There is much to do. Mitsubishi Electric surveyed UK homeowners last year and found that just 5.5 per cent are currently heating their homes with a heat pump.¹ In the commercial sector, heat pump adoption data hasn’t been tracked, meaning we don’t even know the true size of the challenge, let alone the decarbonisation opportunity it offers.

The targets which have been set out now give us something to aim for, but making sure heat pumps are being adopted at the pace needed will only happen if:

1. homeowners and business owners know about them
2. they make financial sense
3. we can meet the demand for installing them

The opportunity to transform the UK’s building stock, boost its manufacturing base, and recruit and train renewable heating engineers cannot be underestimated.

Now is the time for a clear strategy for reaching these milestones.

1. Drive public awareness

Adoption cannot be boosted without people knowing about heat pumps.

We know there is an untapped market of homeowners open to new clean heating technology. When we asked those surveyed about the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, we found that 31 per cent of homeowners said they were unaware of it, but that it would make them more likely to switch.¹

The new Warm Homes Agency has been tasked with improving awareness, and it must be treated as a priority objective. We’d like to see funding and resources committed to creating targeted awareness campaigns. And the same has to be done for businesses for us to see the necessary rise in demand.

With a quarter of people being influenced by negative news about heat pumps, it’s even more important that misconceptions are challenged.² Without that, the public won’t be convinced of the opportunity of adopting a heat pump for their home or business.

2. Make heat pumps make financial sense

The billions in grants and loans available through the Warm Homes Plan will make heat pumps, solar panels and batteries a possibility for millions more households. This funding is ringfenced for its designated purpose, to provide the public with certainty that potential future decisions will be covered.

Beyond the upfront costs, we have to make the running costs of heat pumps cheaper.

Currently, UK electricity prices are typically linked to the cost of volatile gas prices, despite the majority of electricity coming from renewable sources, and electricity levies put a greater burden on consumers. The government’s moves on reducing the energy price cap are to be welcomed, but more is needed to further rebalance these levies and reduce the price of electricity compared to gas.

This would create a huge step change and make clean heat a truly economical option. There’s no better advertising than word of mouth, and money saved on bills would create conversation and stimulate demand.

3. Preparing installers to meet surging demand

Having enough installers to meet the scale of ambitions for installations is a challenge which must be addressed – but is also a huge opportunity to provide skilled renewable jobs across the UK.

The expansion of the Heat Training Grant funding will help make this possible, and government must follow through on its commitment to collaborate with industry to make training a success. A well-trained workforce will mean positive experiences for customers and create more goodwill for the sector.

Installers will also play a big role in raising awareness about heat pumps and supporting interested homeowners to invest. This means arming installers with the right information so that they can educate homeowners and guide them towards heat pumps as an option for their home.

Creating demand and making an impact

To truly accelerate the adoption of clean heat in the UK, we need more homeowners and businesses to know about the benefits, more people to be able to afford to buy and run them, and more people to install them.

Mitsubishi Electric is already supporting heat adoption in the UK by manufacturing low-carbon, highly efficient heat pumps at its Livingston plant and by training the workforce at its training sites across Britain. To achieve its targets, the government must work with us and the wider industry to drive action and deliver for the economy and the environment.

References

1. An Opinion Matters survey of 2,000 homeowners in August 2025, commissioned by Mitsubishi Electric
2. Opinion Matters, August 2025

The Spanish government has recalled Spain’s ambassador from Israel. The decision comes as Israel continues to smear the Sanchez government for opposing its genocide in Gaza and its wars of aggression on Iran and Lebanon.

Announcing the order, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said:

At the proposal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, and following deliberation by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on 10 March 2026, I hereby order the termination of Ms Ana María Sálomon Pérez’s appointment as Ambassador of Spain to the State of Israel.

Spanish citizens in Israel needing assistance will be directed to a “⁠chargé d’affaires” who will remain at the embassy.

Featured image via the Canary

Terri Bloore is the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Newham.

Keir Starmer is no Churchill, that is something Trump and I can agree on. In moments of international crisis, indeed war, national leadership needs to be strong and decisive. Certainly not dithering.

Starmer in the space of 48 hours managed to not just upset the President of the United States, our most important ally, but also Iran – a state not known for measured responses in relation to opposition. Over the course of a few days, his government first signalled that Britain would not back the United States in its escalating confrontation with Iran, only to reverse course within a day and allow the United States access to British military bases.

He is a joke, and making Britain – once known for our diplomacy, level-headed intelligence and insight – a joke with him.

Britain now appears hesitant at precisely the moment when clarity is needed. Allies question our reliability while adversaries see uncertainty. The damage is not simply reputational. It strikes at the heart of Britain’s long standing claim to be one of the West’s most dependable partners in matters of security and defence.

Churchill understood that alliances require visible commitment. When Britain stands with its allies, it must do so decisively. Hesitation only weakens collective resolve.

The irony is that recent history offers a powerful example of the very resilience Starmer now seems unable to demonstrate. Since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion, Ukraine under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown extraordinary discipline in managing its relationships with Western partners.

Ukraine has endured immense frustration. Weapons deliveries have been delayed. Financial packages have been debated and watered down. Political winds in Western capitals have shifted repeatedly. Yet throughout this ordeal, the Ukrainian government has remained committed to its allies.

It has come to negotiations ready to compromise. It has accepted difficult realities. Above all, it has understood a fundamental strategic truth: survival requires patience. Ukraine knows it needs the West more than it needs pride.

Zelenskyy and his government are playing the long game. That approach has required immense restraint. Ukrainian leaders have learned that diplomacy often means absorbing disappointment while maintaining unity with those whose support is indispensable. They have demonstrated strength through consistency, not theatrical gestures. Starmer’s government should learn from that example.

Over the years working with Ukraine, dating back before annexation of Crimea, I have seen how  hard Ukraine has worked to preserve relations with the West. Yes, it has been slow, yes faltering at times and yes, the power has sometimes been in the form of soft power – but support flowed from Europe and North America because Kyiv has proved itself a serious partner that can be trusted.

Today we stand in surreal reality where Ukraine has responded to the USA’s requests for help and “reacted immediately” sending interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan. “Of course, we will send our experts,” he said, that is a far cry from our indecisive leader.

Ukraine understands the strategic stakes. Compromises are painful but Ukraine has proved itself to be a trustworthy, brave partner. Trust that Starmer is now squandering. How can we be trusted as trusted partner when we cannot be trusted to make a decision one way or the other.

The emerging confrontation involving Israel, the United States and Iran presents difficult choices. No responsible government should treat them lightly. Yet the handling of such crises matters as much as the decision itself. By first signalling distance from Washington and then hurriedly opening British bases to American forces, Starmer has managed to offend almost everyone involved.

Yet today the image projected from Downing Street is not one of confidence or resolve. It is hesitant, it is indecisive and it is weak. Starmer has proved again that he would rather stare at his shoes than confront the consequences of leadership. That perception matters politically as well as strategically.

What does this mean for my sleep?

What does this mean for parents?

Any other thoughts?

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has banned the planned Al Quds Day march in London for Sunday 15 March. Mahmood no doubt needed little persuading, rendering the Metropolitan Police’s decision to side with the UK Israel lobby little more than a pretext.

Mahmood caves to Israel lobby

In a statement, the Met claimed that:

The Al Quds march is uniquely contentious having originated in Iran and in London is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, an organisation supportive of the Iranian regime… The threshold to ban a protest is high and we do not take this decision lightly; this is the first time we have used this power since 2012.

The Metropolitan Police routinely polices hundreds of protests which have counter protesters. Free speech and the right to protest are protected in law and we have a proven track record of upholding these values.

The Met appears to think opponents of genocide and imperialism have forgotten the traps it laid for an entirely peaceful anti-genocide march in January 2025. That entrapment, despite abundant footage of police inviting marchers through police lines, was used to charge and prosecute leading peace organisers. The state continues to insist peaceful demonstrators ‘forced’ their way through.

Organisers of the march, the Islamic Human Rights Commission, have strongly condemned the decision:

IHRC strongly condemns the desicion by the Metropolitan Police to ban the Al Quds Day March.

However, a static Al Quds Day protest will still go ahead.

We hope to see you on Sunday 15th March InshaAllah.

We are seeking legal advice and this decision will not go unchallenged.

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And they made it clear that Shabana Mahmood has made a political decision:

If it was not clear already, the police have brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favour, and have capitulated to the pressure of the Zionist lobby. The Metropolitan Police unashamedly regurgitate Zionist talking points about IHRC without a shred of evidence. They cannot present evidence because there is none – we are an independent NGO. In essence, this is a politically charged desicion; not one taken for the security of the people of London

What right to protest?

The force’s statement also invidiously linked the march to threats and terrorism – and to claim that Iran is “attacking British allies”, rather than retaliating after unprovoked attacks:

We must also consider that the security services have been publicly clear about the threats we are facing on UK soil from the Iranian regime. In the last year MI5 and Counter Terrorism Policing have foiled over 20 Iranian state-backed attacks on the UK. Last week counter-terrorism officers arrested four people under the National Security Act after they allegedly spied on Jewish communities for the Iranian regime and, separately, at the weekend a man was reportedly stabbed by someone who had opposing views on the Iranian regime.

No evidence has so far been provided to the public for any of these arrests or ‘foiled attacks’.

In typical Orwellian style, the Met then claimed that it protects the right to protest, while warning that those who protest this weekend will “crossover [sic] into criminality [and] will face the full force of the law” and that:

We urge the organisers to comply with our conditions or face arrest.

Right.

The UK regime is an enabler of rogue-state terrorism and is more than willing to subordinate the rights of its citizens to the interests of Israel and the US.

Featured image via the Canary

Women who survived Ireland’s mother and baby homes are now having their benefits cut by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Britain. Appallingly, the cuts are happening because these women accepted compensation from the Irish government for the horrific abuse and trauma they experienced.

DWP: Ireland’s historic abuse of unwed mothers

Mother and Baby Homes spread through Ireland in the 1900s, right up until 1990. They were seen as a “refuge” for unwed mothers and their babies. But they were actually church ran instutions that trapped women who were often sent there by their families, who had disowned them for getting pregnant. These included women who’d been abused or exploited. There were more than a dozen of them in Ireland. Three of them were “Magdalene laundries”, which were essentially workhouses.

The women in the ‘homes’ were forced into labour and experienced horrific abuse from the nuns. There was also a horrifically high death rate of babies in some institutions. In 2012, a mass grave was discovered on the site of a former home in Tuam. 796 children’s remains were found. Many children who survived were trafficked across the Irish border for adoption (from ROI to Northern Ireland), and documents were falsified to make it harder to reunite mother and baby.

Finally, after mass campaigning, the Irish government launched an inquiry. It detailed the horrendous experiences of 56,000 women and 57,000 children between 1922 and 1998. After this, the government set up the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, which began awarding compensation in 2024.

DWP causing survivors even more harm

However, because the DWP is a completely barbaric institution, survivors are now suffering in a different way.

The Guardian reports that up to 13,000 survivors who now live in Britain could risk losing their means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit, if they accept. This is because the compensation goes towards the amount of savings the claimant has.

Compensation ranges from €5,000 to €125,000 (£4,230 to £105,000) depending on the length of time someone spent there. Universal Credit claimants are only allowed a maximum of £6,000 in their bank accounts; after that, every £250 extra sees £4.35 reduced from the payment. There is no upper limit on Pension Credit; however, past £10,000 every £500 you have sees £1 reduced from your payment.

If a claimant has over £16,000 in the bank, they automatically lose their benefit. Not only that, but they will lose associated benefits such as Housing benefit. So a woman who went through the most horrific experience of her life, who now struggles to work, or is on pension credit, could see her benefits lost because she accepted compensation.

As this news has spread, some have been forced to turn down their compensation offers for fear they will lose their benefits. After six months, the Irish government counts this as a rejection.

Support Philomena’s Law

Labour MP Liam Conlon has introduced a bill to parliament calling for the government to introduce an ‘indefinite capital disregard’ for mother and baby payments. The bill is named Philomena’s Law, after Philomena Lee, a survivor who was portrayed by Judi Dench.

Conlon said:

What Whitehall often misses is the human-sized picture. In this case, that is thousands and thousands of survivors of these cruel institutions living in Britain today, who are being denied the compensation they’re entitled to

The campaign is backed from prominment Irish figures such as Siobhán McSweeney. However, due to the restraints of parliament, the bill is in danger of running out of time.

It’s absolutely cruel that the DWP is once again punishing these women who survived unimaginable abuse. You can write to your MP to ask them to support the campaign here 

These women have already suffered so much; it’s absolutely horrific that the DWP won’t even allow them to accept compensation without the threat of losing their state support.

Featured image via the Canary