A court in Geneva has confirmed that peaceful opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is a legitimate right. As Palestinian exile Muzna Shihabi notes, the landmark decision:

•  Acknowledges that a genocide is underway.
•  Rules that nothing justifies sanctioning peaceful activists.
•  Confirms that freedom of expression protects non-violent civil disobedience and that repressing these mobilizations is incompatible with democracy.

A lesson for the genocide-enabling Starmer government and its war on free speech and peaceful protest, as respondents are already noting:

@Keir_Starmer @YvetteCooperMP Imagine how it must feel to finish your day in the knowledge that your actions let you sleep with a clear conscience. Not clambering on for money or power, just doing what is right. Just imagine.

— Lisa Alqatari (@LisaAlqatari) June 4, 2026

Genocide — ‘Routine’ shame

The UN’s international law and human rights expert for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, commented that:

Once again: justice for Palestine starts at home. It only takes people caring and applying Intl Law. And persevering.

Albanese knows about being persecuted for standing against genocide. In May 2026, the Trump regime re-imposed its sanctions on her despite a judge’s ruling that they breached her rights.

To the UK’s shame, a May 2026 report has described repression of pro-Palestine speech under the Starmer regime as now “routine”.

Featured image via Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

By Skwawkbox

Source link

While the world’s attention has moved onto other horrors, Israel continues to bomb Gaza and burn families. The so-called ‘ceasefire’ is just a curtain to hide its atrocities.

As the people of Gaza tried to survive another night last night, Israel continued to bomb the open-air concentration camp it has created:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ibrahim Nazmii (@ibrahim_nazmii)

At least nine people were killed and many more injured in four separate bombings. The attacks created horrors that are all too familiar – civilians burning in bombed buildings, including children, despite heroic attempts to help:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Omar Hamad 𓂆 (@omar.hamad7)

Israel — Residential targets

All of the buildings attacked were residential:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by عين على فلسطين | Eye on Palestine (@eye.on.palestine)

It’s all too easy for horror-fatigue and the axis of evil’s other crimes to take our eyes from Gaza. We must resist and keep highlighting the ongoing genocide.

Featured image via Getty Images 

By Skwawkbox

Source link

The Justice Bill currently passing through the Northern Ireland Assembly will allow the police to retain a person’s biometric data for a massive 75 years. This is despite the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) previously ruling that indefinite holding of such information is a violation of privacy.

75 years may not be indefinite, but it’s essentially a lifetime, meaning the difference is largely moot. More worryingly, the bill allows the state to keep information such as fingerprints and DNA for most of a century in cases of “terrorism-related” offences. This could include cases of inviting “support for a proscribed organisation”.

Such legislation has been grotesquely abused to criminalise peaceful supporters of anti-genocide group Palestine Action. The direct action collective sought to halt Zionist atrocities by smashing up the arms factories making the weapons used to murder Palestinians.

Legitimate protest is further undermined by the bill granting authorities the power to retain data for “breach of the peace” offences. These are typically minor matters stemming from low-level civil disobedience. In Stormont, Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit questioned whether this:

…quite loose term [breach of the peace] could be used to keep people’s data for quite a long length of time when, by most people’s definition, the person might not have committed a serious crime.

Carroll: ‘biometric surveillance being smuggled in through the back door’

The current plan is to operate biometric data retention on a 75/50/25 model. That means for offences such as murder, rape, severe violence and the aforementioned ‘terrorism’, data can be held for 75 years. It’ll be 50 for offences that result in a custodial sentence of 5 years or more, and 25 for those not involving time in jail.

Carroll has introduced an amendment to ensure people are informed that their data is being held, something not previously part of the bill.

The West Belfast MLA also criticised how the bill permits the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to create a “facial-image database”. He said in a press release sent to the Canary:

This is the architecture of biometric surveillance being smuggled in through the back door, with a promise to fill in the detail later.

The legislation does not treat photographs as biometric data in the same way as fingerprints and DNA. The PSNI are therefore permitted to hold images indefinitely, including those of suspects photographed at a police station. That means people who have committed no crime will potentially sit on a police database forever.

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) expressed alarm at this in its June 2025 briefing, saying it could be used as part of rights-violating live facial recognition systems (LFR). The PSNI have previously expressed interest in introducing such a system, saying the police service:

…fully recognises the value this could bring to investigations and public safety.

Big Brother Watch have said such technology:

…discriminates against women and people of colour. 80% of people misidentified by facial recognition in London in 2025 were Black.

NICCY suggest the use of photos may again be a violation of European law. They cite the case of Gaughran vs UK, where the ECHR found that retention of photographs is a violation of the:

…right to respect for…private and family life.

Justice Bill — DUP want to keep jailing 10 year olds

The north of Ireland Policing Board’s human rights reviewer said in 2024 that:

…the PSNI continue to hold biometric data (fingerprints, photographs, and DNA profiles) on hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland unlawfully and has been doing so since 2008.

Another contentious aspect of the bill is whether it will alter the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR). The north of Ireland has one of the lowest MACR levels in the world (see under ‘United Kingdom’), at an outrageous 10 years old. That means children not yet in secondary school can be put behind bars.

There are various amendments seeking to change this via the Justice Bill. Carroll has asked that it be set at 16, while Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland has introduced an amendment setting the level at 14 years. Doug Beattie of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has sought to set it to 12, leading to a clash with UUP leader and ex-PSNI man Jon Burrows. Beattie has since resigned from the party.

The dinosaurs of the Democratic Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice are determined to ensure dealing with youth offenders is kept firmly in the 19th century. They favour maintaining the status quo; i.e. jailing 10 year olds whose forebrain has barely started developing.

A June 2023 consultation on raising the MACR found overwhelming support for the obviously sensible and humane approach of raising the age to 14. MLAs will continue debate on this aspect of the bill next week.

Featured image via Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

By Robert Freeman

Source link

Source link

The Pentagon is publishing fake AI ‘news’ across Latin America which mix financial advice with imperial propaganda. One article even celebrates the “precision” of the 3 January US raid on Venezuela. The operation recalls British fake media operations from the Cold War recently released from secret archives.

The project reflects the subtler side of American attempts to restore dominance in a continent the US ruling class views as its personal fiefdom.

Pentagon pushing fake news

The Intercept revealed on 2 June that a magazine named La Tilde was funded by the US government and operated:

as a military messaging platform for U.S. Special Operations Command South, or SOCSOUTH, which executes special forces missions throughout South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

The outlet even got a sort of admission from La Tilde’s spokesperson:

When asked about SOCSOUTH’s role behind La Tilde, spokesperson Trevor Wild replied with the text of the site’s About page noting that it’s a government operation, but declined to comment further.

The magazine’s mix of normal stories with supportive articles about US imperialism recalls a similar British operation from the Cold War years. That operation was run by the UK’s Special Editorial Unit (SEU), part of the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD).

It served as a:

clandestine anti-communist propaganda unit which operated in the Foreign Office between 1948 and 1977.

According to a Declassified UK investigation from 14 May 2026, SEU produced deniable (or ‘black’) propaganda. Targets included nationalist and anti-colonial movements around the world:

Anti-colonial leaders such as Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indonesia’s Sukarno, and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah were a frequent focus of British propaganda operations.

Declassified writer John McEvoy added:

Elsewhere, the SEU orchestrated propaganda campaigns on such diverse topics as fishing rights in the North Atlantic, apartheid in South Africa, and European communist parties.

Fake media organisations of yesteryear

But here is a key parallel:

Running news agencies was one of SEU’s “core activities”. These are described as “controlled outlets” in the archival material.

The fake outlets then and now mixed everyday news items with overtly political material to appear less suspicious:

In order to look like bona fide news agencies, the SEU’s “controlled outlets” fused political with “anodyne” content in order to “sweeten the pill” of the propaganda material.

These “anodyne” articles covered such issues as women’s affairs, health, sociology, geography, history, and sport.

This US’ updating of an old method combines filler AI-content about investment and travel advice mixed with openly pro-US propaganda material with headlines like:

Operation Absolute Resolve: The mission that captured Nicolás Maduro and set a new standard for precision and coordination

And:

“A rare happiness, but a real one”: Venezuelans speak about the hope that resurfaces after Nicolás Maduro’s capture.

Different fading empire, virtually identical shenanigans.

AI content, no bylines, US denials

The Intercept reported that La Tilde:

carries no bylines, masthead, or mention of actual staff of any kind. Although the site claims it employs “dozens of freelance reporters and content creators,” at least some of the site appears to have been generated by a large language model.

Adding:

Running articles through Pangram, an AI-text detection service, produced multiple hits for both English and Spanish writing either partially or entirely written by machines (though such tools are known to deliver false positives).

Former Pentagon cyber-policy adviser Emerson Brooking noted the La Tilde website’s “shoddiness” and said it was:

AI all the way down.

Brooking said:

If you can generate new content and even news fronts at the flip of a switch, your influence operations can shift target and focus much more quickly.

That seems to be the thinking behind recent AI-powered Russian and Chinese networks, for instance.

The US military denied any connection to La Tilde:

SOUTHCOM [US miltary Southern Command] “does not fund, operate, or have any official association with La Tilde,” according to spokesperson Steven McLoud, who did not respond to further questions.

And La Tilde looks to be expanding operations. The Intercept found:

An analysis of subdomains hosted on LaTilde.co reveals the site plans to launch bespoke versions for readers in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and Peru.

Propaganda wing of Trump’s American Empire

Dominance in the Americas has always been US policy. President Trump has sharpened it in the 2025 National Security Strategy. The Canary has followed this process since Trump’s 2024 re-election:

The Monroe Doctrine, many Canary readers will be aware, basically means US political and economic dominance of the continent. The ‘Donroe’ doctrine, as the new version has been called, is Trump’s typically egotistical update.

As we noted:

The US started 2026 with an attack on Venezuela and various threats against neighbours like Greenland, Canada and others. Since then, it was steered — with the help of Israel — into a war with Iran. And spent the last few months getting an arse-kicking in a dramatically failing conflict there.

However:

the Americas have not been forgotten in Trump’s vision. The US military and US intelligence have been busy while Iran took the headlines.

You can read our 30 May analysis – ‘Trump’s American empire: US operations are firing up across the continent‘ –  here. You can read the full National Security Strategy here. The new US counter-terrorism strategy also mentions uses the coded language of cartel ‘narco-terrorism’ to build consent for US hemispheric power.

Influence operations like La Tilde are the flip side of kinetic US military actions, partner training and support for Trump-aligned right-wing politicians on the continent. The Iran war will end at some point. The US ruling class will return more fully to a core competency: bullying their neighbours into submission.

Featured image via Getty/Win McNamee

By Joe Glenton

Source link

Countries including the UK failed to reach agreement at a UN nuclear conference in New York on how to eliminate nuclear weapons, while the Labour Government declined to comment despite sending a minister who spoke at the opening session.

The 11th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) took place from 27 April to 22 May, bringing together states parties, observers and non-governmental organisations. A House of Commons Library briefing published on 20 April said participants included treaty members, observers and NGOs who:

discuss[ed] the functioning of the treaty, the implementation of its provisions and the state of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation more broadly.

The briefing warned that “there are concerns that a belief in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is under threat”. This is because nuclear weapons states modernise and expand their arsenals, while at the same time these concerns grow.

There has been a move away from nuclear arms control as an enabler of confidence building and strategic stability.

The review conference — sometimes called RevCon — produced a document which remained in draft, showing what agreements on nuclear non-proliferation the parties to the treaty had attempted to reach consensus on. Paragraph 15, concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, remains contested, and the document was not ‘adopted’ by the RevCon.

Nuclear weapons conference: diplomatic reaction to failed talks

Senior UN diplomats shared their disappointment about the failure of the conference to come to an agreement at a press conference which concluded the two week event.

The Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT president, and Vietnam’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Do Hung Viet said:

I am disappointed that the review conference was unable to reach consensus on an outcome document and really seize this critical opportunity to make our world a safer place.

He added:

The current international environment, which is really marked by deep tensions and an elevated risk posed by nuclear weapons, demands very urgent action.

Throughout the conference I have appealed to all states parties [note to eds; thats not a typo, both diplomats said ‘states parties’] to continue to make full use of the available avenues for dialogue, for diplomacy, for negotiation to come to an agreement. I believe such an agreement would have contributed significantly to reducing tensions, to lowering the nuclear risks and contribute to the ultimate total elimination of the nuclear threat.

Advertisement

He went on to warn that the failure of the RevCon made him concerned about the NPT itself.

A substantive outcome would have strengthened the treaty and advanced its objectives, but in absence of such an outcome, I am concerned for the future health of treaty.

Two sides of the same coin

Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs — the most senior diplomat at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs — Izumi Nakamitsu said:

Non-proliferation and disarmament are two sides of the same coin, and it is simply wrong for nuclear weapons states to assume that nonproliferation obligations will be just adhered to without nuclear weapon states commitment and implementation of disarmament commitment under article six.

Article VI of the NPT says:

Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

However, Nakamitsu said that despite the failure of the conference to agree on an outcome document, the NPT is still in effect. She added:

There was no consensus outcome, but we all need to remember that legal commitments or legal obligations under this treaty remain. So we need to make sure that all states, especially nuclear weapons states, really understand it and then maintain their commitment. Additionally, they must really move to implement their commitments.

Labour buries head in sand over deadlock

Speaking at the start of the conference on 27 April, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office minister of state Stephen Doughty MP said:

The United Kingdom remains fully committed to the Treaty and our obligations under it, including Article Six.

He also said at the time:

The UK believes that the Treaty remains the only credible route to tackle the nuclear challenges of the decades to come […] We must use the next few weeks to unite behind it […] We want this Conference to deliver a consensus outcome that strengthens implementation of the NPT. […] Whether or not we can get there, the Treaty’s role in global security is enduring and undiminished.

“But a collective signal that, despite our differences, we can come together to restate common commitments would further strengthen it and send a powerful message.

The Canary asked the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) if it would like to comment on the failure of the conference and a spokesperson said, “we are not providing a response on this story.”

UK violating NPT given its modernisation and expansion of nuclear arsenal – CND

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt told the Canary:

Nuclear risks are growing and following the expiry of the New START Treaty between the US and Russia in February, this year’s NPT Review Conference was a critical opportunity to get disarmament efforts back on track.

In February 2026, the UK Labour Government was criticised for its lack of diplomatic action, given the UK’s status on the international stage as a nuclear weapons state, over the expiration of New START (New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty). The treaty limited the number of nuclear weapons the US and Russia could hold.

Bolt continued:

Instead, Nuclear Weapons States shamefully blocked any meaningful progress over the course of the negotiations resulting in deadlock.

It’s now been 16 years since a consensus was reached on implementing the NPT – meanwhile nuclear powers are spending over $100bn (£86bn) a year on modernising and expanding their arsenals.

Advertisement

And she added:

For nuclear powers like Britain who are signed up to the NPT, this is a violation of their commitments made under Article VI of the Treaty.

It’s telling that the British government has not commented on these failed negotiations as it prepares to announce its Defence Investment Plan, which will include funding for nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets to give the RAF a nuclear capability for the first time in almost three decades.

Nuclear-armed states ‘undermining the NPT’ and ‘pointing the world toward catastrophe’

The International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) advocates for nuclear disarmament and promotes the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Half of the UN countries support the TPNW, but no nuclear weapons-armed states have added their support.

ICAN United Nations liaison Seth Shelden said:

Our key concern has not been whether or not diplomats agree on a piece of paper, but whether or not the NPT member states are reducing risks related to nuclear weapons.

Shelden explained that risk must be central:

The surest path to eliminating the risk is eliminating the weapons, as legally required under the NPT. And the majority of countries are indeed working in good faith toward disarmament, including by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

However:

the small handful of nuclear-armed states, and certain of their allies, are undermining the NPT, frustrating disarmament efforts, expanding arsenals, and provoking proliferation, pointing the world toward catastrophe.

Featured image via Getty/Christian Bruna

By Tom Pashby

Source link

On 2 June, a white riot erupted in Southampton following inflammatory speeches from far-right figures Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson. Since then, residents in the area have spoken out about what these thugs subjected them to:

A British national living in Southampton had her car and property damaged. She said,

“I’ve never felt so unsafe in my house.”

She did not feel unsafe because of Sikhs, Muslims or migrants but because of other British nationals, a section of whom were far right. pic.twitter.com/Xj2RlZunZK

Advertisement

— Zara Hussain (@zarahussain999) June 3, 2026

Farage white riot in Southampton

As Rose Cocker reported for the Canary:

On the 2 June, far-right bigot Nigel Farage put out a statement ostensibly aiming to avoid societal dissolution in response to police treatment of murder victim Henry Nowak. Roughly 24 hours later, rioters took to the streets of Southampton to throw wheelie bins at cops.

Farage tried to despicably weaponise the murder of Nowak to incite racial hatred. He specifically called for “pure, cold rage.” Lo and behold, fellow racists rioted in Southampton, and the riots trended on social media as #FarageRiots.

Advertisement

The woman interviewed above described the situation as:

Carnage really, for four hours.

Sky News asked:

Just describe what you saw out of your windows, what was happening?

She responded:

Bricks were being thrown, a bin was set on fire and pushed through the police line. Yeah, bottles, cans. All sorts. I think a lot of walls and bins, chairs, all sorts.

Several videos captured the behaviour she’s talking about:

Dozens of bricks being thrown pic.twitter.com/VwPXkfZlmR

— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) June 2, 2026

Right-wing commentator ‘Young Bob’ willingly uploaded a video of his pals pushing a flaming bin into the police despite the fact that some of the men’s faces are visible:

Protesters are now setting dumpsters on fire and pushing bins towards the police line.

This is the sort of escalation and civil unrest that happens during mass migration. pic.twitter.com/iNyuY2ePLD

— Young Bob (@YoungBobRB) June 2, 2026

When asked how she felt witnessing all this, the woman replied:

Terrified. I’ve never felt unsafe in my house and I just wanted to get out of there, but I couldn’t.

In the video, you can see there’s a car with the back windows taped up, because bricks were thrown through it. The woman noted that in addition to the damaged car:

I think one of the walls is missing. Someone’s missing a wall.

The aforementioned Young Bob would also visit the house where Henry Nowak was arrested, trespassing on the property and filming it:

This is absolutely repulsive. https://t.co/HmakR9Aszm

— Curtis Daly (@CurtisDaly_) June 3, 2026

Bob praised the thugs for not ‘desecrating’ the house, seemingly suggesting it was acceptable for them to terrorise the neighbours.

The scourge

Reform UK politicians are doing everything they can to not criticise the marauding louts they stirred up:

OK @TiceRichard I’m going to try one more time. This really shouldn’t be hard. You keep claiming you have specifically and unequivocally condemned the violence in Southampton on social media. Fine. Just present the actual tweet or post. https://t.co/JUGfma5LGj

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 4, 2026

Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, meanwhile, described the pissed-up Nazis who rampaged through Southampton as “patriots”:

I do not want to see patriots thrown in prison because they've had a beer or two, got fired up and acted stupid in the heat of the moment.

The state will make an example of you – they will show no mercy. Your life will be ruined.

Do not attack the police. Be smart. Stay calm.

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) June 4, 2026

Advertisement

Britain now has a firmly established far-right movement that constitutes political parties in Westminster and a violent street movement. In other words, it’s starting to look at lot like 1930s Germany.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

Jewish Peaceniks UK will erect a large tent on London’s Southbank from 1pm on Thursday 11 June. The tent will bear messages concerning the children of Gaza. And a main banner will read: GAZA’S CHILDREN STILL IN HELL.

Attached on either side of the tent will be washing lines with children’s clothes and tea towels. On them will be messages to the public and to the UK government.

Some of the children’s clothes will be bloodied, small trousers will have a leg cut off to indicate amputation.

Inside the tent will be photo images of children from Gaza and a soundscape of the poignant things they have been saying to their families. Gazan theatre artist Hossam Madhoun has collected these. Here are some examples:

• Do children who have their legs amputated grow new legs?
• Do the Israeli pilots who bomb children have children?
• When a missile hits us, do we feel pain or die immediately?

Approximately 10,750 Gazan children have sustained life-changing injuries and 3,800 Gazan children are currently still waiting for a medical evacuation (World Health Organisation May 2026).

In 2025 the UK government pledged to allow 300 children to come here for medical treatment. To date no more than 50 child patients have arrived.

Visitors to the tent will be able to sign a postcard to prime minister Keir Starmer. It urges him to allow entry of a much more significant number of the most seriously injured children. Jewish Peaceniks UK hopes to deliver this by hand to 10 Downing Street.

The group will confirm the exact location of the tent on 10 June.

Jewish Peaceniks UK

Jewish Peaceniks UK is a grassroots organisation of older Jewish women – mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers – who curate events to highlight what is being perpetrated against the Palestinian population in Gaza and beyond.

A key part of its mission as a Jewish group is to communicate to the UK public that condemning Israel for its crimes against humanity and its ongoing genocide is not antisemitic.

Some of the group are children of parents persecuted by the Nazi regime, who are particularly devastated to be witnessing acts of dehumanisation and genocide being perpetrated by a Jewish state created in the wake of the Holocaust.

Since September 2023 Jewish Peaceniks UK has mounted four public actions, the first a silent performance piece on the Southbank illustrating the abuse of Palestinian prisoners. And the group has raised £10,000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians and two other charities through film screening events.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

By The Canary

Source link

Wings has today sent the following letter to the named recipients.

—————————————————————————–

The Chief Constable
Police Scotland
5 Fettes Avenue
Edinburgh
EH4 1RB

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA

Advertisement

4 June 2026

.

Dear Chief Constable and Crown Office,

RE: REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION — ALLEGED
MISAPPROPRIATION OF RING-FENCED POLITICAL DONATIONS

Advertisement

I write to request that Police Scotland/COPFS open a criminal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds donated to the Scottish National Party (SNP) on the basis that those funds would be held and applied for a specific, designated purpose.

THE FACTS

Between 14 March 2017 and the summer of 2020, the SNP solicited donations from the public, representing — expressly and repeatedly — that the funds raised would be ring-fenced and applied exclusively for the purposes of a future independence referendum campaign.

Those representations were made through two dedicated websites (ref.scot and yes.scot), direct mail, press statements, social media, a video from the then-First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and so on, and were a material inducement to donors. The SNP insisted in 2017 that this money would “only be used for the specific purpose of a referendum campaign”.

Advertisement

It is now clear — and, given public pronouncements by the current First Minister over the last few days, not seriously disputed — that the funds so raised, totalling in excess of £600,000, were not applied for that purpose (ie a referendum campaign).

They were instead used as, to quote the current First Minister, “part of the ongoing activities of the Scottish National Party”. It goes without saying, I should have thought, that there is a material difference between a referendum campaign (which might be the aim of many people, regardless of political affiliation) and “the ongoing activities of the SNP”.

GROUNDS FOR INVESTIGATION

I respectfully submit that the following offences fall to be considered:

Advertisement

1. Fraud (Scots common law)

If those responsible knew, at the time of soliciting donations, that the ring-fencing representation was false or that they did not intend to honour it, then the donations were obtained by fraud. The elements — a false pretence, made to induce a practical result, which did so induce — are plainly engaged. It is clear that a false representation of present intention will suffice for fraud: Richards v H. M. Advocate 1971 JC 29.

2. Theft by Appropriation

Even if the original intention to ring-fence was genuine, the subsequent deliberate decision to divert the funds for an unauthorised purpose may constitute theft by appropriation under Scots law. The donors’ proprietary interest in the application of their money to the stated purpose survived donation. The decision to override that interest without donors’ consent constitutes the necessary appropriation.

The law is clear that “the appropriation of goods by the person to whom they have been entrusted for a limited and specified purpose constitutes theft”: see O’Brien v Strathern 1922 JC 55. It does not matter if the appropriation is temporary (ie it is no defence to say that the ring-fenced funds will be paid back): as soon as appropriation occurred, the crime was complete. A repentant thief who returns stolen property remains a thief, liable to be convicted as such: Carmichael v Black 1992 SLT 897.

3. Embezzlement

I am not here talking about the actions of Mr Murrell, which have been fully aired of late. Rather, I am talking about the disposal of the “ring-fenced” funds, which can now clearly be seen to have been used for purposes other than those for which they were donated.

Scots law is clear that the ingathering of funds for an express purpose will result in the creation of a trust consisting of those funds. In the very recent case of Harper Macleod LLP [2026] CSIH 26, the Court cited with approval the comments of Lord Deas in Connell v Ferguson (1857) 19D 482 at 487:

“Where parties join in a subscription to effect a particular object, and place the money subscribed in the hands of certain persons to carry out that object, I think the quasi trust, thereby created, is for the alternative purpose of either carrying out the object of the subscription, or, if that cannot be done, of paying back the money.”

Those responsible for the custody and management of donated funds thus occupied a position of trust in relation to the donors. If there was a deliberate and dishonest decision to apply trust funds to an unauthorised purpose, that constitutes fraudulent breach of trust, which in turns amounts to the offence of embezzlement under Scots common law: see Moore v HMA [2010] HCJAC 26.

The same case shows that, once more, even temporary appropriation will suffice (as the fact that some of the money had been repaid in that case was held not to amount to a defence).

Advertisement

4. False or Misleading Statements

If, following the decision to divert the funds, responsible persons continued publicly to represent that the ring-fence remained intact, those continuing representations may themselves constitute fraud by false pretence, with the relevant mens rea attaching at the point each such representation was made.

STATEMENT OF JOHN SWINNEY, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND, 3 JUNE 2026

Yesterday, 3 June 2026, Mr John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister, publicly confirmed for the first time that the ring-fenced referendum funds had been applied to the general ongoing activities of the party.

Swinney says £660,000 independence fund used on SNP ‘objectives’

This admission post-dates the conclusion of the prosecution of Mr Peter Murrell and constitutes new evidence directly bearing on the questions posed above.

Advertisement

I draw particular attention to the distinction between Mr Murrell’s personal embezzlement — which has been the subject of prosecution — and the separate question of whether those responsible for SNP party finances deliberately and dishonestly applied the ring-fenced donations to purposes outwith the stated purpose, without donors’ knowledge or consent.

Mr Swinney’s statement yesterday confirms the latter occurred. Whether it was dishonest, and who bears criminal responsibility, is a matter for investigation.

.

KEY EVIDENTIAL QUESTIONS

Advertisement

I respectfully draw the following matters to investigators’ attention as central to any inquiry:

— The precise date on which a decision was made to apply the funds otherwise than for the ring-fenced purpose, and who made that decision;

— Whether any public statements affirming the ring-fence continued to be made after that decision was taken;

— The party’s accounting records for the relevant period, and how the funds were recorded and categorised;

Advertisement

— Any internal communications — emails, messages, minutes — bearing on the decision to divert.

.

I appreciate that the question of if and when criminal intent crystallised is a matter for investigation and, ultimately, for the Crown. However, the public facts as presently known are sufficient, in my submission, to warrant a formal investigation.

If I were to “crowdfund” money on the basis that I needed it to pay for legal expenses to defend a claim which I said was threatened against me, that would be fraud if there was, in fact, no such threatened claim. And if there was such a threatened claim which, once crowdfunding was complete, was then abandoned, it would have been theft (certainly) or embezzlement (probably) if I had then used the money to go on holiday.

Advertisement

The situation of the SNP is no different from that imagined scenario. Police Scotland would have no difficulty in investigating me in such circumstances, and by parity of reasoning they should have no such difficulty here.

I should be grateful if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter and advise me of the reference number assigned to this complaint.

Yours etc

Rev. Stuart Campbell

Advertisement

Source link

Over 2-3 June, Microsoft workers with No Azure for Apartheid have led protests and disruptions on land, sea, and air, of the flagship annual Build conference. It’s the third year in a row that they’ve protested Microsoft’s participation in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.

The disruptions protested the sale of cloud and AI technologies to the Israeli military and government to fuel occupation, apartheid, and genocide in Palestine and the war in Iran and Lebanon.

On Tuesday 2 June, the first day of the conference, protesters held a rally and speaker programme starting at 8am Pacific Time, outside of Fort Mason, where the conference was taking place. Participants at the rally chanted and chalked messages calling for a Free Palestine and for Microsoft to cut ties with Israel.

Later, starting at 11am, a plane commissioned by No Azure for Apartheid and Eko Movement began circling above the venue, trailing a banner that read “MSFT powers genocide.” The plane flew for two hours, visible to conference attendees.

A group of protesters reconvened at a public hill adjacent to the venue at 12.30pm, where they hoisted a banner reading “Microsoft powers genocide” and “cut ties with Israel now.” Protesters chanted “Microsoft you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” and “say it loud, say it clear, Microsoft is a war profiteer.”

On Wednesday 3 June, the second day of the conference, No Azure for Apartheid and community members took to the water in kayaks to once again disrupt the conference. At around 8.15am, protesters in kayaks waved Palestinian flags and were heard throughout the venue chanting “Microsoft have some shame.” The kayaks paddled away starting at 9am, chanting “Microsoft you will learn, in our millions we’ll return!”

Microsoft’s violent security

Consistent with past actions, Microsoft security responded with violence, intimidation, and repression. On 2 June, while holding a banner calling out Microsoft’s crimes overlooking Fort Mason, former Microsoft worker Patrick Fort, who resigned in protest in November 2025 after disrupting the keynote speech at Microsoft’s Ignite conference, was approached then shoved by Microsoft security.

Despite being the ones to assault Patrick, security falsely claimed to police that the protesters initiated physical contact. Patrick was detained following these lies, but was later released after it became clear the security account was false. Protesters then continued hoisting their banner and chanting.

Meanwhile, on 3 June, as former Microsoft worker Abdo Mohamed, who got the sack in October 2024 for organising a vigil for Palestine, was giving a speech on the water, Microsoft attempted to drown him out by raising the volume of the music playing in the outdoor venue.

This did not stop conference attendees from taking notice of the protest on the water, with many capturing photos and videos.

Despite both silencing attempts, workers with No Azure for Apartheid made it clear that no violence or repression will intimidate them or stop them from protesting Microsoft.

Repeated protests against Microsoft Build

Protests targeting Microsoft for its complicity in genocide expanded beyond San Francisco. At Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, street art appeared at the NE 40th St exit off of SR 520 headed east, reading “FREE PALI” and “MSFT: DROP ISRL”.

The recent protests on June 2-3 are the latest in a series of actions spanning two years. Microsoft workers are leading the campaign to pressure Microsoft to cancel its contracts with the Israeli military, including conference disruptions and employee protests.

No Azure for Apartheid is continuing its unrelenting pressure on Microsoft to permanently cut all ties with the Israeli military by protesting Build for the third year in a row.

During last year’s Build, held over four days in Seattle, No Azure for Apartheid organised protests every single day of the conference, including disrupting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote address and holding a march through downtown Seattle to the Seattle Convention Center.

This year, Microsoft has chosen to move Build to San Francisco and shorten the conference to two days.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

Source link