Politics
Trump Says Putin Honoured Ukraine Ceasefire Despite Attacks
Donald Trump has insisted Vladimir Putin kept his word on implementing a week-long ceasefire in Ukraine, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.
The US president told reporters the Russian president vowed not to target his European neighbour for seven days – from Sunday, January 25 until Sunday, February 1 – and suggested the recent attacks did not breach their agreement.
When reminded that Putin bombarded Ukrainian cities on Monday, Trump told reporters: “I know, it [the truce] was Sunday to Sunday.
“It opened up and he hit them hard last night. He kept his word on that. It’s a lot. But we will take anything, because it’s really, really cold out there.”
But Trump only declared this supposed truce last Thursday, saying: “I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week and he agreed to do that.
“And I have to tell you, it was very nice. People said, ‘Don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that.’
“And he did it and we’re very happy that they did it because on top of everything else that’s not what they need is missiles coming into their towns and cities.”
Russia struck Ukraine hours later, sending a total of 111 long-range drones and a ballistic missile into the country.
A city bus driver was then killed along with five civilians in Kherson, with authorities reporting ongoing attacks across the country.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he understood the ceasefire had started late last Friday.
He said while there was no formal ceasefire agreement, both sides agreed on the US plan to halt strikes on each other’s energy facilities.
But Russia attacked again on Sunday, taking out a bus carrying miners in the Dnipropetrovsk region in a deadly assault.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin had specifically agreed not to strike Kyiv, suggesting that did not apply to the whole country.
He said: “I can say that President Trump did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week, until February 1, as a way to create more hospitable conditions for negotiations.”
The pause was supposed to last while US-led trilateral peace talks took place in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking on Wednesday, after the latest attacks, Zelenskyy said: “We await the reaction of America to the Russian strikes.
“It was the US proposal to halt strikes on energy during diplomacy and severe winter weather.
“The president of the United States made the request personally. Russia responded with a record number of ballistic missiles.”
‘Perhaps [he] will end up killing someone.’ These were the prescient words of one psychiatrist involved in the treatment of Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic who went on to murder Ian Coates, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber in an unprovoked attack in Nottingham on 13 June 2023. As the ongoing inquiry into these tragic events has revealed, the psychiatrist in question had good reason to make such a grave prediction. In the years leading up to the Nottingham incident, Calocane is alleged to have assaulted a police officer, attacked an emergency worker, assaulted two colleagues at a factory and frightened a neighbour so badly that she jumped from a first-floor window, seriously injuring her back.
Press coverage of the inquiry this week has focussed on revelations that Calocane was not sectioned under mental-health legislation because health staff were worried about the ‘over-representation of young black men in custody’. In other words, clinical professionals were more concerned about protecting themselves from allegations of racism than protecting the public from serious violence. This extraordinary disclosure is but the latest chapter in an ongoing saga of ‘protected-characteristic exceptionalism’. It is the same attitude that left grooming-gang victims ignored, allowed male rapists into women’s prisons and permitted adult male migrants to claim they are children.
Yet Valdo Calocane’s skin colour was not the primary reason that he was allowed to remain at large. Calocane was free to kill because Britain’s political and medical establishments have made the deliberate choice to allow dangerous psychiatric patients to live unsupervised.
In the past, individuals with psychiatric disorders were detained, often indefinitely. Asylums were built from the Victorian era onwards, and by the 1950s there were around 150,000 secure mental-health beds across the country. Many of these institutions became overcrowded and, sadly, as happens in many residential establishments, abuse occurred. Nevertheless, the purpose of the insane-asylum system was to protect the public from violent crime.
From the early 1960s, everything changed. Treatment of psychiatric patients in Western countries moved away from incarceration and towards a policy of ‘care in the community’. The discovery and promotion of anti-psychotic drugs by a nascent pharmaceutical industry made such a revolution feasible. But it was the cultural climate that enabled this ‘deinstitutionalisation’, as concern for individual autonomy overtook the pursuit of the common good as the organising moral principle of Western liberal democracies.
Left-liberals were not the only proponents of care in the community. Small-state conservatives welcomed the opportunity to close expensive taxpayer-funded institutions; Enoch Powell was a champion for the cause.
From our contemporary perspective, the idea of removing a sick person’s liberty – perhaps for life, and before he or she has even committed a crime – seems deeply distasteful, even barbaric. Yet if Calocane had been detained after his first psychotic episode in 2020, Coates, Webber and O’Malley-Kumar would still be alive.
When it comes to the far-reaching consequences of deinstitutionalisation, Calocane’s crimes are just the tip of the iceberg. Between 2008 and 2018, an average of 69 people a year were murdered in the UK by patients under the care of mental-health services. Over the same time period, more than 4,000 people suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and living alone ‘in the community’ committed suicide.
In the late 1970s, Britain had around 400 psychiatric beds for every 100,000 people; in 2023, that number was just 22 beds per 100,000. As the number of mental-health inpatients has fallen, rough sleeping has risen. And over the past half a century, Britain’s per-capita prison population has nearly doubled. Identical trends can be seen in countries across the liberal West with the notable exception of Japan, which has 260 mental-health beds per 100,000 and the lowest rate of homelessness in the world.
Care in the community could be more accurately termed ‘neglect in isolation’. The reality is that many people with serious psychiatric disorders cannot be safely ‘managed’ without constant supervision and the capacity to use force if necessary to prevent them from doing harm – either to themselves or others. It is impossible to predict if, or when, a particular patient will turn violent.
As the Nottingham inquiry continues, we will be told that ‘lessons must be learned’ by both the NHS and the police. The left will blame cuts and the right will blame DEI culture for the failure to section Calocane earlier. But until we admit that care in the community has failed, nothing substantial will change. Violent crimes will continue to be committed with diminished responsibility by people who are severely mentally unwell. If we truly want to prevent another tragedy like Nottingham, we must reverse decades of policy and begin the process of re-institutionalisation.
Unfortunately, in today’s political climate, it seems highly unlikely that we will see such a u-turn. Proposing that the state should routinely incarcerate innocent people is akin to heresy. All societies must find a balance between individual freedom and collective security, and liberal democracies like ours have typically allowed the pendulum to swing hard towards personal liberty. But as the case of Valdo Calocane shows us, when the pendulum swings too far, we all become less safe and less free.
Miriam Cates is a GB News presenter, senior fellow at the Centre for Social Justice and a former Conservative MP.
Esther Rantzen has called for the abolition of the House of Lords after it emerged a bill legalising assisted dying in England and Wales is set to run out of time.
The former TV presenter, who has terminal lung cancer, said it was “a disgrace” that unelected peers were able to effectively block the will of MPs.
The House of Commons voted 314-291 last June to allow the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to proceed to third reading.
It is a private member’s bill brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
However, it has become bogged down in the Lords as peers opposed to the legislation tabled more than 1,000 amendments to it.
Sky News reported that ministers are unwilling to allow more parliamentary time to be devoted to the bill, meaning it will not become law.
Rantzen, who persuaded Keir Starmer to back her calls for parliament to be given a fresh say on legalising assisted dying, told the broadcaster it was “absolute blatant sabotage” by the Lords.
She said: “A few peers, for their own reasons, have decided that they’re going to stop this going through parliament, and the only way to stop them would be to invoke the Parliament Act, which has happened before, or get rid of the House of Lords. They’re clearly not fit for purpose.”
The Parliament Act allows the Commons to overrule the Lords, but it is rarely used.
Under the bill, terminally ill adults with less than six months left to live would be allowed to legally end their lives at at time when they choose instead of suffering though a prolonged illness.
The proposals stipulate that an individual must have the mental capacity to make the choice, make two separate declarations – witnessed and signed – about their desire to die, and have approval from two independent doctors that they are eligible.
A survey last year found 73% of Brits back the idea, while 72% support Leadbeater’s proposals.
Rantzen said: “The general population wants the law to change. Every survey shows this. The majority of the public understand the cruelty and, ridiculous provisions of the current criminal law, which doesn’t criminalise suicide but does criminalise families who want to say goodbye to loved ones when life becomes unbearable and they want the choice of a quick, pain free death.
“This law would allow people like me not to shorten my life, but to shorten my death.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Our position is that it’s absolutely right that bills face the appropriate scrutiny, it’s what the parliamentary process is there for.”
(Credit: Haris Malekos)
4 min read
With the Greens and even the Tories ready to outflank them, Labour must take action on student loans to show it is still on the side of young people.
Tuition fees are back on the political agenda for the first time since the increase to £9,000 during the coalition years. There were many lessons to be learnt from the impact of that rise in 2012. The change was near fatal to the Liberal Democrats at the next election and has continued to haunt them ever since, with the party still not trusted with young voters more than 15 years later.
The Labour Party now stands in a precarious position, at risk of making a similarly damaging mistake and losing support with a generation of young graduates who have become a key demographic.
While standing to be Labour leader, Keir Starmer described the need to end the “scandal of spiralling debt”. A month ago, however, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the current system of Plan 2 loans is “fair”. Sticking with the latter position, and not reviving the former, would side Labour against a key group of voters, leaving the Greens and even the Conservatives with an opportunity to outflank them.
Graduates and younger people were key to Labour’s success at the 2024 general election. YouGov polling suggested that 42 per cent of voters with a degree supported Labour, more than twice as many as who voted Conservative (18 per cent). Even smaller portions of this cohort voted for Reform (8 per cent) and the Greens (9 per cent).
This has changed dramatically since then, however.
The same pollster now has only 25 per cent of graduates voting Labour, closely followed by the Green Party on 21 per cent. This represents a near 15-point swing from Labour to the Greens. There is a similar trend amongst young people. At the last election, 41 per cent of 18-24 year olds supported Labour. This has now halved to just 21 per cent. Meanwhile, the Greens, who want to scrap tuition fees altogether, have jumped from 18 per cent to 37 per cent with the same age group and are also more popular than Labour with 25-29 year olds, overturning a 33 point deficit to lead by 7 points.
Both these groups may be small parts of the electorate overall, but they will continue to grow in size and significance. There are already an estimated 5.8m adults who took out a student loan between 2012 and 2023. With almost half of graduates predicted to never pay back their loan in full, these concerns will remain with graduates as they enter their 30s, 40s and 50s, while, at the same time, more young people attend university and are burdened with debt.
The risk for Labour is that even delayed and reactive tweaks to the system, which reportedly could come as soon as next week, may struggle to win over young Green curious voters who are tempted by Zack Polanski’s bolder offer to scrap tuition fees altogether.
The electoral threat has been further complicated by Labour’s decision to allow 16 and 17-year-olds a vote at the next general election.
Our polling of teenagers aged 13-17 (who will all likely be eligible to vote at the next general election, depending on timings) highlights the impact of university fees on this cohort. Almost 3 in 4 (71 per cent) teenagers say that reducing tuition fees is a big priority which should be addressed urgently. This new electorate of 16-17-year-olds will only be one or two years away from aspiring to attend university when polling day next comes around, and tuition fees will be high on their personal agendas. If Labour is not seen as the party on their side on this issue, then the decision to extend the vote to this group risks backfiring on the party and boosting the electoral prospects of their rivals.
It would be wrong to say that this is a narrow interest in terms of the population at large.
According to Ipsos research published this week, a majority of Brits (54 per cent) say that student loans should not be charged any interest, with just over three-quarters (76 per cent) of Brits concerned that students are ending up with too much debt from going to university. Dealing with student loans can reaffirm Labour’s support with their base, but also appeal to parents, employers and voters outside of it.
Being seen as failing to do so will only fuel Labour’s losses.
Julian Gallie is Head of Research at Merlin Strategy
Your Party have announced the results of the elections for seats on the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC). After months of endless controversy and bickering, the results are undoubtedly going to have an impact on the direction of travel for this new socialist party. As expected, both Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn have been elected as public office holders.
Corbyn posted a statement:
We have no time to waste. So let’s get to work.
Join us at https://t.co/kMShFQTxzH pic.twitter.com/iuqjE4AfTj
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 26, 2026
Sultana’s team also released a statement:
Grassroots Left congratulates all those elected in the Your Party leadership elections, and extends our thanks to every member who voted, organised and campaigned for us.
Having won collective leadership at the founding conference, we are delighted that eight women have been elected to the CEC who support our programme for Maximum Member Democracy.
A significant number of members have signalled their desire for a democratic, accountable and transparent party. We will now be in the room and ensure your voice is heard.
Our party is strongest when members have real power: over policy, finances, selections, and decision-making – through transparent, accountable structures. All Grassroots Left members will push for this on the CEC. We will push to make sure the branches are recognised immediately, fully supported and that members are put at the heart of the party.
Your Party must now work together to become a party of and for the whole left – with no more witch-hunts or stitch-ups. All those who have been expelled should be reinstated. We now need a culture of mutual respect, open debate, and a shared focus on the real issues facing us: inequality, insecure work, crumbling public services, fascism, and a political establishment that keeps letting working people down.
Grassroots Left will work with all those elected who are committed to rebuilding trust by putting the members first and fighting with the branches for accountable, transparent and democratic structures and strong socialist policies in Your Party.
Your Party election results
The fledgling party saw two slates form sparking toxic debate among members: Grassroots Left and The Many. Refusing the factionality, many Independent candidates also stood.
The total number of votes received were 25,347, out of a possible 40,985 members. This represents an impressive 61.8% turnout. 43 postal ballots were received, of which 29 were accepted which represents 14 members returning two ballots and one member returning just one. Two ballots were removed due to having already voted online.
The results for Public Office Holders: Zarah Sultana (GL), Jeremy Corbyn (TM), Laura Smith (TM) and Grace Lewis (GL).
Northwest: Sam Gorst (Ind), Dawn Aspinall (TM)
Northeast: Catherine Davis (TM) and Hannah Hawkins (TM)
Yorkshire and Humber: Monique Mosley (TM) and Sophie Wilson (GL)
East of England: Jo Rust (TM) and Solma Ahmed (GL)
East Midlands: Louise Regan (TM) and Riaz Khan (TM)
West Midlands: Megan Clarke (GL) and Sue Moffat (TM)
Southeast: Naomi Wimbourne-Idrissi (Ind) and Cassandra Bellingham (TM)
Southwest: Candi Williams (GL) and Jennifer Forbes (TM)
London: Mel Mullings (GL) and Noor Jahan Begum (TM)
Scotland: Niall Christy (Ind)
Wales: Maria Donnellan (TM)
Results are in, now move forward
Now the results are in we can see there are fourteen for The Many, seven for Grassroots Left, and three Independents making up Your Party’s new CEC.
Let’s hope this at least allows the party to move forward from months of bickering and toxic briefing to a place where it can actually be effective from the grassroots.
After all, the far-right aren’t waiting around, neither should we.
Featured image via the Canary
With just days until Texas’ primary, Republicans in Washington are growing more alarmed that their increasingly vicious intraparty contest could cost them a must-win Senate seat.
Sen. John Cornyn appears to be headed to an expensive and nasty 10-week runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with a strong chance that Paxton wins the nomination even after national Republicans spent months airing his dirty laundry all over the Texas airwaves in an effort to boost Cornyn.
“Honestly, if you look at the polling in a general election setting, I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that the seat [flips], depending on who the Democrats nominate,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, when asked about the possibility that Republicans could lose the race if Cornyn, who he endorsed, is not the party’s nominee.
If Cornyn loses the primary, Senate Republicans worry they could be forced to spend hundreds of millions of dollars that could otherwise go toward key battleground races in expensive states like North Carolina, Georgia or Michigan, complicating their path toward holding Senate control.
Republicans have already spent nearly $100 million on TV advertising in the primary, which also includes Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), according to data from AdImpact. And Cornyn launched new ads this week, with support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, that hammer Paxton in ways that could hurt him in the general election too: highlighting his messy ongoing divorce and accusations of corruption and calling Paxton a “wife-cheater and fraud.”
But those attacks haven’t stopped Paxton, a MAGA hero more aligned with the party base who has been bolstered by positive polling and a wave of grassroots enthusiasm.
“All signs indicate that Paxton probably finishes first,” a Washington GOP operative close to Cornyn told POLITICO granted anonymity to candidly discuss the race. “We’re just hoping the gap is close enough the narrative isn’t ‘Paxton kicked the crap out of Cornyn.’”
Paxton attended the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night as a guest of Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who called warnings of an expensive general election a “scare tactic.”
“What you’re doing now is you’re telling Texas you can’t elect Ken Paxton, not because you do a better job than me, but it’ll cost too much to win it,” said Nehls. “What a desperate attempt to convince voters to not vote for Ken Paxton because it could cost too much money in November. That’s ridiculous.”
Paxton is predicting a massive victory. Speaking with reporters after a campaign rally in the Houston suburbs last Friday, he suggested he may win the race outright and avoid a runoff.
Both Paxton and Cornyn allies have been running ads attacking Hunt in recent days, a sign either that they see a chance that Hunt could edge Cornyn for a spot in the runoff — or that Paxton could win outright.
If the race does extend until the end of May, Paxton said he doesn’t intend to change his strategy.
“It’ll be grassroots, just like it always has been, and we’ll be out trying to compete,” Paxton said. “Obviously, [Cornyn] has got a lot of money, D.C. money. I don’t have that money. We’ll have our money from Texas.”
A spokesperson for Hunt said the congressman told NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott last year before he got into the race that Cornyn was going to lose, but “Washington ignored it.” They also warned that Paxton could be vulnerable in the general election.
“If Senate Republicans lose the majority, it will be because the NRSC failed to plan for the future and chose to spend a record-breaking sum meddling in a Republican primary in Texas, of all places, where the GOP nominee is almost always favored to win,” the spokesperson said. “That’s malpractice.”
Republican Party officials and Senate GOP leaders think Cornyn has a far better chance than Paxton of staving off a Democratic challenger in the general election. When asked for comment on the race, the NRSC pointed to a memo it circulated to donors earlier this month that said that “John Cornyn is the only Republican candidate who reliably wins a general election matchup,” and warned “Paxton puts this seat at risk.”
“We have to be prepared to spend there, and that’s a very different scenario if Cornyn’s the nominee,” Thune said. “He is by far, I think, the best candidate on the ballot in a general election, not only for the Senate, but also for down-ballot races in the House that could be impacted by the Senate race too.”
The polls bear that out. The NRSC released polling toplines showing Cornyn leading state Rep. James Talarico by 3 points and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) by 7 points in general-election matchups. Paxton would trail Talarico by 3 points and lead Crockett by just 1 point. Nonpartisan public polls have found similar numbers.
A Democrat has not won a U.S. Senate election in Texas since 1988.
Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), who hasn’t made an endorsement in the race, said she hopes the Republican primary avoids a runoff. “We’ve got to keep Texas red,” she said. “That is not a choice, and so the faster we can get someone in place, the better it is for all Texans.”
During a Fox News appearance Monday, Cornyn said he anticipates he will face Paxton in a runoff and warned that a Paxton victory would give Democrats a boost in November.
“Unfortunately, the attorney general has got so much baggage and corruption in his wake that he will jeopardize our chances of keeping this seat red in November,” Cornyn said. “I believe that I can help President Trump in [the] end of his second term by not only winning this race, but bringing along some of these congressmen who are running in these five new congressional seats. Ken Paxton jeopardizes all of that.”
Paxton has led or been in a statistical tie with Cornyn in nearly every primary poll since launching his bid in April of last year, despite campaigning minimally and spending a small fraction compared with Cornyn’s war chest. It’s a testament to Paxton’s status as an aggressive MAGA figure in Texas, a reputation he has forged while serving as Texas’ top lawyer for a decade. Paxton used the power of his office to stoke the culture wars in court, like suing to overturn the 2020 election and defending the state’s strict abortion ban.
Dave Carney, an adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, predicted that Cornyn and Paxton will face off in a runoff, where he suggested Paxton would have the edge. The most conservative candidate tends to win because they often have the most driven supporters in low-turnout primary runoff elections.
“They have to run real campaigns, both of them, they got to model their voters and turn them out,” said Carney.
To date, Trump has resisted making an endorsement in the primary. “I’m friendly with all of them,” he said earlier this month. “I like all of them, all three.”
Thune and other Senate Republicans for months privately lobbied to get Trump to endorse Cornyn, believing he would be the most formidable candidate in the general election. Thune has been careful not to predict what Trump will do in the future. Some top Trump political aides are working on Cornyn’s campaign — but the president has a longstanding relationship with Paxton. There is lingering skepticism in and outside of the Capitol that Trump would endorse Cornyn if the senator comes in second heading into the runoff.
Trump is scheduled to make an appearance in Corpus Christi on Friday to deliver a speech on the economy. A White House aide, granted anonymity to speak freely, said the president will not endorse at the event. The White House hasn’t announced if any of the GOP Senate candidates will join Trump on the trip.
Top GOP donors, too, worry that the party is burning money — and that Paxton still has the upper hand in spite of the huge spending against him, with some concerned about an outright Paxton win.
“Nobody truly knows what is going to happen based on the polling,” said one GOP donor. “There is a scenario [where] Cornyn doesn’t make it into a runoff. But even if he does, a runoff with Paxton will be very tough because of [the] low number of voters who turn out — most of whom are very conservative and viewed as Paxton voters.”
The person added that there is “frustration from everyone that Trump lets this happen by not endorsing.”
Another GOP donor said there’s “not a lot of cautious optimism” among donors that Cornyn will even make it to a runoff. “It’s going down to the wire,” the donor lamented.
Lisa Kashinsky contributed reporting.
The stage lights lift to reveal a young child from Gaza, aloof and tricksy, swallowed by darkness. Theatregoers have assembled at Arcola theatre to see A Grain of Sand — a stand-out one-woman play delivering a bird-eye view of children’s experience of genocide. First commissioned by the London Palestine film festival in 2024, the play is directed by Elias Matar and gracefully executed by Irish-Palestinian actress Sarah Agha.
Agha, playing Renad, wears the brightest smile, dungarees, and two tidy braids. She is perched on a mound of sand, not pale or quartz, but muddy and sullied. She gazes tenderly at Gaza’s shoreline while Israeli fighter jets overhead hum and drum.
Gaza immortalised on stage
The young child was 11 years-old when she was killed by Israel, following its 2023 military assault on Gaza. Her spirit and testimony, one of many in the play, endures through Agha. The play’s message is clear, that no child will be expunged from the historical record – not like the countless lives disappearing from Palestine’s civil registry. Renad’s “verbatim testimony” is one of 18 collected experiences. Agha tells the Canary that these stories were taken from an anthology of poems and testimonies written by Gazan kids — A Million Kites. They form the backbone of the screenplay produced by Good Chance Theatre.
In Agha’s words, the show “immortalises” the hundreds and thousands of children Israeli occupation forces have killed. These deaths are no lapse in international conventions — they’re deliberate. The play conveys this without thrusting upon viewers the gore and depravity clogging our newsfeeds which – while educating the world of Israel’s crimes – also inures us to suffering. Instead, it invites you into the lives and children’s fantasy-prone imagination.
Daisy testimonies
Like a matryoshka doll, Agha pulls out story after story, each nested within each other. But where one story ends and another begins isn’t always clear. Their tales, memories, and fantasies are relayed with tact, levity, and acerbity, despite the difficulty, Agha explains, of being an adult actor playing a child and the “added complexity of it being a child from Gaza”.
The interlaced stories evoke emotions and sensorial experiences of life in Gaza, through a child’s eyes — the aroma of Ouzi rice as it simmers, screeching missiles, shells whistling, chairs falling, drones hissing, and the cacophony of shrieking children, and the haunting silences in between.
As a survivor of war, I’m reminded of my Iraqi father’s words: “you hated the sound of F-16s, you wept inconsolably.” Children, as I’m painfully reminded by those in the play, are rarely handed the mic to speak — their voices muffled beneath the toll of war.
Hell with the lid off
Before Israel’s onslaught transformed Gaza into “hell with the lid off” (a term coined by James Parton), people’s ‘everyday’ wasn’t much different from yours or mine. The play delivers flashbacks to when Gaza was in better shape. Renad, seeking safety and trying to drown out the terror of her missing family, retreats into the folktales her Siti (Arabic for grandma) told, and shares these with us.
Peppered throughout the play, these folktales stand as a monument to Palestinian heritage. They braid together motifs, legends, fables, and mythical creatures. The most striking is Al-Anqaa, a firebird, synonymous with the phoenix and born from Arabic Islamic literature. It also appears as the protagonist of Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “Death of Al-Anqaa,” symbolising the Palestinian experience and perseverance.
If you pay close attention to Gaza municipality’s insignia, you’ll also find the fire bird proudly at its centre.
Renad looks up at the sky, searching for a signal, and Al-Anqaa swoops in — the all-knowing, all-seeing protector of the land of Palestine. The mythical figure reflects Renad’s dissociative state, with her relationship to the sunbird shifting between dour and tongue-in-cheek.
Imagination holds a lifeline
For Gaza’s children imagination is the magic carpet that transports them to a safe space in times of genocide. Zainah, aged 13, expresses this in her cerebral poem where her imagination opens doors to unsuspecting sites of refuge – none of which reality permits.
I hid inside the paintings of artists who paint freedom…Or maybe I hid in the sea, where no one could find me…mov[ing] from one place to another, like a bottle of oil someone threw on the shore. Am I free if I become an object?
The abject helplessness her magical thinking conveys is overwhelming. For Agha, motifs and metaphors form a visual language “to help communicate something horrendous” – a coping mechanism in other words. As one child recounts:
When drones invade my brain I think of Siti’s stories
The actress added that “we cannot summarise or depict how bad the situation is — that’s not what the play is trying to do. The use of metaphor helps me. I need moments of levity, colour, to get me through to the next scene — otherwise I can’t carry it alone.” But warns that “we can’t just rely on a bird” if we’re to effect change.
The sore spots
This levity contrasts with the hair-raising attacks and flashpoints of Israel’s military assault, retold from the perspective of the children no longer with us. Among the tragedies is the senseless raid on al-Shifaa, Gaza’s largest hospital, and the fatal strike on the Abu Hajjaj family residence. The sole survivor, 9-year-old Elham, was left orphaned and severely burned. Despite its lighter notes which darken as it progresses, the play puts its finger on all the sore spots.
As the first UK show to represent a televised genocide, “still unfolding,” Agha reminds us, A Grain of Sand is ultimately a political act. It’s not a play about sentimentality but an elegy for Gazan children. Behind the scenes, multiple discussions were held, she explained, and these eventually spawned an advisory group made up of Gazan artists and writers. Their pain and anguish is felt in every second, minute, and passage – ultimately responding to the impossible question of how, in the midst of a genocide, do you produce art responsibly and truthfully?
There is no single template but as Agha says:
like a grain of sand on a beach, there are thousands, 2.2 million stories and more, we can’t do it all. You cannot account for every grain, but just one is relevant to make up the entire shoreline.
Call to action
By pulling back the curtain on the unspeakable cruelties foisted upon children, the show renders Israel’s excuses inadmissible. It tears away the mask and lays bare the mental horror children endure. But the full depth is accessible only to viewers able to activate their imagination, to pause, and awaken their psyche. Beneath the theatrics, tricksy stories, and fables, there lies an urgent call to action.
Following its initial run at the Arcola Theatre, the tour resumes in Canterbury on February 26, 2026, with the final show set to be staged in Dublin. The full list of dates for the second leg of the tour are accessible here.
Featured image via Good Chance Theatre
Only, the story gets even more bloody ridiculous than that. The Met documents passed to Mandelson’s lawyers actually implicated the speaker for the Lords, Michael Forsyth, who had nothing to do with the whole sorry affair.
Met police blunder
Yesterday, 25 February, the Canary reported that Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle had admitted he was the one who tipped off police to the likelihood that disgraced former peer Peter Mandelson was planning to flee the country and fly to the British Virgin Islands. The tip-off led to Mandelson’s arrest and a renewed police raid on his home.
Mandelson is under investigation after the latest Epstein file release showed him sending confidential government information to serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein. The ‘insider trading’ information would have enabled Epstein and his associates to make an illegal fortune. Former prince Andrew is also under investigation for similar communications.
New information has now revealed that the senior Met officials met with Hoyle on the afternoon of 25 February. They offered an apology to the speaker for revealing that he was the source of the flight-risk tip-off. Internally, the police are treating the incident as a serious breach of protocol.
A Met spokesperson said:
The Met has apologised to the Speaker of the House of Commons this afternoon for inadvertently revealing information during an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office.
However, the BBC reported that officers twice informed Mandelson’s lawyers, Mishcon de Reya, that Forsyth was the source of the tip-off. This is apparently because the Met doesn’t know its ass from its elbow, and confused the speakers for the Commons with the Lords.
‘To prevent any inaccurate speculation’
When the media immediately announced Forsyth as the informant, the Lords speaker said the reporting was “entirely false and without foundation”. Instead, Hoyle publicly stated that he was the previously-anonymous source.
On 25 February, Hoyle told the Commons that:
To prevent any inaccurate speculation, I’d like to confirm that upon receipt of information, I felt it was relevant I pass this on to the Metropolitan police in good faith, as is my duty and responsibility.
The Commons speaker also revealed that the information on Mandelson’s flight-risk was given to him by an an individual in a position of authority in the British Virgin Islands.
The Met police then conducted their own investigation of the veracity of the information. Whilst Mandelson was released on Tuesday morning, the day after his arrest, he reportedly surrendered his passport as a condition of his bail. The ex-peer denies all wrongdoing.
Activists from action group “People against Genocide” have used modified Transit vans to block the entrance to an Israeli weapons factory. Access to the Elbit Systems’ Filton factory was blocked as of 7am today. Palestine Action activists were jailed for over eighteen months without trial for damaging the same factory in August 2024. It was among the pro-Israel groups that pressured the Starmer government to mendaciously ‘proscribe‘ Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ group.
Members of People Against Genocide “locked on” inside one vehicle while others climbed on top of the second van to blockade the site.
Elbit claims that its Filton facility is a research, development, and manufacturing centre. However, previous raids found the military quadcopter drones awaiting shipment to Israel. The occupying force uses these lethal quadcopter drones to murder Palestinians, and, in total, Elbit supplies the occupation with 85 percent of its killer drone fleet.
The Filton protest is part of a wider campaign against firms enabling Israel’s genocide. On 25 February 2026, People Against Genocide activists sprayed the front of the Birmingham offices of Chubb Insurance, a week after targeting Chubb’s London office. Chubb insures Elbit subsidiary UAV Engines, which manufactures engines for Israel’s drone fleet. Without insurance, UAV could not produce these engines in the UK.
A spokesperson for People Against Genocide said of today’s action:
Yesterday we were in Birmingham, hitting Elbit’s insurer. Today, we strike at them directly, by shutting down their key facility at Filton, Bristol. While the genocide of the Palestinians continues, we will not rest in terms of targeting the British-based companies and facilities, who contribute to these war crimes. Elbit, it is time to go!
The very name, People against Genocide, was likely chosen to shame the Starmer regime if it tries to proscribe the group too.
Judge Justice Chamberlain said last year that while Palestine Action was proscribed, the ban does not prevent other groups or individuals undertaking similar actions.
The Palestine Action ban has been ruled unlawful, but remains in place while the Home Office appeals the decision.
Featured image via the Canary
Polls opened at 7 a.m. in Gorton and Denton and remain so until 10 p.m. About a quarter of votes will have already been cast postally… The latest constituency poll, from Opinium, has the Greens ahead: Starmer released a quote for the papers overnight to convince people that Labour is the choice to stop Reform:…
In many British homes — whether it’s a Victorian terrace in Manchester, a new-build flat in Birmingham, or a compact London apartment — the bathroom is often the smallest room in the house. Yet it’s also one of the most used.
The challenge? Creating a space that feels light, open and modern without knocking down walls or embarking on a full-scale renovation.
The good news is that you don’t need extra square footage to make a bathroom feel bigger. What you need is smart design — particularly when it comes to lighting, layout and reflective surfaces.
Here’s how UK homeowners are transforming small bathrooms into brighter, more spacious-feeling rooms with a few well-chosen upgrades.
1. Light First, Everything Else Second
If there’s one thing that makes a small bathroom feel cramped, it’s poor lighting. Many UK bathrooms suffer from limited natural light, especially in older terraces and internal new-build layouts.
A single ceiling pendant simply won’t do the job.
Layered lighting is key. That means combining:
- Overhead ambient lighting
- Task lighting around the basin
- Soft backlighting for depth
This is where integrated mirror lighting has quietly become one of the smartest upgrades in modern bathroom design.
An illuminated mirror distributes light evenly across the face while also reflecting it back into the room. The result? Fewer shadows and a noticeably brighter space — without adding bulky wall fittings.
More homeowners are turning to streamlined solutions like a LED bathroom mirror from LED Mirror World, which combines mirror and lighting into one clean, minimalist feature. It’s a subtle shift that makes a significant visual difference.
2. Go Bigger with Your Mirror (Even in a Small Room)
It sounds counterintuitive, but a larger mirror often works better in a compact bathroom.
A generous mirror:
- Reflects more light
- Creates depth
- Visually doubles the wall space
In tight UK bathrooms where every centimetre counts, extending the mirror width across most of the vanity area can dramatically open up the room.
Round mirrors are particularly popular right now for softening sharp lines in modern interiors, while rectangular backlit designs suit more contemporary schemes. The key is proportion — the mirror should feel deliberate rather than squeezed in.
3. Choose Floating Fixtures for Visual Space
Another clever way to make a small bathroom feel bigger is to lift elements off the floor.
Wall-mounted vanities and toilets create visible floor space underneath, which tricks the eye into perceiving a larger room. The more uninterrupted flooring you can see, the more spacious the room appears.
Pairing a floating vanity with an illuminated mirror enhances that effect. The gentle halo of light around a backlit mirror adds depth to the wall, subtly separating surfaces and reducing visual heaviness.
4. Tackle Condensation the Smart Way
Let’s be honest — condensation is a very British bathroom problem.
Between chilly mornings and steamy showers, mirrors quickly fog up, especially in bathrooms without windows. Not only is this inconvenient, but over time excess moisture can contribute to mould issues.
Modern LED mirrors often come with built-in demister pads, which gently warm the glass to prevent fogging. It’s one of those small luxuries that feels surprisingly essential once you’ve experienced it.
Instead of wiping the mirror down after every shower, the surface remains clear and usable — particularly helpful during rushed weekday mornings.
5. Keep the Palette Light (But Not Clinical)
White has long been the go-to for small bathrooms, and for good reason. But that doesn’t mean the space needs to feel stark.
Warm neutrals, soft greys, and muted greens work beautifully in UK homes, particularly when paired with natural textures like oak, stone or brushed brass.
Reflective surfaces also play a role. Gloss tiles, polished taps and illuminated mirrors all help bounce light around the room.
The goal isn’t to make the bathroom feel flashy — it’s about creating a gentle brightness that makes the room feel calm rather than cramped.
6. Energy Efficiency Matters More Than Ever
With ongoing concerns around UK energy costs, efficiency has become a genuine design consideration.
LED lighting uses significantly less electricity than traditional halogen or incandescent bulbs, while also lasting much longer. Integrating LED lighting directly into the mirror eliminates the need for separate wall lights, reducing both energy consumption and visual clutter.
Brands such as LED Mirror World have leaned into this shift by designing mirrors that balance energy efficiency with everyday practicality — offering dimmable controls, colour temperature options and sleek frames that suit modern British interiors.
For homeowners looking to update their bathroom without increasing running costs, this kind of upgrade ticks several boxes at once.
7. Create a “Hotel Feel” Without the Hotel Budget
One of the most noticeable trends in UK bathroom design is the desire for a hotel-inspired aesthetic.
Think:
- Even lighting
- Clean lines
- Minimal visible fixtures
- A sense of calm
An illuminated mirror is often the feature that pulls this look together. It frames the vanity area, creates symmetry and adds that soft glow associated with boutique bathrooms.
Importantly, this can be achieved without changing the entire layout. Swapping out a standard mirror for a well-designed LED alternative can refresh the room instantly — no tiles ripped out, no plumbing moved.
A Small Room, Reimagined
Small bathrooms aren’t going anywhere. In fact, as urban living continues to prioritise compact layouts, learning how to design them well has become more important than ever.
The secret isn’t about cramming in more features. It’s about choosing fewer, smarter ones.
Better lighting. A well-proportioned mirror. Floating elements. Energy-efficient upgrades.
These aren’t dramatic renovations — they’re thoughtful refinements.
And often, it’s something as simple as upgrading to a quality LED mirror that shifts the entire feel of the space from cramped to considered.
In British homes where space is limited but style matters, that’s a change worth making.
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