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

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.

Demonstrators, campaigners and parliamentarians gather outside the Department of Health and Social Care to protest against the planned clinical trial to assess the risks and benefits of puberty blockers in gender questioning children (Alamy)

4 min read8 min

Last week, the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) wrote to King’s College London, the trial’s sponsor, urging the university to suspend the trial due to concerns over the participants’ well-being. The government agreed to pause the Pathways trial while clinicians scrutinise further evidence.

The study looks at the possible prescription of puberty blockers among young people with gender incongruence. It was set to enrol 226 children aged between 11 and 15. However, the MHRA said it wanted to introduce a minimum age of 14 for participants, and expressed concern about potential long-term harms.

“This trial will only be allowed to go ahead if the expert scientific and clinical evidence and advice conclude it is both safe and necessary,” a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said in response.

As The House magazine reported last month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting is faced with groups of Labour MPs with strongly-held, opposing views on the subject.

For Labour MPs who support the trial, it is an important route to gender-affirming healthcare that will improve the quality of life of children with gender dysphoria and alleviate mental health problems that arise from it.

However, those opposed to the trial, which make up a smaller cohort of Labour MPs, say it is unethical and that not enough is known about the lasting impact of the hormone injections.

MPs in the latter group are making a renewed push to stop the trial altogether.

PoliticsHome understands that Preet Kaur Gill, who is a Parliamentary Private Secretary to technology secretary Liz Kendall, is organising a meeting with Streeting alongside several clinicians and Labour MPs to raise concerns over the Pathways trial. In January, Gill endorsed Blue Labour — the Labour caucus which promotes more socially conservative positions.

Jonathan Hinder, Labour MP for Pendle and Clitheroe, said blocking puberty in young children was “profoundly unethical” and that the trial should be banned over the MHRA concerns.

“It beggars belief that the government ever gave the go-ahead for this trial,” he told PoliticsHome. “A ‘pause’ will not do. The government must cancel the whole trial altogether.”

He added: “Children struggling with their gender identity need love, support and compassion, but they must not be medicalised in this way.”

David Smith, Labour MP for North Northumberland, who also opposes the trial being resumed, added: “To quote it [the MHRA letter] directly, it says, ‘unlike patients with precocious puberty, the proposed cohort in this trial have normal biological hormonal and sexual development but a psychological condition of gender dysphoria’.

“It goes on to raise concerns about the possible long-term harms, such as irreversible bone structural change in participants, raises concerns about cognitive effects, and the long-term potential loss of their fertility.”

Streeting banned the sale of puberty blockers for gender-questioning under-18s indefinitely soon after Labour entered government in 2024. He pointed to the review carried out by Baroness Cass into gender identity services, which raised safety concerns around the lack of evidence for the hormone treatments.

The same review recommended the Pathways trial as a means of research into whether or not puberty-suppressing hormones helped children with gender dysphoria.

Cass told The Observer she was “disappointed” by the MHRA’s intervention and believed that the regulator had bowed to political pressure. Gender-critical campaigners like author JK Rowling have publicly pressured ministers to cancel the trial.

“There are no new research findings and the MHRA hasn’t presented any new evidence,” she told the newspaper. “It feels to me like they are responding to political pressure rather than to science.”

A Labour MP who sits in the party’s LGBT+ caucus said they would be “absolutely furious” if they were Streeting. 

“[He] has been put in an extremely awkward position by this massive and unfounded change of heart by a supposedly impartial regulator,” they told PoliticsHome.

“This decision by the MHRA, taken without new evidence, only makes that task harder and undermines public confidence that the system is acting in the best interests of patients.”

Sean Ridley is Energy & Environment Researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies

Years of government intervention have rendered Britain’s energy market effectively incapable of operating on a truly competitive basis – entangled by a web of subsidies, taxes and guarantees.

The fault here lies with Labour and Conservative governments alike.

It was a Labour government that passed the Climate Change Act, paving the way for emissions targets and the decarbonisation of our grid. It established the Climate Change Committee, carbon budgets and the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) schemes. But it was the Conservatives that introduced a direct price control to the market – the Energy Price Cap, an idea stolen directly by Theresa May from Ed Miliband – and who enshrined Net Zero into law.

These were all seen as necessary in a time of acute climate awareness. Coal has duly been eliminated from our energy mix, while renewables capacity has been greatly expanded: solar, for instance, barely existed in 2011 but now accounts for 21 GW of capacity.

However, the initial government schemes found themselves to be the progenitors of unintended consequences, necessitating further action to compensate for their shortcomings. The Renewables Obligation proved to be financially unsustainable and was closed in 2017, replaced by the more viable Contracts for Difference (CfDs). The FiT scheme was similarly found too expensive and concluded in 2019. But we’re still paying the costs for both of them on our bills.

The Energy Price Cap, brought in to protect vulnerable consumers from being gouged by volatile tariff prices, became the default price of power after the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent wholesale prices soaring, effectively ending price competition in the retail energy market. Today, six firms make up 91 per cent of the market – more than 20 percentage points higher than 2020. Just 18 suppliers operate today; down from 49 pre-energy crisis.

In a new report, the Centre for Policy Studies shows that the price of government intervention is borne by British consumers – and not just in terms of those legacy renewables bills. Britain now has some of the highest energy prices in the developed world, putting the squeeze on households and leaving industry uncompetitive. British households on average pay 20 per cent more for their electricity than their European neighbours do. British industrial firms have it worse – paying 90 per cent more than their competitors on the continent.

Unfortunately, this top-down government direction is set to accelerate: Ed Miliband treats our energy mix like it’s a game of SimCity, and is explicit in his ideological intent to increase the state’s control.

He has set up Great British Energy (GBE) to increase public ownership of the country’s energy assets, appealing to national sovereignty to create a champion capable of matching other state-owned enterprises like France’s EDF and Sweden’s Vattenfall. Yet though GBE had the backing of 62% of the public at the last election, it will likely disappoint their expectations – with an £8 billion capitalisation that is far short of the £40 billion it would have required in this parliament alone to meet its original vision, it seems to spend most of its time handing out uncommercial grants to the public sector to put solar panels on roofs.

GBE will have a supporting role in Ed Miliband’s other grand venture, Clean Power 2030, which aims to rapidly expand renewables capacity further and squeeze out gas – that greatly demonised commodity – by 2030.

But there are problems. Aside from the intermittency issues – the sun isn’t always shining; the wind isn’t always blowing – renewables are not energy-dense forms of generation. For instance, to match the 3.2 GW capacity of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, a solar farm would need to span the entirety of the Isle of Wight.

This doesn’t mean that we should pay much attention to the scare stories about solar farms destroying our agricultural sector: we’ve got plenty of room for both, and in fact you can have solar farms and grazing on the same land. But with all these solar and wind farms dotted across the country, our transmission and distribution networks – the wires and cables that will transport that electricity – will need to be upgraded and expanded. This comes at a cost: the most recent price cap saw network costs rise by £66 per annum.

Then there’s the whole architecture of the CfD scheme – which effectively embeds subsidy as a permanent part of the energy mix. Though not as expensive as the RO was, the scheme effectively acts as a revenue guarantee. So even though gas prices are now falling, and expected to fall further, these new turbines and solar farms will effectively receive a subsidy to meet their strike prices rather than the market price of energy. This is not limited to renewables: Hinkley Point C secured a strike price that is approximately £130 today, far higher than the current £81 wholesale price.

The result is a perverse cycle. CfDs are agreed in order to secure more generating capacity, which lowers wholesale costs, which reduces the return for generators, which increases the subsidies to procure more capacity. And these contracts will have a long-term effect, lasting for 20 years – on top of the legacy costs of the RO and FiT schemes that are still being paid off.

And, as Claire Coutinho has pointed out repeatedly, all of these costs are being stacked on to consumer bills. Of the £963 that made up the average household electricity bill in 2025, £186 was the cost of paying for these schemes, with another £207 going towards network costs. Combined, that is greater than the share of wholesale electricity (£324).

Yes, Labour have opted to move 75 per cent of the cost of the Renewables Obligation on to general taxation, but all this does is pay into one pocket while picking another, with generation subsidies still contributing more than £100 to an average bill.

It is not a comforting picture, but there is some hope. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) are private contracts between a corporate buyer and generator and/or supplier for electricity. The UK’s largest solar farm (373 MW) has two-thirds of its power funded by Tesco through a PPA contract. And the second largest? It’s entirely financed through a PPA, without a CfD in sight.

Not only is this energy being procured on a genuinely commercial basis, it addresses one of the obvious and justified criticisms of renewables: that they can only be built with subsidy. If people are happy to build them without subsidy, why not let them?

All of this matters because we need an awful lot more energy – and currently, we are on track to buy it at a very high price indeed. Last year saw an Octopus Energy executive state to a parliamentary committee that even if wholesale costs fell, policy and network costs would still push bills up. This is especially worrying at a time when energy demand is rising for the first time in 20 years. By 2050, it could be 175 per cent higher than it is today.

The EVs, heat pumps and data centres that will drive that demand will not materialise if prices continue as they are. The only answer is for government to get out the way, make mature technologies stand on their own financially and stop socialising the costs of Ed Miliband’s follies via consumers’ bills.

Return power to the markets, and energy abundance can be a reality in the UK.

Labour is clearly desperate in the Gorton and Denton by-election. No wonder, since it’s running a poor third according to the latest polling.

So with polls opening today, 26 June, it was clearly time for the liar-led party to break out its latest scam: make up a completely fake ‘tactical voting organisation’ that ‘says’ local people need to vote Labour. Then post leaflets with the fake company’s name on – and a fake website.

It’s almost certainly illegal, regardless what ‘imprint’ the party puts in tiny print on the edge. It’s definitely illegal if it hasn’t put one. It’s definitely lying, either way.

Labour are beyond desperate

Labour has made up – plucked from thin air or the diseased brain of some PR slimer, or perhaps Labour Together, as it would fit with that slimy outfit’s record – a supposed organisation called “Tactical Choice”. And, surprise surprise, the non-existent tactical voting organisation made up by Labour recommends that Gorton and Denton needs to – drum roll…. vote Labour:

Got this through my door in the last two hours and was actually taken aback by how far they’ve gone out of their way to make it look like a leaflet from an independent tactical voting org https://t.co/mrqkvEC2Db pic.twitter.com/QWwdJ34WHm

— RopesToInfinity (@RopesToInfinity) February 25, 2026

The fake organisation even has a fake logo – although it looks like one that Labour bought off the shelf for pennies, like Starmer did with his ‘Great British Energy’ scam. And that was definitely a scam. In fact, the party may not even have spent pennies: Google’s AI suggested that the image had been created with children’s wax crayons:

The image displays squares that closely resemble Stockmar Beeswax Block Crayons. These are known for their luminous colors, flat shape, and use in Waldorf education.

And the Greens have noticed, with Green leader Zack Polanski taking Mancunian MP and Labour deputy leader personally and publicly to task for the scam:

Dear Lucy,

On the eve of the by-election, your Labour party spokesperson has admitted to the Huffington Post that a Labour party leaflet has been delivered through doors with your imprint recommending a vote for Labour by a tactical voting organisation which does not exist.

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This is deeply troubling, it is actually lying to voters. ​ Did you approve this? ​ Do you feel the Labour Party in government should be held to different standards in terms of honesty to the British public? ​

In your last letter to me you mentioned your ‘very extensive data’ and ‘having spoken to over a third of eligible voters’ which led you to an understanding that the by-election ‘was a contest between Labour and Reform’. ​ Clearly this latest development only tells voters one thing – you will employ any type of political deception (or in Urdu “Dhoka”) to win. ​

You will be very aware that all three real tactical voting organisations are recommending a vote for the Greens as the best way to stop Reform. ​ Lying to the voters, as you have been caught doing, raises the real prospect that Reform will be the beneficiaries, something you have said that you don’t want. ​

As this is such an important issue, for the sake of your own reputation, I would strongly urge you to apologise to the voters of Denton and Gorton before the polls open in the morning. ​

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Kind regards,

Zack Polanski
Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

But the leaflet isn’t all. The website it contains is also a scam. It uses an address that sounds like a general democracy website: iwillvote.org.uk. But the small print – right at the bottom where it will probably only be noticed by the sharp-eyed who know to look – shows that the website is operated by Labour:

Labour lies and it lies and it lies. Then it lies some more. Keir Starmer conned Labour members into voting for him by lying and breaking every promise he ever made. Now he’s trying to con voters in Gorton and Denton. He fully deserves the electoral kicking that the pollsters are predicting.

Featured image via the Canary

Nadiya Hussain has labelled the TV industry as “broken” in an interview with the Guardian, where she exposed the racist and sexist system, which she explains is paying Black and Brown women less than their white counterparts.

Nadiya Hussain speaks out on gaslighting

Nadiya rose to fame in 2015 when she was crowned champion of the Great British Bake Off. She quickly became a much-loved cultural fixture, publishing cookbooks and children’s books, and making TV shows.

In Summer 2025, Nadiya posted a video on Instagram saying that the BBC had decided not to commission another cookery show. Earlier that year, she published a cookery book titled ‘Rooza’. It was inspired by dishes from across the Islamic world, especially at Ramadan and Eid.

She knew it would not be attached to a TV series. However, the BBC then told her they would not be making her next book, Nadiya’s Quick Comforts, into a series, either.

The BBC then said:

After several wonderful series, we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.

Nadiya then discussed gaslighting in the industry on Instagram without naming the BBC. She emphasised that as a Muslim woman, she rarely felt supported and TV bosses did not allow her to fulfil her potential.

Soon after, Nadiya left her agent and manager.

Nadiya told the Guardian:

The last year has been intense, really exposing, but it has been really enlightening at the same time.

She told the Guardian that she had been feeling uncomfortable in her job for a while, along with dealing with health issues, which included an autoimmune diagnosis. She said:

I started to feel like a caricature of myself. I’d become a version of myself that was manufactured and comfortable for everybody.

I’d become this palatable version of a Muslim that could be on television, that could write cookbooks. I’d become this really comfortable version of myself that was easy to digest.

‘Overwhelming whiteness’

Nadiya has spoken publicly many times about the “overwhelming whiteness” of TV and publishing.

Over the last year, she has realised how broken the system really is, and that she can’t change a broken industry.

She added that:

It’s always been really difficult to be the only person like me in a room.

And understandably, she’s tired of people asking if things have changed or “are we doing better?”

She told the Guardian that she:

has no evidence that it was Rooza that meant some brands no longer wanted to work with her, but this is the feeling she can’t shake.

She continued:

It was really interesting, because I felt like people had just twigged, ‘Oh, she’s a Muslim’, and suddenly I wasn’t palatable any more. Suddenly I wasn’t the same Nadiya that I was before, because before I was writing cookbooks that were for everybody, and now I wrote this book that didn’t feel inclusive.”

But her faith and culture are a huge part of who she is, and she thinks that made people uncomfortable.

Nadiya realised that she had very little control over her career. She said the feeling intensified when she saw the world not embrace her new book, Rooza, as it had previous books, especially when she was so “immensely proud” of this one.

She said:

I know how many people felt seen and heard with a cookbook like that. I write something that is really close to my heart, and suddenly I’m losing brand deals and people don’t want to work with me any more.

A neat little box

Nadiya felt as if the TV and publishing industries had put her into a neat little box. But suddenly, she didn’t fit. Quite beautifully, she realised:

I have to be the most authentic version of myself.

I just softened my edges enough to fit in. Even things like I changed the way I wore my headscarf because it felt more modern to wear it a different way. I did that without even realising it. I much prefer to wear it this way [covering her neck, as opposed to wrapping only her hair], but this makes me somehow look more Muslim.

The people around her also suggested that she should not post anything political on social media, such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza. She complained many times about people making misogynistic or racist comments, but bosses always told her:

‘That’s just the way they are’, or ‘just ignore them’.

She wished she hadn’t let stuff go. However, she knew the higher-ups would see her as “difficult” if she complained. Which tells you all you need to know about the state of the industry.

She added that, as a woman of colour, she felt she should be “endlessly grateful”. Which, of course, she should not. This means she has come to expect criticism, especially on social media – she cannot escape it.

To make matters worse, the racist comments have become “noticeably worse and more frequent”.

She said:

I think people are braver and just think they can say whatever they want. The world feels like it’s on fire at the moment. It’s hideous what’s happening right now, and it feels like no amount of speaking out is doing anything. But I think we must not forget that even one voice is better than no voice at all.

It took Nadiya a long time to realise she was good at what she does – and actively silenced herself in the process of realising that. She believes:

I get paid less to do the same job as the white version of me.

Nadiya Hussain has talked at length about the racism, her mental health, and the trauma she experienced in childhood, but she told the Guardian:

One thing I’ve learned in the last year is that it’s really important to always speak your truth.

Featured image via Loose Women/YouTube