Politics
Those demanding the Conservatives address their recent past could do with doing the same themselves
“The Reform Party is nothing but a hotchpotch, a mess, a corpse infested by waifs, strays, weirdos, charlatans and crooks, offering the whole political spectrum from the seriously deranged to the criminally insane”
It’s a spicy line to start with, but before Reformers blow a gasket and accuse me of libel there is something they should know. This line was written by satirist Mark Taverner, in his novel “In the Red” who died in 2007, eleven years before Reform UK were founded – as the Brexit Party – and was actually written in 1989.
In 1989 Nigel Farage was still three years from the founding of UKIP. He was then a commodities broker and metals trader and even he’d admit, probably with a grin, they were a gaggle who had their fair share of ‘charlatans and crooks’. But the quote cannot have meant his current political vehicle, first in the polls, and positioning itself for Government.
Besides, outwardly Farage is Teflon-coated to accusations his outfits are full of misfits.
His reaction in 2004 to the accusation from the then Tory leader, Lord Howard, that UKIP was filled with “cranks and political gadflies” was to have a tie made, adorned with both the tool and the insect, for members of a dining club of the same name, in Brussels!
He is, and always has been very good company socially, whatever you think of his politics. As is Lord Howard for that matter.
Attending one of these events at Nigel’s invitation twenty years ago was how I first met him. He wasn’t leader at the time, but chatting it became clear he would be. However the only ambition he’d admit to was his “own show on LBC, that would be brilliant. Did it before and loved it’” You can hear him saying it.
His ambition now is still to ‘lead Britain’s conversation’ – not from LBC’s studios but 10 Downing Street.
Many of Reform’s outriders have nearly as long an association with Farage. Reform UK may be a new insurgent party but many of its passengers and drivers – those not pushed under the bus for ‘disloyalty’ – are old hands in the insurgency business. Some of them demand the Conservatives don’t just recognise past failings, but crawl in ‘shame’. Arron Banks and newbie Zia Yusuf, a Tory until Aug 2024, like the language of snivelling abasement as the Tory price for sharing the same air!
Imagery aside I’ve said before, they and Tory defector Robert Jenrick make a challenge to the Tories that should not be airily dismissed but addressed. This site has seen Tories argue the same in order to avoid the risk of looking like they don’t need to.
It is bizarre to criticise the Tory Government as ‘a total failure’ whilst simultaneously welcoming some of its players into your ranks but there is still a feeling that – even if changing under Kemi Badenoch – the Conservatives haven’t changed enough or fully accepted why the electorate rejected them in 2024?
Suella Braverman says: “The truth is no Tory Party Leader has ever wanted to stop the boats or cut migration”.
Now despite the fact that measures brought in November 2023 by the Conservative government she’d just been removed from, have significantly cut migration – and if only someone like her had been in a position to do that, as, say, Tory Home Secretary – her defence is, the same as Robert Jenrick’s as Tory Immigration Minister; that they tried but Rishi Sunak wouldn’t let them.
It’s hard to utterly dismiss that, when the Conservative leader, who has put the entire party ‘under new management’ says similar; that she argued in Cabinet for certain courses of action but that she wasn’t ‘in charge then’ when challenged with why she didn’t do these things in Government.
Now in opposition, Badenoch and her shadow Cabinet argue they’re relentlessly focussed on the future. There’s a sound logic to that as people are crying out for vision. But having acknowledged the mistakes of the past, they’d have to accept it hasn’t landed as well as they’d have hoped. The argument about blame still continues on ConservativeHome, even this week.
Those who demand repentance have as many different things they want it for as people doing the demanding, but if the ‘new’ Conservative party has a shrewd idea of what the old party got wrong, then maybe it needs to say so more clearly. You own the future if you can leave the past comfortably behind, not burying it and hoping people forget. Kemi is improving her standing with the public but the brand still has a long way to go.
Reform also have a past. Much shorter but nonetheless instructive.
Farage said, early on, that he knew Reform would “come under more scrutiny than probably any other party ever has”. He wanted to make this sound unfair or conspiratorial but it’s neither, nor true. They are getting exactly the same scrutiny, which they deserve as serious contenders to govern.
They jettisoned their 2024 manifesto within a year, because they recognised it was economically illiterate. They supported the scrapping of the two child benefit cap – for months backing billions of spending on top of an already ballooning welfare budget – only to U-turn on it yesterday and supporting the ‘disastrous Tories’ who’d brought it in and wanted to keep it.
Reform councils, like many others, are putting up council tax having said locally they’d cut taxes, despite denials at the top. In an emulation of Trump’s America, they instigated DOGE into local authorities. Predictably, Cllr Paul Chamberlain, one of their cabinet members in charge of such cuts at Kent County Council, told the FT:
“We made some assumptions that we would come in here and find some of the craziness that [Musk’s] Doge found in America … and that was wrong, we didn’t find any of that.”
In Warwickshire the nineteen year old leading Reform on the council – age not in itself the weakness some make out – has admitted “I had to learn very quickly” before complaining about the ‘blockages’ officials had put in his way. Doge-meister Yusuf has yet to visit Warwickshire. These are less ‘failings’ and more a wakeup call that promising the moon often hits hurdles higher than bravado and slogans can overcome in delivery. Reform’s solution to national problems they claim they, uniquely, can solve, too often involve just bravado and slogans.
On Monday Farage launched a telling social media attack on Charlotte Cadden, Conservative Candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election. A police officer for 30 years who wants “a proper inquiry on grooming gangs” and “to get rid of carbon taxes“, both policies he agrees with, instead highlighted a fun run she did 15 years ago, as somehow a symbol of the entire Conservative now. But don’t anyone ask him about things he did fifty years ago.
Conservatives are not going to quit – in Gorton or anywhere else – to help a party that insists it wants to destroy them, but the tragedy of trading blows over the past of both parties is that it distracts from directing ire and fire at the party in charge of the present.
The past, is Labour’s well of sour motivation. Deepest dipper is the Education Secretary whose entire ethos is to attack everyone, including her own party’s legacy on education, to settle scores from when she was a school girl in an A-line skirt.
The soul raison d’etre for the now farcical Chagos deal – that no amount of phantom billions ‘won’ in China will pay for – is to apologise, to the wrong people, for the ‘colonial’ past. Labour demand an apology for the mini-budget, an issue Badenoch has addressed more than once, and soemthing Farage supported, but Peter Mandelson’s past is apparently a closed book. Saw nothing, heard nothing, did nothing is not going to save Starmer and Morgan McSweeny was never going to bite the hand that fed, and is now punching him and his boss in the teeth.
L P Hartley once wrote “the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there”. Everyone in this now crowded political landscape is trying to express the same, but it might be an idea for all to visit it occasionally and say ‘you know what? We got that wrong’.
That goes for all politicians not just the ones you want it to.
It’s understandable to feel overwhelmed by the welter of bad news these days, what with the abundance of problems seemingly facing the UK. However, one can at least take some comfort in the knowledge that many of our woes have one common origin: our passive society. If we can correctly diagnose this as a principal source of our difficulties, we can at least begin to solve them.
We were reminded of the ascendency and dominance of our passive society this week with the lifting of the two-child benefit cap on universal credit, much to the horror of those who diligently save to provide for their own children, and much to the delight of the workless who don’t take responsibility for themselves or their families. While most Britons oppose lifting this cap, the voices of dissidents have been relatively muted, mindful that airing any opposition goes against the prevailing and deeply compassionate norm: that a paternal state ought to ‘lift children out of poverty’. The same paternalistic mentality underpins the tacit agreement that parents should not even be duty-bound to feed their own children, and that school breakfast clubs should perform this task instead.
This is but one area. Altogether, there is a widespread and lazy acceptance that it’s the state’s moral obligation to intervene when individuals are unable, or unwilling, to look after themselves. Indolence, apathy and the abnegation of personal responsibility are now the rule.
This has been the key factor in our mostly self-diagnosed, mostly inauthentic ‘mental-health crisis’. This was triggered by the lockdown years of 2020-21, which taught a generation of youngsters to be fearful of human contact and instilled in them the notion that not working for a living was normal. Yet those lockdowns were visited on a therapeutic society that had already taught its youth to think of themselves as fragile and vulnerable, as all on a spectrum of mental illness. The combined effect has been to reduce a whole generation to a state of passivity and dependence.
Admittedly, the proliferation of smartphones hasn’t helped the youth, or people of all generations, as entire swathes of Western society have today been reduced to zombies in the public domain. Thanks to smartphones, we have also become a society of cinematic rubberneckers, rather than active, intervening citizens.
Even in our response to smartphone enslavement, and the related problem of social-media overuse, we betray how passive our thinking has become. People talk of smartphone and social-media ‘addiction’, as if they cannot help but use these machines constantly, or to stop their kids from doing so. And so they demand the government step in, as if individuals have no choice on the matter, as if parents have no jurisdiction over their own children. Why not just put down that phone?
The same attitude is applied to obesity, which can only be solved by a crackdown on junk-food adverts or Ozempic injections, but less so by exercising self-control. You see the spectre of passivity rear its head ceaselessly on such subjects as screen violence, knife crime, vaping and alcohol abuse. In all cases, the response seems to be a resigned cry of ‘something must be done’ – ie, anyone else but me must do it.
Our collective repudiation of agency reached its logical conclusion this week, with the report that Waitrose had sacked one of its staff in south London for tackling a habitual shoplifter. Like the north London bus driver who was dismissed last February for punching a thief who had stolen a necklace from a passenger, this employee, Walker Smith, was fired because he did something many people in power today find bewildering: he acted of his own accord, of his free will, without permission and without official blessing.
If only more of us could be like Smith, able to exercise personal autonomy, perhaps this country would be in a better state than it is.
The stupidity of the educated
A graphic doing the rounds on X this week, originally fashioned by Stats for Lefties, contrasting the lower educational levels of Reform UK voters with the higher ones of those who vote Labour or Green, has caused much irritation and anger. And rightly so. There are few things less edifying than pompous progressives trying to win an argument by pointing to their superior qualifications. There’s nothing less likely to gain converts to your cause than insulting and belittling your opponents. You’d have thought those who traduced Brexiteers as knuckle-scrapping peasants 10 years ago would have learnt that lesson. Perhaps they’re too stupid to realise or remember.
Back then, many of the Remainer class seemed to assume that having an English degree qualified them as experts on the European Union. As for those who support Labour and the Greens today, they may be educated, but are they better-informed or wiser than the lower orders? If they think the Labour chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is doing anything but a catastrophic job, then they aren’t well-informed. If they think Zack Polanski’s policy of attempting to fleece this country’s 156 billionaires represents a coherent economic policy, and opening the borders, legalising hard drugs and placing a 55mph speed limit on motorways are signs of joined-up thinking, then they aren’t especially wise.
The conceit that being well-educated equates with sagacity surely raises the questions: Who was it that fell for the transgender delusion? Who was seduced by the madness of wokery in general, with all its McCarthyite fanaticism and reactionary racism? It wasn’t the ‘less-educated’.
Panel shows don’t have to be preachy
The panel show, Mock The Week, tested the patience of most of its viewers to despair before it was axed by the BBC in 2022. With its tedious Brexit monomania, and its creeping policy of shoe-horning ethnic minorities and female guests of manifestly lesser calibre, it deserved to be put out of its misery.
Its revival on the TLC channel, the first series of which concluded recently, is proof that comedy can survive and be revived in our post-Brexit, still woke-infested world. The latest outing wasn’t self-satisfied or aloof. There weren’t any deadweight guests there to make up an unspoken quota. I counted only two jokes about Nigel Farage. The ever-perceptive Ed Byrne has nurtured a witty persona as a beta-husband, while Ahir Shah has a wry perspicuity. Mercifully, there is no Nish Kumar or Rosie Jones.
It was, for the most part, a smart, good-natured and above all funny affair, with Dara Ó Briain remaining steadfast as its affable, cerebral and judicious host.
Makers of Have I Got News For You: take note.
Patrick West is a spiked columnist. His latest book, Get Over Yourself: Nietzsche For Our Times, is published by Societas. Follow him on X: @patrickxwest.
It’s extremely rare for a baby to be born on a plane – but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. In fact, in the past week, a baby was born on board a Caribbean Airlines flight to JFK Airport in New York, just as the plane was landing.
Dubbed ‘skyborns’, there are thought to be less than 100 people born on flights globally. One study analysing data on all in-flight births on commercial airlines found there were 74 babies born on commercial flights between 1929 and 2018 – 71 of which were known to have survived.
Of the births analysed, 10% were born at 37-38 weeks, 16% were born at 34-36 weeks, 19% were born at 31-33 weeks and 12% were born prior to 32 weeks. To put that into perspective, a pregnancy is considered full-term at 39 weeks – so, all of them were early to some degree.
As the chance of going into labour is naturally higher after 37 weeks (or 32 weeks for those carrying twins), some airlines won’t let you fly if you’re near these dates. But policies differ between airlines. A medical certificate from a doctor or midwife confirming you’re “fit to fly” is typically required after 28 weeks of pregnancy.
So, what actually happens if you give birth on a flight?
First things first, labour can be a pretty long process (although for parents having subsequent children, it can certainly be quicker). Some expectant parents might be able to touch down before their baby’s arrival.
If contractions begin during a flight, the cabin crew should be made aware and they can then move the person to a more comfortable part of the plane. They will also alert the pilot, who will relay the message to air traffic control.
Per Flightright UK, the cabin crew will then make an announcement, calling on any medical professionals among the passengers for assistance. Cabin crew receive basic training on handling an emergency delivery but they aren’t trained midwives or doctors, so do not have the training to deal with complications.
The study charting ‘skyborns’ found in 45% of the births recorded on planes; physicians, nurses, the flight crew and other medical personnel provided medical assistance.
“In extreme cases, the pilot can initiate an emergency landing to provide the mother and newborn with professional medical care as quickly as possible,” added Flightright.
The aircraft might be diverted to a hospital, HuffPost UK understands, however there are other aviation safety considerations for the pilot, and an immediate diversion is limited by the route of the aircraft – for example, if it’s crossing an ocean.
Last year, a baby was born mid-flight from Dakar to Brussels, delivered by a cabin crew member, newly-graduated nurse and doctor (who were passengers).
At the time, Brussels Airlines shared a photo of the newborn baby, called Fanta, held by one of the cabin crew members who helped deliver her, saying: “It was a true reflection of teamwork, care, and the extraordinary moments that happen in the sky.”
lead image
Europe risks missing the “geothermal revolution” unless policymakers act decisively to unlock next-generation deep geothermal energy. This is according to an open letter to EU leaders.
The coalition consists of nearly 70 businesses, investors, think tanks, and civil society organisations. It calls for concrete measures to scale geothermal energy for both electricity and heat. And it highlights this technology’s potential to generate up to 301 terrawatt-hours annually in the EU. This is equivalent to around 42% of its coal- and gas-fired generation. Meanwhile the letter points to a much larger potential estimated at nearly 40 terrawatts, or roughly 35 times Europe’s current installed electricity capacity.
Next-generation geothermal technologies enabled by deeper drilling could provide a domestic source of reliable, 24/7 clean energy across many member states. These technologies allow access to heat resources several kilometres underground, significantly expanding geothermal’s potential beyond traditional volcanic regions.
The letter warns that the European Commission’s forthcoming Geothermal Action Plan, due in May, risks underestimating the technology’s strategic opportunity if it is treated primarily as part of heating and cooling policy rather than as a broader source of firm electricity, industrial heat, and critical raw materials such as lithium.
Dr. Marlène Siméon, director of policy at Future Cleantech Architects, said:
With next-generation geothermal energy, Europe has abundant, clean, and firm energy at its feet. By embracing this technology, it can strengthen energy security, towards reliable and dispatchable energy, better compete with Chinese and US geothermal projects, and reduce dependence on oil and gas – the Achilles heel of the EU’s energy system.
The letter, addressed to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and key commissioners, is led by Cleantech for Europe, Future Cleantech Architects, and the European Geothermal Energy Council. Nearly 70 signatories support it, including cleantech companies, innovators and investors, NGOs, and research groups.
Factors limiting geothermal growth
While Europe has strong technological leadership in advanced geothermal systems, the coalition argues that insufficient political prioritisation has slowed deployment compared to other clean technologies.
The letter identifies three key barriers limiting investment:
- High upfront costs and risk associated with exploration and deep drilling.
- Lack of long-term revenue certainty.
- Complex permitting and grid connection procedures.
To address these challenges, the coalition calls for:
- A dedicated EU geothermal de-risking facility.
- Bankable market frameworks supporting investment.
- Faster permitting procedures and improved access to data.
- Stronger political prioritisation of geothermal in the EU energy strategy.
With global competition in next-generation technologies accelerating, the signatories emphasise that the upcoming Geothermal Action Plan represents a critical opportunity to position geothermal as a pillar of Europe’s clean industrial strategy.
Sanjeev Kumar, policy director at the European Geothermal Energy Council, said:
The Geothermal Action Plan must outline effective measures to overcome investment barriers and rapidly deploy geothermal so that everyone benefits from cheap, stable and homegrown energy.
Director of Cleantech for Europe Victor van Hoorn added:
Europe can ill afford another energy crisis like 2022. Scaling firm 24/7 domestic energy is now a competitiveness and security imperative. Geothermal – the heat below our feet – has the potential to play a system-level role – but only if we unlock investment and deployment at scale.
GA Drilling founder Igor Kocis said:
Europe has the technology and resources to unlock geothermal at scale, the missing piece is faster execution and targeted investment. If we are serious about energy security and reducing dependency on imported fuels, we need to invest in stable, local baseload energy, and geothermal is the most effective solution to deliver that over time.
And Baseload Capital CEO Alexander Helling commented:
Europe must break free from its fossil fuel addiction, and the answer lies beneath our feet: by rapidly scaling geothermal energy, we can unlock clean, always-on power, heating, and cooling for a competitive, affordable and sustainable future.
Feature image via the Canary
Our sports editor Faisal Ali was on the ground in Portugal to watch Porto face Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League
Porto came out on the front foot and tested Nottingham Forest from the first whistle. Moffi forced Stefan Ortega into the first of several sharp saves, a moment that set the tone as Porto looked to control territory and tempo.
Porto struck first with a composed, incisive move. In the 11th minute, Gabriel Veiga’s disguised, angled pass split the Forest defence, allowing William Gomes to meet the ball at the far post and thunder it high into the net — a textbook Porto finish.
Just two minutes later, the match turned. Under no pressure, the young full back rolled a routine back pass toward Diogo Costa — only to watch it skip past the goalkeeper’s foot and trundle into the net, handing Forest an unexpected equaliser and quieting the Dragão.
Ortega maintains Forest’s hopes
Following their concession, Porto intensified their efforts, and Ortega emerged as Forest’s most active player. His remarkable reaction save against Moffi’s glancing header just before the break proved pivotal; Ortega “leapt to his right to expertly claw the ball away,” safeguarding the 1–1 score line as the teams headed into half-time.
After the interval, Porto persisted in their search for opportunities, crafting numerous chances and challenging Ortega time and again. One particularly noteworthy save, made with his left hand in response to a curling shot, was described as “the kind of save that keeps a European tie alive”, a fitting testament to Ortega’s performance as Forest maintained their compactness and discipline throughout.
VAR drama and near misses from Porto
Porto’s substitutions upped the intensity, and Froholdt’s low drive came agonizingly close to settling the contest. Igor Jesus seemed to have handed Forest a shock lead, only for VAR to chalk it off for a high boot after review, a decision that briefly unsettled the rhythm.
In the final moments, Porto launched a concerted offensive. During stoppage time, Thiago Silva ascended to meet the ball, but Ortega was once more equal to the task, expertly palming it away with both hands.
This remarkable save epitomised Forest’s resilience, ensuring the tie remained alive as they headed into the second leg.
Managers, players, and perspectives
Porto boss Francesco Farioli was candid after the match:
We created enough to win two matches… We left the door open.
Forest’s head coach praised his players’ spirit:
We had to suffer — and we did… Ortega was outstanding, the defenders were brave” (BBC Sport). Ortega himself stayed matter of fact: “My job is to keep the ball out. Tonight it was busy, but that’s football. We’re still in the tie.
Porto thoroughly controlled possession and created a multitude of opportunities; however, Forest’s steadfast organization, bolstered by a stroke of luck, resulted in a 1–1 away draw that maintains the suspense of the Europa League quarter-final.
The tie now transitions to Nottingham, where the second leg will determine which side advances.
Featured image via the Canary
FIFA has announced the list of referees who will officiate at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following a meticulous, comprehensive selection process spanning three years.
The official refereeing team, ‘Team One’, comprises 52 referees, 88 assistant referees, and 30 video assistant referees, representing the six continental confederations and covering 50 national associations, forming the largest refereeing team in the tournament’s history.
The referees were selected based on the principle of “quality first”, taking into account consistency of performance in domestic and international matches, whether in FIFA tournaments or other official competitions, with candidates undergoing rigorous assessment over the past three years, alongside participation in training seminars and workshops.
According to a FIFA statement, a copy of which was received by the Canary, Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the Referees’ Committee, said:
The referees selected are the best in the world. They have received comprehensive support from fitness and medical teams, including physiotherapists and mental health support, to ensure they arrive in Miami on 31 May in peak physical and mental condition.
Largest number of referees in World Cup history
Colina added:
The 2026 edition will feature 48 teams and 104 matches across the widest geographical scope in the tournament’s history. ‘Team One’ is larger than any previous squad, with 41 additional referees compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, whilst the representation of women continues to be strengthened through the appointment of six female referees.
The referees are undergoing daily training sessions involving local players, and are receiving detailed briefings from FIFA analysts to ensure they are fully prepared for every match. Technology will support refereeing decisions through goal-line technology, semi-automated offside technology and connected ball technology, whilst fans will, for the first time, be able to follow the action from the referee’s perspective on the pitch.
A structured development programme
Massimo Busacca, FIFA’s Head of Refereeing, explained: “We began preparations for the 2026 World Cup immediately after Qatar 2022, through a structured programme of seminars, workshops and close monitoring, to ensure referees meet the highest possible standards during the tournament.”
Miami will serve as the base for the refereeing team, where a ten-day preparatory seminar will begin, with the video referees subsequently moving to Dallas to complete their work at the International Broadcast Centre, whilst the match officials, assistants and support staff remain in Miami.
New measures aimed at improving the flow of matches and reducing time-wasting will also be implemented during the tournament, in line with the latest IFAB amendments, alongside three updated changes to the VAR protocol, with the use of AI-powered software to improve the quality of real-time footage, giving fans a clearer view from the referee’s perspective.
Controversial refereeing decision in the Champions League
The Champions League quarter-final match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid at Camp Nou, which ended in a 2-0 win for Atlético, sparked widespread controversy over European refereeing, due to decisions made by Romanian referee Ștefan Covaci at crucial moments.
The most controversial incident occurred in the 54th minute, when an Atlético player handled the ball inside the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty to the Catalan side, nor did German VAR official Christian Dingert intervene. This incident angered refereeing experts, who considered it warranted a penalty, and perhaps a yellow card for the goalkeeper.
One rule, different rulings
The controversy intensifies when comparing this situation to a similar incident in last season’s Champions League, during the Club Brugge v Aston Villa match, where VAR intervened and the referee awarded a penalty following a handball by an Aston Villa player. A similar incident also occurred in Argentina three years ago.
This inconsistency raises a fundamental question: are the rules clear enough? Whilst football regulations stipulate that deliberate handballs inside the penalty area warrant a penalty, it appears that practical application varies between referees, depending on their assessment of intent and the angle from which they viewed the incident, which sometimes leads to differing outcomes in similar situations.
The variation in decisions highlights that whilst the laws are the same and the game is similar, application differs from referee to referee, despite the presence of video assistant technology designed to minimise errors. More importantly, such refereeing decisions can have a direct impact on the match result and a team’s progress in the tournament, which increases the pressure on referees and raises questions about the consistency of rule application at the highest European levels.
Expected sanctions – but not for the World Cup
In light of these events, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is considering imposing a sanction on referee Kovač, and possibly excluding him from officiating this season’s Champions League semi-finals, despite the fact that he refereed last season’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena.
Controversy remains over the ability of refereeing to deliver complete justice at decisive moments, despite the use of video technology, highlighting the variation in the interpretation of the rules among referees even at the highest European levels.
Featured image via the Canary
The Champions League football quarter-final between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou, which ended in a 2-0 victory for Atlético, sparked widespread controversy over European refereeing, due to decisions made by Romanian referee Ștefan Covaci at crucial moments.
The most controversial incident occurred in the 54th minute, when an Atlético player handled the ball inside the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty to the Catalan side, nor did the German Christian Dingert, in charge of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), intervene. This incident angered refereeing experts, who considered it warranted a penalty, and perhaps a yellow card for the goalkeeper.
One rule, different rulings in the Champions League
The controversy intensifies when comparing this situation to a similar incident in last season’s Champions League, during the Club Brugge v Aston Villa match, where VAR intervened, and the referee awarded a penalty following a handball by an Aston Villa player. A similar incident also occurred in Argentina three years ago.
This inconsistency raises a fundamental question: are the rules clear enough? Whilst football regulations stipulate that deliberate handballs inside the penalty area warrant a penalty, the practical application varies between referees, depending on their assessment of intent and the angle from which they view the incident, which sometimes leads to differing outcomes in similar situations.
The variation in decisions highlights that whilst the laws are the same and the game is similar, the application differs from referee to referee, despite the presence of video assistant technology designed to minimise errors. More importantly, such refereeing decisions can directly affect the match result and a team’s progress in the tournament, increasing pressure on referees and raising questions about the consistency of rule application at the highest European levels.
Expected sanctions
In light of these events, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is considering imposing a sanction on referee Kovač, and possibly barring him from officiating this season’s Champions League semi-finals, despite the fact that he refereed last season’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena.
Controversy remains over the ability of refereeing to deliver complete justice at decisive moments, despite the use of video technology, which highlights the disparity in the interpretation of the rules among referees even at the highest European levels.
Featured image via the Canary
A senior Iranian official has said the Keir Starmer’s claim that the UK only has a ‘defensive role’ in the US-Israeli attack on the country is “nonsense”. Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh called out the UK, saying US bombers flown from British bases had killed civilians and damaged civilian infrastructure.
ITV international editor Emma Murphy shared Khatibzadeh’s statement on 9 April:
Iran certainly doesn’t agree with the British government’s position that UK bases were only used by the US for defensive rather than offensive missions. Iran’s deputy foreign minister @SKhatibzadeh says some of the bombers which left from UK bases were on missions which led to… pic.twitter.com/paychYXf80
— Emma Murphy (@emmamurphyitv) April 9, 2026
He said:
The UK provided bases for B2 bomber to be used to kill Iranians, to kill kids, thousand of Iranian civilians and also civilian infrastructure.
It is nonsense that in a war the country says I am not part of this but I provide infrastructure to start offensive operations against another country. Then you are providing bases for that.
Adding:
And you know that B2 bomber [were] used to bomb hospitals, used to bomb schools, used to bomb, you know, the civilian infrastructure. It’s not some sort of propaganda from Iran, you can go and see one of the B2 bomber demolished four residential buildings.
Ten point plan and Iran
Iran also made clear that the original ten-point peace plans was the one they viewed as legitimate, despite US protests that it this was not the case.
Importantly, Iranian officials said an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon were a non-negotiable part of the deal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on 9 April:
⚡️”Talks to end the war are conditional on U.S. adherence to ceasefire commitments across all fronts, especially in Lebanon,” spokesperson for the Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters today.
▫️ Esmaeil Baghaei, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, praised the “heroic… pic.twitter.com/ZdhfK0xZtc
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) April 9, 2026
And Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said on X:
The repeated aggression by the Zionist entity against Lebanon is a flagrant violation of the initial ceasefire agreement and a dangerous indicator of deceit and lack of commitment to potential accords. The continuation of these aggressions will render negotiations meaningless; our hands will remain on the trigger, and Iran will never abandon its Lebanese brothers and sisters.
إنّ اعتداء الكيان الصهيوني المتكرر على لبنان هو انتهاك صارخ لاتفاق وقف إطلاق النار الأولي ومؤشر خطير على الخداع وعدم الالتزام بالاتفاقات المحتملة. مواصلة هذه الاعتداءات سيجعل التفاوض بلا معنى؛ أيدينا ستبقى على الزناد، ولن تتخلّى إيران عن إخوتها وأخواتها اللبنانيين قطّ.
— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) April 9, 2026
US-Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations 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.
The US has achieved none of its original war aims. Iran predictably closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil channel, once attacked – creating a global energy crisis. Far from being defeated, Iran has said the war will continue until “the enemy’s inevitable and permanent humiliation, disgrace, regret, and surrender”. Trump came to power on an anti-war ‘America First’ ticket. He now faces worldwide humiliation.
Israel – and by extension the US – are already undermining the hard-won pause brokered by China and Pakistan. The US killed Iranians from UK bases. Starmer won’t own up, but the truth of the matter is evident to many.
Featured image via the Canary
PILGRIMAGE: The biggest names in politics are flying in from around the country to meet the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Governors Wes Moore from Maryland and JB Pritzker from Illinois and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) spoke with him today. Yesterday was Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro. Still up is former Vice President Kamala Harris, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
These potential 2028 presidential hopefuls — in town for the 35th convention of Sharpton’s National Action Network — know that one thing that’s true in New York extends to the whole country.
“If you want to go somewhere in the City of New York, in anything, whatever your profession is, you’ve got to come to the Dr. Rev. Al Sharpton,” Harlem Assemblymember Jordan Wright said.
Sharpton is spending the week basking in that clout. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Former mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani viewed him as a chaos agent and enemy. Now, the who’s-who of national and local politics are elbowing their way to see and be seen at his four-day convention.
“They’re showing up because he deserves the respect of everyone in this country,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told Playbook. “He’s been a close adviser a long time. I call him up. And in fact, I spoke to him the day I found out I was going to be governor, watching it on television. I called him up, and he said, ‘I’ll pray for you.’ I got down on my knees, and I prayed myself for wisdom and for justice.”
Sharpton’s influence, for instance, was on full display in New York last year when the field of mayoral candidates trekked to his House of Justice in Harlem — which will soon be relocated — to show deference as they aimed for City Hall. There, Sharpton spoke positively about Andrew Cuomo during the primary and even chided then-mayoral-candidate Zohran Mamdani for not endorsing former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a Black woman, in a high enough spot on his ranked-choice ballot.
“Somehow that politics ain’t progressive to me,” Sharpton said nine days before the primary.
Still, Mamdani chose to visit Sharpton at the House of Justice in his first public appearance after his win. That morning, Sharpton took Mamdani’s hand and raised it into the air, as if declaring him the winner by knockout in a boxing match.
Last week, Sharpton raised eyebrows when he told our colleagues in Washington he thinks Harris deserves a second look as a presidential candidate, attempting to thread the needle for Harris the same way he had for Adrienne Adams.
He clarified — and defended — those comments while speaking with us Wednesday night.
“I don’t know if she’s gonna run, but I see her [facing] a lot of sexism and racism,” Sharpton said. “Don’t dismiss her. Let her decide what she’s going to do. She got more votes than any presidential candidate in history, other than Donald Trump. She ought to be acknowledged for that.” — Jason Beeferman
From the Capitol
NOTHING IS OVER: State workers earned $1.6 billion in overtime in 2025, a 22.7 percent increase from the prior year, according to a report released Thursday morning by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
The findings come as unions are pressing to expand retirement benefits in the Tier 6 pension category — changes that would cost state and local governments up to $1.5 billion a year.
“State agencies need to carefully monitor overtime to ensure that its use is justified and that state services are provided safely and effectively,” the overtime report found. “The use of overtime can have a substantial impact on long-term pension costs.”
Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick Reisman.
PARTY RAIDS: Progressives in the Hudson Valley seem to have avoided the party raiding that’s been the norm in that corner of the state — but one candidate in Saratoga County is raising eyebrows.
It’s become increasingly common for allies of major party candidates to manipulate minor party nominations. Most prominently, a former Republican won the 2024 Working Families Party’s primary in Rep. Mike Lawler’s district after being supported by people who joined the WFP days before the deadline. That ensured the left would split its vote.
A comparable situation in area congressional or state legislative districts doesn’t appear to exist this year. The only candidate who submitted petitions to challenge Lawler on a minor line was the WFP-backed Democrat Effie Phillips-Staley.
Still, there was a curious registration in the Saratoga-area district held by Democratic Assemblymember Carrie Woerner.
The only candidate who submitted for the WFP line in that district was a Thomas Kenny. Attempts to figure out just who he is weren’t immediately successful — as of January, nobody with that name was registered to vote in that corner of the state. Woerner’s campaign believes he might have been a Conservative until recently, possibly living elsewhere.
There have been some electoral oddities in the county in the past. Dozens of individuals connected to the Saratoga Springs Police Department switched their registration from the Republican or Conservative Parties to the WFP in 2021, forcing a primary against the Democratic supervisor.
Saratoga GOP Chair Joe Suhrada said he didn’t know anything about the Kenny candidacy.
“I don’t know him and I’m not sure who he is,” Suhrada said. He theorized the candidate — unknown to Democrats and the WFP alike — might be a leftist. “There are so many people who decry the Democrats as supposedly not standing up to Trump enough … That could be the case here.” — Bill Mahoney
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
CALLING IT QUITS: Just hours before tonight’s Democratic debate to take on Lawler in NY-17, tech executive and local government official Peter Chatzky ended his bid. Chatzky, who loaned himself a whopping $5 million, was set to take the stage with Army veteran Cait Conley, Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson and Phillips-Staley.
In a statement, Chatzky criticized the “machinery of the Democratic party” and said that if he continued his campaign, “the party establishment and my competitors would need to spend significant effort and money to defeat me, resources that would be better used to defeat Mike Lawler.”
Chatzky had been vying to claim the progressive lane, which Working Families Party-backed Phillips-Staley is also pushing for. Last month, Phillips-Staley was the only candidate to call on Chatzky to drop out after reports of his bawdy online posts emerged. (Chatzky did not mention those incidents in his statement, though he has made the rounds in local media explaining his sense of humor.) Conley and Davidson are taking a more moderate approach to their candidacies.
Chatzky did not immediately endorse an opponent upon dropping out.
That leaves five candidates in the running for the Democratic nomination: Conley, Davidson and Phillips-Staley, along with former TV reporter Mike Sacks and Air Force veteran John Cappello. The latter two were not invited to participate in tonight’s debate and have largely flown under the radar. — Madison Fernandez
HOCHUL DOUBLES DOWN ON NY-21: Hochul isn’t backing down from her bet that Rep. Elise Stefanik’s deep-red seat could actually turn blue.
Speaking with reporters today at an unrelated event, Hochul said she’s spent time listening to New Yorkers of all stripes during her trips to the North Country and thinks Democrats could flip the district.
“Conservative, Republican farmers [are] telling me they are ‘had it’ with the tariffs, they are ‘had it’ with this ICE raids on their farms,” Hochul said. “I heard a lot of anger. I was reflecting on that as a place that people would not expect us to have an opportunity to win, where I believe we do. People are rejecting the policies that are driving up costs and making their lives miserable.”
Hochul told Young Democrats last month that she’s “so optimistic about our chances this year, I believe we can even take Elise Stefanik’s seat.”
Stefanik, who is not seeking reelection, won her seat in a general election by 24 points. Assemblymember Robert Smullen and Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino are running as Republicans to replace her. Democrat Blake Gendebien is running for the seat. — Jason Beeferman
IN OTHER NEWS
— CHILLING EFFECT?: According to the Rent Guidelines Board, landlord costs rose by 5.3 percent over the last year, an increase that could undermine Mamdani’s efforts to freeze rents for the city’s rent-stabilized apartments. (POLITICO Pro)
— FULL-TIME TOTS: Mamdani announces full-day, year-round care for New York City’s 2-K program with the first 2,000 seats opening this fall with extended-hours. (New York Daily News)
— NOT BRAGG, BUT…: Housing groups are pushing for new tenant harassment protections in the state budget that would create criminal penalties for harassing rent-stabilized apartment dwellers. (amNY)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
The head of Iran’s Jewish Community has said that the Israeli regime’s claims about defending Jews are a shameful lie after it bombed a synagogue in Tehran.
Head of Iranian Jewish Community on Rubbles of Israeli-Hit Synagogue:
“Shameful” “All the Israeli regime’s claims about defending Jews are nothing more than a shameful lie,” said Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar, calling Israel’s attack on a synagogue in a residential area an… pic.twitter.com/vjB4q3s6nr
— Ounka (@OunkaOnX) April 8, 2026
The synagogue was one of the religious centres of Tehran’s Jews, dating back to the Pahlavi II era. Israel completely destroyed it in an airstrike.
Iran’s Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that:
the centuries-old Torahs were likely heavily damaged, and their fate is currently unknown.
Western media complicity
However, this attack has barely made the news, unlike every other attack on synagogues or jews across the world, which the mainstream media has rinsed for every second it can.
Remember the amount of coverage @LBC gave to 4 burned out ambulances? Do an hour on this @IainDale, @ShelaghFogarty, @NickFerrariLBC, get an Israeli spokesperson on and ask them tough questions on it. Why don’t you do the bare minimum & just mention it. https://t.co/BZvUvwM8Fe
— John Stealer (@JohnStealer) April 9, 2026
The IOF has claimed the synagogue was ‘collateral damage’. But can you imagine if Iran, or any resistance force, claimed the same thing?
Here is something that you WILL NOT SEE on the BBC. https://t.co/2UzG9XBQWm
— Mark Seddon (@MarkSeddon1962) April 8, 2026
Western media would have a field day.
The only Western news outlet that appears to have covered the attack is CNN. However, that coverage is minimal and comes nowhere close to even mentioning the hypocrisy of Israel bombing a synagogue.
Corporate media seems to collectively ignore the millions of jews globally who condemn Israel’s war crimes.
The British media including @BBCNews generally IGNORE the millions of Jews globally who condemn the actions of Israel
Not least @BBCr4today. Perhaps they will speak to THESE Jews in post BELOW? https://t.co/bxWJi8afYd
— Tom London (@TomLondon6) April 8, 2026
Places of worship – including Iran’s Jewish synagogues – bombed
From Mosques and churches in Gaza, to the Synagogue in Tehran – considering that Israel is supposedly ‘God’s chosen country’, it seems pretty hypocritical that it holds absolutely no regard for bombing places of worship.
Within the last 2 years, israel has destroyed mosques in Gaza, churches in Lebanon and now synagogues in Iran. https://t.co/k4XyBS7x7j
— Husam Kaid (@Husam_Khaled1) April 8, 2026
Additionally, international humanitarian law provides strong protection for places of worship.
According to Scientific Research:
The protection is included in the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflicts, Additional Protocol I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Statute of the International Criminal Court
Places of worship are recognised as protected places under the definition of “cultural properties”. This means no countries or armed groups should attack or destroy them.
This is a war crime.
Regardless of religion, bombing a civilian place of worship contravenes the Geneva Convention.
Same happening in Lebanon.
Gaza is a bomb site.
Will someone please take a stand on terrorism dressed up as “war”?
I’m done with old men ruining it for children. https://t.co/n7Pc1OG5ng— Jenn Knussen 💜 (@JKnussen) April 8, 2026
ANtiSeMiTiSM
You can imagine the antisemitism screams if resistance fighters took out a synagogue as ‘collateral damage’.
If a synagogue in Tel Aviv had been hit by an Iranian rocket it would be front page news across Western media with much wailing. Because Israeli is the perpetrator there’s 🦗🦗🦗 https://t.co/G8Ej8vcTk3
— Dr Sassenach (@Dr_Sassenach) April 8, 2026
Yet no one is condemning Israel.
Why is no one condemning Israel for this anti-Semitic attack on the Iranian Jewish community during Passover? https://t.co/5tCljndP0Y
— Wardāh Wilkinson 🇿🇦 (@WardahWilkinson) April 8, 2026
Israel is supposedly the ‘Jewish state’ – but is more than happy to bomb jews in another country.
Stop attacking other Jewish people and their synagogues. For a start. https://t.co/T9xcQRfQIB
— Barry Saturday 🇺🇸 (@Barry_Saturday) April 8, 2026
All you have to do is look at the thousands of people which police forces globally have arrested and chastised for ‘antisemitism’ – simply for standing up for Palestine.
Protesters for Palestinian lives/rights protest near a synagogue holding an event selling real estate in West Bank settlements: ANTISEMITIC ATTACK! JAIl/DEPORT THEM! BAN PROTEST!
Israel totally destroys a major synagogue in Tehran, burying the torahs in the rubble: meh. https://t.co/qVMGdX2rS5
— Lara Friedman (@LaraFriedmanDC) April 8, 2026
Meanwhile, Israel buries centuries-old Torahs with its missiles.
The reality is, Israel does not care if you are Jewish or not.
Israel does not care of you are Jewish or not. It’s really that simple. https://t.co/TYBU8doFvf
— Lee Gaze (@shinjukutheif1) April 8, 2026
Additionally, shattering historic temples and killing the inhabitants appears to be the exact opposite of ‘freeing the Iranian people’.
Iran’s Jewish community: attacked
Israel is weaponising Jewishness to hide its war crimes.
The hypocrisy is astounding. Attacking synagogues is antisemitic. Unless Israel is attacking them, and then it’s ‘collateral damage’. And the media is letting the genocidal terrorist state off the hook – unlike when the synagogues of white Jews are attacked in Europe.
Is it because Iranians are brown? Because ultimately, we know that the only lives that Israel and the majority of the West appear to care about are white people.
Feature image via Al Jazeera English/YouTube
SI.com Proposes Very Weird Vikings QB Trade
York’s Shambles was worse in the old potty-emptying days!
Morning Bid: ’That is not the agreement we have!’
-
Fashion6 days agoWeekend Open Thread: Spanx – Corporette.com
-
Business4 days agoThree Gulf funds agree to back Paramount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner, WSJ reports
-
Sports5 days agoIndia men’s 4x400m and mixed 4x100m relay teams register big progress | Other Sports News
-
Business6 days agoExpert Picks for Every Need
-
Tech2 days agoHow Long Can You Drive With Expired Registration? What Florida Law Says
-
Business5 days agoNo Jackpot Winner, Prize to Climb to $231 Million
-
Fashion4 days agoMassimo Dutti Offers Inspiration for Your Summer Mood Board
-
Fashion3 days agoLet’s Discuss: DEI in 2026
-
Politics7 days ago
Wings Over Scotland | The quality of mercy
-
Crypto World2 days agoBitcoin recovers as US and Iran Agree a Ceasefire Deal
-
Business5 days agoAkebia Therapeutics, Inc. (AKBA) Discusses Pipeline Progress and Strategic Focus on Kidney Disease Treatments at R&D Day – Slideshow
-
Crypto World17 hours agoCanary Capital Files SEC Registration for PEPE ETF
-
Fashion7 days agoFrugal Friday’s Workwear Report: Hammered Metallic Button Sweater Vest
-
Politics6 days agoThe UK should not pay a penny in slavery reparations
-
Tech4 days agoHaier is betting big that your next TV purchase will be one of these
-
Business7 days agoHPS FY 2025 slides: SaaS inflection drives 22% revenue growth
-
Fashion7 days agoTory Burch’s Spring 2026 Campaign Goes on a Getaway
-
Fashion7 days agoWeekly News Update, 4.3.26 – Corporette.com
-
Tech4 days agoSamsung just gave up on its own Messages app
-
NewsBeat7 days agoRory McIlroy hopes to emulate greats as he aims to make more history
You must be logged in to post a comment Login