrones spin-offs have been shelved or abandoned?
Even before House Of The Dragon was made, a Game Of Thrones spin-off set 10,000 years before the main show was piloted, starring the likes of Naomi Watts, Naomi Ackie, Jamie Campbell Bower and Miranda Richardson.
However, HBO ultimately decided not to go ahead with this series.
Meanwhile, a spin-off about Game Of Thrones hero Jon Snow was also widely rumoured, but during an interview in 2024, Kit Harington claimed he’d “backed out” of the project.
“What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’,” he told British GQ. “My first reaction was no. And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war.
“I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way.”
Ultimately, though, he noted that “nothing got us excited enough” to justify keeping on with the series, so he made the decision to pull away to avoid “end[ing] up with something that’s not good”.
Oh, and is George R.R. Martin going to be writing any more Game Of Thrones books?
It’s now been 15 years since the most recent instalment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Fire And Ice series, which served as the original inspiration for Game Of Thrones.
Two final books, The Winter Of Winds and A Dream Of Spring, are still thought to be in the works.
In April 2025, the author described the daunting prospect of completing The Winter Of Winds as “the curse of my life”, but insisted he’s “still working on it”, with various TV commitments proving to be a distraction.
Meanwhile, in some good news for fans, the 77-year-old has reiterated several times that his books will have a different ending to the Game Of Thrones series,.
As recently as January 2026, he said one of his biggest regrets was that the last books in his series “aren’t done yet”.
Tony Blair has criticised Keir Starmer for not backing Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran.
The former prime minister said the UK should have been on America’s side “from the very beginning”.
His comments, at a private lunch hosted by the Jewish News, are a further blow to Starmer in the wake of his ongoing spat with Donald Trump.
Starmer turned down the US president’s initial request for US jets to use British bases to launch bombing raids alongside the Israelis in Iran.
He only changed his mind after Iran began bombing countries across the Gulf region, putting up to 300,000 British lives at risk.
Blair, who faced huge criticism for taking the UK to war in Iraq alongside the US in 2003, said: “I am not saying anything that I haven’t already said to the government. I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.”
He added: “We have got to be very clear about this as a country. We’re depending on the American alliance for our country. They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?
“Every single time you test an alliance you never test it when things are easy. You test it when it’s hard. They were asking to use our bases to refuel. It’s not like it was in Vietnam, not like the Iraq campaign where we had thousands of British troops.
“The American relationship matters. It matters particularly today. It’s not a question of whether it’s this president or that president. If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security, you had better show up.”
On the criticism Starmer has faced for allowing US jets to use British bases, Blair said: “People always complain. The problem for a leader is when you decide you divide. Of course it’s difficult.
“In the end, most of the MPs will know that going into the election it’s going to be decided on different things.”
He added: “On foreign policy, I think people would just prefer you to be strong and out there and clear, even if they don’t agree with you.”
This article features advice from Gee Eltringham, a Bristol-based psychotherapist and founder of parental support platform for ADHD, twigged.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins on 16 March this year, with an aim to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences.
If you’ve not really come across the term ‘neurodiversity’ before, you might be left scratching your head over what exactly it means – especially as it’s very similar to ‘neurodivergent’. Some people might even use the two interchangeably.
But they are different, and SEN psychotherapist Gee Eltringham says it’s important we get these terms right for the sake of our kids “because labels are powerful”.
Here’s her breakdown of what they mean.
Neurodiversity: the whole flock
“Neurodiversity is the big-picture concept. It describes the natural variation in how human brains think, learn and process information,” says Eltringham.
Just like biodiversity refers to the variety of living things on Earth, neurodiversity refers to “the variety of human minds”, she explains.
“It is not a diagnosis. It is not a label for one type of person. It is the umbrella term that recognises difference as natural.”
If we use a bird analogy here, she suggests neurodiversity is every kind of bird: flying birds, birds that swim, birds that stay on land. They are all part of the same group.
Neurotypical: the most common pattern
“Neurotypical describes people whose brain development and processing style align with what society expects and designs for,” continues the therapist.
“In our bird analogy, these are still birds. They have wings, feathers and beaks. In this version of the story, they are the birds that fly. They represent the ‘standard’ model that most systems are built around.”
But there is nothing superior about this group, she adds. It’s just the most common reference point.
In the human world, schools, workplaces and public systems are usually designed with neurotypical processing in mind.
Neurodivergent: diverging from the standard
“Neurodivergent means a brain that diverges from what is considered typical. Not better. Not worse. Just different,” says Eltringham.
Research suggests that around 15-20% of people are neurodivergent.
“In our bird world, these might be the birds that do not fly long distances. It could include the birds with webbed feet who swim, or the birds with talons who hunt, or the ones that do not fly at all. They may live out at sea rather than on land. They are all still birds. They simply function differently,” she explains.
If someone is neurodivergent, they might have ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia or Tourette’s syndrome.
“Each represents a different way of processing information, managing attention, regulating emotions or interacting socially,” says the therapist.
“The difference is not about deficit. It is about divergence. Because if the world only had one type of bird it would be a very boring world indeed.”
What’s neurodiverse then?
According to Cambridge Dictionary, some people might use ‘neurodiverse’ to describe a group of people with different types of brain (for example, “we are a neurodiverse family”).
Others, meanwhile, might use neurodiverse as a way to describe someone who is not ‘neurotypical’ (ie. “I am learning every day from my neurodiverse child”).
Why it’s important to get these terms right
The therapist points out that when children are not understood as neurodivergent, they are often labelled anyway. “Lazy. Disruptive. Odd. Difficult. Those words stick. And over time, children can start to believe them,” she explains.
But when we use the word neurodivergent, it changes the story. “It tells us that a child’s brain works differently, not wrongly. That understanding does not excuse behaviour, but it helps explain it. And when we understand behaviour, we can put the right support in place,” she adds.
“These words are now used in schools, workplaces and the media. They create a pause. A reminder that someone’s brain may process the world differently. That pause builds empathy.
“But awareness is not enough. We also need curiosity and understanding. Because neurodivergent does not mean everyone is the same.”
Coming back to her bird analogy, she explains that red kites, ostriches and hummingbirds are all birds. Yet they are all very different. An ostrich will never fly, for example, and a hummingbird will certainly never run like an ostrich.
“When we understand that, we stop trying to make every bird fly in the same way,” she says. “That is where real understanding begins. And that is where celebration of diversity can grow.”
The US president described Britain as “our once great ally” as he told the prime minister that America doesn’t need the two Royal Navy aircraft carriers due to be sent to the Gulf.
He added: “We will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won.”
Trump’s comments, in a post on Truth Social, are another shattering blow to the so-called “special relationship” between Britain and America.
The president said: “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
Trump has been furious with Starmer ever since he turned down his initial request for US jets to use British bases to launch bombing raids alongside the Israelis in Iran.
Starmer changed his mind las Sunday after Iran began bombing countries across the Gulf region, putting up to 300,000 British lives at risk.
Zarah Sultana, Zack Polanski have condemned Starmer as American B-1 bombers have refuelled in the UK. Starmer granted permission for the US to use British bases on Sunday, March 1, 2026, days before the bomber arrived.
The B-1 bomber landed at RAF Fairford on Friday evening, according to the BBC. It is a US base.
Polanski shared a post by GB News saying the first of several American B-1 heavy bombers landing at RAF Fairford saying that they should not be allowed to do that. “Over 1000 civilians dead already after illegal war started by the US and Israel — and all this with no vote in the UK parliament about our role,” he said.
These aircraft should not be allowed to land on British Soil.
Over 1000 civilians dead already after illegal war started by the US and Israel – and all this with no vote in the UK parliament about our role. https://t.co/hWzBGwura8
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) March 6, 2026
Zarah Sultana MP also shared the news, accusing Starmer of gaslighting the public by claiming the UK isn’t at war while American bombers use British soil to bomb Iran
American B-1 bombers are landing on British soil before flying off to bomb Iran, yet Keir Starmer gaslights the nation by claiming the UK isn’t at war.
These aircraft are dropping 2,000lb bombs on schools, hospitals and homes in Iran, where the death toll has already surpassed… pic.twitter.com/btrDZXp0Fd
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) March 7, 2026
Declassified news also shared the news of the bombers on UK soil saying: “Even Britain’s national media are giving the public notice of the UK’s government complicity in the imminent mass bombing of Iran.”
Even Britain’s national media are giving the public notice of the UK’s government complicity in the imminent mass bombing of Iran. pic.twitter.com/DB2hSPsEeT
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) March 7, 2026
Martin Curtis on Declassified pointed out that nothing about the bombers was defensive, as the UK Government has insisted that its role is “defensive.”
US B-1 bombers are arriving at Fairford.
They “carry the largest conventional payload” in the USAF and “deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world”.
Great for defensive operations. https://t.co/Wv6W2prz7N
— Mark Curtis (@markcurtis30) March 7, 2026
Protest marches against illegal US war
A demonstration is also underway outside RAF Fairford on Saturday, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) posted on X.
Demonstration is also underway outside RAF Fairford, the US base in Britain used by long-range bombers. https://t.co/hhJ98AX2Yz
— Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (@CNDuk) March 7, 2026
CND was also at the London protest on Saturday saying:
Today’s demonstration against the illegal US and Israeli attacks on Iran is about to begin. Rally will be at the US Embassy, where we’ll be calling for an end to the nuclear hypocrisy and for Keir Starmer to stop allowing the use of British bases.
Today’s demonstration against the illegal US and Israeli attacks on Iran is about to begin. Rally will be at the US Embassy, where we’ll be calling for an end to the nuclear hypocrisy and for Keir Starmer to stop allowing the use of British bases. #NoWarOnIran pic.twitter.com/PGQQW7bDPq
— Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (@CNDuk) March 7, 2026
From the streets of London to the gates of RAF Fairford, the message is clear: stop using British bases to bomb Iran.
Featured image via the Canary
Lockheed Martin and other companies like Northrop Grumman took to X today to announce they’re quadrupling munitions production, but not before offering some gushing tributes to Trump, Hegseth, and Feinberg.
In a Truth Social post being shared around by these military companies, President Trump boasted about a “very good meeting” with the CEOs of the biggest defense companies about munitions production.
The meeting included the heads of the UK’s BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. He said they will meet again in two months.
You are war profiteering monsters. https://t.co/3FLlNcv032
— CODEPINK (@codepink) March 7, 2026
Nathan J Robinson, editor of Current Affairs condemned their killing of school girls.
dead kids are great for business https://t.co/I8y1mQdlRy
— Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) March 7, 2026
Ryan Grim of Dropsite News sarcastically thanked the military company for its patriotic duty.
Lockheed selflessly and patriotically agrees to quadruple its production. What would we do without our military industrial complex? 🔥❤️🦅🇺🇸 https://t.co/uc3StHeL9f
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 6, 2026
Jackie Walker said that all war was a profit equation for capitalism.
Of course they are! All war is a profit equation for capitalism. We need to control the demons before they destroy us all https://t.co/AdBMHOqN7I
— Jackie Walker – HRH, MP, MBE, ABC (@Jackiew80333500) March 7, 2026
US’s other major military company, Northrop Grumman made an almost identical tweet.
We are proud to be part of the President’s focus on speed and investment to deliver military strength for our nation. Thank you for your leadership President @realDonaldTrump, @SecWar Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Feinberg. https://t.co/QqrNQzyNpK
— Northrop Grumman (@northropgrumman) March 6, 2026
Apart, from expressing horror for the destruction these bombs create, people were also calling bullshit.
Podcast Carl Zha said that the US had no plan.
They’re desperate.
There’s no plan https://t.co/7XhuICXCzI
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) March 6, 2026
Time magazine reported that the war with Iran is burning through U.S. weapons stockpiles so fast it’s raising concerns from Ukraine to Taiwan about whether there’s enough left to defend against Russia and China.
From Washington to Ukraine to Taiwan, there’s growing concern that Iran is draining U.S. supplies of weapons relied on by U.S. allies. https://t.co/qOPobJ0FHl
— TIME (@TIME) March 4, 2026
Time Magazine said
When the U.S. ramped up its weapons shipments to Ukraine to fend off Russia’s invasion, it drew down from existing stockpiles and didn’t increase spending on industrial production enough to fill the hole, says Katherine Thompson, a former Pentagon official at the beginning of Trump’s second term who is now a defense expert at the Cato Institute.
When Biden and Congress approved massive weapons shipments to Ukraine, those bills blew through a previous $100 million limit on raiding U.S. stockpiles to transfer weapons to allies, Thompson says. “To be fair to the Trump Administration, they inherited this problem from mass draw downs of U.S. stocks,” she says.
Reuters also reported US looking for critical minerals — need for making munitions and other military hardware, before US began the illegal war on Iran.
Pentagon sought fresh supply of 13 critical minerals day before Iran attack https://t.co/06eX7vc26u https://t.co/06eX7vc26u
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 4, 2026
Andrew Gawthorpe of Leiden University said the U.S. and its allies might run out of air defenses before Iran runs out of airborne projectiles.
The exact size of missile defence stocks is classified. But a look at budgetary and procurement data suggests that US forces will become stretched within a matter of days or several weeks at the very most. At that point, the US will have to begin drawing down missile defence stocks from the rest of the world.
A day before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the Pentagon quietly asked mining companies to help boost domestic supplies of 13 critical minerals used to make semiconductors, weapons, and other military products.
The request, reviewed by Reuters, went out last Friday to members of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium, a group of more than 1,500 companies and universities that supply the military. The deadline for proposals is March 20.
The list includes arsenic, bismuth, gadolinium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, nickel, samarium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium and zirconium.
So, Lockheed Martin’s love letter on X might just be a cover for the Pentagon quietly scrambling to secure the materials needed to actually build the weapons they just promised to quadruple.
Featured image via US Army
The US press is attempting to manufacture consent for the US army to invade Iran.
A Washington Post article, dated Saturday, 6 March, states that the US army has:
abruptly canceled a major training exercise for the headquarters element of an elite paratrooper unit.
Which is:
fueling speculation within the Defense Department that soldiers specializing in ground combat and a range of other missions may be sent to the Middle East as the conflict with Iran widens.
The article goes on to state that the 82nd Airborne Division, an elite paratrooper unit which specialises in ground combat and other “fraught missions”, will attempt to take Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf.
The island is one of the most “strategically sensitive points in the global oil network.” It has a loading capacity of around 7m barrels per day.
At times, around 90 per cent of the nation’s oil exports have passed through Kharg. Pipelines connect the island to offshore oilfields in the Persian Gulf, as well as major oilfields on the Iranian mainland
Only last week, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, said that sending US ground troops into Iran wasn’t part of the current plan. However, she was not going to remove one of Trump’s options.
US and the second coming of Christ
However, on the ground, reports suggest that the government has activated far more military units than they’d like the public to know.
Phone has been ringing off the hook. A LOT more units have just been activated for deployment than the public knows about… https://t.co/qax3F23lwM
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 6, 2026
One US soldier told their parent they were going “boots on the ground” before losing access to all communications. His commander had told him they were going to bring the “second coming of Christ”.
I just spoke with the mother of a service member in this unit. They were given one last call home before having to turn in their phones. He told his mom the were going “boots on the ground” tonight. pic.twitter.com/3OCupSfp9Q
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 7, 2026
Of course, this has not been confirmed by official sources — but it appears that the US is preparing to invade.
I was part of the buildup to invasion of Iraq. What I’ve heard today from troops & families is so reminiscent of Feb-Mar ‘03. Doesn’t prove the US is invading, but that they are definitely preparing to. Will they? Probably weighing many factors… and our resistance is one of them
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) March 7, 2026
Now, we are watching media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic manufacture consent for a ground invasion of Iran. This is exactly what we saw in 2003 with Iraq.
From the Washington Post and the BBC, quoting a UK military source who said it was:
probably the most dangerous time of the last 30 years
To Sky News, talking about the potential deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
The media is doing exactly what Western politicians and Benjamin Netanyahu want them to do. Create the illusion of a huge and endemic threat to Western civilisation that only murdering muslims will solve.
What they want you to believe
Israel is carpet bombing Iran and southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the establishment media pushes the narrative that Israel is only targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, a bunch of “Islamist militants”.
What they don’t want you to know is that Hezbollah was only formed in 1982, in resistance to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Israel is literally the reason Hezbollah exists.
Yet Israel, the US, the UK and the entirety of the corporate media want us to believe that they’re terrorists who hate the West, instead of resistance fighters who have watched Israel systematically destroy the homes and lives of people in the region for over 60 years.
Now, media outlets on both sides of the ocean are about to let politicians continue and expand Netanyahu’s illegal regime, which is nothing but a colonialist, terrorist conquest.
Feature image via euronews/ YouTube
War enthusiast and former Tory minister ghoul Penny Mordaunt appeared on Channel 4’s The Last Leg last night. And she got owned in a clip that would surely go viral were it not for Channel 4’s screen recording block that prevents even fair-use clipping. Fear not, we worked around it.
As the show neared its end, Mordaunt must have thought she’d successfully negotiated the potential pitfalls. But Irish comedian Vittorio Angelone was having none of that. As Mordaunt plugged her interests, Angelone praised her for her commitment to the prosthetics industry by promoting arms sales — and then it got even better. Bear with the hiss at the beginning, it only lasts a few seconds and it’s subbed to make it easier. Enjoy:
The clip triggered delighted discussions on Reddit and a stream of mockery on X even though people couldn’t share clips:
Penny fucking Mordaunt on The Last Leg, that’s the worst booking since Graham Poll showed Josip Šimunić a third yellow card
— Chris (@CEtchingham77) March 7, 2026
@vittorioangelon Just saw you v Penny Mordaunt on the last leg.
Marry me.
— Kate (@ThisIsKateL) March 6, 2026
The absolute icon and renowned demon @vittorioangelon calling out Penny Mordaunt on The Last Leg was some lovely work.
— Patrick Spelman (@flippflop) March 6, 2026
@vittorioangelon calling out Penny Mordaunt on The Last Leg was epic, and needed. Great work.
— plantpotjam (@plantpotjam) March 6, 2026
Penny Mordaunt being ripped a new one on #TheLastLeg is the sort of TV we all need 🤣
— Matt (@trainfanmatt) March 6, 2026
seeing penny mordaunt getting the absolute piss taken out of her on live television has just made my day so much better
— tils (@hcafctils) March 6, 2026
#thelastleg I think Penny Mordaunt is regretting agreeing to be on tonight’s show.
— £200 a minute since 2005 🇵🇸 🔻 (@glazersleavenow) March 6, 2026
#isItOk that @vittorioangelon has just chewed up and spat out Penny Mordaunt on @TheLastLeg
You fuckin bet it is— RedPaul 🏳️🌈🍉 🕉☮✊🏻 (@PIMC66) March 6, 2026
And a few made use of the show’s “#isitOK” hashtag to make sure of maximum exposure:
#LastLeg #IsitOK that Penny Mordaunt looks absolutely fuming still @vittorioangelon pic.twitter.com/zE41YKomx2
— Mark (@mabmab71) March 6, 2026
#isItOk that @vittorioangelon has just chewed up and spat out Penny Mordaunt on @TheLastLeg
You fuckin bet it is— RedPaul 🏳️🌈🍉 🕉☮✊🏻 (@PIMC66) March 6, 2026
Featured image via the Canary
Democrats see a new opportunity brewing deep in the heart of Texas, where Republicans solving one problem may have inadvertently created a new one.
Rep. Tony Gonzales’ decision to drop his reelection bid over an infidelity scandal has elevated Brandon Herrera, a controversial social media figure known by his handle “TheAKGuy,” to the Republican nomination for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District.
Democrats in the district are hoping the convergence of scandal, a lightning-rod GOP candidate, signs of a major snap-back by Latino voters in Texas, and a potentially competitive Senate race could help lift Democratic turnout enough to flip this district for the first time in a decade.
“It’s definitely more competitive than it’s ever been,” said former Rep. Pete Gallego (D-Texas), who held the seat through 2014.
The biggest reason the race might become competitive is Herrera himself. The YouTuber, gun manufacturer and Second Amendment activist has millions of online followers — and a track record of off-color, edgelord jokes that are ripe fodder for campaign ads. Herrera has come under fire for a long history of posting Nazi imagery and his involvement in a group called Sons of Confederate Veterans. Jokes like his line “I often think about putting a gun in my mouth. So, I’m basically an honorary veteran” were a flashpoint for criticism in his 2024 primary against Gonzales.
Herrera did not respond to a request for comment.
After Gonzales dropped out of the race on Thursday night, the Democratic-aligned House Majority PAC quickly pumped out a barrage of old clips of Herrera on a series of podcasts including one where is seen marching and firing a gun overlaid with the German song “Erika” associated with Nazi Germany.
National and local headwinds are also blowing against the GOP.
Republicans in Texas – usually the dominating force in statewide politics – have weathered a rocky start to the 2026 midterms. Sen. John Cornyn, a fixture of Lone Star conservative politics, is stuck in a bruising runoff election with MAGA firebrand Attorney General Ken Paxton, opening a possible path for Democrats to compete in the Senate race. And Latino voters turned out in massive numbers in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, an early sign that Texas Hispanics, after moving hard to the right in recent years, might be swinging back in a big way this election.
There’s no guarantee that national Democrats will invest in the sprawling district, however.
The heavily Hispanic district, which runs from suburban San Antonio hundreds of miles along the border to outside El Paso, is a tough lift for Democrats — but not an impossible one. In the newly gerrymandered Texas map, it’s the least-red district held by a Republican in Texas. President Donald Trump won it by 17 points in 2024, but Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the district in 2016.
At this early stage in the changed race, neither the House Democratic campaign arm nor its biggest aligned super PAC has yet to publicly announce a commitment of resources to flipping the seat.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee does not currently list the district as an offensive target but is closely monitoring the race, according to a person familiar with national Democrats’ House strategy, granted anonymity to candidly describe strategy. The group gleefully highlighted Herrera’s elevation in a statement on Friday.
A spokesperson for the House Majority PAC, CJ Warnke, said in a statement that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to spending in the district.
Herrera was already running a tough primary campaign against Gonzales — but the congressman’s recent scandal consumed his campaign and forced him from his reelection bid. Text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News and other outlets last month revealed new evidence of a sexual relationship between the member of Congress and a staffer, who later killed herself. POLITICO has not independently reviewed the messages.
Gonzales later admitted to the affair with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, and late Thursday decided to end his reelection bid as pressure mounted from Republicans leadership for him to step aside.
Democrats argue Herrera has his own baggage that may be hard to overcome as well.
“Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned East Texas farm kid, but I tend to be anti-Nazi, and I have a feeling that people on the western side of the state feel a similar way,” said Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
“So, you know, go ahead and nominate the adulterer, sexual predator, or nominate the actual Nazi. Regardless, we outvoted them, and we’re going to do it again in November,” he added, citing Tuesday’s strong Democratic turn out in primaries up and down the ballot.
Herrera as the GOP nominee makes for “a little bit of an easier campaign because he’s not as well known as Gonzales,” said Katy Padilla Stout, a local attorney and the Democratic nominee who is now set to face off against Herrera in November.
National Republicans were quick to throw cold water on their opponents’ hopes to expand their battleground House map into West Texas.
“Texas’ 23rd District is deep red, and Democrats know it,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.
“While they talk a big game in Washington, they don’t even have a credible recruit and are too busy defending their own vulnerable members across Texas to compete here.”
The district, though drawn to favor the GOP candidate, is “pretty moderate and they’re practical people,” said Gallego, the former Democratic member of Congress. The north side of San Antonio at the far east end of the district map “is not monolithic Republican anymore,” he added, which gives Democrats more room to maneuver around Herrera, a conservative hardliner.
After Gonzales ended his bid, “I thought for sure it would be the Dems that would be blowing me up,” said Padilla Stout. Instead, she recounted, it was mostly Republicans who got in touch shortly after the news broke.
Their message to her: “We’re ready, give me a sign. Where do I sign up?”
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) president Jarlath Burns has received an award at the 2026 Guaranteed Irish Business Awards, despite outrageous remarks made about Palestine and the Troubles just days earlier. Burns was given the Special Recognition Award by the business coalition. Guaranteed Irish claims to honour enterprises that provide good quality jobs, enhance the wellbeing of their community and are of Irish provenance.
It is fitting that Burns received a business award, given that’s exactly what he has been treating the GAA as, rather than as an organisation that prioritises values over profit. The former attitude has been epitomised recently by the retention of a sponsorship agreement with backer of Zionist genocide Allianz. The German insurance behemoth has been named as one of the complicit firms in UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s Economy of Genocide report.
Activists have escalated protests against the Allianz deal, coming to a crescendo on Saturday February 28 when a group of around 20 stormed Croke Park to interrupt the GAA’s annual congress. Burns alternated between flustered and fuming, as he sat stony-faced before the demonstrators. His response afterwards was to make spectacularly tone-deaf comments about what had just occurred.
Jarlath Burns minimises genocide and insults all of Ireland
He began by comparing the relatively brief occupation of the GAA building to the 78-year long illegal occupation of Palestine by so-called ‘Israel’:
It’s a bit ironic that people who are protesting against illegal occupation will come in and illegally occupy our building.
This is a cringy remark, not a burn Mr. Burns.
Not content with that obscene remark, he went on to insult all those who lost loved ones during the Troubles in Ireland:
It was in 1975. The Glenanne Gang came into Donnelly’s bar, which is our local shop, and murdered three people, one of whom was a good friend of mine, Michael Donnelly. And I went into my car on December 19 2025 and drove to the front of Donnelly’s house, shop, pub, which is still there, to make a speech.
Fifty years on, justice still hasn’t been served for the 120 innocent Catholics who were murdered by the Glenanne Gang in a four-year period in my area, in my community.
I don’t need any lectures about what it’s like to feel the pressure of illegal occupation. I don’t need any lectures or people shouting in my face about what it’s like to go to bed at night, fearful that somebody would barge into your bedroom and riddle you with bullets. Because that was my lived experience when I was young.
The Glenanne Gang were a notorious loyalist death squad secretly assisted by British security forces. However, over 3,500 people lost their lives during the violence between the late 1960s and the peace agreement of 1998. Nearly 50,000 were injured, and the conflict affected the entire island. Jarlath Burns is not uniquely entitled to rule on which Irish people can and can’t have a say on illegal occupation, as everyone experienced its consequences in one way or another.
GAA ‘turn gaze…away from occupation, torture and genocide’
Burns has received a torrent of opprobrium following his comments. n excellent letter to the Irish Examiner, said:
I wonder how Michael Donnelly’s family feel about Jarlath Burns using their relative’s name and loss to justify turning the gaze of the GAA away from occupation, torture and genocide in Palestine today.
He also responded to Burns’ remarks about how Saturday’s action had breached “unwritten rules” about how protest ought to be conducted. In other words, according to Burns: protest is fine, as long as it’s not so disruptive that it might actually have an effect. said:
If people followed the “unwritten rules” of protest that Burns imagines exist, then we wouldn’t have gay marriage or reproductive rights. We wouldn’t even have a free, independent nation.
Well, semi-free and semi-independent, but the general point stands – direct action works. Fermoy Stands With Palestine pointed out how it was in fact the GAA that “crossed a line”, another phrase deployed by Burns following Saturday’s protest:
The line was crossed last November, Jarlath, when 2 of the 5 people on the ethics committee resigned as a business case was put forward to justify why the [the GAA] should stay with Allianz as a sponsor of our league as they pump billions into a genocidal regime!
The so-called Ethics and Integrity Commission of the GAA ruled in December 2025 that it was justified to keep its deal with Allianz. Strangely for a commission with that name, it barely touched on the ethics of the matter. It instead focused on practical and business considerations, implausibly claiming that:
…it would be impossible to secure an alternative insurer that would not have similar links.
The policy of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is not to seek perfection when choosing alternatives. The GAA could certainly do better than a company named as backing Zionist war crimes in a major UN report, which said:
Their insurance policies also underwrite the risks other companies necessarily take when operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, thus enabling the commission of human rights abuses and “de-risking” their operational environment.
This is an issue that will not go away, especially given Jarlath Burns’ total inability to respond to protest with any sort of nous. The sensible and ethical thing would be to cut the GAA’s losses now, and sever the relationship with this appalling company.
Featured image via the Canary
The UK Covid Inquiry came to an end on 5 March 2026. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) was a core participant in the Inquiry. It’s warning that this and future governments must learn lessons from the pandemic. They must ensure key workers and the general population have better protection in the future.
The union body paid tribute to all those who lost their lives during the pandemic. And it expressed its gratitude to key workers that kept the country going at a time of national crisis.
The TUC has set out five key recommendations to prevent the mistakes of the Covid pandemic and protect workers.
1) Stronger union voice
The Inquiry showed that involving unions in decision making, from the NHS to the design and implementation of furlough, saved lives and jobs.
The TUC is therefore calling for a more dynamic approach to social partnership. It wants to bring government, unions and employers together to design, deliver and manage responses to future pandemics.
In particular, unions’ input will be essential when designing measures to ensure better workplace safety measures and protections for workers across all sectors.
The lack of a union voice in the early days of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that decisions didn’t take into account workers’ needs. This often resulted in workers having to rely on ill-fitting PPE, or work in unsafe environments.
2) Stronger enforcement
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the body responsible for workplace safety. In 2021/22, its funding was 43% lower than in 2009/10 in real terms. This had caused a 35% staff number cut in the ten years leading to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This meant that there was limited inspection or enforcement – despite thousands of reported outbreaks, with many workers losing their lives. Just under 5,000 of the new ‘spot check’ visits were undertaken by contractors working to the HSE in the first eight months of the pandemic. There were only 78 enforcement notices and zero prosecutions.
The union body says that proper investment needs to go back into the HSE. This would bolster the inspection and enforcement of health and safety regulations and protect workers.
3) Stronger sick pay
The TUC says reform of statutory sick pay will be essential in preventing the spread of future pandemics.
Sick pay reforms coming into force from 6 April as part of the Employment Rights Act will mean that around 8 million workers will benefit from stronger sick pay provisions.
The experience of millions of low paid workers during the pandemic – with many having to work while infectious – demonstrates why these new rights were overdue, and why no government should now undo that vital safety net, the TUC says.
4) Stronger public services
The TUC says the pandemic revealed the dangers of under-resourcing our public services after years of significant Conservative cuts.
A decade of austerity leading up to the pandemic led the Inquiry to conclude that:
public services, particularly health and social care, were running close to, if not beyond, capacity in normal times.
The union body says that:
lessons must be learned to save lives in future.
The TUC is urging the government to continue to invest in public services and its workforce to repair and rebuild after the damage done by 14 years of Conservative government.
It says investment in the workforce is the only way to improve service quality, increase productivity and boost public sector resilience.
5) Stronger Employment Rights
Evidence the TUC gave to the inquiry illustrated how workers in insecure employment were less likely to report safety breaches. This included agency workers, those on zero hours contracts and bogus self-employment. They were more likely to work in low paid and unsafe workplaces and move between multiple jobs and workplaces. And they were less likely to access sick pay.
Insecure workers were nearly 10 times more likely to say they received no sick pay compared to secure workers.
Black and ethnic minority workers’ over-representation in these types of jobs was one reason for the disproportionate impact of the pandemic in those communities.
The experience of workers in insecure and low paid employment shows why there was such a need for the Employment Rights Act, says the TUC.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:
We owe it to those who lost their lives – and to those workers who put their lives at risk – to make sure we are prepared for future pandemics.
That means giving trade unions a seat at the table in pandemic planning – and adopting a social partnership approach by bringing unions, employers and government together to keep workers safe.
And it means sustained investment in our public services to make sure they are resilient enough to cope with another pandemic.
The Conservatives took a sledgehammer to our cherished public services, leaving the NHS on its knees and struggling to cope when Covid-19 hit.
The Labour government has rightly increased health and education funding and gave many public service workers their first proper pay rise in years. But this cannot be a one off.
Covid showed us strong public services – and a properly supported workforce – are vital for the nation’s health and resilience.
On tackling the scourge of insecure work and the Employment Rights Act, Nowak added:
The government also needs to address the structural inequalities and discrimination embedded in our labour market that put so many lives at risk.
That means delivering the Employment Rights Act in full, including new laws to ban exploitative zero hours contracts and give workers a right to a contract which reflects their regular hours.
From next month, workers will be able to get sick pay from day one. This is a game changer for millions of people up and down the country, and a positive first step towards building our resilience.
Featured image via the Canary
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