On 13 July, activists disrupted Manchester and Glasgow offices housing Chubb Insurance. It was part of a coordinated campaign to pressure genocide-complicit corporations to sever ties with apartheid Israel.

Campaigners believe that Chubb Insurance offers Employers’ Liability Insurance to UAV Engines Limited. UAV is a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, which arms the Israeli occupation with 85% of its weapons.

Palestine Resistance Collective (PRC) occupied the Manchester office lobby with banners and a model of Elbit Systems’ quadcopter drone.

Meanwhile, Mothers Against Genocide Scotland held a family-friendly demonstration outside the Glasgow office with banners and music, engaging with the public as they passed by.

As workers arrived for the day, they had to walk through the protests and confront their corporation’s role in genocide. Some reportedly appeared shocked.

Chubb under pressure

In the last few months, Chubb has also faced numerous direct action hits across the country. Actionists have locked on outside, broken windows and covered buildings in red paint.

Last year, campaigners claimed victory when Allianz and Aviva stopped providing Employee Liability Insurance to Elbit, following sustained protest activity. Since Chubb took on this role, it has become the focus of many groups who believe sustained protest activity will again force the insurer to sever ties.

A member of Palestine Resistance Collective, who coordinated the action in Manchester, stated:

Isreal is expanding its plans of systematic land theft and murder at a never seen before scale. Whilst a myth of a ceasefire exists, Chubb Insurance is in the background drooling at the sight of money to be made off the bombs, missiles and drones dropping on tents.

Chubb Insurance will learn the hard way, akin to its cousin corporations, Allianz, Aviva and AXA who were forced to abandon their genocidal ventures.

Andrew Taylor for Boycott Bloody Insurance explained:

Chubb is profiteering from the ethnic cleansing happening in Gaza and the West Bank. Its insurance enables Elbit Systems to continue to battle-test its weapons on Palestinian civilians.

Research by Boycott Bloody Insurance uncovered that Chubb maintains a high position in terms of underwriting the risk of weapons manufacturers with ties to the genocide. Chubb has achieved the worst possible score for any insurer across a variety of key issues.

This includes insuring companies such as Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, and multiple suppliers of the F-35 fighter jet parts, which are also used by the occupiers to ethnically cleanse Palestinians in their native land.

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By The Canary

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Olly Robbins, former permanent under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, has begun a legal challenge of Starmer’s decision to sack him over his supposed role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson, disgraced ambassador to the US.

Starmer sacked Mandelson after details of his friendship and extensive communications with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein became public knowledge.

The PM blamed Robbins for failing to let him know that concerns were raised during Mandelson’s security vetting for the ambassadorial position. Starmer sacked the then-head of the Foreign Office on 16 April.

‘Dismissive approach’ to vetting

On 21 April, Robbins published a letter he wrote to Emily Thornberry MP, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. He noted that he was seeking advice about his dismissal. Further, regarding Mandelson’s appointment, he claimed that there was:

[a] dismissive approach to DV (developed vetting) from Number 10 Downing Street (No 10) for the remainder of the process. Nonetheless, despite this atmosphere of pressure, the department completed DV to the normal high standard.

The very next day, 22 April, Starmer claimed during PMQs that there was “no pressure existed whatsoever” around Mandelson’s vetting. As such, some commentators argued that the PM had misled parliament.

Casting further doubt on Starmer’s claims to ignorance, on 23 April, it emerged that the PM sent a text to Mandelson on the night of his appointment:

You’ll be brilliant in challenging circumstances. And after many years of our discussions, we get to work together side by side. I really look forward to that.

‘A rash response to a media story’

In a statement given on 13 July, Robbins’ union — the FDA, which represents civil servants — issued a statement confirming that he had requested a judicial review of his dismissal. The union urged the prime minister to admit his mistake, which it held was:

based on a grievous misunderstanding of how the national security vetting (NSV) system worked and a rash response to a media story.

The FDA also argued that:

Rather than being under a duty to tell ministers about the process leading up to the vetting decision, Olly was under an obligation not to.

The process is independent of government ministers, who are only informed of the final outcome.

In his submissions to the court, Robbins claimed there was “no fair procedure” in the decision. He further argued that Starmer:

has no statutory authority to dismiss the head of the diplomatic service.

‘I bring this action reluctantly’

The former Foreign Office chief stated that: 

I bring this action reluctantly. It would have been unnecessary if the prime minister had simply apologised for his mistake and made amends for the distress and cost it has caused me and my family.

Instead, I now have to ask the courts to determine that the prime minister’s decisions were unlawful, unreasonable and to quash them.

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In June, both the Guardian and the Independent reported that Andy Burnham’s team has been in talks to appoint Robbins to as national security adviser in a new administration. Jonathan Powell, the current adviser, is rumoured to quit the post in the near future.

Robbins held his position at the head of the Foreign Office for just over a year. However, he has previously worked as both the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator and deputy national security adviser.

Featured image via the Canary

By Grace

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The European Union has pulled a procedural trick to ram through “Chat Control 1.0” (CC1). CC1 suspends normal EU privacy laws so that tech platforms can ‘mass-scan’ users’ private messages for government.

European Parliament members had already rejected the proposal twice because of the dangers it poses to privacy. The proposal is what MEPs term a “legislative zombie” – defeated repeatedly but resurrected over and over until it gets through.

So the EU tabled it again, but this time as an “urgent procedure”. Instead of the usual absolute majority (50% plus one of MEPs voting) required to pass or defeat it, this meant that blocking it required an absolute majority of all MEPs, whether or not they were present to vote.

Democracy bypassed

The proposal was again strongly rejected, by 314 votes to 276. However, many MEPs had already gone on holiday for the summer recess, or were otherwise unable to attend. This meant the opposition lacked the total required to defeat the proposal: 360 votes.

As a result, the ‘defeat’ didn’t count. The ‘majority of the total’ only applied in one direction – a vote to reject CC1. It wasn’t required in order for the measure to pass.

Fake ‘safeguard’

In order to con some MEPs into supporting the proposal or abstaining, the legislation was amended to exclude messages sent under supposed ‘end to end encryption’.

However, the EU council – dominated by government ministries to whom privacy is an unwanted inconvenience – is expected to remove the amendment before the legislation is enacted in its final form after the summer recess.

Assault on free expression

CC1 forms part of a wholesale assault by the EU – and the UK government – on freedom of speech, freedom of protest, and journalism they don’t like.

The EU has just passed a law making it a criminal offence to share any content – even entirely factual content – from Russian broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today), for example. But more than anything, CC1 is part of an assault on speech and protest defending the human rights of Palestinians and opposing Israel’s crimes.

The UK government has extended its anti-democratic war on protest by expanding the Terrorism Act to apply to any organisation the government decides to ‘designate’. The ‘designation’ makes it a criminal offence even to use information from a designated group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Again, truth is no defence – and journalists have no exemption. Instead, they can try to defend themselves – in court – against charges under the legislation by claiming they had a “reasonable excuse” for journalistic purposes. They will still have to bear the cost and expense of legal defence against prosecution.

Cui bono

All of these anti-democratic, anti-freedom measures are intended to have two main beneficiaries: Israel, first and foremost; and Ukraine, or at least the Ukraine war.

By invading private discussions, governments can more easily disrupt and criminalise attempts to organise protests, information campaigns and direct action. These efforts aim to raise public awareness of Israel’s crimes and the realities of Nazi-riddled Ukraine. State-corporate media will either ignore these, or actively cover them up, so independent journalism has to be silenced.

By combining an assault on private speech with a war on public speech and journalism, those in power hope to protect criminal states and their ‘wars’ – and the elites that benefit from, or act for, them.

The UK is no longer a functional democracy, if it ever was. The EU is clearly doing its best to rush down the same path.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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The Your Party executive committee (CEC) no-confidence vote exclusively revealed by Skwawkbox last week took place on Sunday.

The specially-arranged CEC meeting, to hold no-confidence votes in three key officials, was fraught and lasted almost three-and-a-half hours. Yet it ended without a clear conclusion, forcing members to ask party leaders to respect a clear majority vote that just failed to reach the required threshold.

The issue was a vote of no confidence in three figures blamed for the suspension of three well-known CEC members for attending a socialist conference. A number of members left the meeting rather than participate, but the no-confidence motion was supported by a clear majority of those who voted.

Your Party votes fails to reach supermajority

However, the tallies did not quite reach the two-thirds supermajority required to force the removal of the three officials. This has forced the CEC to ask leadership to respect the majority vote, which has rendered the CEC near-unworkable.

After a meeting in which efforts to put off the vote appealed to Jeremy Corbyn’s claimed wishes, CEC members don’t expect a decisive intervention. Your Party’s chaos continues, when the country is desperate for socialist clarity.

Featured image via Morning Star

By Skwawkbox

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(Stefan Rousseau / PA Images / Alamy)

3 min read29 min

London Labour MPs fighting to stop Heathrow expansion are privately hopeful that incoming prime minister Andy Burnham will cancel the project, with one saying they “wouldn’t put any money on runway three getting any further”.

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The MPs, who argue that a third runway at the UK’s largest airport would have unacceptable environmental impacts, told The House that they are reassured by comments made by Burnham on the subject in January last year. 

Speaking to Times Radio after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced government support for the scheme, the then-Greater Manchester mayor said that the project “diverts infrastructure investment away from the North and traps it in London and the South East”.

He added that it was “a model for an ever-overheating UK economy, rather than a more balanced, levelled-up economy, which is what we would argue for”.

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One London Labour MP said the remarks “have not passed us by” and that Burnham’s ascendancy brings “an opportunity for a change of conversation” about Heathrow expansion.

“It doesn’t make economic sense – it’s just a financially unviable scheme. I cannot see how it can meet our climate targets, but also I think it would be much better for regional growth [not to build it],” they said.

“If there’s going to be growth in air transport, it’s better to share that out with the regional airports, and I hope to get a good hearing on that from Andy.”

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Another London Labour MP said that if Heathrow expands: “Manchester Airport loses out, currently Birmingham Airport loses out even more and therefore the hinterlands, the economies of those regions around those airports… I wouldn’t put any money on runway three getting any further.”

But Steve Race, the Exeter MP who co-convenes the Labour Growth Group, believes the next PM should press ahead with the work started by Reeves.

“As long as we can do it within our carbon budget, as long as we’re forcing airlines and airports to get to [improved] sustainability as quickly as they possibly can, then I think connectivity, trade and infrastructure development is absolutely key to this economy,” he said.

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan remains resolutely opposed to the project, as he warns it would wipe out the improvements seen in London’s air quality over recent years.

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One well-connected source said that as much as Khan and Burnham “don’t particularly get on” with one another, the new PM will not want to “go to war” with London’s mayor “unnecessarily about something he doesn’t really care about”.

But Burnham, they added, may still “take a more economically minded view of this than people might first assume”.

Burnham could, for example, back a rival expansion proposal put forward by the hotel tycoon Surinder Arora. Unlike the airport’s own proposal, Arora’s plan would avoid the M25 motorway needing to be tunnelled under Heathrow, as it would mean building a shorter third runway on the airport’s existing footprint.

“That would be a compromise,” said the source. “Andy is pretty into compromises.”

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Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye has claimed that the UK “cannot realise its full economic potential without an expanded Heathrow”. The third runway, he added, “is privately funded by some of the largest investors in the world, widely supported by businesses, trade unions and communities across the country and it’s ready to go after years of scrutiny”.

A feature piece on Andy Burnham’s approach to UK infrastructure projects is now available to read in the print edition of The House magazine and will be published online on Thursday 16 July

 

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Fergie Chambers, a pro-Palestine donor, is facing US extradition over dubious ‘terrorism financing’ charges after he was arrested in Spain on Friday, the Grayzone reported.

Exclusive: Fergie Chambers facing US extradition over dubious ‘terrorism financing’ charges

The Grayzone has reviewed a sealed indictment for the pro-Palestine donor, who was arrested in Spain on questionable money laundering charges brought by Trump DOJhttps://t.co/x6Yqh6fuDT

— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) July 13, 2026

On July 10, six Spanish police vehicles surrounded Chambers’ car while he drove through Ibiza with his family, before detaining him, the Grayzone wrote.

Chambers’ detention marks the first time an individual has faced extradition to the US from Spain for supporting the Palestinian cause.

Vocalpolitics reported that Chambers was denied bail in an Ibiza court on Saturday and is expected to appeal for bail on Thursday.

Pro-Palestine activist and funder Fergie Chambers was detained by Spanish police on Friday as the Trump administration attempts to extradite him to the US on federal charges with a potential sentence of 30 years in prison, including “international money laundering… with the… pic.twitter.com/Kia8JOjZsh

— VPol (@VocalPolitics1) July 13, 2026

According to the Grayzone, Chambers is an heir to the Cox family fortune who sold his stake in Cox Enterprises in 2023 for an estimated $250 million. It goes on to say that Chambers has since donated more than $1 million to humanitarian projects supporting those impacted by the Gaza genocide, and pro-Palestine activist groups.

The sealed indictment offers no evidence he donated to “foreign terrorist organizations”, citing only transfers from US banks to Tunisia, where he relocated in late 2023, Grayzone added.

Palestine supporters being targeted sparks concerns

Journalist and author, Matt Kennard, said that everyone should pay attention to Chambers’ arrest as it signified Trump’s war on Palestinian solidarity going international.

Everyone should pay attention to this

Trump’s war on solidarity with Palestine is going international

Pro-Palestinian activist + funder Fergie Chambers has been arrested in Ibiza and faces extradition to US on trumped up charges

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Spain must resist ithttps://t.co/icHWH2JeUy

— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) July 13, 2026

Journalist Max Blumenthal said:

Chambers’ detention marks the first time anyone has faced extradition to the US from Spain for supporting the Palestinian cause. The sealed indictment conflates his bailing out of pro-Palestine direct action protesters with sponsoring Hamas. It screams political persecution.

Stella Schnabel, Chambers’ partner, is quoted in the Grayzone:

The Department of Justice is politically persecuting Fergie [Chambers] because he is using his wealth to support Palestine, and help people facing genocide in Gaza.

His crime is dedicating his life to building a better society, rather than exploiting people, extract wealth and profit from war.

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He should be home safe with our family and continuing his important humanitarian and social advocacy, not incarcerated in a foreign jail facing effective life imprisonment back in the US.

Test of Spain’s sovereignty

Progressive International’s Pawel Wargan said that Chambers’ arrest was an immensely dangerous precedent and an important test of Spain’s sovereignty. He supports blocking his extradition.

With Fergie Chambers’ arrest, the United States is now seeking to extradite anti-imperialist activists from third countries — an immensely dangerous precedent for the movement and an important test of Spanish sovereignty. The extradition must be blocked. https://t.co/pLauAdXuac

— Paweł Wargan (@pawelwargan) July 13, 2026

Vox Ummah said that the extradition request will test Spain’s policy regarding Palestine.

The extradition request will test Spain’s policy in regards to Palestine. The government has typically been vocal in defense of Palestinians, however moving forward with the extradition request would signal compliance with Washington’s anti-Palestinian policies.

— VoxUmmah (@VoxUmmah) July 13, 2026

Donald Trump has lashed out at Spain several times, calling it a “terrible partner in NATO”, as since March, Spain has not allowed the use of joint military bases on its territory for operations against Iran. It has also closed its airspace to US planes involved in the war.

The coming days will reveal whether Madrid bows to Washington’s pressure or stands by its principles.

Featured image via AIR MAIL

By The Canary

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Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has once again pushed back against the US military machine. He has made it clear to Trump and his backers that Spain will not allow another US president to drag the country into an illegal war in West Asia on the back of bogus claims.

This refers back to the illegal war on Iraq, which began on the basis that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. However, this ‘justification’ for the mass murder of Iraqis was debunked and revealed for the manipulative misinformation it was.

Whilst many haven’t learned and continue to parrot lines from bad actors in power, Spain has, with Sánchez telling Trump:

Twenty-three years ago, the U.S. dragged us into Iraq over claims of weapons of mass destruction. None were found. You cannot fool us twice.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to Donald Trump:

"Twenty-three years ago, the U.S. dragged us into Iraq over claims of weapons of mass destruction. None were found. You cannot fool us twice." pic.twitter.com/tLk6SRIgCq

— Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinkle) July 11, 2026

When will other Western leaders learn?

Spain, it appears, has learned from the mistakes of the past. It has consistently opposed both the genocide on Gaza and the current illegal war on Iran.

However, our own leaders are still far too slow – or reluctant – to take any decisive action to stop the world careening into another world war. Equally, they seem unperturbed – meaningless rhetoric aside – by the mass slaughter of Arab men, women and children. Theyhave afforded Israel absolute impunity.

Starmer and co. have said they oppose the war on Iran waged by the petty, childish and egotistical US President, but their words have not been followed by actions. The defence budget has still increased following Trump’s orders, and they still allow the US to use its bases for ‘defensive’ purposes.

Instead of defending international law and calling for true diplomacy, the British government are budgeting huge sums to go directly into the hands of Western arms companies (war lords), who only care about their profits. And there is a hell of a lot of profit to make in war for those who supply the means to obliterate other people.

Sánchez, by contrast, recently spoke about Spain being a “peaceful and pacifist country”, vowing to “put an end to all wars”:

A pesar de la distancia geográfica, España está siempre con sus aliados.

Somos un país pacífico y pacifista. Y un aliado fiable.

El objetivo último de todas nuestras acciones debe ser acabar con todas las guerras. pic.twitter.com/NBTkIuoEOq

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 8, 2026

War mongers want to have their cake and eat it too

The Canary‘s Joe Glenton has written extensively about the military machine and the illegal war on Iraq. Glenton is a former soldier who refused to return to duty in Afghanistan as he rightfully believed the aggression was illegal under international law.

Recognising how these wars only benefit the billionaire-owned arms and fossil fuel companies, Glenton has played a big role in trying to get the British people to open their eyes to the manipulation pushed by Western leaders to justify more endless wars in West Asia.

Glenton wrote of the disingenuous Royal British Legion (RBL) and its incestuous relationship with global arms firms back in February:

Since the ousting of the pre-2003 government, Iraq has become a lucrative cash cow for certain players, including global arms firms – what I prefer to call Big Death. Welcome to the military charity-industrial complex.

What makes the Iraq event and comments from the Royal British Legion striking is that both the legion and the National Arboretum proudly state their connections to the global killing business.

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BAE Systems is a major partner of the RBL – to the tune of £400,000. The Arboretum’s website names Amey, Key Systems, Briggs Equipment and Jaguar Land Rover among its partners and supporters. All of these firms make profit from war and global instability.

The press and RBL did not even attempt to reflect these galling truths in their coverage of the event.

Those billionaires fuel fear and spread lies about countries that refuse to follow US orders or possess resources they want to get their grubby hands on.

Therefore, it becomes pretty clear that doing the bidding of arms companies – and the politicians in bed with them – hurts ordinary people, drains our pockets, and enriches only the billionaires at the top.

Britain faces a national security crisis within just a few years due to the impending collapse of global ecosystems, spy chiefs have warned, but the government is refusing to publish their report in full.

A redacted 14-page document warns of severe food shortages, which could… pic.twitter.com/Iia7CxE73k

— Novara Media (@novaramedia) July 13, 2026

A futile situation for the many whilst the few sit pretty

Meanwhile, there is a very real crisis coming towards us as a result of the breakdown of global ecosystems, which we always seem to fail to invest in, instead saying there just simply isn’t the funds.

This was called out recently by Labour MP Chris Hinchliff, who highlighted the blatant hypocrisy and failure to prioritise action on the climate emergency. As reported by Novara Media:

The government can summon billions of pounds for new military hardware when the defence sector calls for it. We need an equally decisive mobilisation of investment to restore the natural world on which we rely for our food, water and clean air.

Without these essentials our country has no future.

Every critical ecosystem across our planet is on a pathway to collapse with an irreversible loss of function, and this poses huge threats to our national security. This looming crisis demands urgent action.

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Funnily enough, many of the same billionaires and hedge funds pouring money into arms companies also hold major investments in the fossil fuel industry.

That overlap creates a dangerous conflict of interest. It drives the world ever closer to the brink and forces billions of people to bear the consequences of climate breakdown and social collapse.

As the world burns, whether from bombs or extreme weather, the super-rich retreat to their private islands on private jets, shelter in air-conditioned luxury, and watch.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon

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