Politics
Politics Home | Creating the right conditions to unlock UK infrastructure investment and growth
Chris Ball, President (UK & Ireland)
| AtkinsRéalis
Unlocking private investment will be critical to delivering the UK’s infrastructure ambitions and driving regional growth. From de-risking projects to reforming funding models, the challenge now is turning political intent into investor confidence.
The UK stands at an important moment in its pursuit of economic renewal. Plans and policies agreed in the next few months will determine the pace and progress of infrastructure development over the next decade.
Against that backdrop, the King’s Speech yet again reinforced the role of infrastructure in supporting economic growth across the UK. In the days following UKREiiF, as the public sector, industry, and investors reflect on discussions, the task now is to turn intent into confidence.
That confidence is essential if private investment is to be attracted at the scale and pace required.
Recent research among over 100 institutional investors shows clear appetite: 90 per cent rank the UK as an attractive destination for infrastructure investment in the next three years, and 71 per cent see UK projects as low-to-medium risk. These are encouraging signals, reflecting the shift in the government’s approach to planning and regulation, reinforced by new mechanisms such as the National Wealth Fund and pension fund reforms.
Beneath this optimism, however, the window of opportunity is narrowing. Only 19 per cent of investors firmly prioritise the UK over other regions, and nearly two-thirds have walked away from UK projects in the past where business cases failed to stack up. If we do not address the barriers – uncertain returns, planning delays, and delivery risk – we will lose momentum and capital to more competitive markets.
De-risking: building confidence through early integration
Investors are not averse to risk, but they demand clarity, predictability, and robust governance.
Early integration of public bodies, investors, and delivery organisations ensures that projects are both well-conceived and deliverable from the outset. This integrated approach must extend across the asset lifecycle, embedding risk management at every stage.
Collaborative contracting models have proven to reduce cost and schedule overruns through this approach, with the Construction Leadership Council estimating it can achieve savings of up to 20 per cent.
The East West Rail Alliance demonstrates this in practice: Phase 2 planning was completed 30 per cent faster than Phase 1 despite being twice the size. This is the kind of outcome that builds investor confidence – and it is replicable.
Incentivising: funding models that work
The government’s commitment to mobilise £3 of private capital for every £1 of public funding and the £50bn Mansion House Accord are a step in the right direction, but these must be underpinned by credible delivery plans and viable business cases.
To mobilise private finance, we need funding models that provide investors with the clarity and returns they require. Public-private partnerships remain central, with 37 per cent of investors citing their importance. However, 30 per cent are willing to pilot new funding models and participate in blended finance initiatives – provided the rewards outweigh the risks.
Thames Tideway illustrates what that looks like in practice. Its financing structure ensured returns during construction and provided the government as the insurer of last resort, giving investors the predictability they need.
Success depends on clear risk-sharing – reflected in models such as the Regulated Asset Base – well-defined governance, and policy stability that transcends electoral cycles.
Delivering: place-based partnerships
Regional and place-based investment programmes are pivotal to delivering impact at pace. Nearly 80 per cent of investors are interested in regional growth programmes, and a third are actively exploring options. This appetite now has a more enabling policy framework behind it, laying the foundation for regional delivery with place-based business cases.
Long-term, bundled regional programmes can open new funding pathways and turn complex, fragmented projects into stable propositions for institutional investors. These are the delivery mechanisms for the government’s growth mission: regional rail links, industrial clusters, science and manufacturing corridors.
However, such programmes could reveal capability gaps in public bodies and stretch them further, previously highlighted as a key lesson in the National Audit Office report, Lessons learned: private finance for infrastructure. In our research, investors acknowledged their experience of local bureaucracy as a barrier to invest, from perceptions of slow planning and difficulty securing approvals to the pace of local government.
Deploying digital tools such as AI and spatial data can accelerate delivery and reduce uncertainty. Additionally, integrators can fill local government capability gaps.
AtkinsRéalis is already working with a number of Mayoral Combined Authorities to plan and structure their regional growth programmes, including supporting national Green Book pilots that are demonstrating how place-based appraisal can unlock infrastructure value at scale. Scaling these pilots has the potential to get more cranes in the sky.
A window of opportunity
Policy conditions are better aligned than they have been for years. Place-based business cases, new funding models, and National Wealth Fund pilots together provide a credible platform for the ten-year infrastructure pipeline to attract the private investment it needs. The next step will be to move from strategy to delivery.
Programmes that succeed share common characteristics: early integration of the right stakeholders, clear risk allocation, and a commitment to collaborative delivery. Financial clarity, policy stability, and coordinated public-private effort are the conditions for unlocking investment and driving growth across every region.
Andy Burnham has launched his by-election campaign in Makerfield with a “clarion call for change”.
The mayor for Greater Manchester is widely expected to formally challenge Keir Starmer’s leadership if he wins this parliamentary seat.
The soft-left politician’s launch is therefore seen as both a campaign to win Makerfield and a promise to offer a different kind of government.
“Hope is in the air, can you feel it?” Burnham said.
“This is not business as usual. This is not more of the same,” he continued. “British politics is tired. It needs a new script.
“And over the next four weeks, the people of Makerfield are going to write that script.”
He added: “I know my own party needs to change. We need to be better than we’ve been. We’ve not been good enough. And I want to leave people in no doubt today, a vote for me in this by-election campaign is a vote to change Labour.”
The by-election was triggered by Labour MP Josh Simons, previously a junior minister, who stood down earlier this month to offer Burnham a path back to Westminster.
The resignation came amid rising calls for Starmer to quit following Labour’s shocking defeat in the local elections on May 7.
However the prime minister has ignored such pleas and insisted no one has initiated a contest against him.
If Burnham wins this by-election, he will need the support of 81 MPs to formally trigger a leadership race.
His popularity within the parliamentary Labour Party means that he is almost certainly going to win any such contest.
However, he must win over voters in Makerfield first, a pro-Leave constituency which voted for Reform in all eight of its wards during the local elections.
During his launch, Burnham also focused on his local links as his home was just two miles from where he currently lives.
“I love it so much that I brought my own family up here, I live here, I have lived here for 25 years. My home is two miles over there. I could walk to this campaign centre,” he said.
He listed his successes since become Greater Manchester mayor in 2017, noting that he has worked with Liverpool to “build a new politics” which is on a “place first basis rather than party first”.
Burnham also pointed out that the Makerfield constituency has struggled with the cost of living, poverty and unemployment.
He said: “We’ve had 40 years of policies that have hurt the high streets of this constituency, 40 years of policies that have left people struggling to afford the everyday basics of their lives.
“Policies that took away the good jobs that were once in these communities and have not done anything to replace them or put them back.”
The by-election is set to take place on June 18. Burnham will be up against Reform candidate Robert Kenyon, the Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin and the Tories’ Michael Winstanley.
The Greens’ Chris Kennedy stood down after less than 12 hours in the post and the party is on the hunt for a new candidate.
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Israeli military commander Meir Biderman has been “seriously wounded” by Hezbollah during Israel’s war of aggression on Lebanon: he commanded a unit during the Gaza genocide that murdered 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her family, and two paramedics sent to try to help them. Palestinian despatchers had agreed safe passage for the ambulance.
The Hind Rajab Foundation have filed a case with the International Criminal Court over the brutal murder of Hind.
Hind Rajab murderer now the one who is ‘severely weakened’
In April, Biderman announced on Israeli TV that he and his unit has “severely weakened” Lebanese resistance. Since then, Israel has suffered heavy casualties from armed Lebanese ‘FPV’ drones. Despite initial reports that the attack involved an improvised roadside bomb, one of the drones has now injured Biderman and two other occupation troops. The explosion inflicted serious head wounds on Biderman. His condition was critical, but Israeli media now claim he has been stabilised.
It’s safe to say Biderman is not receiving much sympathy in responses on social media to news of his injury.
Featured image via Getty/Amir Levy
By Skwawkbox
Southampton held its hands up, admitting to spying charges after it was caught red-handed covertly filing opponents. For this clear violation of the rules, they have received more than a light slap on the wrist despite protesting the severity of the sanctions against it.
The saga, known as Spygate, exposes colossal leadership failures under Tonda Eckert’s management, which cost the team its Championship play-offs. Middlesbrough will take their place.
Golf course loiterer
Recovering from the reputational damage will take more than a points deduction. It remains to be seen if Eckert will remain at the helm or lose his job, having accepted responsibility for covert spying operations against Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough. The damage is clear. Southampton have now slid down the league table and will start the next season with a reduced points penalty, as the Football Association (FA) continue their separate investigation.
It is true that English football allows competing teams to observe each other. That said, tactical training sessions are off-limits as is secret filming. Southampton clearly crossed that line and chose to act in bad faith, an independent English Football League commission found.
These practices were well hidden up until Middlesbrough spotted unusual movements by a camera-wielding bloke loitering around the golf course adjacent to the football pitch where they’d been training. This prompted an internal investigation, steered by none other than high-profile sports lawyer Nick De Marco KC.
The death knell was the evidentiary trail they uncovered. The golf course loiterer was found to be Will Salt, a Southampton analyst intern.Middlesbrough’s lawyer identified credit card transactions linking Salt to payments made at the golf club.
Bad-faith espionage
The event triggered a wider look at Southampton’s scouting practices. As investigations widened, further evidence implicated Southampton in similar surveillance operations against Ipswich and Oxford. It was a act of bad-faith espionage — systematic and planned. Footage was captured, stored and circulated within Southampton’s analysis unit.
Aware this was no ‘it wasn’t me’ (shaggy) moment, Southampton admitted filming closed trainings while arguing that material hadn’t produced a decisive on‑field advantage. The independent commission was more interested in the intent than the outcome of actions which the EFL panel concluded had breached of competition rules and dented trust.
Findings and sanctions
The EFL commission concluded filming operation was “contrived” and “deliberate,” directed from senior levels. They expelled Southampton from the play‑off final and imposed a points deduction for the next season. The original penalty was reduced after mitigation was accepted, but the expulsion stood.
The panel’s reasoning rested on three pillars:
- Deliberate intent — filming was not accidental nor a case of a rogue employee acting alone. The operation was planned and authorised.
- Pressure on staff — junior employees were reportedly instructed to take actions they felt were wrong, treated as an aggravating factor.
- Integrity of competition — even if the footage did not influence match results, the act of covertly filming private training sessions undermined the fairness of the play‑offs.
Reports and speculations bubbling on social media, and the sports media landscape more broadly, capture the extent of the reputational damage. Spygate calls into question Southampton’s professional integrity and reputation. It may also result in more suspensions or dismissals once the FA has concluded its separate probe.
Is recovery possible?
The drama underscores that in elite sports, governance matters. Clubs must have clear, enforceable boundaries around scouting and analysis. What analysts may view as a “competitive edge” can at the same time be illegal and unethical. Eckert was the man responsible for drawing and policing that line, and ultimately failed to protect his team.
The road to recovery will be long. Southampton must manage player morale, reassure sponsors and supporters, and prepare for the FA’s disciplinary process. In the long term, the club needs clearer compliance structures, independent oversight and a culture reset to abandon the “winning at any cost” mentality. Time will tell if Eckert can weather the storm.
Featured image via the Canary
By Faz Ali
Andy Burnham launched his Makerfield by-election campaign on Friday (Alamy)
4 min read
Andy Burnham said he is running a by-election campaign for “change” in politics, the economy, housing, transport, and care, as he launched his bid to become the new Labour MP for Makerfield.
Last week, Labour MP and former minister Josh Simons announced he would give up his Makerfield constituency – after being elected for the first time just two years ago – to allow Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham a shot at re-entering Parliament via a by-election.
With Burnham now having been selected as the Labour candidate, the by-election will go ahead on 18 June. If he wins, the mayor is expected to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.
“British politics is tired,” Burnham said, addressing a crowd of supporters at the Labour campaign launch in Makerfield on Friday morning.
“It needs a new script. And over the next four weeks, the people of Makerfield are going to write that script.”
He repeatedly tapped into a sense of Westminster politics not working for people around the country.
“This by-election will force Westminster to focus on the places it usually looks past,” he said.
“I love this place, I love the people of this place, but what I have inside is a burning sense of injustice that the proud communities of this place face a Westminster system that puts them at the bottom of the list. They should be at the top of the list.”
He called for “change to Westminster politics so that it works for people”.
“This by-election is a clarion call for change, change for people, a place I love so much,” Burnham continued.
“Change to the economy, change to education, change to housing, change to transport, change to care, and yes, to make it all possible, change to politics.
Summarising his campaign in three words, Burnham said: “I’m for us.”
He also said he recognised that the Labour Party “needs to change”.
“We need to be better than we’ve been,” he said.
“We’ve not been good enough, and I want to leave people in no doubt today. A vote for me in this by-election campaign is a vote to change Labour. It is a vote to give the people here in these communities who supported us through the years their party back. This is a vote for a party that is solidly on the side of working-class people and working-class communities.”
On transport, Burnham said “I like my buses”, referring to the scheme he oversaw which brought Greater Manchester buses back under public control in 2023. However, he highlighted ongoing concerns about the cost of rail journeys.
“£364 is the cost of an anytime return from Wigan North Western to London Euston,” he said.
“So how can people here connect with the capital and all of the opportunities it’s got, if they cannot afford those train fares? We need to use rail re-nationalisation to reduce those train fares and make them affordable to people again.”
He also brought Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram to stand alongside him, and praised the successes of Greater Manchester and Liverpool since they both left Westminster as MPs to become mayors.
“In those ten years we have built a new politics,” Burnham said.
“We’ve worked on a place-first basis, rather than party first. We’ve focused on problem-solving rather than point scoring. And you know what? When you do that and you work differently, it’s amazing what you can achieve, isn’t it?”
Burnham also pointed to the need to change education and advocated for an education system “that doesn’t just focus on the university route”, but “focuses on the kids who want technical pathways to those new industries”.
He said he was feeling “emotional” about the campaigning bringing him “back to where it all began” in Westminster, and batted away accusations that he is using this by-election as a “stepping stone” to power.
“How can it be a stepping stone if it takes you back to where it all began?” he said.
“Surely it can’t, and the reason it comes back to is because I’ve never stopped what I started 25 years ago. I fought for these people in these places as a member of Parliament, I fought for them as a minister… We fought for people in the North West of England, fought for people here, we fought for them as mayors together…
“I would carry that fight forward if I am lucky enough to be elected as the MP for Makerfield. I’ll take that fight as high as I can possibly take it, and that’s the journey I’ve always been on. And it’s not a new journey for me, it’s the same journey, just in a different phase, and that’s what this is all about.”
Jeremy Corbyn has written to Andy Burnham, reminding him that in October 2023 the Manchester mayor spoke out against the “widespread suffering” caused by Israel in Gaza, and has called on Burnham to back a Gaza genocide inquiry into the UK’s role in the conflict.
He also asked whether Burnham would end all military cooperation with Israel, including arms sales, the supply of F-35 components, and intelligence sharing.
I have written to Andy Burnham to ask whether he would establish an independent public inquiry into the British government’s complicity in genocide. pic.twitter.com/vBUkmcGicC
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 21, 2026
Corbyn presses Burnham
Burnham is standing as the Labour candidate in the Makerfield by-election, hoping to return to parliament to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.
Your Party also questioned Burnham’s position on Gaza, asking whether it would differ from Starmer’s.
15% of every F-35 jet bombing Gaza is made in Britain. Lancashire. Edinburgh. Brighton.
Even when his government admitted F-35s could be used for war crimes, Starmer kept selling the parts.
What would Burnham do? Jeremy Corbyn has put the question to him.
— Your Party (@thisisyourparty) May 22, 2026
Burnham has not specified his position on arms sales to Israel or other issues like the proscription of Palestine Action. He has, however, been a member or supporter of the Labour Friends of Israel group since at least 2015.
Matt Kennard called Burnham “Starmer with a Scouse accent.” He noted that during the Labour leader elections in 2015, he stated that the first trip as Labour leader would be to Israel.
During 2015 Labour leadership election, @AndyBurnhamGM promised the Israel lobby his first trip as Labour leader would be to the apartheid colony
Keir Starmer with a scouse accent pic.twitter.com/QgKekMdls8
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) May 19, 2026
Private Members Bill
In June 2025, Corbyn introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament calling for an independent public inquiry into Britain’s involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The Bill had the support of more than 50 MPs, including Labour MPs Richard Burgon, Nadia Whittome, Ian Byrne, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and several human rights organisations.
Starmer’s government rejected the need for an inquiry, claiming:
there is no confusion about UK military operations in Gaza.
Then, Corbyn’s independently convened Gaza Tribunal in September, with two international law specialists, which concluded that the British government had been an active participant in one of the “greatest crimes of our time.”
We held The Gaza Tribunal to expose the full scale of Britain’s complicity in genocide.
Our conclusion: the British government has been an active participant in one of the greatest crimes of our time.
Read the full report below. https://t.co/ygDHNka1Ay
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 16, 2026
Burnham – pick a side quickly! Now that Starmer is campaigning for you, are you going to choose his policies too?
Featured image via Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images
By The Canary
Chris Kennedy has withdrawn as the Green party’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election. The party’s announcement describes the reason as “personal and family reasons”. However, it is notable that Kennedy was the target of a huge pile-on by the UK Israel lobby before his withdrawal for sharing a post describing the the attack on Golders Green ambulances as a false-flag attack.
Kennedy apologised and deleted the comment.
Makerfield: worrying sign
The efforts the Israel lobby made to drive out a left-wing candidate are another worrying indication about Burnham’s candidacy. It suggests that Israel advocates want to help Burnham win so they can extract a ‘quid pro quo’ for one of their number, Josh Simons, resigning as Makerfield’s MP to open the way for him.
The withdrawal could well be another example of the Greens’ increasing tendency to cave to lobby attacks rather than stand their ground over Israel’s genocide, other crimes and propaganda tactics.
Featured image via Getty/Ryan Jenkinson
By Skwawkbox
Danny Dyer has teased that he will appear in a “full-frontal” scene later in the current season of Rivals.
The Bafta winner plays fan-favourite Freddie Jones in the Disney+ bonkbuster, which returned after a two-year absence last week.
While promoting season two, Danny told Radio Times: “I go full frontal in this series, if they keep it in the edit.”
Since it premiered in 2024, Rivals has become renowned for its racy content including graphic scenes of sex and nudity.
Danny added: “Nobody’s under pressure to be naked if they don’t want to, but if a woman’s getting her breasts out, why shouldn’t I get it all out?”
“I’ve got breasts as well, to be fair,” he then quipped.
Opening up more about the scene in question to Digital Spy, Danny explained: “It’s an odd thing to do. You sign up for this. It’s part of it.
“Nobody’s forced to [do it]. It’s Jilly [Cooper, who wrote the books that Rivals is based on].”
He observed that his co-star Katherine Parkinson is also “quite naked” in the scene “and so are a lot of other actors in it”.
Katherine agreed: “So many of us are doing those sorts of scenes that it becomes normalised. It’s only after the job stops you go: ‘Oh, my goodness, I did that’.
“[It’s] all done in the spirit of Jilly. It’s always telling a story.”
She added: “That’s actually a very funny scene – not because of [Danny’s] full-frontal-ness – but because of what’s happening in the scene.”
Season two of Rivals kicked off in the show’s typically raunchy fashion, with full-frontal nudity from two new characters in the first 15 minutes, and an Aidan Turner naked moment also opening the door to a certain unexpected EastEnders cameo.
Episode four of Rivals arrived on Disney+ on Friday morning, with two more coming in the weeks ahead.
After that, the show will take a mid-season break, with the rest of Rivals’ second season following later in the year.
I’ll be the first to admit I assumed you could plug most things into an extension lead – but it turns out, I was wrong. Plugging in certain appliances could be a major fire hazard, according to safety experts.
In the UK, around 7,000 house fires are caused by faulty electrics, appliances, wiring and overloaded sockets every year.
Some common household appliances can take too much power for a standard extension lead to handle safely.
According to The LED Specialist, the riskiest items to plug into extension leads are kettles, electric heaters and toasters.
The reason comes down to wattage. Kettles can draw around 3,000 watts of power, electric heaters can match or even exceed that figure, and toasters typically pull between 800 and 1,500 watts, the experts said.
When multiple high-wattage devices are running through a single extension lead at the same time, the combined load can quickly exceed what the lead can safely handle.
In April, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service shared on social media that they’d attended a call where an electric heater had been plugged into an extension lead, which began overheating.
“Thankfully, the fault was found before a fire started,” they said, adding that extension leads aren’t safe for high-powered items such as heaters, electric fires, or large kitchen appliances.
It goes without saying then that plugging your washing machine or tumble dryer into an extension lead is not a good idea either.
Oliver Nichols, from The LED Specialist, said: “People often don’t realise how much current these devices pull, and when you combine more than one on a single lead, you’re creating a real fire risk.”
Experts say these devices should always be plugged directly into a wall socket instead.
Check your extension lead is safe
Another issue to consider when plugging in appliances is whether the extension lead you’re using is safe.
Experts warn some of these products can be missing the important safety markings and built-in fuses that UK-standard leads are required to carry.
According to BEAMA – the trade association for energy infrastructure and systems – extension leads should be CE marked (otherwise they’re deemed non-compliant).
You should also check there are no imperfections in the plastic mouldings, that it doesn’t rattle when you shake it, that there are no signs of damage to the cable or plug, and that the cable length is as advertised.
“If your extension lead doesn’t carry the appropriate safety markings, there’s no guarantee it will cut out before overheating. That’s when you move from an inconvenience to a genuine fire hazard,” said Nichols.
And if you’re regularly relying on extension leads throughout your home, it might be worth getting a qualified electrician in to add more sockets.
When the trailer for the new Netflix comedy film Ladies First dropped, it quickly raised eyebrows, with some critics going as far as calling it “the worst movie trailer” the had “ever seen”.
And let’s just say the response isn’t any better now that the film has landed on streaming services, with a smattering of one- and two-star reviews.
Ladies First stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a chauvinistic CEO whose life is upended when he wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women.
Despite an all-star cast which includes Rosamund Pike, Fiona Shaw, Charles Dance and Emily Mortimer, the film is getting negative reviews across the board.
Critics are calling out the film’s subpar jokes, borderline-offensive gender politics and misuse of its talented British cast.
Here is what people are saying about Ladies First…
“In its attempt to become a one-stop shop for just about every form of nostalgia possible, Netflix has now decided to revive the dreadful British comedy of the 2000s.
The all-deciding algorithm has somehow deemed it necessary for a return to that cursed era with the release of Ladies First, a broad and chintzy new comedy that would have felt old hat even back then.
“It’s an excruciatingly unfunny high-concept thought experiment, imagining a world with flipped gender politics, that’s far too happy with itself and what it’s allegedly achieving to be passed off as just some charming throwback.”
“This a film that attempts to wring side-splitting laughter from the wacky, dystopian sight of, ho-ho, women taxi drivers, women paramedics and women changing tyres. Plus, equally hilarious are the scenes featuring, snicker snicker, men cooking, men hugging and men being interested in their children. Finger off the pulse? Just a bit.”
“A dated battle-of-the-sexes comedy […] at a time when laws change daily to restrict women’s bodily autonomy, protect men from accountability and reinstate antiquated values that benefit a few at the expense of the many, sexual politics can feel more regressive than ever.
“But as uneven a playing field as women may face against men in their lives, relationships and careers, Ladies First is a movie that seems like it’s made less for this moment than one a few generations ago.”
“This comic tale of an arrogant, sexist male executive who gets his comeuppance when he hits his head and wakes up to find himself in a world dominated by women hits every satirical note you’d expect but provides more knowing chuckles than genuine laughs.
“An almost ridiculously overqualified cast of notable British thespians does their best to elevate the material of this Netflix comedy directed by Thea Sharrock but it’s heavy lifting.”
“The easy feminism of winks and role reversals quickly wears thin. Most of the movie takes place in Damien’s head after all, and much of its lessons are about his growth. Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Sacha Baron Cohen is knocked unconscious early in Netflix comedy Ladies First, a film that only sometimes makes you wish the same for yourself.”
“Men and women both will find a number of alarming concepts in the gender-flipping comedy Ladies First not the least of which will be the idea of Sacha Baron Cohen as a romantic lead.
“He’s a terrific actor. Whether he has the animal magnetism to play opposite Rosamund Pike (who does?) strains credulity. But so does most of the movie.”
Ladies First is now streaming on Netflix.
Content warning: contains graphic images of torture and abuse
The first Flotilla volunteers criminally abducted week by Israel as they sailed to Gaza with humanitarian supplies have begun to make their way home after deportation. They show horrific signs of torture and violence at the hands of their evil, supremacist captors. Brazilian activist Thiago Avila detailed how many flotilla volunteers suffered rape and other sexual violence:
The Freedom Flotilla said in a statement:
The horrific assault on flotilla volunteers must be understood in the broader context of an entrenched system of violence in which Israeli soldiers, police, and prison guards have long operated with impunity. Sexual violence, including rape, gang-rape, humiliating strip searches, and other forms of sexual torture, has been repeatedly committed against Palestinians in Israeli custody and documented by Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations.
The marks of torture were clearly visible on those willing to show them:
Flotilla participants are arriving at Istanbul airport. This is what Israel military and prison personnel did to them. pic.twitter.com/DbbXxJWi55
— Heidi Matthews (@Heidi__Matthews) May 21, 2026
Flotilla: white faces = a little media interest
The UK and most other Western governments have remained shamefully silent about Israel’s kidnapping, humiliation and torture of their citizens. There is the slightest sign of interest among some ‘mainstream’ media outlets, but far from enough. Their hypocrisy and cowardice was deftly mocked by author Michael Rosen. Soon after the abductions, fascist ‘security’ minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted footage of his attempts to humiliate and intimidate the captives. On his Facebook page, Rosen pointed out that the evils of the likes of Ben-Gvir have caught media interest only because some of those being abused are white:
But Israel has spent years inflicting far worse on the Palestinians, to destroy or drive them out. More than ten thousand Palestinians are currently held without trial, beaten, tortured, raped and often killed, as international law professor Laurent Lambert pointed out in response to the flotilla images:
These tortured humanitarian activists have endured little compared to the atrociously tortured Palestinian men, women and children who have become victims of rape in Israeli prisons. pic.twitter.com/R5ANe60jci
— Laurent (@LaurentALambert) May 21, 2026
Israel is a colonial terror outpost masquerading as a state.
Featured image via Getty/Uriel Sinai
By Skwawkbox
Andy Burnham Launches Makerfield By-Election Campaign
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