Politics
Lily Allen Hits Back At West End Tour Critics Over One Controversial Aspect
Lily Allen has addressed the discourse that has surrounded her ongoing world tour.
Earlier this year, the British star embarked on her Lily Allen Performs West End Girl concert tour, inspired by her critically-acclaimed fifth album.
When promoting the release in 2025, the Brit Award winner described it as a work of “autofiction” inspired by the breakdown of her relationship with her ex-husband David Harbour, encouraging fans to listen to it straight through without a break, rather than cherry-picking their favourite tracks.
She also took this approach when putting together the album’s accompanying tour, which saw her performing the album in its entirety, without including any other tracks on the setlist or speaking to the audience.
Fans were near-unanimous with their praise for the unconventional concerts, although some critics raised questions about its short runtime and her decision not to play hits or address the crowd from the stage.
Lily – who is currently on a break from her tour, which she’ll take across the pond next month – reflected on this while speaking to Perfect magazine for a recent cover piece.
Snapshot/Future Image/P Frauchiger/Shutterstock
During the interview, Lily explained that she feels like she’s playing a character when she’s on stage for her shows, saying: “I’m literally not looking for a response! And I can’t hear because my in-ears are so fucking loud. I can’t really see anything.
“I want people to enjoy themselves, for sure. But it’s interesting. Because I’m not being me, or me at the moment, I can’t manipulate them [with flattery, as singers often do during concerts].”
Lily continued: “I couldn’t possibly [do that]. Because then I’d have to come out of character and it would ruin the performance. I’m not saying what other people do, or what I’ve done in the past, is bad. It’s just not what’s happening here.”
“People have commented [about this tour]: ‘She doesn’t interact with the audience. Blah, blah, blah.’ I’d say to them: give me your top five audience interactions you’ve ever seen at a gig,” she added with a laugh.
Back in May, after Lily kicked off the arena leg of her tour, one journalist for the Spectator wrote on X that the star was on stage for 50 minutes, had “no support act”, spoke “not one word to the audience” and charged “£86 [for a seat] in the gods”.
At the time, Lily responded to point out that there is a support act – a string orchestra who play instrumental versions of her hits, with the audience invited to sing along in karaoke style. She also insisted the show has “always been advertised as Lily Allen Performs West End Girl”.
“I was a few [minutes] late as my tights were laddered and I had to change them,” the chart-topping star wrote on X. “The show is just over an hour as it’s just the album in its entirety. It’s my artistic choice not to talk to the audience, the fourth wall helps with the storytelling. Most people find it to be effective.”
Lily added: “I don’t want anyone to feel ripped off, everyone on this tour is really working very hard to give people the best show we possibly can, and I’m extremely proud of it.”
Months earlier, Lily addressed her critics after one fan claimed that the performer had become the subject of a “smear campaign” that had come “out of nowhere”.
She wrote back: “Oh it’s coming from somewhere, but we move!”
A subsequent social media post also saw Lily speculating that “bots” could be behind some of the negative comments being shared about her online.
Read Lily Allen’s full interview in Perfect magazine.
Nick Jonas has admitted that things didn’t quite go his way when he tried out for a role in a beloved Disney movie.
The chart-topping singer spoke about the embarrassing moment on the latest edition of the Hey Jonas! Podcast, which he co-hosts with his brothers Joe and Kevin Jonas.
During the conversation, the pop trio were joined by Frozen voice actors Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad, when Nick revealed he had auditioned to play Kristoff, the rugged iceman voiced by Jonathan Groff, in the animated film and its numerous spin-offs, only to “bomb” in the room.
“I went in and they said, ‘Okay, what are you going to be singing today?’,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know’.
“They were like, ‘Do you have your sheet music?’ And I said, ‘No, no one told me I had [to bring any]’, and so I just said, ‘Can you play something from…?’ I don’t know what I said, some musical theatre song.”
Nick joked that as much as he loves Jonathan Groff: “I do think it would have been better to cast me.”
Despite his failed audition, Nick assured his guests he didn’t “spite-watch” Frozen and “did enjoy it” when he saw it for the first time.
Upon its release in 2013, Frozen went on to become a global phenomenon, winning two Oscars, sparking a popular sequel (with two more in the pipeline) and eventually became the fifth highest-grossing film of all time.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first Nick has admitted he has missed out on a huge film opportunity.
As recently as May, on the band’s podcast, he explained how he messed up a meeting with the producer of a “big movie” after he failed to realise he was also the director.
“I asked him, ‘Oh, and who’s directing?’ and his response was, ‘Well, me.’ I wanted to die inside at that moment,” the Jealous singer explained.
“I think it went really well. I was very happy coming out of the room. I’m a huge fan of the show, and that’s a role I always thought it would be fun to play,” the Jonas Brothers singer admitted.
Fortunately, it’s not all been bad news for Nick’s acting career.
Types of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease have long been linked to a buildup of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain. These are both proteins that have been compared to the “trigger and bullet” in the development of the condition.
But in a new study, researchers focused on a less-investigated protein: GRK2.
This research found that GRK2 has two different forms, with one kind especially plentiful in the minds of those with dementia.
Not only did they identify this problematic protein, but in tests conducted on mice, the scientists seemed to be able to block its effects.
What does GRK2 have to do with dementia?
About 20 years ago, the study’s lead author, Professor Ursula Quitterer, was sent brain tissue removed during tumour surgery. These samples came from people both with and without dementia.
There are two forms of GRK2: an active and an inactive kind. During extensive research both on the aforementioned tissue samples and on mice, Prof Quitterer and her team found that the brains of people with dementia had a lot more inactive GRK2 than those without.
During the development of dementia, inactive GRK2 deposits onto brain cells and damages their mitochondria (the energy-generating “powerhouse” of the cell). These “aggregates block the pores of the mitochondria, reducing the amount of energy they can supply and leading to a situation of stress inside the cells,” Prof Quitterer said.
In mouse studies, higher levels of inactive GRK2 were also linked to the accumulation of amyloid plaques. As we mentioned above, these have long been suspected to play a role in the development of dementia.
Worse, the stress amyloid plaques place on brain cells may lead them to form more inactive and clumping GRK2 – potentially creating a vicious cycle.
Compound 10 may break up these proteins
Prof Quitterer and her colleagues created a variety of chemical compounds to try to stop these inactive GRK2s from having such a negative effect on the brain.
After trials on both mice and human tissue samples, their “Compound 10” creation performed the best. It stopped GRK2 from aggregating, meaning mitochondria could keep doing their job.
And the brain’s nerve cells seemed more able to keep their function and stay alive, too.
Prof Quitterer, who is currently awaiting a patent for Compound 10, added: “Alzheimer’s is a very complex disease. That’s why it’s so important that we’ve now identified a new target protein in the form of GRK2, as well as an active ingredient that operates via GRK2 and therefore via a different mechanism than existing Alzheimer’s drugs.”
Burnham said: “It’s a matter for Harry and for Meghan, and we wish them well in the move that they are making.” Sorry Harry…
Sam Smith has voiced their admiration for Madonna, after she helped them through a particularly turbulent time in their career.
Back in 2022, the British musician released the Kim Petras collaboration Unholy, which hit number one in the UK upon its release.
However, despite the song’s popularity, it didn’t sit well with everyone, with certain right-wing commentators taking issue with its accompanying music video and a subsequent performance at the Grammys.
In the ensuing moral panic, some conservatives even went as far as accusing the singer of being “satanic”, after they sported an all-red ensemble complete with a top hat adorned with devil horns on stage (this crossed over into the real world when, in one TikTok clip, they were seen being heckled while out in public by someone branding them “demonic” and “sick”).
During a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Sam described Madonna as the “most important artist in my life”.
Mike Vitelli/BFA.com/Shutterstock
“I got the chance to get to know her and communicate with her,” they enthused, describing the Queen of Pop as “my mother” and “un-fucking-real”.
“When I had the controversy happen around me with Unholy, and the stuff in the press, and the heaviness that came with that for me… I talk to current artists right now, if I meet them, and they don’t even know it happened,” Sam said.
“[But] the minute it happened, she made sure that she got through to me. She’s so aware of queer news, and what’s happening to the community, and to artists within the community. And you feel that in her music.”
They continued: “I feel like her music is a lifeline to queer people, and all of the eras of her, and her stamina, and how she’s always carried on and on and on, I just find it very inspiring, and I think a lot of queer people find it inspiring.”
Madonna introduced Sam and Kim on stage at the 2022 Grammys, describing them as “two incredibly talented artists” who were “forging a new path and taking the heat for all of it”.
“All you troublemakers out there, you need to know that your fearlessness does not go unnoticed,” she said. “You are seen, you are heard and, most of all, you are appreciated.”
Following this, Madonna and Sam recorded the duet Vulgar, on which the Vogue singer was heard delivering the immortal line: “If you fuck with Sam tonight you’re fucking with me, so watch what you say or I’ll split your banana.”
Sam then covered Madonna’s Human Nature on their Gloria world tour, while she repaid the favour by including a snippet of Unholy while performing Like A Prayer on her Celebration tour.
Nigel Farage has been accused of misusing Christianity to “channel anti-Muslim feeling” by the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Life peer Dr Rowan Williams told the New Humanist magazine there was an “inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction”.
He said: “I suspect really that Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have ‘we’re a Christian society’ to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast.”
Williams, who served as the senior bishop for the Church for England from 2002 to 2012, said he believed there were a lot of possible causes driving Christian nationalism in the UK, including “anxiety about migration, anti-Islamism”.
He said: “In France, that anxiety has a secular aspect, but the St George’s Cross still means something in the English imagination, which still has a Christian aspect.
“The second thing is the globalising of all political discourse. The message given at international Christian conservative gatherings is that self-respecting nationalist movements need a bit of theology injected into them.
“Ironically, for someone like Nigel Farage, it’s about trying to find a presentational strategy that allows him to be taken seriously outside England. He’s often not here, after all.
“Then again, if we’re looking for what animates Christian nationalism, I think it’s in part the very simple search for someone to blame.”
Farage posted on social media at Easter, saying: “The Christian values on which our country is built are something to be proud of.”
In his first election interview back in 2024, he said there were a “growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, in fact loathe much of what we stand for”.
He later told Sky News he was talking about Muslims.
The Clacton MP also criticised an iftar – the meal eaten to break Muslims’ daily fast during Ramadan – in Trafalgar Square earlier this year, describing it as an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.
Williams went on to criticise Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon who claims to have taken Bible studies in jail and is now a Christian.
His Unite the Kingdom march in London in May saw demonstrators carry wooden crosses and chanting “Christ is king”.
Williams said: “There’s an inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction, and I don’t want to give way to this. If Tommy Robinson is doing his best to lead a life of Christian discipleship, I’m very glad, but I would really want to ask him some awkward questions.
“I would ask him how attempting to lead a life of Christian discipleship squares with public rhetoric designed to produce hostility and violence.”
Reform UK has been approached for comment.
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You might already know that overloading your washing machine drum dooms your clothes to longer-lasting dampness – but did you know it could also shorten your appliance’s lifespan?
Additionally, Lenor says we should consider shaking our clothes before bunging them into the dryer, as that helps to “extract surplus water and damp”.
And apparently, the temperature at which you set your washing machine matters much more than we think, according to doctor and broadcaster Dr Xand van Tulleken.
Speaking on BBC Morning Live, he said he doesn’t “see the point” in one setting in particular, as it neither kills off germs nor saves you much money.
Here’s the most “useless” washing machine temperature
Dr van Tulleken started off by saying that 90°C is usually a bit excessive, as it “almost boils” your clothes.
Though it does “kill” germs, the doctor joked that “whatever’s happened” to garments that need that extreme a heat setting likely means they need to be binned anyway.
If your household has an infection like Norovirus, Dr Van Tulleken stated you’ll probably be best off washing on a 60°C cycle.
Then he added, “personally, I don’t see the point in 40°C… it’s too hot to be cheap, and it’s too cold to kill [germs]”.
The NHS has advised patients who spend time in hospital to wear clothes that can be washed at 60°C to avoid spreading bacteria like Clostridium difficile (C.diff).
Any lower, and the germs will likely survive.
But what if I’m not sick?
Most of the time, if you’re not unwell, 60°C is excessive.
But even then, Dr van Tulleken (and consumer advocacy publication Which?) say 40°C isn’t ideal.
30°C “gets the job done,” the doctor shared (Which? found that on average, switching from 40°C to 30°C saved 38% energy, or about £24 a year).
Personally, though, the doctor is a “20°C guy for everything” except his workout clothes.
Which? wrote that this saves 62% energy or £39 a year compared to 40°C; they recommend washing at either 20°C or 30°C where possible.
Though this may leave your washing machine drum a little less boil-wash-clean than higher temps, that’s resolved by simply running “a monthly hot maintenance wash (60°C with the machine empty and washing machine cleaner in the detergent tray)”.
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that “stealing someone’s thunder” and “spilling the beans” have a pretty unusual relationship to the weather and legumes they describe.
Common phrases like “o’clock” and “pardon my French” have unexpected origins, too.
But what about superstitions like horseshoes? How come an animal’s foot covering came to mean good luck, so much so that you can still find some nailed to the doors of people’s homes?
According to riding wear suppliers at Discount Equestrian, the answer is a little wilder (and darker) than I thought.
Why are horseshoes considered lucky?
One story, the horse experts said, related to 10th-century monk and bishop St Dunstan and the devil (oh!).
“The legend of the horseshoe is closely associated with St Dunstan, today the patron saint of goldsmiths, locksmiths, and jewellers,” they said.
“As the story goes, while living as a hermit in Glastonbury, he was visited by Satan, who asked him to use his blacksmithing skills to shoe the devil’s hoof.”
The legend says that because St Dunstan recognised the visitor for who he was, he nailed a red-hot horseshoe to his hoof.
So, the devil learned to be afraid of the iron symbol and steered clear of houses which displayed them on their doors.
Some also believe that nailing seven holes into a horseshoe attached to your door will add to its luckiness.
The ‘n’ angle, with the heels pointing down, has been believed to pour blessings on visitors, while the “U” shape may be used to keep any good fortune from spilling out.
Iron has long been considered lucky
This is not the only factor that goes into the choice, Discount Equestrian said.
Horsehoes are made from iron, which was once considered a talismanic metal used to keep witches and other supernatural forces at bay.
“The horseshoe is a perfect example of a symbol that has crossed centuries without people really knowing why they use it,” the pros explained.
“It combines practicality that iron was once precious, with deep religious folklore about protecting the home. When people hang one today, they’re unknowingly repeating a thousand-year-old superstition.”
In a post on X, Irish satirist and pro-Palestine activist Tadhg Hickey has called out Piers Morgan’s glaring double standard over online abuse: defending some targets from trolls while piling on others.
Hickey’s intervention came after Morgan posted on X defending Ariana Grande and rightly condemning the trolls “making her life a misery”. But, as Hickey points out, Morgan has shown far less concern for Greta Thunberg, repeatedly adding fuel to the abuse directed at her.
Patriarchal double standards
Morgan was absolutely right to call out the trolls targeting Ariana Grande with nasty and offensive comments about her appearance. But, as Hickey has pointed out, where is that same compassion when it comes to activist Greta Thunberg?
That double standard matters.
Personal attacks, condescending pile-ons and relentlessly negative commentary can have very real consequences for the people caught in the crossfire. We saw just how tragic those consequences can be following the death of Jason Arday, who faced attacks from powerful people who disagreed with his views and, more disturbingly, from those who were entirely unable to accept a Black man achieving academic acclaim.
And that is the problem. For some people, personal attacks and irresponsible commentary suddenly become acceptable when the target holds political views they dislike.
Within our neoliberal establishment, a hugely successful actress who makes big sums of money for corporate wealth will find her wellbeing being defended, but an activist fighting for a better world against corporate greed and neglect, will be demonised and ‘left to the dogs’.
Let us be clear: both women deserve far better than the way they are treated in the media.
However, you cannot condemn online abuse when it suits you and then choose to ignore abuse when the target is someone you disagree with. This exposes a deeply cynical double standard in parts of the mainstream media and Western behaviour more broadly.
It also raises an important question: if the media and social media pile-ons continue to cross the line, isn’t it time we had much stronger accountability and regulation?
This is the same soulless rodent who regularly says hideous, baseless things about Greta Thunberg – perhaps the most attacked young woman on the internet. pic.twitter.com/uHDAzNZDEn
— Tehran Tadhg (@TadhgHickey) August 18, 2026
Morgan is a hypocrite
Thunberg often attracts the ire of white patriarchal men like Morgan, as she has long sought to challenge corrosive systems of power. This is both in relation to the climate crisis and in Western states’ failure to uphold international law in the face of a live-streamed genocide in Gaza.
This, unsurprisingly, has irritated people like Piers Morgan who seemingly believe they are the ultimate moral arbiters of what can and can’t be said.
Going further, Morgan has attacked Thunberg relentlessly for years, alongside other right-wing pundits, for the offensive crime of working to expose the irresponsibility, negligence and corruption at state and corporate level in the face of climate catastrophe.
After October 7th, 2023, Thunberg turned from a sole focus on the environment to speaking up against the genocide in Gaza which is still ongoing today. Pointing out the flagrant breach of international law by the occupying state of Israel, Thunberg has angered many pro-Israel pundits.
This drew the ire of Piers Morgan who showed a particular inclination to favour Israel’s ‘position’. He appeared to have quite the comfort in ignoring the brutal, murderous bombing campaign by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on innocent Palestinian men, women and children.
Nevertheless, Morgan eventually couldn’t excuse Israel’s war crimes, and he finally began to challenge Israel (a little bit, anyway) – but he was no more inclined to look at Thunberg’s efforts without feeling compelled to diminish and deride her.
This is because, for people like Morgan, it is always about his arrogant superiority:
"This stunt has done absolutely zero to help any of the people in Gaza. Zero!"
Piers Morgan clashes with UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese on Greta Thunberg – watch more — Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) June 9, 2025
https://t.co/64pOqfYq2R@piersmorgan | @FranceskAlbs pic.twitter.com/6O581NYeYM
Derogatory abuse
Morgan’s cruel and diminishing rhetoric towards Thunberg has been longstanding and has sunk to deplorable depths in his attempt to diminish her critical work.
Back in 2019, in response to her advocacy for action on the climate crisis, Morgan attempted to suggest Thunberg was “unstable”:
Piers Morgan with Toby Young agreeing with him just said 'Greta Thunberg is unstable' on Good Morning Britain.
Fox sacked a contributor for saying Thunberg had a mental illness.
Should GMB sack Piers Morgan? — RJ (@robjeffecology) September 25, 2019
As in the interview with Albanese, Morgan does little to hide his hatred for Thunberg. Ironically, he declared her to be someone who is just out for their own ego who is a “self-obsessed narcissist”.
Plenty have pointed out his hypocrisy, which only lays bare this double standard even further:
Piers Morgan called Greta Thunberg a self obsessed narcissist.
Has he looked in the mirror recently?
There really is a massive one there.
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) June 9, 2025
Others have pointed out that Thunberg could seemingly do nothing which could possibly satisfy Morgan – or escape his cynical and damaging attacks.
if Greta Thunberg was doing nothing for Gaza except posting, Piers Morgan would call her a performative whiner afraid to take any real action. If she engaged in violent protest, he would call her an evil terrorist. If she does non-violent action like the freedom flotilla, she's… pic.twitter.com/UXWIEsTLo8
—
(@zei_squirrel) June 9, 2025
The more likely reality is that Thunberg’s real offence is simply showing up – with no agenda beyond helping others, using her privilege and platform to challenge the most powerful and damaging structures of power.
5 minutes in the company of this f****** legend and you get why washed-up conservative white men like Piers Morgan are so hideous towards her on the internet, obsessively trying to find out what her 'angle' is: It's because there's no angle. She does what she does because she… pic.twitter.com/tM5YADifrX
— Tehran Tadhg (@TadhgHickey) August 9, 2026
Unfortunately, much of the media class is helping to uphold these damaging systems of power, as researcher Philip Proudfoot has pointed out on X:
It is clear we need a public inquiry into the British media, covering everything from its funding model that encourages harmful click-bait, to the over representation of nepo-elites.
Media is sick in Britain. It does not not “speak truth to power” — it upholds and defends it.
— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) August 19, 2026
Practice what you preach, Morgan
There have been resounding calls across the political spectrum for stronger regulation of the media. The British public deserves a media watchdog which actually has ‘teeth’ when it comes to holding powerful, influential people to account for the harms they have afflicted and contributed to.
This crucial issue has been brought to the forefront of public debate in light of the abusive, irresponsible and cruel treatment towards Jason Arday, seemingly for clickbait. Continuously, we see the mainstream media, politicians and journalists actively encourage quick judgement. So few encourage real understanding.
Before the far-right DEI-haters swoop in, or those on the left who have been all too happy to churn out content that undermines the very principles we claim to uphold, let’s be clear: understanding is not the same as agreement.
It means reaching a conclusion informed by the full picture – not by the most manipulated, inflammatory or salacious details.
It is time for all those in the media and those engaging in public debate to practice what they preach, the World has had quite enough of hypocritical double standards.
Featured image via the Canary / IG
Here at the Canary, we’ve been very critical of the sort of people who run to become Reform UK councillors. Sometimes this has been because of their own actions; other times it’s been because the party they sought to represent is reprehensible. Given this, we’d generally praise someone for leaving the party. It is somewhat difficult to do that in this instance, though:
Reform councillor resigns, but sent their resignation letter to the wrong council — Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) August 20, 2026
pic.twitter.com/5MkFTfVMYa
Confusion
The Reform councillor in question is one Christine Duffy. Duffy has previously complained that she “received no training” around the councillor role, which is a fair enough complaint. It’s not surprising, either, as we know that Reform doesn’t even seem to vet its candidates. We also know that Reform councillors have complained about having the tow the party line over local interests.
As noted, Duffy sent her resignation letter to the wrong council. For whatever reason, she addressed her correspondence to Kidsgrove Town Council instead of Newcastle-under-Lyme. This is a pretty big mistake, and while we know she “received no training”, that can only excuse so much.
Adding further intrigue to the story, Duffy has since withdrawn her resignation. While a resignation cannot be withdrawn once received, Duffy claims she withdrew before Kidsgrove handed the resignation to Newcastle. She also said:
I am not resigning as the Borough Councillor for the Town ward and I remain committed to representing the residents who elected me.
Additionally:
I am appalled that a private letter, provided in confidence to the Clerk of Kidsgrove Town Council, has somehow been obtained by the Kidsgrove Independents and is now being exploited for party political purposes.
And also this:
My position could not be clearer.
It probably could be clearer, to be fair, but maybe this is the best she can do?
Not alone
Duffy isn’t the only Reform councillor to have resigned recently. John Bell resigned on 17 August following the announcement that Reform want to abolish Personal Independence Payments (PIP):
The big question about Reform's plan to remove PIP disability payments from two-thirds of claimants is whether it's politically sustainable.
PIP pays ~£4,500 a year, tax-free, to ~10,000 people in a typical Reform target seat. Big debate ahead. https://t.co/fi1SlusXE8
— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) August 18, 2026
Abolishing PIP entirely is an extreme position for Reform to take – both because of the damage it will do to sick and disabled people, and the damage it will do to the party’s electability:
Reform UK PIP changes: Reform UK MPs vs Old Tory MPs
Farage, Pochin, Anderson, Tice, Having reviewed PIP data and mapped it against Reform UK constituencies, and weighted for working age claimants, it's clear that there is a divide… pic.twitter.com/fMhqMmdlxF
— Reform UK Exposed
vs
Jenrick, Braverman, Rosindell, Kruger
(@reformexposed) August 17, 2026
In Farage’s Clacton constituency, it’s more like one-in-five voters. And while Reform has done a good job conning PIP claimants into thinking they’ll only target the ‘layabouts’, it’s going to be hard to pull that same trick when the party is claiming every PIP claimant is a layabout.
By proposing to abolish PIP while simultaneously shunting other costs on to businesses, Reform seems to have designed a policy which will be hated by everyone. Obviously, there are many Britons who don’t own their own business of claim PIP, but bear in mind there are:
In other words, most Britons will know a PIP claimant or a business owner. And through word of mouth, they’re going to hear very bad things about this policy.
Reform: Going, gone
As detailed above, there are many reasons for Reform politicians to resign. Some have gone to take a moral stand; others have gone following a series of farcical mistakes. We do encourage all Reform councillors to abandon the party, though, and we hope fewer of them get in with the next local elections. This is looking more and more likely too given the party’s bizarre decision to attack its own potential voters.
Featured image via the Canary
By Willem Moore
The Palestinian city of Hebron has been the target of another Israeli military excursion. Occupation personnel flooded into the Old City to roll out the proverbial red carpet for “settlers tours” in the southern West Bank city — a coloniser gathering held on Shabbat that compounds the terror Palestinian residents experience in Hebron, one of the most heated fronts of colonial settler violence.
Israeli military presence is not incidental. It safeguards setters, offering them a carte blanche to overrun indigenous Palestinian territories. With the military on their side, they are answerable to neither local nor international law, acting with repugnant impunity.
Israeli system of Apartheid
The latest flood of alleged religious pilgrims — all of whom are illegal settlers — was not without violence. By the evening of the 15 August, the tormenting of Hebron’s Palestinian population had begun as the settlers playbook of intimidation tactics took a violent turn. Making their way towards nearby Kiryat Arba, colonists started attacking nearby neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) forced shopkeepers to shutter their stores and businesses for the afternoon. Roads were also closed, severely restricting the movement of Palestinians in and out of the Old City.
A Palestinian who lives in Tel Rumeida tells the Canary that he and his wife felt ‘anxious’ and ‘fearful’ that evening.
“About 7.30pm, just before sunset, a group of settlers was roaming Tel Rumeida with the intention of attacking the Palestinian residents. They started throwing stones at our house. My wife and I were inside so, fearing we would be hit by stones and attacked, we had to lock ourselves in the house and wait.”
“They just wanted to kill the Palestinians”
By around midnight, settlers had reached Hebron’s Al-Ras neighbourhood, throwing stones and attempting to set cars alight. The Quds News Network, citing the Red Crescent Society, reported that it was treating 10 injured Palestinians that night.
Naser Jabari, 64, was shot in the back and hand, while his 40-year-old son, Fahed, was also shot and subsequently detained. Eight other Palestinians, including a 66-year-old woman, were beaten by settlers and soldiers. After shooting the two men, the IOF prevented an ambulance from reaching them for around 40 minutes.
A local neighbour, Alaa Jaber, describes these events to the Canary:
Two of my neighbours were shot by soldiers that night. The settlers turned up at midnight, and were intimidating people. The people were deterring them, and because of this the settlers started throwing rocks. The Palestinians then responded with the same. One of the rocks hit the Israeli settler’s car, so he then started shooting.
The soldiers heard this, and turned up quickly. They saw the two Palestinians, and maybe thought they had a gun, so shot them immediately. They made no attempt to see what was happening, but just wanted to kill the Palestinians. After that, the soldiers stormed the houses, defending the settlers.
Naser Al-Jabari was taken to a Palestinian hospital, while the IOF took his son to a hospital in Jerusalem, by military ambulance, and detained him.
No further information is known about their condition, or if Fahed Al-Jabari is still being detained. Jaber says:
The streets around this Restricted Area are closed off to Palestinian vehicles, so the only cars on the road belonged to Israelis. The Jabaris made a living repairing the settler’s cars, and even communicated with them in Hebrew. It’s sad.
There’s no stability here, the situation is so chaotic. The Israelis want everyone to leave. They used to get on well with the Muslims, and were treated well by them. But now they come in and do the same as what the Nazis did against them.
Skyrocketing settler violence
Settler violence in the occupied West Bank has hit an all time high. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 3,000 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage had been recorded from the beginning of 2025 through to the end of June 2026. Much of this violence happens in and around the Hebron area.
Last year saw record levels of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, with over 63,000 housing units advanced or planned. Now, in 2026, the occupation has been focusing on formalising settlements, funding their expansion and building supporting infrastructure. This is so it can continue deepening its control over the territory and continue fragmenting Palestinian communities, and what is left of their land.
Medical Aid for Palestinians warns of a continuing escalation in attacks on healthcare workers in the West Bank. Two further serious incidents have occurred. A group of settlers attacked an ambulance carrying a patient from Hebron’s Tel Rumeida area to hospital.
Just northwest of Hebron, in the village of Sa’ir, settlers shot 26-year-old Palestinian nurse Muhammad Mutoor, in the back. The attack severed Mutoor’s spinal cord, leaving him paralysed.
Israeli holding patterns
In 1997, under the Hebron Protocol, Hebron was divided into H1 and H2. H1 covers around 80 percent of the city and falls under Palestinian Authority control, while H2 covers the remaining 20 percent and remains under ‘Israeli’ military control. It includes the Old City and several areas where ‘Israeli’ settlers live alongside Palestinian communities.
Tel Rumeida and Al-Ras are two Palestinian neighbourhoods within the Restricted Areas of H2, and are therefore subject to severe access and movement controls. Palestinian vehicles are prohibited from entering, while residents face numerous checkpoints and restrictions affecting access to their homes, schools, workplaces and essential services.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
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