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Keir Starmer Warns Irans Missiles Can Reach London

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Keir Starmer Warns Irans Missiles Can Reach London

Iranian long-range missiles now have the capability of hitting London, Keir Starmer has been warned.

It comes after Tehran targeted Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, 3,800 kilometres from Iran’s capital, with two missiles.

One was intercepted by a US warship, with the other failing in flight.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that showed Iran is now able to target major European capitals

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“We have been saying it: the Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat,” they said. “Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”

Diego Garcia houses a joint UK-US military base, and has has been used as a launchpad for American operations in the Middle East for years.

It has a large airfield, major fuel storage facilities, radar installations and a deep-water port and is home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel.

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the “reckless” Iranian attack, but insisted the UK was not involved in America’s “offensive” strikes on Tehran.

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She said: “We want to see as swift as possible a resolution to this conflict. Our approach to this conflict has been the same throughout.

“We were not and continue not to be involved in offensive action, and we’ve taken a different view from the US and Israel on this.

“But we are supporting defensive action to support our interests. That includes recognising Iran’s escalating threats to international shipping, as well as their threats to our Gulf partners.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was time for Starmer to “come clean”.

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She said: “Now we find out, from the media and not the prime minister, that the British base on Diego Garcia has been the target of Iranian missile attacks.

“As we saw with Peter Mandelson, Starmer’s first instinct is always to cover up the truth.

“On Wednesday he attacked me at PMQs for calling for the proper defence of our bases, now we learn that as he did so our base in the Chagos Islands was being targeted by Iran.

“The prime minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner.”

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The Other Bennet Sister: More Jane Austen Adaptations Coming In 2026

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The stars of Netflix's new Pride & Prejudice adaptation

It is a truth universally acknowledged that, almost as often as writers pinch Jane Austen’s most famous opening line, new adaptations must join the already hefty pile.

And this is especially true at the present moment, after last year marked the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth. While most of us settle for a bottle of pinot down the pub, for Austen, the celebrations of her semiquincentennial include a fresh Hollywood movie and the Netflix treatment for a fan-favourite novel.

The latest spin on Austen’s work is the new BBC series The Other Bennet Sister, which taps into the POV of the sidelined Pride & Prejudice sister, Mary.

Starring Ruth Jones as Mrs Bennet and Call The Midwife actor Ella Bruccoleri as the titular character, many fans have already torn through the series and are on the hunt for more where that came from.

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If that sounds familiar, you may well be looking for your next Austen fix right now. Luckily, there’s plenty to look forward to this year – here’s what else you can look forward to getting stuck into…

Netflix’s Pride & Prejudice is coming to our screens soon

The stars of Netflix's new Pride & Prejudice adaptation
The stars of Netflix’s new Pride & Prejudice adaptation

After recruiting Dakota Johnson for a tepidly-received film version of Jane Austen’s 1817 novel Persuasion, Netflix is having another go at bringing Austen’s work to life on screen.

This time around, Everything I Know About Love author Dolly Alderton has written a six-part TV adaptation of Pride & Prejudice that will arrive at a currently undisclosed date later this year.

The Crown’s Emma Corrin will play Elizabeth Bennet while Slow Horses star Jack Lowden will follow in Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen’s footsteps to portray Mr Darcy.

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Meanwhile, Olivia Colman and Rufus Sewell will play Mrs and Mr Bennett, respectively, with Heartstopper’s Rhea Norwood and Industry’s Freya Mavor also appearing as Lydia and Jane Bennett.

The star-studded series will also include appearances from Daryl McCormack, Jamie Demetriou, Louis Partridge and Black Mirror’s Siena Kelly.

Describing Pride & Prejudice as the “blueprint for romantic comedy”, Dolly has teased what we can expect “both familiar and fresh” ideas in her take on Austen’s classic.

“In it lies the opportunity to examine the complexities of love, family, friendship, and society, while aspiring to Austen’s delightfully observational voice,” she enthused.

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Another Hollywood spin on one of Jane Austen’s most popular books is also in the works

If you’re more in the market for a big screen-adaptation, there’s also a new Sense And Sensibility movie on the way this September.

Austen’s 1811 novel centres on the Dashwood sisters, after they and their widowed mother have become destitute following the death of their father, resulting in them moving to a modest cottage on their cousin’s estate.

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Naturally, being an Austen novel, the sisters also navigate suitors of varying morals and suitability.

The 2026 adaptation is led by BAFTA-nominated Blue Jean director Georgia Oakley, with Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones and Hanna star Esmé Creed-Miles starring as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood.

Meanwhile, George MacKay, Fiona Shaw, Caitríona Balfe and Frank Dillane are also in the cast.

The 2026 adaptation is the first major take on Austen’s novel since Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation, featuring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, which picked up seven Oscar nominations and 12 Bafta nods at the time.

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What about a season 2 of The Other Bennet Sister?

Unfortunately, that’s not looking likely.

Laurie Davidson and Ella Bruccoleri in The Other Bennet Sister
Laurie Davidson and Ella Bruccoleri in The Other Bennet Sister

The TV series is adapted from Janice Hadlow’s book of the same name, with the events of pretty much the whole novel being covered over the course of the 10 episodes.

Screenwriter Sarah Quintrell did tell Radio Times that she would “love to do more” shows like The Other Bennet Sister, but clarified that she meant “more stories taking a different angle” on classic tales we already know and love, rather than specifically more shows set in the Pride & Prejudice universe.

There’s also a spruced-up Pride & Prejudice audiobook you can enjoy right now

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If it’s even more stars you’re after, perhaps you’d be interested in the revamped audiobook of Pride & Prejudice, which features a bunch of the biggest new acting names as well as a few legends.

Alright, so technically this was released in 2025, but we reckon it’s new enough to pique your interest if you’re still coming off the Other Bennett Sister high.

Audible’s reading of the novel sees Industry star Marisa Abela take on the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet, with Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson joining her as Mr Darcy.

Elsewhere, Will Poulter voices Mr Wickham, while Oscar-winner Jessie Buckley is Caroline Bingley, Glenn Close stars as Lady Catherine De Bourgh, and Mr and Mrs Bennett are played by Bill Nighy and Marianne Jean-Baptiste

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The Other Bennet Sister is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.

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‘Wow Method’: What To Tell Kids When They Say They’re Bored

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'Wow Method': What To Tell Kids When They Say They're Bored

If there’s one statement parents have probably heard a lot these past two weeks, it’s “I’m bored” – usually with the added request of “will you play with me?” tagged onto the end.

But often we’re working, or trying to catch up on an admin list that’s as long as our arm (and the rest), or doing chores, so it’s not always possible to down tools and get stuck in.

While turning the TV on or handing over an iPad can feel like a simple fix (hey, we’ve all been there), experts are increasingly nudging parents to try and reduce kids’ screen time where possible.

So, if your children say they’re bored, how’s best to respond?

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Get them thinking about what they want to learn

Yes, there’s the age-old classic of: “Great, grab the vacuum!”

But children’s author Ty Allan Jackson suggests you could say something along the lines of: “Wow. That’s awesome. What a great opportunity for you to be creative.”

And then he suggests you ask them a simple question: “What is something you wish you knew how to do?”

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In a reel on Instagram, the TedX Presenter said: “That question will get them thinking and give you directions on how to entertain them, or better yet, on how they can entertain themselves.”

Of course, there’s every possibility they’ll respond with a shrug or an “I don’t know.”

But some parents have found it successful. One user, known as @mom.outofoffice, said she tried the ‘Wow method’ with her daughter and, admittedly, the first time she asked the question her daughter “just stared” at her.

“But then she said she wanted to learn how to use the coffee machine. We tried it together, and soon she was making it by herself,” said the parent. “Before I knew it… she had turned our kitchen into a full-on coffee shop. And wow… it became one of her favourite ways to play.”

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Boredom is good for kids (yes, really)

Neuroscientist Alicia Walf, a researcher in the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, told Forbes boredom is critical for brain health, noting it can improve social connections and foster creativity, too.

According to psychiatrist and author Dr Carl Marci, letting your kids figure out how to keep boredom at bay could be far more beneficial than stepping in for them.

When his children tell him he’s bored, he’ll urge them to go and figure out how to deal with it – but without technology or something connected to the internet.

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“They get mad at me,” Dr Marci previously told HuffPost UK, “but after a few minutes, they start to creatively solve their problems or distract themselves with social interaction or play.”

Bring on the summer holidays…

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Filton 24 organiser arrested again

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Filton 24 organiser arrested again

Police have today, 11 April 2026, arrested Lisa Minerva Luxx under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. Luxx is a spokesperson for the ‘Filton 24 Defence Committee’ working to free Palestine Action activists imprisoned without trial for almost two years.

Filton 24 organiser arrested

The High Court ruled the government’s terrorism ban on Palestine Action unlawful. The government is appealing the decision, but the Filton 24 prisoners were arrested before the ban and are not charged with terrorism offences. Several have been acquitted and were granted bail while the Starmer regime tries to re-prosecute. At least one, former hunger striker Qesser Zuhrah, was rearrested shortly after being granted bail.

The Filton 24 ‘Defend and Mobilise’ support group said:

This state harassment comes just two days before the retrial of six of the Filton24 defendants.

Being detained under Schedule 7 means counter-terror police can interrogate for hours, without the right to say ‘no comment’.

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The circumstances of the arrest have not been confirmed. However, it appears that Luxx was arrested while entering or leaving the UK. The ‘counterterrorism policing’ website says of Schedule 7:

Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 provides police officers with unique powers to examine people who pass through the United Kingdom’s borders. It allows them to stop, question and when necessary, search and detain individuals and goods travelling through the UK’s borders to determine whether they may be involved or concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

The Starmer government has frequently used Schedule 7 against journalists and others to interrogate them without legal representation and because of its provisions making it a criminal offence to refuse to disclose passwords. Border police have used it for harassment and for ‘fishing expeditions’ to go through a journalist’s or activist’s contacts and communications. Some have refused to disclose passwords but no one has yet been prosecuted for it.

Featured image via the Canary

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Your Party have endorsed an ex-Tory for the local elections

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Your Party have endorsed an ex-Tory for the local elections

On 4 April, we covered the accusation that Your Party’s Jeremy Corbyn had endorsed three ex-Tories in the upcoming local elections. As we reported at the time, Your Party (YP) and Corbyn denied that they’d endorsed these men, but the situation was clearly more complicated than they cared to admit.

Now — a week later — we’re reporting on the accusation that YP have endorsed three ex-Tories in the upcoming local elections.

But for clarity’s sake, that’s three entirely different ex-Tories.

Because apparently we’re stuck in some sort of Groundhog Day-type scenario:

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The difference this time is not all of these men are independents; Obaydul Kabir is a “Your Party Candidate”.

The other difference is that not all of three of these men are running in the 2026 local elections as far as we can tell.

As we’ll get into, things are once again a bit of a mess.

Obaydul Kabir

Obaydul Kabir is named on the Your Party list of endorsed independents:

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It’s easy to confirm that Kabir was a Conservative because his old posts are still up on his Facebook. The following is what he’s posting now:

These posts, meanwhile, are from 2022:

Fair play to him; Your Party’s man does not abide fly tipping.

Garbage aside, Kabir was a certified Tory, and yet Your Party have endorsed him.

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Embarrassingly, they’ve done so despite all the controversy last week; controversy which should have given them the kick up the arse needed to stop this happening.

Currently, we can’t say if the endorsement happened because they don’t care or because they think ‘vetting‘ is something that happens to pets. We did send them a right of reply at 9:00am Saturday 11 April, but at the time of publishing they hadn’t responded.

Graham Sheldon

First things first, here’s the list of independent groups endorsed by Your Party as of today’s date (11 April):

Your Party

Using the Wayback Machine, we can see this list looked pretty different on 8 April:

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Your Party

Looking into Graham Sheldon, we can see that he’s currently a Saddleworth South councillor, with his party listed as ‘Oldham Group’ (he’s also listed on the Oldham Group page). Despite listing him as part of the Oldham Group, his council page states the following (presumably he forgot to update it):

On why Sheldon is no longer a Tory, the BBC wrote this in January 2025:

The leader of Oldham Council’s Conservative group has resigned after police were called following a heated council meeting.

The meeting on 18 December had to be adjourned after members of the public and councillors hurled abuse at each other following a debate about housing and planning.

Councillor Graham Sheldon, who has stepped down both as leader and as a member of the Conservative group, said he believed “the actions of two members of my group caused the mayhem and deterioration of the meeting”.

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“Mayhem and deterioration” were the Tories’ mission statement when they were in power, so we don’t know what he was complaining about.

That aside, Sheldon was a Tory, and Your Party were — at one point — endorsing his group.

Here’s the thing, though; we’re not sure Sheldon is running in this year’s elections. Oldham Times lists all of the councillors running, and Sheldon isn’t on there (despite several of his Oldham Group comrades appearing). He’s also not listed on Who Can I Vote For?.

Fair’s fair, it doesn’t seem to be accurate to say that YP have endorsed the ex-Tory Graham Sheldon for the 2026 local elections.

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It is, however, accurate to say that YP briefly endorsed an independent group which included him (although they don’t seem to endorse them anymore).

Confusing stuff, anyway!

And it all could have been avoided if Your Party had vetted its own candidates instead of throwing its support behind independents.

We don’t know who needs to hear this, but ‘independent’ is not a synonym for ‘socialist’.

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Mohammed Adnan

For this feller, we’re once again looking at the Your Party-endorsed community groups. YP listed the following group on 8 April:

Pendle Community Independents

As with the Oldham Group, however, Pendle are no longer listed on the endorsement list.

On the Pendle Borough Council website, this collective is referred to as the ‘Independent Group‘. From their Facebook, however, we can see that the Pendleton Community Independents and the Pendleton Independent Group are one and the same.

On his journey from Tory to independent, we can see that Adnan took issue with the PM in 2022, as reported by Burnley Express:

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Southfield and Marsden ward councillor Mohammed Adnan has resigned as a Conservative councillor and joined the Labour group on Pendle Council.

Coun. Adnan explained that he had become tired of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and accused his former Pendle Conservative colleagues of not speaking up.

More of that notorious mayhem and deterioration, we see.

In his own words, Adnan said:

Over the past 12 months I have like many local people become tired of the manner in which Boris Johnson and the Conservatives have lurched from crisis to crisis at the expense of hard-working people in my ward.

Unfortunately, the Pendle Conservatives leadership have decided not to speak up against the wrong and damaging decisions made by their government which they appear to be happy to implement. I believe the Labour Party offer the hope we need in Pendle.

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We’re not sure when Adnan quit Labour for the Community Independents, but did end up in the group – a group which Your Party would later briefly endorse.

As was the case with Sheldon, however, Adnan is not listed as a candidate for the 2026 local elections.

So all in all, Your Party seem to have endorsed just one ex-Tory in the upcoming elections.

As we’re sure any YP member will tell you, though, that’s one ex-Tory too many.

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Other updates from Your Party

On 4 April, we covered the accusation that Jeremy Corbyn had endorsed the Walsall Community Independents — a group which included three ex-Tories (or would include three ex-Tories — the timeline was hard to pin down).

At the time, we said that endorsing independent candidates and groups which don’t have to align with YP politics would cause problems. Now, a week later, we’ve been proven entirely correct.

This is what Your Party told us last week:

Neither Jeremy nor Your Party has endorsed these candidates in Walsall. Any suggestion otherwise should be immediately corrected.

No permission has been given for Jeremy’s name to be used on any individual candidate’s leaflet.

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As we reported:

  • Corbyn spoke at a Walsall Community Independents Group meeting at which the ex-Tories were present.
  • The Walsall Community Independents promoted this meeting online and claimed that Corbyn was supporting them in the upcoming local elections.
  • No one at Your Party or Team Corbyn seemed to take issue with this claim.

Since then, further evidence has come out that Your Party did indeed endorse the Walsall Community Independents:

Independents will keep embarrassing YP as long as the party keeps endorsing them, because these footloose and fancy-free politicians are independent from having to give a shit.

Your Party — Clown-show

As we said last week, we don’t think that Corbyn was introduced to the three ex-Tory councillors and immediately started rubbing his hands together with glee at the prospect of endorsing them. At the same time, YP’s insistence on backing independents is quite clearly doomed to these sorts of embarrassing outcomes — especially when combined with a lax attitude towards vetting.

We’re sure people would prefer that we keep looking the other way, but we’re not going to do that. The left has won the argument at this point; what we need to achieve next is competence.

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In other words, don’t turn up in a clown car if you don’t want us to start whistling circus music.

Featured image via Obaydul Kabir (Facebook)

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US warplane hammered in Ireland

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US warplane hammered in Ireland

A direct action activist in Ireland has used a hammer to damage a US warplane on the tarmac in Shannon airport. While posturing as opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza and US assistance for Israeli aggression, the Dublin government has allowed continued US use of Irish airports to supply Israel and attack peaceful nations.

Just last week, Irish anti-genocide activists called for “more actively disruptive protests” against Ireland’s collaboration in US crimes. Today, 11 April 2026, they appear to have got their wish as footage posted by Irish anti-Zionist ‘Páddafi’ shows the black-clad protester hammering away at the stabilisers of the military transport aircraft:

The US warplane in question had been identified this morning, after its overnight arrival in Shannon, by the ‘Shannonwatch’ human rights group:

The Irish government — and the craven Starmer regime in the UK — must stop enabling US wars of aggression and equipping of genocide.

Featured image via the Canary

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Farage gives energy bill prize to his friends

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Farage gives energy bill prize to his friends

People on social media have noticed that the winners of Nigel Farage’s energy bill prize are the same people pictured with the Reform leader at a Brexit party rally in 2019:

There’s more to it

While this is interesting, it may be a coincidence. There are other important points to consider. Reform have offered a lottery (where the winning household gets last years’ annual energy bill paid) that may amount to the electoral offences of ‘treating’ or a ‘bribe’, as pointed out by Karl Turner MP. Under the 1983 Representation of the People’s Act, it is an offence to offer money in order to influence someone’s vote.

On top of that, the gimmick shows that Reform have little to offer the country. Instead of dropping energy bills nationwide through public ownership, the party is giving everyone who enters the lottery false hope. That’s because only one household will actually win. And the winners turned out to be longterm Farage loyalists.

Such a lottery is a con job — like the whole gambling industry. That industry is only profitable because the odds are highly stacked against the player. Indeed, Farage has long spoken in favour of the gambling industry. In 2025, at Reform’s business conference, he said:

What I would say about the high street is that one of the things that does still survive is the bookmaker shop – which actually, for a lot of lonely people, is a place they can go in and meet people.

Farage’s current system is a gamble of birthright

It’s no wonder that Farage is pro-gambling because the addictive process is emblematic of the neoliberal capitalist system he supports. The system we live under is largely a lottery of birthright whereby, in the UK alone, 60% of private wealth is inherited.

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And is it possible for most people to take ownership of their labour through their own business? No: 90% of bank lending goes to finance or inflating the price of pre-existing assets, rather than enabling small businesses to thrive. Also, 85% of start ups initially rely on personal capital, most of which is inherited, while 43% of 500 surveyed business founders have said they started their venture with family wealth.

Neoliberal capitalism is largely a gamble of birthright. And private-schooled Farage wants to uphold his position within it through pretending to be an anti-establishment counter offer.

Featured image via the Canary

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Why Gen Z girls are so anxious

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Why Gen Z girls are so anxious

The post Why Gen Z girls are so anxious appeared first on spiked.

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Lough Neagh pollution resurfaces as new factory farm looms

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Lough Neagh

A user of the Bloomin’ Algae app has reported the year’s first sighting of blue-green algae at Lough Neagh, a reminder that the pollution crisis on the water body is not yet averted. The app is used for:

…reporting the presence of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. The app helps speed up public health warnings about harmful algal blooms and can help teach you how to recognise the risks to you, children and animals.

It lists the dangers of the substance as:

…skin rashes, eye irritations, vomiting and diarrhoea, fever and pains in muscles and joints.

It further states:

Blue-green algae have caused the deaths of dogs, horses, cattle, birds and fish across the UK.

You can see the user’s image below:

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Lough Neagh

The photo shows growth that might not look like much at the moment. However, once it expands, the vast coating of green sludge can appear like something from a horror film, choking marine life around it.

The lough, which is the largest freshwater body in Europe, has been devastated by the toxic algae in recent years. Polluting agro-business has been a key contributor following huge expansion since 2010. This includes a 72% increase in pig and poultry production in the decade that followed that year.

Lough Neagh — Plans for vast new factory farm

Politicians had for years been relaxed about the resulting vast torrent of shit these factory farms pump into local rivers and lakes. This has ultimately ended up in the lough, with the subsequent wreckage done to an area of considerable beauty which is home to a large variety of wildlife.

The spotting of the algae comes as architects have submitted to Mid Ulster District Council proposals for a vast new mass murder facility near the lough. The proposal calls for a torture and death camp that will house 49,000 chickens in likely atrocious conditions.

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People Before Profit (PBP) have launched a campaign aimed at blocking the abomination. They say:

Lough Neagh is already in a state of crisis, poisoned by effluent from existing factory farms which have been proven time and time again to bring pollution and other ecological harm.

Another major factory farm with capacity for nearly 50,000 chickens is now being planned beside the Lough. Out of around 25,000 active farms in the north, this new development would be in the top 1% of largest farms.

A giant factory farm like this, holding 49,000 chickens (9,000 over the factory farm threshold) would likely bring stink, pain and pollution to the shores of Lough Neagh.

They go on to quote a resident near another planned factory farm, who said:

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This isn’t an extension or someone looking to build a garage, this is a major industrial complex on my back door.

Council also approved expansion of genocidal warplane production

PBP conclude by citing another recent planning scandal in the area, the go-ahead to expand manufacture of F-35 warplanes:

In 2025, Mid Ulster Council approved an extension to Moyola PE, manufacturer of F-35 parts, the same planes bombing Iran and Palestine. Those in charge in Stormont and local councils must take responsibility for the harm that happens on our doorstep due to their decision-making.

The council appear to like the idea of having on their doorstep facilities that enable mass death and destruction. Any supposed economic benefits of such factories do not justify the harms done to animals, the environment and people both here and in West Asia.

The Irish Times reports that:

…the developer, a local farmer, has included in the plans promises litter from the birds wilvvvl be collected and then delivered to Moy Park’s anaerobic digester plants and used to produce energy.

It’s common for plans to be watered down in favour of developers as construction on large projects proceeds, so local residents would be wise to take little notice of this. It also fails to address concerns over animal welfare and the stench such vile facilities produce.

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People Before Profit have launched a petition and email campaign for those opposed to the plans. Given Lough Neagh is one of Ireland’s most cherished natural features, it is in everyone’s interest that this literal shitshow is shut down before it begins.

Featured image via Rics

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Mandelson should to be fined for public peeing

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Mandelson should to be fined for public peeing

Kensington and Chelsea council in London has said it “just can’t find an address” to issue disgraced former minister and senior Starmer adviser Peter Mandelson with a fine for public urination.

Right.

Mandelson was photographed peeing in the street after a “late night visit to the home of former Conservative chancellor George Osborne”. There’s no surprise Mandelson was with a blue version of a fellow Tory — he has been leaking information to Osborne since at least 2008. Now he’s leaking something else, but similar.

It’s rather more surprising that the council’s excuse for not issuing the £300 fine is that it “can’t find” where to send it, since Mandelson has at least two homes — and they were both raided only months ago as part of the state-hampered criminal probe into his leaking of insider-trading information to serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein.

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Even more surprising when ‘msm’ hacks were able to find at least one of them with no trouble at all to snap photos of Mandelson’s lawyer leaving after the police raid.

Mandelson’s impunity from real consequences continues, just a couple of weeks after the Starmer government decided it wouldn’t demand WhatsApp messages between Mandelson and his disgraced protégé Morgan McSweeney and other fellow horrors.

Go figure.

Featured image via Reddit

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Your Party identity crisis

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Your Party identity crisis

As several Your Party (YP) members have reported, a leaked motion shows that YP have plans to pass a motion which will lead to the expulsion of socialist members. Or it does if it’s real, anyway. We asked YP to confirm at 9:00am on Saturday 11 April, and they still haven’t got back to us.

Among those who have spoken out are CEC members Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi and Zarah Sultana:

Your Party — The dual membership issue

Weekly Worker reported the following on the alleged motion:

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The issue of dual membership has proven to be a controversial for YP. This is despite members voting overwhelmingly in favour of it at the conference, as we reported on 30 November:

Following on from the expulsion of some Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) members from Your Party in recent days, the Your Party conference has just confirmed that its members have voted resoundingly in favour of allowing dual membership.

Regardless of the party’s reasons for expelling some SWP voices from the conference, the visible division provided an unnecessary distraction from a conference full of energy and excitement about building a socialist movement rooted in the working class and focused on community organising and engagement. And this was a way for members to show how they felt about it.

Of the full Your Party members who had verified their identities before the vote (under half of the membership of 50,000+), only 42.5% participated. But with an overwhelming majority, it was a clear statement about the need for as much unity as possible on the left. And when former MP Claudia Webbe announced the result, the room was full of applause.

Factionalism

The dual membership issue is a dividing line between Grassroots Left (Zarah Sultana’s faction) and the Many (Jeremy Corbyn’s faction).

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Speaking on the divide between the factions in the runup to the February CEC elections, the Canary’s Maddison Wheeldon wrote:

Your Party is currently gearing up for its upcoming Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections on 26 February.

This marks a crucial step in establishing the new political party’s structures. These elections are integral to enabling branches across the country to formally constitute, allowing them to organise effectively and campaign on local and national issues within their communities. However, recent revelations appear to confirm members’ concerns that socialism and genuine democracy are inconvenient obstacles for those who currently hold the reins – and the party’s resources.

Verified evidence seen by the Canary raises serious concerns that Jeremy Corbyn is allowing ally Karie Murphy to exert undue control over internal democratic processes. Far from uniting socialists as promised, these developments appear to confirm long-held fears that grassroots members are being frozen out unless they belong to ‘Jeremy’s team’.

Should YP ban dual membership, it would be a sign that these socialists were right to worry.

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In another sign that Wheeldon’s concerns were spot on, YP have failed to run their own candidates in the upcoming local elections. Instead, the party is throwing their weight behind various independents. This has proven controversial, as some of these candidates were quickly shown to have politics which did not align with YP members (and that’s true regardless of which faction said members belonged to).

For more on that, read this:

‘In solidarity’

Wimborne-Idrissi noted that she and eight other CEC members are standing in opposition to the leaked motion. Their message reads in full:

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In solidarity with our dual members

Like thousands of members, and as voted on at Your Party conferences in Liverpool and Dundee, we support dual membership and oppose purges of hard-working socialists who have helped build Your Party.

Over the last nine months, these are the people who have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with us to build this party from the ground up. Many of them are playing an important role in fighting elections on 7 May.

While we agreed not to share the proposal ahead of the full report and an open discussion next week, it is only right that we respond to the understandable alarm from members on this.

In building a mass party, we believe our focus should be on growing and uniting our movement — not kicking out hard-working socialists before we’ve even agreed our policies, and while the far-right are on the rise.

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We are working hard on amendments to prevent this concerning paper passing, including asking for exemptions for Scotland as per members’ views.

Solidarity always,
Niall, Mel, Candi, Solma, Sophie, Zarah, Naomi, Grace and Megan

Counterfire

The revolutionary socialist group Counterfire have also spoken out against the leaked motion:

Reject the Your Party witch-hunt of socialists – Counterfire statement

Leaked documents suggest that YP CEC will, this weekend, discuss and (given the inbuilt majority for The Many faction) pass a motion that effectively witch-hunts socialists inside YP and bans far-left parties and networks from membership.
Counterfire condemns, unreservedly, any such witch-hunt.

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Counterfire has thrown itself into building and developing YP. But we cannot, and will not, remain silent whilst socialists are being expelled from the party.

Counterfire is committed to a version of YP that is broad, inclusive, radical and insurgent. A party embedded in our collective movements (in our communities, trade unions and social movements). A space where socialists (from a wide range of backgrounds and networks) can come together to debate and organise to challenge the establishment parties at elections, offer hope in the face of the racist and divisive politics of the far-right, and create organising and mobilising centres for the extra-Parliamentary politics that are central to the socialist movement’s strategic goals of a better world for all.

That vision was there when 800,000 initially signed up, but it has undoubtedly been narrowed by some at the top of YP.

Counterfire will not remain in a party that expels socialists and, if the motion should pass on Sunday, we will immediately leave.

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We call on the YP CEC to reject the motion to expel socialists from YP. If YP has any chance of establishing itself, it must become a home for all socialists on the left of politics in Britain.

Of course, if the motion is passed we will continue to work with YP members, where appropriate, in a range of trade unions and social movements.

Notably, Counterfire was not on the list of banned member groups (i.e. members could always be part of Your Party and Counterfire). Given that, this is a notable act of solidarity on their part.

Your Party — Identity crisis

At the end of the day, if the people around Corbyn wanted to create a Labour 2019 successor party, they should have just done that. Instead, they invited left-wing activists to engage in endless meetings, and then they freaked out when said invitees began steering YP in an increasingly socialist direction — a direction which had ambitions to maximise democracy at every level.

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Clearly, the efforts to ban dual membership are an attempt to ‘right the ship’, and to ensure the majority of members are in favour of a top down model of politics. The problem is that Corbyn doesn’t seem to be interested in asserting the control and focus that would be necessary to make that model work, and there’s no obvious successor to him.

In other words, Your Party’s identity crisis seems set to continue even if the Many faction get their own way.

Featured image via the USSR (RIP)

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