Since the escalation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in 2023, the US far right has been exploiting the chance to spread Islamophobia even further. And a new report suggests that prominent US figures have been increasingly using the rhetoric of Christian extremism to do so, particularly around the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.

‘Overtly religious’ framing and genocidal dehumanisation

The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) has reported that:

Since the start of 2026, harmful content targeting Muslims across social media platforms has escalated at an alarming pace.

It said this has further built on the “deeply hostile climate” that far-right, pro-Israel forces have nurtured since 2023. And it noted that the unprovoked US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February “accelerated this trend sharply”.

The CSOH also identified that far-right US leaders in both the government and military have leaned into “overtly religious” framing surrounding the war.

Analysing X posts from 1 January to 5 March, the CSOH noted “a sharp spike” in Islamophobic posts starting on 28 February. Between then and 5 March, it recorded 25,348 such posts. Including reposts, this number shoots up to 279,417.

With leaders’ language fuelling “suspicion, hostility, and violence” against Muslims, the CSOH stated, people online used:

dehumanizing language, referring to Muslims as “rats,” “pests,” “vermin,” and “parasites.” Such language has historically preceded and enabled the most extreme forms of violence against targeted communities.

This, it said, is:

a significant indicator of escalation risk.

A new study found more than 25,000 anti‑Muslim posts on social media since the war with Iran began, signalling a surge in Islamophobic rhetoric in the US and raising concerns about growing online hostility toward Muslim communities.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Hegazy explains. pic.twitter.com/Is2gFGtGD7

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— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 13, 2026

Dehumanisation of a group fuels genocidal rhetoric and actions, as it has in Israel around the settler-colonial power’s decimation of Gaza.

The CSOH also recorded the use of words like “infestation”, along with calls for ‘extermination’, “internment camps”, Muslim bans and expulsion, and the targeting of places of worship.

Rising Islamophobia under Trump’s far-right regime

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) civil rights group has also released a new report. This noted that 2025, the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration, saw the highest number of complaints about anti-Muslim discrimination in three decades. Al Jazeera explained that this was due to factors like:

• The rollback of “civil rights operations at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Education”.
• White House “efforts to punish schools and students for their participation in pro-Palestinian protests and activities”.
• Trump’s statements “attacking Muslim-majority groups living in the US, including Somalis and Afghans”.

The report on Islamophobia highlighted that:

anti-Muslim narratives more clearly resurfaced in 2025, particularly the notion that the religious principles followed by Muslims are inherently threatening and anti-American

CAIR’s research and advocacy director Corey Sawyer said:

In 2025, what we saw in the United States was a group of powerful public officials assert that freedom comes with conditions… You have to speak their approved lines. You have to worship in ways in which they approve. You should trace your ancestry to places that they approve of. And you should think the thoughts that they approve.

And he emphasised that:

Protecting your right to be different and your right to dissent isn’t a favour to any one community… That’s the operating system of a free country.

Under Joe Biden, Democrats let Israel’s fascists get away with dehumanising Palestinians and committing genocide against them in Gaza. Now, as Donald Trump’s far-right regime has actively joined Israel’s destructive rampage throughout the Middle East, that dehumanisation is targeting bigger and bigger groups of people.

The US establishment is showing the world its true face. And if citizens of the country want to rescue what’s good there, they must seriously challenge the ongoing spread of dehumanising and hateful rhetoric. Because only bad things will come if the US continues on this path.

Featured image via NYSBA

BBC editor Raffi Berg will reportedly continue his lawsuit against journalist Owen Jones, despite already losing a key judgment in the case. The decision has been described as a “huge” gamble, because the judge has agreed Jones was expressing a considered opinion. Two of Berg’s lawyer Mark Lewis’s clients were bankrupted in the same way, as journalist Rivkah Brown pointed out:

NEW: Raffi Berg’s lawyer Mark Lewis, former director of UK Lawyers for Israel, says that Berg will continue to sue Jones, despite today’s judicial determination.

It’s a huge wager. Lewis’s previous clients, Daniel Miller and Nina Power, were bankrupted in the exact same way. https://t.co/K1x9YxxVfH

— Rivkah Brown (@rivkahbrown) March 12, 2026

Writer Luke Turner had described both Miller and Power as “fascists” and Miller as a “neo-nazi”. Both were forced to declare bankruptcy over the loss.

BBC spat goes deeper

But they are not the only ones. Lewis was also the lawyer for Israel activists Edward Cantor and James Mendelsohn. The two men, along with ‘Labour against Antisemitism’ (LAAS) director Peter Newbon, had put James Wilson in danger by suggesting he was dangerous to children. Wilson sued. Mendelsohn and Cantor pursued the case disastrously when they could have settled. The High Court awarded Wilson around £150,000 in damages and costs.

Newbon, after putting his family home at risk through this case and another lawsuit, took his own life before the case concluded. According to Wilson, Cantor was losing his family home to cover his share of the loss.

Wilson later published documents, exposed as part of the case’s ‘disclosures’, showing that Lewis had told well-known barrister Gavin Millar that for him, continuing to fight the case was all about getting a large sum of money out of Wilson:

Mr Millar advised against an appeal, but what is more interesting is what the exchanges between the lawyers reveal. I provide a series of extracts below with some analysis and opinions.

The conference started with:

Gavin Millar: Looking at appeal, what do we get out of it?

Mark Lewis: get some money out of him [me]. If good appeal, do so anyway.

Mr Lewis’ apparent fixation with getting money from and bankrupting me is a recurring issue. Later on in the conference Mr Lewis said the most desirable outcome was me paying the lawyers £100,000. Any money that Mr Lewis might have got from me was for himself and Patron Law for their fees. His clients would have got none of it.

Wilson also points out Lewis withholding key documents from the court when Lewis tried to have the lawsuit ‘struck out’. Lewis had not disclosed evidence showing the extent to which his clients’ lies had been distributed and read:

While a discussion about the crucial evidence might have been omitted from the note, the most likely explanation is surely that Mr Lewis and Ms Grossman did not tell Mr Millar about the evidence and that is why it was not discussed?

If I am right about this, then something very weird has gone on. The defendants were paying – it cost them £1,680 – for the advice of Mr Millar, one of the foremost defamation lawyers in the country, but it seems their lawyers did not give Mr Millar crucial evidence so he could give informed advice on a key issue in the litigation.

My suspicion is that the crucial evidence was not given to Mr Millar because he might have advised “You cannot appeal the decision where you have evidence that suggests publication by Mr Cantor to over 500 people”.

Perhaps Mr Millar might also have said “Frankly, I cannot believe you ran what you knew was a misleading case on limited publication to try to get Wilson’s claim struck out”.

And on 11 March 2026 Wilson accused Lewis of lying to the police that he (Wilson) had tried to blackmail Lewis:

Mark Lewis lied to the police that I was blackmailing him. The police sent him an email asking him questions.

Lewis sent the obviously confidential email to his former clients, presumably to show off that the police were taking it seriously.

How bad is this? @sra_solicitors pic.twitter.com/kKNyxQ1ctk

— James Wilson (@per_incuriam2) March 11, 2026

Wilson, himself a lawyer, has commented on Berg’s decision to continue the case:

Mark Lewis is suggesting Raffi Berg will fight on despite losing on meaning.

Berg needs to know what happened to the clients of Lewis in Miller & Power v Turner.

Fighting on was a total disaster for Lewis’ clients – their ended up bankrupt with their reputations destroyed. pic.twitter.com/jMXHNalTYi

— James Wilson (@per_incuriam2) March 12, 2026

Lewis is a fanatical Zionist who once spoke about ‘unapologetic Zionism’ at the launch of a UK pro-Israel group considered by many to be far-right.

He has been sanctioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for abusive conduct on social media – wished a young Jewish supporter of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour dead – and was heavily criticised by a judge in a different case for his conduct of the case and his lack of proper research on behalf of his clients:

a matter of very real concern that the Claimants put evidence before the Court, on an ex parte application, that was not true…

…he had simply failed to carry out sufficient (or any) research or to take adequate instructions from his clients.

It is unclear whether Berg is continuing the case because of legal advice, or out of a personal determination to do so. But the evidence shows that similar stubborn pursuits have not ended well for the clients concerned.

Featured image via the Canary

Number 10 has denied that it is covering up Keir Starmer’s role in his appointments of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US and a senior adviser. The paltry document release so far – filtered through the government – contains nothing showing Starmer’s indubitable input into the appointments.

It also denied the appointment was ‘rushed through’ – despite the files proving that Starmer’s National security adviser warned that Mandelson’s ambassador appointment was “weirdly rushed”.

The papers also put beyond any doubt that Starmer personally knew all about Mandelson’s continuing closeness to serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson remained an ardent fan of Epstein – and passed him sensitive and profitable UK government information – for years after Epstein’s first paedophilia conviction.

Despite this, during a visit to Belfast on Thursday 12 March 2026, the prime minister continued to claim he hadn’t realised Mandelson was close to Epstein.

Clearly, denial is not just a river in Egypt – Starmer’s position is untenable, yet like a bad smell he still lingers.

Featured image via the Canary

Keir Starmer’s government is playing an ever-increasing role in the destruction of Iran, despite his claims that the UK was “playing no role”.

The government’s lines about “regional defensive operations” are becoming harder to believe, as the UK’s actions appear to be contributing to the deaths of thousands of innocent Iranians.

British involvement under Starmer

Britain’s involvement began in January, when the UK and the US began moving weaponry to the Middle East.

According to Declassified UK:

Britain moved “defensive assets” to Cyprus and Qatar in January and February “to ensure we were in a heightened state of readiness of any conflict beginning”, Starmer said last week.

The assets included fighter jets, air defence missiles, advanced radar and systems to take down drones.

Since then, the UK has allowed the US to use several of its air bases. The US has stationed one fleet of military planes at RAF Fairford in Gloucester.

But importantly, Starmer has only approved “defensive” US action from UK bases.

Despite this, the US military has been loading large explosives into B-1 Lancer bombers at the base.

American 🇺🇸 B-1 bombers being loaded at UK 🇬🇧 air bases, with 2000lb ‘bunker busters’

Forget ‘defensive’ action

Starmer has taken the UK 🇬🇧 to war without so much as a debate.pic.twitter.com/zVn3ShUWxO

— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) March 12, 2026

According to Declassified UK, US Planes have been passing through RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, both in Suffolk, as well as Prestwick civilian airport in Scotland.

In total, over 100 fighter jets have left RAF Lakenheath for the Middle East since January.

At least one of the jets from Lakenheath was among those which crashed in Kuwait.

‘Reality of war’

British MP Sarah Sackman also claimed that the US strike, which murdered 165 little girls, was just a “reality of war“. The reality is actually more like an illegal and unprovoked attack, which violates international law.

Ultimately, this plays into the hands of the US and Israel. Instead of condemning their actions, Sackman has practically given the genocidal maniacs permission to continue.

NEW: British minister Sarah Sackman has refused to declare the Iran school massacre – which killed 165 people, including many children – a war crime.

She said it was the “realities of war”https://t.co/bFvoYWXpy6 pic.twitter.com/4ZutHzKBes

— Imran Mulla (@Imran_posts) March 10, 2026

Starmer — Diego Garcia

The UK has a military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Importantly, the UK is illegally occupying the island.

In true British and US colonial fashion, both countries evicted the entire population to establish a joint UK — US military base which has operated since the 1970s.

The US used it for strikes on Afghanistan from 2001, and both countries used it to bomb Iraq from 2003.  

Now it appears that a US submarine, operating from the base, was used to fire two torpedoes at the unarmed Iranian frigate. It then sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Clearly, that is not a defensive operation.

A US submarine operating from UK base Diego Garcia, firing two torpedoes at an Iranian Frigate, destroying it and killing most on board – the first operation of its kind since WW2 – is not a defensive operation.

The British government is at war with Iran and lying to its people.

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— Joshua Virasami 🇲🇺🇵🇸 (@JoshuaVirasami) March 4, 2026

The UK is also allowing the US to use its military base on Cyprus – another country the UK previously colonised illegally.

The BBC reported that the UK was not allowing the US to use its bases in Cyprus for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites. However, American U-2 spy planes are reportedly using the site.

The UK has also now sent HMS Dragon and two Wildcat helicopters to the eastern Mediterranean — supposedly to ‘protect’ RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

However, as the Canary previously reported:

The HMS Dragon is fitted with a Sea Viper missile system. It can launch eight missiles in under 10 seconds and guide up to 16 missiles simultaneously. Wildcat helicopters from the 815 Naval Air Squadron, equipped with Martlet missiles capable of taking out drones, will assist it.

On March 6, a British pilot flying from RAF Akrotiri shot down Iranian drones over Jordan, Qatar and Iraq.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence told the BBC:

Just this week, we have flown Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets on sorties around the region, shooting down Iranian drones and defending innocent civilians from Iran’s indiscriminate attacks.

Why aren’t we letting the US and Israel fight their own battles?

Weapons

Additionally, the UK is still selling millions of pounds’ worth of weapons to Israel.

It provides around 15% of the components in the F-35 fighter jets, which Israel uses in airstrikes across Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

According to Oxfam:

This includes the rear fuselage and active interceptor system, ejector seats, aircraft tyres, refuelling probe, laser targeting system, and the fan propulsion system.

The UK government supplies these parts to Israel via a global programme led by the US company Lockheed Martin.

To make matters worse, the UK produces components for Israeli armed and surveillance drones. Factories in the UK make them and then send them to Israel for assembly. The drones are used for both spying missions and to attack civilians.

We can presume that the drones are also now being used to attack civilians in Lebanon and Iran.

From letting the US use British air bases to sending parts for fighter jets and drones to Israel, the UK is involved in Israel and the US’s illegal war against Iran, whether Starmer admits it or not.

Was it not bad enough that the UK was complicit in the murder of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza? Now, it’s also complicit in the murders of Iranians and Lebanese people.

Starmer has even more blood on his hands.

Feature image via BFBS Forces News/YouTube

Israeli war criminals waging war on Iran, despite admitting to having no plan to beat Iran, will burn down the house and unleash chaos on the wider region. The heat is rising. Energy prices are soaring, ships are being rerouted, and we have even heard talks of maritime escort operations. So who cares if the general public opposes the conflict?

US-Israeli war threatens global oil supply

The massive spike in oil prices and the financial drain of a war whose first week cost USD 11 billion – US defence officials have admitted – has panicked Donald Trump. The arsonist who cried fire is now scrambling for an off-ramp, not to end suffering, but to save his purse, US finances, and the oil market.

But with the war killing 1,348 and injuring 17,000 in Iran, the IRGC-backed leadership wants to be sure the US and Israel think twice before launching another war like this.

Refusing to bow down to US-Israeli bullying, Iran has struck US allies in the Arabian Gulf. Missiles fired from Iran and Iraq – where it maintains proxies – have struck US military hardware, assets, and economic targets held by US allies in the region. This has left oil prices at a worryingly extreme high of $100 a barrel, forcing the International Energy Agency to order the release of emergency barrels.

Soaring costs will likely have a big impact on global economic growth too. Iran, meanwhile, in a targeted message for the US and Israel to back down, has said:

Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised

Petrol and diesel prices are up. Hundreds of mortgage products have been withdrawn. Fixed rate deals are up.

All of us are paying the price for a war the US/Israel started & which our own govt is supporting. pic.twitter.com/qB3sOm8mGB

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 12, 2026

Turning the tables: Iran’s doing to global oil shipping what Trump is doing to Cuba.

The Wall Street Journal says Iran’s control of Hormuz means it’s exporting more oil than before the war. It’s letting its ships go through, while scaring others off. https://t.co/4qjdTR7z0z

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— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) March 12, 2026

What makes this even worse is that, despite Israel yearning for this war for decades, it knew the assault was only likely to do minimum damage to Iran and foment further anger.

“No clear plan for regime change”

A Guardian reporter in Jerusalem, Emma Graham-Harrison, spoke to Israeli security sources. She didn’t mention Israel’s genocide in Gaza or war crimes throughout the Middle East, but got some revealing admissions.

Citing these sources, Graham-Harrison said:

say it was never realistic to expect an air war could immediately collapse the Iranian government or replicate the policy pivot forced on Caracas.

Instead, one argued, that was just “wishful thinking”. Another source with whom Graham-Harrison spoke believes that:

[a] popular uprising during war was always extremely unlikely.

Far from ending future possibilities of Iran seeking nuclear weapons (which Israel, on the other hand, already has), she said sources suggest:

The assassination of Ali Khamenei may have compounded the nuclear threat from Iran.

Khamenei had “for decades held off on… ordering construction of a weapon”, she continued. But the massive military aggression of the US and Israel may now have cemented in the minds of Iran’s leadership, she explained, that:

a nuclear deterrent is the only guarantee of survival.

Nonetheless, in Israel, across civil society and the security and intelligence apparatus, there appears to be overwhelming support for this war. Netanyahu favoured weakening Iran’s weapons stocks and devastating its economy – cognisant that it would unleash hell on the wider region (from which Israel is not immune). Not least, ordinary Iranians have borne the brunt of Western sanctions against Iranian officials and military actors.

Israel, as the Guardian‘s sources suggest, seems likely to stay on course: war until the end. Israel doesn’t bother with the international rules-based order, which it repeatedly flouts. And firm support at home among Israeli society means that it’s business as usual. In other words, “a longer bombing campaign” is anticipated. As Graham-Harrison reported, Israel is:

willing to risk extending an open-ended conflict that began in Gaza and has lasted more than two years on shifting fronts, moving on to Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen.

Critical voices must prevail

It’s clear that people in the UK and elsewhere in the West seriously doubt the reasoning behind the chaotic and devastating US-Israeli assault. And it seems X has even been drowning out these voices amidst the fog of war.

Big Tech = Big Brother on X ll

A photo of a YouGov Poll showing a negative opinion of 🇺🇸🇮🇱 war against Iran has been labelled “sensitive content” – meaning it’ll reach fewer people.

I attach the original image. Please share the heck out of it if you want to annoy Mr Musk. pic.twitter.com/grJTLNB20I

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— Sangita Myska (@SangitaMyska) March 11, 2026

But polls continue to reveal that people keep opposing UK involvement in the mess its allies have created:

Britons tend to oppose allowing the US to use UK airbases specifically to launch attacks against missile bases in Iran, as US bombers begin to land at RAF Fairford

Support: 35% (+3 from 2 March)
Oppose: 49% (-1) pic.twitter.com/5aqHQd2fvo

— YouGov (@YouGov) March 12, 2026

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Just 27% of Britons believe it’s clear why the United States began its recent conflict with Iran

Clear: 27%
Unclear: 61% pic.twitter.com/elEgNrIfBO

— YouGov (@YouGov) March 11, 2026

Even in the US, people distrust Donald Trump’s motives:

⚡️📊 NEW POLL: Majority of Americans Believe Trump Launched Iran War to Cover Up Epstein Scandal

A new Drop Site/Zeteo/Data For Progress survey also finds likely American voters are split on whether Trump is more responsive to the American people or to Israel.

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By @ryagrim…

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 11, 2026

And in Europe, criticism is spreading too:

Iran: From the young girls in an elementary school to the millions of people in Tehran breathing toxic smoke, Trump and Netanyahu don’t bring democracy. They bring chaos and death. Europe needs to stop supporting their criminal war. pic.twitter.com/Ze7IC65bGE

— Marc Botenga MEP (@BotengaM) March 11, 2026

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Our common message to @vonderleyen is clear: you cannot condemn Putin for violating international law, while remaining silent when Trump and Netanyahu disregard those same rules.

International law cannot be invoked selectively, depending on who the violator is. pic.twitter.com/crGOzeGdHg

— S&D Group (@TheProgressives) March 11, 2026

Whether social media platforms or establishment media outlets want to amplify public sentiment or not, the fact is there is massive opposition to the Iran war. And for the sake of peace and stability, we must fight to ensure ordinary voices prevail, and for war criminals to face the consequences.

Featured image via the Canary

Grayzone investigative journalist Max Blumenthal has obtained a leaked audio recording of Elliot Brandt, CEO of AIPAC, Israel’s biggest US lobbying group. In the recording, Brandt describes three politicians as tools for Israeli propaganda: Marco Rubio, now Donald Trump’s warmongering, Islamophobic secretary of state; deranged Israel fanatic congresswoman Elise Stefanik and former national security adviser, now US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, who was caught having secret war-planning meetings with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Isn’t that what a reasonable person would call treason? Watch below:

Here’s that audio

AIPAC’s CEO identified Rubio, Waltz and Ratcliffe as de facto Israeli assets during an off the record meeting in DC pic.twitter.com/SsqGPgMQm7 https://t.co/rJyz6gGjQ0

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) March 12, 2026

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Featured image via the Canary

TSSA rail union members in revolt against the union management’s war on their democracy and branches have arranged a demonstration at the union’s HQ. The protest will take place on Tuesday 24 March from 5pm at Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4SQ.

The union’s deeply unpopular general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust moved, in February 2026, to disenfranchise all the union’s retired members — and boasted about it. Senior TSSA figures also said that she and her coterie lied to justify it and have put the union’s structures into collapse.

Worker and member revolt at TSSA

Eslamdoust claimed to be “proud” of what she had done, claiming that she was fulfilling the recommendations of the Kennedy Report, which exposed the bullying and sexual harassment of former general secretary Manuel Cortes and his cronies. Members and staff, furious at Eslamdoust’s endless war on union workers and member democracy, have not been shy about accusing Eslamdoust of propagating the abuses of the Cortes era rather than undoing them.

The Kennedy Report doesn’t say one word about closing retired branches.

In fact, the report only mentions retired members — at all — a single time. It does not recommend closing their branches, instead saying that the union relies too heavily on them and needs to encourage more working members to take up positions.

It also notes that if working members are not actively engaged in the union, TSSA management can easily stitch up elections to key positions. Ironically, this was exactly how Eslamdoust was installed despite having no relevant experience. It is how her cronies have been kept in their positions despite huge election wins for their rivals.

Because of this risk, the report suggests that TSSA staff who are not TSSA members (most are GMB members, a union now de-recognised by Eslamdoust and her allies) must be allowed to challenge her for the top job. Rather than implement this, Eslamdoust declared war on the union’s branches that might organise and nominate against her.

Finally, for this foreword, I want the TSSA to examine its democratic standing and traditions. It appears that engagement at branch level is dwindling and is heavily orientated towards retired members. This can present a real problem. Not only because it detaches the leadership from the reality of the current world of work as it is being experienced by members, but also because it means there is no healthy throughput of talent to key roles within the organisation. Only TSSA members can stand for election to General Secretary (GS), the most powerful role in the union. The most likely candidate to be successful in a GS election is someone who knows the organisation inside and out – i.e. a staff member. Very few staff members belong to the TSSA. So, GS elections are, to all intents and purposes, uncontested (or are notionally contested by candidates who have little prospect of winning). A key individual is seen to be ‘groomed’ for the post by the small number of senior managers who hold power, and that individual is then ‘crowned.’

That’s all clear enough — and not remotely what the management claims. So to try to persuade furious members that it is, Eslamdoust’s ally John Rees sent an email to retired members claiming that the change is “fully aligned” with Kennedy’s recommendations. And to embellish the claim, he added that it was “comprehensively and fully accepted” by the union’s annual conference after its publication:

This change is fully aligned with the recommendations of the Kennedy Report, which was comprehensively and fully accepted by TSSA Annual Conference in 2023. The report set out a clear direction to consolidate retired members’ structures in order to strengthen representation, improve consistency, and ensure long-term sustainability.

Eslamdoust’s ‘wreckord’

In 2024, Eslamdoust and her allies wrecked the TSSA’s annual conference and blocked a planned no-confidence vote against her.

But this is just the tip of a very large iceberg of member, rep and staff disgust with their ‘leader’. The TSSA has been embroiled for years in strikes because of the union workers’ fury at Eslamdoust’s attacks on them and their GMB union reps, both public and private. The attacks culminated, in January 2026, with Eslamdoust de-recognising GMB as the workplace union — an outrageous move for a union boss, and one that came after Eslamdoust told the Guardian that she is only being criticised because she is female.

That demand for special treatment failed — and TSSA members and staff are now taking their fight to the public square right outside her front door.

Featured image via the author

A US military refuelling plane has crashed in Iraq. All of the six crew members are confirmed dead. An Iran-backed group in Iraq has claimed responsibility, according to Reuters. Yet unverified rumours of a midair collision are circulating.

Open source account Osint Defender posted an image of the surviving KC-135 Stratotanker at an airport in Israel. The image appeared to show damage to the aircraft’s tail:

Photos of a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, at what appears to be Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel (note the car’s license plate), with visible damage to the tail have emerged following the crash of a KC-135 due to a mid-air collision with another Stratotanker… pic.twitter.com/c9SLUnDSMQ

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 13, 2026

US officials have denied the crash was due to enemy fire:

Two aircraft were involved in the incident One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.

Press discipline

Meanwhile UK press discipline is fully intact. Numerous outlets uncritically quoted defence secretary John Healy’s claim that Russia was secretly supporting Iran after an attack on foreign bases in Iraq.

The Guardian, Mirror, Sky, Huffpost UK and the BBC (plus various international outlets) all leant heavily on the term ‘hidden hand’ from Healey’s speech on 12 March.

The Guardian, for example, said:

Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, the UK defence secretary has said, after a night in which drones struck a base used by western forces in Erbil, northern Iraq.

They also cited a UK general:

Lt Gen Nick Perry, the chief of joint operations, told Healey as he visited the UK’s military command centre in Northwood it appeared that Russia had since passed back tactical advice to Iran and its proxies on how to deploy them.

No firm evidence of hands (hidden or otherwise) was produced from what the Canary can see. One of the bases struck in Iraq houses UK special forces troops, it was reported. A French army officer seems to have been killed in the same  attack – or series of attacks – in Iraq:

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the death of Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion from Varces-Allières-et-Risset, serving with the 7th Battalion of the French Army’s elite Chasseurs Alpins, following an Iranian drone attack earlier tonight against a joint base near… pic.twitter.com/QQCWTz7smT

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 13, 2026

Media analysts Media Lens said:

Ramping up the Orwellian propaganda:

Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ and ‘Russian tactics’.

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‘UK defence secretary says’

The Guardian performing its usual state-friendly role by pumping out this MoD press release. 👇https://t.co/Se1pvPhbCP pic.twitter.com/bVHxlUgriI

— Media Lens (@medialens) March 12, 2026

This sort of reporting is fast becoming a habit. On 7 March, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times claimed the drone which hit a UK base in Cyprus on 1 March contained a Russian component. They did so without presenting any evidence or even stating who had told them.

Clearly, Iran and Russia are allies and exchange tactics and technology – as do the US and UK. What this looks like – given no evidence has been presented – is manufacturing consent around Russia, rather in the style of George W. Bush’s 2003 ‘axis of evil’ rhetoric. The Canary, however, likes to see some receipts before uncritically parroting UK government claims.

Featured image via the Canary