Farage said “if you pick a fight which a chimney sweep you get covered in soot” when asked whether he would take Polanski up on the offer.
It comes after the Green Party leader knocked back the chance of a debate with Reform policy chief Zia Yusuf.
Referring to Polanski’s support for drug legalisation, Farage added: “You know, he’s got a fan club. All the heroin smokers think he’s absolutely marvellous.”
But Polanski told HuffPost UK: “Farage is running scared – he doesn’t want to talk about Reform’s super-rich backers, their Russia links, their plans to strip rights away from working people and to introduce charges to use the NHS.”
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The Greens are locked in a three-way battle with Reform and Labour in the crunch Gorton and Denton by-election, which takes place on February 26.
Polanski added: “Farage knows that in Gorton and Denton, Labour are out of the race and Hannah Spencer is coming for Reform.
“It’s no surprise Farage is hiding behind cheap jokes – he’s got nothing to gain and everything to lose from going up against someone willing to say it how it is.”
If you’ve ever fantasised about pulling off a daring heist at the British Museum to get looted treasures back to their rightful owners, then a new video game allows you to get some practice in advance. Relooted was released this month by South African developer Nyamakop, and lets players take control of parkour specialist Nomali. She’s helped by a team of safe crackers and acrobats as they seek to repatriate artifacts stolen by colonial powers from Africa.
The developers describe the game’s fictional setting as taking place in a world where:
Near the end of the 21st century, the political powers that be brokered a Transatlantic Returns Treaty, promising the repatriation of African artifacts from museums. Good old fashioned diplomacy was working — until it wasn’t. An amendment switched up the terms and conditions of which objects were to be returned.
Museums, now knowing that only publicly displayed artefacts would be given back, were slowly removing artefacts from public display.
The items you attempt to take back to their country of origin all:
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…exist in real-life and are of huge cultural, historical, and spiritual significance to the people they were taken from.
That’s the incredibly dark side to the looting and mass murder that took place in Africa under the butchers of Germany, France, Britain and others. Relooted manages to adopt an upbeat tone, however, imagining an Africanfuturist world in which a flourishing continent is asserting itself by taking back its property.
Before we reach that promised land, we have to put up with a contemporary reality in which Western museums still cling on to their stolen wares like a small child that doesn’t know how to share. Despite this immature behaviour, museums and fellow theft advocates still insist on infantilising those requesting artifact return. They do this on the basis that their original owners may not be able to look after them properly.
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US & Britain wrecked Iraq, and its historical treasures
They’ve got some nerve coming out with shite like that, given the greatest recent act of mass vandalism and theft involving historical treasures came as a result of the US/British led assault of Iraq. As a result of that massive crime, enormous numbers of priceless items were plundered from Iraqi museums, some dating back thousands of years.
The criminality of the British Museum has now become a popular meme template. Variations include the attempted theft of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and empty galleries in the event of stolen items being returned.
Relooted — a refreshing change from video game war propaganda
This mental imprinting of devastated West Asian landscapes and disposable Arab people has been key in laying the foundations that enable too many in Western societies to see the Gaza holocaust as unremarkable.
It forms part of what a military-entertainment complex, in which video games and films act as weapons of mass distraction, drawing people away from the actual truth about the world.
Pleasingly, Relooted doesn’t just have good politics – it’s also an excellent game. The Canary can verify this through our own thorough hands-on investigation (it’s a hard job but someone has to do it).
It’s currently sitting at a ‘Very Positive’ rating on PC games platform Steam. This would be even higher were it not for negative reviews being cast by gammons fulminating about its ‘woke’ premise, as opposed to judging it on its merits as a game. There’s plenty of good reasons to pick up a copy, and winding these people up by funding independent African developers is just one more.
A YouGov poll has clearly shown that the majority of Brits would not take kindly to our equivalent of the US’ ICE agency. This comes as Reform UK announced that they would work to introduce our own force of thugs in the image of a violent, rogue anti-immigration force implemented by US President Donald Trump.
Pointing out that US ICE agents have been responsible for the cold-blooded murder of American citizens, Jimmy Giant has taken to X to underscore how unappealing Reform appear to be to the electorate.
Thankfully, many Britons will be relieved to see this poll. Fortunately, it reminds us that we haven’t sunk quite so far into the abyss as our pals across the Atlantic. Moreover, it signals that Reform leader Nigel Farage may have miscalculated the redeeming qualities of his love for Trump.
Announcing a “British ICE” after two citizens were just killed in cold blood is like trying to sell flights to NYC on September 12th 2001 https://t.co/gv8Lt0lut7
Far rights hateful hoodwinking isn’t working on the masses
Uh-oh, another incident highlighting that the billionaire-funded Reform have zero clue about what British people want, whilst underlining that Nigel Farage has nothing original to offer. Nevertheless, this makes it easier for voters and for the opposition, as we effectively have advance knowledge of what will come if Farage gets in. Thankfully, only a measly 11% of those polled would actually welcome thugs descending on our streets to attack immigrants and refugees.
Before we forget, let’s remind ourselves who those 11% are likely to be:
After seeing a number of violent and fatal attacks against US citizens, this brings huge sigh of relief. Nevertheless, we cannot underappreciate the power and influence that super-rich businessmen like Farage and co have.
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But let’s take the wins where they show up, right?!
Jimmy isn’t alone in pointing out the overwhelming rejection of ‘British ICE’. Immigration expert Zoe Gardner posted on X that this underscores how overrepresented Reform, its representatives and its supporters are across the mainstream media:
Again & again: Reform supporters are weirdo outliers.
Politics as a whole needs to stop pandering to them & focus on the reasonable people who don’t want unaccountable masked stasi thugs kidnapping people out of our neighbourhoods. https://t.co/0rFgsIDASk
This account on X warned that Reform would use its ICE policy as a punishing stick against all of us, not just the minority they’re currently scapegoating:
We must fight any attempt to create a UK ICE terror unit.
This is a trade union issue. Migrant rights are workers’ rights and must be defended. A force like ICE will be used against all of us not just migrants.
Once again, the pompous, hateful right-wing party has been exposed as being completely out of touch with the majority of the population. This is welcome, of course. Especially as we aren’t short of real-life examples of Reform being completely inept. We wrote a piece as 2025 came to a close on their hypocrisy and failures underscoring how shallow their ‘pledges’ are in reality.
The announcement of Reform’s ICE policy, delivered by Zia Yusuf speaking for the first time as ‘home affairs spokesman’, would appear to have been received like a damp squib among the majority according to this poll.
We wrote at the time:
On 23 February, Zia Yusuf gave his first speech in his new role as Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman. Along with unveiling deepening US-style Christofascism, he also proudly revealed details of plans to increase his party’s already vile immigrant-bashing and Islamophobia to new heights.
This included a proposal to create a UK ‘Deportation Command’ modelled on the US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agency. This agency would conduct ‘Operation Restoring Justice’, which would involve detaining ‘illegal’ immigrants in pre-fab structures before rapidly deporting them.
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Yusuf also voiced ambitions to institute a visa ban against six Muslim-majority countries. Likewise, he would also refocus the already hideously Islamophobic ‘Prevent’ counter-terrorism scheme against Muslims in the UK.
This X account underscored just who Reform work for:
It’s all performative right wing bollocks, Reform Ltd have embraced Trumpism. @Nigel_Farage doesn’t want a democracy, he wants a far right wing dictatorship for millionaires & billionaires.
If you’re neither of those, then you’re not part of their exclusive club.
Brits say ‘Fuck Off’ to Reform hate
This thankfully reassures concerns that Reform policies appeal to a significant proportion of the population. In contrast, it underscores the minority that these billionaires are attempting to incite to win votes. A minority which we saw last weekend have no problem whatsoever with being violent, in fact, they revel in it.
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Making that transparent to wider public will work to maintain hope and perseverance in advancing socialist politics. After all, we are all united in the threats facing us. And they come in private jets with offshore bank accounts, not in a dinghy.
Dozens of FBI files that mention US President Donald Trump are missing from the vast Epstein releases. A review by CNN shows that these include records of key FBI interviews with an alleged victim of both wealthy paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Trump.
three interviews related to a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her decades ago.
The US media outlet found:
An evidence log provided to attorneys for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell includes serial numbers for about 325 FBI witness interview records – but more than 90 of those records, over a quarter of the list, don’t appear to be present on the DOJ website.
The woman had told FBI agents:
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that Epstein had repeatedly abused her starting when she was approximately 13 years old, and who also accused Trump of sexually assaulting her.
Trump — privileged documents?
Another US media outlet, NPR, challenged the authorities on the missing files. NPR said:
The Justice Department declined to answer NPR’s questions on the record about these specific files, what’s in them and why they are not published.
However, after NPR published their story:
the Justice Department reached out to NPR, taking issue with how its responses to questions were framed. Department of Justice spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre reiterated DOJ’s stance that any documents not published are privileged, are duplicates or relate to an ongoing federal investigation.
Legal firm Norton Rose Kennedy describes ‘privilege’ as:
a legal right which allows persons to resist compulsory disclosure of documents and information.
The term suggests the documents are part of legal cases which are ongoing. Which cases these are is unclear.
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Victims lost in the noise
Beyond this the withholding of documents by the US government remains a mystery to investigators.
Democratic Party Representative Robert Garcia told CNN:
We have a survivor that made serious allegations against the president. But there’s a series of documents, and it would appear to be possible interviews, that the FBI conducted with the survivor that are actually missing, that we don’t have access to.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. And the DOJ has insisted it was following the law and had deleted no files.
We have not deleted anything, and as we have always said, all documents responsive were produced.
CNN added:
They [DOJ] did not answer follow-up questions about specific files.
The internal goings-on in the DOJ, FBI and Trump’s camp remain as opaque as ever. The Canary has said before, the media circus around the files keeps rolling on month after month — while the needs of victims are sidelined. Victims’ desire for justice is being lost amid the noise, chaos and static produced by the institutions involved in the releases. And, in some cases, by the very individuals implicated in the files.
According to an unnamed cabinet minister, the Greens are “hammering” them in Gorton & Denton. This is a stark admission from a party insider, demonstrating that they gravely underestimated the Greens:
Labour has accused the Greens of “whipping up hatred” among Muslim voters before this week’s pivotal by-election after they called for Sir Keir Starmer’s party to be “punished for Gaza”
The above post is from the Times‘ political editor Steven Swinford. Perhaps the most interesting part is this quote from an unnamed ‘senior cabinet minister’:
The Greens are whipping up hatred and deliberately raising the salience of Gaza. They’re hammering us. They’re a totally different party to the one we thought they were. They’re just like Respect — it’s like fighting a by-election against George Galloway.
Well, we know what they expected, and it was to sweep the issue under the rug.
Under the duopoly of Labour and the Conservatives, there was always a tacit agreement that the two parties and the establishment media would ignore certain issues. The problem is that between parties like the Greens and independent outlets like the Canary, there is now a voice for the legitimate grievances people feel.
Eleanora O’Cualáin (Stats for Lefties) said the following:
Fucking incredible quote here basically admitting that Zack Polanski has transformed the Greens into a serious electoral force, particularly funny given that Adrian Ramsay was predicting that Zack would destroy the party entirely https://t.co/6acmAYAZdopic.twitter.com/B8KPBoUn23
And we KNOW that would have happened because some older melt Greens are already saying they’re uncomfortable with the party being so mean about Starmer (see: Jenny Jones), and they’re pushing back even though it’s reaping electoral benefits. If they were in charge, we’d be DOA
Hannah Spencer, the Green candidate, has distributed leaflets in Gorton & Denton in Urdu, saying that voters should “make Labour pay” and accusing them of pushing “racist, dog whistle gutter policies”
On the leaflet, she is wearing a keffiyeh, the Middle Eastern scarf commonly associated with Palestine
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On Monday, the party circulated a campaign video in Urdu accusing Matt Goodwin, the Reform UK candidate, of being someone who will “fuel the flames of Islamophobia”
The video shows Starmer shaking hands with Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist prime minister of India, and also shows David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, shaking hands with Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. The video cuts to aerial footage of Gaza as Spencer, speaking in Urdu, says: “Politicians aren’t working for us.”
Labour want you to believe it’s unfair to speak to the issues voters care about; that it’s wrong to worry about anything besides the establishment-approved problems they permit us to consider.
Well, we’re sorry, Labour, but those days are over.
Today marks the launch of the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls Awards, recognising and celebrating individuals, teams and organisations across the UK working to prevent abuse and support victims and survivors.
With this issue high on the national agenda, the awards, produced by Total Politics, provide a timely platform to recognise leadership, innovation and sustained commitment.
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The awards aim to shine a spotlight on those who champion change, challenge injustice and provide vital support in communities across the country. From frontline services and charities to policymakers and campaigners, the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls Awards will honour the leadership and innovation driving progress in this critical area.
The 2026 awards are proudly sponsored by TSB, reflecting a shared commitment to supporting survivors, raising awareness and driving meaningful change across sectors. Organisations and individuals are invited to submit entries highlighting outstanding achievement, impactful initiatives and inspirational leadership in preventing violence against women and girls.
Angus Parsad-Wyatt, Director of Political Engagement at Total Politics, said: “Through Total Politics and our media title The House magazine, we are proud to provide a national platform to recognise those leading work to prevent violence against women and girls. These awards shine a light on the individuals and organisations strengthening support, shaping policy and delivering vital services across the UK.”
Kate Osiadacz, TSB Head of Responsible Business said: “Supporting the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls Awards reflects TSB’s commitment to helping people escape their abuser and access safety. Through initiatives like the TSB Flee Fund and the Safe Spaces available in our branches, we are working to provide practical and immediate support for those who need it most. These awards highlight the individuals and organisations whose dedication is driving real change, and we are committed to standing alongside them.”
Those working across the sector are encouraged to nominate colleagues, volunteers, teams or organisations whose dedication and impact deserve recognition.
Hannah Spencer (Green Party) and Angeliki Stogia (Labour Party) candidates in the Gorton and Denton By-election (Alamy Live News)
4 min read
Exclusive: The Labour Party and the Greens have clashed over the influence of political betting on the eve of the Gorton and Denton by-election, triggering claims that the market should be regulated.
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“It’s something that should be looked at,” a Labour Party source told PoliticsHome.
In response, a Green Party source said it was “utter desperation” from Keir Starmer’s party ahead of the high-stakes by-election.
The Gorton and Denton area in Greater Manchester has been represented by Labour for over a century, but a three-way battle has been underway for the seat since incumbent Andrew Gwynne resigned in January.
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Labour and the Greens have been fighting to be seen as the party best-placed to stop Reform UK from winning the seat.
In the run-up to polling day on Thursday, bookmakers have tended to show the Green Party as the favourites to win the by-election, often with Labour trailing in third place behind Reform UK.
Although Labour odds have shortened in the last 24 hours following Keir Starmer’s Monday visit to meet activists on the local campaign, there are concerns in Labour that a small number of big bets can easily change the narrative around a high-profile by-election such as this one.
A small number of large bets on a particular party can result in its odds narrowing significantly, which, in turn, could influence how voters behave when they reach the ballot box, especially if they want to vote tactically to stop a certain candidate.
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This morning, former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett posted on X: “Not in any way endorsing betting, but it is an independent source of information for any voters uncertain about which way to go to stop Reform.”
In a recent letter to Green leader Zack Polanski, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell wrote: “Can I just ask how you feel ethically about sharing betting odds on the election which are based on a couple of very suspect big money bets?
“It doesn’t sit easily with me and I’m surprised by your association with big money election betting.”
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A Labour source told PoliticsHome: “The small number of big money political bets we’ve seen in this campaign and their use in misinformation is of real concern.
“It’s an easy way for opponents to cook the books and has provided ammunition to our opponents that isn’t based on any real evidence of what is happening in this seat.
“It’s a straight fight between Labour and reform in Gorton and Denton, but dodgy bets could skew the campaign. It’s something that should be looked at.”
The Green Party has responded by accusing Labour of “playing politics” and “flapping around” ahead of the by-election result.
A Green Party spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “This is utter desperation. Labour are literally making stuff up when they know they’re losing. This is playing politics when they should be showing how they can make people’s lives better.
“If Labour want to talk about gambling, though, it’s a shame it’s taken a few betting markets that have put Labour behind the Greens for the Labour Party to finally call for additional regulation on gambling after the weak changes they have made to date.
“Until now, Labour has wanted to prioritise ‘growing the gambling industry’, which means policies that encourage more gambling. We welcome their latest U-turn, although it will probably upset their gambling industry donors.
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“Labour are flapping around because they know the Greens are the only party that can beat Reform tomorrow.”
There is a feeling that the by-election could be very closely fought, potentially requiring a recount. An Opinium poll published on Tuesday put Labour and the Greens level on 28 per cent, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on 27 per cent.
Reform’s hopes of victory in Gorton & Denton hinge on the progressive vote being evenly split between the other two parties.
The parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in May last year was decided by just six votes. It saw Reform UK win its first MP in the North West.
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At the Welsh Parliament’s Caerphilly by-election later in the year, in October, Plaid Cymru ended Labour’s 100-plus-year-long representation of the area. The governing party was pushed into third place, with Reform UK coming second.
On Wednesday afternoon, the BBC announced the start date for The Claudia Winkleman show – and fans don’t have long to wait.
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When does The Claudia Winkleman Show start – and which celebrities will be interviewed?
It’s been confirmed that the inaugural episode of The Claudia Winkleman Show will premiere on Friday 13 March at 10.40pm on BBC One – with a star-studded line-up of guests.
The BBC previously revealed that the initial series will run for a total of seven episodes.
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Self-deprecatingly as ever, the Traitors enthused (sort of…) last year: “I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity.
“I’m obviously going to be awful, that goes without saying, but I’m over the moon they’re letting me try.”
Last year, Claudia and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly announced they were both stepping down from the long-running BBC reality series.
Primate expertise provided by Dr Luke Duncan, a postdoctoral research fellow, primatologist, and part of the University of Warwick’s ApeTank. Therapy comment by relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos.
If you’re 1) on social media and 2) have something resembling a heart, chances are it’s been broken by the Japanese macaque, Punch, from Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan.
The adorable monkey, whose mother abandoned him, has gone viral for clutching an IKEA orangutan plush to help manage his feelings of abandonment (the burnt orange stuffed toy has since sold out in multiple stores).
But why do animals, including humans, so often turn to stuffed toys in our times of need, or as a more everyday source of comfort?
Here, we spoke to primate expert Dr Luke Duncan and therapist Sofie Roos about the “cuddle therapy” a variety of species can get from stuffed toys.
Emotional support plushes are pretty common among adults, and could be helpful for distressed animals
Punch’s toy orangutan was given to him to help him handle the loss of his parent. According to Dr Duncan, that move makes sense.
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“Young primates are biologically programmed to cling to their mother ― it’s a normal and essential part of emotional and psychological development,” he told us.
“Harry Harlow’s foundational research in the 1950s and 1960s showed that infant rhesus monkeys overwhelmingly preferred a soft cloth surrogate over a wire one that provided milk, demonstrating that tactile comfort is a powerful driver of attachment behaviour in infants.”
So, while the goal should always be to provide a “safe, living social partner of the same species,” in a pinch, “A soft surrogate, in the form of a plush toy, can… provide meaningful comfort for an orphaned infant primate.
“While a plush toy cannot replace a real mother, it may help alleviate distress in the short term.”
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And Roos said that while humans – and almost certainly other animals – know our toys aren’t really alive, they can “work as a ‘transition object’, which… stands as a symbol for safety when an important person is no longer with us”.
Among adults, she added, stuffed toy use offers a kind of “cuddle therapy”, which provides a combination of physical touch and pressure that a lot of animals find soothing.
“Physical touch, [even] from an object, can make our body calm and feel safe.”
Then, there’s the fact that, generally, toys don’t leave us.
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“For people who lose someone important, and have wounds connected to abandonment and an insecure attachment, the cuddly toy can give a feeling of not being completely alone, which for some becomes a saviour,” the therapist said.
“We’re born with a… need to… belong, and this need stays with us until the day we die. A stuffed animal doesn’t get any less good at giving us this just because we grow older.”
Perhaps that’s why 44% of adults hold on to their childhood toys.
The therapist doesn’t think it’s that different to using meditation apps
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Lots of animals, including humans, “are born social, and seek closeness, warmth and touch. A cuddle toy can work as a complement to give that safety, care and attachment we so strongly seek, especially if we feel lonely,” said Roos.
This is not unlike what may be happening with Punch: Dr Duncan shared, “Physical contact with a soft object can help regulate [primate] stress responses and provide a sense of security during a vulnerable period”.
Roos continued, “Many also connect the cuddle toy with childhood, a time most look back at as easier and more protected, where the stuffed animal can stand as a symbol for that time when we felt cared for, comforted and soothed in another way.”
In fact, the therapist doesn’t think relying on a stuffed toy for “cuddle therapy” is all that different to other forms of self-soothing.
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“When looking at what the cuddle toy does for you, it’s not far away from what using mindfulness apps, yoga, stress balls or weighted blankets do – the stuffed animal is just less socially accepted, even though in my [opinion], it works better than many other more accepted methods of dealing with stress, loneliness, overthinking and anxiety.”
What a sight the Treasury bench made. The lost souls sat in a particular purgatory, not actually dead but lacking any vital signs. Rusty Reeves was possibly on the edge of another melting moment (it was too much to hope for). Lisa Nandy, setting the theme, stared into Ed Miliband’s abyss. Who knows what horrors they…
