Take Back Power supporters have been occupying the playgrounds of the wealthy again on the morning of 1 May. And they’ve ‘liberated’ items from a superstore to redistribute them back to the communities that need them. Take Back Power is a nonviolent campaign, demanding a tax on extreme wealth, to be decided by a ‘House of the People’.

At around 9am, three Take Back Power supporters entered the Tesco Extra on Acre Lane in Brixton, took essential items from the shelves and left without paying. The action takers then donated the items at a local food-bank drop-off point. At around 10am, all three attempted to hand themselves in at Brixton Police Station. So far none have been arrested.

Take Back Power carried out a similar action in four UK cities in March.

At 11.45am, a further 18 Take Back Power supporters occupied the luxury department store Liberty, on Regent Street in London. They could held signs which read ‘3 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS SKIPPING MEALS’ and ‘TAX THE SUPER-RICH NOW.’

At around 1pm, this group then reconvened, disrupting access to the luxury hotel Claridges. The group chanted “WE DEMAND EQUALITY!’ and ‘HOW DO WE TAX THE SUPER RICH? – A HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE!’ as security attempted to move the supporters away from the door.

A Take Back Power spokesperson said:

Take Back Power is calling for an emergency ‘House of the People’ to deal with the cost of living crisis. When politicians are too busy lining their pockets to fix our problems, we need the people most impacted to have a seat at the table.

A House of the People selected by democratic lottery, like a jury, is a no-brainer solution to cut out the corruption and decide how to redistribute wealth.

Take Back Power supporters explain the action

One of those taking action redistributing food today, Moshe Dixon, 25, from Dundee, said:

My mother came from poverty and fought tooth and nail to give me a better future. Like so many mothers she was promised that hard work would be rewarded, yet we are living in a country where so many families can’t make ends meet despite working multiple jobs.

6.5 million people had to turn to foodbanks in 2024. Meanwhile the CEO of Tesco is taking home 430 times the pay of the average Tesco employee, and the rich are paying a smaller share of tax than working people.

Also taking action today, occupying high-end stores and hotels, was Hannah McDonald, 20, a student from Liverpool, who said:

14 million people last year were faced with the prospect of going hungry, in this, the sixth richest nation on earth! Now we have a cost of living tsunami on the way and the government is nowhere to be seen.

This is broken Britain. We need a House of the People – an assembly with real power, where ordinary mums, nurses, posties & cleaners, get a real say in how to take back our power from the super rich, and redistribute that wealth and power back to working people.

The actions come as the UK braces for food shortages and soaring prices as a result of Trump and Netanyahu’s war on Iran. Rising fuel, fertiliser and commodity prices are beginning to feed into business costs.

Take Back Power says it’s time to take on the super-rich who are profiteering from a world in crisis. This is why it’s demanding that the UK government establishes an emergency House of the People – a citizen’s assembly chosen by democratic lottery, that has the power to tax extreme wealth and fix the UK.

Until the government makes a meaningful statement in response to this demand, the group says it will undertake nonviolent action to resist the super-rich, who are driving us towards social collapse. Donate or sign up to take action at TakeBackPower.net.

Featured image via Take Back Power

By The Canary

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Independents in the London borough of Ealing have been “making a breakthrough” as support for the Labour Party there is tanking. Labour currently dominates in Ealing, but Ealing Community Independents (ECI) leader, Craig Smith, told the Canary:

The number of people who are willing to admit on the doorstep that they’re voting Labour is breathtakingly low. Single percentage figures… So I know that things are going to look very different on May 8th.

Building “a credible alternative to Ealing Labour”

He compared the credentials of these independent and Labour councillors and what they stand for, saying:

None of the people that are going to be candidates for Ealing Community Independents are career politicians. None of them have been councillors before […] Essentially, all of our members are part of local residents’ associations. We have people who lead litter picking campaigns. We have people who are recognised community champions.

So they all do something as community organisers above and beyond just wanting to become councillors. Because, honestly, that’s been part of the problem with Ealing Labour Council over the years – 16 years now of councillors just doing it because they enjoy the status but they don’t want to get their hands dirty. They don’t actually want to be seen between the elections.

In waging an campaign led by independents to remove Labour’s majority on Ealing Council, he insisted that:

It’s the largest ever attempt by a new party or a grouping of independents to do this.

Their efforts to offer local voters “a credible alternative to Ealing Labour” include a key promise not to cut public services.

Labour has consistently “cut back on crucial services,” Smith lamented, with numerous children’s centres “up for the chop” last year. He stressed that independents would “reverse” that policy.

In short, ECI’s position is that, if their candidates are in charge:

you won’t see any cuts or closures or privatisations to frontline vital services [adding that] more than 20% of the working population is earning below the London Living Wage.

And to fight back against that, ECI councillors would work:

to make sure that all of the local employers are paying at least the London Living Wage to their employees

Holding housing developers to account

Smith also highlighted the need for more “affordable housing” which ECI is pushing for.

He explained why the current situation needs to end, and what ECI would do to deal with it:

As with many councils, Ealing Labour Council makes promises every year that it consistently breaks in terms of new house building and the number of affordable units that go into the developments that they’ve given planning approval to…

Essentially, planning approval is given for a major developer to throw up a block of flats. They agree to a certain ratio of affordable housing and then, almost inevitably, by the time that development is finished, they renege on the promise and say ‘it’s no longer affordable, costs have gone up, we can’t afford to do that’, and they reduce the number of units.

So literally every year, Ealing Council come back and say ‘oh, we haven’t hit our target’. And they don’t seem to be at all embarrassed about it.

So one of the things that we are sort of committing to do is to hold the developers to their initial obligation… I think the public and the developers need to know that we are serious when they make a commitment and they get an approval in the first place, that we expect affordable and social housing to go into those developments.

You can see all of ECI’s policies and positions here.

Ealing deserves better

Labour’s tanking support in Ealing is, in part, due to councillors being so disconnected from residents. As Smith asserted:

The thing that we hear most consistently is how angry they are at the lack of responsiveness from their councillors.

These independents have been making it clear to residents that unlike Labour, they put the voices of ordinary people at the heart of what they do. One key question when canvassing is whether people have heard of ECI. And though it’s a new party, Smith notes that:

Increasingly, people are saying yes. So it’s definitely working. We’re making a breakthrough.

ECI has also received the endorsement of Your Party. And it has been strategic too, having positive conversations with the local Green Party. As Smith clarified:

We agreed not to stand in three of their highest priority wards.

However, the green part, as he noted:

have pressure from above, from the central party, to field candidates, as many as possible, across all of the wards… So they are fielding candidates in our wards.

Greens have not been actively campaigning in ECI target wards, though.

Cooperative efforts between independents and Greens are entirely possible, as the Hackney campaign this year has shown. But as numerous independents around the country have told us, the national Green Party seems to be gauging where it can get significant support with minimal effort, and where it struggles — ahead of local elections.

Because of our highly problematic, anti-democratic voting system and obscenely wealthy individuals force-feeding Reform’s racist elitism — now is the time for change. To stop far-right Reform and an increasingly authoritarian Labour, Greens must work more collaboratively with independents.

Smith hopes this will happen after the local election, with parties to the left of Labour coming together to hold it to account.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

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Centrist Democrats are seeking to flex their messaging muscles ahead of the midterms, with a nonprofit affiliated with an influential group of House Democratic moderates set to host its inaugural policy conference later this month.

The Effective Governing Coalition is hosting the May 12 forum, billed as “Delivering an Effective Economy: A Solutions Conference,” at Washington’s Planet Word Museum. The group launched in 2024 as an offshoot of the centrist New Democratic Coalition and prioritizes economic growth, environmental sustainability, health care access and national defense.

The event, which will include new polling on cost-of-living concerns and focus on how Democratic leaders can boost affordability, comes as the center and left wings of the party have started laying out visions for an affordability agenda.

The New Democrats, the House’s largest Democratic Caucus, released a 16-page “Affordability Agenda” earlier this year, which details specific policy proposals targeting grocery, health care, housing, energy and family-related costs. The Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled a 10-point legislative plan to lower costs earlier this week.

The forum is not the EGC’s first foray into messaging around lowering costs. The group, founded by longtime Democratic operatives Mike Goodman and Kyle Layman, boosted swing-district members of the New Democrat Coalition in a summer ad buy blasting Republicans’ Medicaid-cutting megabill.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who said last month she has not ruled out a run for president, will speak at a fireside chat. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the New Dems chair, as well as Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Salud Carbajal (D-Cali.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) and Greg Stanton (D-Ari.) will also attend.

Other speakers include Fox News commentator Jessica Tarlov, political reporters Leigh Ann Caldwell and Molly Ball, Impact Research’s Molly Murphy, SKDK’s Doug Thornell and Third Way’s Lanae Erickson.

Another sign that the group is buckling down ahead of November’s election: The EGC recently hired Andrew Wright, former Rep. Derek Kilmer’s (D-Wash.) chief of staff, as its first executive director.

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More than 100 candidates standing in next week’s election for the Senedd have made the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)’s “Pledge for Palestine”, which includes supporting the Palestinian-led call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions on Israel.

A total of 115 candidates have so far signed the pledge, representing a wide range of political parties, including 46 Green candidates, 37 from Plaid Cymru, 8 from the Liberal Democrats, 6 from Labour, and 5 independents.

The “Senedd Palestine Pledge” commits candidates – if elected – to “take all appropriate steps to” (1) uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, (2) stand up to Israel for its crimes of genocide and apartheid, and (3) ensure the Welsh government is not complicit in these crimes, including by supporting the Palestinian-led call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

Prominent Senedd candidates taking the pledge

The pledge has been made by prominent Senedd candidates, including Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter, former Members of the Senedd standing again such as Mike Hedges (Labour), Sioned Williams (Plaid Cymru), Llyr Gruffydd (Plaid Cymru), Sian Gwenllian (Plaid Cymru), Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru), former MP Beth Winter (community independent) and Rob Griffiths of the Communist Party of Britain.

With the new ‘closed proportional list system’, where voters select based on parties or independent candidates, rather than parties’ individual candidates, the pledge has been signed by 2 Labour, 3 Liberal Democrat, 10 Plaid Cymru and 12 Green first-placed candidates.

The pledge has direct relevance to the Senedd, particularly in light of last year’s revelation that the Welsh government had given a £500,000 grant to an arms company that exports parts for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets, despite the First Minister’s claims to the contrary. These aircraft have been used in Israel’s obliteration of Gaza, which is widely considered to have amounted to the crime of genocide, a finding confirmed by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry.

The Senedd Pledge for Palestine follows PSC’s similar initiative in the English local elections, where more than 1,800 council candidates have made a ‘Pledge for Palestine’.

Bethan Sayed, co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru, said:

Reaching 100 pledges is a milestone. It is a clear message that Palestine is on the ballot in this Senedd election. Wales has always aspired to be a nation that stands on the right side of history, a globally responsible nation that holds human rights and international law at its heart. These 100+ candidates are giving real meaning to that aspiration.

Support for Palestinian rights stretches across every community and every constituency in Wales. Polls show public backing for this issue. Voters will be watching closely to see who has the conviction to stand with them.

To those candidates who have not yet signed: time to act is now. This is a test of moral leadership. We urge every remaining candidate to sign the Pledge before polling day.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

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Under the 2000 Terrorism Act, the maximum sentence for encouraging terrorism is 15 years in prison. Inviting support for a proscribed organisation carries a maximum term of 14 years. When Majid Freeman began to speak at Birmingham Crown Court, standing accused of supporting Hamas through a series of social media posts related to the Gaza genocide, he knew his liberty was on the line.

Freeman takes the stand

Defence barrister Hossein Zahir KC is a seasoned professional and imposing presence, his words booming across the courtroom.

His questioning began with several reminders to the softly-spoken Freeman to raise his voice. Judge Andrew Smith KC politely suggested:

Aim for the back row of the jury, even if you need to shout.

First trip to Gaza

The court heard details of Freeman’s first trip to Gaza in 2012, as part of the “Games 2 Gaza” initiative.

It was on this trip that Freeman first met his wife, his barrister confirms. Now, she looks on with a concerned expression from the public gallery.

Freeman explains:

It was designed to replicate the 2012 Olympics for the orphans in Gaza. We took sports equipment: boxing gloves, skipping ropes, and footballs.

On one of the days, we gave the children paper and colouring pens. Most drew their parents being killed or attacked by tanks or fighter jets. I was taken aback. I’d never seen anything like it.

‘I was devastated’

The jury were shown photographs of Freeman delivering medical aid to hospitals in Beit Hanoun and Gaza City.

Freeman’s defence barrister asked: “How did the trip to Gaza affect you?”

I was devastated.

His barrister continued: “Did anything happen after you returned home?”

Yes. In November 2012, the Israeli military attacked Gaza again.

In February 2013, Freeman went back to Palestine: “What was the impact of the second visit?” Freeman took a deep breath:

I couldn’t believe the level of destruction in just a few months. Yes, things were bad before, but now, they were worse.

Freeman was asked by his barristers about his views on the Zionist project and ideology:

I think it’s a disgusting ideology. Because of Zionism, Palestinian families have been displaced from their homes. I believe every Palestinian has the right to defend themselves and their families, including by using force.

The ‘Palestine’ question

Next, Zahir asked about his view on a potential solution to the Palestine question:

I believe that the two-state solution is unrealistic. Maybe it was once a possibility, but not now. In fact, I believe that the Israeli government uses it as cover to continue expanding and removing Palestinians from their land.

Zahir asked: “But what do you believe the answer is?”

I believe that all citizens of Palestine should be able to live side-by-side, with equal rights, regardless of their faith, like the rights we have here. They should not be forced to live under two separate judicial systems.

“Are you a supporter of Hamas?” Zahir asked. Freeman replied:

No. I do not support Hamas as a group. I support the right of all Palestinians to defend themselves, whether they are part of any group or none.

Not just Hamas, but every Palestinian group has the right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression and genocide. This is the basics. Every people has the right to self-determination.

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I am totally against being forced to criticise Hamas as a condition for speaking on the issue of Palestine. It is a trap designed to prevent discussion.

“Do we hear the same condition, to condemn the actions of the IDF, imposed as a precursor to discussion?” his barrister asked.

Hardly ever. Palestinians ‘die’; Israelis are ‘killed’. Language matters.

A clear, unapologetic account

Whatever the outcome of the trial, Freeman made sure to set out his stall. The jury has been presented with a clear, unapologetic account of his views. Now, they must decide whether or not he has broken the law.

Tomorrow, Freeman will be cross-examined by the prosecution.

At one point, defence barrister Zahir asked Freeman to explain a poem he had reposted on Instagram.

There were times [during the Gaza genocide] that I felt despondent, but then I’d come across a powerful reminder like this.

I’ve got my voice; I don’t have time to feel disheartened.

Featured image via the Islam21c

By The Canary

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