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2.64 million animal tests in Great Britain in 2024
2.64 million animal tests in Great Britain in 2024

Meagre decrease highlights urgent need for the government’s phase-out strategy

Cruelty Free International acknowledges the slight decrease in animal testing in Great Britain, as reported by the Home Office today,1 but warns that the pace of change remains so painfully slow that cruel animal testing looks set to continue for decades to come. 

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There were 2,637,578 uses of animals in laboratories in Great Britain in 2024. This incremental progress, a meagre 2% decrease from 2023, is not enough to meet public expectations or scientific potential, and leaves the government at risk of falling short in its manifesto commitment to work to phase out animal testing.

Cruelty Free International reiterates its call for the government to publish a bold, ambitious and deliverable strategy to phase out animal testing, ensuring it is: 

  • Bold and ambitious, with a clear vision for ending tests on animals in this country;
  • Concrete, with specific targets and timelines; 
  • Action-oriented, delivering tangible policy measures and regulatory reform; 
  • Led from the top, with ministerial accountability and departmental coordination through a cross-government taskforce;
  • Collaborative, engaging civil society, NGOs, academia, and industry to boost innovation and reduce the number of tests on animals;  
  • Forward-looking, defending existing protections and building on initiatives already underway both inside and outside of government;
  • Well-funded, providing long-term funding for education and training, replacement-focused research to meet evolving regulatory needs, and investment in the further development of centres of excellence.  

The number of animals used in experimental procedures fell by 3% in 2024, to 1.43 million. There was virtually no change in the creation and breeding of genetically altered animals – those whose genes have been modified but have not then been used in further tests. This accounted for 54% of all uses (1,430,020). 

Animals used in regulatory testing, including the standardised tests designed to assess the safety or effectiveness of chemicals, medicines and other products and routine production, using animals to produce things like antibodies, accounted for 22% of the total (315,290), a 3% increase on 2023. 

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Basic research, curiosity-driven research that attempts to shed light on biological processes, accounted for 52% of the total number of animals used in experiments (741,555), a 4% decrease on last year; translational research, research that attempts to develop treatments or cures for diseases, 24% (339,673, an 8% decrease); and other areas of animal use, including higher education, species preservation and protection of the environment , 2% (33,502, an increase of 36% on 2023). 

Of the 2.64 million uses of animals in 2024, 18.5% were considered by researchers to have caused moderate or severe pain and suffering to the animals involved, including long-term disease and even death. These two categories involved a total of 488,255 animals.  

The total number of experiments on dogs fell by 30%, to 2,646. There was an 11% decrease in experiments on monkeys, to 1,936, a 31% decrease in the use of rabbits, to 6,195, and a 28% decrease in the use of guinea pigs, to 2,698. However, there was a 30% increase in experiments on cats, to 82, and a 1% rise in the use of horses, to 11,483. 

Mice and rats continued to be the most frequently used animals in scientific procedures, with 1,869,064 mice and 150,221 rats used in 2024. 

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The statistics also show that, despite progress in some areas, the full elimination of increasingly outdated tests is yet to be achieved and, in fact, an increase for some tests has been observed for 2024. Cruelty Free International’s Replace Animal Tests (RAT) List2 describes animal tests that are conducted in Britain despite having approved non-animal replacements and whose abolition could save over 80,000 animals every year. This list includes the batch potency testing of Botox on mice, which rose by 5% to 52,213 in 2024. The number of eye irritation and corrosion tests fell to three, from seven in 2023; skin sensitisation tests on mice decreased by 50% to 148; and skin irritation and corrosion fell to zero from three in 2023. 

The number of uses of animals in the testing of chemicals, including ingredients used in everyday consumer products, rose by 33% in 2024, to 59,814. Other sectors which used animals included the testing of human medicines (148,694), veterinary medicines (84,046), plant protection products, such as pesticides (11,756) and tests for food production (9,971). There were no animals used in the testing of ingredients exclusively used in cosmetics products in 2024. 

Dr Emma Grange, Cruelty Free International’s Director of Science and Regulatory Affairs, said: “With 2.64 million uses of animals in British laboratories in 2024, the rate of decline remains painfully slow. We hope that the government’s commitment on a strategy for the phase-out of animal testing in Great Britain means that this is one of the last years where the use of animals is anywhere near this level. The general public are ready for animal testing to end, and science is ready to make the transition – now there must be action to ensure that animal testing does not continue for decades to come. 

“We need bold, forward-thinking policies which can begin to free us from the use of outdated experiments on animals, to the benefit of all, including the animals used in tests. The focus must now be on plans to end animal testing and the transition to exclusive use of non-animal approaches, some of which have already been shown to perform at least as well, or better, than tests on animals. The government must make good on its promise to partner with scientists, industry, and civil society to proactively contribute to the progression away from animal testing. Any cruel animal test is one too many and we will continue to fight for zero animal experiments in Great Britain.” 

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  1. The full report can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2024 


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Starmer can’t tell the truth

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Starmer can't tell the truth

Just days after the US and Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran, Keir Starmer has insisted that the UK hasn’t been involved in the invasion.

Less than three minutes later, he then said the UK is allowing the US to use UK air bases to attack Iran. The footage has been edited so you don’t have to suffer him for that long, but the lies are intact:

The old saying that if you tell the truth you don’t have to have a good memory has never been more applicable.

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Starmer and his front-benchers, along with all their enablers, are war criminals. Not satisfied with collaborating in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, they are now assisting directly in the US’s and Israel’s murder of Iranian children and illegal regime-change war in Iran.

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Keir Starmer Gives United States Permission To Use UK Bases To Strike Iranian Targets

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Keir Starmer said the UK's actions did not break international law.
Keir Starmer said the UK's actions did not break international law.Keir Starmer said the UK’s actions did not break international law.

Keir Starmer has given the United States permission to use UK military bases to attack targets in Iran.

The prime minister said he was “protecting British interests and British lives” after Iran launched missile attacks on countries across the Middle East.

That came after the US and Israel bombed Iran in a wave of strikes which killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei as well as other senior regime officials.

In a statement from Downing Street, Starmer insisted the UK was not involved in the initial attacks on Iran.

He said: “We all remember the mistakes of Iraq. And we have learned those lessons.

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“We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran, and we will not join offensive action now.

“But Iran is pursuing a scorched earth strategy. So we are supporting the collective self-defence of our allies and our people in the region, because that is our duty to the British people. 

“It is the best way to eliminate the urgent threat and prevent the situation spiralling further.

“This is the British government protecting British interests and British lives.”

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Starmer said there are around 200,000 British citizens in the Gulf region, and that Iran’s actions were putting their lives at risk.

“Over the last two days, Iran has launched sustained attacks across the region at countries who did not attack them,” he said.

“They have hit airports and hotels where British citizens are staying. This is clearly a dangerous situation.”

Iran also hit a military base in Bahrain on Saturday, “narrowly missing British personnel”, the PM said.

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British jets are already taking part in “defensive” operations in the region, Starmer said.

But he said the only way to stop the Iranian attacks was to target storage depots and the launchers use to fire missiles.

The PM said: “The US has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose.

“We have taken the decision to accept this request, to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.

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“The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies, and protecting British lives. This is in line with international law.”

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Labour suffer biblical loss of their own making

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Labour suffer biblical loss of their own making

Holly Valance, Aaron Banks, Rod Stewart, Robert Jenrick, Derek Chisora, Christopher Horborne, Bonnie Blue, Suella Braverman, Charles Bronson, Tommy Ten-Names, Nigel Farage… your boy took one hell of a beating.

Holly Valance though? If you thought her singing was like auto-tuned auditory war crimes and her acting was like a hostage situation with lines, what could you possibly think about the Australian’s choice of British politicians?

I couldn’t care less either.

Labour’s red wall begins to fall under Starmer

Gorton & Denton has been a Labour fortress, in one form or another, for a hundred years. Indeed, the fortress was so reliably red it would make Stalin blush.

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Yes, the trouncing of Farage and his crypto-racists was utterly delicious. This is a northern working class constituency and it was ripe for a Reform UK picking. But Reform was only ever in this position because Starmer’s genius centrist strategy alienated the left so hard that the actual fascists started looking like the “change” option.

Gorton & Denton wasn’t just a blip. It was the death-rattle of Starmerism, echoing through every red wall constituency. The only thing more humiliating for Labour would be if the detestable Starmer himself turned up in a hi-vis vest holding a “FOR SALE” sign.

This was the Green’s first ever Westminster by-election win, their first MP in the North of England. And it came with a massive 27% swing from Labour. This wasn’t a protest vote but a proper, majority-delivering “fuck you” with 4,400+ votes clear.

Hannah Spencer just turned a safe Labour seat into flourishing Green turf. Voters preferred a working class woman who believes in rent controls, public ownership, and not boiling the planet over a suit-wearing focus-group zombie.

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A plumber just proved you can win big by actually giving a shit about people and planet, instead of donor dinners and three-word soundbites.

Is anyone really that surprised?

Labour is as extinct as a dodo in a coal mine

There is no longer such a thing as a safe Labour seat. The Green party can absolutely win anywhere.

Labour has spent decades treating its traditional constituencies like that one armchair in you gran’s house – faded red, smelling faintly of defeat for the other parties, and are pretty much guaranteed to stay Labour forever. Seats with more than half of the overall vote, misguided generational loyalty, the working-class heartlands, ethnic minority strongholds. Labour had the lot.

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Safe seats? They’re as extinct as a dodo in a coal mine.

Labour under Starmer has spent the last couple of years triangulating so fucking hard they’ve almost become the world’s most boring spreadsheet.

Austerity-lite budgets, slow-walking on green investment, hateful immigration rhetoric, foreign policy positions that alienate the progressive youth and Muslim communities, and a general vibe of “we’re not Corbyn, honest!”

Disillusioned left-leaning voters – young people, urban graduates, eco-conscious super recycling types, those absolutely furious about Gaza or the cost of greed crisis – aren’t staying home anymore.

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They are going to the Greens in droves, especially where the Greens have built serious local machines.

Starmer’s response was almost as embarrassing as the defeat itself. He muttered something about being disappointed and he will “keep fighting the extremes” despite coming third place in a seat that has been held by his party since before most voters were born.

In reality, Labour just got curb-stomped by the common sense left and the extreme right in the same graveyard. That’s not fighting, Mr Starmer, that’s being the pinata at a funeral.

Time to throw out that old armchair

The swing from Labour to the Greens was a biblical 27.5 percentage points. If this swing was replicated nationwide at a general election, Polanski would be finishing the night with more than 100 seats, and Labour wouldn’t just be facing a bad night.

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They would be experiencing total extinction.

Labour is no longer the default party for the left because the party under Keir Starmer has spent the last couple of years systematically alienating every voter who ever give a shit about progressive values. Whilst the Greens have quietly built a machine that actually delivers on them.

The default left party isn’t the one that promises “change” in a shitty PowerPoint to Labour-friendly hacks and staffers. It’s the one that delivers it with a sledgehammer in hope.

Labour’s entire campaign strategy was “only we can stop Reform UK and Farage”. After Gorton & Denton, that lie is well and truly exposed and dead. Voters now see that a Green vote isn’t going to be a wasted vote of protest – it’s winnable, even in the reddest of red heartlands.

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Labour’s red wall is now a crumbling ruin overtaken by aggressive green kudzu that grows faster than the excuses flying out of No. 10.

If Labour doesn’t drastically change course, and I am not expecting them to, the Green’s won’t just nibble at the edges, they’ll start carving off whole chunk. Anywhere.

Even your Gran’s armchair might not be safe anymore.

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Another missile barrage from Iran penetrates Israel, including Haifa

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There is no 'liberal' Zionism: Polanski criticised over fluffed LBC interview

Iran has fired a new barrage of missiles at Israel, with several penetrating Israel’s air defences to hit Haifa. Footage of one of the successful missiles was captured from several angles:

A map of alerts in the region give an idea of the scale of the attack:

Iran fired a barrage of missiles into North Israel

Resist 🕎🍉 (@antizionistjew.bsky.social) 2026-03-01T18:38:10.263Z

Locals report explosions in Haifa and the area

Resist 🕎🍉 (@antizionistjew.bsky.social) 2026-03-01T18:41:58.381Z

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Anadolu Agency reports:

At least five explosions were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and surrounding areas following the launch of missiles from Iran toward Israel, an Anadolu correspondent reported Sunday evening.

A strong explosion was also heard in the northern city of Haifa, according to eyewitnesses.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that sirens sounded in several areas in southern and eastern Israel after a new barrage of missiles was launched from Iran. Additional sirens were later activated in the northern parts of the country.

The barrage comes after the Zionist ‘state’ and the US murdered Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and his family – and slaughtered over 150 schoolgirls, of a total school population of 180, by bombing their school.

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accusations of invaders targeting left-wing activists

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accusations of invaders targeting left-wing activists

The US and Israel have been specifically targeting the homes of left-wing activists in Iran for bombing, according to well-known writer and journalist Tariq Ali. Ali, quoting Iranian sources, said that the rogue states are trying to ensure that there is no competition for their preferred puppet, US-based ‘shah’ Reza Pahlavi, if they succeed in bringing down Iran’s government:

[T]he US/Israelis are targeting a number of known leftists homes in Teheran and elsewhere in an attempt to make sure there’s no opposition to their favoured candidate once they destroy the regime. What this reveals is the degree of penetration by Mossad in Iran. What it also means is that this is not going to be an easy occupation for the US and its Israeli buddies.

Commenters disagreed with Ali for his closing assumption that there will be any occupation of Iran, easy or otherwise. It is to be hoped he is wrong on that and every likelihood he is.

But the US and Israel routinely target the homes and families of their victims. And given the Trump regime’s attacks on left figures in the US and South America, it’s entirely credible – indeed almost certain – that he will be doing the same in Iran in his criminal war.

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Green deputy leader condemns assassination of Khamenei

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Green deputy leader condemns assassination of Khamenei

Green party deputy leader Mothin Ali is among a handful of UK politicians to condemn the killing of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei as the illegal assassination that it was.

Mothin said that he is “proudly anti-war” and described the murder of Khamenei as “deplorable”:

Green deputy leader goes where many won’t

Your Party MP Jeremy Corbyn condemned Israel and the US as rogue states and their attacks on Iran as illegal, but has not so far mentioned the Khamenei murder on his social media.

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Green party leader Zack Polanski called for the UK government to condemn US president Donald Trump – a call that sent Zionist horror MP David Taylor into a hissy fit:

And Polanski described Keir Starmer’s stance – condemning Iran for retaliating after being attacked – as “outrageous”:

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Corbyn’s Your Party colleague Zarah Sultana was also outspoken, condemning Israel and the US for starting a war to cover for their “paedophilic crimes”. LIke Corbyn, however, she does not appear to have mentioned Khamenei directly yet.

The killing of Khamenei – along with his family, as so often the case in Israeli and US atrocities – is murder. So is the killing of the almost 150 Iranian schoolgirls and hundreds of other Iranians. Trump and Netanyahu are indeed trying to distract from their crimes and the world should be united against them – and calling their crimes what they are.

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Bridgerton; Ghosts; BBC disability hate

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Bridgerton; Ghosts; BBC disability hate

Welcome to The Canary Catch Up. Each Sunday, the Canary’s Rachel Charlton-Dailey will bring us bang up to date with the telly she’s been obsessed with, what she’s hate-watching, and what she can’t wait to get stuck into.

Warning- Spoilers for Bridgerton ahead!

Well, isn’t this exciting! The thing about me is I love ALL telly, there’s very little I won’t watch, to be honest. From a hard-hitting drama to Strictly, I’m there. That’s why I’m over the bloody moon to bring you the Canary Catch Up. Every Sunday, I’ll be here rounding up what I loved, things that I think you need to watch, and of course, the silly TV moments we couldn’t stop talking about.

Murky sewage scandal laid bare

Something that stopped me in my tracks this week was Dirty Business on Channel 4. The docudrama brought the sewage scandal, which destroyed our rivers and coastlands, whilst also risking many people’s health into stark focus. Channel 4 did an excellent job of holding the water companies and the regulators to blame. Showing just how much the latter was in the pockets of the former. But it also highlighted just how detrimental the scandal was for a lot of people personally, and also the cruelty of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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In one absolutely rage-inducing scene, Reuben, an ex-surfer, attempts to be assessed for Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Throughout his assessment, his distress is ignored. The assessor tells him to only focus on the days when he’s not having Ménière’s drop attacks. This is despite him pointing out that the attacks happen at least three times a week and that they leave him paralysed. As a disabled person, I sobbed when he failed his assessment and told the assessor, “I don’t know what to do.” This is such a raw look at how much the DWP is failing those with chronic illnesses; everyone needs to watch it.

Back to the Ton for Bridgerton series 4

Dearest gentle reader, as we head back to the Ton, this writer has many questions she needs answered. Why is Francesca so mad to see Michaela? Who is the new Lady Penwood? And most importantly, how the fuck did Benedict become obsessed with a woman he met at a party yet not realise she wasn’t white?

Yes, it’s back to  Netflix’s dazzling alternate reality Georgian drama where racism doesn’t exist, but also it does. I will admit I’m only on episode 2 so far, but I screamed my face off when we found out who the new lady Penwood is. Everyone’s fave villain, Cressida Cowper! The carriage scene might’ve been a highlight of last series for many, but mine was when this absolute queen showed up pretending to be Lady Whistledown to the soundtrack of Confident by Demi Lovato on strings.

BBC doing the DWP’s work for them, again

The BBC were full of disability hate this week. Alongside airing a man with tourette’s tics to cause division between marginalised communities, they also aired a benefits-hating Panorama. The title says it all, really: The Rising Cost of Health Benefits. As usual, the BBC presented this as concern for taxpayers when it was obviously another attempt to call disabled people scroungers. 

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The show was packed to the rafters with murky think tanks like Iain Duncan Smith’s Centre for Social Justice and the Institute of Economic Affairs. Their faux concern was barely hiding their utter contempt for disabled people. There was, of course, the usual poor disabled person exploited for the cameras whilst the presenter, Bronagh Munroe, shat all over autism and ADHD. It was a massively transparent PR piece from the DWP.

Anyone for one last haunting?

Anyone who knows me knows that my favourite TV show EVER is the BBC’s Ghosts. I was left bereft in 2023 when the team announced they were done with the ridiculous spectres forever. But in fairness, I actually respected that they chose to end it before it got too tired. They closed the show off well, and there were no more stories to tell. Or so we thought.

It turns out there’s still one more haunting left. The team announced this week that Ghosts: The Possession of Button House starts filming next week. That’s right, we’re getting a Ghosts movie! I can’t even begin to explain my excitement for this one, lads. I cannot believe my emotional support, silly little dead people are coming back – and I will be so fucking seated for this film.

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Zack Polanski shows how responsible leadership should be done

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Zack Polanski shows how responsible leadership should be done

Zack Polanski joined Laura Kuensberg to discuss the war of aggression instigated by the US and Israel. An illegal war which has seen Iran’s Supreme Leader assassinated alongside his family. This comes in stark contrast to the shameful ignorance shown by other public figures in the UK with their reluctance to call out the flagrant breaches of international law on clear display.

Nevertheless, many have welcomed Polanski’s perspective supporting the suggestion that the Green Party leader is far more in tune with ordinary people across the UK than most of our elected MPs. Polanski made clear the woefully apparent cowardice shown by the British government. Akin to their ignorance of Israeli crimes, they refuse to stand up to Trump despite his and Netanyahu’s illegal military campaign. A war of aggression that has resulted in 148 schoolgirls murdered through western bombs being dropped on a primary school in Minab, a southern province in Iran.

The school reportedly sheltered 170 at the time, showing the deplorable lack of morality in mainstream media who have refused to discuss it. Whilst highlighting the sheer devastation being dealt by the West against Iranian civilians.

How diplomacy should be done: with a spine

UK officials would be wise to watch Polanski’s interview with Kuenssberg. Specifically taking note of his principled stance and refusal to kowtow to the genocidal state Israel and thug-bully US. After all, this attack on Iran is illegal, unprovoked, and has directly afforded Iran the right to defend itself from attacks on its sovereign territory. It must not be forgotten that these attacks came — once again — as negotiations were ongoing, reaching agreement on issues that had never seen that progress before. Such as a commitment to stockpile limit of zero, making Iran’s capability of building nuclear bombs impossible.

Once again, this exposes the excuse of stopping Iran having a nuclear bomb as a load of hogwash. Instead, it appears to be constructed in a ‘deja-vu’ to Iraq to further the colonialist and imperialist agenda of Israel and the Epstein-compromised US President Trump.

Kuenssberg, like any loyal client journalist to the establishment, refused to acknowledge that retaliatory strikes are a legal right under international law. On the contrary, she firmly lays all blame on Iran for threats to military bases in the region. Both the victim and the aggressor apparently:

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Zack Polanski astutely exposed just how ridiculous that wilful ignorance is:

Zack Polanski highlighted the fact that there is only one country in the region who has nuclear bombs. Making clear who she works for, Kuenssberg defends Israel as the only ‘democracy’:

This shouldn’t really need to be pointed out by Polanski, but recollection seems short lived in the West and common sense is second to self interest:

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Justice must be necessary, not optional

The illegal war on Iraq killing millions is widely condemned. In fact, it is now widely recognised as having been instigated based on fearmongering lies and manipulations from US President Bush. However, the very fact that no one has been held responsible has long been a stain on our international rules-based order.

For instance, war criminal Tony Blair is seemingly protected from accountability under international law in the International Criminal Court (ICC), having never answered for his crimes against humanity. Instead, he was championed to sit on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ painfully exposing the sham that that is.

Our own Joe Glenton wrote last year on the interconnected realities between Iraq and Israel’s genocide on Gaza. It is highly likely that Iran will soon be joining this list of victimised, terrorised sovereign states that never seem to see accountability. Joe Glenton wrote:

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Now imagine a world in which Tony Blair simply never got a platform to advance his grandiose, yet inevitably ridiculous takes?

And imagine a world where the core values of Blairism – embodied today in the Magic Bank Manager Keir Starmer – had been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Sounds alright, doesn’t it?

Well one of the reasons that world doesn’t exist is that nobody was ever remotely held to account over the Iraq War.

The legacy media is a part of this. We shouldn’t be surprised that an industry dominated by Russell Group-educated Professional Managerial Class (PMC) losers would help recondition figures who represent their own values and ambitions.

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Glenton was bang on and the theory is ongoing. If war criminals weren’t protected by power, with the rule of law having teeth of its own, our leaders would feel more uncomfortable about their prior, current and ongoing complicity in US-Israeli aggressions.

Nevertheless, it’s clear western leaders are less bothered about silly objective issues of legality. Instead, they have long been far more interested in keeping the big orange paedo-pal in the US happy. Zarah Sultana gave a damning rebuke to Tory Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister:

Her damning takedown of Tugendhat reads in full:

Tom, it’s interesting that you present yourself as the sole defender of Iranian lives when your record says otherwise:

You sit on the advisory board of United Against Nuclear Iran, a lobby group that supports punitive sanctions that hurt ordinary Iranians and has backed calls for US military action against Iran.

You’ve been paid by pro-Israel networks like YPO United Mosaic.

You criticised the UN Security Council for condemning illegal Israeli settlement expansion.

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You described your participation in the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the deaths of over a million Iraqis, as “the naughtiest thing I have ever done.”

You condemned the “betrayal” of Afghanistan when Western forces withdrew in 2021, yet consistently supported the interventionist policies that helped produce that disaster.

Your government wanted to deny Iranian refugees the right to claim asylum in the UK and ship them to Rwanda.

And I’m still looking for your condemnation of Israel’s targeted strike on a girls’ school that killed over 100 Iranian children.

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Journalist Richard Sanders also exposed this double standard in a post on X, highlighting the selective nature of western condemnation:

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Mark Curtis of Declassified UK applauded Polanski’s ‘principled position’ on foreign policy, before warning that the threat he poses to the establishment will face concerted efforts to sabotage him as a result:

Zack Polanski — potential future Prime Minister?

The principle and courage on show from Polanski to speak truth to power and put the interests of the majority over the interests of the powerful is earning respect across the country. It seems where other MPs choose to earn the favour of the US President, Polanski prefers to put the British public first.

In contrast to Starmer and the government’s abysmal approval ratings and failure to ‘read the room’ amongst the electorate, Polanski’s consistent show of principle is now earning calls for him to be PM.

With the recent astounding and overwhelming victory of the Green Party in Gorton and Denton, this might just be a glimpse of the future:

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BBC Expert Dismantles Case For Iran Bombing By Trump And Netanyahu

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BBC Expert Dismantles Case For Iran Bombing By Trump And Netanyahu

A BBC expert has demolished Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s case for bombing Iran.

Israel said the attacks were “pre-emptive” to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and firing at them.

In his statement announcing the bombing, Trump said: “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

But Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s international affairs editor, dismissed those arguments.

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He said: “Israel used the word ‘pre-emptive’ to justify its attack – the largest in the Israeli Air Force’s history, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“The evidence is that this is not a response to an imminent threat, which the word pre-emption implies. Instead, it is a war of choice.”

The military action, Bowen said, was “another blow to the tottering system of international law”.

He added: “In their statements, both Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was a danger to their countries – Trump said it was a global danger.

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“The Islamic regime is certainly their bitter enemy. But it is hard to see how the legal justification of self-defence applies given the huge disparity of power between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.”

Bowen also warned that Trump’s stated objective of regime change in Iran will be far from straightforward – and could lead to a wider conflict in the Middle East.

He said: “There is no precedent for regime change happening just because of air strikes.

“Even if this becomes the first case of air power alone collapsing a regime, the Islamic regime will not be replaced by a liberal democracy that upholds human rights. There is no credible alternative government in exile waiting in the wings.”

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The Middle East expert went on: “Iran’s remaining leaders will now be calculating how to ride out the war, how to survive and how to manage its consequences.

“Their neighbours, led by Saudi Arabia, will be dismayed by the huge uncertainty and potential consequences of today’s events.

“Given the capacity of the Middle East to export trouble, the eruption of renewed and intensified war deepens the instability of a region and wider world that is already turbulent, violent and dangerous.”

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Clintons suffer mysterious memory loss during Epstein testimony

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Clintons suffer mysterious memory loss during Epstein testimony

Both Hillary and Bill Clinton have now given testimony before a congressional panel looking into the crimes of serial child rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Despite the clintons’ frequent meetings with the vile Zionist billionaire, they both seem to have developed selective amnesia about their interactions with him. The former president said in his opening remarks:

You’ll often hear me say that I don’t recall. That might be unsatisfying. But I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess.

This inability to recall is surprising, given what a significant role Epstein played in the lives of the Clintons. Earlier in the week, Hillary:

…confirmed that Epstein visited the White House 17 times – as suggested in the presidential mansion’s visitor records – during her husband’s presidency and had flown at least 27 times on the Epstein plane, which was nicknamed the “Lolita express”.

Clinton released a statement after he gave testimony, one that closely resembled his opening remarks to the panel. In it, the 42nd US president dishonestly described his dealings with Epstein as “limited interactions” and said he:

…never witnessed…any indication of what was truly going on…

Clintons forget, but remember they’re definitely innocent

Clinton offered a strange combination of recollection failures, alongside total certainty about his innocence, saying:

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First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing. No matter how many photos they show of me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter far more than any interpretation of 20-year-old photos. I know what I saw and more importantly what I didn’t see. And I know what I did and more importantly what I didn’t do. I saw nothing and did nothing wrong.

Clinton featured in numerous suspicious photos among the Epstein files, including one of him in a hot tub with a person who appears to be a young girl or woman. Her face is blacked out in the file release. Another features Clinton with a young girl/woman on his lap. Again her identity has been protected.

In the statement, Clinton went on to defend his wife Hillary’s memory loss, saying:

She has no memory of ever even meeting him. She neither travelled with him nor visited any of his properties.

The Clintons seemingly did cut ties with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, but remained close to his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. She was honoured by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2013 and attended their daughter Chelsea’s wedding in 2010.

Both Clintons attempted to pass off their testimony as a service to their country, rather than the reality, which is that they would have faced prosecution for failing to appear. They had previously attempted to dodge scrutiny. Bill Clinton opined:

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I [testified] for two reasons. First, I love my country, including our Constitution. And America was built on the idea that no person is above the law, even presidents, especially presidents, and that we should all live under the same set of rules. This kind of democracy requires every person to play their part.

And I hope that by being there today, we can bring ourselves just a little further away from the brink and back to being a country where we can disagree civilly and we can search for truth and justice and that it outweighs the partisan urge to score points and create spectacle.

No accountability, no justice for the victims

In reality, every US president has operated beyond the law. Clinton ought to be in the Hague for his crimes against the people of Iraq. Hillary is a similarly vile figure, a backer of so-called ‘Israel’s’ holocaust in Gaza. She too engaged in self-aggrandising rhetoric, concluding her opening statement by saying:

My challenge to you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, is the same challenge I put to myself throughout my long service to this nation. How to be worthy of the trust the American people have given you. They expect statesmanship, not gamesmanship. Leading, not grandstanding. They expect you to use your power to get to the truth and to do more to help survivors of Epstein’s crimes as well as the millions more who are victims of sex trafficking.

This was a reference to the committee’s failure thus far to call before it the current criminal occupant of the White House, Donald Trump.  This is a fair point, as Trump is accused of multiple child rapes in the file release. Other documents related to the thug currently wrecking Iran are missing from the files released by the Department of Justice.

Trump’s non-appearance and his atrocities in Iran are yet further indications of the near total absence of accountability for powerful criminals, leaving the same sort of impunity that allowed Epstein to conduct his crimes in the first place.

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Featured image via people.com

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