Under state ownership, Iranians pay so little for oil consumption it’s actually a problem. This is somewhat amusing given it shows that nationalisation can dramatically reduce people’s energy bills. Just in Iran’s situation, the price is too low, meaning the government should take more profit and invest it in industries such as education and healthcare.

As a disclaimer for those jumping the gun, this article focuses on only this aspect of Iranian policy, it’s not upholding the overall system of an authoritarian theocracy.

Why is energy so cheap in Iran?

State ownership combined with government subsidies means Iranians pay as little as £0.021 per litre of fuel. The average global price is £1.09, demonstrating how remarkably inexpensive Iranian oil is.

Of course, the cheap oil is also partly because Iran has the third largest reserves in the world.

The issue is that such cheap energy leads to overconsumption. It’s why even under public ownership, finite resources should not be free or too cheap.

Iran’s energy intensity index is one of the highest globally. Plus, 20% of Iran’s daily consumption is made up of oil smuggled abroad and sold to other countries because of the low price at home.

Low cost energy means reduced expenditure for agriculture, delivery and for businesses and people. It’s generally a good thing. But rather than making it too low, profit can be used for public investment in other areas.

Before privatisation, nationalised energy in the UK made significant profit for the public purse, meaning the government can spend more with less risk of inflation.

Green energy over oil

That said, it’s clear that renewable energy is not only cheaper to produce but addresses the climate crisis. We need to move away from oil, no matter what the corporate and state luddites say.

In 2025, Earth Overshoot Day landed on 25 July. That’s the day when, globally, we use the amount of resources that the planet can replenish for the next year — our ecological budget.

This is largely due to consumption of fossil fuels. If we changed to 100% renewables globally, which is entirely possible, it would bring the date back six months.

But Iran does show how much state (or common) ownership can reduce prices for individuals in a society. Amusingly, it’s actually too cheap.

Featured image via the Canary

By James Wright

Source link

In the runup to the local elections, we’ve been reporting on the horrorshow that is Reform UK’s campaign. Most of our articles have focused on candidate controversies, and these stories have somehow gotten worse and worse by the day.

For the latest example of this, we present Aaron Lee Taylor:

NEW: ‘Hitler was right’, says one of Reform’s top activists, Aaron Lee Taylor

Taylor has campaigned from Reform’s head office and twice met Nigel Farage, has frequently shared material online that promotes Nazi Germany.https://t.co/om5KugSPN9

Advertisement

— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) April 14, 2026

That’s Adolf Hitler, by the way.

The worst Hitler.

The worst person full stop, arguably.

Come and join the Reform UK Party

As Hope not Hate have reported:

Aaron Lee Taylor, who volunteered in Reform’s head office and twice met Nigel Farage has frequently shared material online that promotes Nazi Germany.

Here’s an example of the sort of thing he was posting:

This is something Taylor tweeted on 1 November 2025:

If it’s black send it back

If it’s brown shoot it down

If it’s white it’s perfectly alright (to stay in the UK)

These posts were from late last year. Earlier this year, he began volunteering at Reform’s HQ and taking pics with the top brassHope not Hate added:

His most recent post in support of Reform was on April 3rd, when he shared an Easter message from the party. We understand that he is now no longer a member of the party. What remains unclear is why Reform appealed to Taylor, an unabashed fan of Hitler.

Yes, very unclear.

We probably shouldn’t be laughing about the UK’s leading political party being up to its elbows in Nazis, but there are two things that could be described as darkly amusing:

• Reform’s laughable vetting process (which they assure us exists).
• The fact that Aaron Lee Taylor is a completely ridiculous figure.

The following image shows Nigel Farage meeting Taylor at the activist’s tanning salon:

That’s right – ultra-racist Aaron Lee Taylor has his own tanning salon.

Saying that, we suppose he’s far from the only orange supremacist in the world:

Does anyone believe Trump‘s BS explanation for posting himself as Jesus Christ?

“Well it wasn’t depicted… It was me, I did post it. And I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross. There is a Red Cross worker there that we support and only the FAKE NEWS could… pic.twitter.com/TwDTvSWnwe

Advertisement

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 13, 2026

Vetting away with it

As Hope not Hate reported, Zia Yusuf said in March that Reform have “the best vetting in the country”. Here’s a picture of Yusuf with Aaron Lee Taylor (tweet taken from Taylor’s Twitter feed):

We’re well aware that Reform’s vetting is non-existent, because we’ve reported the following:

• Reform candidate wants to ‘tear down’ the NHS.
• Reform candidate exposed as a horny nincompoop.
• Another Reform candidate has praised Enoch Powell.
• Reform UK accused of ‘nil vetting’ as another racist candidate exposed.
• Video emerges of Reform’s ‘Nazi salute’ candidate drink driving.

To be fair, ‘non-existent’ is the charitable reading of this nonsense ‘vetting’ process.

The less charitable takeaway would be that this bunch of racists are purposefully enlisting the absolute worst of the worst.

Featured image via Hope not Hate

By Willem Moore

Source link

Source link

Source link

Iran’s national football team plans to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US despite ongoing military and political tensions.

The national team coach, Amir Ghalenoei, told the Iranian news agency, IRNA:

There is currently no reason preventing us from participating. God willing, we will participate.

He added that the Iranian Football Federation is actively continuing preparations, including playing friendly matches in preparation for the tournament.

In the same context, Iran sports minister, Ahmad Doniamali, expressed optimism about the possibility of participation, provided the ceasefire between the warring parties holds.

He said:

The more normal the situation becomes, the more likely participation is.

Doniamali added, in statements carried by IRNA on Monday, that “the more normal the situation becomes, the more likely participation is”, indicating that the decision is linked to political and security stability.

Iran prioritises player and coaching staff safety

In the same context, the national team coach stressed the need to ensure the safety of the players and coaching staff should the tournament be held in the US, given the current circumstances.

These developments coincide with direct negotiations held in Islamabad between Iran and the US at the end of last week, which failed to produce any tangible results.

The final decision regarding participation is expected to be referred to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

US president, Donald Trump, had expressed doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup, while reports indicated that FIFA rejected an Iranian proposal to move the team’s matches to Mexico.

Iran’s national team is scheduled to play its group stage matches against Belgium, New Zealand and Egypt in Seattle and Los Angeles.

Featured image via the Gulf Observer

By Alaa Shamali

Source link

Democrats running for the Senate posted some massive fundraising hauls in the first quarter.

The most striking number so far came from Texas. James Talarico brought in an eye-popping $27 million over the past three months, his campaign announced Wednesday morning ahead of today’s Federal Election Commission deadline, including $10 million since he won his March 3 primary.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff raised more than $14 million in the first quarter, according to his campaign. In North Carolina, former Gov. Roy Cooper raised $13.8 million. In Alaska, former Rep. Mary Peltola brought in $8.9 million, while former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown raised $12.5 million in his comeback bid.

The hauls, several of which set records in their respective states, underscore how Democrats are feeling increasingly bullish about their ability to flip the Senate. While Democrats still face an uphill climb due to the red lean of many states on the Senate map, President Donald Trump’s tanking approval ratings and the unpopularity of the ongoing war in Iran has the party feeling optimistic ahead of the midterms.

Democrats facing competitive primaries did not report as strong numbers, as donors split among several candidates. In Michigan, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow brought in $3 million, slightly ahead of Abdul El-Sayed’s $2.2 million. Rep. Haley Stevens, the third candidate in the race, has not yet revealed her fundraising numbers ahead of the FEC deadline on Wednesday. Iowa’s two Democratic candidates, state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls, each raised $1.1 million in the past quarter.

Source link

On 14 April, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that it had submitted its latest attempt at a ‘single-sex spaces’ code of practice to parliament. The news comes a year after the Supreme Court ruled that ‘woman’ is defined by sex-assigned-at-birth under the Equality Act.

Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson subsequently announced that she will release the new code in May. Ostensibly, and quite conveniently, the latest delay is intended

The transphobic ‘rights watchdog’ was forced to redraft its previous guidance, which called to ban trans people from both spaces aligned with their gender and, sometimes, their sex.

Given its previous abortive attempts, the EHRC’s latest code looks likely to be another anti-trans shitshow.

EHRC: ‘a narrow set of comments’

On 14 April, EHRC chair Mary-Ann Stephenson announced that:

Progress is being made towards accurate and up-to-date guidance on the Equality Act 2010 being available to service providers, associations and those exercising public functions.

The UK government recently provided us with a narrow set of comments on the draft Code of Practice we submitted in September. Having considered this feedback alongside consultation responses and further legal analysis, we have made adjustments where they help the Code provide legally accurate, practical guidance that is useful to duty bearers.

That “narrow set of comments” presumably related to the ridiculous suggestion that service providers should guess at people’s trans status based on appearance and behavior. This was unworkable for a host of reasons, not least because there’s no legal way to establish whether or not an individual is trans.

Following the EHRC’s announcement, women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said:

This government has always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex. The Supreme Court’s ruling last year brought clarity for women and service providers such as hospitals and refuges, and made clear that protections for trans people remain in the Equality Act.

That “based on biological sex” bit is a bare-faced lie. In fact, the Labour Manifesto previously pledged to make it easier to legally change one’s sex. The party quietly abandoned this promise because of pressure from the far right.

‘Getting it right’

Philipson continued:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the independent equality regulator and ensures compliance with the Equality Act 2010. Their Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations covers all nine protected characteristics and the steps service providers should take to comply with the law. We share the EHRC’s commitment to ensuring duty bearers have accurate and up-to-date guidance on the Equality Act 2010 including in the light of the recent Court rulings.

Those “recent court rulings” include a decision that it is still discriminatory to ban trans people from single-sex facilities aligned with their gender. The fact that the EHRC got this so badly wrong is also proof that Philipson’s claim that the original anti-trans ruling brought “clarity” is another lie.

The women’s minister concluded by adding that:

The government received the updated draft on 13 April. The Code will apply across Great Britain and as we are currently in the pre-election period for the devolved administrations, we are unable to make further announcements on this matter at this time. However, we are taking urgent action to meet our intention of laying the Code in May and as soon as practicable after the election period, for Parliamentary scrutiny.

We are getting it right, showing leadership by implementing the clarity the Supreme Court ruling delivers.

Before an election, ministers observe a ‘period of sensitivity‘. For the Scottish election, this began on 26 March. During this time, MPs should “carefully consider” any primary legislation relating to the devolved government. Further than this:

For Scotland and Wales it is not possible for the respective executives to seek their legislature’s consent for provisions in UK Government Bills that require Legislative Consent Motions during the election period as the legislatures will either be in recess or dissolved.

This is significant because the new code will have to be laid before parliament for 40 days before it becomes law. However, both MPs and Lords can prevent this by passing a motion to reject it.

Laughable claims of ‘clarity’

Beyond the stipulations of the period of sensitivity, the delay is highly convenient in a purely political sense. Namely, whatever Philipson actually comes out with, it’s likely to see her torn to shreds.

The deeply bigoted anti-trans pressure groups will be outraged that they’re not seeing the full bathroom ban they felt was coming. Meanwhile, queer and trans rights groups have been vocal about the fact that Philipson cannot possibly ‘get it right’, as she put it.

Alex Parmar-Yee, of the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, put it plainly:

The only workable solution is to protect the norm of trans-inclusive provision across the country, in line with international human rights standards and Labour’s own promises to the trans community.

Likewise, trans advocacy and education group TransActual stated that:

Bridget Phillipson’s claim that the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex in the Equality Act delivered ‘clarity’ is laughable. The ruling a year ago led to mass confusion, inspired disjointed and discriminatory policies, and created a workers rights crisis for trans people by causing trans people to be outed at work, with some prevented from doing their job at all. The ruling and the draft Code of Practice both inspired institutional and vigilante harassment of cis and trans people based on their perceived gender.

Jess O’Thomson, trans rights lead at the Good Law Project, said:

The EHRC has been gaslighting us for a year, insisting publicly and repeatedly that their legal analysis was unimpeachable. Now it’s clear that they got the law wrong, and they’ve been told to fix the guidance they tried to force through last year. It shouldn’t have taken this long for the EHRC to do its job.

For now, trans communities are faced with yet another long wait. The Commons will return after the State Opening of Parliament on 13 May. It will then break for recess on 21 May.

We don’t know what Philipson and the EHRC’s latest attempt will bring. Until the code is finally published, our place in society remains balanced on a knife edge.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

Source link

We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI – prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.

If you’re remotely interested in lip tints, listen up – because I’d bet my bottom dollar that I’ve found your new favourite.

K-beauty brand Laneige launched its Juice Pop Box Lip Tints in the UK in March, to a decent amount of fanfare online.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the hype is very much warranted.

I tried the shade Mocha Remix, a semi-sheer plummy brown. While at first it goes on quite thinly, looking a bit like a wine-stain (only more chic), if you layer it up, it soon builds to a much deeper colour.

Advertisement

This is ideal for me, since it means I can wear it differently depending on my mood.

Its staying power is seriously impressive – you can couple a few layers of it, eat a good meal, and forget about it for hours before you notice your lip colour hasn’t budged.

Unlike lots of other lip products I’ve tried in my time, you can apply it on the go without looking with total ease.

Aidan trying the Laniege tip tint

And what’s more, it feels super nourishing on the lips, thanks to the ‘Water-Oil Remix Technology’, polypeptide, and ceramides boosting the tint’s moisturising and firming formula.

Advertisement

My only minor critique is that, after spending most of the day wearing it, the colour tends to sink into the natural creases in my lips, and I like to add a quick layer of some clear lip balm to even things out again.

But all in all, between the lovely shade, the tint’s versatility, and how very easy it is to use, it’s an ideal option for everyday wear.

At £20, it’s not the most budget-friendly buy in the entire world, but it’s very far from the most expensive too.

Further to that, in my humble opinion, it’s worth every penny.

Advertisement

Source link

Unison’s general secretary called out the “broken” NHS funding review body and backed striking workers as part of a barnstorming welcome speech on the opening day of its annual health conference.

Speaking at the 2026 National Health Care Service Group Conference on Monday, Andrea Egan issued a call for international solidarity with racialised, LGBTQ+ and disabled colleagues, migrant workers and Palestinians under siege in Gaza.

Beyond this, she also warned the Labour government that “futile attempts to imitate the far-right must end”.

“There will be no out-Reforming of Reform,” Egan added.

Unison boss to NHS: ‘The whole country depends on you’

Beginning her welcome, Egan distinguished herself from some of her (*cough* more right-wing) predecessors as the “first lay member” to lead Unison. However, she quickly moved on to one of the event’s top priorities: NHS pay.

No politician denies that the whole country depends on you. That everyone turns to health workers in our moments of need. That the NHS turns on endless hours of self-sacrifice.

Yet your terms and conditions are still under attack.

Staff are our health service. To invest in you is to invest in the NHS. The notion we can restore our healthcare system without restoring your pay is nonsense. That’s why we have been unequivocal with the government: 3.3% is simply not good enough.

Egan blamed the “broken” Pay Review Body for the “insulting” 3.3% offer to NHS workers. Unison has already called out the offer as a real-terms pay cut that fails to keep up with the cost of living.

The general secretary added:

A united message to the government from Unison’s health conference should be: start treating NHS staff with the respect they deserve. And that means restoring pay. It means investing in workforce expansion. And it means picking morale up off the floor.

Do I smell a dig at Labour’s actively anti-union, pro-privatisation excuse for a healthcare secretary? Why, I think I do!

Egan slams Labour’s lack of progression

On that note, Egan also got in a swipe at the “no-longer new” Labour Party more generally.

Notably, Labour expelled Egan from the party back in 2022 for sharing ‘Socialist Appeal’ posts. As such, her palpable disappointment is more than understandable.

With Labour in power we hoped for a break with the failed ideas of the past. We were promised ‘the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation’ for public services…Well, where is it?

There are still far too many private healthcare vultures swooping down on our services, profiteering, extracting value – not delivering for patients or the public. Allowing that to continue is a political choice. A deeply irrational one at that.

Unison’s research has shown that, over the next few years, over 20,000 NHS jobs are under threat across England. The antidote to this peril, according to Egan, is proper public funding:

Our NHS can only be rebuilt on the foundation stone of its socialist-first principles, not by harking back to the failed, corrupt schemes of the mid-2000s.

How many more crumbling buildings and patients in corridors do we need to see before politicians stop spreading myths about inefficiencies and start getting serious about investment?

And, in light of those socialist-first principles, she also praised the health workers who’ve recently staged strikes. Egan acknowledged that industrial action isn’t taken “easily or lightly” when workers are “deeply committed” to their patients.

Anyone seeing another jab at Streeting or is it just me?

‘Stop the attacks on migrant workers’

Egan then pivoted to another conference priority: the rights of migrant workers. She urged members to get involved in the union’s fair visa campaign day of action on 24 April, and added:

I have taken our Unison message to Parliament, and directly to the Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street: stop the attacks on migrant workers. Now.

Our pressure, which began with migrant members organising a massive lobby of Parliament themselves late last year, is working. More and more MPs are realising what catastrophic damage the Home Office proposals would do to our public services and are speaking out against them.

As part and parcel of standing up for migrant workers, Unison is actively opposing Reform UK, such as through the Responding to Reform network.

Egan said:

Reform want to take away our rights, turn back the clock on equality, and parcel up our public services for their old pals in the square mile. We in Unison will not let it happen.

And, quite rightly, that includes the Farage-alike clowns in Labour:

We are also making clear to this Labour government that futile attempts to imitate the far-right must end. There will be no out-Reforming of Reform.

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

‘I came to transform it’

Egan reiterated Unison’s opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran. Thus far, the illegal war has targeted at least 23 healthcare facilities in a matter of weeks.

Then she gave a shout out to the campaign of solidarity with Ukrainian healthcare workers, before moving to Palestine.

I want to acknowledge the Palestinian healthcare workers, almost two thousand of whom have been killed in Israel’s genocide. Medical Aid for Palestinians estimated last year that three healthcare workers were being murdered by Israel in Gaza every single day.

Finally, Egan ended with a note of solidarity and hope for change.

I did not come into this role to maintain the status quo; I came to transform it. I came into this role on a vote to be your voice. But comrades, I cannot do this alone. So today I ask you one question: are you ready to be part of the change and to be part of this journey?

The union is me, the union is you, the union is us. Together we can build a union that truly reflects the strength, resilience and leadership of our movement, a union that fights hard for justice and a union that wins.

I know we at the Canary have a (sometimes well-deserved) reputation as jaded cynics, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t sound like we might have a principled socialist at the head of the UK’s largest union again.

Featured image via Unison

By Alex/Rose Cocker

Source link

On 15 April, the BBC published an investigation into a “shadow industry of law firms and advisers… charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay in order to stay in the UK”. As ever, the focus of the investigation misses the point. Namely, that hostile immigration policies force people to take increasingly desperate measures.

Legal advisers help migrants pose as gay to get asylum, undercover BBC investigation finds https://t.co/33ujvSDzRk

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 15, 2026

BBC isn’t asking the right questions

Demonstrating that the ‘gay cover’ is being used because people are out of options, one of the advisers told the BBC investigator:

Listen to me. There is nobody who is real. There is only one way out in order to live here now and that is the very method everyone is adopting.

The adviser in question charged £2,500 for their services, so they’re clearly profiting from the situation. Whenever you clamp down on safe and legal options, however, you create avenues for this sort of activity.

A point of comparison is with the smuggling networks who help refugees and migrants reach the UK. As the Green Party wrote in a policy paper on the matter:

If safe routes existed, people would take them. Instead, we have taken away their ability to arrive within permissible routes and thus force them to take more and more dangerous routes. Not only are we causing these risks and ensuring the growth of smuggling networks

The BBC could ask ‘why are we making this country increasingly hostile towards people who want to come here and contribute?‘

Instead, the British media has internalised the idea that the environment must become more and more hostile, and that when this inevitably leads to workarounds, we must all pretend to be shocked.

Anyway, it’s always good to remember:

fixing our asylum system to one that works better for everybody is perfectly possible https://t.co/C2zJXZY9ay

— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) April 14, 2026

The UK’s deporter-in-chief, meanwhile, used the story as an excuse to talk tough:

Anyone abusing protections for people fleeing persecution over gender or sexual orientation is beyond contempt.

Let me be clear: try to defraud the British people to enter or remain in the UK and your asylum claim will be refused, your support cut off, and you will find yourself…

— Shabana Mahmood MP (@ShabanaMahmood) April 15, 2026

Advertisement

When you purposefully build a cruel system, you can’t be surprised when people do what they can to protect themselves.

Narratives

The BBC investigation further adds to the narrative that refugees are duplicitous. As the investigation shows, however, these people are being led into making decisions based on the idea that it’s the only option they have.

If you want people to behave honestly, you need an honest and transparent system. Instead, we have one which forces people to jump through hoops – not because there’s merit to doing so, but because Labour and the Tories decided it would hold Nigel Farage at bay.

This reporting will also place further suspicion on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. Speaking on this, the Peter Tatchell Foundation said:

The Home Office must not allow fraudulent claims to weaken its resolve to give asylum to LGBTs who have suffered, or are at risk of, arrest, imprisonment, torture and the failure of police in their home countries to protect them from mob violence and attempted murder.

Safeguarding the integrity of the asylum system is essential to maintaining public trust and, most importantly, to ensuring that real victims of homophobic persecution are not overlooked or refused a safe haven

Reactivity

Under Keir Starmer, Labour’s immigration policy has been reactive. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been reactive to the needs of refugees or to the prosperity of the country; it’s been reactive to the politics of Reform UK.

Dancing to Farage’s tune has prove to be disastrous for Labour’s polling. Hopefully they wise up to that reality soon, and they don’t simply double down on creating a hostile environment that serves as a breeding ground for problems.

Featured image via BBC

By Willem Moore

Source link