Politics
Starmer can’t keep cowering behind international law
German chancellor Friedrich Merz went off script on Sunday, when he bluntly stated that Berlin would not be governed by international law when considering its response to the war in Iran. Merz said: ‘International-law classifications will have little effect on [the war] – especially if they remain largely without consequence.’ He even noted that, with respect to the Iranian regime, ‘extensive packages of sanctions have had little effect over the years and decades’.
His conversion has been swift. It was only in January that Merz, addressing EU lawmakers, said that Europe had been able to experience ‘something of the joy of self-respect’ in defending the international rules-based order, notably against US president Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.
Here in the UK, however, the Labour government remains stuck in the legalistic bind that Merz has decided to break free of. Prime minister Keir Starmer, responding to Trump’s criticisms over Britain’s stance on Iran, said on Tuesday that he ‘will not commit our military personnel to unlawful action’. Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, appeared on the BBC yesterday to discuss the government’s position on the US and Israeli strikes. He said that there was no ‘legal basis’ for the UK becoming involved. Labour MPs have echoed this line. Emily Thornberry called the strikes ‘ill-advised and illegal’, which made it sound like she was discussing a tax-dodging scheme rather than a major world conflict.
It has now become de rigueur to call Starmer out for his legal cretinism. A writer for the Sun called him a ‘timid lawyer who is more attached to the enforcement of globalist judicial codes than the protection of our civilisation’. Writing in the Telegraph, Oxford theology professor Nigel Biggar said Starmer’s ‘blind obedience to international law’ has been a ‘boon to the world’s monsters’.
This criticism is understandable. Prioritising international law over the national interest has been a defining feature of Starmer’s government, long before the strikes on Iran. It is, arguably, the only feature of his government. This obsession was starkly illustrated by his decision to gift the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a decision which appears to have been determined by a non-binding ruling of the International Court of Justice in 2019. In the words of Starmer’s attorney general, close friend and fellow international lawyer, Lord Hermer, the Chagos deal represented Labour’s promise to put international law at ‘the heart’ of its foreign policy. To everyone else, Starmer was relinquishing a vital strategic asset to a suspect country, while paying tens of billions of pounds for the pleasure.
However, reading the recent criticism, you might think that Starmer is unusual in his deference to international law as a substitute for political judgment. That would be a mistake. Only on Saturday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called on ‘all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law’. French president Emmanuel Macron agreed. He said he ‘cannot approve’ of the American-Israeli strikes because they were ‘outside of international law’.
Appeals to international law have long been the default response of European leaders to international conflict, most recently following the invasion of Ukraine and, prior to that, military action in Syria. Merz now claiming that international law ‘should not protect Iran’ marks a departure for Germany, but it is so far an exception to the rule.
The truth is that the application of international law is, and always has been, political. International lawyer Natasha Hausdorff has defended the strikes on the basis that they are lawful, given that Iran and Israel have been in ‘armed conflict’ for decades. Others argue that the strikes were ‘unlawful’ because Iran did not pose the kind of immediate threat that would have justified pre-emptive military action. The supposed legality of military action is always shaped by political interests and differing interpretations of the conflict in question. This is what blind appeals to international law from European leaders always miss, whether from Starmer or others across the continent.
Starmer is a legalist. His appeals to international law show he has little clue how to govern in the national interest. But he is hardly alone in this regard. For too long, the invocation of ‘international law’ has masked the kind of empty foreign policy favoured by Europe’s leaders.
Merz’s Damascene conversion will mean little unless it encourages other European governments to act decisively in defence of their own interests. Keir Starmer is unlikely to be the only technocrat in Europe unfit for that task.
Luke Gittos is a spiked columnist and author. His most recent book is Human Rights – Illusory Freedom: Why We Should Repeal the Human Rights Act, which is published by Zero Books. Order it here.
Politics
Labour MP’s husband arrested on suspicion of spying for China
On Wednesday 4 March, Metropolitan Police officers arrested three men on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Their charge is contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act 2023. Sky News have reported that officers arrested a 39-year-old man in London, a 68-year-old man in Powys, Wales, and a 43-year-old man in Pontyclun, Wales. They are all now being held in custody for the alleged offences. Of particular concern, one of those arrested is David Taylor, husband of Labour MP Joani Reid.
Since, Joani Reid has made a public statement on her husband’s arrest and requests privacy for the sake of her and her children.
“I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law.”
East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Joani Reid has released a statement following the arrest of 3 men on suspicion of spying for China 👇 pic.twitter.com/lILYJwiVn7— LBC News Scotland (@LBCNewsScot) March 4, 2026
Reid’s statement in full:
“I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law.
I am not part of my husband’s business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation, and we should not be treated by media organisations as though we are. Above all I expect media organisations to respect my children’s privacy.”
The East Kilbride and Strathaven MP said: “I have never been to China. I have never spoken on China or China related matters in the Commons. I have never asked a question on China-related matters.
“As far as I am aware I have never met any Chinese business whilst I have been an MP, any Chinese diplomats or government employees, nor raised any concern with ministers or anyone else on behalf of, even coincidentally, Chinese interests.
“I am a social democrat who believes in freedom of expression, free trade unions and free elections. I am not any sort of admirer or apologist for the Chinese Communist party’s dictatorship.”
Labour — ‘Assisting a foreign intelligence service’
Reid’s husband, Taylor, is listed on the MP’s register of interests as the director of the lobbying firm Earthcott Limited. According to Sky News:
The investigation relates to China, police said, adding that the arrests were supported by the Welsh and Scottish branches of Counter Terrorism Policing.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “Today’s arrests are part of a proactive investigation and while these are serious matters, we do not believe there to be any imminent or direct threat to the public relating to this.
This has prompted calls from the Liberal Democrats to review the UK governments controversial decision to approve China’s ‘mega embassy’ in the heart of London. Lisa Smart, their Cabinet Office spokeswoman said:
How many times must we all come to this House to hear a report of further rounds of arrests under counter terrorism legislation for this government to take this action?
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said he understood the Liberal Democrats’ concerns. Nevertheless, he tried to reassure them that the government had based its decision regarding China’s embassy on strong national security grounds. Meanwhile, Father of the House and Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh argued that the government should pause the embassy plans until China “learns to behave.” He also called on the British government to summon the Chinese ambassador.
Notably, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle appears to have confirmed that the MP’s husband did not have a pass to access the parliamentary estate. This reassurance came after a question about privileged access came from Tory Ben Obese-Jecty.
Tory MP Greggory Stafford has also insisted on the release of all correspondence relating to China that the Labour MP was privy to. Stafford suggested the MP “sits on a select committee that would have information which is sensitive, maybe even secret”. They also raised concerns that they may have visited defence sites across the UK:
Has there been and will there be an urgent review of what sensitive information that Member of Parliament might have been party to?
And, at the appropriate juncture, would he release any correspondence between his department and that Member of Parliament around things like the Chinese embassy and other matters related to China?
Review into foreign financial interference
Philip Rycroft is currently leading a review into foreign financial interference in the UK’s political and electoral systems. Security minister Jarvis reassured MP’s that Rycroft is independent to the government and will undoubtedly reflect on the events today to inform his review further.
The review itself, of course, is being conducted independently by Philip Rycroft.
He will report by the end of this month which means – and of course, it is independent – that is absolutely time and space for him to reflect on any events that have taken place recently.
Adding that the review:
will inform government policy, not least in terms of cracking down on some of the foreign money – all of the foreign money – that should not be.
If confirmed, this is a serious national security concern. The arrest of David Taylor, partner of Joani Reid, over suspected spying for China could raise major questions about foreign influence and political security. pic.twitter.com/Qn3nBZpyMb
— Diggy (@Digvija73188705) March 4, 2026
Featured image via twitter
Politics
Israel and US spent years hacking Iran to assassinate Khamenei
Israel deployed a massive array of cyber warfare technology to kill Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei. The genocidal settler state prepared for years, hacking and penetrating Iranian systems ahead of its assault on the country.
The US and Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.
An investigation by the Financial Times explains the staggering power and reach of the technology involved. A caveat: anything unnamed intelligence sources willingly tell the press must be taken with extreme caution.
The spooks hacked traffic cameras:
Nearly all the traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked for years, their images encrypted and transmitted to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Once information was gathered:
Complex algorithms added details to dossiers on members of these security guards that included their addresses, hours of duty, routes they took to work and, most importantly, who they were usually assigned to protect and transport — building what intelligence officers call a “pattern of life”.
The years-long operation allowed Mossad and the CIA:
to determine exactly what time 86-year-old Khamenei would be in his offices this fateful Saturday morning and who would be joining him.
Mobile phone towers
Spies took over mobile phone towers. The (presumably Israeli) sources said they were:
able to disrupt single components of roughly a dozen or so mobile phone towers near Pasteur Street, making the phones seem as if they were busy when called and stopping Khamenei’s protection detail from receiving possible warnings.
One bragged:
we knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem.
And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place.
Israel’s signals intelligence outfit, Unit 8200 were central to the operation:
Israel used a mathematical method known as social network analysis to parse billions of data points to unearth unlikely centres of decision-making gravity and identify fresh targets to surveil and kill, said a person familiar with its use. All this fed an assembly line with a single product: targets.
You can read some of our reporting on this shadowy unit here.
Israel and the US attacked first
The reporting highlighted how Israel and the US were the aggressors in the rapidly expanding war. One section explains:
When the CIA and Israel determined that Khamenei would be holding a meeting on Saturday morning [28 February] at his offices near Pasteur Street, the chance to kill him alongside so much of Iran’s senior leadership was especially opportune.
The report continues:
They assessed that hunting them down after a war had properly begun would have been much harder, since the Iranians would quickly embark on evasive practices, including heading underground to bunkers immune to Israeli bombs.
On 2 March defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who believes Jesus wants him to attack Iran, bizarrely claimed:
We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.
Notwithstanding the fact that claim is chronologically false, the Financial Times reports shows that the attack was the result of a “years”-long process. The US and Israel wanted a regional war. Now they have one. And they seem to have no plan for what to do next.
Featured image via Aljazeera
Politics
Mahmood Slams Zack Polanskis Immigration Policies
Shabana Mahmood will accuse Zack Polanksi of pursuing a “fairytale of open borders” as she unveils her controversial crackdown on immigration.
The home secretary will say the Green Party leader wants to introduce “the most expensive and expansive migration policies anywhere in the world” if he becomes prime minister.
Mahmood will also take on left-wing Labour MPs who wanted her to water down her plans to make it harder for immigrants to stay in the UK in the wake of the party’s humiliation in last week’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
Labour, which had held the seat with a majority of nearly 13,500 majority, came in third place as the Greens’ Hannah Spencer pulled off a historic victory.
Mahmood will insist that “restoring order and control at our border is not a betrayal of Labour values, it is an embodiment of them” and say it is the only way to halt the rise of the far-right.
Asylum seekers who break the law or work illegally will be thrown out of taxpayer-funded accommodation and lose their benefits, the home secretary will announce as part of her package of reforms.
They will also have their refugee status reviewed every 30 months in an effort to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants.
In a major speech, she will say: “Some say that we should turn to the path proposed by the Greens. That we should create a world without borders, that nation states are social constructs and patriotism is a dirty word.
“To some, this might seem like harmless student politics. But the danger and the possible damage is real. A party leader who seeks the highest office in the land should not be on the beaches of France helping migrants onto small boats encouraging them to make a perilous crossing.
“Creating further incentives to come to this country illegally, increasing the already vast burden placed on taxpayers in this country. Polanski calls for the most expensive and expansive migration policies anywhere in the world.”
Cracking down on small boat crossings will put Labour on the side of ordinary voters, the home secretary will say.
“When people see small boat arrivals, at their current scale or they feel the pace and scale of migration today, they feel like we have lost control,” she will say.
“A loss of control breeds fear and when fearful, people turn inwards. Their vision of this country narrows. Their patriotism turns into something smaller, something darker, an ethno-nationalism emerges.
“The idea of a greater Britain gives way to the lure of a littler England. And other voices – voices to the far right – take hold.”
Addressing criticism that she had gone too far in her desire to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants, Mahmood will say her reforms will offer “a compassionate but controlled asylum system”.
“Providing sanctuary to those genuinely fleeing persecution while striking at the vile smuggling gangs and restoring order at the border,” she will say. “Ensuring the right to live in this country forever is there, for those who seek a better life which comes with responsibilities to contribute to our national life.”
Politics
NATO intercepts Iranian missile heading for Turkish airspace
The Turkish Ministry of National Defence says NATO air defences intercepted an Iranian missile heading for its airspace.
The missile passed over Iraq and Syria before NATO defences intercepted it.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence said:
A ballistic munition launched from Iran, which was detected passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace and heading towards Turkish airspace, was engaged in a timely manner by NATO air and missile defence assets stationed in the eastern Mediterranean and rendered inactive.
It also added that there were no casualties or injuries. However, it reserves the right to:
respond to any hostile actions against it while warning parties to refrain from escalating the conflict.
Iran has been targeting US air bases across the Middle East, along with RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus — a UK military base.
In Turkiye, both US forces and NATO allies use Incirlik Air Base. It is under the control of the Turkish air force but operates as a joint Turkish-US airbase.
Incirlik base is located in an area neighbouring Hatay province, where Turkish authorities said debris from the intercepting NATO missile had fallen.
During US-led operations in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, Incirlik was a critical logistics and air support location.
When the US and UK invaded Iraq in 2003, Turkiye denied them the use of Incirlik. However, they used it for anti-ISIS strikes from 2014.
So far, Turkish officials have not mentioned NATO Article 4. It states that NATO allies will:
consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of a member is threatened.
Since NATO’s creation in 1949, it has invoked Article 4 nine times.
Israel’s next target a NATO member?
Previously, Naftali Bennett, former Prime Minister of Israel, said that once Israel is finished with Iran, it will be targeting Turkiye.
Given that Turkiye is a NATO member, it will be interesting to see if any Western leaders finally grow a backbone when it’s one of their own.
He also claimed that:
A new Turkish threat is emerging… And from here I warn: Turkey is the new Iran. Erdogan is sophisticated, dangerous, and he seeks to encircle Israel.
Already, Israel is lining up its next victim, while it’s still carpet bombing Gaza, Iran and Lebanon.
And there you have it. Israel is not yet finished in its attempt to subjugate Iran, but without missing a beat, it is already marketing the next “threat” that must be defeated: Turkey.
“A new Turkish threat is emerging… And from here I warn: Turkey is the new Iran. Erdogan is… pic.twitter.com/KyWbu9p5mY
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) February 24, 2026
Since the interception, an anonymous Turkish official has claimed that the missile was aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus. However, it “veered off course”.
A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been “aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course”. https://t.co/Q7rj2j3OSB
— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) March 4, 2026
Israel will not stop — it has proven that to the world time and time again. Will NATO finally care when Israel bombs a country with more of a white population? Or will its members still turn the other way and keep funding Israel’s defence and military aid, while it carpet bombs black and brown people in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, and let’s face it — anywhere else Israel decides it wants to invade?
Feature image via Times Of India/YouTube
Politics
Benedict’s Law: Schools To Stock Allergy Pens And Train Staff
The parents of a five-year-old boy who died after accidentally being exposed to an allergen at school have welcomed the government’s new allergy plans for schools.
On 1 December 2021, Benedict Blythe went to school, as normal, yet a few hours later, his dad Peter received a call to say he’d been sick. When he arrived to pick up his son, it became clear he was seriously unwell.
Peter began CPR until an ambulance arrived. Sadly, despite medical help, Benedict was pronounced dead in hospital just after lunchtime.
An inquest into his death determined the five-year-old died from an accidental exposure to cow’s milk protein, which triggered fatal anaphylaxis.
His parents, Helen and Peter, have been fiercely campaigning for safety changes in schools ever since.
The couple have worked with clinicians, coroners, charities and parliamentarians to highlight gaps in allergy safety in schools and push for national protections so no other family suffers a similar fate.
And now it seems ‘Benedict’s Law’ is set to make real change.
The government has shared that under new statutory guidance, schools will have to stock life-saving adrenaline auto-injector pens, teachers will undergo compulsory allergy awareness training, and every school will need to have a dedicated allergy policy.
The guidance is currently open for consultation and will come into force in September 2026.
Helen and Peter said: “We are grateful that the government has listened to us, and that as a result a new generation of children with allergies will, from September, enter a school system far safer for them.
“Our son Benedict died aged just five years old, from an allergic reaction in school that was not only preventable but treatable.”
They added that if Benedict’s Law had been in place when their son joined his school, “he may still be alive”.

Food allergy affects around 7-8% of children worldwide, equivalent to roughly two pupils in every classroom. What’s more, roughly 30% of allergic reactions in schools occur in children previously undiagnosed with an allergy.
Yet research commissioned by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, which the family set up in their son’s name, revealed that one in three schools did not have an allergy policy and almost half did not hold spare life-saving medication.
“As a family, leading the campaign for allergy safety in schools has been about remembering our son,” Helen and Peter continued.
“He was a kind, clever boy who cared about helping others – so knowing that for the first time schools will be expected to protect children with allergies like him from harm feels like a fitting legacy for Benedict.”
The Benedict Blythe Foundation caveated that while guidance sets expectations, it does not create an enforceable legal duty or guarantee consistent implementation across every school.
Olivia Bailey, minister for Early Education, said: “No parent should have to send their child to school worried that a life-threatening allergic reaction won’t be handled swiftly.
“We have listened to the families and organisations who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue, and we are acting.
“These new requirements will give parents the confidence that every school has the training, the plans and the equipment in place to keep their child safe.”
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE, whose daughter Natasha died aged 15 from an allergic reaction, said she is “deeply grateful” that the government is taking action to keep children with food allergies safe at school.
Politics
Labour Chairs Warns Party It Must Tackle Immigration “In A Way That Stays True To Our Values”

Keir Starmer (left), Mayor of the North East Kim McGuinness (centre) and chair of the Labour Party Anna Turley (right), September 2025 (PA Images / Alamy Live News)
3 min read
Exclusive: Labour chair Anna Turley has privately warned her party that it must tackle immigration – but only “in a way that stays true to our values”.
In the wake of a devastating by-election defeat in Gorton and Denton, where Labour was pushed into third place in a historically safe seat, Turley addressed a meeting of socialist society executives over Zoom on Wednesday evening.
The Labour Party chair and MP for Redcar told the private online meeting of party-affiliated groups that “we have a big fight on our hands” ahead of the May elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
As Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood implements major reforms to the UK asylum system, Turley appeared to warn that Labour should not shift too far to the right on immigration.
First, she advised Labour to “find the right language to drive a wedge between the extreme nature of the Greens while also bringing back progressive voters”.
She continued: “Just as on the right we have a responsibility to pull back constituents who have understandable concerns about boats and asylum hotels. We have to address that in a way that stays true to our values on immigration.
“We also have to drive a wedge between ordinary voters with understandable concerns and the extreme, racist, divisive rhetoric of Reform, and the threat they pose to our country and our communities.”
Turley also appeared to criticise Labour’s offer to small businesses. She pointed out that while the government has provided “some extra relief for pubs” – which are receiving a 15 per cent cut to new business rates bills from April – those businesses are still facing “huge challenges” due to National Insurance increases.
She continued: “Minimum wage rises are important, but I now have hairdressers and other small businesses saying to me: you’ve helped the pubs, what about us?”
On the call, the Labour chair urged members and MPs to “think self-critically” about the Manchester by-election result, which saw Labour fall behind both the Green Party and Reform UK.
She explained that, in the lead up to polling day on 26 February, Labour estimated it was “marginally ahead on postal votes” and the outcome would be “very close” – but in the final few days “things seemed to break away from us and we need to understand why”.
Turley told the meeting: “Interestingly, our promise rate was holding up and it felt that way on the doors. But we need to understand the quality of that data. Were people being too polite to us? Were we reaching everyone in a household we wanted to reach? Were we taking away what we wanted to hear from conversations?”
The Labour chair went on to argue that there are now “lots of questions and challenges” about the impact that polling and “so-called independent bodies telling people about tactical voting” had on the Gorton and Denton result.
Tactical voting websites StopReformUK.Vote and Tactical.Vote recommended to voters that the best way to stop Reform in the by-election was to vote for the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer. She went on to win the seat with a majority of just over 4,400.
Labour was itself accused by the Greens of “desperation” when it distributed a leaflet apparently featuring a “fictitious” tactical voting company, Tactical Choice, which recommended a vote for Labour.
A source at the meeting told PoliticsHome: “People listening to that call would’ve been stunned. The leadership seem completely detached from what actually happened in the by-election. They’re treating this like a messaging problem when it’s a political one. They deserve a kicking.”
Anna Turley was approached for comment.
Politics
Talarico Triumphs In Texas
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Politics
Texas Latinos turned out in massive numbers for Democrats
Latino voters flocked to Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Texas in droves, reversing a long-running erosion for the party ahead of this year’s pivotal midterms.
The numbers were dramatic: In five different rural majority-Latino counties, more votes were cast in Tuesday’s Democratic primary than for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“These very Hispanic counties are amongst the swingiest in the country, and they’re really telling us something,” said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump GOP strategist who wrote a book about Latino voters.
The results provide some much-needed hope for Democrats that they can compete not only in Texas as they have long dreamed, but in Latino districts across the country that could determine control of the House in November. Few groups of voters have vexed Democrats in recent cycles as much as Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley.
On Tuesday, the party started to seem like it had a way back.
The turnout surge among Hispanic and Latino voters helped power state Rep. James Talarico’s Senate primary victory over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, setting him up for a general election that has ignited Democrats’ fever dream of finally flipping Texas. In counties that are majority-Latino, Talarico won by roughly 22 points, according to preliminary results, compared to a roughly 3-point margin of victory over Crockett in the rest of the state.
It’s the latest sign that Latino voters who helped President Donald Trump return to the White House are not inherently sticking with Republicans. Democratic candidates put up strong numbers in predominantly Latino areas in gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey last November, as well as a smattering of special elections, including a state senate race in Fort Worth just last month.
But the results are especially significant because South Texas had long been an early warning sign of Democrats’ problems with Latino voters. While Latino voters swung sharply towards Trump in 2024, the party had been losing ground in the Rio Grande Valley dating back several election cycles.
A number of Rio Grande valley counties swung away from Democrats in 2020, and kept swinging right in 2024: In Zapata County, for instance, where 94 percent of the population is Hispanic, Trump won just 33 percent of the vote in 2016, but took 53 percent in 2020 and 61 percent in 2024.
On Tuesday, it was among the five counties where more voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary than voted for Harris in 2024, along with Kenedy, Jim Hogg, Reeves and Dimmit. Talarico won 55 percent of the vote across those five counties.
Republicans leaned heavily into their recent gains with Latinos as they redrew congressional maps in their favor last year, with several majority-Latino districts among those they are hoping to flip.
But some of those flips now look a lot less certain. In the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, which stretches from San Antonio to Austin and is majority Latino, Democrats’ four-way primary drew 7,500 more voters than Republicans’ three-way contest. Both primaries are headed to a runoff in the district that Trump won by 10 points in 2024.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose district was also redrawn to be more friendly for Republicans and who faces a tough election in November even after he was pardoned by Trump in December, said Tuesday’s results were evidence that Republicans’ gains in Texas in 2024 were “not a political realignment.”
Latino voters are angry with Republicans, he said, over continued high prices and Trump’s tariffs, along with ongoing immigration enforcement that has gone beyond what voters are comfortable with.
“If ICE would have just stuck on deporting criminals, people would have been OK with that, they would have been supportive,” Cuellar said. “But the moment they started going into work sites and going after criminal records — down here in South Texas, everybody knows somebody who has been here for a while — so that has turned Hispanics against Republicans.”
Madrid, the GOP strategist, argues Latino voters have always been more of a swing group than many people recognized. With Trump in office and high prices persisting, that creates openings for Democrats, both in Texas and across the country.
“It began literally, with Liberation Day, with the tariffs,” said Madrid, the GOP strategist. “When Trump announced those, you could see Trump’s numbers dropping with Latinos precipitously.”
Democrats’ best-case scenario in Texas would mean Cuellar and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) both hold their districts despite the effects of redistricting, with the party flipping the nearby 15th District, where Tejano singer Bobby Pulido won a primary to face Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, as well as the open 35th district. In that case, Republicans’ might pick up only one seat in the state despite their aggressive gerrymander.
And while national Democrats have not identified Texas as necessary to take back the Senate, there is still hope that Talarico could become the first Democrat to win statewide in Texas in more than three decades.
Talarico’s performance with Latino voters was notable not only because of his party’s recent struggles, but also because the last Democrat to come close in a Senate race in Texas — Beto O’Rourke in 2018 — faltered with Latino voters. O’Rourke lost dozens of predominantly Latino counties in the primary, and comparatively lower turnout among Latino voters in the general election hurt his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, which he lost by less than three points. O’Rourke’s struggles in the region presaged what was to come for Democrats in the Rio Grande Valley.
Talarico has campaigned hard in the region.
“Talarico’s faith-based messaging probably resonated really well, especially in a community that is heavily driven by faith,” said Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
Scudder described Tuesday’s result as a “good first step” in retreading inroads with the community ahead of November, but said the party had to “double down” on their efforts to engage. But local Democrats, scarred by recent elections, aren’t taking a victory lap.
“It’s not the party that’s driving people to the polls. It’s the horrendous behaviors of the man in the White House and his cronies. That’s what’s driving people to the polls,” said Sylvia Bruni, chair of South Texas’ Webb County Democratic Party.
Democrats, she acknowledged, have a “prime opportunity” to win back the community against a “backdrop of abuse that our people are experiencing full force.” But she said the party still hasn’t done enough to directly engage with voters in remote, expansive counties like hers, which includes Laredo.
“I’d be the first to say to my party, you would need to do a hell of a lot more for us,” she said.
How much ground Democrats can make up in Texas may also depend on who they are facing. In the Republican primary, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) did a few points better in Latino areas than he did in the rest of the state, suggesting he might be the stronger general election candidate with Latino voters if he can survive a runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He’s run well in Latino areas of the state in the past.
“John Cornyn has been the senator for quite a while, and there’s a familiarity with South Texans,” said Daniel Garza, a Texas-based Republican strategist and president of the conservative Libre Initiative. “He’s like somebody who’s trusted, who has a lot of credibility, and who’s familiar, right? And so people are comfortable with him in that position. Paxton, not so much.”
Politics
Pete Newbon ‘s widow says he lied to her about attacking Rosen
Pete Newbon was a Northumbria University lecturer and a director of notorious right-wing, pro-Israel smear group ‘Labour against Antisemitism’ (LAAS). During Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, Newbon became infamous after he posted an image of Corbyn reading to children that had been doctored to make it appear that he was reading an infamous antisemitic text, instead of popular Jewish author Michael Rosen’s ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ children’s book.
Notoriously, Pete Newbon tried to sue Rosen for describing Newbon’s posting of the doctored image as an antisemitic thing to do. Newbon in turn, was sued — along with two associates — by James Wilson for endangering Wilson and his family by falsely portraying him as a danger to children. Wilson ultimately won hefty damages in his lawsuit
Newbon died by suicide before either case concluded. His right-wing supporters have since attempted to make him into some kind of Zionist ‘saint’, naming an ‘award’ after him — won since by some of the most appalling figures in the Israel smear industry — and trying to blame his death on left-wingers who were outraged by his abuse of Rosen’s text. Those same supporters targeted Rosen himself particularly, despite a coroner’s inquest that never mentioned him once.
In 2024, Skwawkbox revealed that an ‘award’ set up by his supporters to honour Newbon accidentally exposed his record as a serial troll who was on a final warning from Northumbria University because of his appalling online activity. Newbon’s widow Rachel Hewitt then further holed his reputation, writing first that Newbon had been ‘secretly pursuing’ court cases that put their family at risk. She later wrote how he had abused her and that she had felt her children were at risk if left alone with him.
Pete Newbon exposed in new short video
Now, Hewitt has published a short but moving and compelling video that further exposes what Newbon was like — and again it blows apart the false narrative that the UK Israel lobby has tried to build around him.
The 66-second video consists of fragments of thought and memory of her experience before and after Newbon’s death. Hewitt’s voice is heard in fragments that, though broken, make it clear that Newbon lied to her. Lied that he had dropped his vindictive and unfounded case against Rosen, lied about leaving LAAS, appears to have lied about or refused treatment for his mental health — and lied about leaving Twitter, where he caused so much harm to himself and others.
The video is reproduced below with subtitles, to aid comprehension for those less familiar or with hearing difficulties. The original is available to view here.
LAAS and its main actors have continued to target Michael Rosen for being a Jew who opposes Israel’s genocide and apartheid. Some have also been found to have smeared their other victim, James Wilson — and to have discussed their attempts to use ‘lawfare’ to extract large amounts of money from him and to “bring him down” for supporting former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Now Pete Newbon — the LAAS archetype — has been further exposed. He tried to destroy people on Twitter with libels and false accusations, but when two of his victims pushed back, he lied to his wife about his actions and their consequences. Yet the Israel lobby and its ‘usual suspects’ treat him as a martyr and hero ‘soldier.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Hunt sabs expose ‘ritual killing’ by Tiverton Staghounds
TRIGGER WARNING – Graphic content
The Hunt Saboteur Association (HSA) has exposed the Tiverton Staghounds as a cult of ritualistic killers. Over several months in autumn 2025, undercover sabs went undercover once more and witnessed the hunting and butchery of mature stags. Hunters chased these stunning creatures to exhaustion before ritually carving them up in our national parks. Yes, you read that right, our national parks.
Trail hunting is a myth
The Tiverton Staghounds is one of just three remaining registered stag hunting packs left in the UK. They operate primarily in the valleys of the Exe and Taw and have roots that twist all the way back to the 19th century. They remain a pillar of the West Country’s hunting elite to this day. Whilst the hunt claims to provide a service to the countryside, the reality is they have a long legacy of illegal violence.
The Tiverton Staghounds claim to engage in ‘trail hunting.’ Yet evidence collected by sabs suggests this is a coordinated lie. The HSA witnessed a large vehicle with the obligatory ‘Trail Layer’ signage driving ahead of the hounds. Exhaust fumes destroy any potential scent trail, yet the hunt still use this excuse to maintain legal cover. This is nothing but a cynical and very obvious attempt to provide a legal shield against prosecution.

In reality, sabs witnessed the hunt dragging one of these ‘trails’ along the line a hunted stag had already taken. This disgusting tactic, advised in the infamous ‘Hunting Office’ webinars, allows hunt supporters to film the dogs apparently following a legal scent. This is nothing but an orchestrated performance designed to evade police scrutiny whilst stags are pursued to their deaths.
The HSA investigation revealed that these hunters switch between multiple exemptions per day. Huntsman cycle between ‘trail hunting,’ ‘researching,’ and ‘flushing to gun.’ This allows them to stay one step ahead of a law that is no longer fit for purpose.
Hunt sabs — Ritualistic butchery leaves us open to biosecurity risks
The level of depravity that sabs report having witnessed is fucking staggering and perverse. On Wednesday 8 October 2025, in Bishops Tawton, a mature stag was hunted so viciously its legs gave way to exhaustion. Once dead, the hunt’s lackeys cut off its feet (known as ‘slots’) ready for them to be handed out as sick trophies. Tell me again how this is ‘wildlife management’ and not fucking trophy hunting?
Hunters then performed what sabs described as ‘satanic rites,’ and this is nothing short of inhuman. They sliced open the stag’s abdomen to allow the hounds to feast on the intestines directly from the carcass. Not only is this vile, with it happening on open grazing land, they are creating a massive biosecurity risk.

Raw biological matter left in fields where livestock graze exposes our wildlife to bovine tuberculosis. The hunting community often claim to be the guardians of the countryside, yet they’re actively spreading dangerous disease through these vile, archaic rituals.
No refuge for any wildlife
Even designated nature reserves offer no sanctuary from the Tiverton Staghounds. Sabs caught this uncaring hunt operating on Devon Wildlife Trust land. This area is supposed to be a safe haven for all wildlife, yet sabs have seen the hunt’s supporters scream to drive a young stag away from safety and into the jaws of the hounds.
This ‘turning’ of this stunning creature ensured he could find no refuge. He was chased for miles before being downed at Nomansland. The fact that these mounted pricks on horseback feel entitled to invade our conservation lands shows just how above the law they believe they are.

On another visit, sabs saw a mature stag killed in Cadleigh. After an agonising chase, the hunters dragged the animal by the antlers and hung him off the back of a quadbike. One final indignity for a creature murdered in cold blood.
Hunt sabs — Witness the end of hunting
The HSA has made it clear that a simple ban on ‘trail hunting’ isn’t going to stop these wankers. They are committed and bloodthirsty extremists who will simply switch to another loophole to cover their arses. The current legislation is a leaky sieve that allows the carnage of these bloodsports to pour through.
Only a total ban on all forms of hunting with hounds will fix this. The HSA has proposed a comprehensive set of reforms based on 60 years of sabotaging the hunt. These proposals include a ‘reckless clause’ to stop hunters from claiming illegal kills were accidents. And that means all animals, not just stags.
The evidence is now undeniable. The Tiverton Staghounds are not following the law, they’re fucking mocking it. The government must now decide if it will continue look the other way or finally grow a fucking backbone and shut down these countryside criminals for good?
Featured image via the author
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