Politics
Youth mobility negotiations – UK in a changing Europe
Catherine Barnard and Denzil Davidson explain why negotiations on a youth experience scheme between the UK and the EU are so complex.
A UK-EU deal on youth mobility or ‘youth experience’, was always going to be fraught. Stopping free movement of people was the issue that clinched victory for the Leave side in the Brexit referendum. Yet many think that limited-time work/study opportunities for young people should continue. However, there is a problem with legal competence – the power for the EU to negotiate a full-fat youth mobility scheme enabling young people to travel, study and, crucially, work. This blog explains the problem and considers what can be done.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the current basis on which the EU and UK trade with each other, makes only limited provision for individuals to move between EU member states and the UK. They must be providing services on a temporary basis as, for example, independent professionals or short-term business visitors, and the type of business they do must be listed in the annex. So, researchers or consultants can move but musicians and artists cannot because their professions are not listed in the annex. Currently, anyone wishing to move from the UK to the EU or vice-versa to study or work must rely on the vagaries of the national law of the EU member state in question. Hence the call for a youth mobility scheme benefitting the 18-30s as part of the UK-EU reset to make this easier.
While the UK and the EU share a vision on the breadth (and benefits of) the youth experience scheme, they have different substantive priorities. For the EU, it is access to UK universities for EU students on the same terms as UK nationals i.e. at lower ‘home’ fees (something that was not in the 2025 Common Understanding between the EU and UK). For the UK, it is the opportunity for the young to work, study and travel and a potential, reviewable cap on numbers of EU nationals coming.
The UK already has highly flexible, albeit capped, youth mobility schemes with 13 countries. Armed with a visa (on payment of a £319 fee and the health surcharge of £776 p.a.) and with savings of £2,530, the young person is free to come to the UK for two to three years to study, to work, to travel or to do nothing at all (and to switch between these activities), with no requirement to be sponsored by an employer. This is the UK’s vision for the EU/UK scheme.
By contrast, the EU itself has no youth mobility schemes. It has Directive 2016/801 which allows third country nationals to come to an EU member state for research, studies, training and voluntary service pupil exchanges, and to be an au pair, but not to work more generally. Individual member states have their own youth mobility schemes and it is the national mobility schemes which allow individuals to come to, say, France to work.
Herein lies the rub. The EU can negotiate a deal with the UK only in areas where it has competence. Its mandate, while broader than five years ago, does not explicitly extend to work. Further, Article 79(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) reserves to member states the right to determine ‘the volume of admission’ of third country nationals coming to their countries to work. This includes not just numbers but other conditions, such as a labour market test or sectoral limitations.
The EU’s lack of competence is one explanation for why the UK tried to negotiate bilateral schemes with France, Germany, Spain after Brexit: it’s the individual states who can agree to the terms on work. However, the UK was blocked by the European Commission which objected to the ‘differential treatment of Union citizens’.
Yet, the 2025 Common Understanding said that a youth experience scheme should facilitate the participation of young people from the EU and UK in ‘various activities, such as work, studies, au-pairing, volunteering, or simply travelling, for a limited period of time’. The Commission now worries that it does not have the legal competence to negotiate this ‘full-fat’ deal. It is dependent on the member states to deliver on commitments about work and the fear is that under Article 79(5), France, say, could set the figure on UK nationals coming to work in France at zero. So, it seems that the Commission has stopped bilateral deals without having the power to negotiate an EU-wide replacement.
Is there any way out of the impasse?
The legal basis (i.e. EU power) to adopt Directive 2016/801 was Article 79(2)(a) and (b) TFEU. This gives the EU the powers to regulate (a) ‘the conditions of entry and residence, and standards on the issue by member states of long-term visas and residence permits’ and (b) the definition of the rights of third-country nationals residing legally in a member state. One argument would be that the reference to ‘rights of third country nationals’ should include the right to work. The Blue Card Directive 2021/1883, adopted under the same legal basis, lays down ‘the conditions of entry and residence for more than 3 months in the territory of the member states, and the rights, of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment and of their family members’. But that does not deal with the problem of Article 79(5).
If the Commission and the member states will not accept full competence under Article 79(2), another solution could be a framework or ‘mixed’ agreement, whereby the European Commission negotiates on matters which are under national competence but any resulting agreement requires member state ratification for it to come into force. This is complicated by the British desire for a UK-EU youth mobility agreement to secure youth mobility for British citizens not only to individual member states but enabling them to move across the EU more broadly, at least between two or three states, a matter on which the Commission’s competence is also uncertain.
Alternatively, there is a Canadian model: Canada has bilateral youth mobility agreements with 21 EU member states but no EU wide framework. An agreement could be made on non-work mobility between the UK and the European Commission, with a commitment that bilateral agreements on work would follow. But this may be unsatisfactory in two ways: first, the EU could obtain its ask on study without the UK ask on work being guaranteed, so some form of carrot and stick needs to be built into the agreement together with a review mechanism, and, second, it could mean precisely the differential treatment by nationality that the Commission wishes to avoid.
Some political flexibility and legal creativity are, therefore, needed if a youth experience scheme is to be agreed in time for a summit in early summer. The UK, the EU and its member states will need to understand that the benefits of a youth mobility agreement will be balanced and will be delivered by all sides. And since the Common Understanding’s other work strands in agrifood (SPS) and emissions trading form a package deal with youth mobility, the summer summit may lack substance if that flexibility and creativity is not found.
By Catherine Barnard, Professor in European Union Law and Employment Law, University of Cambridge and Denzil Davidson.
Politics
DWP minister refuses to rule out scrapping LCWRA for under 22s
A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister has refused to rule out scrapping the health element of Universal Credit for young disabled people under the age of 22.
Instead, minister of state for social security and disability Stephen Timms seemed to hint the government may already be treating it like it’s a foregone conclusion that it needs to implement the benefit cut.
DWP Universal Credit cut for under 22s: plans could still be afoot
In March 2025, then DWP boss Liz Kendall announced the plan as part of its sweeping £5bn programme in welfare cuts.
Specifically, the government floated the proposal that people under the age of 22 would no longer be eligible for the limited capability for work related activity (LCWRA) part of Universal Credit (UC).
This would have meant the DWP would strip young disabled people of £416.19 every month. Across a year, this would have resulted in a total £4,994.28 loss in the health benefit.
Of course, the DWP assesses claimants as LCWRA if they are too sick to work. Given this, there’s no conceivably justifiable reason why a disabled person under 22 should be any less eligible for this.
And plenty of respondents to the government’s own consultation published in October spelled this out in no uncertain terms. More than 3,300 people told the DWP that social security support:
should be based on need, not age.
Campaigners like Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) have previously lambasted the cut. The group has particularly highlighted its impact on disabled students and their future job prospects.
In November, DWP secretary Pat McFadden confirmed that the government had not yet decided whether to take its proposal forward. He told parliament that the department wouldn’t be making any firm decisions until after Alan Milburn publishes his review into young people and unemployment this “summer”.
The DWP commissioned Milburn to carry out the “independent investigation”. It aim is to explore why young people are not in employment, education, or training (so-called NEET).
Now however, Timms has kicked the can down the road further – and refused to rule out the callous cut.
Already decided? That seems likely
Speaking to parliament on Tuesday 28 April, Timms responded to a question on the plans from Labour MP Ben Coleman.
He told parliament that:
There is an urgent need to address the big rise in the number of young people not in work, education or training that took place before the last general election. We think that better support might help young people more than extra cash. Alan Milburn’s review on the NEET problem more broadly will report in September; we will wait until then to decide whether to delay access to the universal credit health element until the age of 22. If we did do that, there would need to be exceptions.
The first notable part of Timms’ reply is that he made the decision to couch his answer in the context of the supposed “big rise” in the number of young people not in work, studying, or training. That was likely a deliberate move – because straight away Timms’ was seeking to justify the government’s vile proposal.
The next part of his answer reinforces that the DWP seems to be putting the cart before the horse.
If the government is already beginning from the position that employment schemes are better than welfare, then it goes some way to confirming fears that the Milburn review will be another monumental stitch-up. It’s the DWP playbook in a nutshell. That is: manipulating disabled people’s input to back up the conclusions it has already made.
And obviously, that “summer” publication date has now morphed into “September”.
Milburn review: gearing up to manipulate results to the DWP’s advantage
And of course, this was another problem with Timms’ response more generally. Put simply, the fact that the fate of the health element for disabled people under 22 rests on the shoulders of Blairite former health secretary Alan Milburn.
As the Canary’s Rachel Charlton-Dailey pointed out, in 2024, Milburn:
authored a report which wanted disabled people to be pushed into work. The report called for the government to cut benefits except for those with “severe disabilities”. This was, of course, adopted as part of the Universal Credit Act last summer.
The same report also called for the DWP to sink its claws further into the NHS. This had the obvious aim to kick chronically ill and disabled people off their benefits and coerce them into work.
Disability News Service (DNS) noted how Milburn’s review specifically – and exclusively – targets young disabled claimants.
Timms also already tried to soften the blow with talk of “exceptions”. As such, this also hinted at a DWP that’s hell-bent on ramming through the vicious cut in one way or another.
DWP doing its usual: wrecking disabled people’s lives
To three separate written questions, Timms was similarly evasive on the DWP’s plans for the proposal.
Labour MP and a leading rebel against the benefit cuts Neil Duncan-Jordan and DUP MP Jim Shannon and probed the government on impact assessments.
Timms’ answers made apparent it hasn’t done any for the possible benefit cut. He also didn’t commit to carrying any out once the government has decided its plans.
Once again, he merely pointed to Milburn’s upcoming review. Of course, if it does introduce this, it will likely need to do an impact assessment. However, it’s probable it will be little more than a tick-box exercise. Because ultimately, the DWP will have already made up its mind.
What’s clear is that the government hasn’t given up on wrecking young disabled people’s lives just yet. Flashy-sounding youth employment schemes putting them at the mercy of profiteering corporations for paltry wages won’t level the playing field for young disabled people. And cutting financial support to young disabled claimants who can’t work to force them into these low-paying jobs is a one-way ticket to destroying their futures.
This Labour government neither wants to admit that, nor cares.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
EU ready to sanction Israel over stolen grain after ignoring war crimes
The EU has warned that it is ready to sanction anyone in Israel who is “aiding and abetting” the trade of Ukrainian grain, which Russia stole.
The shipment of stolen grain arrived in Haifa on a Panama-flagged vessel. It is allegedly carrying over 6,200 tonnes of wheat and 19,000 tonnes of barley. However, the ship is yet to unload.
The European Union has warned Israel that it is ready to impose sanctions on those aiding and abetting the trade of Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia in the occupied territories, after a new ship loaded with the cereal arrived in the port of Haifa.https://t.co/tW6oNoCM8k pic.twitter.com/eRSsQyXLNm
— euronews (@euronews) April 28, 2026
Importantly, though, the EU has ignored all of Israel’s war crimes for years. It has refused to sanction Israel over the illegal attacks and mass murder of Palestinians, Iranians, and Lebanese people.
The EU may sanction Israel over a boatload of grain that was allegedly stolen from Ukraine, but it won’t sanction Israel over the mass murder of Palestinian children. https://t.co/X0gqq1N0BF
— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) April 28, 2026
EU Silence is complicity
It says a lot about the collective values of Western countries when the hard red line is stolen grain.
But even Ukraine has been a staunch supporter of Israel — until this point.
Now, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, has urged Israel to turn the Russian vessel away. He said his government would start preparing “relevant sanctions”, in coordination with Europeans, against those:
attempting to profit from this criminal scheme.
The EU has already sanctioned several Russians over the theft of Ukrainian grain. Additionally, in 2024, it agreed to put tariffs on grain products from both Russia and Belarus in response to the thefts.
However, EU-level sanctions require unanimity among the 27 member states. Of course, when it comes to Israel, some EU countries, such as Germany and Italy, refuse to stand up to the genocidal terrorist state.
In response to the stolen grain arriving in Haifa, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Kyiv had summoned Israel’s ambassador.
The hard red line?
Occupation, colonisation and apartheid were not enough for the EU to take action against Israel.
So let’s get this right: apartheid Israel can commit genocide, bomb, kill, torture, starve, start wars, collectively punish, dehumanise Palestinians — war crime after war crime — and the European Union supports it all the way. But buy food from Russia, and they threaten to come… https://t.co/GwGMydJseo
— Martin L. Zinn (@MartinLZinn) April 29, 2026
Neither was a United Nations (UN) commission, which ruled that the settler-colonial state was committing genocide against Palestinians.
The EU today: “A genocide is ok but we draw the line at buying grain from Russia” https://t.co/fmxxT1JXIL
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) April 29, 2026
Or the evidence from Human Rights Watch, which verified that Israel had used White Phosphorous — an incendiary weapon that is illegal to deploy in civilian areas — over residential areas in both Southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Israel Deploys Banned White Phosphorus Bombs on Civilian Areas in South Lebanon
Israel has dropped white phosphorus munitions on civilian-populated areas in Al-Tiri, South Lebanon, in a move condemned as a violation of international law. pic.twitter.com/scW7l36raq
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) April 26, 2026
And the ruling that Israel is deliberately depriving Gaza of food and water.
WOW! @EUCouncil finally grows a spine and threatens to sanction Israel (not for killing thousands of Palestinians, bombing Gaza to stone age, displacing and starving entire population, raping detainees etc) but for trading with Russia for some “stolen” Ukrainian grains. https://t.co/Nv5vAFcPWd
— Nusaybah (@hate_stopper) April 28, 2026
Yet the EU wants to take a stand now, over some stolen grain.
EU priorities on full display
Ready to threaten sanctions on Israel over stolen Ukrainian grain arriving in Haifa…
But months of devastation in Gaza? Total silence.
The selective outrage says it all.
Hypocrisy level: maximum.https://t.co/rnUbbFLfBN
— Sheikh Waqas Akram (@SheikhWaqqas) April 29, 2026
Does the EU really place more value on stolen grain than the lives of people in West Asia?
Decades of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and oppression and 2.5 years of genocide, war crimes and starvation weren’t enough for the EU to even issue a statement of concern.
One Russian vessel carrying grain: https://t.co/7gVB8CR38s
— Amir (@AmirAminiMD) April 28, 2026
Of course, we should now expect Israel to accuse both the EU and Ukraine of being antisemitic. And who knows, maybe the grain was also promised to Israel 3000 years ago?
Hypocrisy
In what world is it okay for the EU to greenlight Israel’s genocide but then draw the line at buying stolen grain?
The decisions by the EU are nothing short of racist.
How Palestinian lands, resources and lives stolen & annihilated by Israel?
Ultimately, Europe considers Ukrainians as human beings with rights, projecting on them an extension of itself. Palestinians are “the other”: for
they do not have the right to be protected by intl law. https://t.co/hAOcUftSYF
— Tara Riva (@tara_riva) April 29, 2026
The long and short of it is, nearly 95% of Ukrainians are white, unlike the majority of Palestinians, who are Arab.
When Russia launched its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the majority of European countries opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees.
However, Palestinians do not get the same treatment.
Both situations involve a colonial power. However, the West reacts completely differently when it’s Israel murdering brown people.
EU ready to sanction Israel on account of Ukraine, not Gaza… White lives matter more! https://t.co/NRxcmK8j9x
— Anckarström, Esq.
(@ibnkafka) April 28, 2026
Of course, the EU should sanction Israel. But it should have done that years ago.
It should not take grain being stolen by another violent and expansive country, which happens to also be a threat to Europe, for the EU to think about putting its foot down.
The EU should be prioritising human rights and international law. Instead, it places less importance on the lives of people in West Asia than it does on a boatload of grain.
Human rights are human rights — no matter the colour of someone’s skin, their religion, or where they were born.
Feature image via Al Jazeera English/YouTube
By HG
Politics
River Plate sets a new attendance record: 105 sold-out matches and 8 million fans at the Monumental
River Plate continue to cement one of the most remarkable fan phenomena in modern football, having reached 105 consecutive sold-out matches at the Monumental, a figure described as one of the longest-running in the world in terms of consistent attendance, according to reports by Football Ground Guide and Revista Deporte Mas.
Over 85,000 fans per match
River Plate’s home matches have become a fixture of consistent attendance, with an average of over 85,000 spectators per match – a figure repeated once again in the ‘Superclásico’ against Boca Juniors, according to Football Ground Guide.
This attendance figure reflects not just an exceptional match, but a consistent pattern of full capacity, following the expansion that increased the capacity of ‘El Monumental’ to over 85,000 seats, making it one of the world’s most consistently full stadiums.
River Plate — 8 million fans in 4 years
According to data published by Revista Deporte Mas, the total attendance for River Plate’s home matches since 2022 has surpassed the 8 million mark.
This figure reflects a sustained, uninterrupted level of match attendance, rather than merely seasonal peaks.
The Superclásico .. The pinnacle of the spectator experience
The Superclásico clash against Boca Juniors epitomised this phenomenon, with the stands completely full and the atmosphere reaching an exceptional level of fan engagement, in a match considered one of the most intense, well-attended and influential in world football, according to Football Ground Guide.
River Plate’s figures reveal that the club does not merely achieve high attendance figures, but creates a consistent pattern of full capacity, with the Monumental stadium becoming a venue where empty seats are unheard of.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
Politics
A thousand school workers in Sheffield receive repayment offers in compensation milestone
Beginning on 23 April, around 1,000 school workers across Sheffield began to receive equal pay settlements from the city council.
The payouts follow a sustained campaign from unions GMB, Unite and Unison. They recognise years of systematically underpaid work in roles which have historically been dominated by women.
The unions first highlighted the injustice to the council back in September 2023. The council then announced that it had reached a landmark agreement on pay redress in September 2025. At the time, it stated that:
The agreement will see more than 3,600 employees in the Council in around 260 roles receive a redress payment to address the historical equal pay issues. The total offers to these employees are estimated to cost around £36m. The payments to eligible employees will be funded by reserves.
The Sheffield Role Review Programme
However, on 28 April 2026, Sheffield Council told local news outlet The Star that it’s carrying out the repayment work in stages. As such, it’s currently contacting only the staff in community-maintained schools.
As such, around 1,000 workers across 38 schools recieved their repayment offers on 23 and 24 April. The council stated that the number of recipients is lower than last year’s estimate because:
Schools that have not yet completed the data assurance process or have recently converted to an academy will be included later this year, once that work is finalised.
Community-maintained schools are being treated separately from other council services, because the process needed to be tailored to work for schools.
All of the institutions fell under the remit of the Sheffield Role Review Programme, which examined payment levels in jobs with a historic majority of women staff members.
The affected jobs include teaching assistants and office workers, but not teachers themselves. Likewise, the programme reviewed all roles in the schools, regardless of whether the unions submitted a claim relating to them.
George Ayre, Unison’s organiser for the region, said:
This will affect a significant number of low-paid support staff at community schools.
It’s the result of a lengthy negotiation process to help workers who’ve experienced pay inequality.
The union will continue to deal with pay injustice wherever it occurs.
‘A real and tangible difference’
The payments will be backdated to 2018, and are set to include pension top-ups. As such, some employees could be looking at five-figure offers, in redress for 8 years of underpayment.
All being well, the money should be with the workers — 90% of whom are women — by the summer. However, the money will still be subject to national insurance and tax contributions.
GMB characterised the milestone as a “significant moment in the ongoing process” of righting historic inequalities under the council. Peter Davies, head of the union’s Regional Equal Pay Unit, said:
This week marks a powerful moment for working people in Sheffield.
For many of these workers, this money will make a real and tangible difference to their lives.
This progress reflects the collective work between GMB and Sheffield City Council to address historic inequalities.
We need to ensure that pay injustice is never again something council employees in Sheffield are forced to experience.
The process of redressing the sexist pay imbalance will be a long one, and the unions will need to be vigilant that all of the workers receive their payments in full.
However, and for now, the first wave of offers marks the culmination of years of negotiation, and a significant victory for the workers and their hard-working representatives.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Norway presses FIFA to revoke the Peace Prize awarded to Trump
Criticism within European football circles of FIFA has intensified after the president of the Norwegian Football Association, Liz Klavenes, called for the cancellation of the ‘Peace Prize’ introduced by FIFA, which was awarded to US President Donald Trump, arguing that the move constitutes a clear breach of the principle of political neutrality.
Klavénes, who also sits on the Executive Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), confirmed that she would raise this issue during the FIFA Congress, stressing the need for world football’s governing body to maintain a “distance” from political leaders.
FIFA ethics complaint and mounting pressure
In a notable escalation, Klavenis announced her support for an ethics complaint filed against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, over his role in awarding the trophy, amid accusations of breaching neutrality rules.
According to The Athletic, the complaint — filed by the human rights organisation Fair Square — alleges that Infantino politically promoted a public figure whilst in office, as well as awarding a politically charged prize without a clear institutional process and bypassing official structures within FIFA, including the Congress.
These findings suggest a possible breach of FIFA’s Code of Ethics, which requires its officials to maintain complete neutrality regarding political matters.
In November, FIFA announced the creation of a “Peace Prize” with the aim — according to its statement — of “honouring individuals who have performed exceptional acts to promote peace and unite peoples around the world”, without obtaining prior approval from the FIFA Council.
On 6 December, during the World Cup draw ceremony held in Washington DC, Infantino presented the award to Trump, in a move that sparked widespread controversy within sporting and political circles.
Fears of the politicisation of the game
Klavinis believes that introducing politically charged awards into the global football system threatens the independence of the game, stressing that such initiatives must be carried out within clear institutional frameworks and free from personalisation or political agendas.
She also stressed that FIFA’s credibility is linked to the extent of its commitment to the principles of transparency and governance, particularly in light of increasing international scrutiny of its decisions.
This crisis comes within a broader context of criticism directed at Infantino’s administration, which faces repeated accusations of closeness to political figures, raising questions about the international federation’s impartiality.
This issue is becoming increasingly sensitive as the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico approaches, placing the relationship between politics and football under the microscope.
Featured image via UEFA
By Alaa Shamali
Politics
Ukrainian arson trial: prosecution claims ‘Russian’ paid 3 men to burn Starmer property
The trial of three young Ukrainian men facing arson charges for allegedly setting fire to property belonging to Keir Starmer is underway. The prosecution is attempting to paint a picture of Russian involvement in the attacks. Allegedly, a Russian-speaker known as ‘El Money’ paid the men to set the fires and they accepted, even though Ukraine was already at war with Russia.
Not only is the issue of motive for a Russian paying Ukrainians to target a UK PM helping Ukraine not being addressed, prosecution barrister Duncan Atkinson has told the jury that it’s none of their business:
It is no part of your considerations to decide who ‘El Money’ is and what reason he might have had to co-ordinate the actions of these defendants against these properties and this car associated with the prime minister.
The court has heard that police extracted data from the defendants’ phones and searched it by key terms, contacts and locations. But although the information was put into a timeline for the case, Atkinson said that the timeline might not match exact timings of the events. He told jurors that the information extracted includes “images and video of the three locations” of the arson attacks.
The defendants were also said to have used the Telegram encrypted messaging app, which “in many cases” meant police could only recover half of the conversations because of automatic or manual deletions.
Starmer’s property that was attacked included a RAV4 car, a house in Ellington Street managed by a company of which Starmer had been a director and shareholder and a house in Countess Road that he still owns. Allegedly, the accused bought supplies from B&Q for the attacks.
All three deny the charges.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
Politics
Trump’s face to appear on US passports
In the latest sign that Donald Trump has a high opinion of himself, his face is set to appear in a set of commemorative American passports.
Patriot passport unlocked. Limited edition. Stamped for America 250. — The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 28, 2026
pic.twitter.com/86uxPS1FEk
Trump — Happy birthday
These passports will celebrate America’s 250th birthday. While a more moderate president might have seen fit to picture one of their predecessors, Trump has instead opted to plaster his pouting mush inside.
An administration official has confirmed to the BBC that the new designs will be available for “any American citizen” who applies for a passport when the rollout kicks off, and will continue for as long as there is availability.
The passports will also only be available at the Washington Passport Agency.
There is actually some confusion around this, with some thinking it will apply to all passports issued this year:
If you're renewing your passport or your National Parks pass this year, it will have Trump's face on it https://t.co/CV4ptRsQ4p pic.twitter.com/hRajGjGPnD
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) April 28, 2026
Attorney Mike Levin said:
You have got to be kidding me.
The State Department is putting Donald Trump’s scowling face on the U.S. passport.
His signature in gold. Superimposed over the Declaration of Independence, a document literally written to get away from this exact behavior.
No sitting president has ever done this. Coins, park passes, battleships, and now your passport. The man cannot find a surface he will not slap his name or face on.
This is not patriotism.
It is vanity.
Trump’s niece, meanwhile, said the following:
I've never been so relieved to have already renewed my passport. pic.twitter.com/tbnEEuyLgJ
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) April 28, 2026
Home of the vain
A White House spokesperson said:
President Trump’s new patriotic passport design provides yet another great way Americans can join in the spectacular celebrations for America’s 250th birthday.
Between the UFC250 Fight, the Great American State Fair, Freedom250 Grand Prix, and this new passport celebrating our freedom, President Trump continues to proudly lead a renewal of national pride and patriotism during our historic semiquincentennial celebration.
While it’s tempting to suggest Trump is doing a poor job celebrating the 250th anniversary, with his UFC fights and his vanity passports, let’s be real; these things encapsulate precisely what America is.
America is a violent and vainglorious nation, and while it could one day be something more than that, it certainly isn’t in the year of its 250th anniversary.
Featured image via White House
By Willem Moore
Politics
BREAKING: Gaza flotilla under attack, reportedly by Israel
The boats of the latest Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza have come under attack from “self-identified” Israeli military fast attack boats.
Gaza flotilla under attack
The attackers pointed lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons at the boats and ordered participants to gather at the front of the boats on their hands and knees.
View this post on Instagram
According to flotilla organisers, an SOS was issued but the flotilla’s communications are now being jammed. Drones are circling and ‘buzzing’ the vessels:
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Following the pattern of previous Israeli piracy, the attackers are ordering the crews to surrender and allow their humanitarian cargos to be taken to Israeli ports:
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Israel is a terror state and the UK government its enablers. Solidarity with all its victims and those trying to help them.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
Politics
Zack Polanski says Farage is ‘running scared’ of him
On Wednesday 29 April, Nigel Farage spoke to the BBC. During the course of this interview, the interviewer asked Farage why he wasn’t talking to Green Party leader Zack Polanski. The Reform leader responded in predictably evasive fashion, prompting the following from Polanski:
Nigel Farage asked on BBC news this morning if he'd debate with me.
Says he's too busy with the local elections & it will just be a "big row."
I've been asking him for months. Someone's running scared? Vote Green.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 29, 2026
Zack Polanski — ‘someone running scared’
As Zack Polanski said, Farage has been ducking Polanski for some time. This is what Rose Cocker reported for the Canary on 4 February:
Reform leader Nigel Farage is running scared of Green leader Zack Polanski. And, in the run-up to the Gorton and Denton by-election, the clash between the two parties could well be a sign of things to come in the British political landscape.
Of course, Farage is refusing a challenge to a face-to-face debate with Polanski. After all, the far-right figurehead is far batter at manufacturing glib soundbites than he is at answering probing questions.
The Gorton & Denton by-election was widely seen as a pivotal moment in the history of British politics. Labour looked set to lose a safeseat that they’d held for decades, with the winner likely to be Reform UK or the Green Party. The winner would no doubt pick up considerable momentum, with the runner-up losing some of their sparkle.
In other words, any serious leader would have bent over backwards to secure a head-to-head debate.
Nigel Farage, meanwhile, responded like this:
"I generally find that if you pick a fight with a chimney sweep you get covered in soot, so I might just leave that alone"
"But he's got a fan club – all the heroin smokers and everything" pic.twitter.com/e5F6H80eV4
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) February 3, 2026
WATCH: Nigel Farage rejects Zack Polanski's request for a one-to-one debate
Absolute shitbag behaviour.
His fear of Polanski goes back further too, as we reported in January:
On 9 January, Green Party leader Zack Polanski challenged Reform Nigel Farage to a one-to-one debate. As you’d expect, Farage immediately accepted the offer, as he was keen to defend his well thought-out political ethos to an engaged audience.
Oh wait, that’s wrong isn’t it; we meant to say he completely blanked Polanski and went silent:
Has anyone seen Nigel Farage in the last 20 hours? — Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) January 10, 2026
https://t.co/qpoAFwtNHK
If you’re wondering why Farage is ducking Polanski, it’s because unlike Reform, the Green Party has actually identified who’s at fault for the problems this country faces:
Unlike Labour, we are serious about ending Rip Off Britain. That must mean measures like rent controls.
We aren't afraid to take on vested interests.
And we won't hesitate in taking practical action to reduce the cost of living. https://t.co/DXktDWDCil
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 29, 2026
Smear and loathing
In other Farage news, Novara reported on 29 April:
Nigel Farage visited a social housing estate in Wales by helicopter, but pretended he had driven.
A Merthyr Tydfil resident told Novara Media that when the Reform leader visited the town as part of his general election campaign, he “landed in the next valley over so that nobody knew he’d come by helicopter”.
“This isn’t what people in Merthyr travel by,” she added.
While I was in Merthyr I had the most extraordinary conversation: while visiting south Wales Farage had allegedly come by helicopter – but then drove from the next valley, where the chopper was – to obscure how he travels.
Reform are welcome to correct! pic.twitter.com/yhckwYeBWO
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) April 29, 2026
Novara’s Bastani also had this to say on the smears being deployed against Polanski and the Green Party:
.@AaronBastani: "It's a bit like with Zack Polanski isn't it, all the antisemites are joining the party led by the Jewish guy, can't you see it? No I can't actually, you're crazy" pic.twitter.com/1RDtYoUTlY
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) April 28, 2026
It’s right to call these smears out — not least because the Green Party does sometimes back down to them.
We saw this in the past with the suspension of would-be candidates; we’ve seen it recently with the suspension of anti-Zionist Jewish activist Tony Greenstein, and with the stitch up around the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion. At the same time, the party is making more of an effort to stand behind candidates smeared by the establishment, and that’s a positive development.
Standing up to Reform, Labour, and the billionaires is good, but you have to stand rigid. The second you show signs of buckling at the knees, the establishment will have you on the ground in an instant.
Polanski has mostly been steadfast on these issues, which is why Farage knows he’s going to struggle against him in a debate.
Featured image via Barold
By Willem Moore
Politics
‘British Jews are under siege’
The post ‘British Jews are under siege’ appeared first on spiked.
-
Tech2 days agoRegister Renaming | Hackaday
-
Fashion5 days agoWeekend Open Thread – Corporette.com
-
Crypto World4 days agoHyperliquid $HYPE Rally Builds Momentum as AI Sector Enters Prove-It Phase
-
Business6 days agoPatterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
-
Sports3 days agoIPL 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad registers slowest fifty of the season, enters all-time unwanted list | Cricket News
-
Politics2 days agoDrax board avoid their own AGM, accused of greenwashing & environmental racism
-
NewsBeat4 days agoLK Bennett closes all stores after entering administration
-
Crypto World5 days agoMichael Saylor says BTC winter is over. Market analyst disagrees, says bitcoin was in a pullback
-
Sports7 days agoTim Bradley names the current best in the world: “Better than Inoue and Usyk”
-
Fashion23 hours agoKylie Jenner’s KHY Enters a New Era with ‘Born in LA’
-
Entertainment6 days ago
Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler's “Miami Vice” movie will bring the action back to the '80s
-
Entertainment4 days agoMariah Carey Slams Deposition Claims In Brother’s Lawsuit
-
Business7 days ago
Altimmune prices $225 million public offering at $3 per share
-
Entertainment6 days ago
Russell Brand Had Sex With 16 Year Old When He Was 30
-
Business24 hours agoMost Commercial Energy Audits Miss the Real Losses
-
Crypto World6 days agoIs Algorand One of the Few Quantum-Resistant Blockchains? Here’s What the Data Shows
-
NewsBeat6 days agoTrump threatens to review UK’s claim to Falkland Islands and punish Nato allies over Iran war disagreement
-
Business7 days agoSL Green Realty: Dividend Cut And Record Leasing Fuel Their Potential Recovery
-
Sports6 days ago2026 NFL Draft tonight: Time, TV channel, where to watch, order
-
Tech2 days agoImages of Samsung’s rumored smart glasses have leaked

they do not have the right to be protected by intl law. 

(@ibnkafka)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login