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2026-07-08 15:47:02 UTC

Brixton Market Saved From Private Equity Firms – for Now
A historic British market has won a reprieve after fears it would [fall into the hands of private equity firms][1].
After almost 40,000 people signed the ‘Buy Back Brixton’ petition, Green-run Lambeth council has designated Brixton Village Market and its historic Market Row as Assets of Community Value (ACV).
The ACV status does not prohibit a sale long-term, but gives local traders a window of around six months to try and generate a viable bid to take the market into community ownership. So far more than £550,000 has been crowdfunded for a bid.
Brixton Market dates back to the 1870s and was a social and economic hub for the Windrush generation. It hosts more than 100 vendors representing more than 50 countries.
It was purchased in 2018 by global investment firm TPG Angelo Gordon and property management company Hondo Enterprises.
They put it up for sale last year, with reports suggesting it had been pitched to unnamed private equity firms for as much as £50m as part of a plan to boost profits by evicting lower-paying tenants.
Tenants have raised fears that the new plans will lead to gentrification and a loss of cultural identity – or may even see the market scrapped altogether.
Earlier this year, after the original six-month consultation window was scrapped without warning, the Brixton Traders and Community Association launched a ‘Buy Back Brixton’ counter-bid, with support from the Advocacy Academy.
The application to make the market an ACV was lodged by the Stour Trust, a community-led organisation which works to increase the number of Black and minority-owned buildings and assets.
ACVs allow communities to bid on buildings or land if their main use is, or recently was, to further the social wellbeing or interests of the local community. Examples of ACVs include community and children’s centres, allotments, libraries and pubs.
Green party councillor Martin Abrams, leader of Lambeth Council, said: “This is a big step forward for the campaign for community ownership, which aims to safeguard Brixton’s heritage, and I am pleased the council has swiftly taken this important step.”
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/19/race-against-time-to-save-brixton-market-from-private-equity/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/08/brixton-market-saved-from-private-equity-firms-for-now/

2026-06-15 11:13:10 UTC

Palestine Action Ban Ruled Lawful by Court of Appeal
The government has won its appeal to keep the ban on direct action group Palestine Action.
The court of appeal today overturned the high court’s February decision that found the ban to be unlawful on the grounds that it disproportionately interfered with free speech and assembly, and that former home secretary Yvette Cooper had breached her own process during proscription.
The court of appeal’s decision means supporting the direct action group – which targets businesses complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza – will remain a crimnal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action was proscribed under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in July 2025, making it the first direct action group to be banned under UK terror legislation and categorised with the likes of Isis and Al Qaeda.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the proscription via judicial review in a historic first.
More than 3,000 people have been arrested for peacefully protesting the group’s proscription since it came into force – more than during the entire ‘war on terror’.
Last week, four Palestine Action activists convicted of criminal damage at a facility owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest weapons manufacturer, were sentenced as terrorists despite not being found guilty of a terrorism offence. This move was kept secret from the jury until after they delivered their verdict, and is the first time direct actionists have been sentenced as terrorists for non-violent criminal offences.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/15/palestine-action-ban-ruled-lawful-by-court-of-appeal/

2026-06-13 17:43:02 UTC

Israel Is Literally Burying Evidence of Its Genocide
The so-called ceasefire in Gaza has not ended the genocide.
The bombing runs may be quieter, but the bulldozers roar on. Israel is tearing up homes, orchards, schools and hospitals, then flattening the rubble to erase the memory that Palestinian life was ever there.
To understand this architecture of death, Richard Hames spoke to Eyal Weizman, author of *Ungrounding: The Architecture of Genocide* and founder of Forensic Architecture. His team builds meticulous 3D reconstructions from the scattered traces of an event – phone footage, survivor testimony, documented shrapnel – to prove what really happened, even when states want it covered up. Their work is rigorous enough to have been submitted in South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ.
Get the map here: [https://novaramedia.com/category/video/do-your-own-research/][1]
Music by Iglooghost.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/category/video/do-your-own-research/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/13/israel-is-burying-evidence-of-its-genocide/

2026-06-10 19:57:45 UTC

Anti-Immigrant Violence Engulfs Belfast
Anti-immigrant violence erupts in Belfast following a horrific knife attack.
Plus: The US launches multiple strikes on Iran in response to the downing of an Apache helicopter, and we speak to the mother of a Palestine Action activist, who was herself held in solitary confinement for five days.
With Steven Methven, Aaron Bastani, Amanda Ferguson & Emma Kamio.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/10/anti-immigrant-violence-engulfs-belfast/

2026-06-05 08:27:01 UTC

Man Who Blew Whistle on Elon Musk’s DOGE Had His Car’s Brakes Cut
A US government agency worker who exposed alleged misuse of data by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) crashed his car after the brakes were cut, court documents show.
Daniel Berulis, an IT employee at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), filed an official whistleblower complaint on 14 April 2025 and went public the next day in an article by NPR.
He alleged that sensitive NLRB data had been compromised due to meddling by DOGE, and said there had been suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia.
Five days later, he started driving to see his uncle in Maryland, but veered off the road and crashed into a stop sign when he was unable to slow down. He later discovered the brakes had been cut, Wired reported.
A mechanic later found the driver-side airbag sensors had been removed “but noted that the remaining wires had been spliced together” so that the car’s system would not alert the driver, according to a police report filed by Berulis.
Before his whistleblower complaint, he said, a threatening note had been left on his door with pictures of him walking his dog, which appeared to have been taken by a drone.
The night before the crash, Musk shared a post that said DOGE had been “cleared” and that people were calling for the whistleblower to be investigated.
“Filing a deliberately false whistleblower claim is a serious crime,” Musk wrote. Underneath, one user wrote: “Snitches get stitches.”
Berulis is suing Musk for defamation, alleging that the billionaire put him at risk of violence by spreading false claims that he had illegally lied about DOGE.
Berulis’s lawsuit against Musk says that readers of his X post “drew the implication” that Berulis had committed a serious crime. It noted “replies demanding prosecution, jail, harm, or arrest” and said these put Berulis at “increased risk of physical harm”.
After Wired approached him, Musk posted on X that a report showed NLRB’s inspector general’s office “lacked a reasonable belief that [Berulis] was disclosing a violation of law, rule, or regulation” and had closed its investigation.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/05/man-who-blew-whistle-on-elon-musks-doge-had-his-cars-brakes-cut/

2026-05-22 12:33:06 UTC

Pro-Israel Lawyers Accused of ‘Legal Intimidation’ of Genocide Opponents
[A stock photo of barristers wearing wigs and gowns]
Three senior barristers – including two members of the House of Lords – have been reported to their professional regulator for allowing their names and titles to be used as part of an alleged “pattern of legal of intimidation” against opponents of Israel’s genocide.
Baron David Pannick KC, Baron Anthony Grabiner KC and Stephen Hockman KC are named in a Bar Standards Board (BSB) complaint submitted by two legal organisations, which accuses them of using their professional seniority to intimidate Palestine activists.
Pro-Israel lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) uses top barristers’ heavyweight legal titles on its letters that target British institutions, businesses and private individuals over perceived anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian speech and advocacy.
The complaint – brought by the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC) and the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) on 20 May – argues that repeated references to the three senior barristers’ professional status in UKLFI letters may have “amplified the authority and perceived seriousness of legal threats and allegations”.
It added that the letters were directed at individuals and organisations engaged in protected expression, namely “lawful advocacy, cultural work, education and public expression relating to Palestine”.
The complaint argues that this dynamic can be deeply intimidating and serve to increase pressure on recipients – often individuals, grassroots campaigns and small charities without legal expertise who are then expected to respond to complex legal claims.
Pannick, who advised former prime minister Boris Johnson over the Partygate scandal, and Grabiner, a former master of Clare College, Cambridge, are members of the House of Lords.
UKLFI calls itself [“an association of lawyers who support Israel using their legal skills” ][1]and aims to “to support Israel, Israeli organisations, Israelis, and/or supporters of Israel against BDS and other attempts to undermine, attack or delegitimise them”. Its work largely involves targeting expressions of support for Palestinians by sending legal complaints to public institutions, businesses and private citizens.
The PILC told Novara Media that UKLFI’s work is “a prime example of lawfare”, while an ELSC spokesperson said the complaint “points to a pattern of legal intimidation through the use of senior legal status in correspondence targeting individuals and organisations engaged in Palestine advocacy”.
UKLFI successfully lobbied an NHS trust to ban staff from wearing symbols of support for Palestine, [Novara Media revealed last year][2]. The [lobby group has also targeted ][3]local councils, art galleries, a community kite-making workshop, a hobby company specialising in model trains, the Post Office, Selfridges, various universities and exam paper publisher Pearson.
In February 2023, Chelsea and Westminster hospital took down a display of Palestinian children’s artwork after UKLFI sent a letter claiming it made Jewish patients feel [“vulnerable, harassed and victimised”][4].
The ELSC and PILC – on behalf of a cross-sector coalition that includes teachers, NGOs, healthcare professionals, migrants’ rights organisations and student unions – are asking the regulator to determine whether the three barristers’ use of professional status breaches [the Bar Standards Board Code of Conduct][5]. The code includes duties of integrity and independence, and the requirement to maintain public confidence in the profession.
A PILC spokesperson told Novara Media: “The power imbalance that this tactic relies on is amplified by the foregrounding of the names of established senior barristers in UKLFI’s legal correspondence. Our complaint asks the BSB to urgently consider possible alarming breaches of professional standards by three highly reputable lawyers.”
The complaint has been endorsed by UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, [who posted on X][6]: “May this action inspire others to do the same. Pro-apartheid lawyers misusing/abusing their professional status in order to shield Israel from scrutiny must face accountability.”
The BSB, which regulates barristers in England and Wales, is a public interest regulator and [responsible for maintaining the standards of the profession][7] through regulation, discipline and guidance. A complaint to the BSB has the potential to be very serious. It may result in the regulator taking action that includes investigation and disciplinary proceedings. In very serious cases, this can[ lead to suspension, disbarment or disqualification][8].
The PILC said the BSB will undertake an initial assessment of their complaint.
Last year, the ELSC and PILC submitted an [114-page report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority][9] alleging potential breaches of professional standards, including [Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (Slapps)][10]. Slapps are a misuse of the legal system by bringing claims that are unmeritorious or characterised by abusive tactics to stifle scrutiny and publication.
An ELSC spokesperson said: “These mechanisms are deliberate attempts to erase Palestinians from the public consciousness. This narrows democratic space, threatens freedom of expression and must be examined by the regulator to protect public confidence in the legal profession.”
UKLFI appears 128 times in the [ELSC’s Index of Repression][11], a database that records attempts to stifle solidarity with the Palestinian people in the UK.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza – [including 21,000 children][12] – and [injured at least 172,000][13].
Baron David Pannick KC, Baron Anthony Grabiner KC, Stephen Hockman KC and UK Lawyers for Israel have been approached for comment.
[1]: https://www.uklfi.com/about-us-2
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/11/revealed-how-pro-israel-lawyers-threatened-nhs-over-palestine-badges/
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/28/meet-the-pro-israel-lawyers-hounding-the-nhs/
[4]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/27/artwork-gaza-schoolchildren-removed-chelsea-and-westminster-hospital
[5]: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/the-bsb-handbook.html?part=E3FF76D3-9538-4B97-94C02111664E5709&audience=&csrfToken=&q=
[6]: https://x.com/franceskalbs/status/2057569403781181561?s=46
[7]: https://www.dospay.co.uk/glossary/bar-standards-board
[8]: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/about-us/how-we-regulate/the-decisions-we-take/enforcement-decisions/how-we-make-enforcement-decisions.html
[9]: https://www.declassifieduk.org/landmark-complaint-issued-against-uk-lawyers-for-israel/
[10]: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/slapps-warning-notice/
[11]: http://elsc.support/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/On-All-Fronts-The-Multi-Sited-Repression-of-Palestine-Solidarity-in-Britain.pdf
[12]: https://www.unicef.org/sop/reports/unicef-state-palestine-humanitarian-situation-update
[13]: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2026/05/the-middle-east-including-the-palestinian-question-briefing-and-consultations-23.php#:~:text=Most%20of%20the%20population%20has,have%20sustained%20life%2Dchanging%20injuries.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/22/pro-israel-lawyers-accused-of-legal-intimidation-of-genocide-opponents/

2026-03-30 11:43:27 UTC

The Daily Mail Backed the Blackshirts. It Can Shut up About Antisemitism
[A man in a trenchcoat waves with placards in the background]
An almighty attack on Green party leader Zack Polanski was mounted this weekend by the super-reliable, super-ethical, super-rational Daily Mail. As we put the clocks forward, it seemed we also wound back to roughly 2019.
Let me return you to that year. Famous, wealthy and very beloved British actress Maureen Lipman, a month before that crucial election cosplayed a normie in an attack ad on Jeremy Corbyn by Labour sect Mainstream, explicitly [aimed at getting the Tories in][1]. “And the antisemitism,” [she sighed down a fake phone][2], “Who would have believed that?”
It turns out: a lot of people. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party lost. Instead, we got further years of austere Tory economics, genocide and global chaos. And now here we stand, on the doormat of World War III, largely instigated by Israel. Yet time is a flat circle. Because Polanski, a Jewish man, is getting the same treatment once more.
This weekend, the Green Party debated [a motion called “Zionism is Racism”][3]. Everyone is, of course, entitled to their view on what is, for many, a controversial statement. But as Green party policy, you’d have thought it was something for party members to decide. Endorse it, reject it, amend it, that’s surely – surely! – all a matter, and only a matter, for those who’ve paid their subs and turned up for the often long and tedious matter of scrutinising the party’s offering. Wrong!
Common sense says: hey, if you don’t like a party’s policies, don’t join it, don’t vote for it, But when it comes to Israel, it turns out a British political party simply can’t be allowed to set its own parameters. And if it tries, its leader and its members better be ready to face an onslaught of abuse.
On the eve of the party’s spring conference, where the motion was set to be discussed, the Daily Mail put out one of the [weakest, sloppiest, flimsiest reports][4] I’ve read in a long time. And when it comes to that particular rag, that’s really saying something.
Alleging to have spoken to three members of Polanski’s extended family, the article’s authors start with an all too familiar figure: the hysterical, red-faced unc. You know the one. He’s marked by the trail of relatives diving into loos and under tables to avoid him at family gatherings.
“He’s currently the leader of the future Islamic party of Britain, that’s what the Green party is fast becoming,” he told the Mail, practicing for his next enraged LBC phone-in. “And there would be no place for Jews in an Islamic state of Britain.”
A second allegedly Jewish family member seemed to have absolutely [no historical knowledge of the newspaper][5] they were speaking to. And in the interest of smearing Polanski, its authors appear to have permanently detached their irony detectors.
“If the Zionism-is-racism motion is passed it will make the Greens the most antisemitic party in British history since Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists,” the selective historian fretted. “The idea of it is one of the most sickening things I’ve heard in a long time.”
A reminder: the Mail, now wringing its hands on behalf of British Jews, actively supported Mosley and his Union of Fascists in the 1930s. And its owner at the time, Viscount Rothermere aka [Harold Harmsworth][6], personally congratulated Adolf Hitler on his annexation of Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. “My dear Führer,” [he wrote in the summer of 1939][7], expressing his admiration of the Nazi dictator’s “superhuman work”.
“The mad thing is that he’s gay, he’s Jewish,” said a third alleged Polanski relative, “But he’s cosying up to people whose ideology is the complete antithesis of everything that he’s supposed to stand for. It’s like he’s a chicken, telling us to vote for KFC.”
According to Polanski, [the entire article is a fantasy][8]. “Spoke to my family today – all refused to talk to you,” he said to one of its authors. “You then started hunting down random ‘anon’ relatives.”
It’s not just the Daily Mail, though. [The Telegraph][9] and [the Times][10] both ran articles suggesting Polanski, who appeared at the [half-a-million strong anti far-right protest][11] in London on Saturday, was making Britain unsafe for Jews by even entertaining an anti-Zionist motion. When Polanski [retweeted a comment][12] asserting that “the entire world detests” the Daily Mail, a Times columnist called it “extraordinary”.
That was meant as an indictment. But the fact is, it *is* extraordinary for the leader of a British political party to take on, call out and hit back at a British media that’s far too used to calling the country’s political shots. And far too accustomed to policing our political horizons on behalf of its billionaire owners.
The “Zionism is Racism” motion didn’t, in the end, pass, with the debate running out of time over a series of member-brought technicalities. It’ll return, though, for a vote at a later date. But the media response to it shows just how difficult it is to run on a political platform which, quite rightly, seeks to detach British politics from our so-called ally Israel.
It shouldn’t be like that. In two years, [at least 75,000 Palestinians have been killed][13] by the Israeli military in Gaza. Israel continues to break international law in the West Bank. Meanwhile, the country is [bombing Iran][14] and [invading Lebanon][15] as I write, and over the weekend [killed yet more journalists][16].
Most voters in Britain are, quite rightly, sickened by all of this. And yet, the Greens questioning our relationship with Israel – a country that has done literally nothing for any British voter except put us all in greater danger – is supposed to be a vast political controversy? Make it make sense.
[1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cxmc
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKGjBw3uFCw
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/02/24/israeli-minister-brands-uk-green-party-racist-and-hateful/
[4]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15686363/Zack-Polanski-rebellion-family-UK-Green-Party-Prime-Minister.html
[5]: https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nationals/hitler-the-daily-mail-and-how-lord-rothermere-showed-he-has-learned-the-lessons-of-history/
[6]: https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/harold-harmsworth-1st-viscount-rothermere
[7]: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/apr/01/pressandpublishing.secondworldwar
[8]: https://x.com/ZackPolanski/status/2038307174355525677
[9]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/29/dont-laugh-at-the-green-party-chaos-be-frightened-by-them/
[10]: https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/tony-blair-end-lefts-unholy-alliance-with-islamists-vffq3sr2t?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcCVRGQWBP9QnBnt2g5gVQkCPjV36DmznLXPbmy1Mc2vP6ZhnMinBE3K9MmaeM%3D&gaa_ts=69ca24aa&gaa_sig=IAbleDJ_6KRvXO3M0nO3BFRbbuNeWPY0zXfdVSPdey5-quwZ6wtdGfNcEab9gA6xTXpdVU62Y16g94TxzBxtVA%3D%3D
[11]: https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/zack-polanski-green-party-thousands-antifarright-march-london-b2947620.html
[12]: https://x.com/alexmassie/status/2038263479711207647
[13]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/19/gaza-death-toll-higher-than-reported-lancet-study
[14]: https://www.ft.com/content/a8dbcf5f-df38-43de-bb4c-de3780cad0ab?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[15]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/29/netanyahu-announces-expansion-of-security-buffer-zone-in-south-lebanon
[16]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/ce354d73v2ko
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/30/the-daily-mail-backed-the-blackshirts-it-can-shut-up-about-antisemitism/

2026-03-27 20:09:10 UTC

Trump Folds Again, Announces 10-Day Extension to Ultimatum
Donald Trump has extended his ultimatum to Iran, now threatening to bomb energy and desalination plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened within 10 days rather than 48 hours.
Plus: The New World Happiness Report suggests that English-speaking countries are among the most miserable in the world, and Novara’s Steven Methven reports on his time in Havana.
With Michael Walker, Robert Malley & Banseka Kayembe.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/trump-folds-again-announces-10-day-extension-to-ultimatum/

2026-03-27 18:00:02 UTC

Oxfam: Israel’s Attacks on Lebanon’s Water Sources Echo Gaza Genocide
Israel is destroying water and sanitation infrastructure in Lebanon, echoing a genocidal tactic it used in Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy the civilian population, Oxfam has said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has attacked reservoirs, pipe networks and pumping stations since escalating its aggression against the country on 2 March.
“In a span of four days in the first weeks of the latest escalation, Israel damaged at least seven critical water sources… that supplied water to almost 7,000 people in the Bekaa area alone,”[ the charity said][1] in a statement.
“The destruction of civilian infrastructure has not been limited to critical water facilities,” Oxfam added. “Israel has also destroyed electricity networks and bridges, cutting off vital supplies and services for entire towns and villages.”
Depriving civilians of water has been a key part of Israel’s strategy in Gaza.
In October 2023, then-energy minister Israel Katz wrote on social media that no “electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter” the enclave.
British prime minister Keir Starmer supported this strategy, despite it being a war crime, telling LBC at the time that Israel had the “right” to cut off water and electricity from the population of Gaza.
Israel has killed over 1,000 people and forced more than a million to flee their homes in Lebanon this month.
Katz, who is now the Israeli defence minister, said this week that the IDF would control a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, which critics interpreted as confirmation that Israel has illegally annexed that land.
[1]: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/israeli-forces-using-gaza-playbook-lebanon-decimating-water-infrastructure
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/oxfam-israels-attacks-on-lebanons-water-sources-echo-gaza-genocide/

2026-03-27 15:31:06 UTC

The IDF Claims It May ‘Collapse in on Itself’ Due to Soldier Shortage
The Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) chief of staff has warned the military is “going to collapse in on itself” unless the country forces more people to enlist.
Eyal Zamir made the claim during a cabinet security meeting, Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Thursday.
“Right now, the IDF needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service,” the channel quoted him as saying. “Before long, the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last.”
Israel has compulsory military service for a majority of citizens, but Haredi – or ultra-Orthodox – Jews are among those who are exempt. A draft bill aimed at ending this exemption has ignited widespread controversy.
After two and a half years of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, large numbers of IDF troops are reportedly exhausted amid reports of thousands suffering from severe PTSD.
The IDF is now fighting on multiple fronts. Shortly after launching the illegal and unprovoked war on Iran in late February, it also illegally invaded Lebanon to seize more land there. Hezbollah forces have reportedly mounted fierce resistance – and say they have destroyed ten invading tanks in two ambushes.
Oxfam said earlier this week that Israel is attacking water infrastructure in Lebanon, repeating a genocidal tactic it used in Gaza.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/the-idf-could-collapse-in-on-itself-due-to-soldier-shortage/

2026-03-27 14:10:34 UTC

I Joined the Nuestra América Aid Convoy to Show Cuba It’s Not Alone
[Jeremy Corbyn with members of the Democratic Socialists of America in Havana, Cuba, March 2026.]
Driving into Havana, most of the city was in darkness. For the second time in a week, more than 10 million people across Cuba were left without power during a national blackout. We were told that in some places, people were going 14 hours without electricity.
This is the human reality of a criminal and inhumane blockade, imposed on Cuba by the United States. Cuba has been under a US embargo for over 60 years – an embargo that doesn’t just prevent bilateral trade between these two countries, but tries to isolate Cuba from the rest of the world.
Until January of this year, Cuba was receiving oil at a discount from Venezuela. However, after the [illegal abduction and imprisonment ][1]of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Trump declared that no Venezuelan oil would go to Cuba, seizing oil shipments bound for Cuba and intercepting vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
Declaring [Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat”][2] on 29 January, Trump effectively launched a total oil blockade by imposing new tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly supply Cuba with oil. Under a very strict interpretation of the Helms-Burton Act, Trump is not allowing any company that trades with Cuba in any way to trade within the United States. This is, obviously, a huge disincentive for any European company that might want to, for example, invest in the energy supply industry in Cuba.
This criminal blockade has consequences. At home, refrigerated food goes off. Factories can’t operate. Schools can’t operate. [Hospitals can’t operate][3]. Something as simple as getting around your own city by car or bus is suddenly not possible. Black market prices for petrol had [reached $40 a gallon][4] (roughly £10 a litre). Only those with a lot of spare cash can get any fuel at all. For millions of people, normal life is very, very difficult.
That’s why I joined [the Nuestra América convoy][5] to Cuba, an international coalition of individuals and organisations dedicated to delivering critical humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba. The delegation, organised by Progressive International, was made up of representatives from 30 different countries. So often, Cuba has been there for the rest of the world. Now, the rest of the world was there for them.
We delivered aid in two tranches. The first was to a solidarity centre near John Lennon Park, which was hosting a music concert later that day, where Cuban students gave wonderful renditions of traditional Cuban music, including the hopeful and iconic song Guantanamera.
The second was to the Cuba Cancer Hospital. Richard Burgon MP, Natasha Hickman from Cuba Solidarity Campaign and myself presented several large suitcases full of equipment and medicines, including those that were very difficult to obtain in Cuba. Healthcare workers described the stress of working under a blockade, deprived of the equipment they needed to treat the patients coming in. The hospital was very well run, but was operating under immense hardship given the shortages imposed upon them. Often, they could not run the backup generators that were required to provide life-saving care.
The purpose of the visit was twofold. One, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to the Cuban people. Two, to mobilise for an end to blockade, to show the blockade can be broken, and to show that the US government cannot just have everything its own way. We were there to stand with the Cuban people, oppose these punitive policies, and demand the right of every nation to live, develop and determine its own future free from intimidation.
I’ve been supporting Cuba all my life. When Fidel Castro entered Havana in 1959, my mother came and woke me up and said “Fidel is in Havana”. I first visited Cuba in 1986, and have returned three more times in between. A particularly fond memory was cycling round Cuba with one of my sons. I have huge admiration for the people of Cuba, who have survived and endured a criminal blockade for more than 60 years.
During our trip, we held a substantial meeting with president Miguel Diaz, who described the deep bind that Cuba has been placed in, and the innovative ways Cubans are trying to survive and thrive. We held discussions with ministers, who told us about the growing need to invest in solar and wind generation for electricity. It would take something like $14bn to purchase the necessary equipment and refurbish the energy supply system, in order to guarantee energy independence for Cuba.
Trump’s blockade should be seen as part of a much wider assault by the US on national sovereignty around the world. Their presumed right to intervene – [as they have done in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba][6] – runs totally against every aspect of international law. Trump somehow thinks that anything that happens in the southern hemisphere is the business of the United States. It’s not. Trump tells the world he’s winning. He’s not. He has lost every moral and legal argument there is around the world.
While I was there, many people put the question to me: what does the US actually want Cuba to do? There is no demand being made by the United States on the Cuban government. Instead, accompanying the blockade is a general assertion that Cuba is a bad place, and therefore deserving of being put under the most intense sanctions ever.
Cuba’s crime is that it has developed public services, built universal healthcare and raised life expectancy comparable to or higher than the United States. The US blockade is not just trying to suffocate Cuba. It is trying to suffocate the Cuban example.
Every year at the UN General Assembly, [the majority vote against the sanctions][7] and then do nothing about them. If Britain, France, Germany and others instructed an oil tanker to go to Cuba to deliver oil, would the US really bomb that oil tank? Would they really stop that oil tanker going through? Our government’s failure to even ask itself that question is proof of its political cowardice and moral bankruptcy.
The night before I departed, we held a wonderful music event for Cuba in my constituency, as part of an emergency fundraiser for Cuba. The event was proof of the strength and scope of solidarity that exists for Cuba around the world. The aim of the criminal blockade is clear: to starve the Cuban people into submission. It will not succeed. As much as the US would wish otherwise, Cuba is not alone.
[1]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/8/abduction-of-venezuelas-maduro-illegal-despite-us-charges-experts-say
[2]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/
[3]: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/world/americas/cubas-health-system-us-oil-blockade.html
[4]: https://www.wsj.com/world/u-s-eases-restriction-on-fuel-shipments-to-cuba-7909a6a7?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqeWkMopyLeS1QM2rWdb4eJ1vrnEFUoNVgjw4wIQmq3L8-JGWuW6FOK0MqRA6bg%3D&gaa_ts=69c6643c&gaa_sig=Av-BpNvsV-YUa-Hb11NFSm0vVOE-a1VHZcKZsAHhLmj-h6tGDU4JGw0eCNBe-Voed7XnLRq1qaLL4G_-uLAQEA%3D%3D
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/aid-convoy-to-deliver-more-than-20-tonnes-of-food-and-medicine-to-cuba/
[6]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/donald-trump-is-trying-to-break-the-cuban-people/
[7]: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/10/1166213
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/i-joined-the-nuestra-america-aid-convoy-to-show-cuba-its-not-alone/

2026-03-27 13:30:36 UTC

Two Cuba Flotilla Boats Have ‘Gone Missing’, Mexican Navy Says
Mexico’s navy has launched a search and rescue mission to track down two boats shipping humanitarian aid to Cuba as part of the Nuestra América Convoy, after they failed to reach Havana.
Three boats left Isla Mujeres in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo last Friday – after a weather-related delay – but only one has arrived so far, docking at dawn on 24 March.
No communication from the two missing boats has been received. The sail should only take two or three days on average – but seven days have now passed.
Organisers, however, say that according to their calculations, which take into account the size of the boats and conditions at sea, the vessels are likely to arrive on 27 or 28 March.
Staffed by nine sailors from Poland, France, Cuba and the US, the boats – named Friendship and Tigger Moth – were taking rice, baby wipes, beans, baby formula, medicine and other supplies to Cuba amid a US-imposed oil embargo and energy crisis.
“The captains and crews are experienced sailors, and both vessels are equipped with appropriate safety systems and signalling equipment,” a spokesperson for the convoy told Reuters. “We are cooperating fully with the authorities and remain confident in the crews’ ability to reach Havana safely.”
Mexico has deployed naval teams and military search aircraft to track down the missing two boats. It has also established contact with rescue centres from each country represented by the missing crew.
Earlier this week, the Cuban government welcomed the arrival of another boat that sailed in from Mexico carrying 14 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including solar panels, medicines and baby formula.
Upon arrival, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told Novara Media: “We are going to mobilise for the just causes in this world – just as Cuba always did.”
Avila added that the flotilla is a “gesture of solidarity” that the world will not leave Cuba to fend for itself amid the US’s oil blockade.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/two-cuba-flotilla-boats-have-gone-missing-mexican-navy-says/

2026-03-27 10:33:42 UTC

Britain Is Picking up the Tab for Trump’s War
Ahead of what is predicted to be a bruising set of local and devolved parliamentary elections in May, we’re already getting a taste of the economic consequences of Starmer’s inability to keep Britain out of Trump and Netanyahu’s latest Middle East misadventure.
Of all the G20 nations, [Britain’s economy will be worst hit][1] by the war on Iran. That’s according to analysis by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released yesterday. The OECD’s assessment also has the UK economy growing by just 0.7% this year, downgraded from the 1.2% it predicted in December, before the war began. By contrast, Italy, France and Germany’s growth will only shrink by 0.2% as a result of the war.
Meanwhile – get this – the US actually had its growth forecast upgraded by the OECD due to an increased demand for US oil, all thanks to its illegal war. Now that’s what I call the art of the deal.
How have we ended up with the worst of all worlds? Well, the UK is heavily overreliant on overseas fuel imports and international trade, and fears of higher inflation mean [consumer confidence has collapsed][2] – a fancy way of saying that when things feel uncertain, people are less likely to spend.
While not inviting speculation on my age, I have literally zero adult memories of there not being some sort of economic meltdown occurring in Britain that the many, not the few, end up paying for. The cost of living crisis – which began in 2021 – seems to have morphed into a perma-crisis, stubbornly refusing to budge due to global instability (ie a handful of men starting wars that affect hundreds of millions of people) and successive UK governments failing to reverse the harms of coalition-era austerity.
The US-Israeli war with Iran – now nearly four weeks old – has seen soaring wholesale oil and gas prices, with oil still hovering at [over $100 (£75)][3] a barrel. For mere mortals like you and me, this means higher petrol and diesel prices, more expensive flights and [rising mortgage rates][4]. Major lenders have axed hundreds of deals.
Predictably, chancellor Rachel Reeves responded to the OECD report with an “It wasn’t me, guv.” “The war in the Middle East is not one that we started,” she said, “nor is it a war we have joined.” But the markets don’t care who started it – Britain’s economy will be hit regardless. What’s more, the UK is undeniably involved, with Starmer [expanding British complicity][5] last week to include [letting the US use British bases][6] to launch strikes on Iran, including the strait of Hormuz.
Reeves won’t be offering much help with energy bills, either, [only potential targeted support][7] for the poorest households “within our iron-clad fiscal rules”. Small comfort for everyone who isn’t a millionaire. A Green party source told me that the impact is coming, and Labour has its head in the sand.
Some people are doing well out of the current situation, though. One is Jeremy Hosking, a [major Reform donor][8] and boss of hedge fund Hosking Partners. The value of Hosking Partners’ energy and fossil fuel investments has [risen by more than $25m (£19m)][9] since the war began, according to analysis by Democracy for Sale.
Reform’s big beasts – [leader Nigel Farage][10], [deputy Richard Tice][11] and [Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns][12] – went hard on support for the US-Israeli war early doors. [Farage has since rowed back][13], perhaps realising that the conflict and UK involvement in it are [deeply unpopular with the British public][14]. His party also [U-turned this week][15] on its pledge to nationalise water and energy companies, a proposal that polls [consistently well][16], in a mask-off moment that highlights [the interests Reform truly serves][17].
Despite [the 6-point polling hit][18] Reform has taken from a September high of 29% (likely from its [recent warmongering][19] and [welcoming of high-profile Tory defectors][20]), it’s still set to win big on 7 May. The FT predicts [net council seat gains of over 2,200][21] for the turquoise team.
Starmer’s handling of the war in Iran, and the yellow-bellied balancing act he’s attempting to pull off, will be a factor, but the upcoming elections will mostly be a verdict on how badly Labour has wasted its parliamentary majority. Has the government tackled the cost of living crisis or made people feel the much-vaunted “change” the party promised after 14 years of Tory rule?
Voters are fed up with pointless bloody wars and a financial doom loop writ large across Britain’s high streets and public services. The two-party system is over – our vassal status with the US should be, too.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/26/middle-east-conflict-will-damage-uk-economy-more-than-any-other
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/26/uk-consumer-confidence-has-collapsed-iran-war-retail-industry-energy-prices-inflation
[3]: https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price
[4]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y7gnkez3lo
[5]: https://www.declassifieduk.org/how-britain-is-involved-in-trumps-iran-war/
[6]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36rny6xgppo
[7]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/24/rachel-reeves-rules-out-universal-support-energy-bills
[8]: https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-reform-uks-donations-have-come?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
[9]: https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/farages-fossil-fuel-donors-profit-iran-war
[10]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/11/nigel-farage-iran-us-war-putin-russia-new-statesman-interview-reform
[11]: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/reform-accused-of-being-in-an-almighty-mess-over-shifting-iran-war-stance_uk_69ae90f4e4b0fe5c2e757a67
[12]: https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/bemusement-as-lincolnshire-mayor-andrea-jenkyns-gives-thoughts-on-iran-war-403966/
[13]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/10/nigel-farage-u-turn-uk-iran-war
[14]: https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54243-uk-public-opinion-on-the-us-iran-conflict
[15]: https://www.ft.com/content/be4b6cf0-21c8-466b-9458-dac864ab51b1?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[16]: https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/support-for-bringing-energy-companies-back-into-public-ownership
[17]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/05/09/reform-is-the-political-arm-of-the-fossil-fuel-industry/
[18]: https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/voting-intention
[19]: https://unherd.com/newsroom/iran-war-is-turning-nigel-farage-into-a-neocon/
[20]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33j7m7y17xo
[21]: https://www.ft.com/content/6364a72a-c04d-4074-b245-fcbc55852b10?syn-25a6b1a6=1
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/27/britain-is-picking-up-the-tab-for-trumps-war/

2026-03-26 19:52:40 UTC

Trump Lashes Out at NATO Allies Over War on Iran
Trump says U.S.’s NATO allies have done “absolutely nothing” to aid the illegal war on Iran.
Plus: A man filmed ‘Intimidating’ Al Jazeera Journalists in Golders Green is a Met police officer, does the UK need a ‘DOGE of the Left’?, and a huge blow for big tech.
With Helena (NoJusticeMTG) & Curtis Daly.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/26/trump-lashes-out-at-nato-allies-over-war-on-iran/

2026-03-26 16:32:12 UTC

UK Abstains on UN Vote to Describe Slavery As ‘Greatest Crime Against Humanity’
The UK abstained on a UN resolution to recognise the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” despite overwhelming support from non-European countries.
At the UN General Assembly vote on 25 March, 123 countries voted in favour of the resolution, whilst just three – the US, Israel and Argentina – voted against. The UK and several EU member states were amongst 52 that abstained.
The resolution called for reparations to address historical injustices, which saw 12.5 million Africans abducted and sold as slaves between the 15th and 19th centuries.
The Netherlands is the only European country to have ever formally apologised for its role in the slave trade.
In an official statement, the UK said it recognised “the abhorrent nature of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, which inflicted untold harm and misery on millions of people over many decades”.
However, the government took issue with the legal wording of the resolution and argued that “we must not create a hierarchy of historical atrocities”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson told the Telegraph: “We are committed to deepening respectful, long-term partnerships with African countries, rooted in mutual respect, that deliver real change for people’s lives.
“The UK’s position on reparations is clear – we will not pay them.”
According to the National Archives, Britain was the most dominant slave-trading nation between 1640 and 1807 and transported an estimated 3.1m Africans to the British colonies in the Americas and Caribbean.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/26/uk-abstains-on-un-vote-to-describe-slavery-as-greatest-crime-against-humanity/

2026-03-26 10:29:39 UTC

Met Police Resumes Arrests for Palestine Action Supporters Despite High Court Ruling
The Metropolitan police will resume arresting people supporting Palestine Action despite saying just weeks ago that it would stop.
On 13 February, the Met announced it would stop making arrests following a landmark judicial review which ruled that the government’s proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
However, on 25 March, the Met issued a new statement saying it would resume making arrests until the home secretary’s appeal on last month’s judgement is over, treating the high court ruling as only an “interim position”.
Deputy assistant commissioner James Harman said: “While the High Court has found the proscription of Palestine Action to be unlawful, it has confirmed the impact of that judgment will not take effect until the government’s appeal has been considered which could take many months.
“That means it is still a criminal offence to support Palestine Action.
“We must enforce the law as it is at the time, not as it might be at a future date.”
In response, activist group Defend Our Juries said: “The ban on Palestine Action is currently ruled unlawful. Right now.
“Nothing says ‘clear guidance’ like regularly changing your mind over the unlawful arrests of thousands of peaceful protesters for holding paper signs,” the group added.
The court of appeal will hear the government’s case on 28 and 29 April, but the Met warned that it could last months.
More than 2,700 people have been arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025 – more people than during the entire ‘war on terror’.
Proscription makes it a criminal offence to support an organisation, punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
Palestine Action is a British direct action group founded in 2020 with the aim of ending Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.
The group has recorded 45 instances of using direct action to block the functioning of the arms industry, with key targets Elbit Systems and RAF Brize Norton among those disrupted.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/26/met-police-resumes-arrests-for-palestine-action-supporters-despite-high-court-ruling/

2026-03-25 20:26:00 UTC

Iran MOCKS Trump, Says US “Negotiating With Itself”
“Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” says Iranian military spokesperson.
Plus: What the West gets wrong about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and Americans don’t know where Iran is.
With Micahel Walker, Helena(NoJusticeMTG) & Professor Sina Azodi.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/25/iran-mocks-trump-says-us-negotiating-with-itself/

2026-03-25 13:06:36 UTC

Cuba Aid Flotilla Arrives in Havana
After five days at sea, the first ships from the Nuestra América convoy arrived in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sailing from Mexico bearing much-needed aid, including medical supplies and sanitary products, the flotilla is part of the Nuestra América convoy. Hundreds of activists from Europe, South America and the United States have joined that convoy, travelling to Cuba to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people as they endure a prolonged, US-imposed energy blockade.
Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila was on board the first ship. Ávila sailed to Gaza last year as an organiser of the Global Sumud flotilla. His attempt to break the siege on the enclave was thwarted by the Israeli military, with hundreds of people taken into Israeli custody.
The flotilla “shows that the people of the world will never leave Cuba alone,” Ávila said, speaking to Novara Media at the port, “And that we do not fear US imperialism, and we don’t accept to be ruled by big banks, the military-industrial complex or the Epstein syndicate. Never.”
Ávila went on: “We are going to mobilise for the just causes in this world – just as Cuba always did.”
The siege of Cuba has seen rolling blackouts since January 2026, when US president Donald Trump blocked the shipment of oil from Venezuela to the island while threatening sanctions against any other country that tried to intervene. That culminated in an island-wide blackout last Monday, and another on Saturday. Now, water supplies in some parts of the country have been affected too. Yet the international community has done little to ease the siege of the island.
Speaking in Havana over the weekend, former Labour party leader and Your Party MP Jeremy Corbyn had this message for the British government: “Stand up to Donald Trump, stand up to the USA, and say we don’t accept your blockade of Cuba. We recognise and have always traded with Cuba. They should be ensuring that oil gets through to Cuba.”
Almost totally reliant on imported oil, the blockade has created an economic and material crisis in Cuba. Food prices have rapidly increased, transport has ground to a halt and tens of thousands of operations have been delayed as Cuba’s hospitals struggle to access medicines and electricity.
Meanwhile, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio has told journalists the country is readying itself for potential US aggression. “Our military is always prepared, and in fact it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression,” he said, adding that it would be “naive” not to, given “what’s happening around the world”.
Also disembarking the flotilla to cheers and singing from the crowd at Havana Harbour was US activist Olivia DiNuccio. Asked about the country’s aggression towards Cuba, she said: “My own tax dollars go to this. The US war machine takes all our money, and yet that money should be given to the people and the planet.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/25/cuba-aid-flotilla-arrives-in-havana/

2026-03-25 12:35:47 UTC

US-Israeli Attacks Have Damaged or Destroyed 600 Schools in Iran
The US and Israel have [damaged or destroyed][1] more than 85,000 civilian structures in Iran since late February, including 64,583 homes, 600 schools and 281 medical facilities, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said on Wednesday.
Pir-Hossein Kolivand, president of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, said missiles had also hit 17 rescue points and 12 rescue vehicles. He described the US and Israel’s actions as “war crimes”.
The figures come after the official death toll in Iran passed 1,500. The vast majority of the casualties have been civilians, including the roughly 170 schoolchildren whom the US killed in Minab on the first day of the war. Amnesty International [called][2] the Minab attack a ”serious breach of international humanitarian law”.
Kolivand referenced a US-Israeli strike against a Red Crescent ambulance in the city of Lar, southern Iran, earlier this month. “Nothing at all was left of the ambulance while they were transporting injured people,” he said in a video.
Over the weekend, Iran launched a fresh wave of retaliatory attacks against Israel, reportedly injuring around 180 people. Fifteen Israelis have been [killed][3] by Iranian attacks in this conflict, while commentators have noted that Israel’s air defence systems, the most well-known of which is the Iron Dome, have been badly weakened by the war.
[1]: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/us-israeli-attacks-damage-over-85-000-civilian-sites-in-iran-red-crescent-chief-says/3878434
[2]: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/03/usa-iran-those-responsible-for-deadly-and-unlawful-us-strike-on-school-that-killed-over-100-children-must-be-held-accountable/
[3]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/23/unprecedented-israel-us-carry-out-extensive-strikes-across-iran#:~:text=Iran's%20death%20toll%20in%20the,choppy%20as%20Asian%20trading%20opened.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/25/us-israeli-attacks-have-damaged-or-destroyed-600-schools-in-iran/

2026-03-24 20:08:04 UTC

Trump DITCHES Steve Witkoff for JD Vance in Iran Talks
As Pakistan hosts peace talks between the US and Iran, JD Vance has been touted for a new role in the negotiations.
Plus: Rachel Reeves outlines her plan to deal with soaring energy costs, Steven Methven reports from Havana amid a blackout, and an interview with Ted Cruz suggests that Republicans have given up on America.
With Aaron Bastani, Kieran Andrieu & Angus Hanton.
Watch Steven Methven’s extended report from Havana:
[https://youtu.be/VeDDo4HhNVo][1]
[1]: https://youtu.be/VeDDo4HhNVo
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/trump-ditches-steve-witkoff-for-jd-vance-in-iran-talks/

2026-03-24 17:12:39 UTC

Zohran Mamdani Gets 8,000 Potholes Filled in a Single Day
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pothole purge saw nearly 8,000 craters filled in a single day – the same number that would usually take New York’s Department of Transport (DOT) a week.
At 6am Saturday, 80 crews headed out to attack the Big Apple’s roads, following on from a similar mission the weekend before.
Pothole complaints are at a record high in New York this year after a harsh winter which adversely affected the city’s aging infrastructure.
Earlier this month, Queens resident Jaikarran Seenarian was killed after his electric scooter hit a pothole, sending him flying.
“In a single day, [crews will] fill thousands of potholes that pop up every year as spring arrives and our city streets begin to thaw,” said Mamdani, ahead of the first blitz.
“Safe, accessible streets are a basic promise of city government, and after a historically brutal winter, I’m incredibly grateful to the DOT teams who are not wasting a moment of time in delivering the street improvements we need.”
One of the first jobs Mamdani took on in January was repairing a bump on the foot of Williamsburg Bridge, a hazard notorious for felling cyclists.
According to the New York Times, the incident signaled early on that Mamdani was raring to take on “long ignored street improvements – the kind of meat-and-potatoes issue that some previous mayors have struggled to deliver on”.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/zohran-mamdani-gets-8000-potholes-filled-in-a-single-day/

2026-03-24 12:12:58 UTC

Palantir Has Been Awarded yet Another UK Government Contract
The controversial US spytech firm Palantir has been awarded a contract to analyse highly sensitive government data, despite loud opposition from campaigners decrying the firm’s role in abetting the Gaza genocide and the immigration crackdown in the US.
Palantir will be paid £30,000 per month to analyse highly sensitive data from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), raising questions about what the firm would do with that data – and why Palantir is ever more embedded in the British state.
The Miami-based firm already boasts contracts with the UK government worth over £500m, with its technology implanted in the NHS, the police and the military.
The latest contract – for which the government named only one, anonymised competitor – is part of the FCA’s drive to clamp down on rule-breakers amongst the 42,000 financial services firms it regulates.
Palantir will be given access to troves of financial data and asked to sort it, giving the company founded by billionaire Trump-donor Peter Thiel another view into the inner workings of the UK.
Speaking to the Guardian, an FCA insider asked: “Once Palantir understands how we detect money-laundering threats, how do we know that they are ethically reliable enough not to go to share that information?”
The multi-billion dollar company has built custom tools for ICE to help it identify targets for deportation in the US and announced a partnership with Israel for battle technology and “war-related missions” in January 2024.
Yesterday, MPs urged the Labour government to rethink the latest FCA contract.
Green party MP Siân Berry said: “Companies like Palantir should have no place within UK government systems when they are closely involved in President Trump’s illegal wars.”
The Greens’ leader, Zack Polanski, launched a campaign against Palantir this January, calling on the government to sever all contracts with the firm.
Martin Wrigley, a Liberal Democrat MP and member of the Commons technology committee, said: “We are creating a single behemoth that our UK firms won’t be able to compete against. We should be developing our own industries.”
The FCA said that Palantir would not control any sensitive data beyond the scope of the work it will be paid for – and when the contract ends, it will be forced to destroy any data and intellectual property it has seen.
Palantir said that it was proud to “support the FCA in their vital work to tackle financial crime”.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/palantir-has-been-awarded-yet-another-uk-government-contract/

2026-03-24 12:12:52 UTC

Israel Is Struggling to Divide Lebanon
[A tower block in Beirut with graffiti that reads 'fuck Israel'.]
The skies over Beirut are marked with the daily humming of drones. On days when the weather worsens there is some reprieve for the city of 2.5 million, almost half the population of Lebanon, because diminished aerial visibility impedes this preferred method of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) combat.
The permanent buzzing is integral to Israel’s strategy. Sometimes, even when bombs aren’t dropped, at night the drones remain low and loud overhead. “Every night my son is scared,” said Ali, a delivery man outside a cafe where we sit each morning. “He holds on to me so tight.”
The predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Achrafieh, where we talk, is comparatively safe. The Israeli intention, colonial to its core, is to produce enough division within Lebanon that the Lebanese state and its army – the former famously corrupt and the latter US-aligned – will take the fight to both Hezbollah and the wider Muslim community [on its behalf][1], with a history of far-right and Christian extremist groups that can be drawn upon to help. Amid such sectarian strife, encouraged by increasing Israeli bombings outside of predominantly Shia areas, Lebanon would become more easily occupied for [the project of Israeli settlement][2].
A nearby billboard shows a cross and a crescent, marking this year’s coinciding Lent and Ramadan – testament to Lebanon’s natural cosmopolitanism that coexists well without external instigation. Hezbollah – a proscribed organisation in the UK which successfully forced the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000 – is neither popular across Lebanon’s political spectrum nor so broadly unpopular as Anglosphere media represents, but after [years of broadcast genocide][3] by the Israeli military against Palestinian Arabs, Lebanese Arabs need no convincing that Israelis are not their friends.
There is no significant constituency of Lebanese people eager to fight other Lebanese people on behalf of Zionism.
As is its habit, the IDF reserves its worst bombing for the Dahiya neighbourhood, and has [killed hundreds of residents][4] of this working-class, tightly-knit suburb of predominantly but not exclusively Shia Muslims. Dahiya itself is the namesake of the Dahiya Doctrine, [an IDF method mandating total destruction][5] in order to punish any locality that harbours resistance. Gadi Eisenkot, author of the infamous doctrine, had to bury his son in December 2023 [after he was killed ][6]in an ambush by the Hamas military wing, Al-Qassam, as the Israeli army carried out its genocide in Gaza.
A few blocks over from the rubble of buildings, children play and people smoke shisha, while foam mattresses are supplied to ease the hardship of those now homeless. Mutual aid groups have sprung up across the country, and though the Israelis once seeded a vicious sectarianism during its civil war years, a fragile yet real Lebanese national identity of inclusivity has since formed.
Beirut restaurants have opened kitchens to provide meals for the displaced, [now numbering one in five Lebanese][7]. “This is how we will make it through this situation,” says Heba, a waitress. “Now is not a time to feel, it’s a time to act. This is the kind of project that makes you belong; it’s like everyone around you, literally everyone, is a single entity. This is solidarity.”
Outside the attention given to Beirut, such humanity carries higher risks. In the south, near the Israeli border, the largely Christian village of Rmeich was [ordered by Israelis to evict ][8]their Muslim neighbours sheltering from bombings, or be bombed together.
Nour, from Saida, south of Beirut, tells me the Israelis, during the last week of Ramadan, bombed three times inside the Palestinian camp, once during iftar. “We are expected to move on and live as if nothing happened, we just talked about dinner,” Nour says. “We are not better than Gaza; we have nothing but fate right now, just praying.”
Hamze, my Palestinian-Lebanese friend from a bombed northern camp by the Syrian border, asks after Beirut. His reply is upbeat: “If you’re alive, bro, you’re ok.”
Faced with public spiritedness, Israelis are redoubling their violence. Starting with attacks on displaced people [camped on the Beirut seafront][9], the first of which killed eight people, they have begun targeting the downtown area. White-collar professionals like doctors and academics – the sort of people Lebanon’s stiff classism dictates are supposed to be safe – have found they aren’t any longer.
The Israeli hope is that the Lebanese people do not blame Israel for bombing them, but instead blame Hezbollah for resuming self-defence after [incessant ceasefire violations ][10]in Lebanese villages that Israelis say are necessary for security – villages some Israeli groups also covet on the basis that [they were promised to Jews in the Torah][11].
[A mural in Beirut depicting the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli bomb attack in 2024. ]The Nasrallah shrine in Haret Hreik, Beirut. Credit: Julian Sayarer
Nevertheless, a spirit of resistance endures. While the Israelis mistakenly presumed that Hezbollah’s honouring a ceasefire meant it must have been destroyed, the contrary seems true. Defensive fire towards northern Israeli settlements has resumed, meaning the IDF’s bombing and ground invasion has carried costs. Ahron Bregman, a British-Israeli historian at King’s College London, who was recently in Tel Aviv for research and caught in the war, corroborates this view.
“This region poses military challenges due to its terrain,” Bregman explains. “Hezbollah inflicted many casualties when Israel deployed there between 1985 and 2000, and Israeli actions now play straight into Hezbollah’s hands.
“Its guerrillas are more familiar with the terrain and will launch attacks against the invaders, and Hezbollah now has an excuse not to disarm. It can say that while the Lebanese army is unable to confront the Israelis, Hezbollah can and should retain its weapons.”
Since October 2023, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the opposition with which he competes for a political spectrum of abject narrowness, have all championed Israeli reorientation around war under a brand of [“super Sparta”][12], but society is straining under the psychological and economic fallout of its multifrontal extreme violence. Bregman’s reflections on the mood as Iran responded to US-Israeli attacks leave little hope of correction.
“I spent long hours with Israelis in shelters and was struck by their strong support for the government,” said Bregman. “This surprised me because people of Tel Aviv tend to be liberal, leftwing, and staunch opponents of Netanyahu. Yet, they support the war. It seems as though they have been brainwashed.”
While Israeli bombing has now displaced the southern population of Lebanon, prompting a nationwide housing crisis, the mountains of the south still constitute a fortress for Hezbollah. [Its fighters have claimed][13] the destruction of numerous Merkava tanks, and the IDF’s advance is floundering. The communities that sustain the struggle, as well as Lebanese youth – less sectarian than their parents’ generation, more instinctive in their support for Palestine – are unbowed before both Zionists and threats of a corrupt Lebanese state that might consider collaborating with them.
“If nobody truly cares about [Palestinians’] freedom, it doesn’t mean neither should we,” says Dayane, a young woman from a village in south Lebanon. “The Israelis are irredeemable and so is Zionism, and nobody can impose them on us. I know that us rising against this horror is inherently good for humanity.
“At some point, everyone has to look themselves in the eye and ask what is the purpose of being alive if they are to be so passive and so careless in the face of such horrible things being done?”
Dayane continues: “We are fighting it, despite the difference in capabilities, and because as a community we refuse to do nothing, or watch as 2.2 million people in Gaza are killed, and act like it is a circus, or a movie. For all this, despite the pain, yes, I am optimistic.”
[1]: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/3/10/as-israel-intensifies-lebanon-attacks-hezbollah-disarmament-takes-backseat
[2]: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-890444
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/corbyn-calls-for-uk-ministers-to-be-investigated-over-gaza-genocide/
[4]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2gjq8qd09o
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/10/07/the-israeli-military-strategies-the-bbc-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about/
[6]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67654848
[7]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c30rl05evd8o
[8]: https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1498438/christian-villages-in-south-residents-flee-alma-al-shaab-displaced-evacuated-from-rmeish.html
[9]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/israeli-double-tap-strike-hits-displaced-on-beirut-seafront-kills-eight
[10]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/26/lebanon-files-un-complaint-against-israels-daily-ceasefire-violations
[11]: https://jewishcurrents.org/inside-the-movement-to-settle-southern-lebanon-uri-tzafon-israel
[12]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/16/netanyahu-super-sparta-vision-israel-economic-future-isolation
[13]: https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-ambushes-israeli-forces--targets-6-merkava-tanks-i
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/israel-is-struggling-to-divide-lebanon/

2026-03-24 09:35:06 UTC

The US Is Crippling Cuba With It’s Brutal Oil Blockade
A senior Cuban government official tells us he leaves home without power and returns without power. His son cycles 14 kilometres to work, as an electrician, and comes home to a blackout.
This is life in Cuba right now. Not for ordinary citizens, but for the people running the country.
Novara Media’s Steven Methven reports from Havana on the crisis gripping the island: rolling blackouts, collapsing buildings, medicine shortages, and a US foreign policy decades in the making that has reached a new intensity under Trump.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/the-us-is-crippling-cuba-with-its-brutal-oil-blockade/

2026-03-24 08:06:30 UTC

106: When Does the Mask Become the Face?
Moya and Ash react to Louis Theroux’s documentary on the manosphere. The antics of YouTubers like HS and Sneako seem designed to amuse teenage boys and offend the normies – but when does the mask become the face? And who are the women who flock to these influencers? Plus: advice for a man who doesn’t want to dump his emotions on women.
Got a dilemma? Email ifispeak@novaramedia.com
Join us at [Crossed Wires festival][1] in Sheffield on 4th July.
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/24/106-when-does-the-mask-become-the-face/

2026-03-23 17:12:36 UTC

Matt Goodwin’s New Anti-Immigration Book ‘Based on AI Hallucinations’
Defeated Reform parliamentary candidate Matt Goodwin has been accused of using ChatGPT to research his latest book.
Goodwin, the GB News presenter who contested the Gorton and Denton byelection last month, published Suicide of a Nation: Immigration, Islam, Identity on 16 March.
Early readers of the book say that it includes fake quotes, cites non-existent articles and relies on “AI hallucinations” to make statistical claims.
“I’m only 5 chapters in and have found a huge amount of what appears to be false quotes and basic misinterpretations of data that appear to be AI hallucinations,” wrote Andy Twelves, a New Statesman contributor, in a long thread on X.
Twelves accused Goodwin of “statistical illiteracy” regarding the claim that most primary schoolchildren in Leicester, Luton and Slough do not speak English as a “main language”. Children who grow up speaking an additional language at home are more than capable of speaking English fluently or as a “main language” at school, Twelves pointed out.
Goodwin’s book also includes quotations from Roman statesman Cicero, economist Friedrich Hayek and political theorist James Burnham – but Twelves claims that none of the quotes exist in the public domain.
John Merrick, deputy editor of The Break-Down, pointed out that several of the book’s footnotes include ChatGPT in the URL – meaning the source of information was not found by Goodwin, but generated by the AI chatbot.
“If the research of Goodwin’s book was conducted mainly by AI, then he’s done a terrible job of hiding it,” Merrick wrote on X.
He added that there are only 12 footnotes in the book, with five referring to Goodwin’s own Substack and two generated by ChatGPT.
Multiple X users who have criticised Goodwin’s methods claim that he has since blocked them.
Goodwin responded: “Everything in this book is based on official UK census data and the very same projections that are used by the Office for National Statistics and expert demographers.”
He added: “The Left don’t want you to read it, they don’t want you to know what is in this book, because they do not want you to know what is happening around you.”
Goodwin was a professor of politics at the University of Kent for nine years until 2024. In February he ran for MP against Green candidate and plumber Hannah Spencer, who won the vote by a margin of over 4,000.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/matt-goodwins-new-anti-immigration-book-based-on-ai-hallucinations/

2026-03-23 13:32:00 UTC

Europe’s Credibility Is in Tatters Over Iran
Last Monday, following a US strike in southern Iran, former Swedish prime minister [Carl Bildt posted on X:][1] “Attacking water desalination plants is attacking critical civilian infrastructure. It’s with no doubt a war crime. If this escalates the consequences would be grave”. Of course, the question that arises is not what the “grave consequences” could be, but rather if there is a single human being left on Earth who takes European leaders seriously when they suggest they will hold the US or Israel accountable for, well… anything.
Two days later, president of the European Commission [Ursula von der Leyen followed][2] with a statement that said the quiet part out loud. “Europe can no longer be a custodian […] for a world that has gone and will not return,” she wrote, presumably meaning a world that respects international law, and called instead for a “more realistic and interest-driven foreign policy”. Europeans have used their “values” as a brow-beating tool around the planet for decades. The speed with which they have now dropped them makes their hypocrisy and cynicism that much more breathtaking.
Meanwhile in Britain, Keir Starmer has tried to temper his response to Donald Trump’s call to war with his characteristic tepidness. He see-sawed between not allowing the US access to UK bases, to then allowing it for “defensive purposes”, which apparently includes the bombing of a sovereign nation 3,000 miles away from Britain. Starmer has now ruled out the use of British warships for operations in the Gulf, at least until a new “defensive purpose” presents itself. In the shadow of levels of military spending not seen since the Cold War, leaders in Britain and across Europe have worked hard to present war as an inevitability, instead of the most abject failure, and now struggle to disentangle their narrative from that of Trump’s reckless misadventures.
There is, of course, a broader context. For the past ten years, anyone who believes in the idea of a united, strong and prosperous Europe has instead seen it stumble from one failure to the next. A financial crisis, during which it sacrificed its citizens to the banks. A migration wave that has been dubbed a “crisis” to appease the far right. Multiple environmental and climate policy promises that have been flushed down the political toilet. The UK leaving the EU, one of the bloc’s largest and most powerful members. Wars raging in Ukraine and Iran, and Israel’s genocide in Palestine, with the majority of Europe having assumed the role of US vassal – at best a spectator, at worst an enabler. Sovereignty, international law and human rights have all become outdated terms.
In a world ablaze, Europe’s decades of weak leadership and myopic policies have placed it in the hands of those it is dependent on – in particular, an increasingly desperate US. Whispers of European independence are uttered when our bullies are not listening, but are immediately retracted when our servile leadership reacts to Israeli or US pressure with a seemingly reflexive bending of the knee. The great pretense of being the sober and calm “adults in the room” when faced with firebrand counterparts has become the screen behind which decades of incremental vacuousness are hidden.
Any change must start with resisting the catastrophic direction we have collectively taken. War, environmental and climate collapse, racism and xenophobia and ever deteriorating living conditions for the majority are not inevitable: they are the price we pay to enrich the few, and impoverish everyone else – be they migrant or Europe-born. We must engage in principled voting rather than dependency on the logic of the “lesser evil”, local organising against interests that turn every aspect of our lives into profit, and speaking truth to power, no matter how absurd our enemies try to make us appear.
There are many who speak out but are systematically silenced. In Britain and in Europe, resistance is growing at every level, gathering the strength to become the force that could shatter decades of a failing, dead-end system. It is high time that the voices of a humane alternative unite to unlock the hope we need to believe that our future is not, in fact, doomed.
*On Tuesday 24 March, Yanis and Erik will speak alongside Zack Polanski, Jeremy Corbyn, Francesca Albanese and others at an event in London to mark the 10-year anniversary of *[*DiEM25*][3]*. For tickets, *[*click here*][4]*.*
[1]: https://x.com/i/status/2030650443932594368
[2]: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/03/09/von-der-leyen-and-kallas-call-on-europe-to-adapt-to-chaotic-coercive-world-order
[3]: https://diem25.org/en/
[4]: https://dice.fm/partner/tickets/event/yo6kbp-resistance-is-existence-the-fight-for-our-future-24th-mar-troxy-london-tickets
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/europes-credibility-is-in-tatters-over-iran/

2026-03-23 11:19:59 UTC

Leftists Hold Onto Power in France’s Big Cities
The Socialist Party’s Emmanuel Grégoire won the Paris mayoral election yesterday evening – while leftwing victories in Marseille, Lille and Lyon warded off France’s far-right party National Rally (RN).
In Paris, Grégoire has vowed to build 60,000 new social and affordable housing units to combat the overuse of residential homes as tourist lets. He also plans to build more cycle lanes and improve the condition of the River Seine.
“I’m thinking of the most fragile people, those who will sleep on the streets tonight,” said the incumbent mayor, whose party has been the Parisian favourite for 25 years. “I’m thinking of children who are suffering … all the most vulnerable who need the left.”
“Paris will be the heart of the resistance against this alliance of the right, which seeks to take away what we hold most precious and fragile: the simple joy of living together,” he added.
Gregoire saw off conservative candidate and former culture minister Rachida Dati with an estimated 52% of the vote.
Elsewhere in France’s local elections, the incumbent leftist mayor of Marseille, Benoit Payan, beat RN candidate Franck Allisio. In Nimes, the Communist candidate Vincent Bouget led a left coalition to defeat the far-right. RN had hoped to take both key southern cities.
Socialists and their allies also held onto their seats in Lyon and Lille.
But despite losses in France’s four biggest cities, Marine Le Pen’s RN was successful in the smaller towns of Menton, Carcassonne, Orange and Castres.
The leader of the hard-right UDR party, Eric Ciotti – an ally of Le Pen – also won in the city of Nice.
The success of the Socialist Party offers renewed hope for the traditional left, with the far-right failing to win many of its targets.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/leftists-hold-onto-power-in-frances-big-cities/

2026-03-23 10:35:02 UTC

10 Seats to Watch in the Local Elections
Thursday 7 May will see voters across England, Scotland and Wales head to the polls for the biggest set of elections since the 2024 general election.
In England, voters will elect around 5,000 councillors across 136 local authorities, and crown six directly elected local mayors. All 32 London borough councils, 32 metropolitan districts, 18 unitary authorities, six county councils (delayed from 2025) and 48 district councils are up for grabs.
Scotland will elect 129 members to Holyrood (Scottish parliament), while Wales will elect 96 Senedd (Welsh parliament) members via a [closed proportional list system][1] for the first time following the 2024 Senedd Reform Act.
This year’s elections are widely viewed as a referendum on prime minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which began tanking in the polls pretty quickly after it won a loveless landslide in 2024.
Most of England’s seats up for election were last won in 2022, when Labour made gains during the fallout over the [partygate scandal][2], presided over by Boris Johnson. Back then, Labour was polling around 35% in opposition and benefiting from voter anger towards the Conservative government.
Now, things look very different. Starmer’s premiership has been [beset by scandals][3], [U-turns][4], [increasing authoritarianism][5] and a lack of moral leadership over Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The party is polling at a [woeful 17% nationally][6] and while a Labour wipeout could likely spell a leadership change, it’s unclear who would be willing to accept the poisoned chalice.
Reform is also contesting wards for the first time, and although it is [now polling around 23%][7] – six full points down from highs of 29% last autumn – Nigel Farage’s party is projected to take control of county councils in England’s rural heartlands of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as [dominating the Senedd elections][8], along with Plaid Cymru.
Meanwhile, the Greens are on the rise, with 50 Labour councillors [defecting to the party][9] in the last six months, and [high hopes][10] for the upcoming elections from leader Zack Polanski.
Here are ten seats you should be watching ahead of 7 May.
### 1. Newcastle (all out).
The minority Labour administration on Newcastle city council is under pressure from Greens and independents in this round of elections.
All 78 seats are up for grabs on 7 May, and the former North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll is standing for election as a Green party candidate in Monument ward – a councillor position he previously held for Labour before taking the mayoralty in 2019.
Reform has enjoyed success in the north east already, sweeping the board in the Durham county council elections last year with [a gain of 65 seats from zero][11]. But Newcastle could be where Reform runs into trouble in the region. Driscoll told Novara Media that “we’re being told Reform is unstoppable – but that’s not what we’re seeing”, and [predicted last summer][12] that an alliance of Greens and independents could take control of Newcastle city council.
A local source told Novara Media that if Labour is wiped out, the real test will be how a Green, Lib Dem and Reform council grapples with local authority staff and processes to successfully work together.
### 2. Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni (Senedd).
The Senedd Reform Act in Wales means 16 new super-constituencies have been created for the Senned elections, sitting alongside the 32 preexisting constituencies that elect MPs to Westminster. Each new super-constituency will elect six members of the Senedd (MSs) – 96 in total.
[YouGov polling][13] in January had Plaid surging ahead of Reform as the predicted largest party, with 37% of respondents saying they’d vote for the Welsh nationalist party (a seven-point increase since September 2025), the Greens in third (having never had an elected MS), and Labour in fourth – its weakest position in history. In February, a [Beaufort Research poll][14] had Reform on 27%, however – just two points below Plaid – while a [More in Common poll][15] projected Reform would get an overall majority.
One seat to watch in particular is the new south Wales super-constituency of Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Rhymney), where Plaid is [projected to elect][16] three MSs, Labour two and Reform one.
Caerphilly was won by Plaid in a stunning by-election victory in October, with Lindsay Whittle taking 47% of the vote and [ending over 100 years of Labour dominance][17] in the seat. Whittle spent decades fighting to secure the seat, and now must battle for it again, less than a year later.
### 3. Galloway and West Dumfries (Scottish parliament).
In Scotland, polling has the Scottish National Party (SNP) taking between 33% and 37% of the vote, as Reform surges into second place. A [February Find Out Now poll ][18]commissioned after Scottish Labour leader [Anas Sarwar called on Starmer to resign ][19]over [the Peter Mandelson scandal][20] had the SNP winning 36% of the constituency vote, with Reform second on 21% and Labour polling a trailing third on 12%.
The Scottish parliament elects via a mixed additional member system (AMS) across eight regions which are then divided into 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one member of Scottish parliament (MSP) by first-past-the-post, and each region elects seven MSPs via D’Hondt PR. New constituency and regional boundaries will come into play this time around, with 21 seats changing shape or name. A party needs 65 seats for a Holyrood majority, and [PollCheck predicts][21] the SNP will win 61, although the SNP would do less well if pure PR was used rather than an AMS mix.
The southern constituency of Galloway and West Dumfries, where the Tories comfortably won 47% of the vote in 2021, is predicted to be an SNP gain.
The seat was created in its current form in 2011, cobbling together parts of the Labour-voting Dumfries and the Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (Tory vs SNP) constituencies. According to [MPR polling][22] for the Times in February, the SNP will knock the Tories firmly into third place, with Reform snapping at the nationalists’ heels in second.
### 4. Birmingham (all out).
Birmingham city council currently has a massive Labour majority, with the party winning 65 seats and securing more than half of all votes cast in 2022. Labour has run the council – either in overall control or in coalition – for most of the past two decades.
With 101 council seats up for grabs, it’s projected that Labour will lose control. Voters are likely to punish the government over long-running disputes like the city’s bin strike, which has [still not reached a conclusion][23].
The city has a sizeable Muslim population ([around 22%][24] – five times higher than England’s average) and anti-establishment parties and independents stand to benefit from Labour’s void of moral clarity when it comes to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Indeed, [over 1,250 councillors][25] across the UK have [signed a pledge for Palestine][26] ahead of the local elections.
Reform is predicted to pick up seats [in the double figures][27].
### 5. Lincoln (a third of seats).
The East Midlands city of Lincoln’s Labour-controlled council could be in real trouble. It was one of 30 councils that voted to cancel its 2026 elections before the government was forced to roll back and commit to holding all planned elections.
A third of the council’s 33 seats are up for grabs in the city’s usual staggered process that sees 11 seats voted on in each cycle. In 2024, Labour took eight seats out of 11 with 45% of the vote, but this year is expected to be very different, with Reform projected to make significant gains.
A source close to the matter told Novara Media that there’s a really good chance that Labour will lose overall control of the council – flipping it to no overall control – and lose in at least half of the eight wards it’s actively defending. The source added that Starmer would have to go, if so – but the problem in Labour is more systemic than just the prime minister.
### 6. Barnsley (all out).
Every Barnsley council seat will be up for election on the same day in May – a first in the authority’s 50-year history.
The South Yorkshire town used to follow a similar pattern to Lincoln, electing a third of councillors every year over a three-year period, but this time around, following a review of boundaries, all 63 councillors will be elected at once.
Labour – which has held a majority on Barnsley council since the borough’s formation in 1974 – is [predicted to suffer a wipeout][28], with Reform taking control. But while Barnsley could be a barnstorming win for Farage’s party, it remains to be seen if the [regeneration of the ][29]town centre will serve to shore up the Labour vote.
### 7. Hackney (council and mayor).
Hackney council has been won by Labour in every election (bar one, no overall control) since 1971. All council 57 seats and the position of Hackney mayor are up for election, with the Greens’ mayoral candidate councillor Zoë Garbett challenging Labour incumbent Caroline Woodley.
A Green party source told Novara Media that they’re getting lots more help on the ground thanks to an influx of volunteers. The Greens initially planned to only run candidates in five wards out of 21 – they’re now fielding candidates in every ward.
The source added that on the door, people who’ve voted Labour in the past are consistently saying they’re fed up with the party and are willing to to turn to the Greens.
Seven Labour councillors confirmed last month [they will stand down][30] on 7 May, and one councillor defected from Labour to the Greens mid-council meeting earlier this month [over claims of “institutional racism”][31] in her former party.
A local Hackney resident told Novara Media that the Greens coming out strongly against the NHS’s contract with US spytech firm Palantir could be a not-insignificant part of a potential Green victory in the area. Local campaigners are urging the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to [reject using Palantir software][32] that processes patient data via the NHS Federated Data Platform.
### 8. Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr (Senedd).
Former Welsh Labour MP Beth Winter is running in the new south Wales super-constituency of Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr as an independent [after quitting Your Party][33].
With one person, one vote and six seats to fill, there are [currently 23 candidates][34] running in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, with Labour fielding the most candidates.
To date, Reform has not announced candidates, despite [Farage choosing to launch ][35]Reform’s 2024 general election campaign in Merthyr Tydfil. Reform, Labour and Plaid are [each projected ][36]to win two MS spots out of the six available.
### 9. Essex (county council all-out).
Essex county council’s elections, delayed from 2025, will be held on 7 May, with all 75 seats up for grabs. While PollCheck notes that projections for county councils carry more uncertainty due to the age of baseline data – and the fact that Reform hasn’t stood in all-out local elections before – it does predict [a huge victory ][37]for Farage’s party.
The east England county council has been under Conservative control in [every election bar one since 1973][38] and currently has 49 Tory councillors – one, Ongar representative Jaymey McIvor, [announced his defection to Reform][39] in October 2024.
If predictions are correct, the council could see a Tory wipeout, with Reform taking control with more than 40 seats. After being accused of [“privately” seeking to cancel the elections][40] by ex-Tory chairman-turned-Reform-member Jake Berry, council leader Kevin Bentley [publicly denied requesting][41] a postponement.
A local source told Novara Media that Essex has a similar demographic to Kent, and warned Essex residents to take note of what has happened at the Reform-controlled council there. In Kent, councillors [voted to increase council tax][42] despite Reform promising a cut. The flagship Reform council has also been [accused of fabricating savings figures][43] and cancelling net zero projects that “never existed”.
### 10. Lewisham (council and mayor).
The borough of Lewisham in southeast London is electing all 54 council seats and a local mayor. The area has a [strong history of anti-racist and anti-fascist campaigning][44], and Labour has won control of the council in all but two elections in its 62-year history.
In 2022, Labour swept a massive 50-seat majority. However, Green mayoral candidate Liam Shrivastava, [who defected from Labour ][45]as a councillor in June 2025 over Palestine, is hopeful for a rupture in Labour’s tight grip on the borough.
Shrivastava told Novara Media that a “spell has been broken” in terms of the Greens being seen as a wasted vote thanks to a “massive mindset shift since Gorton and Denton”. Green candidate [Hannah Spencer beat both Reform and Labour][46] to secure what had been a historically deep-red Greater Manchester seat in the February by-election.
“Labour has massively taken people for granted in Lewisham and the delivery of services is poor because they’ve had no opposition,” Shrivastava said. “It’s total Labour dominance that creates this sense of complacency where bad decisions get made and there’s a real lack of accountability.”
The Greens are predicted to [gain 12 seats in Lewisham][47] but Labour to remain in overall control of the council. Shrivastava is up against Labour councillor Amanda De Ryk and Tory candidate Sylbourne Sydial for Lewisham mayor.
[1]: https://senedd.wales/how-we-work/our-role/senedd-election-and-member-changes/#:~:text=live%20in%20Wales.-,How%20is%20the%20voting%20system%20changing%3F,-The%20way%20you
[2]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59952395
[3]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/czx3lq460n6t
[4]: https://www.politico.eu/article/keir-starmer-7-times-mp-u-turn-uk-parliament/
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/02/13/palestine-action-ban-ruled-unlawful-after-judicial-review/
[6]: https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/voting-intention
[7]: https://yougov.com/en-gb/trackers/voting-intention
[8]: https://willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/the-big-welsh-politics-predictions
[9]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/03/12/labour-councillors-defect-greens-fearing-may-wipeout/
[10]: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/07/predict-green-party-wave-zack-polanski-local-elections-byelection-win
[11]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7zz55652do%5C
[12]: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/ex-mayor-jamie-driscoll-stand-32298326
[13]: https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2026-01-13/plaid-cymru-surges-ahead-of-reform-as-labour-in-fourth-place-in-latest-itv-poll
[14]: https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-holds-narrow-lead-over-reform-in-new-senedd-election-poll/
[15]: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/reform-take-seven-point-lead-33417949
[16]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/welsh_polling/senedd_polling/senedd-2026-seat-calculator
[17]: https://news.sky.com/story/plaid-cymru-win-caerphilly-by-election-in-humiliation-for-labour-13455893
[18]: https://www.thenational.scot/news/25873072.labour-slump-first-holyrood-poll-since-sarwar-turned-starmer/
[19]: https://www.thenational.scot/news/national/25838917.anas-sarwar-calls-sir-keir-starmer-quit-pressure-pm-intensifies/?ref=ed_direct
[20]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/02/02/peter-mandelson-should-be-stripped-of-his-peerage/
[21]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/holyrood-seat-calculator
[22]: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/the-facts/what-is-an-mrp-poll/
[23]: https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2026/february/birmingham-bin-workers-vote-to-extend-strikes-past-may-elections-and-into-september
[24]: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50265/supporting_healthier_communities/2436/faith_and_religious_communities/2
[25]: https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/councillorspledges
[26]: https://www.votepalestine.co.uk/
[27]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/locals-2026#/birmingham
[28]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/locals-2026#/barnsley
[29]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgrnkwjvlgo
[30]: https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/7-hackney-councillors-who-quitting-33413045
[31]: https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/drama-emotion-hackney-council-labour-33537048
[32]: https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/data-firm-palantir-used-ice-33304454
[33]: https://nation.cymru/news/ex-welsh-labour-mp-beth-winter-has-left-your-party-and-will-be-standing-for-the-senedd-as-a-community-independent/
[34]: https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/senedd.pontypridd-cynon-merthyr.2026-05-07/
[35]: https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2024-06-17/the-reason-why-reform-uk-chose-to-launch-its-contract-in-wales
[36]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/welsh_polling/senedd_polling/senedd-2026-seat-calculator
[37]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/locals-2026#/essex
[38]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_County_Council_elections
[39]: https://x.com/McivorJaymey/status/1849347659422695705?s=20
[40]: https://x.com/JakeBerry/status/2014332144156279207?s=20
[41]: https://x.com/CllrKBentley/status/2014342570705379706?s=20
[42]: https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2026-03-10/nigel-farage-denies-reform-promised-council-tax-cuts-despite-leaflet-pledge
[43]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/07/reform-run-kent-council-accused-of-fabricating-40m-net-zero-savings
[44]: https://www.gold.ac.uk/global-change/history-research/battle-of-lewisham/what-was-the-battle-of-lewisham/
[45]: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labour-councillors-defect-greens-support-starmer-london-b1234781.html
[46]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/02/27/greens-thrash-labour-and-reform-in-historic-by-election-win/
[47]: https://www.pollcheck.co.uk/locals-2026#/lewisham
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/10-seats-to-watch-in-the-local-elections/

2026-03-23 10:31:47 UTC

Donald Trump Is Trying to Break the Cuban People
[A man in a suit with blonde hair speaks with microphones underneath him held by reporters]
Hundreds of delegates have arrived in Cuba as part of [the Nuestra América convoy][1]. They’ve brought with them medical aid and equipment as well as other essential supplies, tonnes of enthusiasm for the beleaguered island nation and – perhaps most importantly – the attention of the world.
Just in time too. Despite being up to his neck in it over Iran, US president Donald Trump, suffering an acute case of Havana syndrome, is still finding the time to lick his lips at a possible takeover of Cuba. This week, the socialist island experienced [two country-wide blackouts][2] as its electricity grid shut down in the face of a prolonged US oil embargo, one that’s caused rolling blackouts for months.
It’s economic warfare, designed to break the Cuban population. The question is: will it work?
Donald Trump recently spoke of having [“the honour of taking Cuba”][3]. But if that’s what happens – and it’s far from clear that it will – there’ll be nothing honourable about it. Nobody these days writes poems and tributes to sad-sack men who deprive children and the sick of [essential supplies][4] like medicines, energy and clinical equipment to get what they want. And yet that’s exactly what Trump is doing in Cuba, while his lackeys, supporters and a [significant contingent of Cuban émigrés in Miami][5] (just 250 miles from where I’m sitting now), cheer him on.
“Whether I free it, take it,” [said Trump of the island][6], “I think I can do anything I want with it.” That’s a line full of insight – not into the state of the world, but the state of the president’s understanding of it. For him, entire nations are things to be toyed with, to have things done to them or not, to be taken or given, overthrown or bombed. Whole societies are to be subject to his whims, whole populations his playthings.
Sovereignty? That’s for me, not for thee.
Of course, what is happening in Cuba now is only the most intense period of [more than 60 years of US foreign policy][7]. Since 1962, the US has cut off almost all commercial interactions with the island, while encouraging its allies to do the same. For [the last 33 years][8], the rest of the world has largely been opposed to this lawless interference in Cuba’s economic, political and social life, with the UN General Assembly voting annually against the sanctions.
Fat lot of good that did. Except for [a brief period under Barack Obama’s administration][9], the US has pursued its path of Cuban destruction with vigour. That vigour has become feverish under Trump’s second administration, as it seeks to dominate the western hemisphere. That’s something it’s not remotely shy about, having trumpeted [the so-called Donroe doctrine][10] – the muscular reassertion of US dominance in the region.
Except when the lights have all gone out, you can see the impact of that decades-long policy wherever you go in Havana. Buildings still serving as people’s homes are crumbling or even collapsing. Poverty is visible everywhere, as is, in some parts of town, a small but increasingly wealthy class of business owners.
But other markers of economic distress just aren’t there. Unlike in the US, where an accident or disease can leave you and your family destitute, bankrupt or on the streets, Cuba has an excellent health service, with roughly [one doctor to every 130 people][11] (the US has one to around every 400 people). Crime is also incredibly low ([though it has increased alongside the country’s economic troubles][12]) with Cuba’s population suffering violent crimes at a rate almost tenfold lower than in the US.
Given the US (alongside its BFF Israel) is currently bombing Iran in an illegal war while also holding the head of the Venezuelan state and his wife prisoner after a kidnapping operation, there’s an unfunny irony in the state department’s practice of calling Cuba a [state-supporter of terrorism][13] to justify US sanctions, blockades and sieges. As climbing world oil prices – a [direct result of Trump’s attacks on Iran][14] – terrorise people everywhere, it’s Cuba’s citizens, rather than the US’s, being stymied, threatened and starved.
The world owes Cuba more than this, and its people are looking to it for help. As one Cuban asked me, noting that [it took Russia three months to send two ships][15] to ease the oil blockade, “Where is Russia or China?”. And where are all those countries who built their healthcare systems, their independence or both on the backs of Cuban doctors and soldiers? Even [Italy took advantage of Cuba’s medical prowess][16] in 2020, when a medical brigade spent three months helping in Turin as the coronavirus swept terrifyingly through the city.
“We are alone,” is what I’ve been told by more than one Cuban this week. And with multiple US-allies (including the UK) warning their citizens against all but essential travel to the island, they feel more alone than ever. In what should be the country’s peak tourist season, hotels and restaurants are empty; a vital source of income now dried up.
So why does the British foreign office say not to travel? “Cuba,” we’re told, “Is experiencing [severe and worsening disruption][17] to essential infrastructure.” Experiencing. Like a disease or a hurricane, that’s the language of natural disaster. But this is not a natural disaster. It’s a very manmade one. A very American manmade one.
Critics like to say that the current situation is much the fault of the Cuban government. And there are Cubans on the island who will say the same. In fact, I haven’t met many who aren’t, in one way or another, critical of the current administration, accusing it of failing to properly plan, of overinvesting in the tourism sector, or of deprioritising the people it’s supposed to protect. It’s not for me to judge the validity of those complaints, though I’m sympathetic to some. But it’s also simply a matter of fact that every decision current and past Cuban leaders have made has been in an atmosphere strangled of possibility by the US embargo.
Internal criticism may abound, but I haven’t met many Cubans who aren’t proud of their country’s socialist revolution. And I’ve yet to meet any who welcome a US intervention (though I’m told they exist). According to the Atlantic, the White House already has [regime change planned out][18]. And [Cuba’s military is preparing][19].
The question is: will the world let it happen? As it did with Venezuela, and as it is with Iran. Will the international community just sit back – again – as Trump decides to destroy yet another nation?
“Cubans are hopeful people,” one Havana resident told me, “But we are losing hope.”
[1]: https://nuestraamericaconvoy.org/
[2]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg0l44yxrvo
[3]: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-cuba-military-invasion-b2939753.html
[4]: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/cuba/cubans-fuel-shortages-long-lines-food-rcna264435
[5]: https://www.local10.com/news/2026/03/13/in-miamis-little-havana-hope-is-high-for-us-military-intervention-in-cuba/
[6]: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-he-thinks-he-will-have-honor-taking-cuba-2026-03-16/
[7]: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2022-02-02/cuba-embargoed-us-trade-sanctions-turn-sixty
[8]: https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/30/united_nations
[9]: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34294821
[10]: https://www.axios.com/2026/01/07/trump-monroe-donroe-doctrine-venezuela-greenland-cuba-colombia
[11]: https://www.europeanceo.com/home/featured/how-cubas-doctors-are-helping-the-world-fight-covid-19/
[12]: https://cubasiglo21.com/crime-in-cuba-continues-to-rise-public-insecurity-report-2024/
[13]: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-shouldnt-sponsor-terrorism-list-former-us-officials-say-rcna52728
[14]: https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/22/business/oil-prices-stock-futures-iran
[15]: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/20/cuba-crisis-fuel-tankers-russia-oil-gas-energy-us-trump.html
[16]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/doctor-diplomacy-cuba-seeks-to-make-its-mark-in-europe-amid-covid-19-crisis
[17]: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cuba
[18]: https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/03/trump-plan-cuba/686497/
[19]: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5795736-cuba-military-prepares-aggression/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/23/donald-trump-is-trying-to-break-the-cuban-people/

2026-03-23 08:54:38 UTC

The Right Is Winning. Here’s How We Change That.
Aaron Bastani sat down with Novara Media’s own Ash Sarkar, to celebrate the paperback release of her bestselling book, Minority Rule. ‘Minority rule’ is the term Ash used to describe the irrational fear that minorities are trying to overturn and oppress majority populations. She revealed how minority elites rule majorities by creating the culture wars that have taken over our politics, stoking fear and panic in our media landscape.
Together before a live audience at EartH Hackney, Ash and Aaron dug into the question of what has changed since the book was published. What can be learned from Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York? Does the left hate Britain? What do we need to do, in order to establish a ‘majority rule’? And is there such a thing as a middle-class dog?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/22/the-right-is-winning-heres-how-we-change-that/

2026-03-21 16:13:16 UTC

How Musk’s Paranoid Empire Really Works
The most powerful CEO in history is barely a person anymore. But it’s not just his X-addled brain that has transformed him. He has deeply integrated himself in the ‘cyborg collective’ – a world of electrons, brain implants, fantastical promises, financial systems, bots, and memes – he has made for himself.
Henry Ford gave his name to Fordism. According to Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, we’re entering a globe-spanning era of capitalism we might soon call ‘Muskism’.
Those two are the authors of *Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.* It’s a whistle-stop tour of the world that made Musk, from the fortress futurism of Apartheid South Africa to the financial fabulations of the Bay Area. And, of course, the cyborg world that Musk is now making for us all.
They told me about what they see as Musk’s ongoing land grab in space, about what’s really going on with his plan for brain implants, how our supposed climate saviour became obsessed with prepping for the end of the world, and how Musk came to define an entirely new way of making technology – and not making it, but at least making it seem like you might.
Do Your Own Research is a new show about the systems that make modern life possible.
Music by Iglooghost.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/21/how-musks-paranoid-empire-really-works/

2026-03-21 00:28:37 UTC

Israel Is Imprisoning More Children Without Charge Than Ever Before
Israel is detaining children without charge in record numbers, a rights group has said, subjecting them to hellish conditions that include beatings, the denial of food and water and other forms of torture.
New figures from the Israel Prison Service show that of 351 child detainees, 51% are held in so-called “administrative detention”, where people are imprisoned [indefinitely without having committed a crime][1] on the grounds that they intend to break the law.
The rights group Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) said on Wednesday that this is both the highest number and [the highest percentage on record][2] since it began monitoring these figures in 2008.
“These numbers come at a time when Palestinian children consistently report appalling and debilitating conditions within Israeli detention facilities,” the group said.
This includes being denied “adequate food and water, being subjected to beatings and verbal harassment, lacking access to medical care, and being subjected to torture, including the use of solitary confinement.”
The IPS figures for child detainees do not include those who are held in military detention or interrogation centres, which are separate from the prison service.
“There is no available data for the number of children or adults detained at these sites,” the group said, “though DCIP has gathered firsthand testimonies from previously detained children describing systematic torture and dehumanizing conditions.”
For those held in the prison system, their lawyers are “forbidden from passing on simple messages from families, and children who wish to pass along messages to their families”.
Under Israel’s apartheid system, being charged is not a reliable indicator that a Palestinian has committed a crime. In 2024, a UN agency said Palestinians had been coerced into falsely confessing to links to Hamas.
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said in January that Israel runs a network of torture camps where thousands of Palestinians are subjected to a “living hell” – and that the country’s political, media and legal institutions are complicit in maintaining them.
[1]: https://www.btselem.org/administrative_detention
[2]: https://www.dci-palestine.org/more_than_half_of_palestinian_child_detainees_have_no_charges
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/israel-is-imprisoning-more-children-without-charge-than-ever-before/

2026-03-21 00:28:31 UTC

The Greens Are Britain’s Anti-War Party Now
[A man with short brown hair in a suit wears a red and white poppy together]
Zack Polanski’s name isn’t on the letter due to be sent today to Keir Starmer by the seven Green MPs and Lords, but his fingerprints are all over it.
The letter was clearly penned by an eco-populist. It describes the Iran war as “illegal” and poses several uncomfortable questions about Britain’s involvement. How is Starmer ensuring our bomber planes are being used “defensively”? Does the Ministry of Defence even see the list of Iranian targets before the US pulverises them from British soil? Is Britain allowing the US to load barbaric cluster bombs – which we’ve legally committed not to use, but the US hasn’t – at our air bases? Could UK-made weapons have killed Iranian schoolgirls?
The letter ends by demanding that Starmer stop letting Trump use our military bases (which is becoming increasingly [common knowledge][1], despite Britain denying involvement in the war); end arms sales to Israel; condemn Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu for violating international law; and sanction law-breaking officials.
[On BBC Question Time last night][2], former Green leader Caroline Lucas took an uncharacteristically bullish, some might say Polanski-esque, tack: “This is not Grand Theft Auto, this is real people’s real lives.” Gone are the days of Green politicians politely suggesting that Labour modify its approach.
Despite [70% of Britons opposing][3] the UK joining the war, only one major party agrees with them. The Greens have long been an anti-war party. Now, they’re *the* anti-war party.
The last few attempts to build national anti-war parties in Britain have, well, bombed. The Respect party, formed as an anti-Iraq coalition, slowly morphed into The George Galloway Show, losing steam partly due to its factionalism; its cofounder, George Monbiot, [quit over its decision to field candidates against the Greens][4].
The Liberal Democrats famously opposed war in Iraq – they [dined out for years][5] on history’s vindication of Charles Kennedy – but on legalistic grounds. [The Lib Dems believed][6] military action should be taken against Saddam Hussein, but as a last resort, and only then with the backing of the UN and House of Commons. Nevertheless, the party [scooped up][7] lots of Muslim voters in 2005 as part of this “anti-war backlash”; then-foreign secretary Jack Straw saw his vote share drop by 12% over it.
Then there was Jeremy Corbyn. It was primarily Corbyn’s unswerving opposition to war – he has [voted against][8] every military action the UK government has proposed during his 42 years as an MP – that vexed the establishment, though that manifested mostly as faux-antiracism. Though Corbyn captured the leadership, he never truly captured Labour. As soon as Starmer took charge, the party resumed warmongering-as-usual, while Corbyn resumed his anti-war activism from the sidelines, arguably his most comfortable position.
Meanwhile, largely unnoticed, the Green party has maintained a consistently anti-war position – it’s just that now, people are paying attention.
Like most of its European siblings, the Green parties of England, Wales and Scotland grew out of the anti-war movement of the mid-20th century. The commentariat appears to have forgotten this. Polanski’s proposal that the UK leave Nato, despite [raising several eyebrows][9], is old news. The Greens were outspoken Nato critics during the cold war, seeing the alliance as an accelerator of nuclear armament. Then in 2023, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the party softened its anti-Nato stance, [ditching its pledge][10] to withdraw the UK from the alliance and affirming its “important role in ensuring … security”. If anything, Polanski’s Nato scepticism is more a return to form than an eco-populist provocation, though it does reflect how much bolder he’s felt able to be than the party’s recent leadership.
The Greens are no flower power pacifists, though: they want the government to [arm Ukraine][11] against Russia. Much like the Lib Dems and Iraq, Polanski sees arming Ukraine as a last, though still viable, resort: “Once you’ve exhausted every possible option, then you ask for the further military question,” [he told HuffPost][12] in February. Yet Polanski’s reluctant militarism in Ukraine derives not from a general pro-war stance but rather from his opposition to Russia’s imperialism, of a piece with his criticism of US imperialism and Israeli colonialism. In this way, Polanski is much closer to Corbyn’s Labour – now Your Party – than to the Lib Dems, despite having been one himself.
Yet Polanski will be much harder to undermine as an anti-war loony leftist than either Galloway or Corbyn. [As I wrote recently][13], Gaza has transformed the political terrain on which Polanski stands. It’s exponentially harder to weaponise antisemitism now it’s been used to repel charges of genocide; exponentially easier to oppose war now that a generation has had unspeakable images burned into its retinas.
What’s more, Polanski has found a way of joining the dots between his critique of capitalism and his anti-war stance, between [bombs and bills][14]. This many-pronged opposition to the war – not just due to its effects on ordinary Iranians, but due to its direct impact on ordinary Britons – will make it difficult for Labour to push back. Having just emerged from one cost-of-living crisis, Britain could be plunging itself into another. Even the most hawkish frontbenchers are going to struggle to defend such masochism.
[1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg05xrgkg6o?xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_format=link
[2]: https://x.com/bbcquestiontime/status/2034740885271761231
[3]: https://news.sky.com/story/voters-split-over-whether-starmer-is-handling-iran-war-well-13520603
[4]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/feb/17/iraq.iraq1
[5]: https://x.com/LibDems/status/750611076761333764
[6]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2280053.stm
[7]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4520527.stm
[8]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43737547
[9]: https://www.gbnews.com/politics/iran-war-zack-polanski-calls-leave-nato-branded-deeply-daft
[10]: https://bright-green.org/2023/03/12/green-party-abandons-opposition-to-nato/
[11]: https://greenparty.org.uk/2025/02/22/standing-in-solidarity-with-ukraine/
[12]: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/exclusive-labour-attacks-delusional-zack-polanski-over-claim-starmer-backs-his-anti-nato-stance_uk_699eb06be4b0dce804ccfcc4
[13]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/17/replicating-an-antisemitism-crisis-in-the-greens-is-proving-tougher-than-some-had-hoped/
[14]: https://x.com/ZackPolanski/status/2034684946887876633
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/the-greens-are-britains-anti-war-party-now/

2026-03-21 00:28:26 UTC

Activists Set Fire to Israel-Linked Weapons Facility
Activists in the Czech Republic have set fire to a facility they say is jointly run by Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems.
Video [released by a group called the Earthquake Faction][1] shows people dousing the facility in the city of Pardubice, east of Prague, in flammable liquid.
LPP Holdings, a Czech arms company, announced in 2023 that it was planning to build a centre of excellence for unmanned aircraft systems with Elbit.
“The site is used to develop weaponry used by the Zionist entity to massacre people daily in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, and across West Asia,” the Earthquake Faction said.
An article shared by LPP in 2023 said the center would facilitate the transfer of know-how and qualifications to support the production of drone technology. Novara Media reached out to LPP for comment.
The activists said they ensured no one was harmed when setting the fire. Local media reported that firefighters had confirmed there were no injuries and that police were investigating.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed over 72,000 people, at a conservative estimate.
“There is no time to beg the complicit international governments,” the Earthquake Faction said. “We will not waste our breath asking nicely. Instead, we will take necessary action to quash their means to kill.”
[1]: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWG5JNeDKJ7/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/activists-set-fire-to-israel-linked-weapons-facility/

2026-03-21 00:28:20 UTC

Switzerland Bans Arms Exports to US Over Iran War
The Swiss government has not issued any license to export weapons to the US since the beginning of the illegal war on Iran and has said it will not issue any new ones until the attacks end.
“The export of war materiel to countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorised for the duration of the conflict,” the government said in a statement, citing the country’s neutral status.
“Existing licences and exports of other goods will now be regularly reviewed… particularly with regard to their compatibility with neutrality.”
“No definitive licences for the export of war materiel to Israel have been granted for a number of years,” it added.
The government has rejected two requests from the US to allow its planes to fly over Swiss airspace but permitted three others, it said last week.
Switzerland previously halted weapons exports to countries involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and also imposed bans on flights over Swiss airspace.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/switzerland-bans-arms-exports-to-us-over-iran-war/

2026-03-21 00:28:15 UTC

US and Israel Have Killed or Injured Over 1,800 Children in Iran and Lebanon
Over 300 children have been killed in illegal US and Israeli attacks in Iran and Lebanon since late February, while more than 1,500 have been injured.
The victims include a three-day-old baby and his two-year-old sister, who were killed in a US-Israeli strike on their home in the Iranian city of Arak, Iranian state media reported.
Footage released by the Iranian Red Crescent Society on Wednesday showed rescuers pulling a badly injured child from the rubble of a building in Tehran following a US-Israeli attack.
The US and Israel claim they do not target civilians, but observers refute this. Jeffrey Sachs, a former special adviser to the UN secretary general, told journalist Piers Morgan earlier this month that the war on Iran is “a kind of mass murder of civilians” that involves “carpet bombing” Tehran.
The latest figures for child casualties were compiled by Unicef on Thursday, though the UN agency did not specify the perpetrators of the attacks. Donald Trump has sought to evade US responsibility for a massacre of some 170 schoolgirls in Minab on 28 February, despite mounting evidence that the US carried out the killings.
Iran has also killed and injured children with its retaliatory attacks on Israel, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Across countries affected by the war, the figures include “202 children reportedly killed in Iran, 107 in Lebanon, four in Israel, and one in Kuwait as well as over 1,190 children injured in Iran, 331 in Lebanon, four in Israel, and four in Bahrain,” Unicef said.
“These numbers are likely to rise as the violence intensifies,” the agency added. “Homes, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure have reportedly been damaged or destroyed in several locations, disrupting services that children rely on for survival and wellbeing.”
*Joshua Carroll is a writer and journalist.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/us-and-israel-have-killed-or-injured-over-1800-children-in-iran-and-lebanon/

2026-03-21 00:28:09 UTC

IRAN: UK Support to US Is Act of AGGRESSION
The Iranian foreign minister has warned that letting the US use British bases constitutes “participation in aggression”.
Plus: Trump is considering a complete takeover of Kharg Island, and Steven Methven reports from Havana amid the illegal US energy blockade of Cuba.
With Michael Walker, Phil Miller, Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Richard Hames.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/20/iran-uk-support-to-us-is-act-of-aggression/

2026-03-16 20:11:00 UTC

Trump Begs for Help to Re-open Strait of Hormuz
As the illegal U.S-Israeli war on Iran spreads violence throughout the Middle East, oil exports from the region have ground to a halt.
Plus: Why Trump’s war aims are looking increasingly untenable, and we ask whether Israel would use its nuclear weapons.
With Michael Walker, Ash Sarkar & Annelle Sheline.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/trump-begs-for-help-to-re-open-strait-of-hormuz/

2026-03-16 15:35:13 UTC

BBC Breaks Law by Failing to Say If It Made Calls to Israeli Embassy
The BBC has broken the law by failing to give a “substantive response” to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request asking if and when calls took place between its most senior figures and the Israeli embassy, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has found.
The ICO – the independent regulatory office that upholds information rights in the public interest – issued a decision notice on Tuesday 10 March, seen by Novara Media ahead of publication online, finding the BBC had failed to respond adequately and within the 20 working days stipulated by law.
Finding the BBC to be in breach of section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the ICO ordered the broadcaster to provide a “substantive response” to the FOI within 30 days or risk being treated as in contempt of court.
The BBC must now hand over records of any calls between the Israeli embassy – including ambassador Tzipi Hotovely – and the BBC-issued mobile phone lines of top corporation leadership. They are director-general Tim Davie, BBC board member Sir Robbie Gibb, BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC chair Dr Samir Shah.
The FOI request was submitted on 6 December last year by a former civil servant, who wished to remain anonymous. He told Novara Media he was concerned by the BBC’s biased coverage of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. “If these calls exist, they represent a serious breakdown of the BBC’s Charter of Impartiality and a potential violation by the Israeli embassy of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” he said.
The applicant requested data showing when any such calls had happened, how long they lasted and whether they were inbound or outbound. From this, he hoped to see if there were any large clusters of calls around events such as Glastonbury 2025 – where punk-rap duo Bob Vylan sparked backlash for [their “Death to the IDF” chant ][1]– and the European Broadcasting Union meeting, [where members voted to include Israel ][2]in Eurovision 2026.
BBC officials have alluded to such calls in the past. When asked about lobbying from “both sides” regarding Israel’s genocidal war in September last year, [director-general Tim Davie told Labour MP Dr Rupa Huq][3] at a Culture, Media and Sport Committee oral evidence session that “I am talking to people on every angle of this conflict on a very regular basis”.
Under Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, foreign diplomats have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of the receiving state.
If the Israeli embassy made inbound calls to the BBC’s top brass, this could arguably constitute lobbying Britain’s national broadcaster – bypassing transparent press channels – and constitute an example of improper interference in a sovereign institution’s editorial independence.
If the BBC’s most senior figures made outbound calls to the Israeli embassy, that could point to a level of coordination which – during a period of intense conflict and editorial scrutiny – puts the BBC’s commitment to independent and impartial journalism at risk.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said “it isn’t surprising” that the BBC is “trying to shield itself from accountability for its shameful anti-Palestinian bias”.
Celie Hanson, PSC campaigns officer, told Novara Media: “We already know that the extent of the BBC’s pro-Israel bias has led to widespread [dissent among BBC staff ][4]who have complained of the persistent promotion of pro-Israel narratives and its failure to adhere to its own editorial standards.”
The BBC did respond to the FOI request on 9 February, after 38 days – almost double the legal time limit. But the ICO deemed its response inadequate, writing on 10 March that “by the date of this notice the public authority has not issued a substantive response to this request”. This is because the BBC claimed that although it had call logs going back to 7 April 2025, it “did not find any information of the description you have asked for (call metadata)”. No call data of any variety was shared with the applicant.
For the applicant, the BBC’s claim that records don’t exist is an “absurd notion that implies that the BBC doesn’t have access to any billing information about calls made using their 10,000+ corporate mobile lines”.
By finding the BBC in breach of the Act, the ICO appears to have agreed.
The ICO has the power to [issue enforcement notices][5] and practice recommendations to ensure that obligations under the FOIA are upheld. It is [unlawful for public bodies to fail to respond adequately][6] to a request for information, and a criminal offence to deliberately destroy, hide or alter requested information to prevent it from being released.
The BBC’s coverage of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza was [found to be systematically biased against Palestinians][7] and consistently failed to reach standards of impartiality, according to research from the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM).
The CfMM report, which analysed more than 35,000 pieces of BBC content in the year from October 2023, found that the BBC gave Israeli deaths 33 times more coverage per fatality than Palestinian deaths, that both broadcast segments and articles included clear double standards, and BBC content consistently shut down allegations of genocide.
Israel has killed a conservative estimate of 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, and injured over 170,000. At least 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced, and children have borne the brunt of Israel’s violence. UNICEF estimates that [64,000 children were killed or injured by Israel ][8]in the two years since October 2023.
[1]: http://bbc.com/news/articles/c33514nryy1o
[2]: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251205-bbc-backs-decision-to-allow-israels-participation-in-2026-eurovision-amid-controversy/
[3]: https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/16413/pdf/
[4]: https://www.owenjones.news/p/bbc-staff-were-forced-to-do-pro-israel
[5]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66467395
[6]: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/foi-complaints-and-ico-enforcement-powers/
[7]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/06/16/bbc-systematically-biased-against-palestinians-in-gaza-coverage/
[8]: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-years-hellish-war-have-devastated-gazas-children
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/bbc-breaks-law-by-failing-to-say-if-it-made-calls-to-israeli-embassy/

2026-03-16 15:35:08 UTC

Corbyn Calls for UK Ministers to Be Investigated Over Gaza Genocide
[Jeremy Corbyn]
Jeremy Corbyn is recommending that UK ministers are investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in light of government complicity and participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza detailed in the Gaza Tribunal report.
[The report,][1] released on Monday, found that the UK government has failed in every single legal obligation under treaty and international law, and has been complicit in atrocity crimes – in some instances even being an active participant.
Corbyn, the parliamentary leader of Your Party, told Novara Media: “Complicity demands consequences. In the aftermath of the Iraq war, governments escaped accountability for the role they played in catastrophic human suffering. This time, we must achieve real accountability and real justice for the Palestinian people.”
Corbyn held[ the Gaza Tribunal][2] in September last year to “uncover the full scale of British complicity in genocide” since October 2023, hearing testimony from witnesses, journalists and survivors, as well as a range of lawyers, whistleblowers and experts in international law.
Corbyn said the report, which he authored along with international law experts Dr Shahd Hammouri and Prof Neve Gordon, will “help cement the government’s legacy as a participant in one of the greatest crimes of our time”.
The report’s authors are committed to working with the ICC to “draw their attention to evidence presented in this report including violations of international law and evidence of criminal complicity implicating government ministers and officials”. They highlighted those “who have authorised the continuation of economic ties with Israel, as well as the commission of arms trades, arm transfers and intelligence exchange” as being worthy of investigation.
Recommendations from the report include that the British government should release full licensing and export data on military shipments to Israel to date, along with all legal advice on the government’s assessment of genocide and its obligations to prevent it.
The report also calls for all surveillance footage collected by [RAF spy flights over Gaza][3] to be shared with the ICC and International Court of Justice (ICJ), and for the government to cooperate with a full, independent public inquiry into cooperation between the UK and Israel since October 2023, which has the power to question ministers and officials.
Evidence collected from tribunal testimonies is sorted into four categories: the destruction of the medical system, the destruction of the education system, the targeting of journalists and the production of famine.
Two British healthcare workers gave evidence, with NHS consultant plastic surgeon Dr Victoria Rose telling the tribunal that she was “seeing children with bits of their body blown off” as part of daily operations on children.
Rose described one day of operating in May where she operated on six children including “a five-year-old girl who had had her arm blown off” and her sister, who “had had her left cheek and shoulder blown off”.
Consultant gastrointestinal surgeon Dr Nick Maynard described the total destruction of a hospital in Gaza by the IDF, saying: “They destroyed the scanning machines. They cut the cables to all the ultrasound machines. They cut the cables and destroyed all the dialysis machines… The Israeli military bombed the intensive care unit whilst I was operating in the operating theatre next door.”
The report describes Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s medical system as “deliberate, systematic and near total”, and attacks on healthcare facilities and staff [as “medicide”.][4]
It finds that the UK’s legal obligations under international law required – at minimum – the immediate suspension of arms transfers and related military exports where there is a serious risk of use in genocide, crimes against humanity or grave international humanitarian law violations; the suspension of intelligence‑sharing, training and other security cooperation that could materally assist unlawful acts; support for humanitarian relief and opposition to policies producing famine conditions; and full co‑operation with international accountability, including the ICC and the relevant UN special rapporteurs.
The British government has been found to fail in each of these five areas. It has continued to supply weapons to Israel, particularly parts of F-35 jets which are central to Israel’s genocide. Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, a lawyer at Global Legal Action Network, told the tribunal that it has been “really quite shocking to observe how far this government is willing to create legal absurdities to defy logic… to employ every tool at its disposal in order to keep arming Israel”.
The report accuses the UK government of ignoring “blatant violations” of international humanitarian law and applying a “skewed methodology” when assessing Israeli breaches of it by only looking at specific incidents, not patterns or overall pictures, along with providing political and diplomatic cover to Israel.
Mark Smith, a British Foreign Office official who[ resigned in protest][5] over continued arms sales to Israel in August 2024, testified that although his assessment was that “it was impossible to see how the UK government was acting legally”, this was repeatedly ignored and downplayed.
Prime minister Keir Starmer’s administration also came under fire for [actively “undermining” the ICC’s issuing of arrest warrants][6] for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant by questioning its jurisdiction withholding support for the warrants and failing to facilitate investigations, according to testimony from Tayab Ali, director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.
The role of British bases in facilitating the transport, refuelling and maintenance of Israeli military equipment, and of the Royal Air Force in conducting spy flights over Gaza from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was also cited as evidence of the UK’s active participation in the genocide.
Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza, of whom at least 20,000 are children. This is likely to be a severe undercount, and does not account for bodies still trapped under rubble.
[1]: https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/139/185/original/the-gaza-tribunal-report.pdf
[2]: https://thegazatribunal.uk/%5C
[3]: https://www.declassifieduk.org/britain-sent-over-500-spy-flights-to-gaza/
[4]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/un-experts-appalled-relentless-israeli-attacks-gazas-healthcare-system
[5]: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/09/uk-foreign-office-war-crimes-arms-gaza-yemen
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec/11/britain-icc-funding-netanyahu-arrest-warrant
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/corbyn-calls-for-uk-ministers-to-be-investigated-over-gaza-genocide/

2026-03-16 12:54:41 UTC

Aid Convoy to Deliver More Than 20 Tonnes of Food and Medicine to Cuba
[An aeroplane flies low over Havana, Cuba.]
Volunteers from three continents are set to converge in Havana this weekend, with more than 20 tonnes of food, medicine and solar equipment for Cuban communities hit by a brutal US blockade.
Activists from more than a dozen countries have signed up to participate in the Nuestra America Convoy, which will see Irish rap trio Kneecap and American streamer Hasan Piker join journalists, politicians and high-profile participants of last year’s Gaza aid flotilla in Havana on 21 March.
Alongside up to half a dozen boats that will sail across the Caribbean Sea from Mexico on Thursday, two charter flights are scheduled to arrive later this week, while hundreds of ordinary people carrying suitcases packed with medicines have booked tickets on commercial airlines from around the world.
While the US has had some form of blockade on Cuba since the 1950s, Donald Trump has significantly escalated it by threatening to impose tariffs on any country that sells fuel to the island nation, leading to widespread blackouts and disruption to the delivery of food and the production and distribution of medicine. Even everyday essentials such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo and baby food are now difficult to obtain, plunging the country into humanitarian crisis.
Organisers say the largest charter flight alone will carry more than £300,000 of aid, including food, medicines, surgical equipment and hygiene supplies, to be distributed by Cuban civil society organisations and directly to hospitals and clinics across the island. The convoy will also deliver nearly £400,000 worth of solar panels and generators.
In a statement, Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn condemned the blockade. “For more than six decades, the US blockade has tried to suffocate the Cuban example – a country that, despite relentless economic pressure, built universal healthcare and life expectancy comparable to or higher than the United States,” he said. “Now the Trump administration is escalating that siege in an attempt to break Cuba altogether.
“People across the world must stand with the Cuban people, oppose these punitive policies, and demand the right of every nation to live, develop, and determine its own future free from intimidation.”
Organiser David Adler drew parallels between the convoy and the Gaza aid flotilla, which he took part in last year. “From the global movement that helped end apartheid in South Africa to the flotillas that sailed to challenge the siege of Gaza, international solidarity has repeatedly emerged to confront injustice,” he said. “This convoy to Cuba continues that tradition, delivering critical supplies to the Cuban people and a simple message: you are not alone.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/aid-convoy-to-deliver-more-than-20-tonnes-of-food-and-medicine-to-cuba/

2026-03-16 10:23:00 UTC

Will Iran’s Oil Gamble Pay Off?
The Middle East is still on fire, as US president Donald Trump appears increasingly desperate to bring the carnage to an end amid a growing oil shock. On Saturday, in a message better suited to the group chat, the commander in chief [made a public plea to allies][1], including Britain (but also long-term opp China), to send help to the Strait of Hormuz. After all, what are friends (and frenemies) for, if not putting their own soldiers at risk to clean up your illegal mess?
Trump’s post is well-worth reading, blending as it does pitiful bluster with fatally-wounded pride. The US has destroyed “100% of Iran’s military capability”, we’re told, but in the very same sentence, that it’s still “easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile”.
Later, Iran is described as both “totally decapitated” yet successfully leveraging Hormuz as a “threat”. The hubris is strong with this one.
Roughly 100 miles long and just 24 miles wide at its narrowest point, every tanker picking up the Gulf states’ black gold must pass through the Strait of Hormuz to reach the wider ocean and, from there, the world. In normal times, around 20 million barrels of oil pass through the chokepoint each day – around 20% of the globe’s total supply. Most of it is destined for Asian markets, with China, South Korea, Japan and India the major buyers.
But these are not normal times. In response to an illegal war launched by the US and Israel, Iran has closed the strait. Some[ 20 ships have so far been attacked][2], several [sailors have been killed][3], and the passage is [said to be littered with mines][4]. But it’s the economic waves the closure is already making that has leaders shaking.
Iran’s aim is to make the world feel the pain of a war it did not start. Oil prices [now regularly surge above $100 a barrel][5] – an effective increase of 45% on prewar prices. That’s already being seen at petrol stations, where [prices are up by as much as 10p per litre][6] as corporations anticipate global shortages.
Oil greases the wheels of the capitalist grind – literally. An increase in its price means, eventually, an increase in all prices: anything that takes energy to make, that must be moved or heated or cooled. In other words, everything. But that’s not all.
Around [20% of the world’s trade in liquid natural gas][7] (LNG) also passes through the strait. Ahead of a full ban on buying Russian LNG next month, several EU countries have made Qatar – now a hostage to the closed strait – [a preferred supplier][8]. If Iran maintains the closure of Hormuz, the price of gas will go up, and heating bills along with it.
There’s more. Urea, a byproduct of LNG production, is a [nitrogen product essential for fertilizer][9]. As a little under half the world’s seaborne trade in urea must pass through the strait of Hormouz, prolonged closure could have [a serious impact on the globe’s food chain][10].
Completely closing the strait isn’t something Iran has done before. It’s cheap, it’s easy ([remember the Houthis, anyone][11]?) and it’s a sign that Tehran may have few levers left to pull. The question is: how long will it serve the country’s interests?
Iran has calculated that the threat of global economic damage will cause US allies to persuade Trump to end the attacks. But while few countries have yet shown much interest in joining Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal war, that may change as price rises and stock plunges hit. And after hitting the phones all weekend, Trump [reportedly hopes to announce some kind of coalition][12] later this week.
While the pressure piles up on Trump, he’s applying stressors of his own. After a muted response to his call for support from other countries, he’s now wielded the big stick. “If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response,” he [told the Financial Times][13], “I think it will be very bad for the future of Nato.”
Of course, Nato members are pretty used to that ultimatum. Trump’s used it every time he expects to get his way. But his threat to [take Greenland “one way or another”][14] just two months ago, as well as doubts over whether the US would [honour its defence commitment][15] under the treaty, have already seen the EU planning [an independent defence path][16].
So far, only the UK appears to be ready to pledge Trump the support he’s begged for (despite him saying just a week ago that it was[ “too late” for the UK to help][17]). And even that’s more gesture than genuine assistance.
The government is ‘considering’ sending mine-sweeping drones to the area – autonomous systems some of which [haven’t been used in warfare before][18]. In a press conference later today, however, prime minister Keir Starmer will [pledge millions of pounds][19] to ease the economic shock on British households, stressing, correctly, that “ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living”.
As his poorly-planned Iran adventure looks increasingly foolish, expect Trump to lash out more. We’ve all met men like the US president or [his war secretary Pete Hegseth][20] before: belligerent, swaggering, high on their own machismo supply. Laughable, yes, but menacing also.
And nothing will make them more dangerous than looking stupid in front of the whole world.
[1]: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116227904143399817
[2]: https://news.usni.org/2026/03/13/missile-attacks-define-strait-of-hormuz-risks-officials-say
[3]: https://www.thehansindia.com/news/international/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-3-indian-sailors-killed-government-monitoring-vessels-1056301
[4]: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/world/middleeast/iran-mines-strait-of-hormuz-us.html
[5]: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/3/16/oil-prices-keep-rising-as-trump-seeks-coalition-to-reopen-strait-of-hormuz
[6]: https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/petrol-prices-your-area-mapped-36864786
[7]: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/09/theres-another-energy-market-that-may-get-hit-harder-than-oil-by-strait-of-hormuz-closure.html
[8]: https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/lng/031326-force-majeure-forces-market-shifts-in-european-lng-market
[9]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2026/03/01/beyond-oil-the-strait-of-hormuz-and-the-global-food-risk/
[10]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-12/india-asks-china-for-urea-as-war-induced-gas-crunch-hits-plants
[11]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/19/yemens-houthis-will-not-stop-red-sea-attacks-until-israel-stops-gaza-war
[12]: https://www.axios.com/2026/03/16/trump-iran-hormuz-strait-kharg-island
[13]: https://www.ft.com/content/1ca6d121-760b-4ec5-b6ad-514fdaa94873
[14]: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/greenland/trump-us-take-greenland-denmark-china-russia-europe-arctic-defense-rcna253546
[15]: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-if-nato-members-dont-pay-us-wont-defend-them-2025-03-07/
[16]: https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-nato-policy-defense-plans-europe-america/
[17]: https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/article/keir-starmers-iran-help-too-late-says-trump-as-tony-blair-joins-criticism-q8dght9c5?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcBtarel2ehYmiZl1NK_VX4WYGJoqn0Z69aCdZRtgfDF5Rn4cMgzAiBrDUZDsk%3D&gaa_ts=69b7bf13&gaa_sig=6jDZJrKR_MITjrhSNYHnbA7S1um97t_ACPR5BCVrhFBXmlbKX8gTNOIO8P5_lypL4BoKMIE2eNnPG7nlbBOl3A%3D%3D
[18]: https://news.sky.com/story/the-drones-the-uk-is-considering-deploying-to-the-middle-east-13519993
[19]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/16/iran-war-live-updates-news-oil-trump-hormuz-dubai-airport-israel-targets?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-69b788a88f08de00c5266ecc#block-69b788a88f08de00c5266ecc
[20]: https://www.axios.com/2026/03/15/trump-hegseth-iran-war-no-quarter
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/16/will-irans-oil-gamble-pay-off/

2026-03-15 17:05:36 UTC

Swiss MPs to Vote on Revoking Uefa’s Tax Benefits Over Israel
Uefa could lose its tax-exempt status in Switzerland unless it expels Israel.
Swiss MPs in the canton of Vaud, where the European football governing body is headquartered, will vote on a resolution on Tuesday 17 March to decide whether the association should have the privilege taken away.
The resolution’s supporters note that the Israeli Football Association (IFA), a Uefa member, fields games on illegally occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank. They argue that IFA’s membership of Uefa makes Swiss taxpayers “complicit” in Israel’s breaches of international law.
If the resolution is accepted, the Vaud government would be called upon to set a deadline to Uefa to justify whether maintaining IFA as a member, and failing to take any sanctions against IFA, is compatible with the goals of promoting peace and fighting racism and discrimination, the condition of Uefa’s tax exempt status.
“Tax exoneration means that instead of receiving that money, Swiss citizens, specifically in Vaud, are funding the illegal activities of the Israeli football Association,” the campaign group Game Over Israel said in a statement.
The Swiss resolution reads: “As an international federation, [Uefa] has long benefited, despite its significant commercial activity, from a tax exemption granted specifically because international sports federations play an important role in promoting peace and combating racism and discrimination.”
In September last year, a panel of UN experts[ called for Israel to be suspended from international football][1] as punishment for its genocide in Gaza, which has killed over 72,000 people at a conservative estimate. Both Fifa and Uefa suspended Russia’s participation in international matches soon after its invasion of Ukraine.
Ashish Prashar, campaign director at Game Over Israel, said: “Uefa is at the forefront of funding and normalising the apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territories by continuing to provide a subsidy and allowing the Israeli Football Association to be a member.”
Vaud MP Théophile Schenker said that by failing to expel Israel, Uefa is sending a signal that it condones the expansion of settlements. “Football deserves better than that,” he said.
*Joshua Carroll is a writer and journalist.*
[1]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-experts-call-suspension-israel-international-football-amid-unfolding
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/15/swiss-mps-to-vote-on-revoking-uefas-tax-benefits-over-israel/

2026-03-15 15:14:12 UTC

The Middle Class Is Collapsing. Fascism Could Be Next.
Rising unemployment, increased military spending, and a decline in living standards for most people, including the middle class: the description fits both the 1930s and the 2020s. In the 1930s, it was a situation that morphed into the destruction and horror of the Second World War.
On Downstream with Aaron Bastani this week is Clara Mattei, professor of economics at the University of Tulsa, and author of ‘Escape From Capitalism: Economics Is Political and Other Liberating Truths’. Mattei’s PhD was on the relationship between austerity and fascism in inter-war Italy, and her book is a comparative study of Britain and Italy in that period.
What, they ask, is the relationship between austerity and fascism – both then and now? Is capitalism a ‘natural fact’, as its proponents would have you believe, or a contingent set of affairs designed and propped up by governments? And if capitalism is in fact a choice, how can we go about building an alternative?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/15/the-middle-class-is-collapsing-fascism-could-be-next/

2026-03-14 21:13:26 UTC

Welcome to the Slavery-Driven Slop Economy
Trillions of dollars of AI build-out. An economy poised on the edge of a giant crisis. Some say it’s a bubble. But what if it’s an entirely new kind of economics? One that has no need of humans at all?
Marek Poliks is the co-author with Roberto Alonso Trillo of *Exocapitalism: Economies with Absolutely No Limits. *Together, they are the co-hosts of the Disintegrator podcast.
He speaks to Richard Hames about the head-spinning world of AI economics, what the left gets wrong about technofeudalism, and what will happen to all of us bags of meat when capitalism can simply run itself.
Do Your Own Research is a new show from Novara Media about the systems that make the modern world possible.
Music by Iglooghost.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/14/welcome-to-the-slavery-driven-slop-economy/

2026-03-14 11:29:03 UTC

Elon Musk Worth More Than Next Three Richest Billionaires Combined
Elon Musk is now worth more than the next three richest billionaires combined, the latest calculations from Forbes show.
The Forbes Real Times Billionaires List has placed Musk firmly in the position of richest man in the world, with an estimated worth of $839 billion – up from $342 billion last year.
The enormous growth of the 54-year-old’s personal wealth is driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, two of the seven major companies he founded.
The next three richest people in the world are Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, followed by Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon.
Economist Gabriel Zucman estimates that if the world’s 3,428 billionaires spent all of their money, they would be able to buy 17% of everything produced in a year globally.
In 1987, when Forbes started compiling its billionaires list, Zucman says that figure was only at 3%.
“It’s time to tax billionaires,” said the French economist on X. “With the growth in the wealth of global billionaires has come an upsurge in their power. The power to shape policy, to buy elections, to influence the prevailing ideology, to buy competitors, to tilt markets at their advantage.”
Musk was the single largest donor to far-right US president Donald Trump’s election campaign, donating $277 million.
Zucman notes that the sheer number of billionaires is also steadily increasing. Forbes filed 390 new entries this year, including Beyoncé and Dr Dre.
“It is for citizens, throughout the world, to ask their elected representatives to act now,” said Zucman. “It is time to tax billionaires.”
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/14/elon-musk-worth-more-than-next-three-richest-billionaires-combined/

2026-03-13 20:09:05 UTC

Pete Hegseth Loses It at US Media
A US refuelling plane crashed in Western Iraq, killing four US service people, Pete Hegseth has lashed out at the media for their coverage of the war on Iran.
Plus: Palantir’s Alex Karp predicts the future, we ask who benefits from the oil shock generated by Israel and the US’s illegal war on Iran, and we take a look at how AI slop is trying to influence politics.
With NoJusticeMTG, Curtis Daly and Simon Childs
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/13/pete-hegseth-loses-it-at-us-media/

2026-03-13 12:21:30 UTC

Wealth Taxes Are Pointless While Tax Havens Exist
[A large boat in a port surrounded by pink and yellow buildings]
Ever tried to get in touch with your landlord, only to be redirected to some opaque company that never answers the phone? Or wanted to complain to a shop where you’ve bought something, only to find yourself lost in an endless hall of mirrors? You may have stumbled across an offshore tax haven, a secretive structure that impacts all of our lives, but which most of us know little about.
Over the past few years, wealth taxes have reentered public debate. Popular economists like Gary Stevenson, Grace Blakely and Faiza Shaheen, and now [political leaders like Zack Polanski][1], argue that the UK must tax the richest more aggressively if it hopes to repair crumbling public services and address spiralling inequality. They’ve managed to persuade [68% of the public][2]. But the wealth tax debate often misses a crucial problem. Wealth today does not simply sit inside national borders, waiting to be taxed. It moves; it hides. It reorganises itself through complex legal structures designed to evade the reach of states. Before we call for a wealth tax, we need to know how today’s super-rich seek to protect their hoard from taxation – and how we might close the loopholes. That’s exactly what we do on our new four-part podcast series Death in Westminster, [now streaming on Novara Media][3].
### Colonial plunder.
The modern offshore economy emerged in part as a backlash to post-war social democracy, the same that many leftists hark back to today when calling for wealth taxes. High tax rates and capital controls were ascendant in the UK during the 1950s and 1960s: the highest rate of income tax hovered around 97.5%, while the Bank of England restricted the supply of foreign currency to prevent the wealthy from moving their assets overseas. These measures allowed successive UK governments to fund the recently established welfare state. At the same time, Britons who had accumulated wealth in colonies during the age of empire [were itching to leave][4] their outposts. Decolonisation was spreading rapidly across the globe, and the former [colonial expats feared][5] having their money, or property, snapped up by the newly independent states.
Trapped between handing over huge portions of their colonial fortunes to the British welfare state and risking that wealth being seized by post-colonial governments, these returning Britons were desperate for another option. Fortunately for them, not all colonies took the path of independence. A sprinkling of small and previously insignificant imperial outposts, particularly in the Caribbean and the English Channel – including the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – remained under British jurisdiction and [reframed their relationship][6] to the mother country in ways that would have profound consequences for the global economy.
According to a [2019 report][7] produced by the Tax Justice Network, the world’s three most corrosive offshore financial centres are all British overseas territories. The British Virgin Islands tops the list, closely followed by Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The position of these tax havens – with one foot inside, and one outside the British state – makes them extremely attractive to global capital. By remaining under the patronage of British sovereignty – maintaining the king as their head of state, and the judicial council of the privy council as their highest court – these overseas territories are able to give investors the confidence that they are putting their money into a reliable jurisdiction with a long history of financial and legal expertise. Equally, by being self-governing entities largely autonomous of the British state in their day-to-day operations, these overseas territories can advertise that they are free of the democratic pressures and public scrutiny that a large,
European state like the UK faces.
This strange constitutional arrangement has consequences far beyond distant tropical islands. It determines whether we can have a roof over our heads.
### The rise of the ‘foreign’ investor.
There are [more than 138,000][8] residential and commercial properties in England and Wales owned by offshore companies. In London alone, the value of these properties is around £55bn.
The share of the property market enjoyed by offshore corporations in England and Wales increased rapidly between 2005 and 2015. Almost all foreign corporate real estate investment originates from what we would recognise as tax havens – including from people who live in the UK, but just keep their money elsewhere. The EU Tax Observatory found that in 2022, around [15% of offshore property investments][9] were made by residents of the UK, effectively making Britain its own largest “foreign” investor.
More and more, wealthy Britons are buying property through offshore-registered structures, rather than straightforward domestic ones, because they offer benefits such as confidentiality; the ability to obscure the true ownership of property; and potential tax advantages when the asset is eventually sold.
The cumulative effect is that bricks and mortar in our capital city have been transformed from shelter for human beings into shelter for cash, often acquired under dubious circumstances.
Offshoring is a global problem that accelerates spiralling wealth inequality across the world. It would not be solved simply by Britain taking a position against it. But that would be a powerful start, especially given the outsized role that Britain and its overseas territories play in the architecture of offshore finance. When its dependent territories are taken into account, Britain is arguably the single most important actor in the offshore system.
The only way to make a wealth tax effective would be to combine it with dismantling the offshore system that allows wealth to slip through states’ fingers. A more equal British economy would require changes to taxation, yes – but perhaps more importantly, a change in the geography through which wealth moves. In our new Novara Media four-part investigative podcast series, Death in Westminster, we look at how the offshore system facilitates the hoarding of housing by the wealthy, exacerbating a housing crisis that is felt most acutely by our poorest and most vulnerable communities. It is not a coincidence that Westminster has both the most homeless people and the most empty homes in the UK. The pressure from one eventually pushes down on the other. We need to put some of our best minds together to find out how to stop this deeply entrenched and secretive system.
*Join Kojo Koram and Dalia Gebrial on 19 May at EartH Theatre in Hackney, where they’ll be discussing their new podcast Death in Westminster along with Green party MP Hannah Spencer, investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan, financial activist Stephanie Brobbey and former Labour MP Faiza Shaheen. [Tickets are on sale now][10].*
[1]: https://www.tiktok.com/@novaramedia/video/7379572438490762529
[2]: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/public-overwhelmingly-back-wealth-tax-package-fix-public-services-and-rebuild-britain-new-tuc
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/
[4]: https://pastandpresent.org.uk/how-decolonisation-helped-create-tax-havens/
[5]: https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/249/1/213/5896119
[6]: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/407150/treasure-islands-by-nicholas-shaxson/9780099541721
[7]: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Annex-Corporate-Tax-Haven-Index-2019.pdf
[8]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/07/more-than-138000-properties-in-england-and-wales-owned-by-offshore-companies
[9]: https://www.taxobservatory.eu/repository/homes-incorporated-offshore-ownership-of-real-estate-in-the-u-k/
[10]: https://dice.fm/event/oevl5r-dark-money-how-billionaires-destroyed-britain-and-how-to-make-them-pay-19th-mar-earth-london-tickets
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/13/wealth-taxes-are-pointless-while-tax-havens-exist/

2026-03-13 11:56:08 UTC

Iran Has Shattered the Emirates’ Carefully Curated Image
[People on sun loungers beside a pool in Dubai.]
In just a few weeks, the bedrock principles underpinning the west’s foreign policy have been torn up. Missile defence in South Korea? [No longer need it,][1] mate. Russian oil, subject to harsh sanctions following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? Can I just shock you – [I like Urals][2].
But perhaps nowhere has core beliefs regarding status and security been rocked more than the ‘expat’ enclaves of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The land of sun, sea and slave labour may have seen its influencer-playground reputation shattered for good.
Approximately a quarter of a million Brits live in the UAE – having made, as Robert Graves might have said, a “bitter leave-taking of England” in pursuit of 0% tax and a luxury lifestyle. Though many of us still eking out a living in the managed-decline of the mother country might scoff and sneer at their naivety, it’s worth remembering that turning Dubai into an influencer paradise was a deliberate strategy on the part of the UAE government.
Though the discovery of oil in the 1960s put the UAE on the map, its rulers were anxious about what would happen when the black-gold under the desert sands ran out. “My grandfather rode a camel,” [Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum was fond of saying][3]. “[My] father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel.”
Without diversifying their economy – or projecting soft power into the west – it wouldn’t be long before the UAE became an arid backwater once more.
It started with aviation. Emirates and Etihad helped turn Dubai and Abu Dhabi into critical hotspots for international travel; then in the 1990s and early-2000s, the construction of the mega-tasteful Palm Jumeirah (artificial islands on the Persian Gulf, in the shape of a palm tree) and the priapic Burj Khalifa marked the Emiratis’ intention for Dubai to become a tourist destination in its own right.
Brexit, for the Sheikhs, was a chance to attract high net-worth individuals from the UK, for whom the EU had suddenly become a perilously tax-heavy environment.
With the rise of social media came a huge opportunity. They coaxed content creators to decamp to Dubai, dangling a ten-year renewable ‘[Golden Visa][4]’ and launching a government campaign called Creators HQ. Glossy influencers with gleaming teeth evangelised to their followers about Dubai’s clean streets, high living standards, and surprising (if highly contained) liberalism where westerners were concerned.
The benefits to the Emiratis were twofold. A softened image of Dubai, absent of slave labour and capital punishment, was beamed directly into the west thanks to TikTok. And, in the event of a Big Ol’ War, the Atlantic powers couldn’t just abandon the UAE – after all, it was host to hundreds of thousands of their citizens.
Alas, who could have accounted for Donald Trump, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s uncanny ability to bounce him into Israeli conflicts? After Israel and the US decided to abandon negotiation in favour of dropping bombs on Tehran, Iranian retaliation hit the Gulf states (due to their hosting of American military bases).
As well as transport hubs like Zayed International Airport and Jebel Ali Port, Iran apparently consulted TripAdvisor and plugged the coordinates of Dubai’s luxury hotels into its Shaheds. The chaos was captured, of course, on front-cam: Will Bailey, a DJ, filmed the Fairmont The Palm hotel going up in flames from his set at a Dubai beach club.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the US-Israeli war with Iran has done little to boost property prices in a city perched on the edge of the Persian Gulf. Dubai’s real estate market has seen [nearly 20% wiped off its value][5], with little sign of a rally coming soon.
Though Nepali and Bangladeshi migrant workers might have been able to tell us a thing or two about the UAE’s regard for uninhibited mobility, westerners were left scrambling for an escape after the Emiratis shut down their airspace. Investor confidence has been shaken. And influencers – accustomed to being able to post and stream as they please – have found themselves subject to an authoritarian crackdown on sharing images of the war.
This week, a British man in his 60s [was charged under cybercrime laws][6] after allegedly filming Iranian airstrikes. Twenty-one people have been charged with similar offences, as the UAE enforces a law that prohibits “publishing or sharing material that could disturb public security”. The same phone cameras that projected Emirati soft power now risk undermining – perhaps fatally – the UAE’s carefully curated image as a luxurious, hospitable and safe playground for westerners.
[1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmlk8dlekgo
[2]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyzj3g3pygo
[3]: https://www.gluckman.com/DubaiBiz.html
[4]: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/06/travel/dubai-influencer-lifestyle-iran-strikes
[5]: https://www.turkiyetoday.com/business/iran-attacks-shake-dubais-high-profile-real-estate-as-losses-near-20-3215919?s=1
[6]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c743g4yn4k8o
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/13/iran-has-shattered-the-emirates-carefully-curated-image/

2026-03-12 20:56:46 UTC

Israel Claims It Hit Iran ‘Nuclear Site’
The Israeli air force has claimed to have hit what they say is an Iranian nuclear facility.
Plus: Starmer takes the blame for appointing Peter Mandelson, Channel 4 airs Omid Djalili’s bizarre take on the war on Iran, and David Lammy seems to think he’s safe from the Green Party.
With NoJusticeMTG & Dalia Gebrial.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/israel-claims-it-hit-iran-nuclear-site/

2026-03-12 14:37:10 UTC

Israeli ‘Double-Tap’ Strike on Beirut Beachfront Hits Tents of Displaced
An Israeli ‘double-tap’ strike on a Beirut beach where displaced people had pitched tents for shelter killed eight people and wounded 31 yesterday.
Al-Jazeera reported that the attack on the Ramlet al-Baida beach was beyond any zone in which Israel had issued evacuation orders. The bombs were likely intended as assassination strikes, according to their reporter Heidi Pett.
“This area is home to many displaced people who don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said.
A ‘double-tap’ is a controversial tactic in which an initial attack is followed after a short interval by a second strike on the same target, potentially killing any rescue workers or journalists who arrive at the scene.
“Witnesses in Ramlet al-Baida say they were sleeping in their tents when the roar of the jets woke them,” said Pett. “Then there was an impact and they popped their heads out of their tents in time to see the second one.”
The latest attacks came after Lebanese health officials said the number of people killed by Israeli attacks since 28 February has reached 634.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/israeli-double-tap-strike-on-beirut-beachfront-hits-tents-of-displaced/

2026-03-12 13:00:10 UTC

Meet the AI Rapper Working for the Far-Right
A[ self-shot phone video ][1]shows an Asian man standing in a crowd saying “We are here” to the camera. Cut to a chiseled skinhead. He snorts in derision and replies, “Not for long”, before covering his face in a union jack bandana.
The social media video then cuts to a clip of the skinhead marching in military-style formation with dozens of others, all wearing black fatigues. Next, he slams a man to the ground. Then, we see the shaven headed man speeding a van labelled “deportation unit” through London. Finally, a queue for a deportation flight out of the country.
The skinhead is Danny Bones, a new musician who raps about immigration, national identity and a broken Britain, while taking vigilante action against migrants and rioting against the police – part pop star, part action hero.
The video to [his most popular song This Is England][2] looks gritty, drawing on images of a country in decline. Rubbish-strewn back streets, boarded-up shops, cars gutted by arson, graffiti and crap weather. “This is England” he sings plaintively in the song’s chorus, “don’t ask why”. Britain is “falling” and this is the grim reality.
But Bones is not real.
Look closely and all the telltale signs of AI slop are there. The video jerks in places. He looks human enough, but Bones’s mouth doesn’t quite track with the lyrics. The bleak aesthetic is hyper-real and yet feels strangely other worldly. It’s hard not to get the sense that you’re watching a scene cut from a video game.
Bones is an AI creation created by a shadowy agency linked to a far-right political party [backed by the world’s richest man][3]. An [investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism][4] has uncovered links between the operation behind the persona and Ben Habib’s party Advance UK. Experts believe this is the first time an AI character has been linked to a political party, and say Bones is a concerning sign of things to come.
### Far-right slop.
The fact that Bones doesn’t exist hasn’t stopped him gaining a level of success that many musicians could only dream of. He sounds fairly human and the production quality of his tracks is better than you might expect from AI.
His creators, the Node Project, call Bones “a British storyteller who writes how he sees it. Working-class, worn down and still swinging… Every word sounds like it comes from somewhere real, despite carrying the feeling that nothing really is.” His four tracks have garnered more than 375,000 Spotify and YouTube streams, but his music has reached a far larger audience via short-form video. His songs are cut into YouTube shorts, Instagram reels and TikToks that have been viewed nearly three million times.
[Danny Bones plays his guitar in an AI generated image. Image: The Node Project]Danny Bones plays his guitar in an AI generated image. Image: The Node Project
The lyrics to Bones’s songs touch on government authoritarianism, [crumbling public services][5], growing inequality and the general decline in material living standards. To a casual listener, This Is England could almost sound like an iconoclastic leftwing protest song. It plays on concerns that are widely held across the country. “Streets are boarded, the prices are soaring… The rich getting richer, the poor get extorted, they’ll paint you a picture all broke and distorted,” Bones spits.
However, look and listen carefully and the implicit message that foreigners are ultimately to blame becomes clear. The video for This Is England crescendoes as Bones leads a crowd of men carrying St George’s crosses with their fists in the air. “The streets are saying that it’s Britain that we’re mourning. Benefits are rampant, the borders are opening,” he sings. In his track Traitors Freestyle, Bones raps about opponents trying to “rid you of your heritage”. In another track, Shut Up, he rails: “Won’t buy the lies you’re selling with the goal of separation with more mass immigration, ain’t a thought of preservation.”
The nationalistic tone of the lyrics and imagery is no accident. Bones was created by a creative project that has been linked to the far-right party Advance UK.
Former Reform UK co-deputy leader Habib launched Advance UK last year. Habib [recently signalled][6] that he would like to join forces with Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party, potentially creating a force even further right than Reform. In August, Advance UK got backing from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who said: “Advance UK will actually drive change. [Nigel] Farage is weak sauce who will do nothing.”
It’s unclear who is behind the Node Project. It told Novara Media that it is “a creative project built around fictional characters, music, visual storytelling and world-building”.
[An Advance UK campaign video][7] – previously the flagship video on the party’s website before it was taken down earlier this week – is made by the Node Project and soundtracked by an instrumental version of This Is England. (The Node Project told Novara Media the video used a “separate instrumental interpolation only, with no Bones lyrics, and it was not the same instrumental as any released Bones track”.)
The campaign video, released in January and viewed more than 250k times, is a selective run-through of the history of England, replete with Roman soldiers, Game of Thrones-style knights in plate armour and the Beatles walking Abbey Road, and ends with the slogan “a culture worth defending”.
More videos using Bones’ track This Is England and promoting Advance UK popped up last month. One, made by the Node Project, shows Habib [announcing Advance UK’s immigration policy][8]. The other is from Advance UK’s youth wing and states that [the English are “an ethnic group and nation native to England”][9] over images of an armoured knight bearing the St George’s flag and thatched medieval-style housing.
### Un-fucking-believable.
The AI character of Bones – remember he isn’t real – made a number of interventions in February’s Gorton and Denton by-election, which was bitterly contested between the Greens, Reform and Labour.
In one video, Bones calls the Green party publishing an Urdu version of a campaign video [“un-fucking-believeable”][10]. In another, he bemoans Green candidate Hannah Spencer’s victory because she “campaigned in Urdu [and] fucking Bengali, Palestinian and Pakistani flags everywhere, not a union jack in sight”.
The AI-generated rapper goes on to claim that [“Manchester’s anthem’s gonna be the call to fucking prayer before we know it”][11], while the cover of Oasis’s seminal 1994 album Definitely Maybe flashes across the screen. Disturbingly, in a reference to the [diverse ethnic makeup of the constituency][12], Bones adds: “You lot got fuck all in common except a postcode.”
In a third, Bones highlights claims of sectarianism from [Reform’s Gorton and Denton candidate Matt Goodwin][13], and blames Reform for attempting to distance itself from those further to the right, saying: [“Your party called us all extremists…][14] I guess you got what you wanted.”
Spencer told Novara Media that she finds how widespread AI content is becoming “really alarming”, and that political actors “hiding behind AI characters to promote their political messaging is both cowardly and undermines the integrity of our democracy”.
The newly-elected Green MP for Gorton and Denton said: “I am concerned by the use, in particular, of AI characters who are used to spread misinformation and hatred about particular groups in society.
“We need to be rebuilding trust in politics and politicians by delivering for people, not sowing division.”
[A post on social media from the Node Project featuring AI generated character Amelia.]A post on social media from the Node Project featuring AI generated character “Amelia”.
The Node Project makes political videos with another AI character, too – a purple-haired [“cute goth girl” called Amelia][15] who was co-opted by the online far-right from a Home Office-funded anti-radicalisation video game.
The Node Project has attempted to create an extended universe with the two characters. Amelia [appears in the music video ][16]for Bones’ track Shut Up, as the pair go on a rampage with assault rifles through an Orwellian Britain. Later, Amelia breaks Bones out of prison and the pair share a kiss. [In another video][17], as Amelia slams the Green party’s Bengali translation campaign video, a Bones poster is clearly visible on her bedroom wall.
The borders between this fantasy world and real-life politics are increasingly blurred. Nick Buckley, Advance UK’s candidate for Gorton and Denton, made a [tongue in cheek announcement][18] that he had been “endorsed” by AI-generated Amelia last month. During the campaign, Buckley faced a backlash over [a social media post][19] from May 2025 in which he said that “many British young women are whores but don’t realise they are”. The former Reform mayoral candidate added that British women “make poor wives and poor mothers” and “contribute to the idea that all women are easy and can be abused”. He called the endorsement from Amelia “high praise indeed”.
When questioned about Advance UK using the Node Project videos by the Bureau, Habib said: “We asked them to do it. I thought it went down very well. It got lots of likes and stuff.” He added “Some of it’s hard to recognise [as] CGI.”
Another senior figure at Advance UK said the Node Project was “a joy to work with” and that the party plans to commission more content from it.
### A sign of things to come.
The involvement of political AI-generated characters in a hotly-contested by-election could be a sign of things to come.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Novara Media that it expects “anyone using AI-generated campaign material to do so in a way that does not mislead voters, and to label it clearly so that voters know how it has been created”.
It also encouraged voters “to think critically about the material they see” and highlighted the need for all platforms that allow election content to create comprehensive social media ad libraries so users can see “detailed and accurate information such as the targeting, actual reach and amount spent”.
Matteo Bergamini, founder of political and media literacy non-profit Shout Out UK, said the use of AI characters by political parties is a growing trend, and it’s “safe to assume these tactics will continue to grow in regularity as we get closer to the next general election”.
The Node Project’s verified X account – complete with a cover photo of Bones leading a march of young white men with their fists raised – regularly posts and [reposts ethnonationalist][20] and [Islamophobic content][21], interspersed with some [Christian nationalism][22].
It also interacts supportively with far-right figures including [Tommy Robinson][23], [Rupert Lowe][24] and [Habib][25], even [advocating for a merger ][26]between Habib’s Advance UK and Lowe’s Restore Britain.
AI characters Amelia and Danny Bones.
When contacted by the Bureau about Bones, TikTok banned the account for breaching its rules on hateful content; Instagram took down some content but did not ban the account; YouTube added transparency labels to let viewers know they are watching AI; and Spotify said the tracks went through human review and were not breaking its rules.
The Node Project told the Bureau that it is run by “a small group of creatives” and isn’t “tied to any label, movement or organisation”. It said Advance UK reached out towards the end of 2025 and commissioned the “British culture” video that previously sat on its homepage.
The Node Project said “that video was something we chose to do creatively rather than as part of any formal arrangement” and “some other video pieces produced later were commissioned creative work and paid through existing creative businesses connected to the people involved in producing them”. The Node Project said it “isn’t affiliated with Advance UK and we don’t work for the party beyond those freelance commissions”.
The Node Project didn’t address the operation’s content targeting the Gorton and Denton by-election, but denied the characterisation of the project or its content as Islamophobic.
Advance UK has been contacted for comment.
[1]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2027700538989486481/video/1
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__QWMRCaPOA&list=RD__QWMRCaPOA&start_radio=1
[3]: https://www.foxnews.com/world/elon-musk-wades-back-uk-politics-backs-leader-new-right-wing-party-mocks-rival
[4]: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-03-12/danny-bones-meet-the-ai-rapper-funded-by-a-far-right-party
[5]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2031438168453464133?s=20
[6]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-SjlHDDVbo
[7]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fETi3LxWk78
[8]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2021647771351371991?s=20
[9]: https://x.com/AdvanceUKF/status/2025547097341067496?s=20
[10]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2026016849532457405?s=20
[11]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2027441553942131109
[12]: https://swingometer.substack.com/p/the-gorton-and-denton-by-election
[13]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/matt-goodwin-published-a-campaign-leaflet-appealing-to-voters-christian-heritage-hows-that-for-sectarianism/
[14]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2027769126773465227?s=20
[15]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/25/ai-generated-british-schoolgirl-becomes-far-right-social-media-meme
[16]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kX1t_fn0No&list=RD4kX1t_fn0No&start_radio=1
[17]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2026374658333835517?s=20
[18]: https://x.com/NickBuckleyMBE/status/2024506747050750061?s=20
[19]: https://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/02/advance-uks-election-campaign-hit-by-backlash-over-candidates-sexist-posts/
[20]: https://x.com/TradEngland/status/2030287935065534555?s=20
[21]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2027700538989486481?s=20
[22]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2029990200190136524?s=20
[23]: https://x.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/2025516324680532177?s=20
[24]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2027010669195690390?s=20
[25]: https://x.com/benhabib6/status/2024836151366787357?s=20
[26]: https://x.com/thenodeproject/status/2023496281466053000?s=20
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/meet-the-ai-rapper-working-for-the-far-right/

2026-03-12 12:45:43 UTC

High Court Rules in Favour of Owen Jones in BBC Gaza Libel Case
A High Court judge has ruled in favour of Guardian columnist Owen Jones in a libel case brought against him by a BBC editor.
Raffi Berg, the BBC’s Middle East editor, took legal action in November last year over a report by Jones which laid the blame for the BBC’s biased coverage of the Gaza genocide largely at Berg’s door.
The high court has now ruled that the article’s argument was acceptable because it expressed an opinion based on a quoted body of material.
“I am delighted that the high court has ruled in my favour on the key issues in the libel case brought by Raffi Berg,” said Jones.
“I stand by my journalism and, if Mr Berg decides to continue the libel claim, I look forward to defending my article in court.”
In his article for Drop Site News, Jones accused Berg of sanitising coverage of Israel’s genocidal violence in Gaza.
“The implication is that my client goes around making decisions that actively favour Israel,” Berg’s barrister told the court at a hearing on Friday. “He is a bent journalist, that’s what the article is saying.”
Berg instructed Mark Lewis of Patron Law, previously a director of UK Lawyers for Israel, as his solicitor.
The case is one of the first in the UK where a journalist from a major national news outlet has sued another. The last notable case was in 2019, when the BBC’s John Ware sued Paddy French, an independent journalist and former current affairs producer at ITV, for describing his Panorama documentary on Labour antisemitism as a “rogue piece of journalism”. A judge awarded Ware £90,000 in damages.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/high-court-rules-in-favour-of-owen-jones-in-bbc-gaza-libel-case/

2026-03-12 12:45:38 UTC

Starmer Has Dragged Labour ‘Into the Gutter’ Says John McDonnell
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has accused Keir Starmer of dragging the Labour party “into the gutter” in the wake of yesterday’s release of the Mandelson files.
A tranche of documents disclosing the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador has revealed that the prime minister was warned of Mandelson’s “reputational risks” in 2024, before he chose the twice-fired Labour veteran to be sent to Washington.
Responding to the 147-page dossier, McDonnell called for an independent inquiry into Labour Together, the think tank founded by Morgan McSweeney which advised Starmer’s leadership campaign.
Labour Together is under scrutiny for failing to declare £730,000 in donations and paying private investigators to spy on journalists investigating its funding.
On X, McDonnell said Starmer had allowed Labour “to be dragged into the gutter by Mandelson, McSweeney, Simons & Labour Together”.
Mandelson’s close ties to Epstein were revealed when the US government released the Epstein files in January, ultimately prompting the resignation of McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff.
The latest release of files confirms that Starmer had access to a 2019 report from JPMorgan stating that Epstein had maintained a “particularly close friendship” with both Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The files reveal that Jonathan Powell, Keir Starmer’s national security advisor, thought Mandelson’s appointment was “weirdly rushed”.
Documents also show that Mandelson asked for a £500,000 severance payment after he was sacked in September over his “close relationship” with Epstein. The government eventually paid him £40,330.
Mandelson is currently under police investigation over allegations that he shared sensitive market information with Epstein while in office. He previously apologised for his friendship with Epstein and “to the women and girls that suffered.”
The government intends to release the rest of the Mandelson files in one further batch.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/starmer-has-dragged-labour-into-the-gutter-says-john-mcdonnell/

2026-03-12 12:45:33 UTC

‘It’s Ballsy of Them’: How Emboldened Far-Right Activists Are Attacking Antifascist Strongholds in Bristol
[Bristol Patriots gather at the Cenotaph in Bristol, to protest against immigration on 5 October 2025. Photo: JMF News/Alamy Live News]
When Red discovered that far-right activists were round the corner targeting her local pub, she felt sick. “I felt like I had to go and confront them,” she told Novara Media. “It felt like life or death.”
Around 30 masked activists known as the Bristol Patriots had surrounded the Red Lion in Easton, Bristol, as it hosted an antifascist fundraising gig. A photo seen by Novara Media shows balaclava-clad men outside the pub carrying a St George’s flag. One was wearing what appeared to be a stab vest with union jack patches while another two were wearing tactical gloves with hardened knuckles.
“For over an hour, the group surrounded the pub, blocked access points, used amplified sound equipment, chanted slogans, and directed abuse toward people entering and leaving the premises,” according to [a statement][1] put out by the Red Lion on Facebook. “Passing members of the public, including families and local residents, were subjected to shouted threats and intimidation.”
Red, who spoke to Novara Media using a pseudonym, said: “I spoke to one of them [the Bristol Patriots] and said, ‘Why have you come to our community to cause violence?’ They saw my keffiyeh and they called me a terrorist … It was really bizarre.”
According to [a statement][2] put out by Bristol Antifascists, the far-right activists tried to enter the pub, but “due to the quick thinking of people there, they were shut out”. Thanks to a “great community response”, they eventually became outnumbered and were “forced out of the area by police for their own protection,” Bristol Antifascists said.
[Mask-wearing Bristol Patriots outside the Red Lion in Eastonm, Bristol on Sunday 15 February. Photo: Supplied]Mask-wearing Bristol Patriots outside the Red Lion in Easton, Bristol, on Sunday 15 February. Photo: Supplied
The incident, which took place in mid-February, shocked those who live in Bristol, a city widely viewed as an antifascist haven. What was even more unusual was that it took place in Easton.
“Easton is a proudly leftwing part of Bristol,” local resident Malachi Walusimbi-Kakembo told Novara Media. “To come into Easton is bold.”
Another local anti-racist, who chose not to give their name, agreed. “Easton has got such an active antifascist, anti racist scene. “It was really unusual for [the far right] to try something at one of those pubs in Easton. … It’s ballsy of them.”
Bristol Antifascists warned that the attack was “an escalation” from the Bristol Patriots, and should be a “wake up call for all of us” about how the far-right is becoming more and more emboldened.
“We invest in our community and take care of one another, and we’re not succumbing to the fascist rhetoric that’s becoming so popular globally,” said Red. “So it was devastating to see that nowhere is safe.”
### Playing the victim.
Bristol, a port city, played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade, but its recent history is one of antiracism and a vibrant leftwing counterculture. Its residents achieved global acclaim during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 when they [toppled a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston][3]. At the 2024 general election, Bristol Central was one of four constituencies across the country to elect a Green MP – Carla Denyer.
Despite this, Bristol has been far from immune from the wave of far-right protests sweeping the country in recent months. Hotels in the city housing asylum seekers were the target of anti-migrant demonstrations last year, including one led by Ukip leader Nick Tenconi [who branded Bristol][4] a “communist run hell hole”.
While anti-migrant protests have died down for now, far-right groups appear to be keeping themselves busy by harassing the left.
Just a week after the attack on the Red Lion in Easton, activists from [Zionist group Our Fight][5] prevented pro-Palestine activists from holding a doorknocking session in Bishopston, to the north of the city, to encourage people to boycott Israeli products.
An organiser for Bristol Apartheid Free Zone, who chose not to be named, told Novara Media: “They [the Zionist activists] surrounded us and started harassing people and shouting. They had placards accusing us of being a Jew hunt, and various other very unpleasant and like slanderous things about the campaign.
“We had three times as many people, but the whole point of our campaign is we’re about having calm conversations with people on the doorstep. If you’ve got people following you around, screaming slurs and playing incredibly obnoxious AI music [through a PA system] or filming people, we can’t really doorknock in that situation.”
Some pro-Palestine campaigners were approached by Zionist activists and spoken to “by name … in a very intimidating way,” the organiser said. “They [the Zionist activists] have infiltrated some of the public facing WhatsApp groups.”
The organiser said that members of the local far-right were also in attendance on the day, “being brought along for the ride… to intimidate lefties and throw their weight around.”
A post on the Bristol Patriots Facebook page showed support for Our Fight and called the doorknocking “an intimidating practice that targets and harasses our Jewish community” and anyone who has their door knocked to “report to police straight away”.
Our Fight has been approached for comment.
The far right also played the victim in the Easton incident. Despite turning up in balaclavas and surrounding the pub, the Bristol Patriots claimed in a statement that its members had been “approached aggressively from behind” by antifascists, that a female member of the group was punched and that a disabled man was “targeted”.
“The Bristol Patriot’s statement was absolute nonsense,” said Red. “They came into our neighborhood as outsiders, all ballied up, screaming and shouting and threatening us like attacking us, and they are claiming that they are the victims. It’s surreal.”
The Red Lion said in a statement that the Bristol Patriots “portrayal of themselves as disciplined victims does not match what is visible on CCTV or described consistently by witnesses”.
Keith Hewett, the owner of the Red Lion in Easton, told Novara Media that the barman who was present on the day was left shaken by the far right. “He’s no wallflower, but the hatred that they were showing him really upset him and made him not want to come in anymore,” he said.
The furore has only intensified since February, said Hewett. “We’ve had threats. We had what can only be described as a scout from the far-right in the pub. I’ve been forwarded stuff on social media from rightwing networks inferring that the Lion is some kind of Antifa HQ.”
Hewett sees the pub’s antifascist ethos as nothing out of the ordinary, however. “It’s just a community pub. Most people are antifascist, especially around here,” he said. “You don’t even have to be leftwing to be antifascist.”
### ‘We’re proud of who we are.’
The Bristol Patriots website contains little information about who is behind the group. Calling itself “a grassroots movement of concerned citizens”, its code of conduct prohibits “any form of violence, intimidation, or threatening behaviour” and bans face masks or coverings, saying “we are proud of who we are”. The only upcoming event listed on the website, meanwhile, is an upcoming rally organised by ex-English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
On Saturday, the Bristol Patriots held their own march – a so-called ‘March for Unity’. The group promoted the march by calling for members of all major religions other than Muslims to take a stand against the “growing challenge from Islamist extremism”. An online poster for the event, presumably AI generated, depicted a crusader in full plate armour next to a man holding an Israeli flag and a turban-wearing Sikh.
Among those in attendance was Ryan Ferguson, a far-right activist [who recently visited][6] the former spokesperson for neo-Nazi terror group National Action, Jack Renshaw, in prison. Ferguson was [captured on video shouting][7] “Heil Hitler” at the rally. Also present was 17-year-old “Young Bob”, a prominent far-right YouTuber who often appears on Rupert Murdoch’s Talk TV. He posted a video in which he gloated as anti-racists were arrested by police, then another of himself getting punched, which went viral.
In a sign that a small group of hardened activists were emboldened by their action at the Red Lion in February, Walusimbi-Kakembo told Novara Media that attendees of Saturday’s rally, who this time chose not to wear face masks, taunted people about the incident.
“They were shouting at us, ‘Remember down the Red Lion. Are you still scared?’ Making a joke of it,” he said. “They seemed to be very excited about their record, coming down to the Red Lion and scaring a few people.”
“It’s a surprise to realise that it is the same group of enthusiasts running around from place to place, trying to cause as much disruption as possible.”
“It’s sad that people are coming out here and literally fighting each other. It’s a shame. Neither side should really end up in glee about the fact that we’re working class people throwing stuff at one another.”
In the end, the “March for Unity” was an embarrassment for the Bristol Patriots. Around 40 activists spent much of the day surrounded by police in order to be kept apart from around 200 antifascists, and the scale of the anti-fascist counter-demo meant police did not allow the Bristol Patriots to stick to their original route.
The group made a statement issuing an “apology regarding some of the other groups who were invited to the march by certain individuals within our community … many of the views displayed on Saturday do not align with our movement.”
“It is time for us to reset,” it said.
After a difficult few weeks, Red found the day comforting.
“A greasy handful of fascist and far-right agitators came to our beloved city and were sent packing”, she said. “It felt like a victory that they were so outnumbered.”
[1]: https://www.facebook.com/TheLionBS5/posts/joint-community-statement-regarding-the-events-of-sunday-15-february-and-subsequ/1550078347126582/
[2]: https://network23.org/bristolantifascists/2026/02/17/on-the-attempted-far-right-attack-on-an-east-bristol-pub/
[3]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/black-lives-matter-protesters-topple-edward-colston-slave-trader-statue/
[4]: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/ukip-leader-nick-tenconi-brands-10646951
[5]: https://www.vashtimedia.com/inside-stop-the-hate-the-pro-israel-street-movements-convergence-with-the-far-right/
[6]: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/far-right-agitator-visits-convicted-33208056
[7]: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/moment-neo-nazi-shouts-heil-10854723
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/12/its-ballsy-of-them-how-emboldened-far-right-activists-are-attacking-antifascist-strongholds-in-bristol/

2026-03-11 21:47:00 UTC

Trump Is DESPERATE to End Iran War, Three Ships Hit in Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, for the most part, as war in the Middle East continues to rattle global energy markets.
Plus: Why the Iranian diaspora isn’t as homogeneous in its political views as we’ve been led to believe, and the first of the Mandelson Files are published.
With Aaron Bastani, Kieran Andrieu & Muhammad Ali Mojaradi.
[https://www.sharghzadeh.com/][1]
[1]: https://www.sharghzadeh.com/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/trump-is-desperate-to-end-iran-war-three-ships-hit-in-strait-of-hormuz/

2026-03-11 17:55:03 UTC

Labour Government Bans Pro-Palestine Al-Quds March
The home secretary has approved a request by London’s Metropolitan police to ban the al-Quds march, an annual pro-Palestine event that coincides with the end of Ramadan.
Shabana Mahmood argued the ban was necessary to prevent “serious public disorder” in the context of the US and Israel’s illegal war on Iran, which the UK is involved in.
“I have approved the Metropolitan police’s request to ban the Al Quds march,” Mahmood wrote on X. “I am satisfied [that] doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”
She added: “I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
Since the Labour government came to power in 2024, Britain has seen multiple anti-migrant demonstrations by far-right and neo-Nazi organisations, which in many cases have led to violence. Labour did not ban any of them.
The Met asked the government for permission to ban the al-Quds march, saying it was concerned about a high number of protesters and counter protesters, and accusing organisers of being “supportive of the Iranian regime”.
The last time a march was banned in the UK was in 2012, when several rallies by the far-right English Defence League were cancelled by police over fears of serious public disorder.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/labour-government-bans-pro-palestine-al-quds-march/

2026-03-11 17:54:58 UTC

One of UK’s Largest Unions Slashes Labour Party Funding
One of the UK’s largest unions, Unite the Union, has voted to slash the affiliation fee it pays to Labour by £580,000, or 40% of its contribution to the party.
The decision follows widespread anger among members at the government’s handling of the Birmingham bin strike.
“Unite has made it clear that the actions of Labour against the Birmingham bin workers will not continue to be tolerated,” the union said in a statement.
“Labour’s incompetent behaviour in Birmingham has come on the back of a failed economic strategy that has left our industrial base fighting for its life,” it added.
The union will now formally consult with members about whether they want to remain in the Labour party, it added.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite members are coming to the end of the line as far Labour is concerned. Workers are scratching their heads asking whose side are Labour on, who do they really represent, because it certainly isn’t workers.”
She added: “Workers and communities are paying the price. Labour needs to wake up and smell the coffee. The cut in affiliation fee shows the anger of Unite members. Stop taking workers for granted, spine up, do your job and be real Labour.”
Recent analysis of political donations found that the Labour party now takes more money from corporations than from unions for the first time in its history.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/one-of-uks-largest-unions-slashes-labour-party-funding/

2026-03-11 13:19:15 UTC

Spain Removes Ambassador to Israel

Spain has removed its ambassador to Israel and said that its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a lower-ranked charge d’affaires, according to the official state gazette and Reuters.
The announcement follows prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s refusal to allow the US to use Spain’s military bases for the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.
Ambassador Ana Salomon had a “turbulent mission” in Tel Aviv, the Diplomat In Spain website reported, with tensions rising after the start of the genocide in Gaza in 2023.
Among European countries, Spain’s socialist-led government has been an outlier in opposing Israel’s aggression against Gaza and Iran.
In October last year, the Spanish parliament formally approved an arms embargo against Israel.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/spain-removes-ambassador-to-israel/

2026-03-11 12:05:49 UTC

Brian Eno Tells British Museum to ‘Stop Supporting’ Israel’s Genocide
More than 200 cultural figures, including musician Brian Eno, have signed an open letter to the British Museum urging it to “stop erasing Palestine and supporting genocide”.
The letter, also signed by actor Juliet Stevenson, [criticises the museum][1] for allegedly removing the word Palestine from certain displays at the request of the legal pressure group UK Lawyers for Israel.
It also criticised the institution for hosting a party for the Israeli embassy last year and for being sponsored by oil giant BP, which it says is “directly profiting” from the oppression of Palestinians.
Museum director Nick Cullinan has denied that the institution is removing the word Palestine from its displays. “We amended two panels in our ancient Levant gallery last year during a regular gallery refresh, when some wording was amended to reflect historical terms,” he said.
A British Museum spokesperson added: “It has been reported that the British Museum has removed the term Palestine from displays. It is simply not true. We continue to use Palestine across a series of galleries, both contemporary and historic.”
The open letter, organised by campaign group Culture Unstained, rejected this explanation, and described the decision to amend the two panels as “act of historical revision and potential erasure” that “sits troublingly alongside the museum’s complicity in Israel’s genocide”.
It adds: “UK Lawyers for Israel has clearly used the museum’s recent relabelling of two exhibits from historic Palestine to launch a cynical campaign aimed at promoting a broader erasure of Palestine as a term, a place, a people and a historical reality.
“So far, the museum has merely issued a three-sentence statement and provided inconsistent explanations to the press.”
It added: “Genocide extends to the cultural and historical erasure of a people, which places enormous responsibility on cultural and heritage institutions such as the British Museum.”
The signatories also demanded that the museum express clear support for the Palestinian people and recognise the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry’s conclusion that Israel has committed war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
[1]: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclF4QOuYyiLUOxosYSiwaODcgmUTBn0AB2yzhg5ILV4D90CA/viewform
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/brian-eno-tells-british-museum-to-stop-supporting-israels-genocide/

2026-03-11 11:58:27 UTC

Kneecap to Join Cuba Aid Convoy As Trump Tries to ‘Strangle’ Island
Irish rap trio Kneecap will join an international aid convoy to Cuba next week, as the island nation faces an escalating humanitarian crisis caused by a brutal US blockade.
The artists, who made global headlines last year for a Coachella performance at which they displayed the message “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine,” will join activists who took part in the Gaza aid flotilla.
This month’s Nuestra America Convoy was originally conceived as a flotilla, but was expanded so that aid will also travel by air and land after organisers said they were “inundated with requests to support this critical mission”.
“The Nuestra America Convoy will challenge Trump’s imperial aggression,” Kneecap wrote on Instagram. “The Trump administration is strangling the island, cutting off fuel, flights, and critical supplies for survival.”
The Cuban capital, Havana, is in the grip of an “acute sanitation crisis” because waste trucks are unable to operate without fuel, they added, while the risk of mosquito-borne diseases is increasing as fumigation trucks stand idle.
Donald Trump has significantly escalated the decades-long US blockade by threatening to impose tariffs on any country that sells fuel to Cuba, leading to widespread blackouts and disruption to the delivery of food and the production and distribution of medicine.
“This is the barbarity of the blockade, first conceived to ‘bring about hunger and desperation’ by the US state department in 1960,” Kneecap wrote, quoting from a [government memorandum][1] discussing the plot to bring down then-leader Fidel Castro.
Despite the US blockade, Cuba has built one of the most successful healthcare systems in the world, and regularly sends its doctors to other countries to treat people for free. It has also helped more than 10 million people from over 30 countries learn to read through its literacy programme.
“It’s time to break the siege,” Kneecap’s statement said, “and stand up for Cuba, as they have stood up for us.”
[1]: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/kneecap-to-join-cuba-aid-convoy-as-trump-tries-to-strangle-island/

2026-03-10 20:33:57 UTC

Trump Administration in Chaos Over Iran War Plans
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Donald Trump has no real plan for the war on Iran. We speak to Middle East expert Vali Nasr on how Iran’s response has surprised the world.
Plus: Reform UK can’t get its story straight, and Israel’s propaganda machine has been unusually quiet.
With Aaron Bastani & Kieran Andrieu.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/trump-administration-in-chaos-over-iran-war-plans/

2026-03-10 14:07:17 UTC

Zack Polanski Has ‘Held Informal Talks’ With As Many As 10 Labour MPs
Several Labour MPs have been in regular contact with Zack Polanski, reportedly leading to questions from government whips about whether they would defect to the Green party.
One Labour MP questioned about a possible defection was also “collared” by a cabinet minister who accused them of being in contact with Polanski, according to a report in the Times.
The MP said they were not planning to defect but that Labour’s humiliating defeat in the Gorton and Denton byelection showed Keir Starmer’s party had lost its “core vote”.
“There’s certainly some people who think that actually the Green party do represent their views better than the current leadership of the Labour party,” the MP said.
“What’s interesting about the byelection is we’ve vacated the centre-left ground and that’s been filled by Zack Polanski and the Greens. My feeling is that what we need to do is go back to that ground – that’s where our core vote is, and we need to win back our core vote.”
The MPs regularly speak with Polanski about news and policy, as well as amendments to legislation passing through parliament, the Times said.
A senior Labour source said the government was not concerned about potential defections to the Greens.
Polanski has said before that he has spoken to Labour MPs who would prefer to be in his party but don’t feel it’s a good idea to defect.
“When I talk to them, they say to me they know they’d be happier in the Green party, but for them it’s not an emotional decision right now, it’s a strategic decision. And the strategic decision is that they have more power to influence things from within the Labour party.”
A Green party source said: “We are fully focused on winning as many seats as we can in the May elections. If more Labour MPs can now see the Greens as the party which most represent their values, and are best placed to beat Reform, then of course we can have discussions with them. But we have made it clear that we do not consider Starmer’s Labour a progressive party.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/zack-polanski-has-held-informal-talks-with-as-many-as-10-labour-mps/

2026-03-10 12:44:37 UTC

The Tunnel
Kojo returns to the tunnel at Westminster tube station. Above ground, property prices are soaring and thousands of homes sit empty, all while homelessness worsens. Hearing from charities on the frontline and campaigners fighting a hidden system, he understands that Gyula’s death is not an anomaly, but a warning.
The final episode asks what it would take to build a city that values human life over hidden wealth – and what happens if we don’t.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/the-tunnel/

2026-03-10 12:44:32 UTC

The City
Whenever there’s public uproar about offshore wealth – like the revelations in the Panama Papers – politicians are reluctant to take action. In episode three, Kojo discovers that the expansion of tax havens is no accident or oversight, but the result of decades of lobbying by powerful think tanks.
The City of London has become a facilitator of global wealth extraction, and offshore finance is now embedded in Britain’s political system. As Kojo finds out, the consequences are profound: rising inequality, hollowed-out cities, and a housing market increasingly detached from human need.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/the-city/

2026-03-10 12:44:26 UTC

The Island
To understand why Westminster is full of empty homes, Kojo has to look outside of Britain. Episode two follows the money to the Cayman Islands, one of the world’s most powerful tax havens and a British Overseas Territory.
Kojo finds out how offshore finance works, why secrecy is its greatest asset, and how Britain’s overseas empire quietly props up a global system designed to protect wealth from scrutiny. Drawing a line between shell companies in the Caribbean and spiralling property prices in London, he finds that housing has become a safety deposit box for global capital. So why don’t the politicians in Westminster do something about it?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/the-island/

2026-03-10 12:44:21 UTC

The Station
In 2018, Gyula Remes died in the underpass at Westminster tube station, just steps from the Houses of Parliament and luxury developments worth millions. How could this happen in one of the richest cities on Earth?
Episode one introduces Gyula and the world he died in: a Westminster plagued by the twin crises of homelessness and empty homes. In a London borough where extreme wealth exists alongside extreme poverty, Kojo traces the circumstances of Gyula’s death and a troubling question emerges.
What begins as a local tragedy opens the door to a much larger system, which we open onto a strange land called ‘offshore’.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/the-station/

2026-03-10 11:20:53 UTC

Black People 48 Times More Likely to Be Stopped and Searched in Richest Parts of London
Black Londoners are up to 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched in some of London’s richest and whitest areas.
The grounds used to justify stop and searches were vaguer than those used for white Londoners, with one officer stopping a black Londoner because he gave a “furtive glance”.
The study, conducted by the mayor’s office for policing and crime and King’s College London, analysed every single stop and search carried out in 2023 and totalled over 150,000 records.
In 24 wards of London, including Richmond-on-Thames, black people were 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched, whilst in Dulwich Village they were 40 times more likely.
In Hampstead, north London, black people were 38 times more likely to be stopped.
Across England and Wales, black people are four times more likely to be subjected to stop and search, whilst they are 3.7 times more likely in areas policed by the Met. Around two-thirds of stops lead to no action.
The data also shows that around 80% of people stopped and searched each month is male and people aged 18-24 are most often targeted.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “This major new research shows significant and unacceptable levels of disproportionality that we must act on.
“That’s why along with the other steps to support and hold the Met to account, I am introducing a mandatory annual report of how stop and search is being used in London. The use of stop and search must be more transparent and accountable to deliver a safer and fairer London for all.”
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/black-people-48-times-more-likely-to-be-stopped-and-searched-in-richest-parts-of-london/

2026-03-10 08:04:35 UTC

104: Why Are Brits Flocking to Dubai?
Moya and Ash wonder what’s attracting young British ex-pats and influencers to cities like Dubai and Bali. Is emigration the new face of aspiration? Plus: a dilemma about being stuck in a dead-end job – or so it seems.
Got a dilemma? Email ifispeak@novaramedia.com
Join us at [Crossed Wires festival][1] in Sheffield on 4th July.
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/10/104-why-are-brits-flocking-to-dubai/

2026-03-10 04:10:50 UTC

Oil Price Spike Could Crash Global Economy
Global oil prices surge as Israel bombards Iran’s energy infrastructure.
Plus: Tony Blair tries to goad Keir Starmer into joining the US and Israel’s war on Iran, and Mojtaba Khamenei is announced as Iran’s new head of state.
With Michael Walker, Jasmine El-Gamal, Kojo Karam & Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/09/oil-price-spike-could-crash-global-economy/

2026-03-09 15:51:44 UTC

Sexual Assault Reports Against Met Police Triple After Sarah Everard
Allegations of sexual assault against officers and staff of London’s Metropolitan police have tripled in the five years since Sarah Everard was raped and murdered, new figures show.
Last year there were 68 reports of sexual assault against the force, the highest number on record, according to the figures, which were obtained by the Telegraph.
There were 21 allegations of sexual assault against the Met in 2021, the year that Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens kidnapped, raped and murdered 33-year-old Everard.
The figures also showed there were 138 live investigations into Met officers and staff accused of sexual misconduct-related issues. Police constables were more likely to be accused than officers of other ranks, the data showed.
Meanwhile, across the UK dozens of serving police officers have been investigated for rape since Everard’s murder, a report by Sky News found.
“It’s an incredibly awful truth that we have abusers and perpetrators inside our organisation,” Helen Millichap, deputy assistant commissioner at the Met, told the outlet.
The Met has said the increase in reports and investigations since 2021 is due to more people coming forward.
“We have relentlessly pursued and removed those who did not meet the standards we expect – around 1,500 officers and staff have exited since 2022, at an unprecedented pace,” a spokesperson said.
Other figures show a sharp rise in allegations of domestic abuse, including sexual assault, against police officers. There were 330 allegations in 2025, up from 195 in 2021 and 78 in 2010, the earliest year for which figures are available.
Following Everard’s murder, an independent report led by Baroness Casey and published in 2023 found the Met was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.
A new investigation led by Dr Gillian Fairfield is now underway to determine whether failings highlighted by the 2023 report have been “permanently repaired” or just “papered over”.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/09/sexual-assault-reports-against-met-police-triple-after-sarah-everard/

2026-03-09 10:42:50 UTC

Starmer and Lammy Projected to Lose Their Seats to the Greens
Prime minister Keir Starmer and his deputy David Lammy are both set to lose their seats to the Green party at the next general election, according to forecasts by Electoral Calculus.
The latest prediction by the pollster, which uses mathematical modelling that draws on age, class, occupation and other demographic data, shows that Starmer has just a 27% chance of retaining his seat in Holborn and St Pancras, while the Greens have a 70% chance of winning it.
A candidate for Zack Polanski’s party would secure more than 33% of the vote in the constituency of roughly 75,000 eligible voters, a huge leap from the 10% share the Greens won in the 2024 general election.
Lammy, meanwhile, would suffer an even bigger wipeout in Tottenham. He won there in 2024 with more than 57% of votes, but the Greens are now comfortably in first place with 38% while Lammy would secure roughly 26% of the vote.
Electoral Calculus gives the Greens an 80% chance of winning in Tottenham.
“David Lammy will lose his seat to the Green party,” Polanski wrote on X on 5 March. “London can let go of these MPs who have protected power and wealth – and vote for a Green party rooted in communities.”
The new prediction follows the Greens’ historic byelection win last month in Gorton and Denton. Gorton had been a Labour safe seat for about a century.
Analysis by Electoral Calculus for the Telegraph showed that if the Green party could replicate that success across the country, it would secure 249 seats in parliament, while Labour and the Tories would be virtually wiped out with 33 and 10 seats respectively.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/09/starmer-and-lammy-projected-to-lose-their-seats-to-the-greens/

2026-03-09 10:42:45 UTC

Telegraph Publishes Honest Report on Iran War, Then Waters It Down
The Telegraph published a story detailing the devastation caused by US-Israeli attacks on civilian targets across Iran, but made substantial edits after a post on X expressing surprise at the directness of the reporting was shared thousands of times.
The original introduction to the article read: “American and Israeli aircraft bombed hospitals, residential buildings and schools across Tehran on Tuesday in what residents described as ‘an apocalypse’.”
But the paper rewrote the introduction after journalist Owen Jones quoted the article in a[ post on X][1], pointing out that it was unusual for a “rightwing, pro-war” outlet to cover US and Israeli aggression in this way.
The[ newly edited article][2] begins: “Bombs have struck hospitals, schools and residential buildings in some of the heaviest strikes on Tehran since the war began.”
Another paragraph in the original article said: “Millions of civilians are trapped under relentless bombardment as food and medical supplies dwindle and the death toll mounts.”
The new version of this sentence does not reference civilians and has been moved lower down the article. It reads: “Millions remain trapped in Tehran, a city under sustained aerial assault.”
The Telegraph’s decision to name the US and Israel so directly as the perpetrators of attacks against civilians set it apart from many mainstream outlets, which have been accused of repeatedly obscuring the role of the two countries in committing atrocities in Gaza.
“Wow. This is the rightwing, pro-war Daily Telegraph,” Jones wrote on X, before quoting from the original opening paragraph.
The Telegraph did not respond to Novara Media’s questions about why the article had been edited and has not flagged the changes to readers on its website.
[1]: https://x.com/owenjonesjourno/status/2028941560939770196
[2]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/03/apocalypse-tehran-heaviest-day-strikes-war/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/09/telegraph-publishes-honest-report-on-iran-war-then-waters-it-down/

2026-03-09 10:42:40 UTC

We Need to Stop Listening to Tony Blair Once and for All
[Tony Blair laughing]
It might feel like months, but we’re just over a week into the US and Israel’s illegal assault on Iran, and there’s no end in sight. What is in sight, though, is [the apocalyptic vision of Tehran ablaze][1], wreathed in thick smoke as black oil-soaked rain falls on its inhabitants.
That’s the result of Israeli strikes on several oil storage depots in the city, reportedly sending burning petroleum running through gutters while [geysers of flaming gas exploded][2] from the streets.
A nightmare? For most of us, yes. But for former British prime minister Tony Blair it’s apparently a dream. One that he might have liked the entire British public to be non-consensually forced into realising for him. And [not for the first time][3].
Were my hands bloodied with the [deaths of up to a million people][4], I’d probably think twice before giving my opinion on yet another illegal US adventure in the Middle East. Not our Tone, though. On Sunday [the papers reported][5] that the man who told George W. Bush in the months before the disastrous Iraq war, “[I will be with you, whatever][6]”, is still singing the same old tune.
“We should,” Blair [told a private Jewish News event][7] on Friday night, “Have backed America from the very beginning”. That was a direct criticism of current prime minister Keir Starmer, who, [to a chorus of warmonger criticism][8], initially refused the US and Israel access to British military infrastructure to launch its war on Iran. But it’s not like we’ve stayed completely out of the mess: our bases are now free for use by US jets for “defensive” actions – whatever that means – with American bombers [already touching down][9].
Now, nobody was ever supposed to know that a former Labour prime minister so openly rubbished the current one in public. That’s because the event was conducted under Chatham House rules. In short, that means what’s said in the room can be made public, but not who said it. In long, it means elites are emboldened to express their heart’s true desires without any threat of accountability.
We can’t know what was in Tony Blair’s heart when he mourned the fact that the UK was not more involved in blasting a hole straight through the security of the hundreds of millions who live in the Middle East. Nor can we tell for sure, as global oil prices [surge above $100 a barrel][10] for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, how little the lives of Brits, long blighted by a cost of living crisis, matter to him.
We can, though, look at his record. And what that shows – in my opinion – is a tendency, previously expressed via his businesses and [nowadays his Tony Blair Institute][11], to see fatal discord as fiscal opportunity. [Autocracy][12], [oligarchy][13], [calamity][14]? Roll up, roll up: the Blair pitch project is in town, and it has some consultancy to sell.
Now, none of that is a crime. But you might think it indicates a conflict when wading into affairs of state. Blair is alleged to have form here too: in 2014, a number of former ambassadors and MPs [called for his resignation][15] as Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet (made up of the United Nations, the US, the EU and Russia). They claimed he was ineffective, while others noted [the growth of his business interests in the region][16].
Blair’s [financial arrangements][17] have also been called, at times, mysterious. Less of a puzzle is who funds his current ventures. Larry Ellison – the billionaire founder of Oracle who, along with his son, is [slowly gobbling up mainstream][18] and [social media platforms][19] seemingly with the [blessing of Donald Trump][20] – has [given hundreds of millions of dollars][21] to Blair’s institute.
Coincidentally, the Tony Blair Institute appears to be [pretty keen on promoting Ellison’s products][22] to governments around the world – including the UK’s.
That may explain why Blair’s comments also reflect a dangerous loyalty to an old idea in a fast-changing world. “They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?” [he asked of our relationship to the US][23], before concluding, “If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security… you had better show up.”
There’s never been a US lap Tony Blair wouldn’t perch on – and, given his comments, it seems there never will be. But I tend to doubt that future administrations across the pond would thank the UK for blindly emboldening a president who seems hell bent on drawing all of us ever closer to catastrophe. Let alone the US public – [most of whom disapprove of the conflict][24] and fear that years of war lie ahead.
They say those who haven’t learned from history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps those who’ve earned from it, even more so.
[1]: https://time.com/7383099/iran-news-oil-strikes-tehran/
[2]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/08/rivers-of-fire-in-tehran-after-oil-depots-blown-up/
[3]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36701854
[4]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-01-31/million-iraqis-dead-since-invasion-study/1028878
[5]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15623903/Tony-Blair-rebukes-Keir-Starmer-not-backing-Trump-Iran.html
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/with-you-whatever-tony-blair-letters-george-w-bush-chilcot
[7]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blair-starmer-trump-war-iran-labour-b2934207.html
[8]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05v28eqjyvo
[9]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/07/us-bomber-lands-in-uk-after-warning-of-surge-in-strikes-on-iran
[10]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c79542n0grwo
[11]: https://www.ft.com/content/bcf1f1f5-a38f-4078-98f8-ab1ff7378895
[12]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/aug/12/tony-blair-institute-continued-taking-money-from-saudi-arabia-after-khashoggi
[13]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/06/how-tony-blair-advised-former-kazakh-ruler-after-2011-uprising
[14]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jul/07/tony-blair-thinktank-worked-with-project-developing-trump-riviera-gaza-plan
[15]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/27/tony-blair-conflict-interests-middle-east
[16]: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tony-blair-uae-middle-east-envoy-qatar-israel-palestine-foreign-office-a7894641.html
[17]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8225008/Tony-Blair-makes-710000-from-mysterious-web-of-companies.html
[18]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr4qwwk0g0yo
[19]: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/22/deal-for-us-ownership-of-tiktok-is-closed-company-says-00743145
[20]: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/12/media/david-ellison-trump-paramount-netflix-wbd
[21]: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2025/09/inside-the-tony-blair-institute
[22]: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/blair-and-the-billionaire/
[23]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blair-starmer-trump-war-iran-labour-b2934207.html
[24]: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/02/politics/cnn-poll-59-of-americans-disapprove-of-iran-strikes-and-most-think-a-long-term-conflict-is-likely
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/09/we-need-to-stop-listening-to-tony-blair-once-and-for-all/

2026-03-08 15:42:15 UTC

We Are Witnessing the Return of Empires & the End of Nations
Nearly all of us on Earth live within a ‘nation-state’. Nation-states are an invisible and seemingly inevitable and eternal part of the infrastructure that forms our society: the water we swim in. Rarely do we pause to consider how this global system of nation-states came into being, and what might replace it after its gone. But as the United States wages a war of aggression on Iran, in a move that will drive up oil prices and the cost of living for ordinary citizens all over the world, the question presents itself anew: who do nation-states serve; what are they for?
On Downstream this week is the author and essayist Rana Dasgupta, whose latest book, ‘After Nations: The Making and Unmaking of a World Order,’ tackles these questions head-on. In conversation with Aaron Bastani, they discuss: What is a nation-state? How did they come to replace the role of religion in the liberal era? Do states need their citizens to have rights? What are the most salient challenges to the nation-state today? And were the gains in workers’ rights of the last century a sign that progress and democracy will triumph in the end, or something more like a historical blip?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/08/we-are-witnessing-the-return-of-empires-the-end-of-nations/

2026-03-08 09:01:44 UTC

What Does the Green Party Really Want?
[A man in a green jacket and white t-shirt holds a banner alongside other activists]
Following their [Trip episode on Ecology][1], the ACFM crew take a closer look at the Greens as Zack Polanski’s party nudges past Labour in national polls.
Have the Greens got what it takes to become the main political vehicle of the radical left? Or is a blue-green coalition still a possibility? And can the party become the site of the kind of weird left culture celebrated by ACFM? *Whither Acid Polanskism?*
From the 60s dream of ‘steady state economics’ to the anarcho-green convergence of ’90s rave culture, the Green tendency is mapped out by Nadia, Jem and Keir – with ideas from Playboy, Zack Goldsmith, David Icke and some sensible people too.
Further reading: Adam Ramsay tells [The Inside Story of How the Green Party Turned Red][2].
Follow our [Spotify playlist][3] of all the music discussed on ACFM and subscribe to the [ACFM mailing list][4] to get weirder and leftier.
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/02/22/how-to-think-ecologically/
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/11/13/the-inside-story-of-how-the-green-party-turned-red/
[3]: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wv61PS6qItwCBUluNcSFx
[4]: http://novara.media/ACFMnewsletter
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/08/what-does-the-green-party-really-want/

2026-03-07 20:25:48 UTC

How the Military Industrial Complex Pushed for War
The US military is changing shape: it’s increasingly high-tech, intelligence led, and focused on assassinations. In short, the Israeli model.
And the changing shape of war means changing flows of money and power. The primes, which have dominated the military industrial for decades, now face competition from Silicon Valley companies like Palantir and Anduril.
But does their tech actually work? Or does it just drag the US into wars it doesn’t even know why it’s fighting?
Do Your Own Research is a new show from Novara Media mapping the systems that make the modern world possible.
Music by Iglooghost.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/07/how-the-military-industrial-complex-pushed-for-war/

2026-03-06 23:01:01 UTC

Trump Demands Iran’s ‘Unconditional Surrender’
Donald Trump has stated that there will be no deal with Iran without “unconditional surrender”.
Plus: Qatar’s Energy Minister has warned that the war will “bring down the economies of the world”, and the Pentagon has deemed Anthropic a supply chain risk.
With Michael Walker, Sina Toossi, David Wearing & Nate Soares.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/trump-demands-irans-unconditional-surrender/

2026-03-06 17:55:52 UTC

Crime at a Historic Low in New York Under Zohran Mamdani
Since Zohran Mamdani became the mayor of New York, the city has seen the fewest shootings and murders in recorded history for January and February of any year.
Major crime is down 8% citywide, burglary is at a record low and retail theft down 25%.
Under Mamdani’s mayoralty, homelessness outreach has been moved away from the New York Police Department and $20m invested in early childhood mental health.
One of Mamdani’s key campaign pledges was to introduce free universal childcare. This week, his administration announced the first four communities that will receive the 2,000 free places for two-year-olds this autumn.
The programme is expected to expand to all two-year-olds regardless of postcode, income or immigration status within four years.
The progressive mayor has also strengthened the city’s protections for migrants, limiting ICE enforcement.
In total, this year has seen 1,100 fewer reported crimes compared to the same period in 2025.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/crime-at-a-historic-low-in-new-york-under-zohran-mamdani/

2026-03-06 17:55:47 UTC

More Than 100 Labour MPs Oppose Starmer’s Immigration Reforms
More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a private letter urging prime minister Keir Starmer to rethink the most drastic tightening of immigration law proposed in a generation.
In a speech on Thursday, home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a pilot scheme that offers up to £40k to families whose asylum applications have been rejected to leave the country voluntarily, or else face forcible removal.
Other key changes include longer waits before refugees can claim indefinite leave to remain – up to 20 years – and that refugees will be reassessed every 30 months, with people whose countries of origin are considered safe told they must go home.
The scale of opposition in the private letter seen by Bloomberg amounts to a quarter of the parliamentary Labour party.
Tony Vaughan, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, told the Guardian: “You don’t win back public confidence in the asylum system by threatening to forcibly remove refugees who have lived here lawfully for 15 or 20 years. That just breeds insecurity and fractured communities.”
“We can change our immigration system for the better without forgetting who we are as a Labour party,” Vaughan added.
Mahmood’s plans will also increase the baseline length of time a migrant must live in the UK before claiming residency from five years to ten. However, access to indefinite leave will be stratified by wages, with low-paid migrant workers like nurses made to wait for 15 years and those earning above £120k eligible after only three years.
“The generosity of the British people will become conditional on those seeking asylum following the law, living by our rules and not working,” she said on Thursday.
“If we don’t resolve these problems, others with none of our values will be given the chance to do so instead.”
Some of Mahmood’s plans will become law without passing through parliament, although secondary changes – such as removing support from asylum seekers with criminal sentences of 12 months or more – must pass through the Commons. Labour MPs now have 40 days to object.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/more-than-100-labour-mps-oppose-starmers-immigration-reforms/

2026-03-06 16:38:33 UTC

I Yearn for a Soulmate. So Why Do I Also Want to Open My Relationship?
[A woman holds the hands of two men in a town square]
*In a society that puts profit before people, it’s hard not to feel broken-hearted. Landlords split friends, nuclear families isolate parents, bosses burn out workers. But fear not – Red Flags is here to tend to your troubled hearts. *
*In Novara Media’s anti-capitalist anti-advice column, resident therapist Sophie K Rosa marries their ongoing training in psychoanalysis with ideas from their book, *[*Radical Intimacy*][1]*, to respond to your questions. Unlike other agony aunts, Sophie doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but they could help you unlock new ways of thinking. *
*To submit a dilemma to Sophie, please fill out this *[*form*][2]*.*
> I’m in a stable, monogamous relationship, but I yearn for an open one. This longing might serve as an excuse for me to engage in sexual and emotional connections with others. I don’t feel guilty about it, because I believe people have the right to explore all possibilities in relationships. If my partner can’t accept it, I simply won’t tell him. I don’t know if this is toxic.
>
> My heart struggles between the idea of polyamory and the mindset of monogamy. I can also become very obsessed and dependent in my relationships with others, losing myself. It seems a part of me still yearns for the ultimate, singular love. Yet I live in a society where it seems many people are experimenting with polyamory and open relationships, and I agree that love shouldn’t be confined to any single form.
>
> My heart is torn. I’m unsure what true love really is now, uncertain about my relationship with my partner. I can’t understand why I can love him while doing these things with other people.
>
> – An Unscratched Itch
I am interested in your idea of longing as an “excuse”. I can’t quite make sense of it – can you, I wonder? You write that you yearn for an open relationship, and that this is why you are having relationships your partner doesn’t know about, and likely wouldn’t accept. I can see how you have formulated your longing as an excuse – but do you really buy it? It seems to me that, whether you were intrigued by the notion of agreed-upon non-monogamy or not, you might be pursuing these relationships without your partner’s knowledge. Does your unfulfilled yearning for an open relationship make your behaviour feel more acceptable, somehow?
You “don’t know if this is toxic”. The word “toxic” gives me pause, in part because of its proliferation in online therapy speak. Something toxic is poisonous; it can contaminate, even destroy. The way the term is employed in social media discourse about relationships is often black-and-white; human errors of judgement, moral lapses, ordinary-but-difficult reactions, are piled into the category of toxic. Sometimes, this toxic waste is the real, imperfect stuff of relationships. There is no knowing whether what you are doing is “toxic” – but I would ask you, how does it feel? And how do you think it might feel to your partner, should they find out?
What does seem certain is that you are experiencing immense internal conflict. Some people might be more tuned in to it, or articulate it more, or suffer more as a result – but we all want opposing things; we all experience opposing feelings. You want an open relationship and a monogamous one. You want your partner and don’t want him. You love your partner, yet act in ways that seem unloving. In a certain way, all this might be considered rather normal – some of psychoanalysis’s most helpful ideas, in my opinion, are that we are divided subjects, ultimately confused about what we want, with no real essence other than that which we create. What to do with that in mind?
It might be worth examining why you feel no guilt about the relationships you explore without your partner’s knowledge. You write that you feel no guilt because you believe it is your right, but I do wonder how far this conviction takes you. If you really believed that people ought to be able to do whatever they please in their relationships, why did you (presumably) agree to monogamy? Or a committed relationship of any kind? Your absence of guilt could mean many things.
I am also curious about your enjoyment, where you might be seeking it and why. Is there something you are seeking in these other people that you would rather experience outside of your partnership than cultivate within it? Or things that your partner cannot offer you? I am also wondering about the role of transgression. It is worth noting that even if your relationship were open, it would likely be subject to an agreement about limits. Might you be drawn to supersede that agreement, too? Would transgression be enjoyable if it were not private?
I get the sense that your question might be less about (non-)monogamy than it seems – but I’ll spend a moment on that topic regardless. Your “heart is torn” over this matter. Would it help to consider that many people’s might be? I don’t say this to minimise your pain, but to situate it in the context of other people’s psyches. Certainly, people experience such conflict in vastly different ways – for some, psychic defences might render it essentially indiscernible. You seem to be playing it out in real time.
Perhaps more important than a binary decision between polyamory or monogamy might be the question of how you want to relate to others. It seems that autonomy is important to you, but in this instance, it might be at the expense of honesty and your partner’s feelings. If your partner “can’t accept” this kind of involvement with others, I would imagine he would feel hurt to know you have been pursuing it regardless. Do you plan on telling him the truth?
I agree with you, to an extent, that “people have the right to explore all possibilities in relationships”, but when enjoyment comes at someone else’s expense, I think we have reason to pause. Our lives are bound up with others, and in a close relationship, we generally hold some power to impact another’s experiences for better and for worse. Only you can decide what meaning to make of your actions, and only you can decide what you might value, going forward.
[1]: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745345161/radical-intimacy/
[2]: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17qKQIMyYNdYEq0Uh4wcRSEhV6EGgamBaoFt_vfMlVd0/viewform?ts=6500822e&edit_requested=true
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/i-yearn-for-a-soulmate-so-why-do-i-also-want-to-open-my-relationship/

2026-03-06 11:25:54 UTC

US Admits It Was ‘Likely Responsible’ for Mass Killing of Iran Schoolgirls
US military investigators have said it is likely its forces were responsible for a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed scores of children and has been condemned as a war crime, according to a report by Reuters.
The attack on the Minab girls’ school in southern Iran on Saturday is believed to have killed at least 165 people, mostly children under the age of 12.
The UN’s education agency, Unesco, said the attack was a “grave violation of humanitarian law”.
US war secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the military was investigating the incident. Investigators have not reached a final conclusion and it is still unclear what evidence contributed to their assessment, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed officials.
It was also unclear what type of munitions were used and who was responsible, the outlet said.
An investigation by news outlet Middle East Eye determined that the attack on the school was a “double tap” strike – where a target is hit a second time in order to kill rescuers who come to the aid of the injured.
“When the first bomb hit the school, one of the teachers and the principal moved a group of students to the prayer hall to protect them,” a Red Crescent medic told the outlet, citing conversations he had with survivors.
“The principal called the parents and told them to come and pick up their children. But the second bomb hit that area as well. Only a small number of those who had taken shelter survived.”
The UK has joined the war on Iran – which is illegal because it was not approved by the UN or US congress – by allowing the use of its bases for strikes against the country.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has claimed the UK’s involvement is an act of self-defence, despite the fact the US and Israel started the war.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/us-admits-it-was-likely-responsible-for-mass-killing-of-iran-schoolgirls/

2026-03-06 11:25:48 UTC

Keir Starmer Is Too Spineless to Keep UK Out of Iran War
While you were sleeping, [more civilian locations][1] in the Iranian capital of Tehran were hit with massive explosions, while Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on towns in southern and eastern Lebanon.
It really is anything to distract from the Epstein Files for US [“president of peace” ][2]Donald Trump – and, of course, the fulfilment of [a long-held ambition][3] for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the US and Israel launched their war of aggression last weekend, more than [1,300 people ][4]have been killed in Iran. This includes [at least 180 children][5], the majority massacred in an airstrike on a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, on Saturday. US military investigators now believe [their own country was responsible][6].
This is the illegal war that prime minister Keir Starmer seems determined to draw Britain into, despite claiming that he has “learnt from the mistakes of Iraq”.
Starmer [caved to pressure][7] earlier this week, allowing the US to use RAF bases for operations against Iran [after initially refusing][8]. The US and Israel started bombing Tehran on Saturday – a day later, the PM made his signature move (the U-turn) and acquiesced to the US’s request.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last night that strikes on Iran were about to [“surge dramatically” ][9]thanks to Starmer’s decision to let the US use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands. Good to know that the US can target more kids’ schools now.
Labour governments in my lifetime have a decidedly poor record when it comes to following the US into wars in the Middle East. But spare a thought for Starmer, who really has been under fire from all directions.
In fact, the PM has failed to please anyone with his decisions. Trump [called Starmer a “loser”][10] and compared him unfavourably to Winston Churchill. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of “catching arrows rather than stopping the archer”. And Reform’s Nigel Farage [branded him a “coward”][11].
Funnily enough, anti-immigration parties are cheering loudest for our involvement in the war. As my colleague Aaron Bastani has [pointed out][12], for political outfits that despise refugees, they sure seem committed to making more of them.
The distinction between ‘defensive’ and ‘offensive’ actions is also doing some heavy-lifting this week. According to Downing Street, we’re only letting the US launch [“specific and limited defensive actions”][13] from our bases. We won’t “join offensive action”, apparently, but will only act in the “collective self-defence of regional allies who have requested support”. If only our government [had the spine of Spain’s][14].
While the attacks on Iran are widely viewed as illegal under international law, [experts are divided][15] on whether Iran is justified in its strikes on Gulf territories in response, and whether the UK can facilitate US strikes aimed at defending Gulf states while without being complicit in those US attacks which are almost definitely illegal. Phew.
Most of Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile strikes seem to have been intercepted, but some have hit military assets and civilian infrastructure. A drone strike on the UK’s now-infamous Cyprus base RAF Akratori, used for Gaza spy flights during Israel’s genocide, was found [not to have been launched by Iran][16].
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has [tabled a bill][17] that would mean Starmer couldn’t just give the US (or any foreign power, no matter how ‘special’ the relationship) use of UK bases without parliamentary approval. It could also allow permission for the US using UK bases to be withdrawn.
Predictably, the UK media has been cranking up the consent-manufacturing machinery, and our further involvement in a war in the Middle East feels increasingly likely. Déjà vu, anyone?
[1]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=b9ed14ab8f&e=e9d4603cb6
[2]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=52daf937df&e=e9d4603cb6
[3]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=fd2398245c&e=e9d4603cb6
[4]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=18cbb39a05&e=e9d4603cb6
[5]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=64708570bf&e=e9d4603cb6
[6]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=4bcee807d2&e=e9d4603cb6
[7]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=043ee20ef4&e=e9d4603cb6
[8]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=06cf9a8ad0&e=e9d4603cb6
[9]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=d13b839fa4&e=e9d4603cb6
[10]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=cf03413cdb&e=e9d4603cb6
[11]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=36b923247a&e=e9d4603cb6
[12]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=3154267b1a&e=e9d4603cb6
[13]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=b73192fdb6&e=e9d4603cb6
[14]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=dc14384203&e=e9d4603cb6
[15]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=f9fadfb063&e=e9d4603cb6
[16]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=a54c1e10ef&e=e9d4603cb6
[17]: https://novaramedia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3983822d8f&id=be4440982d&e=e9d4603cb6
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/keir-starmer-is-too-spineless-to-keep-uk-out-of-iran-war/

2026-03-06 09:59:31 UTC

Scotland Urged to Follow Spain and Ban US Military From Its Airbases
Scottish first minister John Swinney has been told to follow Spain’s example and ban the US from using its bases for its war on Iran.
During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said the US “is using an airport owned by the Scottish government to wage an illegal war, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people”.
He added: “We can see the flight data. We see the flights between Prestwick and Israel by the US military. It’s abundantly obvious what they’re doing. Spain, a fellow Nato member, has now banned the US military from using their airbases.
“Their prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said: ‘You can be against a hateful regime and at the same time against an unjustified and dangerous military intervention that is outside of international law.’ I believe the first minister agrees with that statement. It’s very similar to statements he made when he marched against the war against Iraq in 2003.”
Greer said flight data showed that 24 US military flights had landed at Glasgow Prestwick airport in the week leading up to the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, including at least one that came from Israel.
“Why won’t the first minister kick Trump’s troops out of Prestwick airport immediately?” Greer said.
Swinney replied: “I am in no way shape or form a supporter of what has happened in the course of the last few days … I am taking steps within government to establish the details around the use of Prestwick airport.
“When the government has more to say to parliament about that, we will do so.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/06/scotland-urged-to-follow-spain-and-ban-us-military-from-its-airbases/

2026-03-05 19:33:23 UTC

How Far Could the US-Israel War on Iran Spread?
The Iran war widens…
Plus: Are the British cowards? The role of AI tool Claude in the illegal Iran war, and a US Marine veteran dragged out of senate for refusing to go to war for Israel.
With Steven Methven, Dalia Gebrial & Meghan Bodette.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/05/how-far-could-the-us-israel-war-on-iran-spread/

2026-03-05 15:19:02 UTC

Trump Has Started Calling Starmer a ‘Loser’
Donald Trump has reportedly taken to calling Keir Starmer a loser behind closed doors.
A source present at a private dinner party with the US president within the last fortnight told the Telegraph: “Trump has started calling Starmer a loser. He said it at a dinner with friends. He just thinks Starmer has no future any more.”
Trump lashed out at the British prime minister in public on Tuesday too, saying he was “not Winston Churchill” and “ruins relationships”.
The US president has also recently criticised the UK’s “horrible” immigration and energy policies and urged Starmer to remove “sharia courts” and “open up the North Sea” to drilling.
Starmer’s initial refusal for the US to launch strikes at Iran from the Chagos Islands military base Diego Garcia angered Trump over the weekend, with the US president saying “it took far too much time” for Starmer to change his mind.
Starmer eventually allowed Trump to launch strikes from Diego Garcia, citing that Iran had struck a UK airbase – RAF Akrotiri – in Cyprus.
The Ministry of Defence has since declared that the drone that struck the airbase – from which the UK conducted spy flights over Gaza during Israel’s ongoing genocide – was not fired from Iran.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/05/trump-has-started-calling-starmer-a-loser/

2026-03-05 10:12:59 UTC

‘No to War’: Spain’s Socialist PM Refuses to Join Attack on Iran
Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez has doubled down on his refusal to join the US-Israeli led attacks on Iran, summarising his stance in three words: “No to war.”
In an address on Wednesday, Sanchez said his country would “not be complicit in something that is bad for the world – and that is also contrary to our values and interests – simply out of fear of reprisals from someone”.
His comments came in response to US president Donald Trump’s earlier threats to start a trade war with Spain after Sanchez refused to let the US use jointly-run military bases to strike Iran.
“You can’t play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions,” added Sanchez. “You can’t respond to one illegality with another because that’s how humanity’s great disasters begin.”
The socialist leader compared the war in Iran to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and highlighted a lack of clear objectives.
Also on Wednesday, Spanish MEP Irene Montero urged her country to withdraw from Nato, declaring that the biggest threats to global security are Israel and the US.
Spain has been among Europe’s strongest critics of Israel, describing the war in Gaza as genocidal and acknowledging a Palestinian state long before other EU countries.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/05/no-to-war-spains-socialist-pm-refuses-to-join-attack-on-iran/

2026-03-04 19:39:35 UTC

Hegseth Says U.S. Will Have COMPLETE CONTROL of Iran Airspace
Pete Hegseth insists America is winning the illegal war against Iran.
Plus: Could a civil war be brewing in Iran? Trump says the wrong Iranian leaders were killed, and Marco Rubio backtracks on the TRUTH About Israel
With Michael Walker, Aaron Bastani & Sara Kermanian
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/04/hegseth-says-u-s-will-have-complete-control-of-iran-airspace/

2026-03-04 14:27:42 UTC

Greens Most Popular Party Among Voters Under 65
The Green party is the most popular among all UK voters under the age of 65, new polling from YouGov shows.
Zack Polanski’s party was polling at 26%, six points ahead of Reform UK, among 18- 64-year-olds surveyed by the pollster at the beginning of March, while Labour was on 17%.
The poll of 2,073 adults was conducted following the Greens’ historic byelection win in Gorton and Denton.
It put the Greens in second place among voters of all ages, just two points behind Reform.
Among voters over 65, the Greens polled at only 6%, while Reform was by far the most popular party at 33%.
Demographic and legal changes before the next election, which will happen no later than August 2029, could further tip the odds in favour of the Greens.
Legislation to allow people to vote from the age of 16 at the next general election has started its journey through parliament.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/04/greens-most-popular-party-among-voters-under-65/

2026-03-04 14:27:37 UTC

No Evidence Iran Is Building Nuclear Bomb, Says UN Atomic Energy Chief
There is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb, the head of the UN’s atomic energy agency has said, despite claims by Israel and the US that the country poses an imminent nuclear threat.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, gave the assessment on X on Tuesday.
“I have been very clear and consistent in my reports on Iran’s nuclear programme: while there has been no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb, its large stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and refusal to grant my inspectors full access are cause for serious concern,” Grossi wrote.
Among the US and Israel’s pretexts for their illegal and unprovoked attacks on Iran is the dismantling of its nuclear programme.
In 2015, Iran and the US struck a deal that limited Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but Trump nixed it in 2018. In June last year, just as Iran and the US were on the verge of a new deal, Trump ordered military strikes on several Iranian nuclear sites.
As well as assassinating the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the recent US-Israeli attacks on Iran have targeted hospitals, schools and residential buildings, killing hundreds of civilians, including many children.
An estimated 168 people, most or all young girls, were killed in an attack on a primary school in Minab on Saturday. The US and Israel, widely suspected of conducting the strike, have denied responsibility. Israel’s critics have accused it of repeatedly lying about its massacres of civilians throughout its genocide in Gaza.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes on Israel and several Gulf states.
Among the places that have been targeted is the RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus, which some locals have nicknamed the “British genocide base” for its role in supporting Israel’s attacks in Gaza.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/04/no-evidence-iran-is-building-nuclear-bomb-says-un-atomic-energy-chief/

2026-03-03 20:11:48 UTC

The Illegal War on Iran Is Escalating… What Next?
The illegal war on Iran continues to escalate.
Plus: Why did the U.S. choose to start this conflict with Iran? Is the UK a vassal state to the U.S? And, the Greens leave Reform in the dust.
With Aaron Bastani & Kieran Andrieu.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/the-illegal-war-on-iran/

2026-03-03 17:48:54 UTC

Matt Goodwin Published a Campaign Leaflet Appealing to Voters’ ‘Christian Heritage’. How’s That for Sectarianism?
[Matthew Goodwin and Nigel Farage campaigning in Denton in January. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja]
Matthew Goodwin took his failure to win in Gorton and Denton last week with characteristic good grace.
Walloped by the Greens’ Hannah Spencer, the charisma-free Reform UK candidate [wrote on X][1]: “We are losing our country. A dangerous Muslim sectarianism has emerged.” Party leader Nigel Farage added that the result was [“a victory for sectarian voting and cheating”][2].
This wasn’t the first time Reform had levelled this attack-line at the Greens over the course of the byelection. While Muslims voting for a non-Muslim woman standing for a party led by a gay Jewish man doesn’t immediately reek of a sectarian scandal, the Greens got particular criticism for putting out a video in Urdu, aimed at Muslim communities in the diverse seat, in which they claimed Goodwin would “fuel the flames of Islamophobia”. In response, Goodwin accused the party of [“blatant sectarianism”][3].
[He added][4]: “If you want an MP who will obsess over Gaza, prioritise the Muslim vote, and put some communities before others, then vote Green. But if you want an MP who will prioritise the people of Gorton & Denton, then vote Reform.”
But while criticising the Greens for supposedly putting one community ahead of another, Goodwin’s own campaign literature promised to do exactly that.
In an as yet unreported election leaflet circulated to constituents seen by Novara Media, Goodwin wrote: “I am writing to you because many people in this area have told me they are deeply concerned about the erosion of our country’s values, particularly our Christian heritage.
“I wanted to reassure you that Reform UK will always stand up for the Christian beliefs that have underpinned our laws, shaped our morality and formed the basis of our culture, for as long as this country has existed.”
The letter claimed that Farage has “called to defend the Christian foundations of our country” which are “under attack from the radical left”.
“I will not betray Christian values, I will fight for them and our shared cultural heritage,” Goodwin wrote.
Leo Simpson, the Green party’s South Tees membership officer, came across the leaflet when he was canvassing for the Greens in Gorton and Denton and saw a resident throw it out of their house onto the street, before handing it to Novara Media.
Simpson, who is a Christian, said: “I was upset, to be honest, because what Goodwin stands for isn’t Christianity. Christianity is supposed to be everyone in the same room coming together, celebrating the life of Jesus and God. Instead, we’ve got this far-right party using it as just another example to try and remove the Muslim vote.
“They’re just clutching at straws. … Reformers are sore losers.”
Simpson said he had been canvassing alongside two Urdu-speaking Green party members, which had enabled the party to “connect” with people who otherwise would have been difficult to reach, which was “really nice”.
“Why shouldn’t you be making something accessible for these people [Urdu speakers] so that they can [participate in] democracy?” he said.
Goodwin wouldn’t be the first anti-migrant political figure to adopt Christianity in his messaging, with Tommy Robinson – who endorsed Goodwin’s election campaign – claiming to have [found the faith while in prison][5].
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
[1]: https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/2027245333105820052
[2]: https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/2027244465803718716
[3]: https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/2025970301620687355
[4]: https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/2026215955358007420
[5]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4p42kydx9o
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/matt-goodwin-published-a-campaign-leaflet-appealing-to-voters-christian-heritage-hows-that-for-sectarianism/

2026-03-03 17:05:09 UTC

Activists Block Alleged Arms Shipment From Manchester to Israel
Activists have intercepted a shipment heading from the UK to Israel by sitting on the roof of a lorry.
As the shipment was leaving the depot in Manchester bound for Ashdod, southern Israel, an activist dressed as a security guard distracted the lorry’s driver and another climbed onto the vehicle.
The entire DSV Transport depot was forced shut and the two shipments, believed to be carrying weapons, were unable to leave.
Danish-owned DSV have transported arms for Israeli arms company Elbit systems and its British subsidiary UAV Tactical since previous transporters Kuehne+Nagel dropped them.
Elbit produce over 85% of Israel’s killer drones and land-based military equipment, with DSV allegedly moving weapons from their British factories, for transport to Ashdod, on a weekly basis.
Whilst on top of the lorry, one of the activists from the group People Against Genocide, said: “DSV, how many more dead kids, adults, babies? How many more people made homeless? How many more arms and legs lost? How many more lives ruined? These are the sorts of questions I could ask you. It’s worthless. You don’t care.”
A spokesperson for People Against Genocide said: “There must be an end to Israeli weapons production in Britain, and we will use direct action to close down their facilities and to stop the transportation of their shipment. We will target all those who assist in the commission of genocide.”
This week, Israel launched an attack on Iran that killed at least 185 schoolgirls and has separately bombed Syria and Lebanon.
Palestinian civilians have been killed by the IDF in Gaza every day since the US-led supposed ceasefire was brokered.
DSV has been contacted for comment.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/activists-block-alleged-arms-shipment-from-manchester-to-israel/

2026-03-03 16:32:23 UTC

Open University U-Turns on ‘Ancient Palestine’ Ban
[Mid-18th century fresco depicting the Virgin Mary and child Christ in the church of Agios Giorgos in Proastio, Outer Mani, Greece. Alamy/Reuters]
The Open University (OU) appears to have rowed back on a commitment it made to a pro-Israel lobby group to stop using the term ‘ancient Palestine’ which sparked outrage among teaching staff and high-profile academics.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) – an association of lawyers which works to [“support Israel using their legal skills”][1] – sent a letter to the OU on 30 November 2025 complaining about the use of the term ‘ancient Palestine’ in a textbook and video in reference to the birthplace of the Virgin Mary.
UKLFI told the OU that the term ‘ancient Palestine” could be a violation of the Equalities Act because it could “harass” Jewish or Israeli students by creating “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment”. UKLFI also claimed the term “feeds into recent efforts by anti-Israel activists to spread disinformation that ‘Jesus was Palestinian’”.
The OU took just 18 days to [agree to the lawfare group’s demand][2], despite admitting that the term is “academically appropriate”. Writing on behalf of the university at the instruction of vice-chancellor David Phoenix, Arts and Social Science faculty head Adrienne Scullion told UKLFI her team “accept[s] that the term is now problematic in a way that, perhaps, it was not when the materials were written in 2018”.
Scullion added: “We will not use the term ‘ancient Palestine’ in any future course materials, and we will explain and contextualise its use in existing materials for current learners.” Later on in her letter, exposed by a Freedom of Information request from the OU’s Palestine Solidarity Group, Scullion repeated this commitment.
UKLFI reported on Scullion’s commitments [as a win][3], with director Caroline Turner saying: “We welcome the Open University’s decision to stop using the term ‘ancient Palestine’ in its future teaching materials.”
However, after reporting [in the British][4] and [Israeli press][5], as well as backlash from over 600 academics and public figures who signed an [open letter calling on the OU to make an urgent public retraction][6], the university appears to have changed course.
An OU spokesperson told Novara Media that the university’s position is that academics “are free to use the term ‘ancient Palestine’ where scholarly appropriate in teaching and learning materials”, and that the contextual note agreed by Scullion only applies to one current module within Arts and Social Sciences.
The spokesperson added that there is no requirement for academics to use a contextual note on the term ‘ancient Palestine’ unless they deem it academically appropriate.
When pressed on why Scullion had agreed to “not use the term ‘ancient Palestine’ in any future course materials” in her letter to UKLFI, the university spokesperson claimed that this was in specific reference to one unit of work which is “scheduled for replacement”, but could not adequately explain why she used such broad wording or why there was no mention of the unit being replaced in the letter.
An OU staff member who preferred not to be named due to fear of professional reprisals told Novara Media that a “clear contradiction” exists between the OU administration’s statements and the commitments made to the UKLFI as revealed by the FOI request.
They said the university administration’s “subsequent attempts” to suggest that commitments were limited to a single module and its renewal “do not constitute a reasonable interpretation of the letter from 18 December – nor do they seem to align with the OU’s own processes of module production”.
Academics and legal experts have warned that the OU capitulating to the demands of an external lobby group creates a “significant risk” that the institution could breach the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 (HEFSA).
HEFSA means universities have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to secure freedom of speech and academic freedom within the law, and to protect staff and students from undue pressures, such as lobbying groups. Legal experts told Novara Media that by making commitments to UKLFI, the OU could be in breach of HEFSA.
The OU staffer told Novara Media they believe that “no commitments on caveats or future terminology usage should have been made to external lobbyists”, and that the OU should conduct a thorough and independent inquiry as to how the incident occurred.
Letter from OU Arts and Social Science faculty head Adrienne Scullion to UKLFI, pages 1 and 2 Letter from OU Arts and Social Science faculty head Adrienne Scullion to UKLFI, pages 3 and 4
Signatories of the open letter to the OU include renowned Israeli historians Ilan Pappé and Avi Shlaim, Palestinian historians Rashid Khalidi and Nur Masalha, along with Judith Butler, Yanis Varoufakis and Jeremy Corbyn. It was also [endorsed by the OU’s University and College Union branch][7]. Corbyn told Novara Media that an agreement to stop using the term ‘ancient Palestine’ amounted to “anti-Palestinian racism” and an “assault on academic freedom”.
The offending text from OU course materials highlighted by UKLFI includes a description of the Virgin Mary as a “Jewish woman in ancient Palestine”, a description of Aramaic as “a language widely spoken in ancient Palestine”, and a map labelled as showing “ancient Palestine”.
UKLFI claimed that the term ‘ancient Palestine’ is historically inaccurate because Mary was born in the late first century BC in Galilee, “which, along with the neighbouring territories of Judea and Samaria, was a predominantly Jewish area under Roman rule”, and these territories are not in the same areas that Greek historian and geographer Herodotus classed as Palestine in fifth century BC.
However, OU Classical Studies lecturer Chella Ward said the term ‘ancient Palestine’ is the “most accurate way to refer to this region at this time in antiquity” and called the idea that this is “a late-coming or illegitimate term” a “Zionist lie, aimed at the erasure of Palestinians and in support of the ongoing genocide against them”.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s deputy director Ryvka Barnard told Novara Media the OU had “made itself complicit” in a “racist campaign to erase Palestinian history, all whilst Israel attempts to eliminate the Palestinian people through its genocide”.
An OU spokesperson said: “There has been no institutional discussion about prohibiting or removing the term ‘ancient Palestine’. The use of terminology in all our curriculum remains a matter for academic judgement, consistent with our commitment to academic freedom and scholarly independence.”
The row over the OU’s commitments to UKLFI comes after another furore around the [lobby group’s claim last month][8] that the British Museum was updating some displays to remove the word ‘Palestine’ following a UKLFI complaint. [A museum spokesperson denied ][9]that any text in labels or gallery panels had been altered as a response to UKLFI, and said the review and update to displays began “over a year ago”.
UKLFI [operates by sending legal letters][10] to public bodies and [private companies][11] across Britain. It has previously [hounded NHS trusts][12], local councils, high-profile creatives, and [private citizens][13], demanding symbols of Palestinian solidarity be banned and even that [Palestinian children’s artwork be taken down][14].
The pro-Israel lobby group has repeatedly intervened in education, [targeting schools ][15]and [educational publishers][16] over alleged “pro-Palestinian bias” in textbooks and exam papers. UKLFI [successfully forced publisher Pearson][17] to withdraw a GCSE exam paper in June 2023 because a question about a doctor’s experiences of operating on a child in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza “could have distressed students who are supportive of Israel during the exam”.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed a conservative estimate of 72,000 Palestinians, with children the worst impacted. UNICEF estimates that [64,000 children were killed or injured by Israel ][18]in the two years since October 2023.
[1]: https://www.uklfi.com/about-us-2
[2]: https://www.uklfi.com/open-university-agrees-to-change-use-of-ancient-palestine-following-uklfi-intervention
[3]: https://www.uklfi.com/open-university-agrees-to-change-use-of-ancient-palestine-following-uklfi-intervention
[4]: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/02/academic-freedom-speech-open-university-palestine-israel
[5]: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/421012
[6]: https://docs.google.com/document/u/3/d/e/2PACX-1vQkTPnYNKc-kpm9lLTzdw-TAcRm75o57VGziPimNEeNmGOoxH_mwixhcGvDwwMQbUmuzbfoEpnszGmT/pub
[7]: https://ucu.open.ac.uk/z/motions-passed-general-meetings-2026
[8]: https://www.uklfi.com/british-museum-reviewing-palestine-terminology-in-galleries-after-audience-testing
[9]: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2026/02/row-after-british-museum-removes-term-palestine-from-some-displays/#
[10]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/28/meet-the-pro-israel-lawyers-hounding-the-nhs/
[11]: https://www.uklfi.com/hornby-hobbies-withdraws-gaza-paint-pens-for-repackaging
[12]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/11/revealed-how-pro-israel-lawyers-threatened-nhs-over-palestine-badges/
[13]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/21/pro-palestine-nutritionists-gives-anti-israel-diet-advice/
[14]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/27/artwork-gaza-schoolchildren-removed-chelsea-and-westminster-hospital
[15]: https://www.uklfi.com/leeds-grammar-school-amends-religious-studies-resource-following-concerns-raised-by-uklfi-and-parents
[16]: https://www.uklfi.com/pearson-issues-revised-history-text-books-following-review
[17]: https://www.uklfi.com/exam-board-removes-english-language-gcse-question-paper-featuring-doctor-in-gaza-hospital#:~:text=An%20English%20language%20GCSE%20paper,as%20a%20matter%20of%20urgency.
[18]: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-years-hellish-war-have-devastated-gazas-children
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/open-university-u-turns-on-ancient-palestine-ban/

2026-03-03 16:08:52 UTC

US Bombed Iran Because Israel Was Going to Attack Anyway
The US bombed Iran because Israel had already planned to attack, secretary of state Marco Rubio admitted on Fox News.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that would precipitate an attack against American forces,” Rubio told reporters on Monday. “We knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
But in the same interview, Rubio also said that the US decided to attack Iran “to eliminate the threat of Iran’s short range ballistic missiles and the threat posed by their navy”.
The lack of clarity about the US’ specific aims in attacking Iran, coupled with the latest acknowledgement that US involvement was led by Israel, has drawn sharp criticism from top officials.
Congressman Joaquin Castro said: “Secretary Rubio’s remarks indicate that Israel put US forces in harm’s way by insisting on attacking Iran. And the administration was complicit – joining their war instead of talking them down.”
“There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel,” said Democrat senator Mark Warner. “If we equate a threat to Israel as an imminent threat to the United States, then we are in uncharted territory.”
Warner added the Trump government has changed its reasoning for attacking Iran “four or five times”.
He said: “A week ago it was about the Iranian nuclear capacity, a few days later it was about taking out the ballistic missiles, it was then – in the president’s own words – about regime change. Now we hear it’s about sinking the Iranian fleet”.
The US and Israel launched a first wave of attacks on Tehran this Saturday, resulting in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.
Iran has since launched missiles across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar – all of which host US military bases. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shia militia has also struck back at Israel.
Hundreds of Iranians have now been killed as bombs rain down on the country. Six US military personnel are also confirmed dead.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/us-bombed-iran-because-israel-was-going-to-attack-anyway/

2026-03-03 10:06:08 UTC

Greens Storm Ahead of Labour in National Poll As Second Most Popular Party
The Green party is now polling second behind Reform, according to a poll carried out in the wake of new Green MP Hannah Spencer’s win at Gorton and Denton.
The YouGov poll shows that 23% of the population currently intends to vote Reform – a dip of one percentage point since the last data collection.
At 21%, the Greens have effectively leapfrogged Labour and the Tories, which are now tied in third place at 16% each.
Anthony Wells, global head of politics and elections at YouGov, told the Times: “What Gorton demonstrated is that Greens can win elections and as a result may appear like a more viable option and less of a wasted vote.”
The Greens are the most popular party among voters under 50s and women of any age.
Whilst Reform is still in first place, support for the insurgent far-right party has fallen from highs of 29% over summer and autumn. Its new rating of 23% is the lowest since last March.
“We are coming for Reform and on the path to replacing Labour,” said a Green party source.
“Voters have been let down time and time again by high bills, toxic rhetoric on migration and failure to make real change to improve people’s lives. Gorton and Denton showed that if people vote Green, they can get Green.
“Starmer can smear us as much as he wants but the voters want change and increasingly see the Greens as the party to break the failed status quo.”
The poll was commissioned for the Times and SkyNews and carried out on Sunday and Monday.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/greens-storm-ahead-of-labour-in-national-poll-as-second-most-popular-party/

2026-03-03 07:48:51 UTC

103: Will Getting Back to Nature Heal My Feelings of Burnout?
Ash wants to cultivate a better relationship with nature, but Moya detects a deeper issue around burnout, and the lure of the countryside for busy city dwellers. Plus: advice for a listener who’s lost sexual interest in her partner.
Got a dilemma? Email ifispeak@novaramedia.com
Join us at [Crossed Wires festival][1] in Sheffield on 4th July.
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/03/103-will-getting-back-to-nature-heal-my-feelings-of-burnout/

2026-03-02 19:50:58 UTC

The US & Israel’s War on Iran
Conflict continues between the US, Israel & Iran.
Plus: The narrative gaslighting around the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, and could Iran now become a failed state?
With Michael Walker, Kieran Andrieu, Annelle Sheline & Eksandar Sadeghi.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/02/the-us-israels-war-on-iran/

2026-03-02 19:13:08 UTC

Labour Scraps Right to Permanent Asylum for Refugees
Asylum seekers arriving in the UK will now face reassessment every 30 months for 20 years, making permanent asylum an unattainable dream.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said that refugees whose home countries are considered safe at the time of reassessment will be forced to return. There will be no parliamentary vote on the new rules.
The announcement comes days after Mahmood’s visit to Denmark, where the left-wing government’s harsh immigration policy has reduced asylum claims by 90%. Amnesty International and the European Court of Human Rights have both accused Denmark of breaching the rights of refugees.
Mahmood told the Guardian that Labour MPs should support major immigration reforms or risk letting Nigel Farage deport refugees “to certain death”.
Speaking to the BBC, she said the government is “changing an age-old assumption of what it means to be a refugee – moving from a permanent to temporary status”.
The new system will apply to adults and accompanied minors who enter the UK from today onwards, and will not be retrospectively applied. Only after 20 years will refugees have the right to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, said the move risked alienating Labour’s progressive flank in a bid to combat Reform. Migrant charity Women for Refugee Women labelled Mahmood’s decision “morally and ethically bankrupt.”
The Calais Food Collective said the new rules would force arrivals into the black market and make them vulnerable to exploitation.
“There’s been a reduction in the amount of asylum cases that have come to the UK in the past year, but an increase in irregular crossings,” said the charity’s Lachlan Macrae. “That means you have people crossing who then don’t claim asylum because they are fearful of the system that they’re going to be put into.”
“This won’t stop people crossing. It will only cause more insecurity and suffering,” he added.
Analysis by the Refugee Council suggests the Home Office will have to conduct between 1.7 and 1.9 million refugee status reviews in the first decade of implementing the rule change, costing up to £1.3 billion.
In November, Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon said Britain’s immigration system was “weighed down by repeated checks”.
“We know from our frontline services that stability is what allows people to heal, learn English, find work and become part of their communities,” he said. “If the government wants a system that supports contribution and integration, we must provide people with the security to get on with their lives.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/02/labour-scraps-right-to-permanent-asylum-for-refugees/