Politics
Intimacy Coordinator Reveals What Happens When An Actor Becomes Aroused While Filming Sex Scene
When filmed right, a sex scene can be incredibly steamy and really enhance the viewing experience, especially if you’re already heavily invested in the characters.
For example, is there anything better in a romcom than the will-they-won’t-they couple finally coming to their senses and racing to the bedroom for a passionate evening in the sheets? I think not.
In fact, these scenes can be so believable that it’s hard to believe that the actors aren’t actually going at it. How do you stay un-aroused while filming these scenes? How do you go back to talking normally to the co-star once the scene is complete?
Well, there’s a lot to it.
How do actors avoid getting turned on when filming sex scenes?
While these scenes are hot as hell to us, the behind-the-scenes filming is… not so much. According to Backstage, there are a number of measures in place to ensure the safety and comfort of the actors, as well as choreography.
Basically, the scenes may SEEM very real to us but there is so much that goes into making them happen that they’re anything but.
Before the scene is even staged, the parties involved in a sex scene will meet with an intimacy coordinator one-on-one to ensure that the actor feels safe in the scene, discuss any boundaries and any other concerns that they may have.
From there, the intimacy coordinator works with a choreographer to discuss what can and cannot happen in the scene, which areas of the body the actors are comfortable with displaying and being touched and the boundaries the actors have when it comes to filming a sex scene.
Then there are the modesty garments. Backstage explains: “Modesty garments are coverings or full-body makeup can shield certain body parts from the camera and prevent genital-on-genital contact, which is strictly prohibited on union sets. ”
Shibues and hibues—strapless thongs—are a popular form of modesty patch. These stick directly to the body and give the illusion of nudity without actually revealing an actor’s genitals. While the adhesive is pretty strong, these can be removed with baby oil.
Speaking to Backstage, Alicia Rodis, an intimacy coordinator said that she keeps these in a variety of hues on set, adding: “We take a shibue, open it up, and put a silicone guard underneath so everyone becomes like a Barbie doll.”
Though people with penises may opt to wear a “sock”, which is a drawstring skin-coloured pouch that holds the penis and testicles, instead. For those with breasts, they can wear pasties over their nipples.
What happens if an actor gets aroused during a sex scene?
With all of these measures in place, it’s hard to imagine getting aroused but according to David Thackeray, an intimacy coordinator for studios like Netflix, Warner Bros, Apple TV, BBC, and HBO, it’s perfectly normal.
Speaking to Business Insider, Thackery said that during the filming of sex scenes, actors “are going through the physical and the mind, so yeah, it happens.”
When it does happen, the production immediately pauses. Thackery said: “We just make it really clear that’s normal and that the worst thing you can do is carry on, so we call that a time-out. Give them five minutes then I come in and check in … Then we come back into it when they’re ready.”
Thackery added that actors are warned that this can happen beforehand and intimacy coordinators work hard to ensure the entire team knows that this is normal, saying: “The worst thing we can do is gawk or make it a massive deal. I will say for the crew as well, making sure they’re aware of what scene is being shot, what nudity is going to be seen. You don’t want them to be surprised.”
Thackery also added that the crew can also call a time-out during the filming of these scenes.
We recently reported that a heckler on the Shetland Islands had given Nigel Farage the business – later that same day, another British citizen would take it to a Reform MP – this time Lee Anderson:
"So stick your little racist flags where the sun dont shine.."
Lee Anderson called a "scumbag" by woman during Reform UK campaign in Lowdham pic.twitter.com/SiEJtXt5F9
— Narinder Kaur (@narindertweets) April 14, 2026
Reform get told about themselves
In the clip above, the teacher confronting Anderson says:
The flags went up before the potholes were sorted. You could not tell the truth if your life depended on it. So get your silly little racist flags and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s pathetic.
Anderson responds by passively aggressively saying:
It’s very nice to meet you. Have a lovely day.
Anderson then posed for a photo with a Reform supporter as the woman returns to her. It doesn’t end there, though. Exposing how slowly he computes, Anderson shouts at the teacher:
Come to Ashfield, you can see the potholes being mended!
She responds by explaining she used to teach in Ashfield, to which Anderson responds:
It’s no wonder our kids’ brains are messed up.
You should have stuck to the passive aggression, Lee.
It made you look bad, obviously, but the above makes it look like you’re a vindictive loser who isn’t fit to be anywhere near office.
It didn’t stop with that exchange either; this is what Anderson would later post:
Our teaching profession….
Not all of them but far too many. https://t.co/QTgzu3EMOu
— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) April 14, 2026
In other words, she got under his skin, and he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the exchange ever since.
Flags first
As we’ve reported, it’s no surprise everyday citizens think Anderson’s party prioritise flags over people:
By @jjgjourno https://t.co/9QcUFD66yt — Canary (@TheCanaryUK) October 24, 2025
NEW – Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council are set to piss away £75k on flags while 22% of local children live in poverty
We’ve also covered the absolute chaos that is Reform’s 2026 local election campaign:
- Reform candidate wants to ‘tear down’ the NHS.
- Reform candidate exposed as a horny nincompoop.
- Reform welcomes ‘shoot the p*kis’ scandal ex-Tory.
- Farage heckled at Reform’s Jimmy Saville-aping London launch.
- Video emerges of Reform’s ‘Nazi salute’ candidate drink driving.
With this racist shower now insulting teachers on the street, it seems the campaign has a ways to go before it hits rock bottom.
Featured image via X/Twitter
By Willem Moore
You might have heard about people’s “healthspan,” or the part of their lives in which they’ve not been affected by disability or chronic illness.
But speaking to HuffPost UK, Dr Dominic Greenyer, a GP and director at The Health Suite, said that “peak span” is a new important way to measure a person’s quality of life.
Here’s what it means, and how the expert recommends improving it:
What is “peak span”?
In broad terms, Dr Greenyer said, our peaks pan “refers to the time when our bodies are in or near to ‘peak’ condition.”
More specifically, “A peak span looks at physical, cognitive and metabolic performance and shifts the focus away from just being free of disease and more towards the period of time where we can reach our best – which researchers have determined to be at least 90% of peak function.
“It’s about striving for more than just being free of disease.”
The GP said that while it’s not necessarily more important than other metrics of wellbeing, a person’s “peak span” is becoming increasingly relevant as populations age.
“People worldwide are living longer, so it’s important we look at different ways of measuring how well we live.
“I wouldn’t say it’s any more important a measure than healthspan, but it’s interesting to look at rates of decline and put a focus on preserving and extending our potential,” he told us.
How can I extend my “peak span”?
For most of us, research says our “peak span” is limited to our 20s and 30s.
“We usually stay just a few years at our peak,” Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, who helped to write a paper about “peak span,” said.
But it doesn’t always have to be that way, says Dr Greenyer.
“To extend peak span, it’s important to look at the foundations of health and wellness,” he said.
Per the GP, that includes:
- Eating a healthy and varied diet,
- Prioritising movement throughout the day,
- Focusing on strength training, especially as we get older,
- Reducing chronic stress, “as stress hormones can accelerate biological ageing”,
- Getting enough sleep, which is a “key pillar of wellness and longevity”,
- Maintaining close connections through “strong friendships as this drives purpose and can help to delay cognitive decline”.
As we reported on 15 April 2026, Labour have lost half their voters since the 2024 election. Most of these have gone to the Green Party, and given that, you’d think Labour would be doing everything they could to win these people back.
Instead, housing minister Steve Reed has suggested that many of the voters who’ve left Labour to join the Greens are actually antisemites:
I spoke to Huffington Post about the Green Party’s anti-semitism problem. We rooted it out of the Labour Party, now Zack Polanski needs to do the same. pic.twitter.com/TFiaFwS2Cs
— Steve Reed (@SteveReedMP) April 15, 2026
So Labour have just given up on ever having a majority again, right?
Because at this point, it seems like their main priority isn’t fixing the country or winning elections; it’s spitefully smearing anyone to the left of Tony Blair.
The Labour Party: 1990-2029 (rest in piss)
As we reported in September 2025, Reed is the housing minister who had a ‘nuclear-grade temper tantrum’ when he was asked how many houses Labour had built. Reed also cast doubt on the victims of Jeffrey Epstein to run cover for his mate Peter Mandelson.
In the clip above, Reed says:
We kicked them out and they’ve been able to walk into the Green Party with no one checking their backgrounds. Now a lot of those people are not only in the Green Party, they have been selected to stand as candidates in these local elections.
Zack Polanski hasn’t got a clue who they are, because he didn’t bother to do the work in advance. He’s been very open with that with the public.
When he says “kicked them out”, the “them” in question are the people who Labour smeared as antisemites. As we’ve covered over and over, this smear had two purposes:
- To protect Israel’s reputation.
- To keep the left out of power.
The smear worked for a while, but then Israel committed a genocide, and public opinion shifted.
Now, people have wised up to how the smear works and what purpose it serves. And it’s a big reason why members and voters have left Labour in droves.
Since Zack Polanski became leader, the Green Party have gone from having 65,000 members to 225,000 (and counting). Does Reed really want to suggest so many potential voters are antisemites?
It’s worse than that too, because the Greens haven’t just grown their membership; they’ve expanded their polling:
— Seats — Poll: @YouGov, 12-13 Apr (+/- vs 7 Apr) pic.twitter.com/m0PQxoBh26 — Stats for Lefties
POLL | Reform lead by 5pts
Ref: 24% (=)
Con: 19% (=)
Grn: 18% (+2)
Lab: 17% (+1)
Lib: 13% (=)
Res: 4% (=)
YP: 0% (-1)
Ref: 282 Grn: 91 Con: 83 Lib: 81
SNP: 47 Lab: 34
(@LeftieStats) April 14, 2026
The Greens aren’t shy about criticising Israel, and voters know what they represent.
In other words, when Reed accuses pro-Palestine activists of being antisemites, regular Green voters will think ‘he’s talking about me too‘, because they have the same opinion as the people who are out there marching against the genocide.
Has any government ever shot itself in the foot as much as Starmer’s?
Oh, and talking about antisemitism:
He's at it again using antisemitism to discredit Labour rivals when Steve Reed himself was the one who posted an antisemitic tweet. https://t.co/AxWQtmgjq7 pic.twitter.com/GAPH4iksKZ
— Mish Rahman (@mish_rahman) April 15, 2026
Looks like Labour still have some rooting to do.
Heavy vetting
Back to the clip, Reed continued:
They don’t have a vetting procedure that is up to scratch. They didn’t bother to check these people’s backgrounds and they’re now putting them up for election in a few weeks time up and down the country, and the public have no idea that these people who they think are soft, fluffy Green Party supporters are actually racists and anti-Semites.
Okay, so let’s have a look at the sort of people who are drawn to Starmer’s Labour. As we’ve reported extensively, there’s an alarming common thread which connects these men; see if you can spot what it is:
- Yet another paedophile convicted from the Labour-right production line.
- Labour MPs are talking mutiny over Starmer’s ties to Mandelson.
- Starmer’s other paedo problem: silence on links of new Zionist peer.
- Yet another Labour figure charged with sexual offence.
- Liron Velleman pleads guilty: another Labour Friend of Israel paedophile.
- Zionist former Labour MP Conor McGinn charged with sexual offence.
- Labour deselects 3 councillors for wanting inquiry into paedophile.
- LBC has paedo-sting Labour freak on to discuss Burnham.
Is Labour’s vetting up to scratch, Steve?
Did you check the background of all these fucking paedophiles?
Because we checked Peter Mandelson’s background and warned you he was a wrong ‘un, and yet Keir Starmer made him ambassador to the US anyway.
Unbelievable.
And this is how people have responded:
Absolutely tone deaf.
The Greens will be delighted to lean into this. Labour has no idea that not only does this nonsense not work any more – post genocide it positively angers people. https://t.co/hYeeWDv90t
— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) April 15, 2026
You have to laugh at the brass neck!!!
Also: @ZackPolanski is Jewish. Members voted for him decisively and overwhelming to lead The Green Party and the Green Party membership numbers have rocketed because of him. (Best not talk of Labour’s)!
— James Foster (@JamesEFoster) April 15, 2026
https://t.co/j5oP4XbFaM https://t.co/snutGqFkcW pic.twitter.com/hckBgIqcIs
Loser mentality
Much like Keir Starmer and his dodgy advisers, Reed is linked to the ‘Labour Together’ group which worked to prevent Labour winning in 2017 and 2019. In their words, they were ‘rooting out antisemitism’; in reality, they were purging activists who wanted a Labour Party that represented the UK labour movement.
People like Reed were happy to lose two elections to attack their enemies, and it looks like they’re happy to lose in 2029 to do the same thing.
Because make no mistake, this is a losing strategy from one of the UK’s foremost losers.
Featured image via Stats for Lefties
By Willem Moore
On 12 April, after 16 years, Hungary voted out far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán in favour of relative-newcomer Péter Magyar. The Canary has since covered the potential impacts on Orbán’s authoritarian allies, including both Vladimir Putin and Nigel Farage.
Our colleague Skwawkbox characterised both Orbán and Magyar thus:
As the careful reader will have noted, both men are right-wingers. Quite hard right-wingers. But while Orbán is EU-phobic, Magyar has promised closer ties with the union. However, Magyar is not expected to change Hungary’s defence of Israel against any stray EU anti-genocide measures in any significant way.
Great. Another rigged ‘two cheeks of the same arse’ result while Israel continues to slaughter and destabilise.
And, there’s more at play here – particularly with regard to Magyar’s intention to rejoin the International Criminal Courth (ICC), which currently has a warrant out for Netanyahu’s arrest.
The butcher’s endorsement
The Israeli PM went to great lengths to endorse Orbán for this year’s election. In fact, Netanyahu and his son Yair even appeared virtually at Orbán’s first campaign rally and a US-led Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) event.
Regarding CPAC, Haaretz highlighted the fact that Israel was actively cosying up to neo-Nazi forces:
The Netanyahus shared the stage with a slew of far-right European leaders, including from Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) – parties that Israel officially boycotts because of their antisemitic roots and members – as well as other right-wing populist leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Estonia, Poland, Spain, Paraguay and Italy.
At the far-right conference, Netanyahu heartily endorsed Orbán:
I want to thank my friend Viktor Orbán, who has been a rock… I know many world leaders, but I can tell you that he is right there at the top. Viktor Orbán means stability, safety and security.
In spite – or perhaps because of – that glowing endorsement from the butcher of Gaza, Orbán failed to secure a fifth term in power.
Hungary ‘special relationship’
However, it’s still unknown just how much Magyar’s premiership might impact Netanyahu and Israel more broadly.
Israeli outlets have previously reported that they don’t expect any radical shifts in Hungary’s Zionist outlook. Indeed, Magyar has stated specifically that he will maintain his Budapest’s “special relationship” with Jerusalem.
However, mirroring his attitude towards Moscow, Magyar emphasised that he wound take a “pragmatic” attitude towards Jerusalem. This would include “carefully” examining EU proposals regarding Israel.
Of course, this currently looks unlikely to result in an actual contrast with Orbán’s habit of vetoing or watering-down any EU sanctions or critical statements on Israel. Whilst Magyar indicated that he doesn’t want to “rush ahead” in deciding how closely Hungary will align with EU decisions in general, he said outright that:
Hungary will continue to block EU decisions regarding Israel. […]
We will see when and what decision the EU makes and what is the interest, what is the truth.
The truth and Netanyahu are perfect strangers, if you ask us – but what do we know?
The International Criminal Court
However, in a potential signal of a more radical break from Orbán, Magyar has pledged to rejoin the ICC. Regarding the international court, Magyar stated that it’s “in Hungary’s interest to be part of it”.
Orbán previously withdrew Hungary from the ICC in June 2025, after it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over his war crimes in Gaza. The ICC stated that the Israeli PM was:
Allegedly responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.
Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC left the central European nation as the only EU state that Netanyahu could visit without risking arrest. Notably, however, not even that fact could entice the Israeli dictator to appear at the CPAC event in person.
With Hungary rejoining the ICC, Magyar may end up treading a very fine line maintaining Hungary’s “special relationship” with an Israeli PM for whom it also holds an active arrest warrant. Of course, how this will actually play out remains to be seen.
Featured image via the Canary
5 min read
Late one evening last week, a message came through on the encrypted messaging app, Signal – it was from an investigative journalist seeking help with “a pretty scary cease and desist letter”.
As a freelancer, he is being threatened personally with legal action for a recent story with a major UK publication. He thinks the threats are aimed at getting the publication to “ditch him,” isolating him from legal support that would defend him and his story.
Since we set up the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition in January 2021, such messages for support have steadily grown in frequency. Now, a week rarely goes by without someone – a journalist, an academic, a campaigner or a member of the public – writing to us about a potential SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation). Such legal threats are aimed at suppressing the publication of public interest speech on a wide range of issues; from corruption and sexual assault, to housing, healthcare, and the environment.
SLAPPs work by weaponising the legal process to exert as much pressure as possible. Many cases never reach trial, but can still take months, if not years, to resolve. SLAPP targets can be made to feel they have no option but to settle, apologise and amend or remove the information they’ve published simply due to the financial, emotional and time costs of mounting a defence. If successful, SLAPPs can create a vacuum of information, not only about the original subject matter, but even that a legal challenge took place.
While 40 American states, as well as several provinces in Canada, have been adopting anti-SLAPP legislation since the 1990s, the issue only gained widespread recognition in Europe after the 2017 assassination of the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. At the time of her death, Caruana Galizia, one of the few journalists writing about corruption in Malta, had 47 legal cases open against her.
In 2020, the Foreign Policy Centre surveyed 63 investigative journalists reporting on financial crime and corruption in 41 countries. The findings pinpointed the UK as the leading international source of such legal threats, almost as frequent as those from the EU and the US combined. The following year the high-profile legal actions in the UK against the journalists Catherine Belton, author of Putin’s People, and Tom Burgis, author of Kleptopia: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World, brought a new level of visibility.
By July 2022, in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and renewed concerns about the level of Russian dirty money and malign influence in our country, the then Conservative Government committed to “decisively… stamp out SLAPPs.” The adoption of anti-SLAPP provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) 2023 was a welcome recognition of the problem, but was limited in scope and flawed in design. A subsequent universal anti-SLAPPs Bill, led by former Labour MP Wayne David, only fell away due to the 2024 General Election.
Almost two years later, despite significant cross-party support, and Keir Starmer referring to SLAPPs as “intolerable”, the current Government is yet to act. During a November 2024 Parliamentary debate, 16 MPs from 7 political parties spoke in favour of addressing SLAPPs and highlighted the impact they have, including delaying redress for wrongdoing – from the Post Office Horizon scandal to the allegations against Jimmy Savile and Mohammed Al Fayed. Last year, Index on Censorship published a report about how SLAPPs are silencing survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) when they try to speak out and warn others. The current provisions do nothing to protect them.
Since the start of 2026, more than 160 public figures, over 100 academics, and groups of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs have written to the Government calling for universal anti-SLAPP measures to be included in the next King’s Speech in May. However, recent press reports suggest that plans to legislate further may have been shelved.
Once leading the charge against SLAPPs in Europe, the UK has fallen behind. An EU Anti-SLAPP Directive (often called “Daphne’s Law”) adopted in 2024 is currently being transposed by 27 member states. The same year, the Council of Europe, of which the UK is still a member, also adopted a non-binding recommendation for its members to address SLAPPs.
So what is the risk of doing nothing? SLAPPs utilise various legal claims, but defending a defamation claim to trial in the UK costs at least £500,000, with many cases running into the millions. Preliminary hearings alone can easily run to £100,000. Even the first successful use of the ECCTA anti-SLAPP provisions by the tax campaigner Dan Neidle, cost him over £146k and almost a year to defend. Further legislation to create stronger protections against SLAPPs would cost nothing to enact.
It’s no surprise that many on the receiving end of a legal threat currently comply with demands to amend or remove information from the public sphere. As a result, wrongdoing is hidden and redress is either delayed or completely denied. And the impact? It’s not just on those targeted, it’s on all of us.
Susan Coughtrie is Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Centre, an international affairs think tank, and Jessica Ní Mhainín is Head of Policy and Campaigns at Index on Censorship, a free expression organisation.
The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition is an informal working group established in January 2021, co-chaired by the Foreign Policy Centre, Index on Censorship and CliDef. For more information – antislapp.uk.
Few things are less erotic than politicians earnestly discussing sex. The mere thought of a member of parliament calling for ‘a summer of sex’ is enough to turn even the most libidinous Brits celibate. Yet Labour’s Samantha Niblett has done just this.
Forget war in the Middle East, a stagnating economy, the energy crisis, hospital waiting lists and an unsustainable welfare bill. If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, then Niblett wants us to get it on while the British state fails. Maybe she hopes we’ll all be too busy in the bedroom to make it to a polling booth next month.
But to give her the benefit of the doubt for just a moment, perhaps Niblett has a point. Hedonism is indeed an understandable response to our country’s current woes. For young adults struggling to find work, worried about student loans, and unable to find a decent house to rent, never mind buy, then a flower-power-style summer of free love may be just the ticket.
Sadly, this is most definitely not what Niblett has in mind. She is not suggesting we all take a bacchanalian holiday when the sun comes out. Instead, she is proposing a new approach to sex education. She wants this summer to be foreplay for the main event: a parliamentary debate on lifelong sex education in the early autumn. To get the ball rolling, she hopes to bring sex toys into parliament to open up a conversation about sexual pleasure. But for all the talk of ‘pleasure’, Niblett’s summer of sex is less about passion and intimacy and more about issuing a lifelong lecture.
Between Relationships and Sex Education on the school curriculum and the ready availability of online pornography, it’s impossible to imagine there are people in Britain who do not know the facts of life. So unsurprisingly, the sex education Niblett has in mind is actually re-education. And it is, of course, political.
Niblett has teamed up with ‘sextech entrepreneur’ Cindy Gallop. (One of the few things less erotic than politicians discussing sex? Sextech entrepreneurs.) Together, they are on a mission to ‘help people understand consent, prevent abuse and violence, and raise awareness of how childbirth, the menopause, stress and other health conditions can impact sexual satisfaction’. So, just as in schools, this adult sex education is to be a vessel for all manner of fashionable issues. It’s an opportunity for politicians and campaigners to preach to the public about feminist-approved ways to behave in their most private relationships. Abuse, violence and stress. Truly, sex has never been less sexy.
The campaign’s tagline is ‘Yes Sex Please, We’re British!’ and it aims to challenge the idea that Brits are, apparently, too stiff to talk about sex other than through innuendos, and too prudish to think beyond heterosexual intercourse taking place in the marital bed, preferably in the missionary position. Convinced nothing has changed since the 1950s, Niblett and Gallop want to introduce the public to a ‘more open and inclusive approach’ to lifelong sex education, which, above all else, will ensure people know the importance of ‘not feeling ashamed’. In other words, they want Britain to become a never-ending Pride march, with sex and sexuality constantly thrust in the public’s face. We must prove that we are ‘open’ and ‘inclusive’ to all manner of weirdos with fetishes such as men in nappies, dresses or dog collars.
None of this is about privacy, intimacy or even, for that matter, sexual relationships. Niblett gives the game away when she tells Politics Home that, as well as working with a sextech entrepreneur, she met with ‘sexual product retailer’, Lovehoney. It’s not love and romance, Niblett wants us to indulge in, or even lust and hooking up. She has more solitary pursuits in mind. ‘As well as making you feel good, [masturbation] is good for your health’, she chirps, ‘with some medical research showing that it is good for stress and pain relief, menstrual cramps, and reducing the risk of prostate cancer’.
So there you have it. Don’t worry about not being able to see a doctor. Ignore pothole-marked roads. Overlook your shrinking bank balance. Rather than stewing on being unable to afford to put the central heating on, go to bed. On your own. And, preferably with the help of a Lovehoney ‘sexual product’, wank away your troubles.
Samantha Niblett says that her ‘lifelong sex education’ campaign is personal. She wants to talk more openly about sex herself to encourage others to feel comfortable doing so. Spare us, please. This onanistic crusade degrades politics and kills passion dead.
Joanna Williams is a spiked columnist and author of How Woke Won. Follow her on Substack: cieo.substack.com.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) raised $13 million in the last three months and ended the first quarter of 2026 with a massive $22.3 million cash on hand in his campaign account, large sums for a candidate not up for reelection, his campaign told POLITICO.
The haul is a sign President Donald Trump’s targeting of him as part of the so-called “Seditious Six” has continued to juice his grassroots donations. He raised $12.5 million last quarter too, much of it after Trump accused him and other Democratic military veterans of being traitors.
He’s not the only one to benefit: Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who was also featured in the video, raised $928,000 since the beginning of the year, which his team said was his largest quarterly fundraising haul of his career, and comes even though this year he’s not a top GOP target.
Kelly’s big quarter is likely to only stir more speculation about his presidential ambitions. Kelly has increasingly flirted with a presidential campaign, saying he will “seriously consider” a 2028 bid.
Kelly is using his fundraising prowess to spread the wealth to other Democrats facing tough races this year — and who could be helpful allies if he runs for president.
He raised an additional $470,000 for his leadership PAC and $1.1 million for the DNC in 2026. In the first quarter, his campaign and leadership PAC transferred $105,000 to the DSCC and made direct contributions to six candidates, including James Talarico, Julianna Stratton and Mary Peltola. Kelly’s campaign said 98 percent of his donations to his campaign were under $100.
“Mark knows that flipping Congress in November is how we hold Trump accountable and that’s why he is campaigning in battleground states and supporting candidates with the resources to help them win tough elections,” Kelly spokesperson Jacob Peters told POLITICO.
It’s now been almost six years since Madonna last released a new album – and the drought is almost over.
And folks, it sounds like she has something massive planned.
For the last year, the Queen of Pop has been teasing that she’s been back in the studio with former collaborator Stuart Price, teasing new music which she said would be a spiritual successor to her disco-inspired release Confessions On A Dance Floor.
Earlier this week, it looked as though Madonna was getting ready to announce something when she wiped her entire Instagram, and then shared a very exciting teaser clip on her official website, made up of a striking teaser image and what sounded like a snippet of new music.
Since then, posters have also been spotted around East London, suggesting that the new album, thought to be titled simply Confessions II, would be released on 3 July.
Madonna finally confirmed this to be the case in a social media post on Wednesday afternoon, announcing the album’s title and release date as well as unveiling its striking cover art.
The first Confessions On A Dance Floor album was released in November 2005, spawning the UK number one singles Hung Up and Sorry, as well as hits Get Together and Jump.
Madonna’s most recent album, the experimental Madame X, came out in 2019.
In the time since, she’s been on two world tours – including 2024’s greatest hits venture The Celebration Tour – and enjoyed her first UK top 10 in 15 years with Popular, a collaboration with The Weeknd.
Fans have been speculating that Madonna could make a surprise appearance at Coachella this weekend – where Sabrina Carpenter is once again scheduled to headline – to premiere new material, 20 years after last performing at the US music festival.
In its early days, football lacked the precise means of regulating the rhythm of the game as we know it today.
Referees relied on direct voice signals or hand gestures, including raising their arms or waving handkerchiefs to try and communicate decisions to the players on the field. However, this method lacked clarity and consistency, leading to inconsistencies in the interpretation of calls and creating instances of controversy and chaos, especially as the game expanded and its popularity grew.
Given this reality, the need arose for a more decisive method, one capable of ending and restarting play clearly and immediately, leaving no room for interpretation or disagreement.
An invention that changed the face of refereeing
The radical transformation came with the British referee, Joseph Hudson, in Birmingham, when chance led him to the idea of the whistle after he heard a sharp sound from a violin that had fallen to the ground. This sound inspired him to develop a device that produced a similar effect, leading to the invention of the world’s first sports whistle in 1878.
Later, his company, Hudson & Co, produced the Acme Thunderer model, which used a small ball inside a brass tube. Air was allowed to pass through, producing a sharp sound that could be clearly heard even amidst the noise of the crowd. Despite its simple design, it revolutionised match management, providing the first standardised method for signaling stoppages and restarts.
While the first official match in which the whistle was used is unclear, historical sources indicate its appearance in FA Cup matches in the late 19th century, after which it gradually spread to European stadiums.
From a simple tool to part of the laws of the game
Over time, the whistle became more than just an aid; it became an integral part of the laws of the game. According to International Football Association Board (IFAB) regulations, the whistle is an essential tool used by the referee to signal the start, stop, or restart of play, as well as to award fouls and penalties.
Conversely, the law clarifies that its use is not necessary in all situations, such as throw-ins, corner kicks or even goal announcements, where a hand signal may suffice. It also emphasises that excessive use of the whistle diminishes its impact on the game.
Thus, the whistle has become a “legal language” on the field, leaving no room for interpretation and granting the referee immediate authority over the course of play.
Global industry and continuous tech development
The evolution of the whistle has not been limited to refereeing; it has extended to the industry itself. Materials have evolved from wood, bone and simple metals to high-quality plastics and weather-resistant alloys, with continuous improvements to ensure a loud and consistent sound.
Furthermore, some modern models have eliminated the inner ball to prevent any malfunctions that could affect sound quality, especially in fast-paced matches with large crowds.
This industry is led by specialised global companies, most notably ACME Whistles, whose name is synonymous with the iconic classic model. There is also Fox 40 International, which introduced a modern design without an inner ball. Molten’s products have also been used in major tournaments, including the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The whistle: The voice of the law in a single moment
Today, the whistle is no longer just a small tool in the referee’s hand. It has become a symbol of decision-making on the pitch, a voice that separates chaos from discipline in an instant.
The moment the referee blows that whistle, football time stops for a moment and the law is enforced. Despite its apparent simplicity, the whistle remains one of the most influential tools in the history of football.
Featured image via Getty Images/ Bongarts/ Joachim Sielski
By Alaa Shamali
The BBC has done the country a genuine service – no laughing at the back. On the front page of the BBC News website today is an investigation into immigration lawyers, who were found to be coaching fraudulent asylum claims, fabricating backstories, inventing persecution, selling identities wholesale to anyone who can pay. This is important journalism, and the team responsible deserves credit for it. Real, old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty investigative reporting, of the kind that used to be the BBC’s reason for existing. Congratulations, sincerely, to everyone involved.
Now, can we have a moment of honesty about what this ‘revelation’ actually reveals? Nothing. Nothing whatsoever that anyone paying attention did not already know. This has been going on for decades. Decades during which successive home secretaries of both parties stood at despatch boxes and talked about the integrity of the system, the rigour of the process, the robust safeguards in place, while the asylum industry quietly got on with its work, billing by the hour, gaming by the year, and laughing all the way to the legal aid pot.
The Daily Mail did an undercover investigation in 2023 that was near-identical in its findings. Reporters posing as economic migrants were offered elaborate fabricated backstories – featuring sexual torture, political persecution, support for Khalistani independence – for between £4,000 and £10,000 a time, complete with coached testimony and forged supporting evidence. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) intervened in three firms within days of publication. Three. Out of how many? The warning notice the SRA issued afterwards conceded that wrongdoing might be ‘more widespread than simply a handful of firms’. Might be. A remarkable understatement for a system operating at industrial scale.
In 2017, the BBC’s own File on Four caught an immigration solicitor on tape advising an undercover journalist how to fabricate a second job, sourcing a bent accountant to certify the fiction. That solicitor fought his way through 17 interlocutory applications, two failed judicial reviews, and an application to the Court of Appeal before being struck off. The system rewarded his defiance with years of delay. As they say, this isn’t a bug. That is the feature.
And then there are the cases that go beyond paperwork fraud into something far more consequential. Abdul Ezedi – remember him? The Afghan national who doused a mother and her two daughters with corrosive chemicals on a south London street in January 2024, then fled through the night, was last seen leaning over Chelsea Bridge, and was subsequently found dead in the Thames. He had arrived illegally in 2016. His first two asylum applications were refused. He was convicted of sexual assault and indecent exposure in 2018 and placed on the sex-offenders register. Then he claimed he had converted to Christianity. A church minister vouched for him. A tribunal judge was persuaded. He was granted asylum in 2020, despite the Home Office’s own assessment that he was ‘using religion for his own ends’, an assessment the judge chose to override.
Then there’s Emad Al Swealmeen, the Islamist who detonated a homemade device outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday 2021. He had arrived from Iraq in 2014, claimed asylum, was refused, lost his appeals, and then converted to Christianity at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral five-week Alpha course – complete with a baptism, confirmation and clergy support. Asylum granted. A pastor in south Wales later admitted he had baptised up to 500 asylum seekers in those years, with more than half vanishing after the ceremony, never again setting foot in any church. A curate at Liverpool Cathedral, himself a former refugee, told a reporter plainly: ‘There are many people abusing the system. I’m not ashamed of saying that.’ He was not ashamed. Neither, it seems, were any of the institutions through whose hands these cases passed without consequence.
The Home Office, to its credit in the Ezedi case, had seen through the fraud. The immigration tribunal overruled it. This is a pattern that border officials and even judges have been noting for years. The then independent border watchdog wrote in 2017 that there was ‘considerable evidence’ of last-minute asylum claims designed purely to frustrate deportation. By 2019, the former immigration enforcement chief David Wood was describing a system ‘rife with abuse’ processing thousands of fraudulent applications annually. Nobody resigned. Nobody was charged. The machinery ground on. And now the BBC has found it all over again.
So let us be precise about what needs to happen, because warm words and £15,000 fines for rogue advisers, the government’s response in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act (2025), are not remotely adequate to the scale of what has been operating, openly, for 20 years.
Every individual found to have coached fraudulent asylum claims must be struck off, charged with fraud and conspiracy, and have their assets seized to repay the damage inflicted on the public purse and on the genuine refugees whose cases are crowded out and cheapened by this corruption. This is not a matter for regulatory proceedings conducted at the speed of cold treacle. It is fraud. It must be treated as such.
Every individual found to have obtained asylum status through fabricated claims should be deported. Without the interminable procession of appeals that the legal aid budget currently subsidises at public expense. They are here fraudulently. Fraud voids the claim. This principle is not complicated, and the Human Rights Act must not continue to function as a permanent veto on removing people who lied their way into the country. We must repeal it and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Every charity that has received public money while facilitating, enabling or turning a blind eye to this fraud should have its charitable status stripped and be required to repay every penny of taxpayer funding it received in connection with that work. The charitable sector has too long served as a laundering mechanism, not for money but for moral credibility, allowing organisations engaged in the systematic gaming of the asylum system to present themselves as humanitarian bodies beyond scrutiny or accountability.
There must be a full root-and-branch investigation across the entire immigration-law sector. Not a review. Not a working group. Not a consultation with stakeholders. An investigation, led by people with the powers and the will to follow the evidence wherever it goes – across every firm, every adviser and every associated charity that has been touching this system for the past two decades at least.
The Home Office, under Labour and the Conservatives alike, has been asleep at the wheel for so long that the wheel has rusted solid. Ministers have from time to time stamped their feet, spoken darkly about ‘crooked lawyers’ and ‘industrial-scale abuse’, and then left every mechanism of accountability untouched. The machinery grinds on. The boats keep coming. The briefs keep filing. The legal aid clock keeps ticking. The public keeps paying.
Billy Kember and the other BBC journalists behind this investigation have done their job. Now it is time, long past time, for the state to do its.
Gawain Towler is a commentator and an elected board member of Reform UK. This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Gawain’s Fainting in Coils Substack.
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