The US military deployed elements of the elite 82nd airborne division – paratroopers – to the Middle East in March. Sources have now revealed some went to Israel. Their mission, if called upon, was to seize Iranian oil port Kharg island.

US journalist Ken Klippenstein reported on 8 June:

When the Pentagon announced that the 82nd Airborne was deploying to the Middle East in March, it concealed a key detail: some of the paratroopers were headed to Israel, as revealed in an Army deployment order I obtained.

Adding:

A military source involved in war planning tells me the deployment is tied to new U.S.-Israeli joint contingency plans, completed since February, for seizing Kharg Island and carving out coastal territory inside Iran.

Rumours of a ground invasion bubbled then faded as the war ground to a humiliating halt. Klippenstein, among others, argued that a ground war was never going to happen. Trump’s war on Iran is currently polling as badly as the Vietnam war.

US paratroopers Israeli mission kept secret

The mission was kept quiet to head off:

public debate over a joint U.S.-Israeli operation inside Iran — a prospect many considered plausible at the time.

And because:

A joint U.S.-Israeli operation raises thorny questions for America’s Gulf Arab “partners,” especially over logistical support — hence the 82nd, which could launch directly from Israel without any Gulf state’s consent to use its territory.

The last mass military parachute drop was in 1945. While the Pentagon did talk about the deployment, the Israel tasking was kept quiet.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman general Dan Caine praised the 82nd in a public meeting in May 2026:

He went on to describe the paratroopers as “constantly ready to jump from Air Force aircraft into ground combat [to] seize key terrain if ordered to do so, just like their predecessors did in Sicily and Normandy in World War II, or to secure or enable the follow-on forces to flow into theater as they did in Grenada or Panama.”

For Klippenstein:

That is a description of readiness to seize a piece of Iranian terrain — which makes me suspect the New York Times and others were being used to “message” Tehran that such an operation was imminent.

One company remains Israel

The US-Israeli alliance is hardly a secret. Klippenstein gave three reasons why the mission was kept so secret:

First, the breadth and depth of U.S.-Israeli military cooperation goes far beyond arms sales and “deconfliction.”

Secondly:

the two countries are deepening intelligence sharing aimed at making Israel a sixth “eye” in the so-called Five Eyes alliance of the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

And:

Third, naming Israel would expose how much of the U.S. assault on Iran is in fact a joint U.S.-Israeli attack — not a Trump-Netanyahu brotherhood, but cooperation at the military-to-military working level, where combined war plans are now reality.

Klippenstein said one airborne company – between 60 and 250 soldiers –  is still in Israel:

from which no dispatches have emerged in two months. I’m not saying a ground operation is imminent or inevitable. But if one were coming, wouldn’t it be nice to know?

US-Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

The US has achieved none of its original war aims. Iran predictably closed the Straits of Hormuz, a vital oil channel, once attacked – creating a global energy crisis. Far from being defeated, Iran has said the war will continue until “the enemy’s inevitable and permanent humiliation, disgrace, regret, and surrender”. Trump came to power on an anti-war ‘America First’ ticket. He now faces worldwide humiliation.

Featured image via Getty/Ian Hitchcock

By Joe Glenton

Source link

Your Party parliamentary leader Jeremy Corbyn is asking for the public’s help to pressure Makerfield by-election candidate Andy Burnham into confirming he will back an independent inquiry into UK collusion in Israel’s genocide. Corbyn wrote to the Greater Manchester mayor in May 2026 asking Burnham to say publicly that he will back an inquiry. Burnham did not respond.

Now Corbyn wants members of the public, particularly but not exclusively in Makerfield, to sign a petition demanding Burnham state unequivocally that he will back an inquiry – and arrange it if he wins the by-election and a leadership election.

The British public deserves to know the full scale of its government’s complicity in genocide. That’s why I will continue to push for an independent, public inquiry.

We will not give up until there is justice for the people of Palestine.https://t.co/X0HlSxpGCg

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 26, 2026

Advertisement

Friends of genocide – except Corbyn

Burnham, at least formerly a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), is surrounded by concerns over his closeness to the UK Israel lobby. Disgraced, Israel-supporting incumbent Josh Simons quit in order to trigger the by-election and other pro-Israel figures now support Burnham. Burnham needs to win in order to challenge Keir Starmer for the keys to Number 10. Simons’s pro-Israel ‘Labour Together’ sabotage outfit appears to be trying to stay in control.

Makerfield voters go to the polls Thursday, 18 June 2026. If Burnham wants the left to lend him a vote, he needs to say right now – as per Corbyn’s demand – that he will hold an independent inquiry into the collusion of UK government, media and others in Israel’s slaughter of innocents.

Sign the petition here.

By Skwawkbox

Source link

Nigel Farage has called on the Unions to ditch Labour and instead join far-right Reform UK.

Reform is now the party of workers.

Today I am inviting trade unions to apply for affiliation with Reform UK.

We also welcome union leaders to attend our national conference in September and engage in discussions about the policies of a future Reform government. pic.twitter.com/v9dRHMmwU4

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) June 9, 2026

Advertisement

Farage has never been a member of a union. Instead, he has spent most of his career spouting hatred at them.

Nigel Farage hasn’t been a member of a union his whole life. He’s had nothing but borderline hatred for them his entire career. He’s also quoted as saying “Reform would go to war with these left wing teaching unions”.

Meanwhile councillors like @DarrenGrimes constantly air… https://t.co/mcBIPmgr8M

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) June 9, 2026

If any union accepts his offer, there is no doubt that it will eventually destroy both the union and its members’ rights. That sounds a bit like a turkey voting for Christmas.

Farage inviting the Unions to get into bed with him and Reform UK because they are ‘the party of working people’.
If any union accepts this offer it will destroy them and their members rights, perhaps that’s his plan? I would leave my union if it did would you? #Farage #ReformUK pic.twitter.com/QtOy7KVV8Z

— The Rev. Anton Mittens (@MittensOff) June 9, 2026

Farage voting against workers’ rights

Farage claims that Reform is the party of working people. However, the reality is that Farage has consistently voted against workers’ rights.

Trade union representative here: ARE THEY FUCK FOR THE WORKING PEOPLE. https://t.co/B8FDP1t6d3

— SaltyTech (@Captin__Caveman) June 9, 2026

From the man and party who voted against the Employment Rights Act – this is farcical.

What was it about the law which repeals vast swathes of the Tories’ punitive Trade Union Act 2016 and makes it far easier to get unions recognised in a workplace you didn’t like Nigel? https://t.co/LUMQhJlkY3

— Cllr Tom Creswell (@tom_creswell_) June 9, 2026

Reform wants to scrap the Equality Act. This would threaten parental leave rights, along with job security for half a million pregnant people.

Reform opposed the Employment Rights Bill & would scrap day one sick pay & parental leave rights.

Farage was against increasing the minimum wage & defended Thatcher causing a “little pain” with huge job losses in working class communities.

Reform are not on the side of workers. https://t.co/TSpttGE86e

— Danny Adilypour (@dannyadilypour) June 9, 2026

Farage was also against increasing the minimum wage. Which is hilarious given how much he takes home each year from his nine jobs. He takes home over £600k every single year – so much for a man of the people!

Reform is the party of corporate interests

Eleven trade unions are affiliated to the Labour Party. Having said that, a recent poll suggested there is growing support among some trade union members for Reform UK.

However, leaders of the TUC, GMB, Unison and Community all hit back at Farage. They said that Reform was the party of “corporate interests”.

In an interview with the Times, Farage said union leaders were spending members’ money on policies that members do not support. He added:

Reform now runs councils that employ tens of thousands of unionised workers: bin men and women, social workers, care staff, school support workers.

Unlike the snobbish Tories of old, we will never treat organised labour with contempt. If you represent working people in this country, my door is open. The doors of every Reform council leader from Sunderland to Sandwell are open.

Advertisement

Reform has never, and will never be, the party of workers.

Reform is not the party of workers.

You hate trade unions. You hate workers rights. You hate the minimum wage.

How can a party of greedy corrupt multi-millionaires and failed Tories who want to strip away our rights, make us poorer and privatise the NHS, ever be on our side. https://t.co/BZ9KSSSmIu

— Oliver Bennett (@OBennettSocial) June 9, 2026

Advertisement

Does Nige think that if he’s racist enough and incites enough riots, everyone will just forget about the £5m donation and the house he didn’t pay stamp duty on?

Why won’t you allow yourself to be interviewed? Why are you running away from the scandal of your £5mil ‘gift’ or should we say bribe? #Farage #FarageRiots #ReformUK #Brexit #RejoinEU https://t.co/5Ms3KSpeS1

— WeAreTheDeeplyUnhelpful48% #FBPE #RejoinEU (@Budfrog) June 9, 2026

It’s actually insulting to working-class people that Farage thinks he can spout racism and the working class will jump into his arms. But you can’t claim to be the party of working people whilst simultaneously voting against workers’ rights.

A man of the people wouldn’t take millions from crypto billionaires, pay as little tax as possible, and consistently vote against stronger employment rights for workers.

There is absolutely no doubt that if he got into Number 10, Farage would take a massive dump on workers as soon as he got the chance.

Featured image via Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

By HG

Source link

Thomas Massie, US Congressman, has demanded the US reopen its investigation into the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, which he suspects was not an accident.

The attack on the US Navy ship killed 34 service members and injured 171 others.

Massie marked the 59th anniversary of the attack by delivering a speech to the House of Representatives.

The Israeli government has always maintained the incident was a “friendly fire”. However, some crew members from the USS Liberty have argued with that assessment, saying the attack was deliberate.

Their stories question the official version of the events.

Previously, Al Jazeera published audio recordings from the day of the attack. These suggested that the Israeli military knew the ship was American before it launched its attack. However, the mainstream media and Western governments have pretty much ignored this.

Now, in his speech, Massie pointed out the unlimited visibility and the American flag which was flying above the USS Liberty.

Massie also referenced several top diplomatic, intelligence and military officials. These included the former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the ex-top General Thomas Hinman Moorer. Both said they believe the attack was deliberate.

Massie said:

None of these distinguished men think this was an accident

They think it was intentional murder by the country of Israel, either as a false flag operation or because they simply didn’t want anybody observing what they were doing that day.

Israeli impunity?

The incident was during the Naksa, or six-day war, where Israel illegally seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Syria’s Golan Heights.

As the Canary previously reported:

It began on 5 June, when “Israel” launched surprise attacks against Egypt and quickly entered a conflict involving Jordan and Syria. By the time the fighting ended, six days later, the criminal regime had devastated its Arab neighbours. It had also seized and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. Although victory was swift for “Israel,” for Palestinians the effects of the Naksa are ongoing.

In only six days, the IOF forcibly displaced 300,000 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Israel had already displaced most of these people in 1948. They spent twenty years rebuilding their lives in refugee camps – just for Israel to uproot them again.

The US sent the USS Liberty into international waters near the area for ‘observation and intelligence collection’.

However, on June 8, 1967, Israeli jets opened fire and dropped napalm – an incendiary weapon – on the USS Liberty. They then torpedoed the vessel.

In his speech, Massie pointed out that Israeli jets had been seen surveilling the vessel the day before the attack and:

were intent on leaving no survivors.

Decades later, in 2003, Ward Boston, a US Navy official and adviser to the court of inquiry, released sworn testimony that the lead investigator had been pressured to rule the incident a case of mistaken identity.

‘Certain’

However, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assessment, which was released in 2006, claimed that Israeli pilots “failed to identify” the USS Liberty as a US ship.

Then, in a 2007 article, Ward Boston wrote:

Israel claimed it was an accident. Yet I know from personal conversations with the late Admiral Isaac C. Kidd — president of the Court of Inquiry — that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of “mistaken identity”.
The ensuing cover-up has haunted us for forty years. What does it imply for our national security, not to mention our ability to honestly broker peace in the Middle East, when we cannot question Israel’s actions – even when they kill Americans?

The authorities only gave Boston and Kidd one week to gather evidence. A proper court inquiry would have taken at least six months. Boston added:

We boarded the crippled ship at sea and interviewed survivors. The evidence was clear. We both believed with certainty that this attack was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.

Boston was “certain” the Israeli pilots and commanders knew the ship was American. He said:

 I saw the bullet-riddled American flag that had been raised by the crew after their first flag had been shot down completely. I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivors. Not only did they attack with napalm, gunfire, and missiles, Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned at close range three life rafts that had been launched in an attempt to save the most seriously wounded.

Crucially, the cover-up started right at the very top. Boston concluded:

Admiral Kidd told me that after receiving the President’s cover-up orders, he was instructed to sit down with two civilians from either the White House or the Defense Department, and rewrite portions of the Court’s findings.  He said, “Ward, they’re not interested in the facts.  It’s a political matter and we cannot talk about it.”  We were to “put a lid on it” and caution everyone involved never to speak of it again.

After his speech, the USS Liberty Veterans Association, a group of survivors who have been calling for accountability in the case, praised Massie on social media.

Featured image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube

By HG

Source link

Laila Cunningham is Reform UK’s candidate for the mayor of London, and, in a new interview, she disputed the claim that Nigel Farage wants to force the UK to abandon free health care in the form of the NHS for a US-style insurance model. The problem is that Farage has publicly voiced this opinion on camera, as commentator Farrukh highlighted:

Mick Lynch repeatedly humiliates Reform UK's Laila Cunningham

She then accuses Mick Lynch and Labour of spreading lies to "win the argument" denying that Nigel Farage wants an insurance-based NHS

Here are two clips of Nigel Farage saying,

Advertisement

1. He doesn't want the NHS funded… pic.twitter.com/joAvIQ2YQ0

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 8, 2026

Death to the NHS

In the first clip Farrukh highlighted, Farage says the following to Sky’s Beth Rigby:

I do not want [the NHS] funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work. It’s not working.

In an older clip, Farage says:

I think we’re going to have to think about health care very, very differently. And I think we’re going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care. Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the marketplace of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100bn a year to central government and expecting them to organise the health care service from cradle to grave.

What Farage is talking about is a US-style system; a system which offers the worst of all worlds to taxpayers. As Health System Tracker note:

analysis shows that 20 million people (nearly 1 in 12 adults) owe medical debt. The SIPP survey suggests people in the United States owe at least $220 billion in medical debt. Approximately 14 million people (6% of adults) in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt and about 3 million people (1% of adults) owe medical debt of more than $10,000. While medical debt occurs across demographic groups, people with disabilities or in worse health, lower-income people, and uninsured people are more likely to have medical debt.

The reason we say it’s ‘the worst of all worlds’ is because the US pays more per head for their healthcare.

That’s right.

A private health insurance system doesn’t just lead to inescapable personal debt and worse health outcomes; it also costs taxpayers more than the alternative. And the reason it costs more is because the industry is a massive scam.

As congressman Ro Khanna said in April this year:

The U.S. spends far more on healthcare than other rich countries. $15,000 per person (almost double), 18% of GDP (nearly twice as high), and healthcare inflation is 7% (roughly double others).

Yet outcomes are worse. Life expectancy is lower, infant & maternal mortality higher, and chronic disease like diabetes and heart disease higher. Canada with single payer has far lower costs than the US, and even than Germany & Switzerland, and provides better, universal coverage.

Unimpressive

The NHS point wasn’t the only question that Cunningham struggled to answer:

"Nigel Farage hasn't held a press conference for 40 days, since details of his £5 million gift from his billionaire crypto friend in Thailand was reported in April."

"He's out there speaking to people."@vicderbyshire interviews Reform UK's Laila Cunningham.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/M9X5pQB9z2

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 8, 2026

Farage isn’t just ducking questions, either; he’s also skiving from work. As we reported on 3 June:

There have been 525 votes in this parliament, and Farage has shown up to just 169. At 32%, this means he’s shown up for less than a third of the votes he should have done. Do you think you could get away with missing seven days out of every ten at work?

Further demonstrating how unimpressive she is, Cunningham admitted the following to Lynch:

I don’t even understand what you said.

Generally, it’s better to have politicians who understand things. This is how you end up with something like the NHS. Reform, meanwhile, is how you end up with a chaotic, US-style insurance system.

Featured image via Leon Neal (Getty Images) / Carl Court (Getty Images) / Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

Many have accused Reform politicians of having regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. They’ve accused them of this because Reform politicians have regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. And as such, it’s unsurprising the party attracts far fewer female candidates than its rivals.

In the latest example of the party not being the safest place for women (allegedly), a councillor from the 2025 intake has defected to the Tories:

Another Reform councillor has quit, citing bullying, sexism and misogyny within the party. And in Staffordshire alone we’ve also seen repeated racism controversies involving Reform representatives.

This isn’t a few bad apples. Reform is institutionally racist and misogynistic. https://t.co/3KwnKili5R

Advertisement

— Will Barnish (@WillBarnish365) June 8, 2026

“Natural home” in Reform…

The ex-Reform councillor in question is Charlotte Kelly of Leek Rural, Staffordshire. Rather than stepping down, she’s defected to the Conservative Party, of which she was previously a member. She’s now described herself as a “traditional Conservative”, and said that Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party is her “natural home”.

Of course, if this is true, it suggests she originally switched to Reform because she’d have a better chance of winning under their banner. She certainly wasn’t wrong to suspect this. In the 2025 locals, the Tories lost as many seats as Reform gained:

Speaking on her reasons for leaving, Kelly said:

Unfortunately, as a member of the Reform group I have experienced bullying and sexism on a regular basis.

Reform’s leadership has not been willing to deal with the issue and this has made it impossible for me to continue as a member of that group.

In response, Reform politicians made accusations of their own:

It comes as no surprise that councillor Kelly has left Reform UK. She has been a source of ongoing disharmony within the group and is currently subject to a formal complaint.

It is regrettable that she has chosen to defect to a party with a dire track record of mismanagement in Staffordshire – one that has driven the council into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt through reckless and uncontrolled spending.

Advertisement

According to the Stoke Sentinel, Kelly also lodged formal complaints – two in fact. Reportedly, she made these complaints two months ago, and is still waiting for action to be taken.

The Sentinel also reported that Kelly blamed ‘toxicity’ for her departure, and that:

a local party official ‘yelled and swore’ on multiple occasions, and her name was added to a lobbying letter against her wishes. She believes she was treated this way because she is a young woman, with most of her fellow party members being older men.

Not the first

As reported by the Guardian, Reform UK struggles to attract female candidates:

Reform UK has the smallest proportion of women on ballot papers in the local elections in England, at 23%. Labour is the closest to achieving gender parity, with 42% of its candidates women, followed by the Green party (41%), the Liberal Democrats (33%) and the Conservatives.

Reform also has issues holding on to female councillors.

On 3 March, Kathryn Shaw and Joanne Blythe of West Northamptonshire Council left the party to sit as independents. Blythe blamed ‘misogynistic undertones’; Shaw said the move was necessary to ‘more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems’.

It’s easy to see why Reform would attract sexists when you listen to its bigwigs. For an example of this, take no-fault divorce, which senior Reform politicians have discussed ending. Should this happen, women would once again find themselves trapped in abusive marriages because they can’t tick the correct box on a government check sheet.

'We need more prosperous families which lead to a more prosperous country.'

Reform's Richard Tice dodges @AndrewMarr9's question over whether reversing no-fault divorces is his party's policy. pic.twitter.com/9RpwHoFxU5

Advertisement

— LBC (@LBC) February 24, 2026

Farage himself has repeatedly demeaned female journalists in interviews. He was also accused of using the grooming gangs scandal for political capital – and accused by the victims themselves, no less. These same women demanded an apology from Farage after he lied about their situation.

Oh, and there’s also this:

A man is judged by the company he keeps. pic.twitter.com/vOZLwzKTje

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) October 28, 2025

A sign of things to come

It’s obviously completely inappropriate for men to belittle, bully, or harass their female colleagues. Such attitudes could become far more normalised if Reform takes power, however, and we get a government which is three quarters male, pale, and racist.

Before even taking power, Reform is threatening to tear up the Equality Act. The party claims this won’t lead to women losing the hard-won rights they enjoy today. Personally, however, we would advise women to take a long, hard look at Reform UK’s record before trusting them on this.

Featured image via Finnbarr Webster (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Source link

Around 100 well-known public figures have signed an Artists for Palestine open letter describing the government’s plan to impose terror sentencing on four humanitarian activists as a “miscarriage of justice”.

Signatories include author Sally Rooney, activist Greta Thunberg, filmmaker Terry Gilliam, actor Steve Coogan, comedians Jen Brister and Alexei Sayle and law expert Lord John Hendy KC. After failing to gain convictions in their first trial, the state rigged the retrial of six ‘Filton 24’ activists to ensure convictions. The judge prevented the jury hearing that they had a right to acquit the defendants. He banned media from reporting on the fact that sentencing would be escalated as ‘terrorism’.

Even so, two activists were acquitted completely; all were acquitted of any violent intent. Four – Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – were convicted of criminal damage to an Israeli weapons factory. Sentencing is scheduled for this Friday, 12 June 2026. The judge has refused to recuse himself from the sentencing hearing because of the conflict of interest in his long links to UK security services.

Feeble state excuse for the Filton 24

The letter’s signatories urge judge Jeremy Johnson to drop use of a ‘terrorism connection’ in Friday’s sentencing, because imposing such sentencing after banning mention of it during the trial would be to:

bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone,

The letter, also signed by actors Zoë Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, and Zawe Ashton, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Labour MP John McDonnell and musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash, notes the state’s feeble excuse for demanding terror sentencing: that the activists were trying to influence the Israeli government. Nobody believes the Israeli government was going to be influenced – the action was to damage weapons and save Palestinian lives.

Authors Marina Warner and Kamila Shamsie, scholars Paul Gilroy and Jewish academic Avi Shlaim, and actors Brian Cox and Tobias Menzies have all put their names to the call. Irish novelist Sally Rooney, herself a frequent target of Israel lobbyists for her stand against genocide, said:

Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.

Singer Charlotte Church added:

The government failed in its duty to prevent genocide in Palestine. Now the courts are lashing out at young people who acted to try and stop it, when it’s those making weapons for Israel that should be facing jail.

Supporters have been asked to gather at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday to increase awareness of the state’s abuse of justice and process to protect Israel. The letter and signatories are reproduced below:

We, the undersigned, urge you to drop the use of the ‘terrorism connection’ in the sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona (Ellie) Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani on June 12th 2026.

The four defendants were not charged with terrorism offences. They were not tried under terrorism laws. The jury was never informed of any proposed ‘terrorism connection’ during the trial and did not find any of the defendants guilty of any terror-related crimes. The proposed ‘terrorism connection’ is founded simply on a guilty verdict in relation to criminal damage. To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone.

It is a consensus view within the international legal community that Israel’s campaign of mass killing in Gaza has crossed the threshold of genocide. International law prohibits arms exports to any nation committing genocide or other atrocity crimes, but the UK has continued to supply Israel with weaponry. The defendants in this trial tried every means at their disposal to call for an end to this illegal arms supply: they marched in the streets, wrote to their MPs and joined university encampments. But the export of lethal weapons, and the mass killings they facilitated, continued.

Finally, in August 2024, the defendants took action. They entered a UK facility run by Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems, and dismantled weapons themselves. Their actions may well have saved lives. And yet, when facing trial, the defendants were not permitted to explain their motivations to the jury. Deprived of the full moral and humanitarian context, the jury found four of the six defendants guilty of ordinary criminal offences.

The conscientious motives of these activists – suppressed throughout the trial – may now be brought against them at the sentencing stage through the use of a ‘terrorism connection’. The only stated basis for this connection is that the defendants were ‘attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons’. But virtually every international humanitarian organisation, including a group of expert UN Special Rapporteurs, has called for the same thing: the restriction of Israel’s access to weapons, in accordance with international law.

Advertisement

In this case, the purported ‘terrorism connection’ could extend the defendants’ prison sentences, require them to ‘rescind’ their deepest moral beliefs in order to be eligible for parole, and impose harsh restrictions on their freedoms even after their release. Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case. The implications for civil liberties in Britain are difficult to overstate.

Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 20,000 children. The Filton activists acted to uphold international law and defend human life. To sentence them on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself. We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.

The Filton 24 letter has so far been signed by:

Alaa Abd El-Fattah, writer, campaigner, software developer
Khalid Abdalla, actor
Abubaker Abed, journalist
Susan Abulhawa, author
Mark Adderley, producer, director
Lolly Adefope, actor
Travis Alabanza, artist
Anthony Anaxagorou, poet, publisher
Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney
Zawe Ashton, actor, playwright
Krystel Ball, independent analyst
Ronan Bennett, screenwriter
Emma Breschi, model, DJ
Jen Brister, comedian
Dunstan Bruce, musician
Debbie Campbell, ecologist
Joanna Carolan ,comedian
Grace Chatto, musician
Louise Christian, solicitor
Charlotte Church, singer-songwriter, actor
Caryl Churchill, playwright
Steve Coogan, actor, comedian, writer
Brian Cox, actor
Jasmine Cruickshank (jasmine.4.t), musician
Clare Daly, former Member of European Parliament
Jessica Darrow, actor, singer
Siobhan Davies, artist
Robert Del Naja, musician
Mohammed El Kurd, author, poet
Theo Ellis, musician
Brian Eno, composer, producer
Paapa Essiedu, actor
Bobby Gillespie, singer-songwriter
Terry Gilliam, film director, screenwriter
Paul Gilroy, writer, scholar
Lambrini Girls, band
Kerry Godliman, actor and comedian
Denise Gough, actress
Katharine Hamnett, designer
Misan Harriman, photographer
Eleanor Harrison, director
Rima Hassan, Member of European Parliment
John Hendy QC
Billy Howle, actor
Noah Huntley, actor
Sue Jones, casting director
Mali Koa Hood, musician
Florence Kosky, director
Yorgos Lanthimos, film director
Ruth Lass, actor
Paul Laverty, screenwriter
Alex Lawther, actor
Sophie Lewis, writer, scholar
Ken Loach, film director
Mikaela Loach, writer
Lowkey, rapper
Moshé Machover, professor, philosopher
Shirley Manson, musician
Miriam Margolyes, actor
Francesca Martinez, comedian, writer
Victoria Mary Clarke, writer
John McDonnell MP
Tobias Menzies, actor
Kate Nash, musician
Nyome Nicholas-Williams, model, writer
Fionn ó Loingsigh, actor
Ardal O’Hanlon, actor
Lola Olufemi, writer, researcher
Alice Oswald, poet
Maxine Peake, actor
Max Porter, writer
Bella Ramsey, actor
David Renton, barrister, historian
Sally Rooney, writer
Nadia Sawalha, TV Presenter, actor
Alexei Sayle, comedian, author, broadcaster
Graeme Segal, scholar, mathematics
Nadine Shah, singer-songwriter
Kamila Shamsie, writer
Avi Shlaim, emeritus professor of International Relations
Laila Souief, assistant professor of mathematics
Jack Steadman, musician
Maggie Steed, actor
Rahel Stephanie, chef, writer
Juliet Stevenson, actor
Joelle Taylor, writer, poet
Greta Thunberg, campaigner
Zing Tsjeng, journalist
Yanis Varoufakis, economist, academic and author
Bobby Vylan, musician
Harsha Walia, author
Mick Wallace, former MEP
Harriet Walter, actor, author
Zoë Wanamaker, actor
Marina Warner, writer, historian
Roger Waters, musician
Boff Whalley, writer and Musician

Jeremy Corbyn has called on potential new PM Andy Burnham to guarantee an independent public inquiry into UK state collusion in Israel’s genocide. Keir Starmer’s war on UK justice and human rights should put him behind bars in the Hague.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Source link

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that benefits assessors are once again failing disabled claimants. Even worse, the assessors who are putting vulnerable people at risk are getting away with it.

In a new report, the DWP admits that there were 767 concerning incidents reported in the first six months of the Functional Assessment Services from September 2024.

This saw the department hand new multi-billion contracts and farm out benefits assessments to Ingeus, Capita, Maximus, and Serco. It also managed the DWP’s own smaller clinical teams.

The assessors are contracted to carry out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for Universal Credit (UC).

DWP failing vulnerable people, again

301 incidents were related to ‘information governance, ‘ which includes missing data, incorrect information recorded and data breaches. The fact that there’s no further elaboration into what these incidents were is especially concerning, as who knows what sensitive information could have been leaked and to whom.

Disgustingly, not one of these incidents was deemed important enough to be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

238 of the incidents were complaints against clinicians. As Benefits and Work states, the report gives barely any details about what the complaints were, so we don’t know the severity of them all. One ‘illustrative case example’ states:

A complaint was received stating assessor was late and abrupt. The complaint was investigated and upheld. The healthcare professional undertook further training and reflection and their work was monitored. No further issues have been identified.

However, the report also says:

100% were closed with reflective learning or policy updates, further support/ training and ongoing review.

So nobody faced any consequences for the way they treated vulnerable disabled people. Cool.

DWP doesn’t take safeguarding seriously

Just as worryingly, 152 incidents involved safeguarding. Typically, the examples given here are both cases where the safeguarding issue was identified by a second person after the first assessor missed it. The report does not mention the thousands of people who will slip through the net and have their needs ignored.

The DWP claims that just four of these incidents were serious enough to require action. But this only amounted to additional training or personal reflection from the healthcare professional. Yes really. According to them, no harm occurred to any claimant, but considering that we know the DWP phone lines leave claimants feeling suicidal, this feels unlikely.

The report also broke down the incident reports by provider. Of the 767,  507 incidents came from Ingenus. However, the report has an excuse for this, too. You see, it’s based on the companies self reporting, and Ingenus are apparently more transparent.

A law unto itself

So this begs the question, how many weren’t reported? We already know that private contractors report feeling despised and that the DWP struggles to retain these assessors. We also know that 1 in 5 privately contracted benefit assessors aren’t safeguard trained.

The fact that assessors only have to do a bit of training if they cause potential harm to a claimant means they essentially have free rein to be as vile as they want, with no fear of being disciplined or losing their jobs.

With the department pushing ahead with plans to move the UC health element to PIP, even more disabled people will be forced to engage with these cruel assessors who face no consequences for their actions.

This report proves that the DWP is a law unto itself. Despite various committees trying to bring it under control, the department desperately needs to be held to account, before even more disabled people die.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey

Source link

The Israeli regime’s sacking of deputy Mossad chief – known only as ‘Aleph‘, Hebrew for ‘Alpha’ – is an admission, Skwawkbox believes. Aleph was removed, according to Israeli media reports, “over failed Iran regime change efforts”.

Not that there was any doubt to any honest observer that Israel and the US were directly behind the mobs that rampaged through Iran, murdering police officers and their own rioters. Senior Israeli and US figures publicly congratulated themselves and each other on arranging the riots. Yet the official claim – and state-corporate media narrative – continued to be that the riots were a grassroots uprising. And the supposed popular uprising was supposedly brutally crushed by Tehran.

Stronger than before (not Mossad)

In fact, Iran used its own intel and assistance from China to roll up vast Israeli and US spy networks and the whole operation failed. Just as with the criminal US-Israeli war on Iran, the cost to the aggressors was enormous yet it left Iran stronger than before. Now ‘Alpha’s career head has rolled and the new director of Mossad has zero intelligence experience.

And the reason for the removal puts beyond any doubt that there was no popular revolt in Iran, only a Mossad op. Which is no doubt why the UK and other western ‘mainstream’ media have opted to ignore it entirely. Just as they have with Israel’s 7 October 2023 slaughter of hundreds of its own people.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Source link

We have an update, folks.

Because they don’t even care about keeping their bullshit straight.

So the full sequence now runs:

(1) “The money isn’t missing, it’s all still there and ringfenced for a second indyref. Anyone who says otherwise is a loony conspiracy theorist.”

Advertisement

(2) “Okay, it’s not ringfenced, it’s woven in with everything else but it’s there and we will only spend it on a second indyref.”

(3) “We’ve still got all the money, even though it’s not in our bank account, and we’ve set up a special unit that’s going to spend it right now ‘on independence’, even though there’s no second indyref.”

(4) “Okay, the guy who was going to be in charge of spending it has quit in mysterious circumstances and the ‘independence unit’ doesn’t exist any more, and we’re not letting the treasurer look at the books to see where the money is so he’s resigned, but it’s all still there waiting for the imminent second indyref, honest.”

(5) “Okay, we’ve spent SOME of it but the rest is all still there, it’s just invisible and we can’t show it to you, though we could if we wanted to. The important thing is that there’s definitely none of it missing.”

Advertisement

(6) “Okay, we’ve spent about quarter of a million pounds of it now, despite there being no second indyref, although we can’t tell you what it was spent on, and there’s still absolutely loads left.”

(7) “There’s no missing money, we’ve still got it all. Sure, it’s not in the bank, but we’ve given ourselves an IOU or something and it’ll all magically appear when there’s a second indyref.”

(8) “Okay, we spent the lot, despite the continuing absence of a second indyref, but we can’t be any more specific about what we spent it on. Just, you know, general SNP stuff. The exact thing we said we WOULDN’T spend it on.”

And now,

Advertisement

(9) “We couldn’t spend it because our chief executive stole it, but if we get it back from him then we definitely will spend it – not on a second indyref, because there isn’t going to be one, but on SOMETHING, we just can’t say what, and frankly it’s pretty tasteless of you to even ask because we’re victims of a crime, actually.”

Even when they think they’ve gotten clean away with it, lying about it is now so ingrained that they just can’t stop.

Maybe we should ask John Swinney to tell the story backwards. Because at worst, he couldn’t make very much more of a mess of it than he is now.

Source link