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Politics Home Article | John Healey Resigns As Defence Secretary Over Military Spending Plans

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John Healey Resigns As Defence Secretary Over Military Spending Plans
John Healey Resigns As Defence Secretary Over Military Spending Plans

(Alamy)


2 min read

John Healey has resigned as defence secretary warning that Keir Starmer’s military spending plans fall way short.

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Healey announced his resignation on Thursday, saying he had been “left with no other option” but to quit having been presented with details of how much additional money the government was planning to spend on defence.

He singled out the Treasury for criticism, saying it was “unwilling” to “commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats”.

Healey is considered a Starmer loyalist and his resignation represents a major blow to the Prime Minister.

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The government is expected to publish its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) in the coming days after months of delay.

The PM and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are under pressure to significantly increase defence spending in response to global threats to the UK. Last year, the Prime Minister pledged to raise military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, with the ambition of increasing that figure to 3 per cent in the next parliament. 

However, Nato allies have also pledged a new baseline for military spending to reach 3.5 per cent of GDP. Starmer has promised to achieve this goal by 2035.

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At the Munich Security Conference in February, which Healey references in his resignation letter, Starmer said: “To meet the wider threat, it’s clear that we are going to have to spend more, faster.”

In his letter of resignation to Starmer, Healey said the DIP financial settlement, which he was first given in full on Monday afternoon, “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”. 

“The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.58 per cent of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6 per cent next year with the investment we are already making.”

He added: “Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.

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“After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DIP settlement that does not give our Forces the resources they need, I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation as your Defence Secretary.”

 

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Healey quits defence with leader-bid pitch to far right on war

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John Healey

John Healey

John Healey has resigned as defence secretary with a leadership pitch to the far right and Labour’s war lobby. Healey has said that Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves are not ‘serious’ enough about spending huge amounts of our money on military build-up. The pitch has been praised by Tory and Reform MPs.

Not Tory enough for Healey

Healey has also gone to the Tory Spectator magazine to ‘explain’ his resignation, a clear signal that he doesn’t think red-Tory Starmer has swung hard enough to the pro-war, pro-Israel right. But the resignation appears to be preparation for him throwing his own hat into the leadership contest ring.

The Starmer regime continues Tory policies of strangling public services and parcelling off the NHS to its private health and murder-AI donors. Russia hawk and Israel fan Healey wants to blow at least 3% of our national budget on war preparation. Starmer has destroyed Labour chasing the far-right, white supremacist, friends-of-genocide vote. Healey doesn’t think Starmer’s chasing hard enough.

Featured image via the Canary

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By Skwawkbox

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Andy U-Turnham has already abandoned the Waspi women

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Images of Andy Burnham in front of a big U (Waspi women)

Images of Andy Burnham in front of a big U (Waspi women)

On Wednesday 10 June, Andy Burnham vowed to support the Waspi women in the strongest terms possible. Now, a day later, he has made it clear his ‘support’ doesn’t amount to much:

Waspi women

The ‘Waspi’ acronym stands for ‘Women Against State Pension Inequality’. In the group’s own words, Waspi is:

A Campaign group for 1950s* born women who saw rapid and steep increases to their State Pension age without adequate notice. In March 2024, the Ombudsman found this to be maladministration and instructed Parliament to deliver compensation as quickly as possible. WASPI continues to work cross-party to see justice delivered for the 3.6 million women affected.

Here’s what Burnham said in a Makerfield hustings event on Wednesday (emphasis added):

I stick by campaigners that I support. I stuck by the Hillsborough families, I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.

Burnham also said politicians who get into government but don’t “do anything” make him feel “uncomfortable”.

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Although Burnham didn’t say the “recompense” would come in the form of cash, most assumed he meant that. After all, it would be a big slap in the face to hint at a financial settlement and then offer cheap bus tickets, right? And Burnham wouldn’t be foolish enough needlessly piss the group off, would he?

Well, according to his spokesperson:

Andy has always recognised the unfair way in which state pension equalisation was introduced.

“As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported WASPI women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.

“He accepts the final decision has been made in relation to financial compensation but has indicated an openness to considering similar schemes on the Greater Manchester model.

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Cheap bus passes it is then.

And now, Burnham has pissed off a group which is promising to “unseat” Labour in the next election unless it gets the £10bn compensation they want.

Andy U-Turnham

As far as we can tell, Burnham backtracked because of a backlash from Labour politicians. As Lucy Fisher of the Financial Times reported:

One government figure decried Burnham’s hint about a major compensation spending pledge as “pathetic”, adding: “He can’t say no to anyone.”

A Starmer ally suggested Burnham’s move was Corbynite, adding: “Keir literally won by not being this version of the Labour party.”

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Another MP said:

I see Andy Burnham has lost the plot again.

Here’s the thing, though, the Starmer government is actually very unpopular, and it certainly didn’t win in 2024 because of its opposition to the Waspi women. As such, Burnham has every reason to go against the status quo. Yet again, though, he’s backed down because people got angry and the man has no guiding light beyond people liking him.

It’s not the first policy he’s proven to be wishy-washy on either:

At this point, Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer are u-turning so rapidly we could wire them up to the national grid.

Featured image via Anthony Devlin (Getty Images)

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By Willem Moore

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Reform reinstates “melt Nigerians to fill potholes” councillor

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Nigel Farage and Glenn Gibbins of Reform UK

Nigel Farage and Glenn Gibbins of Reform UK

On the same day that the UK dealt with the aftermath of white riots targeting people of colour, Reform UK reinstated the councillor who suggested ‘melting Nigerians to fill potholes‘.

It’s a sign that the party doesn’t take racial justice seriously. Worse than that, it’s a sign that the party is actively pursuing an agenda of racial injustice.

Weasel words from Reform

In May 2025, Glenn Gibbins was elected in the Sunderland City’s Hylton Castle ward. He was immediately suspended, however, after unearthed social media comments like the above surfaced. Other comments included:

What’s obvious from these comments is that Gibbins isn’t just a hateful and bigoted little man; he’s also the sort of person who doesn’t inspire confidence in regards to his ability to think. In other words, he’s not someone you’d want holding power in your local area even if you agreed with his rancid opinions.

With the final comment, Gibbins is essentially calling for a race war against Muslims. And much like many other far-right politicians and agitators this week, he did so by pointing to the crimes of individuals to target the entire population:

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Blaming every member of a group for the crimes of individuals is known as ‘collective punishment’. It’s prohibited under the Geneva Convention, because we saw what happens when its allowed to happen unchecked in the 20th century. And now we’re seeing it again:

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The BBC reported the following on Reform’s decision to readmit Gibbins:

Reform UK said following an internal disciplinary process the councillor had now been readmitted to the party with a final written warning.

A spokesperson said: “He has apologised for making the post and accepts that it was made in extremely poor taste showing poor judgement.” Gibbins has been approached for comment.

Has Gibbins learned his lesson, though? Or has Reform simply decided it isn’t even going to pretend to care anymore?

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A pattern

It doesn’t end with Gibbins. As Reform Party UK Exposed reported (emphasis added):

Reform UK Sunderland has a problem.

Councillor David Laing

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Former BNP candidate who lied when asked about his previous politics.

No action taken.

Councillor Glenn Gibbons

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Said Nigerians should be melted down to fill potholes.

Reform UK have readmitted him.

Councillor David Barker

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Neglected his children and had them taken away by social services. Harassed social services creating a website to harass people protecting children.

No action taken.

Councillor Michael Quigley

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He spent Christmas Day this year proposing putting elephants on Dover beaches to shit on immigrants. Utterly deranged.

No action taken.

Councillor Axel Tye

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Shared anti-Semitic post on Facebook.

No action taken

And this is just one council.

As such, it seems the reason Reform isn’t binning councillors for racism is because if it did it would have no councillors left.

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Featured image via Carl Court / Getty Images

By Willem Moore

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Polanski calls Elon Musk a ‘threat to democracy’

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Zack Polanski, Tommy Robinson, and Elon Musk

Zack Polanski, Tommy Robinson, and Elon Musk

Elon Musk has once again been encouraging far-right agitators running rampant on the streets of Britain and Ireland. And in response, Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called him out:

‘Threat to democracy’

Since Elon Musk bought X/Twitter, far-right accounts have made the site their home. As NBC News found in 2024:

NBC News found that at least 150 paid “Premium” subscriber X accounts and thousands of unpaid accounts have posted or amplified pro-Nazi content on X in recent months, often in apparent violation of X’s rules. The paid accounts posting the content all consistently posted antisemitic or pro-Nazi material. Examples included praise of Nazi soldiers, sharing of Nazi symbols and denials of the Holocaust.

These accounts aren’t simply lurking on the fringes either:

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During one seven-day period in March, seven of the most widely shared pro-Nazi posts on X accrued 4.5 million views in total. One post with 1.9 million views promoted a false and long-debunked conspiracy theory that 6 million Jews did not die in the Holocaust. More than 5,300 verified and unverified accounts reshared that post, and other popular posts were reshared hundreds of times apiece.

Some of these accounts are doing well specifically because Elon Musk retweets them:

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As Mother Jones reported:

Musk is amplifying users who will incorporate cherry-picked data and misleading graphs into their argument as to why people of European descent are biologically superior, showing how fringe accounts, like user @eyeslasho, experience a drastic jump in followers after Musk shares their tweets. The @eyeslasho account has even thanked Musk for raising “awareness” in a thread last year.

Notoriously, Musk once did a Nazi salute in front of a roaring crowd. Because he’s a coward, however, he and his supporters have denied it was a Nazi salute ever since:

Israel critic Hasan Piker — who was banned from entering the UK — said the following about Musk:

Standards

What happened in Belfast is obviously a dark and disturbing crime. The problem is the crime of an individual is being used to justify attacks on all people of colour:

It’s also clear that these people don’t care about the crime itself… they care about its usefulness in terms of propaganda:

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Given that Musk owns X, he has the ability to push propaganda like no one else. His posts show him drumming up support for racist white riots in belfast before they happened:

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Oh, and this is something he’s doing with the backing of the Murdoch press, by the way. This man is the editor-at-large of the Sun:

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If you’re wondering — yes — that is the same Harry Cole who said this (as immortalised by the WayBack Machine):

Harry Cole tweet which reads 'Starbucks is full of jailbait. Suddenly feel quite old. Giggity'

Growing resentment

To be fair to Keir Starmer, he has also been criticising Musk:

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The problem is criticism is all he’s offering. And we’re at a point at which we can no longer pretend this man hasn’t weaponised his propaganda site to stir up violence and racial tensions in the UK.

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Featured image via Benjamin Fanjoy / Leon Neal / Mario Tama (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

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MoD issues mealy-mouthed defence of Palantir

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palantir

palantir

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has released a truly mealy-mouthed statement to justify the massive role far-right AI firm Palantir has within the British war machine. Palantir has won contracts for all manner of services and infrastructure. This is despite sustained criticism and public concern.

The statement was signed by a Who’s Who of UK defence officials:

THE RT HON JOHN HEALEY MP Secretary of State for Defence

Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB ADC FREng

National Armaments Director, Rupert Pearce

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Permanent Secretary, Jeremy Pocklington CB

Chief of Defence Nuclear, Maddy McTernan CB

And opened with the claim:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the modern battlefield and will profoundly transform the future of warfare. In the past few years, AI models have progressed from completing basic tasks to surpassing PhD-level intelligence.

By way of explanation, they claimed:

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Defence faces a clear imperative – we must adopt and exploit AI faster than our adversaries. If we fail to do this the UK will lose its operational advantage and cede advantage to our adversaries. The stakes could not be higher.

The UK military is currently locked into a multi-billion pound contract with Palantir. The statement makes no mention of Palantir, despite the genocide-linked firm’s role being the source of most controversy.

The UK militarypoliceNHS and, allegedly, the Telegraph have started using Palantir technology. The firm maintains a permanent desk in southern Israel, and is deeply involved in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as Trump’s paramilitary immigration operations, ICE, whose officers use the firm’s gear.

On 2 June, the Canary reported that UK officials have even been using Palantir software to decide what Palantir technology to buy to fight future wars. On 4 June, we also heard how former spy chief David Omand had been promoting the idea that integrating AI into warfare is somehow be ethical.

During the same week, we reported that Palantir had won a contract to manage UK firearms, explosives, and related stockpiles.

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Time to divest from Palantir

Then on 4 June, the UK technology select committee went against the tide to warn that Palantir’s takeover of key parts of the UK state was an “unacceptable weakness.” The committee also rejected the notion that the firm was the only available choice:

Palantir should not have such a significant role in the UK public sector, and that it is far from the only company capable of providing the data analysis ‘middleware’ required by public bodies.

The firm’s founders are open about their far-right politics. A 22-tweet ‘manifesto’ posted on X in April showed Palantir’s vision was exposed as a collection of right-wing tropes.

For example, point 21 reads:

Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures … have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.

While Point 22 is a fascist-accented lament for Western white supremacy:

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We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what?

Palantir isn’t the only AI firm with military contracts. That is true. But it is one of the most prominent and dangerous. The company’s links to Israel, the CIA and Donald Trump mark it out as such. Palantir’s vision is also acutely authoritarian and fascistic and its leadership are open about this.

No milquetoast press release is going to change that reality.

Featured image via Omar Marques / Getty Images

By Joe Glenton

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‘Grotesque and dystopian’ sentencing of Palestine Action activists expected on 12 June

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Huge banner shows destruction in Gaza and says: Protesting This Isn't Terrorism Palestine Action

Huge banner shows destruction in Gaza and says: Protesting This Isn't Terrorism Palestine Action

A judge is expected to sentence four Palestine Action activists as ‘terrorists’ on 12 June, despite the activists not being convicted as such.

Judge Jeremy Johnson has indicated he may add a ‘terrorist connection’ to the charges of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona (Ellie) Kamio and Fatema Rajwani under section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020. This is despite the jury convicting the Palestine Action four of criminal damage in their retrial.

The conviction follows the four activists’ direct action to damage computers and drones, and spray red paint across the walls and floor of an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol on 6 August 2024. Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms firm.

On 5 May, the jury convicted them without the knowledge that presiding judge Johnson could later impose a terror link during sentencing. This is due to a long list of reporting restrictions on the UK press, which the judge used to block coverage that he’d barred defendants from speaking about their motivations for joining Palestine Action.

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Judge gags Palestine Action

The gagging orders that judge Johnson issued also prevented the defendants from providing information to the jury on the Israeli genocide in Gaza, and Elbit Systems’ role in it.

Johnson also banned media from reporting that the defendants could face terrorism sentences. The restrictions only lifted on 12 May, a week after the conviction.

Should the judge sentence the ‘Filton Four’, as they’re now known, as terrorists, they could serve far longer prison sentences. They could also face severe limitations on their lives upon release.

On 5 June, Defend Our Juries (DOJ) filed a complaint against Johnson with the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. Over 3,000 people, including lawyers, law professors, retired police officers and magistrates, have signed the complaint. It alleges that decisions taken by the judge “amount to a pattern of exceptional, biased and discriminatory conduct”. Judge Johnson has since refused to recuse himself from the case.

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The DOJ complaint also cites Johnson’s decision to treat the defendants’ desire to prevent Israel’s mass killings of Palestinian civilians as an aggravating, rather than mitigating, feature.

According to the judge, the intention to prevent the deaths of Palestinian civilians is what brings their actions within the scope of the Terrorism Act. He regards it as an attempt to “influence the Israeli government”.

Additionally, the DOJ complaint accuses Johnson of acting “vindictively” in remanding Head, Kamio and Rajwani to custody after their retrial. Three of the four have served eighteen months on remand, with Corner having been inside for 21 months.

Commenting, Campaign Against Arms Trade spokesperson Kirsten Bayes said:

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For generations, at Greenham Common, Aldermaston, Fairford and others, the peace movement has taken action against military logistics and supply chains, involving breaching security and causing damage.

Keir Starmer himself was part of the legal team defending the ‘Fairford Five’, who carried out direct action at RAF Fairford during the Iraq war.

The ‘Filton Four’ case bears close parallels to the ‘Raytheon Nine’, where the defendants were acquitted of criminal damage at the Raytheon factory in Derry in 2006. In this case, the activists attempted to stop weaponry being sold to Israel for use against Lebanon. Their motivations for allegedly damaging office equipment were treated as a mitigating rather than an aggravating factor, as they should be.

In the Filton raids, it was abundantly clear that neither the Israeli nor UK government were the target, as they were and remain far beyond reasonable influence. Instead, Palestine Action activists sought to disrupt the means of production.

Just as one would deny a carving knife to a murderer, these four activists sought to prevent their nation from supplying murder weapons to the genocidal Israeli government. In doing so, the Filton Four upheld an ethical duty to prevent harm, and only did so when it was clear that all ordinary options had been exhausted.

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Sentencing the Filton Four as ‘terrorists’ when they were not convicted as such, and when the evidence that might have supported that conclusion was not even allowed to be heard in court, would not only be unprecedented but grotesque and dystopian.

It will always be the case that those taking non-violent direct action to prevent complicity in genocide are acting in service of humanity.

It must be said that it is a dire reflection of the UK’s police and judiciary that the Filton Four will likely be sentenced as ‘terrorists’, weeks after the Met police refused to even investigate a single one of the 2,000+ UK nationals now known to have served in Israel’s genocidal army.

Featured image via Leon Neal / Getty Images

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Critics slam Tory plan to scrap Equality Duty

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Kemi Badenoch — equality duty proposal

Kemi Badenoch — equality duty proposal

Legal experts and social justice campaigners have hit back against Kemi Badenoch’s plan to scrap the public sector equality duty, PSED, aka ‘the duty’.

Besides the obvious dire impact that the move would have on minoritised individuals across the UK, Badenoch’s argument displayed fundamental misunderstandings of the duty itself — which requires public bodies to assess the impact of their services on people with legally protected characteristics.

Dancing to Reform’s tune

In a 9 June speech, the Tory leader announced her intention to “repeal the public sector equality duty in its entirety.” Badenoch claimed the PSED had led to a pursuit of “equality of outcome” rather than “equal treatment and equality under the law”. She added that:

There are many laws which were brought in with good intentions but are delivering perverse outcomes and unintended consequences.

The PSED requires public sector leaders to abide by equality considerations set out in the 2010 Equality Act. Principally, this means working to prevent discrimination against people with protected characteristics — race, sex, disability etc — and monitoring the outcomes of that work.

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Badenoch’s speech came just a week after Nigel Farage exploited the murder of Henry Nowak to attack diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — better known as ‘EDI’ in the UK. Reform UK had also announced, several months earlier, that it plans to rip up the Equality Act completely.

Equality duty is ‘there to help’

In response to Badenoch’s announcement, a spokesperson for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) — the body responsible for overseeing the application of the Equality Act — explained that the PSED doesn’t function as the Tory leader was trying to make out. Rather, they stated:

The PSED is not a barrier to these organisations doing the job the public expects them to do.

Most take it seriously and use the requirements of the PSED to design the best possible services for everyone. It’s there to help them make good decisions, based on an understanding of the impact those decisions have on everyone that they affect.

Professor of human rights law Colm O’Cinneide, of University College London, took a similar tack:

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What the duty does is to impose a positive obligation upon public bodies to engage with these issues and to do more than just to maintain basic legal compliance, but to actually take proactive steps to eliminate problems that may exist, even if they’re not triggering a specific litigation risk.

He also underlined the shoddy nature of overall argument against the PSED:

A lot of the criticism is effectively cherrypicking individual issues and saying that because these controversies are in some way tangentially related to the duty, the entire mechanism is flawed.

Wrong… or opportunistic?

However, as the Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) highlighted, Badenoch knows perfectly well how the PSED actually functions. MEND commented on the leader of the opposition’s glaring hypocrisy:

Kemi Badenoch says the Equality Act should be “a shield to protect you from discrimination, not a sword for social engineering.” But the duty she wants to scrap is precisely what makes that shield work. It requires public bodies to consider who their decisions might harm before they act. Remove the duty and you take the shield away.

This is also a remarkable reversal from Badenoch, who in December 2023 when Minister for Women and Equalities, wrote to every public authority instructing them to comply with this very duty, and stated that there is no hierarchy of rights because every person holds a protected characteristic. Either she was wrong then, or she is being opportunistic now.

You can read that letter here, complete with the call for public sector leaders to “ensure that equality issues are actively considered”. No prizes for guessing the Canary’s pick out of “wrong then” and “opportunistic now”.

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‘Free hand to harm your life chances’

Meanwhile, other commentators focused on the dire impacts that scrapping the PSED would have on all minoritised communities. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, didn’t hold back:

This proposal would give a future Tory government a free hand to harm your life chances if you’re a woman, gay, black, disabled or working class.

Likewise, the Traveller Movement — a charity supporting Irish Travellers, Romani and Roma people — stated that: 

Removing the Public Sector Equality Duty risks creating a cycle in which inequalities are identified only after harm has occurred, rather than being addressed at the earliest stage. Over time, this could result in the experiences and needs of marginalised communities carrying less weight in public decision-making, making it harder to challenge disadvantage and rebuild trust in public institutions.

For Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller communities, which continue to face significant barriers in areas such as education, health, housing and access to public services, the potential consequences of weakening these safeguards are particularly concerning. Any proposal to remove the Public Sector Equality Duty would lead to the most marginalised communities being put most at risk.

‘Common sense’ is a call for more racism

Lastly, independent MP and career-long human rights advocate Diane Abbott commented that: 

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Ending current equality rules is dangerous and divisive; a green light for all the bigots and racists. This happens when your ambition is no greater than to be the Nick Clegg in a Farage-led government

In particular, the mother of the house highlighted the Tory leader’s ridiculous appeal to ‘common sense’ to prevent discrimination. Regarding the issue of public accommodations for disabled people, Badenoch claimed that:

You don’t need a duty to tell you to take account of differences. Quite often differences are obvious.

Abbott, in return, stated that:

We live in a society where racism is commonplace. Macpherson’s call to tackle it were only ever partially taken up. ‘Common sense’ is a call for more racism not less.

The reference to Macpherson in there refers to Badenoch’s attacks on the Macpherson report. After the shamefully police handling of the racially-motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, the landmark report branded UK policing as institutionally racist.

It’s natural that Badenoch would try to critique the Macpherson report. Likewise, it’s natural that she’d fail so spectacularly. The report and its findings are the quintessential example of just how wrong the Tory leader and her ilk are.

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If avoiding discrimination is simply a matter of common sense, then the police ignored it in favour of vicious  racism. Conversely, if avoiding discrimination isn’t common sense, then the duty to consider it is a helpful, legally enforceable reminder.

Unfortunately for Badenoch, she’s wrong either way you slice it.

Featured image via YouTube / the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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John Healey resigns as defence secretary – letter in full

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MDU logo

John Healey has sensationally resigned as defence secretary over military spending plans. 

In a letter to the prime minister, Healey said the proposed defence investment plan “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.

Read Healey’s letter in full below. 

This is a letter I never expected to write, and I do so now with great regret and reluctance.

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I am proud of what we have done in less than two years as a Labour Government. We’ve stepped up to lead internationally for Ukraine with the Coalition of the Willing and Ukraine Defence Contact Group, established Britain as a leading voice for Europe in NATO, raised defence investment to 2.5% of GDP three years earlier than anyone expected, launched the deepest defence reforms in 50 years, won the biggest UK defence export deals for decades, published a first-of-its-kind Strategic Defence Review, gave our Armed Forces the biggest pay rise in nearly 20 years, boosted military morale, fixed over 1,200 of the worst forces family homes, reset relations with European allies and signed major defence agreements with Germany, Norway and France.

You have led this as PM, earning wide respect at home and abroad. Like me, I know you are exceptionally proud of our Forces and all of those who work in UK Defence.

We came into government, recognising Britain faced a new era of threat which demanded a new era for defence. The SDR we jointly commissioned set the 10-year vision to transform our Armed Forces, strengthen alliances, invest in the technology that is changing warfare and back British industry to make defence an engine for growth.

This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the Chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.

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Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.

Since then, the demands on defence have increased still further, as have the UK commitments you have rightly made to allies. Conflict in the Middle East, with the UK now leading the multinational Strait of Hormuz military mission; High North security, with the UK now leading NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission; increased Russian activity towards the UK and NATO nations and increased attacks in Ukraine, with the Paris Agreement confirming a British deployment to Ukraine after a ceasefire.

We have worked to secure a Defence Investment Plan that does two things. First, deal with the increasing operational demands on defence now and step up the SDR actions to meet the increasing threat. Second, set a clear path to meet the new NATO commitment you agreed to spend 3.5% of GDP in 2035 through the next Spending Review.

As we have regularly discussed, I am certain that a headmark date for 3% of GDP on defence in 2030 is what Britain must set. This commitment would have strong cross-party support. Other European allies are stepping up in this way.

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I know how hard you have worked to get to this point. And in funding the DIP, I fully recognise the strain this places on colleagues in other Departments, both now as you have required spending switched into defence and in the future. I am very grateful to those colleagues who have supported this, and I appreciate how difficult their choices will have been.

As I’ve outlined to you, there are credible ways of meeting the mid-term funding challenges, working multi-nationally and as other European nations are doing, to allow us to protect our ability to deliver the missions of our Labour Government.

However, your DIP financial settlement – which I was first given in full on Monday afternoon this week – falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time. The extra support is backloaded when the pressure of operations and imperative to speed up readiness to fight is in the first two years and it rises to just 2.68% of GDP in 2030, when we will reach 2.6% next year with the investment we are already making.

You spelled out the threats last week: “it is our intelligence assessment, and the assessment of other countries in NATO, that there could be an attack by Russia on NATO as soon as 2030.”

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You know what defence needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference back in February.

Without a DIP that meets the moment in this way, I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe.

After explaining to you that I would not be able to accept a DIP settlement that does not give our Forces the resources they need, I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation as your Defence Secretary.

I wish you all continuing strength in the exceptional challenges you face as Prime Minister. As always, our Labour Government will continue to have my fullest support.

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‘So what?’ Farage says about Kenyon’s lewd comments

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Nigel Farage in front of a social media post from Robert Kenyon of Reform UK

Nigel Farage in front of a social media post from Robert Kenyon of Reform UK

Reform UK’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election is one Robert Kenyon. As we’ve reported, Kenyon has been criticised for a series of lewd, sexist, and weird comments. But rather than apologising, Robert and party figures have repeatedly doubled down.

The latest example is this:

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Kenyon is not sorry

Here’s what Farage said on Kenyon’s past comments:

These comments were posted a decade ago. They’ve been taken wildly out of context, but they’re the sort of comments that you won’t necessarily get if you’re an Oxford-educated career politician living in a nice postcode in London,” he adds.

But I tell you what, they are the kind of comments you’ll hear in every pub in the country every evening, and we should be unapologetic that Rob is an ordinary bloke who’s carved quite a career for himself, had the guts to set up a business, served as an army reservist, is a patriot, likes his rugby, likes the odd pint, and said a few laddish things on social media 10 years ago.

Do you know what I’d say to that? I’d say, so what?

If Farage or Kenyon had simply apologised, we’d have moved past this by now. Because they keep angrily refusing to do so, we have to keep reminding people precisely what Kenyon isn’t sorry for.

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First up, there was this absolute war crime of a tweet, in which the Reformer said:

You will hear this kind of talk in every pub in the country, according to Farage, and you will hear it every evening. Personally, we think that will only be true if you’re the one making the comments.

Kenyon also said this when Russia invaded the Crimea region of Ukraine:

I agree totally, Russia are well within their rights to do what they have done, as we did with the Falklands.

Notoriously, the boozers of Britain are all big Russophiles. Every night they sing songs celebrating Putin’s latest conquests. Many of them are calling for the UK to adopt the ruble.

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Hilariously, Kenyon was also a Remainer, according to himself:

We dunno, Nigel, this seems like the sort of comment you would hear if you’re an “Oxford-educated career politician living in a nice postcode in London”.

Reform felt a need to deny that Kenyon actually voted Brexit. At the same time, it’s felt no need to deny or apologise for the many sexist comments Kenyon has made.

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Make of that what you will.

Take it from us

We don’t normally give Reform advice, but we are now urging them to apologise for these comments and move on.

It’s time.

And while we’re more than happy to keep reminding everyone of what a little freak Kenyon is, the good people of Makerfield have suffered enough:

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Featured image via Ryan Jenkinson / Getty Images

By Willem Moore

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‘Dead Mouse’ slams cruel sepsis experiments at QMUL open day

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PETA billboard highlighting sepsis experiments on mice at QMUL

PETA billboard highlighting sepsis experiments on mice at QMUL

Ahead of undergraduate open days at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) on 12 and 13 June, PETA has placed a new ad just a stone’s throw from the campus.

It warns prospective students that researchers at the university are tormenting mice in cruel and useless sepsis experiments that consistently fail to lead to effective treatments for humans.

The appeal depicts a dead mouse alongside the message:

Septic Fail. Mice Suffer and Die in Sepsis Tests at QMUL – With No Human Benefits.

PETA senior campaigns manager Kate Werner says:

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What QMUL’s tours fail to divulge to students is that on campus, terrified mice are being cut open while they’re still alive and subjected to the agonising experience of sepsis, all for worthless experiments that benefit no one.

PETA is urging the university to stop wasting time, resources, and animals’ lives on these cruel and ineffective experiments and adopt human-relevant research methods.

More than 150 drugs have successfully treated sepsis in mice, yet none have been effective in treating humans. Despite the well-documented failure in using mice to model human sepsis, QMUL experimenters are cutting open terrified mice and puncturing their intestines to leak faecal matter into their bodies.

During experiments, some mice experience severe sepsis, which can include major organ failure and difficulty breathing. All animals are killed at the end of these experiments.

Some data from these experiments have been published in papers that were later retracted by the publisher because the animal data and conclusions were deemed ‘unreliable’.

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Mice are intelligent, complex, and social individuals who experience a wide range of emotions. They become attached to each other, love their families, and easily bond with their human guardians, returning as much affection as they receive.

PETA encourages everyone to urge QMUL to heed the scientific evidence and join other institutions, including the University of Kent, that have committed to non-animal methods in sepsis research.

Featured image via PETA / Lucy Watson

By The Canary

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