Politics
Lies, betrayal, scandal and civil war – but can the Conservatives benefit now it’s not them going through it
It has everything the media could want and the country could do without.
A paedophile sex trafficker, a big beast politician who has held high office and been sacked three times, possibly the Russians, countless victims of the first with horrific stories of abuse, a Prime Minister, Advisers, spooks and two former Princes: one once of the House of Windsor the other of ‘Darkness’
Political hacks, and I’ve been one, will occasionally play, for their own amusement, a game of who can come up with a scandal that has it all. This one, had anyone dared suggest it, fits the bill.
Many outside the media bubble are describing it as the biggest ever scandal in British politics, edging Profumo and Kelly out to allow the name Mandelson to overtake it. His former Lordship clearly felt his last two falls from grace were not sufficiently spectacular enough and he’s decided third time unlucky.
Only luck has nothing to do with it.
Despite his lucrative dismissal from the highest diplomatic position Britain has to offer, the choice to appoint in the first place was made in Downing Street, against warnings – and even David Lammy, the then Foreign Secretary who actually did the appointing, has let it be known he warned about it – as the PM’s rivals, sorry, colleagues, dive for cover.
Last Wednesday Kemi Badenoch fired the potential kill shot.
She simultaneously proved that whilst strong performances at PMQs are not enough to make someone Prime Minister, on occasion they matter enormously, and that when you disprove naysayers who complain you weren’t good enough at it, being consistently better and better is seemingly never enough.
The impact of forcing this Prime Minister to damn himself at the dispatch box in one word was nothing short of seismic.
Part of Badenoch’s personal revival has been built on an impressive collection of scalps. Hitherto it’s contained a gaggle of Ministers, a deputy leader and deputy Prime Minister, the infamous Mandelson himself, and now she’s going for the big two. The Prime Minister’s chief of staff and the PM himself.
Downing Street this weekend is seething with anger and resentment. Starmer has been swinging between enough foul-mouthed fury to fuel a power plant, and a sense of bitter betrayal that is souring dealings with a cabinet that have concluded Labour would be better off following the Tories past example and swapping horses mid race.
That there is ‘no way back’ for Sir Keir is now old news. He may still cling on, his own fall is not a done deal, but he can’t ‘turn it around’ now. When he answered Badenoch’s question whether security vetting had mentioned Mandelson’s ongoing relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, post-conviction with a hesitant ‘Yes’ he confirmed what everyone felt they knew. And so did he, but appointed him anyway.
As someone who has gone through that vetting process, it is hard to see how Mandelson ‘lied and lied again’ with much success. Starmer habitually looks for others to blame, and has called for an immediate tightening of vetting procedures. Well without going into detail, they seemed pretty ‘tight’ to me!
Four hours with a quietly persistent inquisitor who ran through practically every aspect of this story but applied to me. Questions, however intrusive and unexpected on sex, money, substances, abuse, nothing is off limits where they are not judging, but seeking, as I suspect Epstein did, for anything that could make you susceptible to blackmail or ‘Kompromat’. There’s only two bits of advice you get whispered to you beforehand by those who’ve endured it already: ‘don’t lie, and if they ask a question they probably already know the answer’ they just want to see if yours matches the ones they have.
I can see why there are questions about how someone like Mandelson could possibly have got through, but we now know there were warnings in there that the PM was informed of, and decided to take the risk anyway.
It’s that, more than anything, that’s blown this up in Starmer’s face. As one shadow Cabinet member told me:
“Think of all the people, like Gove, Marr and Finkelstein, and some of your colleagues in the lobby who wrote the risk was worth taking, a ‘bold and clever move’. That’s the point with risk – if it pays off you look a genius, if it doesn’t you look a fool. Starmer was urged to, and took, a massive risk, ignoring other people who were up to the job, and it didn’t pay off. The consequences however are all of his own making. If Mandelson was right that Epstein is ‘like dog mess’, Starmer’s just rolled and rolled in it”
That the story has moved to ‘who replaces Starmer’ not just in the media but the Labour party shows he too can’t get rid of the smell. Beaten and bruised in the way he most despises, his ‘integrity’ called into question. The immediate outlook for Labour is bleak.
So the Conservatives must be feeling pretty good, right?
Reform have not made the running on this. As the Telegraph’s front page interview with Badenoch this weekend is subtitled – and remember the months where the Tories struggled to get a hearing at the bottom paragraph of a page 5 filler:
“Both in the Commons and out on the road, the self-assured Tory leader shows that she is no longer finding her feet – but setting the pace”
After a year of wondering where the promise of Renewal 2030 had got to, Badenoch has shown herself, particularly dealing with big betrayals in her own Tory ranks, to be tough enough not only to shore up her own position but wreak havoc on the Government in the process.
So champers all round then? Any Conservative tempted should cork it.
If the narrative today is that Starmer is at serious risk post May local elections which are now, if they weren’t already, a referendum on his premiership – and he hasn’t gone already – make no mistake the risk of brutal results for the Conservatives has not gone away.
Badenoch may have seen off any post-May Jenrick challenge, and will now survive a battering, it will make something stark. A personal win and improved public standing is great for a leader to have, but it doesn’t mean the brand is back. And Reform if they do as expected will be there screaming that from the roof tops.
She can push as hard as possible for renewal of Tory fortunes, but it is not a given that they will match her own. She can be seen like some doggedly determined fighter pilot of yore, an impressive tally of scalps painted on her plane, and still face watching the party fail to take off.
Sticking with the economy, where Reform is still weak – as the Shadow Chancellor will explain for readers tomorrow – stick to opposing Government relentlessly as the official opposition should, is all good strategy, but the Conservatives – not Badenoch – are still struggling for a hearing.
Too many of the public have moved from anger and rejection to indifference towards the Party. Liking the ‘cut of Badenoch’s jib’ doesn’t mean they’ll vote Conservative, yet. Or again.
We still need more policy to chew on from the promised ‘red meat’ restaurant, more fighting contribution from the ‘team’ the leader is always keen to promote, more sense that ‘business as usual’ has been firmly discarded and that the ‘as usual’ bit has been confined to the past, with genuine contrition for what was bad.
Mandelson may end up dragging Starmer down with him, and I for one won’t cry for his loss, but on the ground, on the doorstep and in the streets of places far from the drama of Westminster, no committed Conservative must think this alone will put them back in play.
As Bridgerton fans know, the Netflix series frequently takes creative license with the Julia Quinn source novels that inspired it.
For an understandable reason, one heartbreaking moment from the book When He Was Wicked was cut from season four of the show.
During the recent season, Francesca (played by Hannah Dodd) suspected that she was pregnant with her husband John’s child after he died in his sleep as the result of a sudden cerebral aneurysm.
After undergoing an exam, the character found out that she wasn’t pregnant, while in the original book, she actually discovers that she is pregnant, and later suffers a miscarriage, which shapes Francesca’s grief and fertility throughout the story.
Speaking to Swooon, showrunner Jess Brownell explained that she and the Bridgerton writers decided to cut Francesca’s miscarriage storyline because they felt it would have made the tone of season four “too morbid”.
“Ultimately, I think John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show,” she explained.
“I think episode seven has hints of lightness, but it is a much darker version of Bridgerton in a way that I think is really interesting, and especially in the way we get to watch the family come together.”
Despite not wanting to adapt the darker miscarriage storyline from the source novels, Jess still intends to explore Francesca’s fertility journey in future seasons.
“We’re still very interested in honouring the fertility storyline… and we will continue honouring [it] in her future season,” she said.
This isn’t the only major change to Francesca’s storylines on the show, though.
Her love interest in the books, Michael Stirling, has been gender-swapped in the show, meaning Francesca’s future love story – and, indeed, fertility story – could unfold very differently on screen.
All four seasons of Bridgerton are available to stream on Netflix.
Politics
Andrew Gilligan: Northern Powerhouse Rail won’t help the North, or power better transport. The Tories have got this wrong
Andrew Gilligan is a writer and former No10 adviser.
Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party likes to see itself as the hard-headed teller of difficult truths, the fearless critic of bad ideas and the maker of tough decisions. That’s exactly what it should be, what the country needs it to be, and what it sometimes actually is.
Not always, though. The Tory front bench’s first response to several seismically bad Labour ideas has been either fence-sitting (for instance, on digital ID) or feeble acquiescence (on the “Hillsborough law,” which risks making Whitehall ungovernable.)
The periodic woolly-mindedness of our time in government lingers. As we did then, we’re still backing some stupid policies because they “look good,” because some lobby group or celebrity wants them, or because opposing them might make us “look bad.”
The frontbench toughened up on rejecting digital ID – helping cause a swift government U-turn – but it now seems to be embracing a new stupid policy, a new politicians’ magic answer: “Northern Powerhouse Rail” (NPR). This project achieves the difficult feat of making HS2 seem quite sensible. It will be a high-speed line, from Liverpool to Manchester and possibly Leeds, on which trains can never reach high speeds, because the stations are too close together.
The Liverpool-Manchester stretch – Labour’s priority – will cost at least £17bn, almost certainly closer to £30bn, but journeys between the two cities will actually take longer than the existing service. That’s because it runs via Manchester Airport – sort of. The “airport” station will actually be a mile from the airport; you’d have to transfer by bus.
Yet in last month’s Commons debate on carrying over the bill to build NPR – or part of it, at least – Jerome Mayhew, the shadow rail minister, criticised the Government for the “lack of progress” it was making on the scheme and asked accusingly: “What cuts will [the Transport Secretary] be forced to make, and are they to the high-speed section?”
Maybe we’re worried that opposing NPR would look anti-North. But NPR – though understandably beloved of the profit-scenting construction lobby, and the Labour mayors it has captured – is in fact a huge obstacle to giving the North the better transport it badly needs.
Public transport is a network. Creating better public transport does not mean grafting one new high-speed line, serving a handful of places, onto an otherwise still decrepit system. It means creating a better network, through hundreds of small and medium improvements as well as some large ones: bus, tram and local rail, not just inter-city.
The North’s main rail capacity problem is not on links – lines between cities – but at nodes: places where the trains converge, above all central Manchester. NPR would do little to fix this.
Most importantly, NPR is a fantasy: there will never be enough money, perhaps £70-100bn, to build the whole thing (Labour has just cancelled the northern half of the Midland Main Line electrification to save £1bn). It is described as “unachievable” by the Government’s own infrastructure watchdog. Every pound and every month wasted on a scheme that will never happen is time and money not spent on the things that will help more passengers, in more places, more quickly – and that have a chance of actually coming to pass.
Yes, I know – Boris Johnson, the PM I worked for, supported NPR. His view was that we could do that and all the other things as well. I opposed it, then and since, because I knew that at high-speed prices, you simply can’t. You have to choose, or at least to sequence – which is, in fact, what France and Germany did do, fixing their urban services before turning to the comparative luxury item of high-speed rail. On our current path, we’ll end up with neither.
And yes, I know – my other PM employer, Rishi Sunak, though he cancelled the northern section of HS2, said he would fund a new Liverpool-Manchester line and let the metro mayors decide the route. That was intended to give them scope to choose something better – such as a Manchester version of the “Elizabeth Line” to fix the city’s rail congestion – but they went for the lobbyist option instead.
Reform has come out against NPR. Maybe that’s another reason (an equally bad one) why the Tories appear for it. But if you think it’s a votewinner, you’re mistaken. The North has never wanted high-speed rail. It is transport for the few, not the many. As Richard Tice has said, the political elites’ obsession with high-speed schemes – rather than the services that most people actually use – is another symbol of how mainstream British politics became estranged, in so many ways, from ordinary voters’ real wishes and needs.
There’s still time for the party to get this right – and for Northern England to get more than a Labour press release.
The government of Cyprus has slammed the UK for failing to respect its humanitarian commitments. Iran – or one of its allies – allegedly hit RAF Akrotiri with a drone on 2 March 2026.
There no casualties. Yet the UK is clearly being pulled deeper into the illegal US-Israeli war against Iran – and Cyprus with it.
Government spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on 3 March:
Despite the assurances given in yesterday’s address by the prime minister of the United Kingdom, there was no clear clarification that the British bases in Cyprus would not under any circumstances be used for any reason other than humanitarian.
Adding:
The information we had, through many communications and at various levels, was clear, that the British bases would have a strictly humanitarian role.
Cyprus shows Britain is at war
UK PM Keir Starmer effectively announced to parliament on 2 March that the UK would be a party to the war. He tried to insist the UK’s role would be defensive – but said the US would use British bases to hit Iran.
The UK has two bases in Cyprus at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Britain has used the bases to launch hundreds of spy flights over Gaza over the course of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians.
Letymbiotis said the UK had failed to take into account Cyprus’s wish to be a humanitarian hub. He added that the UK had communicated poorly:
The message we send in every direction, not only rhetorically but through our actions over decades, is that the Republic of Cyprus is a humanitarian hub.
There was no timely information residing in the areas adjacent to the bases.
Middle East Eye reported:
Letymbiotis refused to rule out Cyprus requesting a renegotiation of the status and operating conditions of British bases.
Meanwhile, a former UK ambassador to Iran has said the UK has made itself a legitimate target.
Legitimate targets
Sir Richard Dalton told Declassified UK that British assets in the region were now legitimate targets of Iran.
The regional power:
will not distinguish [between] attacks to its missiles and other wider attacks on its political, military and economic institutions and leaders.
They will say that these are attacks facilitated by Britain on Iran as part of the United States campaign to destroy the Islamic Republic.
You can watch the full interview here:
The UK is pulling itself deeper into the mire of a Middle East war. And in doing so its colonial relationship with Cyprus – already badly shaken by the UK’s role in Israel genocide – has become even more precarious. As the war intensifies across the region, things are likely to get even worse for the eternally flip-flopping UK PM.
Featured image via the Canary
British journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who is famous for her hateful content against migrants and refugees, has been documenting her life in Dubai amid Iran’s retaliatory strikes on the UAE , and people have little sympathy.
Oakeshott shared a bilingual emergency alert from Dubai during the strikes. It was in Arabic first, then English, telling residents to take shelter. The internet immediately laughed at her for enjoying the kind of accommodation she’d never offer migrants.
Outrageous that Dubai has to send these out in a foreign language because immigrants won’t learn Arabic. https://t.co/i9VIx8duFc
— Lord Protector Will Wartsandall (@LewensWill) March 1, 2026
Influencers were getting roasted for suddenly caring about British embassies after spending years clout-chasing in a country with zero tax and infinite irony.
Me when people who’ve spent years boasting about not paying any UK taxes say they want the British embassy to help evacuate them from Dubai. pic.twitter.com/6hie1D8U1D
— Brendan May (@bmay) February 28, 2026
Some of those Brits in Dubai might want to try coming back in a small boat, I’ve heard it’s well easy
— Jasinya 💞 (@bougieluxebabe) March 1, 2026
Should Dubai tax-dodgers get tax help?
Even mainstream British media wasn’t holding back. Susanna Reid straight-up asked: if Brits move to Dubai to avoid paying tax, then need rescuing, shouldn’t they pay for it themselves?
Susanna Reid: “Brits have moved to places like Dubai, potentially.. to avoid paying tax.. if they need rescuing.. should they pay for their own evacuation, because if they’re avoiding paying tax then they’re avoiding paying into public services, like the govt coming to get you” pic.twitter.com/5Z0Qkf8N19
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 3, 2026
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey rightly pointed this out in the Parliament on Monday. He called out “tax exiles and washed-up old footballers” in Dubai who “mock ordinary Brits” but now expect the UK military to rescue them. He said:
Oakeshott’s fiancé and “patriotic” Reform MP Richard Tice is definitely not keen on this frankly patriotic measure. He criticised Davey for being “obsessed” with Oakeshott for this suggestion.
Dear old @EdwardJDavey
Back off my fiancée …. !
You seem obsessed with her….! https://t.co/F2P6M7wXmD
— Richard Tice MP 🇬🇧 (@TiceRichard) March 2, 2026
Imagine fleeing the UK to avoid taxes, then asking your MP fiancé to cover for your tax-dodging behaviour, Embarrassing, really.
Featured image via the Canary
On Jan. 6, 2021, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared to a raucous crowd of President Donald Trump’s supporters, many of whom were moments away from storming the U.S. Capitol: “We will not quit fighting.”
Five years later, Paxton’s fighting spirit has him poised to unseat a 24-year incumbent.
It’s been a steady journey. As Texas’ top lawyer, Paxton became a hero of the far right by using rapid-fire lawsuits to spearhead their most important causes, from expanding religious influence in schools to attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He presented himself as a foil to the Obama and Biden administrations, filing more than 100 lawsuits over issues like immigration and environmental regulations. And he continues to steer the power of his office toward investigating alleged election irregularities, particularly in Democratic-led cities like Houston.
On Tuesday, the MAGA grassroots that fueled his rise will reach its apex of influence so far: Paxton is well-positioned to finish first against John Cornyn in the GOP primary for his Senate seat, despite being saddled with tons of political baggage and targeted by millions of dollars in attack ads.
The bare-knuckle Senate primary is likely headed to a runoff, dragging out the party’s own angst over generational change.
For the far-right in Texas, Paxton’s arc shows the ascendent strength of their movement, which has pushed Republican leaders toward adopting increasingly conservative positions. For Cornyn, it means the potential end of his long career in the Senate, and the near-extinction of establishment Republicans within the party.
“Ken Paxton is more than just an attorney general that’s been MAGA. He is a symbol of the heart of the grassroots MAGA movement,” said Steve Bannon, the former senior adviser to Trump and War Room host who has been broadcasting his popular show from a rented ranch in North Texas in the days leading up to the election.
“He’s resilient because folks here know he has fought the good fight for years and years and years,” Bannon said. “He has resilience because people know where his heart is, and he’s a fighter.”
Cornyn is in serious trouble
The MAGA movement is tenacious in protecting its own and knifing its Republican rivals. Paxton has survived an impeachment by the GOP-controlled state House, a federal securities fraud investigation and slew of ethics complaints. Three months after beginning his Senate campaign last year, Paxton’s wife filed for divorce, alleging an extramarital affair. His competitors — including Cornyn, who has said Paxton is too unethical to serve in public office — have hammered his trail of scandals.
And still he’s the front-runner.
Paxton has continued to lead in polling — from even before he launched — despite a concerted effort by Republicans in Washington to boost Cornyn.
“Ideally you want a saint to be your elected leader, and that is something we all hope and pray for one of these days,” said Bo French, former chair of the Tarrant County Republican party, who is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission. “But until that happens, we need people who are going to be warriors for the cause. And he is seen and beloved among Republican primary voters in Texas as a warrior.”
Cornyn knows the strong headwinds he’s facing, conceding that the composition of primary voters doesn’t reflect his usual base of support. Many Texas Republicans remain angry with the senator for voting in favor of a bipartisan gun control package after the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Cornyn was famously booed onstage at the Texas GOP convention in 2022.
“If only the most radical people show up in the primary … then I think that’s going to be a challenge,” Cornyn said in an interview Saturday with CBS. His other primary opponent, Rep. Wesley Hunt, who is also running a campaign appealing to the far right, said on X that Cornyn’s comments show he has “lost touch with the people you’re supposed to represent” and “your contempt for the voters of Texas is exactly why your career is coming to an end.”
Trump has not endorsed in the race, throwing a wrench into any MAGA pickup Cornyn could get — or that could put Paxton over the line. At an event in Corpus Christi last week, Trump said he had “pretty much” decided who to support, but did not reveal that pick.
Democrats believe Paxton’s baggage makes him beatable in the general election, a view shared by many national Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who is working to keep Cornyn in the GOP caucus.
Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, said Paxton jeopardizes Republicans at every level of the ticket. “Every one of these top-tier Republicans in the state is wildly unpopular, and they’ll be led by Ken Paxton,” he said. “That’s what puts a lot of these different seats in interesting hands.”
The MAGA vs. establishment fight has been years in the making
Paxton has endured years of legal and personal scrutiny. He also kept winning.
Texas Republicans have repeatedly reelected both Cornyn to the Senate and Paxton as attorney general, backing the leaders of both wings of the party. But recent elections have shown the growing strength of the MAGA faction.
Paxton’s reelections have been aided by the deep coffers of Texas megadonors like Tim Dunn and the Wilks brothers in addition to his hyper-conservative supporters. In 2022, he was challenged by Land Commissioner George P. Bush — the relativegrandson of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Bush tried to sell conservative voters on his vision to restore integrity to the attorney general’s office at a time when Paxton was facing years of securities fraud investigations and bribery allegations. It’s a playbook Paxton allies say Cornyn is reusing.
Voters seemed to prefer Paxton’s combative style. Paxton thumped Bush by a two-to-one margin in that year’s run-off, the clearest sign yet that voters were siding with the MAGA wing and rejecting the old-school establishment.
In 2022, Paxton agreed to pay restitution and perform community service to settle the securities fraud case, which was brought over allegations that he duped investors in a tech startup. The Justice Department, in the final weeks of the Biden administration, decided not to prosecute Paxton over the remaining bribery charges. That eventually led the GOP-heavy Texas House to impeach him before the Senate voted to acquit.
As scrutiny over Paxton intensified within the Texas Republican Party, he cast himself as a martyr, a victim of spurious probes that not only threatened him, but also the integrity of the MAGA base. For the far-right, Paxton’s impeachment acquittal only further strengthened his parallels to Trump.
The onslaught energized his supporters. State Rep. Gary Gates, a Republican, learned that firsthand when he publicly recanted his vote to impeach Paxton after dealing with blowback from the base.
“There was a certain faction of those that support him that were rather upset,” said Gates, who represents a suburban district outside of Houston. “You have to deal with that political reality.”
Paxton often brags that he was one of the few Republicans to attend Trump’s campaign launch at Mar-A-Lago in 2022, when many in the party had abandoned him following the violent insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.
“When you try to take out somebody like those two guys who have fought for our values, and the whole world is weaponized against them, the people are ride-or-die,” said Aaron Reitz, a former deputy in Paxton’s office who, with his backing, is running to succeed him.
“I hope that the establishment wing of the GOP would learn a similar lesson when they have tried to take out Trump, which is they are not in control of this party,” Reitz said. “The grassroots, the people, are in control of the party, and they have to stop spending their millions.”
How Paxton got here
Paxton’s deep base of support is built in part from his lawsuits against frequent targets of the right — high-profile cases that were splashed on the front pages of local newspapers from Beaumont to Amarillo. Throughout his decade as Texas’ top lawyer, Paxton oversaw the Lone Star State’s transformation into an incubator for ultra conservatives issues, from defending abortion restrictions to warning that Muslims will attempt to introduce Islamic law in Texas.
At a recent campaign event in the Houston suburbs as early voting was underway, Paxton ticked off his courtroom successes to a group gathered at a “safari ranch” in Richmond with roaming peacocks, zebras and goats.
Paxton, speaking to the crowd of about 75 supporters, recounted the beginning of his career, starting with when he decided to run for attorney general during his first term in the state legislature because he viewed former President Barack Obama as “a really epic threat” who relied excessively on executive orders to bypass Congress.
In his first AG race, Paxton rode the wave of the Tea Party insurgency to topple an establishment Republican backed by former President George W. Bush. Paxton told the audience, to chuckles, that he sued Obama 27 times in the 22 months they overlapped.
After Obama left office and Trump took his place, Paxton turned his sights away from the White House and toward Silicon Valley. He sued Google (“who was doing really bad things”), Facebook (“we got a lot of money from them”), Twitter (“before Elon”) and Pfizer (“they lied about the vaccine”).
Then Paxton became fixated on probing voter fraud allegations, making him an instrumental figure in Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. He even filed a case directly with the Supreme Court seeking to invalidate election results in Pennsylvania and other battleground states — though the justices rejected his attempt, ruling Texas did not have standing.
When Joe Biden was sworn in, Paxton picked back up his onslaught against the federal government. Then Trump was reelected in 2024, Paxton said, and he “felt like I didn’t have a mission. I’d done my three different missions. I felt like 12 years was enough.”
“And I looked around,” Paxton told the crowd, “and I saw a guy: John Cornyn.”
Adam Wren contributed reporting.
Medical advice provided by Dr Charis Chambers, ob-gyn and Chief Medical Officer at Clue.
Menopause, which has over 60 symptoms, seems to remain a poorly-discussed topic.
90% of postmenopausal women weren’t ever taught about it, a University College London study found. Most (over 60%) only sought information about the menopause once symptoms had already begun.
And, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) has said, over three-quarters of women (78%) don’t know menopause can lead to new mental illness.
In their position statement on menopause and mental health, an anonymous source told the RCP that during a period of depression they think could have been linked to menopause, the association “was never discussed or, to my
knowledge, considered as a factor in this episode”.
Here, we spoke to ob-gyn Dr Charis Chambers about it.
How might menopause affect mental health?
Dr Charis explained, “Menopause, and even perimenopause, can unmask or worsen mental health conditions because oestrogen is not just a reproductive hormone, it is also a brain hormone.
“Oestrogen directly influences key neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which regulate mood, sleep, and emotional processing. When oestrogen levels decline or fluctuate significantly during the menopause transition, that neurochemical stability is disrupted.
“The result can be anxiety, depression, irritability, brain fog and even new-onset psychiatric symptoms in women with no prior history.”
One paper has found a link between the hormonal fluctuations linked to menopause and a higher incidence of bipolar.
Another study said that “perimenopause was associated with an increased risk of developing [major depressive disorder] and mania” for the first time.
Additionally, the depressive episodes seen in menopause seem to be different to those that happen outside of menopause. Study authors dubbed this the “Meno-D”.
Dr Charis added, “women with a history of postpartum depression, severe PMS or PMDD face a higher risk during menopause.
“These conditions signal a heightened sensitivity to hormonal shifts. If the brain has previously struggled to adapt to rapid oestrogen changes, the hormonal volatility of perimenopause can trigger similar.”
Research suggests that the hormonal and physical changes linked to the menopause and perimenopause could exacerbate existing eating disorders, or even bring about new ones, too
Davina McCall has spoken on the topic
Following the statement, Davina McCall, an RCP Honorary Fellow, said: “Some women sail through the menopause unscathed. But some don’t, and the impact on their mental health can be devastating and have a huge impact on their lives and their relationships.”
Calling the stigma and lack of education on the topic unacceptable, she added, “Together, we must make the link between mental health and menopause known across society – among health professionals, NHS, government, members of the public and employers – to improve the policies, care and support provided for all women experiencing menopause”.
Meanwhile, RCP’s President, Dr Lade Smith CBE, said: “Menopause can have a significant yet often overlooked impact on women’s mental health and wellbeing.
“Women account for 51% of the population, and all will experience menopause at some point. This is a societal issue for everyone. Simply put, we must do better.”
The NHS said that you should see a doctor if you think you’ve noticed any signs of the menopause.
Your GP can help you to find strategies, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Keir Starmer has said that his duty is to “keep British people safe“. Anyone who knows him by now knows to assume he means the opposite. And so it is in this case – Starmer is knowingly putting British people in direct danger while telling them he has to keep them safe.
During Commons questions, Starmer again claimed that the UK is not involved in attacking Iran. Every single person in that chamber – including Starmer – knew that was a lie. Enabling US attacks on Iran by allowing them to use British air bases in the UK and Cyprus does involve the UK in attacks on Iran. In case that wasn’t clear enough, he added that the aim of this enablement is the destruction of Iran’s missile capability – as direct an involvement as it gets.
Starmer is deluded
That this makes the UK a legitimate target for Iran under international law is clear. And Iran and its allies weren’t slow to let us all know they know this – attacking RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus within hours of Starmer announcing last night that US planes can use UK bases. Starmer knows this, but is quite prepared to ignore, for propaganda purposes, the reality of UK involvement in a war, bleating that:
On Saturday, Iran hit a military base in Bahrain with missiles and drones. There were 300 British personnel on the base, some within a few hundred yards of the strike.
Yes – a US military base, after the US attacked Iran. By having British personnel there, you put them in harm’s way, Brylcreem. Pull them out now and stop UK involvement and assistance.
Starmer also claimed, laughably, that his “principles” mean that he will only participate in war on Iran if it’s “lawful” and “thought through”. Well, it isn’t and he still is – but given the trail of broken promises littering his wake for years, that’s no surprise. Starmer also claimed that “our bases in Cyprus are not being used by US bombers”. The careful wording of this means that even if it’s not an outright lie – 30/70 chance – the UK’s bases are used by US fighters, transport and troop transport planes that are essential to keeping US bombers in the air and bombing.
Labour are rotten
Defence secretary John Healey is no better. He parroted his boss’s claim that his “first priority” is keeping British people safe, including military personnel. Right. Same applies – stop putting them in the firing line, then.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is as dishonest as the day is long. She showed this by the lies she told and still tells to justify her ban on Palestine Action. So it was no surprise at all to see her out trying to amplify Starmer’s lies. To achieve this, she tried to claim that Starmer’s government wants to keep its focus on the “300,000 estimated British citizens in other Gulf countries that are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones“.
But again, the easiest way to keep them safe – and all the rest of us – is to stop being Trump’s poodle and enabling his illegal war. Keeping them safe is clearly only of interest as far as it can be used to excuse continuing to assist Trump’s illegal war on Iran.
Starmer’s lies are so transparent, and his delivery so awful, that it’s almost as if he’s relying on the public tuning out after three seconds and not really registering what he drones on about. Then the collaborator ‘mainstream’ press and broadcasters can sanitise and spin it for him.
Since Skwawkbox and the Canary are very happy not to be members of that club, here’s the unvarnished truth: Starmer has brought the UK into another illegal war and he knows it. This puts British service people and civilians in danger, and he knows that too.
He is unfit to clean Downing Street, let alone govern from it.
Featured image via the Canary
There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight (3 March) that’ll lead to a “blood moon”.
This will see the moon turn a deep red or orange as the Earth interrupts some of the sun’s rays, usually reflected by the satellite.
And it’s the last one we’re expected to get until 2028.
Why do total solar eclipses make the moon look red?
Total solar eclipses can only happen during a full moon. They occur when the Earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon.
The “blood moon” occurs when the Earth’s “umbra”, or the shadow of its centre, covers the moon.
During this period, the light on the moon gets filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Shorter wavelengths, which create colours like blue, scatter more quickly than longer ones, like red and orange.
That means redder hues show up on the moon’s surface during the eclipse.
The more dust in our atmosphere, the redder the moon will appear.
Where can I see the blood moon?
Unfortunately, it’s not going to be visible in the UK.
Nor will it be seen from Africa or the rest of Europe.
But America, parts of East Asia, the Pacific region, and Australia will see the event at its burgundy best.
Though the actual eclipse will last just under an hour, the red effect is expected to stick around for much longer.
There will be partial lunar eclipses long before 2028, however
OK, so we’ll have to wait a while for our next total solar eclipse.
But partial solar eclipses, which occur when the moon is full but the Earth doesn’t sit perfectly between it and the sun, are a little more common.
The next lunar eclipse is expected in late August 2026.
Partial lunar eclipses can look different depending on your location.
Speaking of which, more good news: the next partial lunar eclipse will be visible from the UK and Europe.
And you don’t need any fancy tools to observe it – just head outside and look up.
For anyone planning a journey north from the Central Belt, vehicle preparedness is essential. Ensuring your car is in optimal condition before you set off can save time, stress, and unexpected disruption along the way. Fife Autocentre makes it easy to book convenient mobile tyre fitting in Stirling without interrupting your day, allowing drivers to maintain their schedule while keeping their vehicles road-ready. Starting your journey with tyres in excellent condition is one of the simplest and most effective ways to travel safely, particularly on longer stretches of road where help may not be immediately available.
Stirling marks the point where the roads begin to open up and distances between towns increase. The scenery improves, but the usual conveniences, such as quick garage access or service stations, become less frequent. This makes it all the more important to plan ahead and take advantage of services such as mobile tyre fitting in Stirling, which allow drivers to address potential tyre issues conveniently before embarking on longer journeys.
The Importance of Mobile Tyre Fitting Before Your Trip
Tyres are often one of the most overlooked components of a vehicle, yet they remain one of the leading causes of breakdowns across the UK. In 2024 alone, over 53,000 incidents on major roads were attributed to tyre problems, the majority of which were caused by gradual wear, low pressure, or minor damage that had accumulated over time. Mobile tyre fitting in Stirling provides a practical solution to these issues, giving drivers the reassurance that their vehicle is properly maintained before heading onto longer, less serviced routes.
Routine tyre checks and timely replacements can significantly reduce the risk of inconvenience or more serious problems, and they also contribute to better fuel efficiency and handling — factors that are often underestimated by drivers.
How Mobile Tyre Services Prevent Common Tyre Issues?
Even the most modern vehicles rely heavily on their tyres, which absorb the wear and tear of every journey. Minor issues can quietly affect braking distances, fuel efficiency, and overall vehicle performance. Some key facts highlight the importance of addressing tyre maintenance proactively:
• Around 30% of roadside breakdowns involve tyre-related issues
• Roughly 41 vehicles experience a flat tyre every hour
• Millions of tyres are replaced each year after falling below legal tread depth
By using mobile tyre fitting services, drivers can address these issues without the need to plan a separate trip to a garage, thereby avoiding delays and minimising disruption to their daily schedule.
Mobile Tyre Fitting Stirling; Convenience & Efficiency
Traditional tyre servicing often requires rearranging one’s day to visit a garage and wait for the work to be completed. Mobile tyre fitting in Stirling reverses this approach, bringing professional service directly to the driver. Whether at home, at work, or even roadside in the event of an urgent issue, this on-demand service ensures that vehicle maintenance does not interfere with day-to-day commitments.
The growing popularity of mobile tyre fitting reflects a wider trend towards convenience-led vehicle maintenance, particularly for drivers who value both efficiency and safety.
Preparing for Longer Drives with Mobile Tyre Maintenance
Once drivers move beyond Stirling, service stations and garages become less frequent. A tyre that feels adequate for short city trips may behave very differently on longer stretches of road. Mobile tyre fitting in Stirling ensures that tyres are inspected, repaired, or replaced before a journey extends into more isolated areas, reducing the risk of disruption and providing peace of mind.
This approach is particularly valuable for drivers undertaking longer trips or driving in less predictable conditions, where timely access to assistance may be limited.
Environmental and Efficiency Benefits of Mobile Tyre Fitting
Mobile tyre fitting does more than save time — it also offers subtle environmental benefits. The UK replaces millions of tyres each year, and by reducing unnecessary journeys to traditional garages, drivers can help cut vehicle mileage and associated emissions. By consolidating maintenance into one convenient, on-site visit, mobile tyre fitting provides an efficient, environmentally conscious solution for modern motorists.
Stay Road Trip Ready Without Interruptions
Preparing for longer drives need not involve last-minute errands or waiting in garages. Mobile tyre fitting in Stirling allows drivers to check, maintain, or replace tyres quickly, efficiently, and without interrupting their day.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced Sunday evening the postponement of the first leg matches of the AFC Champions League Round of 16 and the first leg matches of the AFC Champions League 2 (West Zone), which were scheduled to be played in several Middle Eastern countries during the first week of March. This decision comes amidst the escalating security and military conflict in the Middle East.
According to a statement issued by the AFC the matches scheduled for March 2nd and 3rd in the UAE and Qatar, involving clubs from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Iran, have been postponed to a later date “due to the rapidly changing situation in the region.” The statement emphasized that matches in the eastern regions of the continent will proceed as originally scheduled.
The AFC indicated that it is closely monitoring the security situation and remains committed to ensuring the safety of players, teams, and fans above all other sporting considerations. It confirmed that the new match dates will be announced later through official channels.
Arab countries affected by sporting suspensions
In the same context, some Arab countries witnessed modifications or partial suspensions of their local sporting schedules and public events due to the ongoing security tensions:
• Qatar: The Qatar Stars League announced the postponement of two matches from the Doha Bank Stars League until further notice, in an effort to ensure public safety amid escalating regional tensions. • The UAE and Saudi Arabia: Local club matches and sporting events scheduled for early March were postponed due to travel and security concerns, with some clubs temporarily suspending their competitive activities pending a more stable situation.
• Kuwait announced the suspension of all local sporting competitions until further notice, including football tournaments and other popular sports, amid the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, in order to protect athletes and fans.
Teams and athletes in countries such as Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon also faced difficulties in organizing sporting activities or traveling during the escalation, especially with some airlines suspending or withdrawing their services over the region. This led to the postponement or rescheduling of some local matches for logistical and security reasons.
Uncertainty and resumption dates
With the security situation continuing to deteriorate in the Middle East, football and other sports in the region remain in a state of uncertainty regarding the resumption of normal activities. Reports indicate that sports federations are considering alternative options, such as holding matches in a centralized location in a neutral country or rescheduling them for a later week if the security situation improves.
Sports in Asia and the Arab region continue to face unprecedented challenges due to the current situation. The scheduling of major competitions remains contingent on improved stability in the region and a return to safer levels of travel and security, so that the sporting events calendar is not disrupted seasonally.
Featured image via the Canary
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