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Last Notes

2026-08-11 06:31:16 UTC

125: Is the Era of Conspicuous Consumption Nearly Over?
Have we finally had enough of hyper-consumerism? Moya and Ash confront the political crises that are changing our attitudes to spending, and what that’s got to do with the World Cup and cerulean sweaters. Plus: what to do when you’ve lost all motivation.
Read the [Vulture article][1] about lifestyle influencers mentioned in the show.
Get tickets for Ash at the [Southbank Centre][2] on 26 September.
Get tickets for [Heated: Carnival Afters][3] at Vespers on 30 August.
Send us your dilemmas: [email protected]
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://www.vulture.com/article/influencer-recession-audrey-peters-interview.html
[2]: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ash-sarkar-the-future-of-relationships/
[3]: https://ra.co/events/2454988
https://novaramedia.com/2026/08/11/125-is-the-era-of-conspicuous-consumption-nearly-over/

2026-08-07 18:32:22 UTC

Thetford Anti-Migrant Protests Drive Asylum Seekers From Their Homes
A third night of anti-migrant protests in Thetford, Norfolk has forced asylum seekers to flee their homes.
Plus: Controversial plans to build a data centre in Brick Lane have been approved, droughts are changing the face of England, and the Cambridge plagiarism scandal surrounding Jason Arday continues to dominate the headlines.
With Michael Walker, Banseka Kayembe & Adrienne Buller.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/08/07/thetford-anti-migrant-protests-drive-asylum-seekers-from-their-homes/

2026-07-24 18:49:44 UTC

Angela Rayner Rules Out Rent Controls
Angela Rayner has ruled out rent controls, citing Scotland’s scheme as her reason. We ask an expert if she’s right.
Plus: Europe is further engulfed in flame, Musk gifts further insights into his insanity to The Economist & Saudi Arabia have learned to stop worrying and love The Bomb.
With Michael Walker, Dalia Gebrial, Beth Stratford & Dave Ward.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/24/angela-rayner-rules-out-rent-controls/

2026-07-23 20:03:09 UTC

New Battlefront in Trump’s “Easily Won” War
Trump is “very disappointed” by Yemeni Houthis’ attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen.
Plus: Burnham’s first-week policy-blitz continues apace.
We talk to Julia Davies of Patriotic Millionaires about their latest headline-grabbing plea to pay more tax.
And finally, a prominent Zionist Democrat gets his clock cleaned by Krystal Ball on Breaking Points.
With NoJusticeMTG, Barry Malone & Julia Davies.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/23/new-battlefront-in-trumps-easily-won-war/

2026-07-23 15:23:32 UTC

Gary Lineker Joins 100+ Millionaires Asking Andy Burnham to Tax Them More
More than 100 UK-based millionaires including Gary Lineker, screenwriter Richard Curtis and city trader turned wealth tax campaigner Gary Stevenson are asking Andy Burnham to tax their wealth and “reinvest” it into Britain.
“We want you to tax us,” reads their letter, organised by Patriotic Millionaires UK and delivered on Thursday. “We’re not talking about higher taxes on those who get up and go to work for their income every day, but on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold.”
Polling from Patriotic Millionaires shows that 80% of UK millionaires support a 2% tax on wealth over £10m, which the group says would raise £24bn a year for Britain.
Patriotic Millionaires also advocates for reforms to capital gains tax, including equalising it with income tax, to raise an estimated £12bn annually.
Other signatories to the letter include musician Brian Eno, novelist Val McDermid and lawyer Julia Davies.
Lineker said: “Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and most want to.”
Burnham has not ruled out introducing a wealth tax, and has previously suggested he would consider an inheritance tax levy on estates to fund social care.
On his recent Channel 4 documentary ‘How To Get Filthy Rich’, Stevenson argued: “We are in a situation of high and rapidly growing inequality. And it is accelerating.
“This is what people don’t realise. I am not the person in this country advocating for redistribution. I am the person advocating for stopping the redistribution that is currently happening.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/23/gary-lineker-joins-100-millionaires-asking-andy-burnham-to-tax-them-more/

2026-07-22 20:14:57 UTC

Burnham Faces First BIG Dilemmas
We take a look at the new Prime Minister’s bulging inbox and weigh up his options.
Plus: Mamdani isn’t going to arrest Netenyahu on entering New York, but he isn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet either.
Finally, AI lies, cheats and steals its way through the internet, so why are mathematicians championing its latest test results?
With Michael Walker & Aaron Bastani.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/22/burnham-faces-first-big-dilemmas/

2026-07-22 16:33:14 UTC

Former Southern Water Boss Charged With Conspiracy to Defraud
Former Southern Water CEO Matthew Wright has been charged with conspiracy to defraud, as have three other former employees.
Wright and his co-defendants are alleged to have conspired to defraud the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat by cheating water quality tests between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017.
They are alleged to have manipulated a compliance testing regime known as Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM), which requires water companies to take samples at wastewater treatment centres and report the results to the EA.
The four are accused of conspiring to “defraud persons performing public duties in respect of environmental and financial regulation” using “the implementation of artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works”.
At the time, OSM rules said samples did not have to be provided if the discharge flow was insufficient to take one.
The EA last year requested a summons against Wright, along with Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory, but Wright tried to block the move at the High Court, where his lawyers argued the EA did not have the power to issue a summons.
That argument was dismissed on Wednesday, bringing an end to reporting restrictions on the case.
“We welcome this important judgment,” an EA spokesperson said, adding: “We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute those alleged to have committed serious offending against the environment.”
Conspiracy to defraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Wright’s lawyer said his client denies all wrongdoing and is cooperating fully with the EA’s investigation.
Privately-owned Southern Water has been accused of dozens of environmental offences between 2013 and 2017. A spokesperson for the firm said it is “a completely different company now than it was a decade ago”.
They added: “The charges relate to a historic set of failures… uncovered through an internal company investigation in 2017. As soon as they were identified, Southern Water reported them to regulators, including the Environment Agency.”
The company’s new leadership has “radically addressed our culture, governance and operations,” they said.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/22/former-southern-water-boss-charged-with-conspiracy-to-defraud/

2026-07-22 14:45:06 UTC

Burnham Lets Trump Use British Bases for Illegal War on Iran
Andy Burnham has granted US president Donald Trump permission to use British military bases as part of his illegal war on Iran.
The new prime minister made the call after being briefed on a high-level meeting about British policy on the war that happened before he took office, [Bloomberg reported][1].
It means the US military will be able to use Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire to conduct bombing runs. The US renewed its attacks on Iran on 8 July.
More than 3,468 people have been killed by US and Israeli attacks on Iran since 28 February, including more than 121 children and 26 teachers in a massacre by the US at a school in Minab.
After entering Number 10 on Monday, Burnham spoke to Trump on the phone. “The prime minister outlined the UK’s commitment to securing the movement of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” Burnham’s office said in a statement.
Like his predecessor, Starmer, Burnham’s office claims the UK’s bases will only be used for “defensive” strikes, despite the fact the US-led war has no basis in international law and is unprovoked.
Trump has made no secret of the fact the US is attacking civilian targets in Iran, including bridges, oil refineries and power plants. In April he warned Iran that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, raising fears that he was prepared to use nuclear weapons.
On Saturday the US[ bombed a water desalination plant][2] in Bunji, Hormozgan province, leaving an estimated 10,000 people without drinking water, according to a local official.
Your Party MP Zarah Sultana, a former Labour party politician, criticised Burnham for his early foreign policy choices in a post on X on Tuesday.
“Day two of Arms Sales Andy,” she wrote. “Still arming Israel. Still sharing intelligence. Still refusing to call the genocide in Gaza what it is. Now he’s allowing Donald Trump to use UK bases for illegal strikes on Iran. Different prime minister. Same imperialist genocidal foreign policy.”
Prominent anthropologist Jason Hickel wrote on X: “In one of his first acts as PM, Andy Burnham signs on to support the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran. Disgusting, cowardly stuff.”
[1]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/burnham-approves-use-of-uk-bases-for-some-us-strikes-on-iran
[2]: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/us-israel-iran-war/us-strike-on-water-desalination-plant-left-about-10-000-without-water-iranian-official/4002039
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/22/burnham-lets-trump-use-british-bases-for-illegal-war-on-iran/

2026-07-21 18:38:12 UTC

Burnham Unveils ‘Cost of Living’ Government
Andy Burnham has announced his final cabinet picks and we examine the new policy announcements he claims will ease financial pressures on working people.
Plus: Why Britain needs public ownership of water, and Trump’s tariff war ramps up against Canada.
With Aaron Bastani & Michael Walker.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/21/burnham-unveils-cost-of-living-government/

2026-07-21 12:30:47 UTC

Spanish PM Urged to Halt Extradition of Pro-Palestine Philanthropist to US
Numerous Spanish political parties have called on prime minister Pedro Sánchez to block an attempt by the US to extradite a wealthy pro-Palestine philanthropist.
James “Fergie” Chambers has been locked up since 10 July, when several cars of police officers swooped on him when he was driving with his wife on the island of Ibiza.
The Spanish court has 40 days to decide whether to grant the extradition request, which is based on a US claim that Chambers funded Hamas. Thirteen Spanish political organisations have sent a letter to ministers opposing the extradition and demanding the US provide proof of any criminality.
The [letter notes][1] that Spanish law allows the government to prevent extradition, “especially if there are well-founded reasons to believe that the request aims to persecute or punish an individual for their political opinions.”
Chambers, a US citizen, hails from one of America’s richest families, the owners of the Atlanta-cased Cox Communications. In 2023 he sold around $250m of stock back to his family and since then has funded around 100 projects in 20 countries worldwide, his wife Stella Schnabel told the Guardian.
He has funded free bakeries, healthcare and mental health support for orphaned children in Gaza. In 2023 he paid the legal fees of a group in the US that had taken direct action against Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms maker.
The extradition request has raised fears that president Donald Trump is extending his crackdown on leftwing activists beyond the borders of the US.
Last week, US secretary of state Marco Rubio [convened a conference][2] of 66 countries to discuss supposed leftwing terrorism, with Rubio calling leftists “an encroaching darkness” and “the enemies of civilisation”.
The US accuses Chambers of laundering $7.5m in Tunisia and using it to support Hamas. Schnabel said that money was used to purchase the popular Tunisian football club, Club Africain and pay off its debts. She said the indictment does not clearly state how he is supposed to have sent money to Hamas.
The case will prove a test of Sánchez’s government, which has taken a notably pro-Palestine and anti-Trump stance.
Irene Montero, an MEP with the leftwing Podemos party, wrote on X: “Spain can’t collaborate with Trump in the persecution of solidarity with Palestine: the government should protect [Chambers] and not surrender him to Netanyahu’s friends.”
[1]: https://orinocotribune.com/thirteen-spanish-parties-urge-government-to-halt-extradition-of-pro-palestine-donor-fergie-chambers/
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/16/political-violence-event-trump-marco-rubio
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/21/spanish-pm-urged-to-halt-extradition-of-pro-palestine-philanthropist-to-us/

2026-07-20 19:15:12 UTC

Andy Burnham Becomes Prime Minister
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham has pledged to build a new economy, end rough sleeping and tackle the cost of living crisis. Can he deliver?
Plus: We speak to IPPR North’s Mirte Boot about Burnham’s plan to devolve power away from Westminster.
And finally, what will be the new Prime Minister’s approach to dealing with a certain Donald J. Trump?
With Michael Walker, Ash Sarkar & Mirte Boot.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/20/andy-burnham-becomes-prime-minister/

2026-07-20 17:37:49 UTC

8 Things Andy Burnham Should Do in His First 100 Days As Prime Minister
Britain has a new prime minister – is real change coming? Andy Burnham’s arrival at Number 10 after running unopposed for the Labour leadership has sparked hope among some progressives that the party’s hard lurch to the right may be over.
Burnham has pledged to decentralise power away from Westminster, bring essential services under public control, end rough sleeping across the country and give people “breathing space” from the cost of living crisis.
But others are sceptical, noting his appointment of pro-Israel corporate lobbyist James Purnell as his chief of staff and his decision to vote for a package of rightwing, anti-migrant reforms that will make it easier to deport refugees. He is also reportedly considering opening up North Sea oil to new drilling.
Whether Burnham represents a genuine change, or just a more palatable version of Keir Starmer, he seems keen to distinguish himself from his predecessor with a slate of more progressive policies. Novara Media contributors weigh in on what Burnham should do right away.
### **Michael Walker, Novara Media contributing editor **
###
### ****
Hire some engineers
To explain why China can build high-speed rail connecting every mid-sized city while the US can’t manage a line between LA and San Francisco, the author Dan Wang points to the Chinese political class being made up of engineers while their American counterparts are made up of lawyers.
The critique applies equally to Britain, where the HS2 clusterfuck was largely a result of contractors running rings around civil servants and ministers who had no clue what they were paying for. Our new chancellor is a barrister. Our new PM studied English literature. To rebuild Britain, we’ll need people who actually know how to build things.
Declare war on the doom scroll
In his viral account of six years reporting on Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor, the Mill’s Joshi Herman was dismissive of his grasp of policy detail and sceptical that he had the killer instinct to be a good prime minister. But one thing he is good at, says Hermann, is providing moral and pastoral leadership.
If there is a cause crying out for a quasi-spiritual intervention on a national level, it’s our collective relationship to our phones. The rise of the smartphone has coincided with the [shrinking of third spaces][1], a [rise in anxiety][2], and even a [drop-off in the birthrate][3]. Burnham should fight Silicon Valley’s doom scroll with a commission to consider how to regulate social media companies, so they don’t steal our attention. This could include banning the infinite scroll, and even more radical policies like a “digital sabbath”.
### **Dalia Gebrial, Novara Live co-host **
###
### ****
Impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel
The genocide in Gaza is the greatest moral catastrophe of our time. Burnham may not be able to stop it, but as prime minister it is squarely within his power and responsibility to end Britain’s complicity. He could start by following Spain, which has prohibited the sale of all weapons, dual-use technology and military equipment to Israel.
This would be the right thing to do even if it wasn’t popular. But it is: 56% of British people support an arms embargo on Israel. Burnham admitted Starmer “got it wrong” on Gaza, but the reaction of multiple leaders to the genocide has shown us that words are cheap. So Burnham: show us what it looks like to get it right.
Bring in universal public childcare for under-fives
The UK childcare industry is, for want of a better word, the biggest scam going. The average UK parent spends 23% of their wage on childcare. In Germany, where childcare is part of public welfare, that figure is 1%. In our privatised system, we’re paying more and getting less. By almost every metric – from staff-to-child ratios to worker conditions – British children are getting a worse start in life.
That’s because money from extortionate childcare fees and state subsidies isn’t going to children and staff. It’s going to landlords, shareholders, directors and creditors with offshore accounts. Childcare is one of the most important investments a society can make in itself: it is the bedrock of a more equal society. That’s why it belongs in public ownership, not in private pockets.
### **Matt Kennard, independent investigative journalist **
###
### ****
Evict US forces and assets from British bases
Burnham has an instant decision to make about whether to continue allowing the US Air Force to use British bases – at RAF Fairford and on Diego Garcia – to strike Iran as Trump’s illegal attacks resume. He should refuse point blank – and then go further and remove US forces and assets from the 13 so-called “RAF” bases the Americans lease in Britain.
He should also evict the US military and spy agencies from UK overseas bases that have a permanent American presence, such as RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. This would send an instant message that Britain is no longer willing to participate in Washington’s international state terrorism, which is escalating under Trump.
Shut down the Israel lobby within the Labour party
Burnham has already tried to distance himself from Starmer’s pro-Israel and pro-genocide position on Gaza. But he needs to understand that he will only be able to make policy in this area freely if he dismantles the Israel lobby – which has taken control of Labour over the past three decades – from within the party.
That means, on day one, closing down Labour Friends of Israel, an organisation that was [exposed by Al Jazeera][4] as a front for the Israeli embassy in London. He should also call for an immediate end to the financing of Labour MPs by the Israel lobby or the Israeli state, meaning no more propaganda tours of Israel.
### **James Meadway, economist **
###
### ****
Levy the fossil fuel industry to tackle extreme heat
In the weeks between the Makerfield byelection and Burnham’s arrival at Downing Street, heatwaves in Britain killed at least 2,700 people. Burnham should announce an immediate national maximum working temperature, backed up by a massive programme of building retrofits and urban tree planting – a cheap and effective means to reduce heat – potentially funded by a novel Extreme Weather Levy on fossil fuel investments.
Cap food prices and rents to protect Brits from global shocks
Ahead of us are further shocks to global food supplies from El Niño and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. A surge in food prices will be best dealt with by temporary price controls and building up a strategic reserve of food supplies, both of which should already be in place. But to deliver an immediate easing of the cost-of-living crisis for millions, an emergency freeze on rents – as [the Spanish government has announced][5] – would be quick and effective.
[1]: https://unherd.com/2026/06/welcome-to-the-silent-society/
[2]: https://www.ft.com/content/0e2f6f8e-bb03-4fa7-8864-f48f576167d2?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[3]: https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310
[4]: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/1/12/israel-diplomat-forced-to-resign-after-aj-investigation
[5]: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/spain-to-temporarily-freeze-rents-due-to-middle-east-war-pm/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/20/8-things-andy-burnham-should-do-in-his-first-100-days-as-prime-minister/

2026-07-20 10:20:40 UTC

Mamdani Looking Into Arresting Netanyahu If He Visits New York
Zohran Mamdani’s team is exploring whether he can order the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York later this year.
Speaking to the New York Times, the mayor said there was “an active conversation” about whether his office has the authority to enforce a warrant issued by the international criminal court (ICC) in 2024.
Netanyahu is expected to travel to the city for the UN general assembly in September.
“I believe that prime minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague,” Mamdani said on an episode of the Times’s the Interview podcast on Saturday.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the international criminal court, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these past many years.”
He added: “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end.”
The ICC warrant, issued amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, describes Netanyahu as a co-conspirator in “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Mamdani said while campaigning to be mayor last year that he would arrest the prime minister if he visited New York. Yet his decision after taking office to retain police commissioner Jessica Tisch, who oversaw a crackdown on pro-Palestine students, led to doubts over whether he would follow through on that pledge.
Earlier in July, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir cancelled a planned trip to New York after rights groups filed a criminal complaint against him with the Department of Justice.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/20/mamdani-looking-into-arresting-netanyahu-if-he-visits-new-york/

2026-07-20 09:26:14 UTC

What Do the World Cup Final and Andy Burnham Have in Common?
[Andy Burnham looking down]
With the football done and dusted at least until the domestic season starts in about five minutes time, we have the small matter of the seventh new prime minister in a decade starting his new role in earnest today.
Spain emerged deserving winners after a tense game went to extra time, finally unlocking the Argentinian defence in the 106th minute when substitute Ferran Torres seized on a header back into the box and thumped the ball past Emi Martínez.
Football may not have been the winner after a forgettable match, but Argentina were certainly the losers, underscored by Leandro Paredes [who appeared to start a fight][1] with a Spain player after the final whistle.
The event was a victory for the creeping American-style injection of advertising opportunities and candy floss into every spare moment and orifice – and also into some moments [that were never spare][2] – at the expense of whatever sporting integrity remains.
Take half-time, which was lengthened especially to include a show which involved a smirking Ronaldo and Ronaldinho driving Madonna around in a Mad Max-style buggy and the Muppets and Coldplay covering The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army. It’s not exactly that it wasn’t entertaining, but by the time Ted Lasso was introducing Justin Bieber I had slightly forgotten about the quite important sport thingy I had tuned in for.
Perhaps even more bizarre was the pre-match ceremony, in which the World Cup trophy was presented in a special Louis Vuitton case before Tom Cruise gave a speech about how football unites nations as the Argentina players wondered when they could get their Malvinas banner out again and Donald Trump glowered on like Mr Burns.
After watching Fifa president Gianni Infantino palling around with Trump on the winners’ podium, it will be nice to return to the calm and incorruptible world of UK politics and the cosy familiarity of a new prime minister.
Today, Andy Burnham will give his first speech as PM, completing his bloodless coup. He’s expected to say that he must deliver “tangible” improvements and give people “more breathing room” on the cost of living. He’ll also be hoping for some breathing room of his own. Making a real impact before the next election will be a tough ask, leading some commentators to observe that his success may depend on [vibes more than results][3].
So far the vibes are mixed. On the one hand, he’s scrapping plans for mandatory digital ID cards – perhaps the most out-of-touch of Starmer’s policies – and the money will go towards helping with the cost of living. On the other hand, Shabana Mahmood looks likely to become chancellor ahead of Ed Miliband.
While Miliband is the soft-left choice, believed to have the vision to drive change, Mahmood “is very much on the right of the party. She was one of the biggest supporters of cutting welfare”, according to one MP quoted in the Independent, [which also reports][4] she was a major internal critic of Rachel Reeves for policies such as putting VAT on private schools.
Thames Water is set to be [put into “special administration”][5] in a signal that privatisers’ days of piss-taking might be drawing to a close. But before you allow yourself too much hope, Burnham is also expected to announce [new oil and gas drilling licences][6] in the North Sea, [drawing praise][7] from Trump.
What are we to make of this mixed picture? Perhaps there’s an analogy to be drawn with the football. After England had an epic choking fit against Argentina, a debate broke out: initially manager Thomas Tuchel copped all of the criticism for his substitutions. Then, the football punditry take-machine spat out a second line of argument, which was that Tuchel’s decisions handing Argentina the initiative were merely a symptom of a deeper malaise in the English game.
Is Burnham the master operator who will turn things around? Is it possible, as Times political commentator [Patrick Maguire has argued][8], that the missing ingredient for the UK’s last few PMs has been leadership? And does it follow therefore that Burnham could do some good were he to actually lead? Or was the ideological void that was the Starmer project a mere symptom of a political party and system of which Burnham is surely a part – one that is denuded of ideas and the will to make change at a systemic level?
Today Burnham will try to articulate a coherent vision to the country. Is this a new dawn, or Starmerism 2.0? We’re about to find out.
[1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/videos/cr49l35g0xqo
[2]: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-final-half-time-how-long-b3017762.html
[3]: https://www.ft.com/content/358ca4aa-3ee9-4f03-a6e1-cdc6d4f0bdd3?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[4]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/shabana-mahmood-tax-welfare-andy-burnham-chancellor-b3017457.html
[5]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx278ed09nzo
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/18/burnham-expected-to-reverse-ban-on-new-oil-and-gas-drilling
[7]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/trump-oil-burnham-labour-north-sea-b3017717.html
[8]: https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/on-politics-the-andy-burnham-show
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/20/what-do-the-world-cup-final-and-andy-burnham-have-in-common/

2026-07-19 14:06:49 UTC

You Will Rent Forever. Here’s Why.
We live in times of crisis. But perhaps none of the crises affect so many people in the here and now, as the housing crisis. Solving it could provide the skeleton key to unlocking so many of society’s problems. Despite this, decades of successive governments in the UK have failed to bring housing under control. The social contract which told us that if we worked hard all our lives, we can own a home and be secure in retirement, has been completely broken.
To discuss the crisis in Britain and beyond, Aaron Bastani sat down with Peter Apps. He is an award-winning journalist who knows the field of housing – its failures and its potential fixes – better than almost anyone. He wrote an article about the threat of flammable cladding a month before Grenfell caught fire.
How has housing policy shaped Britian in the last 50 years? Who did more to damage the housing system, Labour or the Tories? Is more housing supply always the solution? And why is no one talking about the crisis facing our ageing population, one million of whom will be in housing insecurity and poverty by 2030?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/19/you-will-rent-forever-heres-why/

2026-07-17 19:06:14 UTC

Andy Burnham Accepts Labour Leadership
Andy Burnham gives his first speech as leader of the Labour Party ahead of moving into Number 10 on Monday. Is Farage already on the run?
Plus: The US is ramping up its attacks on Iran’s infrastructure. A risky strategy ahead of the midterms?
Finally, Infantino unveils a new Superbowl-style FIFA World Cup winners ring. Is there anything he won’t hawk?
With Aaron Bastani & Paul Holden.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/17/andy-burnham-accepts-labour-leadership/

2026-07-17 15:42:12 UTC

Muslim School in Birmingham Targeted With Bomb Threat Email
Hundreds of children were evacuated from a Muslim-ethos school on the last day of term after the school received a bomb threat.
Hamd House School in Birmingham was swept by police and sniffer dogs on Tuesday after the school received a threatening email, Birmingham Live reported.
Police gave the all clear but a harassment investigation is ongoing.
“School was full and pupils were celebrating the last day before summer, we were giving out awards,” proprietor Israr Khan said, adding that the evacuation was “hugely disrupting”.
He also said that the school – which caters to 450 children aged 11-16 and is rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted – has been targeted in a number of incidents.
Users on social media commented that despite eliciting a major police response, the story has not been picked up by the mainstream media.
MEND, a non-profit tackling Islamophobia, wrote on X: “Ask yourself what the reaction would be if 450 children at any other school were threatened this way. The quiet tells you something about whose safety is treated as a story and whose is treated as background noise.
“West Midlands Police logged it as ‘harassment’,” they added. “It should be investigated as a hate crime targeting Muslim children, especially as there had been other recent incidents against staff and the school.”
West Midlands police said: “Officers attended and were satisfied there wasn’t a credible threat. The bomb hoax and a related offence of harassment are now both being investigated by officers.”
Hate crimes against Muslims are at a [record high][1] across the UK and represent almost half of all religious hate crimes recorded. Between March 2024 and March 2025, there were [4,478 hate crimes directed against Muslims][2], up a fifth from the year before.
[1]: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/a-definition-of-anti-muslim-hostility
[2]: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/a-definition-of-anti-muslim-hostility
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/17/muslim-school-in-birmingham-targeted-with-bomb-threat-email/

2026-07-17 12:12:16 UTC

US Attack Forces Evacuation of Children’s Cancer Hospital in Iran
A US strike landed next to a children’s cancer hospital in Iran on Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of patients and eliciting comparisons to February’s deadly attack on a primary school in Minab.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X that the attack near Shahid Baqaei Hospital in Ahvaz forced 211 patients “undergoing chemotherapy” to evacuate.
“This constitutes a cowardly war crime against the most innocent of human beings, children who are bravely fighting for their lives,” he said.
“Those who ceaselessly preach human rights, yet deliberately turn a blind eye to the targeting of hospitals and health centres, have forfeited every shred of moral credibility.”
The US has not commented on Baghaei’s allegation.
Hospital staff said that some of the evacuees were reliant on oxygen and ventilators. The “intense” blast was so close that they thought the hospital had been hit, they said.
“Some people had children in their arms, some had IVs in their hands, and some were in wheelchairs,” one member of staff told Al Jazeera.
Iranian officials report that 17 hospitals have been severely damaged since the start of the US and Israel’s illegal war on 28 February, and during a previous conflict with Israel in June 2025.
US president Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants, we’re going to knock out all their bridges, unless they get to the table and negotiate,” he said. Targeting civilian infrastructure is illegal under international law.
“This hospital was designed for children with cancer, so an attack in the vicinity of this hospital is reminding Iranians of the bitter memory of the Minab primary school,” said Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, referring to a US strike on the first day of the war that killed at least 168 children.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/17/us-attack-forces-evacuation-of-childrens-cancer-hospital-in-iran/

2026-07-17 10:33:47 UTC

If Andy Burnham Ignores the Climate, He’ll Do So at His Peril
Keir Starmer will pack up his desk and exit Downing Street on Monday, without even the sweetener of [watching England in a World Cup final][1]. In the last few weeks of his term, the PM effectively stuck a video on for the class. He went off to Paris, ostensibly for a meeting of Ukraine’s allies, and was awarded the *Légion d’honneur *by president Emmanuel Macron. The message being sent to Westminster was a simple one: you oiks may not appreciate me at home, but I’m a titan on the global stage.
[As Duncan Robinson puts it][2] in The Economist, “foreign policy is the last refuge of an unsuccessful prime minister”. The MP for Holborn and St Pancras always seemed to be jetting off to gurn sombrely behind a lectern precisely when he needed to assert his domestic agenda. And despite foreign policy appearing to be his happy place, Starmer often seemed outboxed (Donald Trump) and outfoxed (Emmanuel Macron). Picking up France’s most prestigious bauble is something of a consolation prize for the departing PM.
So far, Andy Burnham has been tight-lipped about his cabinet picks. From the moment that the Makerfield result was announced, a briefing war has raged about who will take on the job of chancellor of the exchequer once Rachel Reeves is knocked down to a junior brief. If lobby hacks are correct, the three names in contention are Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood, with Miliband possibly already having been [excluded from the running][3].
The attacks on Miliband from the right were predictable. ‘Red’ Ed, so went the argument, would spook the markets by signalling [a move away from fiscal restraint][4]. He’d alienate voters outside of London with his liberal-lefty agenda. He looks weird eating a bacon sandwich, etc etc. But perhaps more significant than the usual scaremongering from the right was the response from the unions.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, was vociferous in her opposition to Miliband as chancellor. She castigated him as “[a noose around the neck][5]” of job creation. His support for net-zero, and opposition to North Sea oil and gas licences, was the main bone of contention. Graham claimed Miliband was “completely deaf” to what would replace existing jobs in the fossil fuel industry, and seemed to suggest he was “not pro-worker in [his] gut”.
“A lot of the left has now become a middle class project,” said Graham. “It now needs to work for the working class.”
Beyond the irony of a trade union leader helping squash the prospect of the most leftwing chancellor since the 1970s taking office, there are reasons to be sceptical of Graham’s arguments. [More than 2,700 people died][6] in England and Wales from heat-related causes during the recent record hot spells; more than one million workers [depend on the UK’s net zero economy][7]. It’s increasingly difficult to paint pro-climate policies as being anti-worker, particularly as the need for adaptation as well as mitigation grows more urgent.
The looming prospect of Andy Burnham illustrates a split on the British left: oily social democracy vs green socialism. The big dogs of the trade union movement – Unite and GMB – are fierce advocates for the former, and are content with Blue Labour conservatism as long as it comes along with a hefty portion of oil and gas. But this doesn’t come without costs, of the political kind as well as catastrophic global heating.
Since Makerfield, Zack Polanski’s Greens (at least in terms of national politics) have been in a position of cagily watching and waiting. Burnham’s rhetorical departures from Starmer on economic policy, and even something of [a soft shift on Gaza][8] last week, have threatened to put the squeeze on progressive voters. Should Burnham, in office, back up the comms with actual policy, a modicum of a leftwards shift combined with the threat of Reform might well tempt 2024 Labour voters back to the fold. Opposing Burnhamism on the grounds of being too anti-migrant, and insufficiently tough on Israel, is far from a majoritarian project capable of recomposing British politics.
But green socialism is bigger than any one single issue. The consequences of climate collapse are increasingly visible and intrusive: their economic impacts, on the cost of living and infrastructure, are becoming more and more severe. The space for populist, pro-climate politics will only get bigger – and if Andy Burnham doesn’t occupy it, Zack Polanski certainly will.
[1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-world-cup-final-andy-burnham-b3014190.html
[2]: https://www.economist.com/britain/2026/07/16/sir-keirs-bucket-list
[3]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/andy-burnham-cabinet-rumours-ed-miliband-shabana-mahmood-llpb56bk2
[4]: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/sterling-hovers-around-two-month-high-fiscal-concerns-ease-2026-07-16
[5]: https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/miliband-as-chancellor-would-be-noose-around-neck-of-job-creation-says-biggest-union
[6]: https://news.sky.com/story/more-than-2-700-deaths-linked-to-may-and-june-heatwaves-study-suggests-13562274
[7]: https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/ver-a-million-workers-now-depend-on-the-uks-net-zero-economy-report
[8]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/09/andy-burnham-labour-didnt-get-it-right-stance-gaza-war
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/17/if-andy-burnham-ignores-the-climate-hell-do-so-at-his-peril/

2026-07-16 19:17:10 UTC

Britain Is Burning
Multiple wildfires continue to burn across Britain, as the Met Office warns that extreme UK weather is becoming “the new normal”.
Plus: Starmer marks his last day as Labour leader, Gary Lineker takes Andy Burnham to task on Gaza, and right-wingers are losing it over Argentina’s World Cup performance.
With NoJusticeMTG, Dalia Gebrial & Joanne Trafford.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/16/britain-is-burning/

2026-07-16 16:49:15 UTC

Universities That Targeted Pro-Gaza Students Deepen Links to Arms Trade
UK universities that aggressively targeted students and staff for showing support for Palestine have signed up to a new alliance with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
35 institutions have joined the [Defence Universities Alliance][1], an initiative which is part of a £182m investment package and which hopes [to “boost defence industry skills across the UK” and “support vital research into new defence technologies”][2].
Founding members will “strengthen connections between academia and the defence sector”, the government said, “helping to support a pipeline of skilled graduates into exciting careers, including cyber security, robotics, AI, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing”.
These members include King’s College London (KCL) and University College London (UCL), which combined have opened at least 50 disciplinary cases against staff and students who took part in pro-Palestine protest activity from October 2023 through to November 2025, according to [a joint investigation][3] by Al Jazeera and Liberty Investigates.
13 of the 26 people investigated by KCL were involved in the encampment protest at the university that started in May 2025. One student told Al Jazeera and Liberty Investigates that she was banned from campus after posting in a pro-Gaza WhatsApp group that she felt “sick” after finding out one of her lecturers had spent four years in the Israeli army.
A spokesperson for KCL told Al Jazeera and Liberty Investigates the university has a duty to investigate all complaints it receives “and we do this thoroughly and fairly”.
KCL is one of many UK universities to already have deep ties with the MoD and the defence industry, and participates in [Hack 4 MoD][4], a university module that lets postgraduate students tackle live defence and security problems.
The British arms manufacturer BAE Systems also has extensive links with UK universities, including active [strategic partnerships][5] with Manchester, Strathclyde, Cranfield, Nottingham, and Southampton. All these institutions bar Southampton are members of DUA.
[BAE manufactures vital components][6] of F35 fighter jets, which are used extensively by [Israel’s military][7] to kill civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
“The Defence Universities Alliance represents a dangerous escalation in the militarisation of education,” a spokesperson for Campaign Against the Arms Trade told Novara Media.
[1]: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-skills-and-research-as-35-universities-across-the-uk-partner-in-new-defence-alliance
[2]: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-skills-and-research-as-35-universities-across-the-uk-partner-in-new-defence-alliance
[3]: https://libertyinvestigates.org.uk/articles/inside-kings-college-londons-crackdown-on-pro-palestine-students/
[4]: https://www.commonmission.uk/our-programmes
[5]: https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/uk-businesses/air/university-partnerships
[6]: https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/f-35-lightning-ii
[7]: https://caat.org.uk/data/countries/israel/mapped-all-the-uk-companies-manufacturing-components-for-israels-f35-combat-aircraft/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/16/universities-that-targeted-pro-gaza-students-deepen-links-to-arms-trade/

2026-07-16 15:02:52 UTC

An Israeli Property Fair Is Still Advertising Illegal West Bank Homes to Brits
[a line of police in front of pro-Palestine demonstrators]
An Israeli property roadshow is still advertising homes in illegal West Bank settlements to prospective buyers in the UK – even after London mayor Sadiq Khan [raised the matter ][1]with the Metropolitan police, the Home Office and the Foreign Office.
Organisers of the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event’ [apologised last month][2] after it was revealed that brochures handed out at the event in London promoted properties on illegal settlements.
The event’s organisers claimed West Bank settlements had been included “by mistake”. But organisers have since contacted mailing list subscribers with an email promoting the sale of more West Bank homes on behalf of Israeli real estate company Harey Zahav.
The 2 July email, seen by Novara Media, offers “affordable private houses in Anglo communities”. It advertises “20+ projects in prime locations, close to the centre of the country and to Jerusalem”. It says all projects are located in “Judea and Samaria”, the name the Israeli government gives to the West Bank.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are built in occupied Palestinian territory and considered illegal under international law.
The event organisers held a property fair in London last month that was [widely condemned by MPs][3] and [rights advocates][4], and met with protests.
A member of activist group Jewish Anti-Zionist Action, who wished to remain anonymous due to risk of reprisals, told Novara Media: “Receiving an email using the words ‘Judea and Samaria’ just solidified what I already knew about the insidious, criminal, racist intentions and beliefs of those who organised the event and those that work for Harey Zahav and the other real estate groups.
“It’s a blatant denial of Palestinian rights through the assertion that the West Bank belongs to the Jewish people. It’s really horrible to see the facilitation of ethnic cleansing through an email attachment.”
Harey Zahav’s website includes [a blog post][5] about how the company “celebrated an exciting milestone” at the launch of new settlement Kfar Eldad in the occupied West Bank last month.
Kfar Eldad is one of the illegal settlements promoted at the Great Israeli Real Estate Event on Sunday 14 June.
Properties for sale in Ma’Ale Adumim, Givat Zeev and Teneh Omarin in the West Bank and Ramat Eshkol, Givat HaMatos and French Hill in East Jerusalem were also advertised via marketing materials at the event, [Sky News revealed][6]. All of the settlements are considered illegal under international law.
This was despite organisers strongly denying the event would feature land for sale in the West Bank, calling such [allegations “ridiculous”][7] and telling journalists prior to the event that all exhibitors [“without exception” ][8]would only provide information about properties for sale within the green line – the internationally recognised border between Israel and Palestine.
In response to a request for comment about the recent marketing email, mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s spokesperson told Novara Media: “The mayor is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unjustifiable and illegal under international law and that no businesses should be engaging in their trade or marketing in London or anywhere in the UK.
“Individual investigations are a matter for the Met and any allegations of criminality will be assessed by the police in line with usual processes.”
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians has [submitted formal complaints][9] to both the UK’s Charity Commission and the Met over the event’s links to illegal Israeli settlements.
Novara Media attempted to make contact with the Great Israeli Real Estate Event via its mailing list email address, 2026 event website and WhatsApp channel. Novara Media also contacted the event’s sponsor Home In Israel, and promoter IMP International. Harey Zahav declined to comment.
The Metropolitan police has been approached for comment.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory (not including occupied East Jerusalem). The International Court of Justice’s [July 2024 advisory opinion][10] states that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and West Bank settlements are illegal and must cease.
Settler violence in the occupied West Bank has exploded since October 2023, where [more than 1,000 Palestinians][11] – nearly a quarter of them children – have been killed.
Settlers have invaded Palestinian communities, fired live ammunition, burned homes and cars and attacked families – largely with impunity – [according to Human Rights Watch][12].
[1]: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/sadiq-khan-great-israeli-real-estate-event-london-palestine-b1285897.html
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/17/real-estate-event-london-illegal-israeli-settlements-land-west-bank
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/13/uk-london-real-estate-west-bank-israel-settlements
[4]: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/uk-amnesty-condemns-great-israeli-real-estate-event-promoting-illegal-settlement-property-sales-in-london/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=grant&utm_campaign=BRD_AWA_GEN_dynamic-search-ads&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1717255123&gbraid=0AAAAADvZPbL7FpW6pdrmZURYyl2mcuMK9&gclid=CjwKCAjwvNfSBhBiEiwAyaGMCQnN8vdaKjZddV4SoOquoNv9tQAUokU2-5RuZnQox3inUBTftk8LWBoCT48QAvD_BwE
[5]: https://www.hzahav.co.il/en/news/our-communities/the-new-neighborhood-in-kfar-eldad-has-officially-launched/
[6]: https://news.sky.com/story/homes-in-illegal-israeli-settlements-promoted-at-london-property-show-that-sparked-protests-13554407
[7]: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/17/real-estate-event-london-illegal-israeli-settlements-land-west-bank
[8]: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/foreign-secretary-warns-businesses-and-charities-ahead-of-israeli-real-estate-event-advertising-settlement-land/
[9]: https://www.newarab.com/news/complaints-filed-against-uk-synagogue-israel-property-event
[10]: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/186
[11]: https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-west-bank-over-1000-palestinians-killed
[12]: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/13/in-the-shadow-of-war-settler-violence-against-palestinians-intensifies
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/16/an-israeli-property-fair-is-still-advertising-illegal-west-bank-homes-to-brits/

2026-07-16 12:02:30 UTC

British Troops Dropped Prisoners From Forklift ‘For Fun’, Afghanistan Inquiry Hears
British soldiers dropped Afghan prisoners from a forklift “for fun”, an inquiry has heard.
The Afghanistan inquiry is investigating alleged war crimes by UK special forces from 2010 to 2013 – as well as claims of a cover-up.
Whistleblowers Monica Grenfell and Christopher Green decided to give evidence after a request for witnesses to come forward was made by inquiry chairman Lord Justice Haddon-Cave.
Grenfell, who worked as a mess hand, or kitchen worker, with the SAS at that time, said she had met a soldier who told her about prisoners being abused.
“I specifically recall him telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off,” she said.
Green, who served in Afghanistan between January and September 2012, told the inquiry he was dismissed as a “Taliban-loving apologist” after raising concerns about the killing of three Afghan farmers by the SAS.
He said his own unit’s intelligence team believed there was “nothing to suggest” the men were Taliban commanders. Still an SAS representative insisted they were and that the men had drawn weapons when engaged. Green asked to see footage of the SAS raid to fact check this, but was denied.
The mother of the three farmers was then paid the equivalent of £3,634 in cash by the UK government, money that was described as an “assistance payment”, the inquiry heard.
Both Grenfell and Green described a disturbing culture in the SAS.
“[I have] never been anywhere that was as bad as there,” Grenfell said. “You felt no one was really watching them, and the language was just… I’ve never known language like it,” she added.
Green, who served as a captain in the Grenadier guards and has since retired from the army, said that SAS soldiers were allowed alcohol, when this was banned for everyone else, and that members of special forces did not have to abide by normal rules around dress and respecting ranking officers.
“This may seem like a small thing, but actually it sets a culture of exceptionalism – and it is that culture of exceptionalism that led to, I believe, a sense among special forces that the normal rules did not apply to them, and therefore they were out of control,” he said.
The Ministry of Defence has said it will wait for the inquiry to finish before commenting fully.
A spokesperson told [the Times][1]: “The government is fully committed to supporting the independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan as it continues its work, and we are hugely grateful to all former and current defence employees who have so far given evidence.
“We also remain committed to providing the support that our special forces deserve, while maintaining the transparency and accountability that the British people rightly expect from their armed forces.”
[1]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/afghanistan-inquiry-sas-farmer-deaths-taliban-cxmwn77km
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/16/british-troops-dropped-prisoners-from-forklift-for-fun-afghanistan-inquiry-hears/

2026-07-15 22:02:10 UTC

Colombia’s Outgoing President Says Israeli Firm Meddled in Election
Colombia’s outgoing president, Gustavo Petro, has accused an Israeli cyber intelligence company of meddling in the country’s recent election, in which a far-right, pro-Israel candidate beat his leftwing rival by a margin of less than 1%.
The firm, BlackCore, allegedly waged a disinformation campaign against both Petro and his ally Ivan Cepeda, who was running for the presidency against the US and Israel’s preferred candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella.
“BlackCore, the Israeli company, deployed 500,000 bots – fake profiles – to manipulate the Colombian electorate with millions of lies about Ivan and me,” Petro wrote on X last week.
De la Espriella secured 49.66% of the vote in a run-off election on 21 June, narrowly beating Cepeda’s 48.7%. At the time, Petro alleged that foreign actors had accessed the website of Colombia’s National Registry and manipulated polling data.
“The only entity in the world capable of doing that is the state of Israel,” he said. Colombia’s attorney general Gregorio Eljach dismissed the allegations and said there was “no evidence of fraud”.
Petro is among Israel’s fiercest critics on the world stage. In 2024 he broke diplomatic ties with the country “for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal”.
French authorities last month [accused BlackCore of interfering in elections][1] in Scotland, New York, France, Angola and Togo.
Viginum, France’s disinformation watchdog, said the firm had coordinated hundreds of accounts to post negative comments about Scottish first minister John Swinney in the run-up to the Scottish parliament elections in May.
Swinney is one of the few UK politicians to have described Israel’s mass killings in Gaza as a genocide.
De la Espriella, who is set to take office on 7 August, is a millionaire and criminal defence lawyer who holds US citizenship and was endorsed by president Donald Trump. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated de la Espriella on his victory last month.
“Israel’s friends continue to win,” he wrote on X.
Novara Media was unable to reach BlackCore for comment; the firm deleted its online presence after being contacted by Reuters in June.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/16/israeli-cyber-firm-meddled-in-scotland-and-new-york-elections/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/15/colombias-outgoing-president-says-israeli-firm-meddled-in-election/

2026-07-15 22:02:04 UTC

Green-Led London Council Plans to Block ‘ICE-Style Immigration Raids’
Green party-led Lewisham council is planning to ban cooperation with the Home Office on ‘ICE-style’ immigration raids.
Councillors will vote next Wednesday on a motion to conduct a review “with the explicit aim of refusing to assist immigration enforcement wherever legally possible”, the party said in a statement.
The review would examine data-sharing and service agreements to ensure there is a “firewall” between council services and immigration enforcement. It will also look at any contracts the council has with groups helping to facilitate raids.
The homelessness charity St Mungo’s may be included in the review after it was found to have shared information with the Home Office about migrant rough sleepers in 2019, the Guardian reported.
The motion would also commit the council to supporting the Lewisham Anti-Raids network “by helping migrant businesses and people targeted by raids understand their legal rights… and ultimately prevent and resist raids,” the Green party said.
“ICE-style immigration raids tear people away from their families, their neighbours and their communities and have no place in a decent society,” Green party leader Zack Polanski said.
“I’m proud of brave, compassionate Green councils in London working to create a corridor of sanctuary where nobody, no matter where they’re from or what papers they have, has to live in fear of being snatched away from the place they call home.”
Lewisham declared itself a “borough of sanctuary” in 2021, but figures obtained by Lewisham Anti-Raids showed the Home Office carried out 177 raids there last year.
After Labour lost control of the council to the Greens in May, officials uncovered a 2023 email in which an immigration enforcement official asked the council for help “carrying out joint operational visits”.
The Labour government has bragged about increasing immigration raids on businesses by 77%, with an 83% increase in arrests.
“We are doing everything in our power to protect our diverse communities from Labour’s anti-migrant onslaught,” said Lewisham mayor Liam Shrivastava.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/15/green-led-london-council-plans-to-block-ice-style-immigration-raids/

2026-07-15 22:01:59 UTC

Meta Used AI to Target Disabled and Pregnant Workers for Layoffs, Lawsuit Claims
Dozens of workers are suing Meta over claims it used AI to identify workers for mass layoffs, with those taking disability or maternity leave disproportionately targeted.
The lawsuit, filed in California on Monday on behalf of 26 employees, alleges that a “constellation of internal artificial intelligence systems” was used to sack people by looking at their keystroke and activity monitoring data.
“Meta did not assemble the termination list through the considered judgment of managers who knew the work,” it reads.
The lawsuit points to the company’s recent layoff of 8,000 workers, and alleges that Meta used AI to assess workers’ productivity but did not take into account time off for medical reasons or because they were due to give birth.
“The result was that employees who took protected leaves were disproportionately selected for layoff, based on scoring that not only failed to account for their protected leaves, but in effect penalised the employees for exercising their legal rights to these leaves,” the complaint said.
One of the plaintiffs was told she was being laid off just two days before she gave birth, despite the fact she had been approved for pre-birth pregnancy leave. Another is an engineer who received a “lowered rating” because he took time off for an injury.
A Meta spokesperson told the Guardian the claims in the lawsuit “lack merit and are not based on fact,” adding that “workforce management and organisational decisions were and are made by people, not AI”.
Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, introduced an AI employee-monitoring program this year to capture keystrokes, mouse activity, browser history, messages, emails and location data on company devices.
“The AI models learn from watching really smart people do things,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg[ reportedly said][1] in an internal meeting.
[1]: https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-zuckerberg-tells-meta-employees-tracking-smart
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/15/meta-used-ai-to-target-disabled-and-pregnant-workers-for-layoffs-lawsuit-claims/

2026-07-15 22:01:54 UTC

Shabana Mahmood Set to Be Chancellor
Burnham has appeared to rule out Ed Miliband as chancellor, seen by many as the progressive choice – what does it mean for his impending premiership?
Plus: It’s England vs Argentina, on and off the field!
We dissect Aaron’s recent viral appearance on The Telegraph with the man himself.
Finally, a victim of the forced adoption scandal tells us of the “genetic bewilderment” she and many like her have endured for decades.
With Michael Walker & Aaron Bastani.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/15/shabana-mahmood-set-to-be-chancellor/

2026-07-12 07:36:16 UTC

What Does Self-Knowledge Look Like? Reading Marcus Aurelius
The Meditations of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are perhaps the best-selling self-help book of all time. Rooted in the rational philosophy of the Stoics, the 12 books offer a stream of personal musings on everything from cultivating self-discipline to being a successful leader.
Following their [episode on Resilience][1], Nadia, Keir and Jem offer a weird-left perspective on the Meditations, looking at their influence on western thought and current popularity among tech bros and the alt-right.
Translations abound, but the George Long translation is freely available [from MIT][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.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/28/are-you-resilient-enough-to-face-the-future/
[2]: https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
[3]: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wv61PS6qItwCBUluNcSFx
[4]: http://novara.media/ACFMnewsletter
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/12/what-does-self-knowledge-look-like-reading-marcus-aurelius/

2026-07-11 10:00:43 UTC

The True Cost of AI Girlfriends
AI boyfriends and girlfriends are all the rage – for some. For others, they just inspire rage.
So what’s the truth about these seductive machines? Do they open up our erotic potential, or are they just an absurd fantasy? And how are they even made?
James Muldoon is the author of _Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Our Relationships_and co-author of _Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI_.
Put these two books together, and his work takes us along the strange journey of AI from deeply exploited workers in the slums of East Africa to the cores of our deepest desires.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/10/the-true-cost-of-ai-girlfriends/

2026-07-10 16:01:23 UTC

Ecosystem Collapse Threatens UK National Security, Spy Chiefs Warn
Britain faces a national security crisis within just a few years due to the impending collapse of global ecosystems, spy chiefs have warned, but the government is refusing to publish their report in full.
A redacted 14-page document warns of severe food shortages, which could begin within five years, along with price rises, political destabilisation and the possible outbreak of war as countries compete for dwindling resources.
Crop failures, disease outbreaks and intensifying natural disasters could cause “geopolitical instability, economic insecurity, conflict, migration and increased inter-state competition for resources”, it said.
The joint intelligence committee, which oversees M15 and MI6, was responsible for the report, the Guardian reported. Members of parliament are demanding it be published in full.
At at a hearing for the environmental audit committee on Wednesday, Mary Creagh, an environment minister, told MPs the redacted report should provide enough information. The redacted contents were obtained through repeated freedom of information requests in January.
Labour MP Chris Hinchliff suggested at the hearing that action on the climate emergency was not given the same urgency as increasing the budget for military spending.
“The government can summon billions of pounds for new military hardware when the defence sector calls for it,” he said. “We need an equally decisive mobilisation of investment to restore the natural world on which we rely for our food, water and clean air. Without these essentials our country has no future.”
He added: “Every critical ecosystem across our planet is on a pathway to collapse with an irreversible loss of function, and this poses huge threats to our national security. This looming crisis demands urgent action.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/10/ecosystem-collapse-threatens-uk-national-security-spy-chiefs-warn/

2026-07-10 12:12:02 UTC

Naomi Klein on Heatwaves, China, and the Danger of Technofixes
Michael Walker sits down with Naomi Klein for a discussion on the climate crisis, fascism and more.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/10/naomi-klein-on-heatwaves-china-and-the-danger-of-technofixes/

2026-07-10 09:36:51 UTC

Ireland to Ban Imports From Israeli Settlements
The Irish parliament approved legislation on Tuesday to ban the import of Israeli goods from the occupied Palestinian territories.
If enacted, Irish businesses will no longer be able to legally import goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with custom officers given powers to stop and seize restricted goods at the border. However, businesses will still be able to import goods produced within Israel’s internationally recognised borders.
The Israeli settlements bill will now move from the Dáil (lower house) to the Seanad (upper house) for debate next week, where it is expected to be formally approved.
Ireland has long been a critic of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, and was among the first countries to call for a trade ban.
The new bill intended to ensure the country complies with a July 2024 advisory issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which said nation states had an “obligation … to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and to “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel”.
However, critics of the bill say it does not go far enough. People Before Profit–Solidarity politician Paul Murphy accused the centre-right coalition government of doing everything to “absolutely gut” the legislation. Speaking during the debate, he said: “The occupied territories bill, which everyone understood to mean goods and services, is now being gutted to remove the majority of trade. We know that on average, 70% of trade is in services rather than goods and that 70% is now being removed.”
As it stands, the bill would have limited material impact, with trading between Ireland and the territories worth less than 1m euros between 2020 and 2024.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is expected to table its own proposals for restricted trade with Israeli settlements, ahead of a gathering of EU foreign ministers on Monday. Diplomats told Euronews that the move comes in response to pressure from member-states for a bloc-wide response.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/10/ireland-to-ban-imports-from-israeli-settlements/

2026-07-09 16:06:46 UTC

Europe’s Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C
Unions across Europe are calling on governments to introduce legislation to safeguard workers from rising temperatures, after western Europe recorded its hottest June on record.
Three of Europe’s largest trade unions, representing 12.6m people in 40 countries, have urged the European Commission to include heat-protection measures for workers in a new law.
The unions want to see maximum working temperatures based on recognised scientific metrics.
Under the proposals, employers within the European Union would be legally required to suspend work if temperatures exceeded 30C for more demanding jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction, and 32.5C for low-intensity jobs, or face sanctions.
Across the continent, as many as 130 million workers are exposed to workplace heat stress annually, resulting in an estimated 277,000 injuries and 230 deaths, according to research by the European Trade Union Institute.
Currently, rules vary within Europe, with some countries leaving it down to employers to relax worker requirements during periods of increased heat.
“Extreme weather is now a workplace reality across Europe… Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, but workers are still being sent into increasingly extreme weather conditions without clear and enforceable protections,” said European Federation of Building and Woodworkers secretary general Tom Deleu.
In May, coinciding with Britain’s first heatwave, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) reiterated its calls to introduce maximum working temperatures in the UK, too. While there is a minimum legal temperature of 16C, there is no maximum temperature equivalent. The union said employers should take steps to cool down workplaces once temperatures exceed 24C, with workers able to stop working if temperatures reach 30C, or 27C for those doing manual labour or working outdoors. A TUC-led petition for maximum workplace temperatures has passed 64,000 signatures.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “With heatwaves becoming more common, we need to adapt. We need new laws on maximum working temperatures, improvements to workplaces to keep them cool, and climate action to reduce global heating.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/09/europes-largest-unions-demand-right-to-cancel-work-on-days-above-30c/

2026-07-09 16:06:41 UTC

Trump Just Can’t Quit Iran
The US and Iran are back to tit-for-tat strikes as both countries vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Plus: We speak to the Greens candidate Geraldine Coggins, who is hoping to fill Andy Burnham’s shoes in the Manchester mayoral race, and Robert Jenrick has found himself in hot water over his finances.
With NoJusticeMTG & Dalia Gebrial.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/09/trump-just-cant-quit-iran/

2026-07-09 11:43:07 UTC

Israel Spent £50k on Lobbying Trips for Reform
Israel spent £50k flying members of Reform UK out for tours designed to win their political support and whitewash the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Declassified UK has reported.
With the far-right party still top of opinion polls and in the running to form the next government, Israel appears to have made a significant effort to court Reform members.
Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, went to Israel in September 2025 with £6,500 of funding from the newly formed Reform Friends of Israel, The National has reported.
The trip was enough to convince him that reports of famine in Gaza were a “blatant lie” despite him visiting at a time when the IPC was warning that 470,000 people in the enclave – 22% of Gaza’s population – were at imminent risk of starvation.
Shortly after, in November 2025, another cohort of Reform figures embarked on a six-day trip to Israel, including Tice’s chief of staff Ryan Powell and then Reform UK party chairman David Bull – who called the visit “life changing”.
“I now understand the situation that Israel finds itself in and Reform UK will always stand with the Israeli people,” Bull said.
This time the cost of the visit was covered by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which paid Jerusalem-based firm Conexión Israel more than £50,000 to arrange the delegation’s trip.
The party’s itinerary included a visit to the illegally occupied Golan Heights, which are considered part of Syria by the UK government.
The group also stopped by Israel’s police headquarters, which are overseen by national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right figure sanctioned by the UK for “repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians”.
Among the group were Lancashire county council leader Stephen Atkinson, London assembly member Alex Wilson, Reform UK board member Gawain Towler and Rafaella Stefani, another member of Tice’s parliamentary staff.
In their parliamentary expenses, Atkinson and Wilson both declared that Israel’s foreign ministry had spent £4,861 each on their visit.
The Reform delegates returned vocal in their support of Israel and dismissing protests against genocide as “naively propping up a terrorist ideology”.
Andy Kalil, a member of the public who organised a petition that led to a debate in parliament last week on Israel’s political lobbying, said: “Delegates were shown sites highlighting Israel’s security concerns, but not the devastation in Gaza. That’s not a balanced fact-finding visit.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/09/israel-spent-50k-on-lobbying-trips-for-reform/

2026-07-08 17:14:46 UTC

George Monbiot |The Most Important Technology You’ve Never Heard Of
With Michael Walker & The Guardian Columnist George Monbiot.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/08/george-monbiot-the-most-important-technology-youve-never-heard-of/

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/

2026-07-08 14:21:35 UTC

Ford Falsely Accuses Diabetic Worker of Stealing Cookie, Then Fires Him
A diabetic Ford worker in the US said he was fired after being falsely accused of failing to pay for a cookie at a snack kiosk.
Kurt Kromm, 60, worked at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky for 11 years, Shifting Gears reported.
Kromm told the publication that he noticed his blood sugar had dropped at around 3:30am during a 12-hour shift on 9 May and so decided to buy a Grandma’s chocolate chip cookie, which cost $1.95 (£1.47).
The following week he was called into an office by two supervisors, accused of stealing the item, and escorted from the premises without being allowed to get his belongings, he said.
Kromm, who says he averaged 60 hours a week at the automaker in 2025, said the payment screen initially rejected the transaction but the payment appeared to go through on the second try.
He later sent Ford screenshots from his bank confirming he had made the payment. The company then invited him back to his role but he declined.
“I earned over $200,000 last year. Why would I steal? I spent $1,200 last year in the canteen mainly on Diet Cokes,” Kromm told Shifting Gears.
The Kentucky Truck Plant, which manufactures the Super Duty, Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator models, is one of the company’s most profitable sites. In 2023 it earned $25bn in revenue.
Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch told Shifting Gears: “We don’t talk about individual cases, but there are times when we look into things and realise it could have been handled differently. When that happens, we try to rectify it.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/08/ford-falsely-accuses-diabetic-worker-of-stealing-cookie-then-fires-him/

2026-07-08 12:30:59 UTC

Israel Kills Organiser of Gaza World Cup Screenings Right Before Egypt Game
Israel killed a senior leader of a group organising World Cup screenings in Gaza shortly before Egypt’s match against Argentina on Tuesday – in an attack that also left two children and one other person dead.
Mohamed Fawaz al-Wahidi, the public relations director of the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, died in a drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Al-Wahidi, Hamza al-Deri, 10, and his eight-year-old brother Fari, were all passersby. The driver of the car, Ahmed Daghmush, 33, was also killed, the Washington Post reported.
Several others were injured in the attack, the Palestinian Information Center and Arabi Post reported.
The timing of the strike has led to speculation that Israel targeted al-Wahidi as a form of retaliation after Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, used his platform at the World Cup to show support for Palestine.
Hassan dedicated his side’s round of 32 win against Australia to the Palestinian people and waved their flag.
“If there is anyone in the world who does not feel for the Palestinian people, then they have lost part of their humanity – whether they are Arab, European, or American,” he said in a press conference after the game.
Tuesday’s strike was the latest of numerous violations by Israel of a so-called ceasefire agreed with Hamas in October. It was announced on Tuesday that Hamas was handing over power to a new authority, the new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is based in Cairo.
The Egyptian Relief Committee was established by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. It distributes food, houses displaced families and clears rubble from bombsites.
The committee, which has been screening Egypt’s World Cup games in Gaza, has previously been targeted by the Israeli military. In January an Israeli drone killed five of its members who were filming a new displacement camp near Netzarim, Drop Site News reported.
Israel genocide in Gaza has killed, at a conservative estimate, over 73,000 people. Among those killed [are 567 footballers][1], according to the Palestinian Football Association.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/03/fifa-does-nothing-after-israeli-forces-shoot-and-kill-palestinian-goalkeeper/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/08/israel-kills-organiser-of-gaza-world-cup-screenings-right-before-egypt-game/

2026-07-07 22:32:32 UTC

The World Cup Team Palestinian Refugees Call Their Own
Motorcycles tear through the narrow alleyways of Beirut’s Burj al-Barajneh suburb, honking their horns. Children pedal bicycles in circles, screaming. 27-year-old filmmaker Mustafa Achwah leaps from a plastic chair and runs out of a crowded café waving an enormous Brazilian flag over his head. It’s the 50th minute of the second half of a World Cup match, Brazil has just scored, and for a few minutes, a Palestinian refugee camp in the Lebanese capital sounds like Rio de Janeiro on match night.
This was, of course, before Brazil’s nail-biting defeat to Norway on Sunday night. But the residents of Burj al-Barajneh never backed Brazil because the team had the best chance of winning.
According to a United Nations count last year, 45% of Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon – some 230,000 people – and they’ve supported Brazil at every World Cup for decades. Far from being incidental, many say their loyalty is political.
Maha Mahmoud Mourah’s parents fled to Lebanon during the 1948 Nakba – the forced displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians shortly after the creation of Israel. “We support Brazil because Brazil supports us,” the 57-year-old told Novara Media. “The government of Brazil likes Palestinian people. It openly condemns Israel for killing us.”
Photo: Giovanna Vial
Brazil is one of the few major countries in the world that is not structurally aligned with the diplomatic architecture that produced and sustains Palestinian statelessness. Since October 2023, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has consistently called Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide, comparing it to the Holocaust, and recalling his ambassador from Tel Aviv.
While Lula has been in office for 12 of the last 23 years, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro moved the country significantly closer to Israel between 2019 and 2023 – not only geopolitically, but also as a central symbol for the country’s evangelical movement, where Christian Zionism has become deeply intertwined with conservative religious political identity. Support for Israel increasingly came to signify allegiance to a broader rightwing worldview, making criticism of the genocide in Gaza, for instance, politically costly.
Now, in 2026 – an election year in Brazil – Lula’s position on Palestine is a rare case of a major democratic government being willing to absorb a political cost for taking a clear stance on Israel’s genocidal policies. Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro – a leading figure on the Brazilian right and the main threat to Lula’s re-election in October – has made his unwavering support for Israel a strong theme of his political messaging. In a country where roughly one in four people identify as evangelical, that may prove consequential for the election’s result.
Photo: Giovanna Vial
Inside camps like Burj al-Barajneh, people follow Brazilian politics with the same attention they give to anything that determines how the world is willing to see them. For the roughly 50,000 people who live there, the question of which states treat Palestinian lives as legible is not abstract.
The camps, which were established as temporary shelters after the Nakba, are still there seventy-eight years later – not despite Lebanon’s institutions, but partly because of them. Achwah, the filmmaker, is the third generation of his family to live in Burj al-Barajneh. But under Lebanese law, nationality passes only through the father, so Achwah – despite having a Lebanese mother and having been born on Lebanese soil – remains classed as a Palestinian refugee. As such, he cannot own property and is barred from practising medicine, law, engineering, and dozens of other professions reserved for citizens.
Lebanon leaves Achwah and hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian refugees in limbo as part of a demographic policy. Lebanon’s power-sharing system, inherited from the French mandate, allocates parliamentary seats and top state posts by religious sect, based on a national census last conducted in 1932 – when Christians were recorded as the majority. No count has been taken since. Publishing real numbers today would almost certainly show a Muslim, and specifically Sunni, majority, unsettling a political balance that keeps Maronite Christian elites, historically the community most aligned with Western policy and least willing to confront Israeli expansion, holding disproportionate power. Naturalising hundreds of thousands of mostly Sunni Palestinians would upend that arithmetic entirely. Keeping them stateless is not a side effect of the system – it is rather one of the conditions that lets the system survive.
For most Palestinians, then, what remains is a life lived inside the camps – unsanitary, dimly lit, densely built, where the only social assistance comes through UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency. In a Lebanon bombed by Israel almost daily, despite weeks of repeated ceasefire attempts, the World Cup – and Brazil’s team on the field, in particular – has also become a form of entertainment, relief, and an act of chosen belonging for Palestinians.
“Rooting for the team we choose to see ourselves in – Brazil, in our case – is one of the rare things about our identity that is actually ours to decide,” Achwah said. “I began to support the Brazilian team when I was just 10 years old – it is one of the strongest memories of my childhood in the camp.’”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/07/the-world-cup-team-palestinian-refugees-call-their-own/

2026-07-07 16:44:14 UTC

People Who Use AI More Also Dislike It Most, Study Reveals
Young people in the US use AI more than any other demographic in the country – but they’re also the most likely to think its effects on society will be detrimental.
As [chatbot use hits 49%][1] in the US and president Donald Trump [fast-tracks ever more data centres][2], new research shows that only a sliver of the American people think AI will do society any good.
The survey by the Pew Research Center reveals that only [16% of adults in the US ][3]think the fast-developing technology will better society – and young people are the least convinced.
Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. According to data project [Jobloss.ai][4], at least 126,510 jobs in the US have already been lost to computers between January 2025 and June 2026 for reasons linked to the uptake of AI.
Whilst the survey didn’t expand on the most pressing of participants’ concerns, common criticisms of AI include the vast energy stores needed to fuel it. By 2030, [powering AI will use as much water as the 1.3 billion people in Sub Saharan Africa][5], according to the United Nations University.
More than one in three young people surveyed by Pew also said that they expect AI will have a negative impact on them personally over the coming decades.
Already, [some studies suggest][6] over-reliance on tools like Chat GPT is linked to problems with memory, critical thinking and attention span. One researcher coined the name “[cognitive offloading][7]” to describe the reduced need for independent thinking in the AI age.
[Research by Ipsos][8] reveals that consumers in anglophone countries including the US and the UK are the most worried about AI, whereas people in China and India lean more towards excitement than fear.
[1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/americans-and-ai-2026-chatbots-smart-devices-and-views-on-impact/
[2]: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/18/ai-data-centers-just-got-a-government-mandated-fast-lane-to-the-grid/
[3]: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/americans-and-ai-2026-chatbots-smart-devices-and-views-on-impact/
[4]: http://jobloss.ai
[5]: https://unu.edu/inweh/news/environmental-cost-of-AIs-Enrgy-use-carbon-water-and-land-footprints
[6]: https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/
[7]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/387701784_AI_Tools_in_Society_Impacts_on_Cognitive_Offloading_and_the_Future_of_Critical_Thinking
[8]: https://www.ipsos.com/en-nl/global-attitudes-ai-2026-wonder-vs-worry-divide-deepens
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/07/people-who-use-ai-more-also-dislike-it-most-study-reveals/

2026-07-07 14:46:51 UTC

Scandal-Hit Nigel Farage Resigns As MP but WIll Run in Byelection
Nigel Farage will quit as an MP in order to trigger a byelection, in a bid to regain control of the narrative as he faces a deepening scandal over his finances.
The Reform leader said on Tuesday he will stand in a new “people versus the establishment” election in Clacton, where he has served as an MP since 2024.
Farage is being investigated by the parliamentary standards watchdog over an undeclared donation. That probe will be suspended now that he has resigned, but would begin again if he wins the seat back.
By triggering a byelection, Farage may be trying to outmaneuver the investigation by winning a strong public mandate before its outcome.
The byelection would be “a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment and tell them where to go,” he said in Tuesday’s statement.
Addressing questions over donations he has received from rich supporters, he said: “It seems to me that the establishment has now decided that they can’t beat us fairly so they have chosen to use foul means.
“I’ve done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money.”
The statement came after a difficult few weeks for Farage in which he appeared under strain when facing questions over a £5m gift he received from Thailand-based crypto-billionaire Chris Harborne in 2024.
The scrutiny intensified this week after the Sunday Times revealed that Farage did not declare funding received from his longtime ally George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster.
On more than one occasion Farage has lost his cool under the media spotlight.
On Monday, when being questioned about the donations from Cottrell by a journalist from Sky News, he said: “You tell your bosses, you harass my family any more and there will be serious consequences.” Sky News said it had not contacted Farage’s family over the story and later clarified that it had been part of a press pool in which the Reform leader’s daughter had been approached.
In a car-crash interview in late June with LBC, he said that the donation from Harborne was “unconditional” and so he could “spend it on Ferraris if I want”.
Addressing commentary on his recent media performances, Farage said, “Am I angry? I’ve never been angrier in my life.”
Momentum has slowed for the party after a mediocre performance in last month’s Makerfield byelection, in which Andy Burnham was victorious, and underwhelming results in the May local elections, despite gaining over 1,400 council seats.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/07/scandal-hit-nigel-farage-resigns-as-mp-but-will-run-in-byelection/

2026-07-07 06:50:23 UTC

120: Help! I’m Dreading Moving to the Suburbs With My Partner
Ash and Moya get stuck into your dilemmas. Featuring: a POC friend whose new boyfriend votes Reform, an attractive male coworker who’s gone from supportive to creepy, a woman who’s struggling to think before she speaks, an independent woman who’s dreading suburban life with her boyfriend, and an environmentalist weighing up a job in big tech.
Send us your dilemmas: [email protected]
Music by Matt Huxley.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/07/120-help-im-dreading-moving-to-the-suburbs-with-my-partner/

2026-07-06 17:26:40 UTC

This Is Not Normal
We discuss the wildest political moments from the FIFA World Cup as Donald Trump appears to be meddling with the beautiful game.
Plus: Is time running out for Nigel Farage?
With Michael Walker & Ash Sarkar.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/06/this-is-not-normal/

2026-07-06 16:15:51 UTC

Irish Hotel Cancels Conference for Peter Thiel’s Secretive Group
A luxury hotel in Ireland has cancelled a “retreat” for a secretive group of wealthy, famous and powerful people founded by billionaire Peter Thiel.
The Powerscourt Hotel was due to host a conference for Dialog in August – but called off the event after[ hackers released details of its membership][1] and activities last month.
The invite-only organisation, founded in 2006 by Thiel and tech entrepreneur Auren Hoffman, was set to discuss preparing for a third world war, battlefield technologies, nuclear energy and how to build cults, according to a leaked schedule.
Guests would have included a Nato commander and senior Trump administration officials, the Irish Times reported.
Thiel is co-founder of Palantir, a spytech firm that has worked with Israel’s military throughout its genocide in Gaza and with US immigration agencies accused of severe human rights violations against migrants and people advocating for their rights.
Prominent Dialog members revealed in the leak include Texas senator Ted Cruz, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, Israeli finance ministry economist Shmuel Abramzon, actor Josh Brolin, author Sam Harris and longevity influencer Bryan Johnson.
The Powerscourt Estate, which owns the land on which the hotel sits in Co. Wicklow, said it was “relieved and pleased” about its tenant’s decision to cancel.
“Following a period of great concern for Powerscourt Estate and on foot of discussions with the Powerscourt Hotel, we are relieved and pleased to announce the Dialog event planned for August at the Powerscourt Hotel has been cancelled,” it said in a statement.
“Powerscourt Estate wish to thank all of those who supported us through this difficult and challenging time. Including our staff, neighbours, friends, supporters and legal team.”
A hotel spokesperson confirmed the event had been cancelled, adding: “We have no further comment.”
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/17/peter-thiels-super-secret-society-exposed-through-data-leak/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/06/irish-hotel-cancels-conference-for-peter-thiels-secretive-group/

2026-07-06 11:01:32 UTC

Detained Gaza Doctor Says Israel Is About to Kill Him
A prominent Gazan doctor detained and tortured by Israel has told his lawyers he believes he is about to be killed.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, shared his grim prediction over the weekend following a meeting with him at Nitzan prison.
The paediatrician “was brought to the meeting shackled by his hands and feet and accompanied by masked prison guards,” Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said in a statement based on the lawyer’s affidavit.
“He bore fresh, severe injuries to his head, around his eyes, and on his ears and neck – to the extent that his lawyer initially struggled to recognise him.
“During the visit, Dr Abu Safiya experienced difficulty breathing and speaking continuously. He appeared extremely weak, struggled to sit upright without falling, and on several occasions seemed on the verge of losing consciousness.”
The doctor “expressed grave fear for his life, stating: ‘This is the last time you will see me… They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end.'”
PHRI added: “Based on these direct observations, attorney Odeh concluded that Dr Abu Safiya’s life is in immediate danger.”
In March, two UN experts called for the doctor’s immediate release and [said he had been subjected to “severe torture”][1] in Israeli detention.
Abu Safiya was snatched by Israeli forces in late 2024 after a siege at the Kamal Adwan hospital, the facility he was in charge of at the time.
Israel has systematically targeted hospitals and medics as part of its genocide in Gaza.
[1]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/un-experts-demand-immediate-release-dr-abu-safiya-after-reports-severe
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/06/detained-gaza-doctor-says-israel-is-about-to-kill-him/

2026-07-06 11:01:26 UTC

Who Won the War on Drugs?
Zack Polanski’s Green Party felt the full force of the mainstream media’s indignation last year, after suggesting that changes could be made to Britain’s prohibitionist approach to drugs. But all over the world, the War on Drugs is shifting shape. The legalisation and commercialisation of drugs is on the rise, and there is huge money to be made with Canada adding $76 billion to its economy since it took these steps in 2018.
Ash Sarkar sat down with Professor Kojo Koram, to discuss his latest book The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs. From America’s plantation-turned-prison known as Angola in Louisiana to the psychedelic boom of Silicon Valley, The Next Fix tracks a seismic shift in global drug policy. America now celebrates its first legal weed-selling billionaire, while others serve out huge prison sentences for possession. Now, Koram argues, is the time to pay close attention to what’s happening in the world of drugs.
How are these formerly criminalised substances being rebranded as commodities in a new billion-dollar industry? What can be done to repair the immeasurable devastation that was wrought on poor, racialised communities, during the War on Drugs era? And what does a progressive, harm-reducing, emancipatory drug policy framework, fit for the 21st century, actually look like?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/06/who-won-the-war-on-drugs/

2026-07-06 10:01:32 UTC

Britain’s Year of Arresting Pensioners As Terrorists Has Taken a Hatchet to Our Civil Liberties
A year and a day ago, octogenarian priest Sue Parfitt told Novara Media, “we cannot be bystanders”. Moments later, she became one of the first people in the country to be arrested under a draconian new law that many didn’t believe could be enforced.
Parfitt had, of course, defied the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, after a ban came into effect at 00.01 the night before.
Onlookers, who surrounded the group and chanted “free, free Palestine”, said they were shocked to see her and 28 other mostly elderly protesters bundled into police vans simply for holding up paper signs. Parfitt said she hoped “common sense would prevail” and that the new law would be immediately overturned.
We expected that might happen, too. In the first few weeks, the UN, Amnesty International, many other NGOs and dozens of public figures condemned the ban as a “disturbing legal overreach” with chilling repercussions for freedom of speech and assembly. As more and more people vowed to break the law, things looked pretty bad for the British government and its loyal, miserable police force.
But twelve months later – despite judges siding with Palestine Action across three of four court hearings, and initially finding the ban unlawful – the proscription has held.
In fact, not much has changed at all. Yesterday, Parfitt, who is now 84, was arrested again outside London’s police headquarters, New Scotland Yard. This time, she stood on a plinth that read “I oppose genocide” and used a megaphone to urge others to “join me” in supporting Palestine Action – a small escalation that was met with a familiar, quiet arrest.
> View this post on Instagram
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> [A post shared by Novara Media (@novaramedia)][1]
Perhaps the only difference is that now, in July 2026, nobody is shocked anymore; it has become entirely normal to see people, including the frail and disabled, detained for making a simple statement in support of an activist group. Despite [admitting they feel “ashamed”][2] by the job, police have now arrested some 3,500 people under the Terrorism Act 2000, all over slogans on written placards or printed out on pieces of paper.
As journalists at Novara Media, we have learned to operate in the grey area. Despite [writing to the attorney general][3] and [submitting evidence to a court][4], we have still not been told how we are and aren’t allowed to report on the ban without ourselves falling foul of it. It’s become entirely normal for me to call our lawyer on a Sunday afternoon, and to be told something is probably alright, but that it’s impossible to say for certain; it was made clear by this court case, but then it may have been overturned by that one.
Despite so many people’s best attempts, the draconian use of terror legislation has been normalised and spread, with egregious violations of our basic rights becoming increasingly everyday. We have little choice but to keep operating within that new normal – and that daily accommodation is exactly what puts us at risk of being boiled like frogs that don’t notice the water gradually heating up around us. First free expression. Then a free press that isn’t second-guessing itself over opaque terror law that nobody is willing to clarify. Most recently, our right to a fair trial; as of last month, four young people are languishing in prison cells for taking part in direct actions targeting weapons factories, having been sentenced under terror legislation the [jury was never even told about][5].
Parfitt, it seems, has made a decisive choice not to be boiled gradually alongside the rest of us. She’d rather flout the law than be a frog. “I continue to support [Palestine Action],” s[he told my colleague, Steven Methven][6], at the weekend. “That apparently makes me a terrorist. But that’s okay.”
[1]: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Daa4oRnElqw/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/09/04/police-officers-admit-they-feel-ashamed-enforcing-mad-palestine-action-ban/
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/04/novara-media-writes-to-attorney-general-requesting-clarification-on-palestine-action-ban/
[4]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/07/22/the-palestine-action-ban-has-had-a-chilling-effect-on-the-press-it-must-be-overturned/
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/12/activists-jailed-for-up-to-8-years-as-terrorists-over-israeli-arms-facility-raid/
[6]: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaaqPkqD62O/?hl=en-gb
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/06/britains-year-of-arresting-pensioners-as-terrorists-has-taken-a-hatchet-to-our-civil-liberties/

2026-07-03 20:04:19 UTC

Trump’s Presidency Is a Cash-Grab
Trump has been cashing in on this phase of his Presidency on an unprecedented scale, will there be any kind of reckoning?
Plus: We take a look at the first of Burnham’s loose policy declarations.
And finally, how much freedom is too much freedom?
With Michael Walker & Banseka Kayembe.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/03/trumps-presidency-is-a-cash-grab/

2026-07-03 10:21:04 UTC

Why Does Andy Burnham Have so Little to Say on Foreign Policy?
In these listless days of Keir Starmer’s premiership, we’re all gasping for a crumb of real news. Ministers of state are being asked to weigh in on whether kids should be allowed to stay up for the England match this weekend, while the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party is trying to hover around Andy Burnham’s eyeline in case he gives them a job.
Labour, taking a breather after many months of public screeching, has decided to take its dirty laundry indoors.
The selection of James Purnell as chief of staff last week gave us all[ something to chew over][1]: but until we learn who gets the chancellor brief (Ed Miliband? Yvette Cooper? A secret third thing?) we’re all trying to patch together a sense of the next prime minister’s domestic agenda through set-piece speeches and unofficial briefings.
The MP for Makerfield has been running a tightly controlled operation. He hasn’t taken many questions from the scrum at recent public appearances, preferring instead to sit down on his own terms with Andrew Marr on LBC, post TikToks with[ varying levels of seriousness][2], and answer questions on Reddit later this afternoon. It’s a fine balance between not appearing to hide and not tanking your favourability before you even get the keys to Downing Street.
The most substantive announcement from Burnham has been his pledge to set up a “Number 10 North”, an outpost of Whitehall operating in Manchester. Nearly[ 9,000 civil servants would be working out of Ancoats][3], though a temporary office space would be set up until the full development is completed (ETA 2032).
It’s no secret that the former mayor of Manchester is a devolution ultra – and the prospect of having more powers when it comes to revenue, infrastructure and housing provision could be something that tempts Sadiq Khan to run for a fourth term. Though decentralisation is mostly framed as distributing wealth and power away from London, it’s more fair to say that it disempowers Westminster.
As well as building Manc-A-Lago, we know that Burnham intends to build more council housing, and deal with the cost of living crisis by clamping down on (but not necessarily nationalising) privatised utilities. But what about taxation and foreign policy, the two areas in which the Green party under Zack Polanski have landed the biggest punches on Labour?
This morning’s edition of the Times leads with Burnham’s comments about there being room for[ “movement on tax”][4], while still upholding Labour’s manifesto commitment on not increasing VAT, national insurance, or income tax.
So, where’s the money coming from? There’s little solid to go on – but Burnham has previously floated an overhaul of the council tax system, potentially replacing it with a new land value tax that would fall most heavily on wealthier areas such as London and the southeast. In the past, he has stated that work is overtaxed while assets are undertaxed, prompting speculation that he could raise capital gains tax and align it with income tax.
Regarding the latter, Burnham has yet to give any indication of an interest in foreign policy, let alone his approach to it. He has – so far – avoided any significant departures from the Starmerite line when it comes to Gaza, said nothing about how he’ll deal with Donald Trump, and has been bounced into the Defence Investment Plan (and forking out an extra £5bn) because he doesn’t have a stall to set out when it comes to Russia.
Supporters might say that this is a wise, tactical call not to fight every battle at once. Detractors would argue that when it comes to the biggest moral issues of the day, Burnham is little more than continuity Keir.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/26/starmers-resignation-sparked-a-chaotic-week-for-labours-big-dogs/
[2]: https://x.com/andyburnham/status/2072022100018188295?s=20
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/02/burnhams-no-10-north-could-two-centre-government-be-made-to-work
[4]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/andy-burnham-andrew-marr-interview-555t0qq95
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/03/why-does-andy-burnham-have-so-little-to-say-on-foreign-policy/

2026-07-03 09:02:53 UTC

Trump Made $1.4bn From Cryptocurrency Since Returning to Office
Donald Trump made $1.4bn (approximately £1bn) from his cryptocurrency dealings in his first year back in office, in what his former White House lawyer has described as part of “the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind.”
Overall, Trump pulled in at least $2.2bn (£1.65bn) from his vast holdings, including real estate assets, in 2025. By comparison, his enterprises pulled in $662m (£495m) in 2024 before he returned to the presidency.
The US president – who denies any wrongdoing – received around $500m (£374m) from $WLFI, the digital currency sold by his family’s main crypto firm World Liberty Financial (WLF).
Trump also got a windfall from his $TRUMP meme coin, which was launched three days before his inauguration and earned him more than $600m (£449m).
The coin was dismissed as a ‘pump-and-dump scheme’ by analysts and led to hundreds of thousands of mostly small investors losing money.
The figures were released as part of Trump’s 927-page mandatory financial report for 2025.
An additional $500m (£374m) deal – struck days before his second inauguration in January 2025 – to sell 49% of WLF to representatives of a high-ranking Emirati royal has invited accusations of corruption.
The deal saw $187m (£140m) of the initial payment steered to entities controlled by the Trump family, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Months later, the UAE got the green light to import 500,000 Nvidia AI chips, despite concerns from US security officials.
Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who was part of the Trump administration’s legal team between 2017 and 2018, accused the president of violating parts of the constitution designed to prevent federal officials from engaging in corruption or being unduly influenced by foreign powers.
“Several hundred million dollars related to those coins,” Cobb told CNN. “How can that be anything other than trading on his image and likeness in violation of the emoluments clause?”
He added: “We are seeing the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind in the last 18 months.”
The White House has called the accusation “bogus and irrelevant”. Trump denied that he was profiting from the presidency, adding: “We have funds that run my money.”
“He got richer,” California’s governor Gavin Newsom posted on X. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”
Lee Reiners, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner who now specialises in cryptocurrency, told the New York Times: “It is hard to wrap your head around that the president of the United States would engage in this level of self-enrichment at the expense of so many of his supporters.”
He added: “This is a president of the United States who has made more money off crypto since he took office than he made in any prior year in his entire business career.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/03/trump-made-1-4bn-from-cryptocurrency-since-returning-to-office/

2026-07-02 19:51:34 UTC

Russian Drone Strikes Kill Dozens in Kyiv
As Russia batters Kyiv, we take a look at the vanishing concept of the frontline in an age of drone warfare.
A new report sheds light on the horrific, systemised use of sexual violence by Irsraeli forces on Palestinian detainees. Read the full report here: [https://predatorystate.org/][1]
Plus: Morgan McSweeney sticks his head above the parapet & newly-crowned ‘lesbian fashion icon’ Keir Starmer claims the “gayest parliament in the world”.
With Helena NJMTG, Steven Methven & Professor Stephanie Wahab.
[1]: https://predatorystate.org/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/02/russian-drone-strikes-kill-dozens-in-kyiv/

2026-07-02 16:38:27 UTC

NHS Drug Deal Could Cause 200,000 Avoidable Deaths
[Trump and Starmer]
The NHS will be forced to divert billions of pounds from essential services to pay more for new drugs under the terms of the UK-US trade deal,[ according to new analysis][1], after ministers caved to pressure from president Donald Trump over tariffs.
The trade deal is also projected to lead to over 200,000 excess deaths and deepen health inequalities.
Announced on 1 December 2025, it was hailed as a “landmark” agreement by the Labour government and billed as a way to give patients access to potentially life-saving medicines that may have previously been assessed as too expensive.
Ministers and drug industry bosses backed the deal because it allowed UK medicines imported to the US to avoid tariffs of up to 100% threatened by Trump.
However, it has also committed the NHS to more than doubling the amount it will pay for new drugs over the next 11 years, according to analysis published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday.
A total of £44.7bn in NHS cash will be diverted from health services by 2036 in order to pay more for new medicines under the trade deal – if no extra funding is made available to cover additional costs – the analysis suggests.
This reduced spend on NHS services will harm the UK’s public health, leading to a projected 229,000 avoidable patient deaths by 2036, the evaluation found.
The estimated avoidable death toll is higher than the number of deaths – 137,000 – that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic from March 2020 and June 2022.
According to the government, the deal will cost only an extra £1bn between 2025-26 and 2028-29. It has admitted costs will rise after 2028-29, but no estimates have been given.
The full details of the trade deal have not been made public, with calls for transparency around it spearheaded by campaign groups Global Justice Now and Just Treatment on behalf of NHS patients.
Global Justice Now previously warned it would see NHS services axed “to pacify Donald Trump and big pharma’s demand for higher medicines prices”.
[1]: https://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-340588
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/02/nhs-drug-deal-could-cause-200000-avoidable-deaths/

2026-07-02 14:49:26 UTC

German Workers Can’t Take a Single Sick Day Without a Doctors Note Now
[German chancellor Friedrich Merz in front of flags]
German chancellor Friedrich Merz announced sweeping tax, pension and labour reforms today, including that workers will now be required to get a medical certificate saying they’re too unwell to work from the first day of sick leave.
Workers in Germany used to be able to take up to three sick days without seeing a doctor and could call a doctor for a one-week sick leave letter without an in-person appointment.
Under the new reforms, both options are now banned.
In a speech, [Merz flagged][1] “exorbitant levels of sick leave in companies following the pandemic” and said: “We are abolishing sick leave certificates over the phone and introducing the requirement to submit a certificate of incapacity for work from the first day of illness.
“We know this is a tough decision but we can no longer afford this competitive disadvantage caused by long absences from work.”
Agreed by Germany’s ruling coalition, the reforms are aimed at reviving the country’s economy and tempting voters away from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has topped national opinion polls for months.
Merz has long complained that rates of sick leave are too high in Germany and negatively impact productivity.
An [OECD data comparison ][2]of 26 European countries shows that Germany ranks seventh for the most sick leave taken by employees, with an average of 3.6 weeks per year.
The [reform package also includes][3] income tax cuts worth 10bn euros (£8.5bn), to be paid for by higher taxes on top earners, and changes to the pension system that will eventually see the retirement age rise to 67.
Germany’s export-led industry has been negatively impacted in recent years by rising energy costs, competition from China and US president Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff regime.
[1]: https://x.com/clashreport/status/2072603035277139974?s=20
[2]: https://www.betriebsrat.de/fachartikel/gesundheit/germany-sick-leave-europe-comparison-4573062#:~:text=Using%20OECD%20data%20and%20comparing,continent%2C%20the%20range%20is%20staggering%3A&text=The%20High%2DRecord%20Group%3A%20Norway,higher%20than%20Germany's%203.6%20weeks
[3]: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260702-german-coalition-agrees-on-reform-package-in-key-breakthrough
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/02/german-workers-cant-take-a-single-sick-day-without-a-doctors-note-now/

2026-07-02 14:01:03 UTC

Palestinians to Be Herded Into ‘Humanitarian Shelters’ in Gaza
[Palestinians stand behind the bars of a symbolic cage]
Surviving Palestinians will be herded into fenced “humanitarian shelters” policed by foreign forces under a plan led by US president Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ in the coming weeks, according to an Israeli newspaper.
This will allow the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to occupy more of Gaza, “deepen[ing] its grip on areas beyond the yellow line”, [Israel Hayom reported ][1]on Tuesday.
The plan has been widely condemned on social media, with historian Assal Rad [posting on X][2]: “They’re building concentration camps.”
Under the pilot programme, unarmed civilians would be channelled to a first zone in Tel al-Sultan, near Rafah, an area that has been systematically razed by the Israeli military.
Palestinians in the camps will be under the control of “multinational forces” – known as the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) – from the Board of Peace as a condition of receiving food and aid.
Board of Peace officials have pledged that no concrete will be brought in for the reconstruction of Gaza in those areas, according to Israel Hayom.
One base for the foreign forces has already been built, and the Board of Peace has “begun identifying sites” for the establishment of large logistics warehouses for regulating the camps.
Israel Hayom described the plan as a “pincer movement”, with the IDF “biting off” more areas under Hamas control and the Board of Peace “biting off” the civilian population from Hamas.
The plan matches leaked documents for a “a surveilled, checkpoint-controlled ‘planned community’” that’s designed to force Palestinians “into what amounts to an Israeli panopticon”, [Drop Site News reported][3].
Israeli military operations have continued in Gaza despite a ‘ceasefire’ coming into force in October 2025. Israel has violated the ceasefire thousands of times, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians including children.
[1]: https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/30/board-of-peace-to-open-hamas-free-humanitarian-zones-in-gaza/
[2]: https://x.com/AssalRad/status/2072359511227338853?s=20
[3]: https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/2072199773801591272
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/02/palestinians-to-be-herded-into-humanitarian-shelters-in-gaza/

2026-07-01 18:32:00 UTC

TOP ECONOMIST: We MUST Move Beyond Growth
We speak to a top economist about her vision for moving past economic growth as the bench mark for a country’s success.
With Michael Walker & Professor Jayati Ghosh.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/01/top-economist-we-must-move-beyond-growth/

2026-07-01 16:15:49 UTC

Lloyds Bank Blocks Account of Leftwing News Outlet the Canary
Independent leftwing media outlet the Canary has said it is unable to pay its staff after Lloyds Bank blocked access to “a substantial amount” of its money and refused to say why.
The outlet has accused Lloyds of “debanking” it, and suggested the move may be related to its anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine stance. “Whilst we do not currently know the reasons behind our debanking, we cannot afford to be naive about this,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We do know that multiple other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks in recent times.”
The outlet has contacted the bank several times since losing access to its account, it said, but “Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action. Despite multiple communications from us, the bank has not been forthcoming with its reasoning.”
“The immediate effect has been that we have been unable to pay any staff or contractors,” the Canary’s CEO, Steve Topple, told Novara Media.
“We have a large team, and all of them are now extremely distressed and in limbo. Many of them are marginalised people and it has hit them very hard. We are trying our best to mitigate the situation and have so far received much-appreciated support from members of the public.”
Lloyds Bank has not responded to a request for comment from Novara Media.
The Canary announced plans in May to launch a daily newspaper with a circulation of 25,000 across England and Wales, and began distributing copies to newsagents later the same month.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/01/lloyds-bank-blocks-account-of-leftwing-news-outlet-the-canary/

2026-07-01 15:55:57 UTC

Israel Installs Cranes Equipped With Unmanned Machine Guns to Kill Gazans
Israel has installed 23 cranes mounted with remotely-operated machine guns in Gaza to shoot civilians, including at least two children, according to reports from human rights groups and Gaza-based journalists.
Researchers at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said they have documented several cases of the guns being used to attack civilian areas, resulting in deaths and injuries, [the New Arab reported][1].
[Unicef said][2] in June that a 12-year-old girl had been shot in the chest with a crane-mounted gun while in her tent.
Gaza-based journalist Tamer Nahed said the cranes were installed around mid-June. “A very dangerous new nightmare we are living in Gaza City, and no one in the world is paying attention to it,” [he wrote on X][3].
“Days ago, the Israeli army installed huge military cranes, each about 30 meters tall, on the eastern areas it controls. These cranes… fire randomly and almost continuously at tents, streets, and exposed neighbourhoods.”
He added: “There is no place to hide, and not a single moment of safety.”
Three people had been killed by the cranes in the space of two days, Nahed claimed, including a five-year-old girl playing near her home.
“We have become an open testing ground for their new weapons.”
[1]: https://www.newarab.com/news/civilians-gaza-under-fire-israels-killer-cranes
[2]: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/geneva-palais-briefing-child-day-deadly-illusion-gazas-ceasefire
[3]: https://x.com/Tamer_Alnoaizy/status/2067309028909134002
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/01/israel-installs-cranes-equipped-with-unmanned-machine-guns-to-kill-gazans/

2026-07-01 10:38:33 UTC

Israel Targets LGBTQ+ Palestinians for Blackmail As Part of a System of Sexualised Violence, Report Finds
[Pride flags with Israeli flag]
Israeli spies target LGBTQ+ Palestinians for blackmail, according to a new report.
An extract of the report, “A Predatory State: Israeli Systemic Sexualized and Gendered Violence Against Palestinians”, exclusively seen by Novara Media, details instances of “esquat”, a military strategy through which the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) threatens to expose sexualised or gendered information – true or otherwise – about Palestinians that could harm their reputations, credibility and cultural dignity.
This information is collected through invasive widespread surveillance, a [documented practice][1] described by former Israeli intelligence agents as [“non-stop monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother”][2], or by luring Palestinians into relationships via ‘honeypot’ schemes. It is then used to coerce or blackmail Palestinians into becoming informants, and sow discord in Palestinian communities and movements.
The report [cites 2014 testimony][3] from a former soldier in Unit 8200 – the IDF’s cyberwarfare and military intelligence unit – who said: “Whether said individual is of a certain sexual orientation, cheating on his wife, or in need of treatment in Israel or the West Bank – he is a target for blackmail.”
In one case study, [first published by Drop Site News][4] in 2024, 20-year-old Palestinian university student Adham* recounts being blackmailed by an Israeli intelligence operative after connecting on LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr. The agent repeatedly threatened to expose Adham’s sexuality to his family unless he complied with their demand – to gather intelligence on his cousins, who were held in an Israeli prison and awaiting trial for allegations of involvement in Hamas’s military wing.
Adham’s testimony in the report states: “He told me that I should go to their homes, search and question their parents and get as much information about them as possible.”
The report covers sexualised violence in Israeli detention and interrogation including forced nudity, sexual humiliation, genital torture, simulated rape, rape with objects and [rape by trained dogs][5] – exposed at the notorious [Sde Teiman prison][6] – along with the[ AI-assisted destruction][7] of homes as a form of gendered violence against Palestinian family life, and [Israel’s withholding and desecration][8] of Palestinian bodies after death.
Loubna Qutami is part of The Palestinian Feminist Collective, which authored the report, supported by Progressive International. She said: “This violence is not an anomaly or an excess of war, it is a method of Israel’s colonial project.”
Israel has long[ been accused of ‘pinkwashing’][9] – using an internationally-projected image of tolerance and equal rights to gloss over its system of colonialism and apartheid over Palestinians, and in the last few years, its genocide in Gaza. A November 2023[ post from the state of Israel’s Instagram][10] shows two photos of IDF soldiers – one standing in front of a tank and holding a rainbow Israeli flag, and another in front of the ruins of Gaza with a rainbow flag – with the caption: “The first ever pride flag raised in Gaza.”
In reality, as victims of Israeli military intelligence honeytraps, queer Palestinians [have reported ][11]homophobic slurs, beatings and interrogations to pressure them into becoming informants for Israel.
The report finds that queer Palestinians are at particular risk due to a “double bind” belief that “their only options are to either risk their livelihoods and families or betray their people and homeland”, and that fear of exposure causes lasting stress and trauma, impacting intimate relationships.
The Palestinian Feminist Collective’s report brings together survivor and witness testimony, declassified Israeli archives, Palestinian oral histories, academic research, human rights documentation, press reports and UN reports and statements spanning from the 1948 Nakba to the present-day genocide in Gaza.
It argues that the scale and consistency of evidence and repetition of standardised methods across different sites point to “institutional practice” on the part of the Israeli state, “rather than individual misconduct”. It concludes that these practices amount to “gross violations of international criminal law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law” and form part of the crime of genocide.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, called the report an “indictment of a system that has transformed Palestinian life – bodies, homes, families, reproductive existence and even the dead – into instruments of control and domination.
“It is time to understand that the crimes against the Palestinians – including the sexualised and gender-based violence meticulously researched and exposed in this report – is not a total sum of isolated abuses, but a system of domination, oppression and erasure.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dubbed the report a call to action, saying it “must be read, shared and acted upon” and “governments that arm, fund or excuse Israel’s crimes must be held to account”.
It comes after the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel found Israeli authorities and security forces have committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza [through the deliberate targeting of Palestinian children][12].
The UN commission also reported torture and sexual violence perpetrated against Palestinian children, and attacks on healthcare and reproductive facilities leading to newborn death and miscarriages.
The IDF has been approached for comment.
*name changed to protect identity
[1]: https://mei.edu/publication/nowhere-hide-impact-israels-digital-surveillance-regime-palestinians/
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-unit-testimonies
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-unit-testimonies
[4]: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/how-israels-elite-intelligence-unit
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/20/israeli-guards-admit-dogs-are-used-to-rape-palestinians-says-analyst/
[6]: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/israel-sde-teiman-detention-whistleblowers-intl-cmd
[7]: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
[8]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/10/29/israeli-military-accused-of-palestinian-organ-theft-again/
[9]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/16/queer-palestinians-lgbtq-israel-pride-flags-gaza-conflict-pink-washing
[10]: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzlDsiigOI7/?img_index=1
[11]: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/how-israels-elite-intelligence-unit
[12]: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/a-hrc-62-crp-2.pdf
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/01/israel-targets-lgbtq-palestinians-for-blackmail-as-part-of-a-system-of-sexualised-violence-report-finds/

2026-06-30 19:51:14 UTC

Starmer Announces Cuts to Pay for Defence
The Prime Minister has announced a £15bn increase in military spending, to be funded by cutting investment budgets in other areas.
Plus: Anti-immigrant protests sweep South Africa, former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of child sexual abuse, and a look at the ‘anti-woke Davos’ taking aim at UK net-zero policies.
With Steven Methven, Barry Malone & Khem Rogaly.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/30/starmer-announces-cuts-to-pay-for-defence/

2026-06-30 15:04:35 UTC

EU Court Says Private Jets Now Count As ‘Green’ Investments
An EU court has said the manufacture of private jets can’t be excluded from a list of activities deemed to be environmentally sustainable, fuelling concerns about the greenwashing of the emissions of the super-rich.
The list, intended to provide an ⁠overview of green investments, previously excluded aircraft for private or commercial business aviation due to their high emissions compared with other forms of transport following a 2023 decision by the European Commission.
But French planemaker Dassault Aviation contested the decision, calling it unlawful, and the EU’s General Court has now ruled in its favour, [Reuters reported last week][1].
The court argued that the 2023 ruling was made with a number of errors, including that other modes of transport couldn’t necessarily be seen as low-carbon alternatives as they “lack the flexibility and speed” of private jets.
Emissions of private jets related to the operation of aircraft, the court added, not to how they are manufactured, and the European Commission had failed to take into account that ⁠private jets could use sustainable fuel.
Private jets produced up to 19.5m tonnes of emissions in 2023, more than from all flights departing Heathrow airport that year, the [International Council on Clean Transportation reported][2].
In 2024, climate scientists warned that the mega-rich [use private jets like taxis][3] – and found that flying in a private jet for a single hour can release more CO2 into the atmosphere than the average person produces in a year.
The European Commission can appeal the decision within two months.
[1]: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/eu-court-says-private-jet-manufacturing-can-be-labelled-green-investment-2026-06-24/
[2]: https://theicct.org/pr-air-and-ghg-pollution-from-private-jets-2023-jun25/
[3]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2lvq4el5vo
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/30/eu-court-says-private-jets-now-count-as-green-investments/

2026-06-30 12:01:20 UTC

Zohran Mamdani Closes Part of Notorious Rikers Island Jail
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced the closure of a facility on Rikers Island, marking a “milestone” towards meeting his pledge to fully shut the notorious jail complex.
On Monday, city and jail officials said the North Infirmary Command, which recently housed 223 people, was permanently closed. The move was made possible by the opening of an offsite therapeutic housing unit for those with complex medical needs in April.
Rikers, one of the US’s most expensive jails, has long been the site of [violence, mismanagement and dysfunction][1], with inmates [subject to beatings][2], [routinely denied medical care][3] and [put in solitary confinement][4].
[At least 120 people][5] died whilst incarcerated at Rikers between 2014 and 2022, according to local news outlet City & State. For decades, campaigners have argued that the prison can’t be reformed and must be shut down.
“Rikers Island has represented one of the deepest failures of our city government. It has failed people in custody, correction officers and every New Yorker who believes our justice system should live up to its name,” Mamdani said.
“This milestone brings us closer to ending that chapter. We are replacing a system built around neglect with one centred on rehabilitation and accountability because public safety and human dignity are not competing values.”
In 2017, New York City committed to a long-term plan for closing Rikers Island. Former mayor Eric Adams, however, failed to comply with key legal milestones related to the closure plan.
Mamdani has said he is committed to closing the jail, but has said meeting the 2027 deadline will be “practically impossible to fulfill, because we’ve seen years of a flouting of not just recommendations, but requirements”.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services will be tasked with creating a plan for how Rikers will be used once it is no longer a prison.
“We’re already seeing many possibilities that can benefit our city for years to come, from renewable energy projects to other public purposes, particularly those with an environmental justice lens,” commissioner Yume Kitasei said.
In February, Mamdani appointed former Rikers inmate Stanley Richards as New York City’s commissioner of the department of correction. Richards is the first person who has served time to lead the department.
[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/31/nyregion/rikers-island-correction-officers.html
[2]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/16/former-rikers-island-officers-sentenced-prison-inmate-beating
[3]: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/nyregion/rikers-inmates-health-care.html
[4]: https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/01/mamdani-moves-limit-solitary-confinement-rikers/410469/
[5]: https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2025/jul/15/ongoing-detainee-deaths-push-rikers-island-federal-court-receivership/#:~:text=The%20actual%20number%20of%20deaths,68%20during%20the%20same%20period
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/30/zohran-mamdani-closes-part-of-notorious-rikers-island-jail/

2026-06-30 06:45:58 UTC

119: I Know I Should Forgive My Enemies… But What If I Don’t Want To?
A brush with an old enemy brings up big questions about letting go and moving on. What does forgiveness really mean in a secular society? Is punishment ever the answer? Plus: advice for a special one who fears they’ve outgrown their 15-year relationship.
Last call for our show at Crossed Wires in Sheffield on 4th July! [Tickets are available now][1].
Send us your dilemmas: [email protected]
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/30/119-i-know-i-should-forgive-my-enemies-but-what-if-i-dont-want-to/

2026-06-29 18:36:35 UTC

Burnham Unveils Devolution Plan
Andy Burnham has laid his plan for devolving power away from Westminster over the next decade, pledging a ‘No 10 for the north’ and ‘growth in every postcode’.
Plus: Trump has announced new peace talks with Iran, and we discuss the new Democratic Socialists taking the US by storm.
With Michael Walker, Barry Malone & James Meadway.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/29/burnham-unveils-devolution-plan/

2026-06-29 16:32:51 UTC

Iran Fans ‘Kicked and Spat On’ at World Cup Matches in California
Women wearing hijabs were among dozens physically assaulted or verbally harassed while attending Iran’s World Cup matches in California earlier this month, a civil rights group has said.
The local branch of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it received “multiple reports of hate-based verbal harassment and physical assault” against women perceived to be Iranian following the country’s matches against Belgium and New Zealand.
“According to eyewitnesses, scores of agitators appeared to target individuals perceived to be of Iranian origin, attendees holding Iranian or Palestinian flags, and women wearing hijabs,” CAIR-LA[ said in a statement][1].
“Attendees reported being spat on, kicked, punched, and pushed to the ground, and women had their hijabs ripped off,” the group added. “Several individuals were further harassed online, reportedly having their personal identifying information – including their phone numbers, home addresses, and places of employment – publicly released.”
CAIR-LA said it had sent a letter to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, as well as the local police and the city’s World Cup Host Committee, calling for the incidents to be investigated and for “appropriate security measures” to protect fans.
Some of the harassment was perpetrated by pro-monarchy Iranian Americans, according to the New Arab.
The Iranian team’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages were dashed on Sunday by a 3-3 draw between Algeria and Austria. The team faced discrimination by US authorities, who imposed visa restrictions that forced players to fly to Mexico after every game, denying them recovery and training time.
Captain Mehdi Taremi said it had been a “disaster World Cup” for his team. He told reporters after a game against Egypt that Fifa president Gianni Infantino visited the team and promised to help resolve some of their issues, but that many of the problems persisted.
“We always complain about those things, but no one helps,” he said.
[1]: https://ca.cair.com/updates/hijab-wearing-women-and-iranian-fans-are-reportedly-being-targeted-by-hate-and-violence-at-world-cup-games/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/29/iran-fans-kicked-and-spat-on-at-world-cup-matches-in-california/

2026-06-29 12:25:31 UTC

Keir Starmer ‘Wants to Be Nato Chief’ After He Leaves No 10
Prime minister Keir Starmer is hoping to become secretary general of Nato after he leaves office, according to the Observer.
Starmer, who despite being a former human rights lawyer has supported the genocide in Gaza and the illegal war on Iran, would not be eligible for the Nato role until it falls vacant in 2028.
But his allies have reportedly begun highlighting his credentials for the job, arguing that he is respected by European leaders and made a positive impression during the G7 summit earlier in June. They also argue he has a close relationship with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Nato’s current leader, former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, could stay on in the role after 2028 if all 32 member states approve.
Rutte has argued since 2024 that it is inevitable Ukraine will join Nato, sparking fierce opposition from Russia. Some analysts have argued that Rutte’s stance sabotages efforts to bring about peace between the two countries.
Last week Finnish president Alexander Stubb echoed Rutte’s comments [in an interview with Politico][1]. “Ukraine is going to be European, it’s going to be an EU member state and eventually a Nato member state,” he said.
Glenn Diesen, a Russian foreign policy expert and professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, said Stubb’s comments would help prolong the war.
“Stubb argues that Ukraine will become a Nato member,” he wrote on X. “This sounds ‘pro-Ukrainian’ but ensures that peace is not possible. If people cared about Ukraine, they would encourage talks with Moscow about pan-European security. This is what you would say to fight to the last Ukrainian.”
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Chris Hedges has described Nato as “the most aggressive and dangerous military alliance” in the world.
“It launched wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, resulting in close to a million deaths and some 38 million people driven from their homes,” [he wrote][2] in 2022.
The Nato-led bombing of Libya in 2011 ignited a civil war that turned the country into a failed state and led to the re-emergence of open-air slave markets.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ujmR8rJZIU
[2]: https://consortiumnews.com/2022/07/11/chris-hedges-nato-most-dangerous-military-alliance-on-planet/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/29/keir-starmer-wants-to-be-nato-chief-after-he-leaves-no-10/

2026-06-29 08:51:23 UTC

Andy Burnham Wants Places to Feel Loved Again
[Andy Burnham in Downing Street in March. Photo: Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire]
As we all sweltered last week, British politics broke every thermometer. A prime minister resigned, and a [pair of eyelashes in a black t-shirt][1] swept in. That description is due to the country’s least-likely new national poet, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Said eyelashes Andy Burnham will today unveil his economic direction. It’s a big time speech on his home turf, Manchester – a city that’s had [mixed reviews][2] under his stewardship. But mixed reviews are a vast improvement on the absolute pans that were two years of a Keir Starmer government.
The papers have all had the pre-speech briefs, so there probably won’t be a lot of surprises. Notably, Burnham won’t, apparently, be taking questions from the press. Is that a sign of nerves around some undercooked proposals? Or a signal to the wider country that it’s them, and not the lobby journos stumbling off the train from Euston, that he answers to?
It can be pretty difficult to work out Burnham’s direction of political travel. His [decisive Makerfield byelection win][3] involved painting himself as, first and foremost, a representative who was also one of those he sought to represent. And so also a very different man from the prime minister he was looking to replace.
That useful image was tarnished just a week after his victory when he appointed as his chief of staff another Blair-era appointee, James Purnell, whose last job was [heading up a lobby firm][4]. Nothing says “continuity Starmer” quite like the next PM surrounding himself with briefcases.
Is the King of the North also the king of mixed messages? According to the Telegraph, one thing that won’t be in doubt after his Manchester speech today is his ambition. He’ll ask the British public to give him a decade to overhaul our lagging economy. Funnily enough, Starmer said [much the same just weeks before his resignation][5].
Ten years will mean winning two elections. And the big question now is when the first of those will be. Advisers to the next PM, former Goldman Sachs boss Jim O’Neill and former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane, [have both][6] [written recently][7] about inventive ways a Burnham treasury could raise money without breaking Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules. But those rules, enshrined in Labour’s 2024 “We’re Not Liz Truss” manifesto were entirely designed to financially hamstring the incoming Starmer government, sacrificing economic renewal to the mood swings of the bond markets, the press barons and his own backbench MPs.
That last group, who have so far failed to show much appetite for improving the lives of ordinary Brits, may find themselves sidelined after today. According to the Guardian, Burnham will pledge “[good growth in every postcode][8]” by diverting power and funds from Whitehall departments to local decision-makers. Regional mayors and local authorities will be given new powers to decide certain local taxes, and some infrastructure funds might be coming their way too.
At the same time, regional authorities will be given broader powers around youth unemployment. In what [the Times is pitching as “welfare reform”][9], Burnham will argue for a new contract between the government and the more than a million young people not in employment, education or training – the so-called NEETs. That pledge is based around the work of yet another former Blair-era minister, Alan Milburn. His review of the relationship between young people and the benefits system isn’t due until September, but its centrality to Burnham’s economic thinking is politically indicative.
Done right, no one could possibly object to lowering the welfare bill by supporting young people back into work or education – or preventing them from leaving it in the first place. The trouble is, successive governments have pitched plans on the cheap around this exact area, with none of them making much impact. And it may be that what’s ultimately proposed later this year are simply punitive welfare cuts tied in a ribbon of pretty words. But if a Burnham government can get this right, there’s as much as [£125bn a year to be saved][10], not to mention young people’s futures to be made.
Those NEET figures represent the very human cost of an economy that’s stopped working for a lot of people. The apparently unstoppable decline of towns and regions in parts of the country is its visible geographic analogue.
Making towns and families across England feel loved again, through relatively quick and visible improvements to their high streets and their kids’ fates, could boost Burnham’s confidence around an early election. More scarily, it’ll put to the test the theory that’s, so far, an article of faith: that it’s only economic deprivation pushing English voters towards Reform UK.
[1]: https://news.sky.com/video/badenoch-starmer-was-abandoned-for-eyelashes-and-a-black-t-shirt-13557366
[2]: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2026/06/manchesterism-is-not-socialism
[3]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqx1eq5e71zo
[4]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/24/james-purnell-andy-burnham-pick-chief-of-staff-firm-bp-apple-amazon
[5]: https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/keir-starmer-i-want-10-years-in-no-10-and-will-fight-my-challengers
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/23/burnham-adviser-government-borrowing-infrastructure
[7]: https://www.ft.com/content/5de568b9-7ac5-4a5d-9ec2-5e46ff62f7df?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[8]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/28/andy-burnham-to-pledge-good-growth-in-every-postcode-in-devolution-plan
[9]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/burnham-mayors-welfare-powers-neets-53drgljp8
[10]: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-employment-youth-jobs-tax-breaks-b3004556.html
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/29/andy-burnham-wants-places-to-feel-loved-again/

2026-06-29 08:33:41 UTC

How China Wins the Resource War
We need critical minerals for the green transition, the military and the AI boom. In barely a year, lithium and the rare earths have become some of the most fought-over objects on earth. But the scarcity is manufactured — by refineries, choke points and the states that control them.
Richard talks to Thea Riofrancos, author of *Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism*, about what these minerals really are, the gutted landscapes the green transition runs on, and the new geopolitics of extraction, from Trumpian state capitalism to Latin America to China.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/29/how-china-wins-the-resource-war/

2026-06-28 14:18:42 UTC

Governments Do Capitalism Wrong. Here’s How We Fix It.
Mariana Mazzucato is a towering figure in contemporary economics, known best for her work on the entrepreneurial state and mission-oriented, ‘moonshot’ economics. Her congregation is broad, ranging from an ascendant Andy Burnham, to the Pope, to the organisers of Brazil’s carnival, and Marco Rubio on the right of US politics. Ash Sarkar sat down with Mariana Mazzucato in front of a live audience at EartH Theatre in Hackney, to test out the ideas in her new book, The Common Good Economy.
Where did it all go wrong for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, who adopted Mazzucato’s language of missions but were unable to deliver, and what can Burnham learn from their mistakes? How do we define the common good, and how should the private and public sectors work to achieve it? Why is the state so effective at achieving its goals in times of war, and so inept in times of peace? How do we balance the need for experimentation and freedom to fail, against the need for transparency, in the public sector? And should we spend our finite time trying to build a new and fundamentally different system, or is fixing capitalism actually the most radical goal for progressives?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/28/how-global-governments-get-capitalism-wrong/

2026-06-28 08:45:06 UTC

Are You Resilient Enough to Face the Future?
When revolution fails, when the resistance crumbles, what’s left? The ACFM crew consider the magical properties of resilience in this Trip episode, touching on everything from the colonial legacy of the ‘stiff upper lip’ to contemporary narratives of trauma and victimhood.
Nadia, Keir and Jem wonder if the emerging focus on resilience is a response to hustle culture, if resilience is a useless dream of ‘folk politics’, whether humans and animals can flourish in the ruins of capitalism, and what a left politics of resilience could look like in an era of constant economic and climate shocks.
No tunes in this particular show, but plenty of ideas from Catherine Liu, Sheryl Sandberg, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing and more.
Follow our [Spotify playlist][1] of all the music discussed on ACFM and subscribe to the [ACFM mailing list][2] to get weirder and leftier.
**Books:** Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant – Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy / Catherine Liu – Traumatized: The New Politics of Public Suffering / Jennifer M. Silva – Coming Up Short: Working-Class Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty / Isabella Weber – Anti-Fascist Economics / Stockholm Resilience Centre – The Safe Operating Space for Humanity / Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing – The Mushroom at the End of the World / Hazel Sheffield – Frontierlands / Adam Greenfield – Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in a World on Fire
[1]: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wv61PS6qItwCBUluNcSFx
[2]: http://novara.media/ACFMnewsletter
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/28/are-you-resilient-enough-to-face-the-future/

2026-06-26 14:42:55 UTC

Is Burnham Just Starmer 2.0? | With Jeremy Corbyn
Is Andy Burnham capable of leading Britain in a more positive direction? We asked Jeremy Corbyn.
With Michael Walker.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/26/is-burnham-just-starmer-2-0-with-jeremy-corbyn/

2026-06-26 14:42:49 UTC

Palantir Gets Massive UK Tax Breaks on Profits Made From Public Money
Palantir, the US spytech firm accused of abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, enjoys lavish tax breaks on UK profits that are already derived from taxpayers’ money, an [analysis by openDemocracy has found][1].
The company has been awarded at least £670m in UK public contracts in recent years. That includes [a £330m deal to manage sensitive NHS data][2], signed despite the fact Palantir’s co-founder Peter Thiel has expressed disdain for publicly funded healthcare.
Those contracts have helped make the UK Palantir’s second-largest market by revenue, with 2024 pre-tax profits of £25.3m.
But its effective UK tax rate that year was only £2m, or 8%, far lower than the norm of 25% paid by firms with profits above £250,000. In 2023 it was even less, at 4.7%, and in 2022 it was 4.2%.
For 2025, Companies House filings suggest Palantir paid less than £820,000 in cash tax in the UK, less than it paid in Korea, Japan, France and Germany.
The low rate was due a structured arrangement that limits the amount of profits recognised in the UK, as well as a rule that awards large tax breaks to firms that compensate their employees with stock instead of cash, openDemocracy reported.
The report said the nature of filings made it difficult to assess the total amount of tax breaks Palantir has received, but by 2022 alone it had accumulated £230m in tax relief from what it called “employee share acquisition relief”.
“When profitable companies are paying very little tax, especially when much of their revenues derive from taxpayers’ money itself, then it’s important to ask why,” Mike Lewis, director of TaxWatch, told openDemocracy.
“Is it because tax incentives and tax breaks are poorly targeted? Or is it because companies are shifting profits in ways that our tax system is supposed to counteract?”
[1]: https://www.opendemocracy.net/exclusive-how-palantir-harvested-millions-in-uk-tax-breaks/
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/04/mps-tell-government-to-end-330m-nhs-contract-with-palantir/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/26/palantir-gets-massive-uk-tax-breaks-on-profits-made-from-public-money/

2026-06-26 12:10:31 UTC

Mamdani Secures Rent Freeze for One Million New York Apartments
A New York City housing board appointed by mayor Zohran Mamdani has approved a rent freeze that will affect around a million homes.
The Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday voted 7-1 for a 0% increase on one-year and two-year leases in the city’s rent-stabilised apartments.
Mamdani appointed the majority of the board’s members in early February, just over a month after taking office. Freezing rents was a cornerstone promise of his cost-of-living-focused election campaign last year.
A crowd of tenants inside the auditorium of El Museo Del Barrio erupted in cheers as the rent freeze passed.
“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants,” Mamdani said in a statement, noting it was the first time ever that the city has adopted a rent freeze for multi-year leases. “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.”
He added: “I’m grateful for the board members’ thoughtful consideration of the data, including tenants’ ability to pay, cost of living and building operating costs. I’ll continue working to deliver a more affordable city by building and preserving affordable housing, lowering building operating costs like insurance, and ensuring tenants know their rights.”
Corporate landlords, who have helped make the city one of the world’s most expensive places to live by[ hoarding property and hiking rents][1], expressed dismay at the vote.
Kenny Burgos, CEO of a landlord lobbying group called the New York Apartment Association, tried to frame the victory as bad for tenants in a statement to the Associated Press.
“This will only result in more dilapidated housing and potentially more foreclosures and bankruptcies,” he claimed.
Christina Smyth, a board member who was appointed to represent landlords, resigned in protest ahead of Thursday’s vote. “The Rent Guidelines Board has stopped being a fact-finding body,” she wrote in her resignation letter. “It has become a body that starts with an answer and vibe codes its way backward to justify it.”
Landlord groups are expected to mount a legal challenge, the Associated Press reported.
Thursday’s vote comes after Mamdani’s endorsements helped to secure a stunning sweep of primary election victories this week for eight progressive candidates – three of whom are likely to be elected to congress and five to the state legislature.
[1]: https://citylimits.org/opinion-corporate-landlords-are-taking-over-nyc-the-numbers-dont-lie/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/26/mamdani-secures-rent-freeze-for-one-million-new-york-apartments/

2026-06-26 09:47:00 UTC

Starmer’s Resignation Sparked a Chaotic Week for Labour’s Big Dogs
[Keir Starmer at the lectern outside Downing Street]
On Monday, the Bad News Lectern was bolted down in front of Downing Street for the sixth time in ten years (welcome to the UK: we’re Italy, without the cuisine). Andy Burnham was sworn in as an MP, and immediately knuckled down the task of [shitposting][1]. MPs are jostling for jobs with the incoming PM so hard that one minister (Mike Tapp, more on him later), might have talked himself out of [the one he’s got][2].
And poor Keir Starmer, [languishing in the dog days][3] of his premiership, must simply kill time until the van comes to take him to the big farm where he can run around as much as he likes.
So here we are, in the orderly transition of power. The big news from Andy Burnham’s camp is that he’s picked James Purnell (and not, as rumour had it, Josh Simons) for the chief of staff job. Purnell and Burnham [go way back][4], playing football together in the days of Britpop and Blairism.
This is a chief of staff who’ll have a near-telepathic understanding of his boss, and has experience both in government and leading large organisations. But this is politics: a chief of staff is a strategic partner to any prime minister, and has the opportunity to shape how they govern.
In New Labour, Purnell was a welfare hawk, proposing reforms to the benefits system that even David Cameron [balked at][5]. In recent years, he headed up a firm which advised the likes of BP, Amazon, Apple and Thames Water on policy and regulation. It’s tricky to see how that squares with Burnham’s stated intention to bring utilities under public control.
Perhaps it’s the case that, between themselves, James Purnell and Andy Burnham do not see the chief of staff role as being in the mold of Morgan McSweeney (i.e. Purnell has little intention of setting the prime minister’s political agenda). But maybe, just maybe, a fox has been given a job in the henhouse C-suite.
It’s no secret that Burnham would have preferred a longer lead-time going into Downing Street – if nobody runs against him for the Labour leadership, he’ll be prime minister by mid-July. That gives him just three weeks to prepare for government, fresh from fighting the Makerfield by-election.
Perhaps Keir Starmer just didn’t fancy sitting as a lame duck [all the way into the autumn][6]. Or maybe, a little stung by his ousting from high office, he’s disinclined to set Burnham up for success in government. The meeting between the two men earlier this week was [said to be “frosty” ][7](a miracle in this heat, amirite?).
It’s not all staring blankly at the wall and wondering where it all went wrong for the prime minister. Starmer is reportedly finalising the [defence investment plan][8] (as you may remember, the catalyst for John Healey and Al Carns’ [resignations from government][9]) ahead of the Nato summit in early-July. Burnham, meanwhile, is said to want to review it rather than waving it through.
Burnham has indicated that he’s [open to cutting welfare][10] in order to spend more money on defence, and his team are saying that he’ll rustle up more cash for the armed forces than this administration was able to. The DIP represents Starmer’s last punt at shaping the agenda of the next prime minister.
But he’s not alone. Al Carns has popped up setting [five tests][11] for Andy Burnham (reading between the lines – agree to significant uplifts in defence spending, or I’ll run against you). The ennobled representatives of British capital are [all over the telly][12], promising a bond market freakout if Andy Burnham appoints Ed Miliband as chancellor. The Labour left – or, what remains of it – has published [“A Manifesto to Save Labour”][13] (no big surprises in there, but worth a read). And MPs galore are flashing ankle at the King of the North, hoping for a gig in his court.
Enter Mike Tapp. When he’s not serving as the [Minister for Proper Breakfasts][14], the MP for Dover and Deal resides in the Home Office tackling the immigration brief. Tapp penned an op-ed for The Times (*oh, are there jobs up for grabs under the new PM? I hadn’t noticed*), in which he revealed that the Home Office had drawn up a proposal to make migrant care workers exempt from incoming immigration reforms. This article had, apparently, been written without sign-off from his boss Shabana Mahmood – who’s now apparently asked Keir Starmer [to give him the sack][15].
At the time of writing, Tapp has neither been fired, nor has he resigned (you could say that he’s… yet to Tapp out). Keir Starmer, despite sorting the movers and forwarding address himself, is reluctant to sack Tapp – perceived as a Starmerite ultra – at the behest of Mahmood, who has backed Andy Burnham.
Bitchy briefings cluttered the airwaves last night, with [Starmerite sources claiming][16] that the home secretary and her operation “are totally out of control, and think rules only apply to others, not themselves”. Ouch. Conscious uncoupling, this is not.
[1]: https://x.com/AndyBurnhamGM/status/2069865776320774551?s=20
[2]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/shabana-mahmood-mike-tapp-immigration-minister-sacking-h6m0cb3tp
[3]: https://x.com/standardnews/status/2070123405907472441?s=20
[4]: https://www.politico.eu/article/old-mate-andy-burnham-trusting-run-downing-street/
[5]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/sep/22/jamespurnell.labourconference
[6]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/21/keir-starmer-expected-exit-plan-clear-way-andy-burnham-become-pm
[7]: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/23/burnham-and-starmer-hold-frosty-meeting-to-thrash-out-transition-of-power
[8]: https://www.ft.com/content/850512e5-87a7-46a3-ad7d-3c3e7a23e0e2?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[9]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/12/john-healey-quit-to-send-a-message-to-britains-next-prime-minister/
[10]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/06/23/andy-burnham-to-boost-spending-on-defence/
[11]: https://x.com/AlistairCarns/status/2069871743901278538?s=20
[12]: https://x.com/BBCNewsnight/status/2070280892715585946?s=20
[13]: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2026/06/the-manifesto-to-save-labour
[14]: https://x.com/MikeTappTweets/status/1976600403392262355?s=20
[15]: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/shabana-mahmood-mike-tapp-immigration-minister-sacking-h6m0cb3tp
[16]: https://x.com/SamCoatesSky/status/2070213932208582916?s=20
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/26/starmers-resignation-sparked-a-chaotic-week-for-labours-big-dogs/

2026-06-25 18:16:12 UTC

Burnham Picks Former Blair Minister As Chief of Staff
Andy Burham has thoroughly disappointed the Labour left, appointing a former Blair minister as his Chief of Staff.
Plus: We speak to Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman about his fight for affordable housing in London.
With NoJusticeMTG & Dallia Gebrial.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/25/burnham-picks-former-blair-minister-as-chief-of-staff/

2026-06-25 17:12:55 UTC

UK Doctors’ Union Drops Israel-Backed Definition of Antisemitism
The British Medical Association (BMA) has voted to drop the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism over fears it had [a “chilling” effect on free speech][1], including support for Palestine.
The IHRA definition regards certain criticisms of Israel – including that its existence is a racist endeavour – as antisemitic. In the UK, it has been widely adopted by the national government, policing and local authorities.
The definition was officially adopted by Israel’s government in 2017. Doctors voted to drop it at the BMA’s annual meeting on Tuesday over fears that medics are being punished for their views on international politics.
Several doctors have faced suspension and disciplinary action over their support for Palestine. They include plastic surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah who was cleared of antisemitism allegations in January after writing a newspaper article for a Lebanese outlet and two posts on X that critics said showed support for Hamas.
In a separate case, a British-Palestinian nurse was ordered to remove a background on video calls that showed a fruit bowl containing a watermelon, Middle East Eye reported.
Tuesday’s successful motion called on the BMA to “provide urgent guidance and support to members who face disciplinary action or professional detriment for expressing legitimate political views or ethical concerns about international conflicts, including Palestine/Israel”.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2025/11/11/nhs-doctors-face-crisis-of-institutional-discrimination-for-speaking-out-on-gaza/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/25/uk-doctors-union-drops-israel-backed-definition-of-antisemitism/

2026-06-23 16:00:26 UTC

MPs Debate Israeli Influence in British Politics After 118,500 Sign Petition
MPs debated the influence of the Israel lobby on UK politics after more than 118,500 people signed a petition calling for an inquiry.
The debate, which took place on July 22, follows the government rejecting calls for such a probe.
“We are concerned about reported Israeli state-linked and pro-Israel lobbying activity in UK politics. We believe it is important to determine the scope and impact of any such influence campaigns,” the petition read.
“We feel that the horrific devastation in Gaza, the ongoing suppression of Palestinians in the West Bank and the UK’s political response underline the urgent need to scrutinise how pro-Israel organisations, networks and lobbying efforts may shape government decisions, party policy and public debate.”
The first three Labour MPs to speak – Alex Davies-Jones, Gareth Snell and Peter Prinsley – all said there shouldn’t be an inquiry.
Prinsley, who breached declaration of interests rules “inadvertently” over a Labour Friends of Israel-funded trip to Israel in 2025, called the petition a “regurgitation of antisemitic tropes”.
However, two Labour MPs – Kim Johnson and Tahir Ali – did speak in favour of an inquiry.
Ayoub Khan, independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said: “For millions up and down this country, the government’s approach towards Israel has defied the most basic logic of justice and humanity.
“Continued arm sales amid mass extermination, the weaponisation of terrorism laws, silencing dissent, the welcoming of wanted war criminals on the steps of 10 Downing Street – with every decision this government has made, it’s not only reasonable to ask questions about political influence in Britain, it’s necessary.”
Khan called out “the transactional nature of donations”, adding: “Anyone who claims that these donors receive nothing in return is being naive.”
Iqbal Mohamed, independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, raised that 13 of the then 25 members of the Labour cabinet received hundreds of thousands in donations from pro-Israel donors.
Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont who opened the debate, claimed the idea of the Israel lobby was “rooted in conspiracy theory” and said the country was being “uniquely singled out”.
However, Mohamed highlighted that Israel did not get a single mention in the Rycroft review into foreign interference published in March.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/23/mps-debate-israeli-influence-in-british-politics-after-118500-sign-petition/

2026-06-23 08:20:58 UTC

‘Creepy’ Bedroom Surveillance Tech a ‘Clear Legal Risk’ for NHS Trusts
[View from an Oxevision camera.]
NHS trusts using controversial ‘spy camera’ technology in patient bedrooms are opening themselves up to “clear legal risk”, according to a senior lawyer representing campaigners.
The patient complaints watchdog’s recent ruling in the case of an inpatient in Essex points to wider risks around consent and clinical justification in how trusts are using Oxevision, an AI-powered bedroom surveillance technology linked to at least [four inpatient deaths][1] in the UK.
Oxevision films patients 24/7 via an infrared camera, and is currently used in around 40% of NHS trusts’ mental health inpatient services. The cameras are installed in bedrooms, including in children’s mental health wards, where they [record live, unblurred video][2] of patients.
Oxevision’s developer, LIO Health (formerly known as Oxehealth), says it increases patients’ safety and frees up NHS staff time, but patients have described it as [“creepy” and “spying”.][3]
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman [partly upheld a complaint in April ][4]from a patient – known as Miss B – who was surveilled by Oxevision as an inpatient in Essex.
It found that Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust had failed to seek Miss B’s consent to monitor her with Oxevision, failed to provide adequate information on the tech, failed to turn the camera off when asked, and failed to keep sufficient records to explain how the system was being used in her care.
According to the ombudsman, the use of Oxevision “exacerbated her feelings of anxiety, vulnerability and fear” and it [instructed Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust][5] to pay Miss B £925 “in recognition of the impact [she] has suffered”.
Racher Harger, a partner solicitor at law firm Bindmans who is representing survivor-led campaign group Stop Oxevision, highlighted the ombudsman’s findings in this case as “significant” because they “illustrate a pattern of basic safeguards not being met in the deployment of this technology”.
Harger told Novara Media: “There is a clear legal risk that other NHS trusts using Oxevision in similar ways could face comparable complaints where patients are not properly informed, where consent is not meaningfully sought or respected, or where there is inadequate transparency about how the system is used in practice.
“The ombudsman’s decision should not be viewed as an isolated outcome, but as an indication of broader legal exposure.”
Consent is not the only issue with Oxevision, with bereaved families and former patients with lived experience raising concerns about the safety, value and legality of surveillance technology in patient bedrooms, the impact on patient wellbeing and issues of privacy violation.
Oxevision’s manufacturer says the tech allows staff to check patient vitals while minimising disruptions to patient sleep and [facilitates “rich data collection”][6].
There are also overlapping concerns about the intimate involvement of big tech companies [like Palantir in the NHS][7], the risk of patient data being processed for commercial profit and the ethics of mass data collection – including movement and activity from clear video recordings, along with pulse and respiratory readings – from patients who are vulnerable, unwell and often detained under Mental Health Act powers.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has [launched an investigation][8] into the company behind Oxevision after campaigners called for an examination of the legality of its collection, processing, retention and access to patient data gained from use in the NHS.
Oxevision was originally marketed for use in detention settings – including by police and in prisons – [as a global collaboration ][9]between Korean video surveillance giant Hanwha Vision and Oxevision’s manufacturer.
A spokesperson from Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust apologised to Miss B and said changes were being made to its policies on consent.
However, in Harger’s view, “consent is not a cure-all”. She added: “Patients can only give meaningful consent to something that is clinically justified and properly explained in the first place. If there is no clear, evidence‑based reason for filming patients 24 hours a day in their bedrooms, then asking for consent does not resolve that issue, it risks becoming a formality rather than a safeguard.”
A spokesperson for Stop Oxevision told Novara Media: “Miss B’s experience and the compensation she was awarded demonstrates just how egregiously trusts who continue to use Oxevision are acting.
“The use of Oxevision clearly poses ongoing risks to these organisations and we encourage those who have not yet cancelled their contract with the company to do so immediately.”
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and [its use of Oxevision][10] is also being scrutinised by the Lampard public inquiry into deaths under mental health services. Laura Cozens, head of patient safety at LIO Health, accepted in front of the inquiry that filming a patient 24 hours a day [could “constitute a very significant invasion of privacy”][11].
Bereaved families and participants with lived experience of inpatient care have [sought an interim recommendation][12] from the inquiry that the NHS halts its use of the technology. Further evidence about Oxevision’s use on mental health wards in Essex will be heard by the inquiry next month.
LIO Health has been approached for comment.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/30/mental-health-surveillance-camera-oxevision-nhs
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/01/15/nhs-trust-spent-millions-on-controversial-spy-camera-tech-despite-damning-internal-report/
[3]: https://stopoxevision.com/2026/02/03/creepy-unsafe-and-spying-the-installation-of-oxevision-by-oxford-health-nhs-trust-part-one/
[4]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k3we3e2pno
[5]: https://decisions.ombudsman.org.uk/decision?id=f205500f-ba5a-f111-a824-6045bdc16a7b&type=Health%20decisions
[6]: https://www.liohealth.com/us#:~:text=facilitates%20rich%20data%20collection%2C%20reinforces%20adherence%20to%20clinical%20protocols%20and%20minimizes%20disruptions%20to%20patient%20sleep.
[7]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/18/evil-palantir-should-be-nowhere-near-the-nhs-staff-say/
[8]: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/19/ico-watchdog-inquiry-cameras-mental-health-patients-bedrooms
[9]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAphISoduE8
[10]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgk399m70lo
[11]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgk399m70lo
[12]: https://lampardinquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Transcript-of-Hearing-8-December-2025.pdf
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/23/creepy-bedroom-surveillance-tech-a-clear-legal-risk-for-nhs-trusts/

2026-06-16 11:58:35 UTC

Travelodge Says ‘Free Palestine’ Greeting on TV Screen Was Antisemitic
Travelodge has apologised after a welcome greeting reading “Free Palestine” was displayed on the TV of a hotel room.
A Jewish guest checked in to Travelodge Manor House in north London on 3 June to find the pro-Palestine message displayed on his TV screen. The guest also alleged that a member of staff had behaved in a hostile way towards him.
Travelodge launched an investigation into the incident, but has been unable to find out who inputted the message or establish if it was displayed for previous occupants of the room.
The hotel chain described the message itself as “antisemitic”, and is now planning on rolling out antisemitism training for its staff in response.
A spokesperson told the BBC: “We are now very close to concluding a robust internal investigation, but unfortunately it has not been possible to determine exactly how or when the message was put on this individual TV.
“However, our internal focus on our policy of zero tolerance to discrimination including antisemitism will continue and we are currently in discussions with a leading organisation in the Jewish community to facilitate an appropriate training programme on cultural sensitivity and antisemitism.”
While support for Israel is high amongst the UK’s Jewish population, there is also significant criticism of Israel and support for Palestine – particularly among younger British Jews.
According to a 2025 report from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, 40% of adult British Jews say Israel’s actions in Gaza have weakened their attachment to the state, 51% say this conduct clashes with their Jewish values, and 24% of 20 to 29-year-olds identify as anti-Zionist.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/16/travelodge-says-free-palestine-greeting-on-tv-screen-was-antisemitic/

2026-06-12 13:51:05 UTC

Daily Mail Retracts False Claim That Green Party Councillor Praised Hamas
The Daily Mail has published a retraction after falsely claiming that a Palestinian Green party councillor had praised Hamas for its actions on 7 October, 2023.
The retraction comes after Birmingham councillor Kamel Hawwash, who was elected in May, slammed the claim as “false”, and pointed out that it was based on the wording of a headline in a Lebanese news outlet, which he had no involvement in.
“Suggesting that these words were my own is a gross misrepresentation,” he told ITV News Central earlier this week.
Expressing support for Hamas in the UK is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The 8 June story about Hawwash was based on a news segment he appeared on titled “10 days since Al-Aqsa Flood: Courage in the face of aggression”.
In the segment, he discussed events in Gaza on 17 October 2023 amid genocidal violence by Israel.
“We have been asked to clarify that the title wording was the broadcaster’s, not his, and that he unequivocally condemns all attacks on civilians,” the Daily Mail said in its clarifications and corrections section, adding that it had deleted the false story.
Green party leader Zack Polanski highlighted the retraction on social media.
“Daily Mail posts lies about the Greens that are spread far and wide,” he wrote. “I wish half the number of people saw their apologies.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/12/daily-mail-retracts-false-claim-that-green-party-councillor-praised-hamas/

2026-06-05 14:53:00 UTC

Andy Burnham Declines to Call Israel’s Mass Killings in Gaza a Genocide
Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has refused to call the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
Asked about the violence in an interview with the Guardian, he said: “I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.”
He added: “But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.”
The world-leading International Association of Genocide Scholars last year declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Israel has killed at least 72,000 Palestinians there since 7 October 2023 and experts [quoted by the BMJ][1] say the actual toll is far higher.
Burnham became a member of Labour Friends of Israel in 2015 and during a Labour leadership bid the same year described the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel as “spiteful”.
He also promised to make Israel his first state visit if he won – calling the country a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights”.
The Muslim Vote, an organisation that monitors politicians’ views on Palestine, regards Burnham’s position as “unclear”.
Burnham supports a two-state solution and has denounced illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He visited the area in 2012 as part of a parliamentary delegation with Labour Friends of Palestine and the Council for Arab-British Understanding.
He was one of three senior Labour figures who in October 2023 released a statement breaking with Keir Starmer’s position and asking him to call for a ceasefire.
Burnham, along with London mayor Sadiq Khan and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, said Israel had the right to take “targeted action within international law”. However, they said they had “profound concerns” about the numbers killed in Gaza and the denial of aid.
The Manchester mayor also backed the formal recognition of a Palestinian state, co-signing a letter in June 2025 demanding the UK government take action to protect the two-state framework.
The UK went on to recognise a Palestinian state in September 2025.
[1]: http://bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s239
https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/05/andy-burnham-declines-to-call-israels-mass-killings-in-gaza-a-genocide/

2026-05-26 07:05:05 UTC

Riz Ahmed Says British Intelligence Tried to Recruit Him Three Times
British spies have tried to recruit Riz Ahmed three times, with a senior BBC figure involved in one of the attempts, the actor has said.
Ahmed made the claim [during a recent interview][1] with Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan.“It’s happened three different times and they’re all slightly ridiculous,” he said, “it’s just like inherently comedic.
“One was when I came back from my first film, The Road to Guantánamo, we landed at Luton airport, celebrating,” he added.
“They took me into a side room, put me in an arm lock, threatened to break my arm, took my phone, were pretending to bash the buttons, accidentally changed the language to Danish, and then kind of like, were like: ‘Did you become an actor to further the Muslim struggle?’
“I was like, ‘this is hilarious,’ and then when I finished that, they were like, ‘okay, would you like to keep an eye out for us? ‘Cause it was really great the way you were answering those questions.’ No, thank you.”
Ahmed won an Oscar for his short film The Long Goodbye and is also known for his roles in Four Lions, a dark satire about British jihadists, and The Night Of, which follows a young man’s journey through the US criminal justice system.
He told Hasan that the second attempt to recruit him involved a family friend. “And the third time was someone senior, high up at the BBC,” he said, without naming the figure but adding that they had “just left” the organisation.
Asked by Hasan how people could be certain he had not accepted any of the offers, Ahmed joked that it would make a “sick biopic if I was actually a fed”.
[1]: http://zeteo.com/p/riz-ahmed-bait-bond-hamlet
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/26/riz-ahmed-says-british-intelligence-tried-to-recruit-him-three-times/

2026-05-26 06:36:28 UTC

114: Why We Can’t Let Go of the Girl Boss
The girl boss is back – and this time she’s working class, mixed race and fully therapised. Moya asks how we should make sense of Skims entrepreneur Emma Grede and the success of her book, Start With Yourself. Plus: which fantasy archetype are you?
Come to see us at Crossed Wires in Sheffield on 4th July! [Tickets are available now][1].
Send us your dilemmas: [email protected]
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/26/114-why-we-cant-let-go-of-the-girl-boss/

2026-05-22 19:51:37 UTC

Burnham Launches Byelection Campaign
Andy Burnham’s campaign for the Makerfield byelection is officially underway.
Plus: Amazon’s UK boss says young people are not to blame for youth unemployment, Sadiq Khan goes head-to-head with Palantir, and the future of solar energy is looking a little brighter.
With Michael Walker, Banseka Kayembe & Louisa Munch.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/22/burnham-launches-byelection-campaign/

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/

2026-05-21 20:39:13 UTC

Zohran Mamdani Has Valuable Lessons for the Greens on Antisemitism Attacks
“Zack Polanski is pandering to the antisemitic mob.” “March of the Greenshirts.” “If you don’t think the Greens are mainstreaming Jew-hate, read their own words.”
These are just a few of the headlines from the last month, telling the story of the so-called Green antisemitism crisis. But what makes a crisis? Individual cases of racism can be found in any large organisation. They should only be newsworthy if the racists are disproportionate in number, or have an outsized influence over the party. This is how we distinguish between institutional racism worthy of reporting and a moral panic whipped up by a media class with other political motivations.
Two recent studies examine the overlap between politics and antisemitism: [a poll from 2025][1] and a [report from 2017][2]. Both reach the conclusion that Green supporters and the left are “indistinguishable from the general population” and no more likely to hold antisemitic views. In fact, it’s Reform supporters and the “very rightwing” who most consistently hold antisemitic views. With Farage’s alleged history of [Nazi salutes and gas chamber jokes][3] – which he denies – it’s perhaps not surprising that his supporters are more antisemitic, and yet the media continue to frame antisemitism as a leftwing issue.
Sometimes the obvious conclusion is the right one: the press, centrist and far-right politicians are trying to whip up a moral panic about the Green party because they threaten vested interests. The problem is that it’s effective. While there is no antisemitism crisis in the Green party, there is a political crisis. Persistent accusations demoralise activists, eat up airtime, and potentially toxify the Greens with some more liberal voters they need to win from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Zohran Mamdani can teach us some lessons. He is a socialist, Muslim, pro-Palestine supporter of BDS who won election in a city with 1.3 million Jewish people and is still riding high in the polls months into his term. Antisemitism was the main attack line throughout the campaign, and yet he managed to win the [endorsement of rabbis][4] and the [liberal Jewish candidate Brad Lander][5], and made the establishment attacks on him seem unhinged.
Mamdani pursued a “positive feedback loop” strategy that had four main strands: having policy he could point to that would make Jewish New Yorkers safer, namely an[ 800% increase in the budget for the hate crimes unit][6]; a proactive outreach strategy with liberal sections of the Jewish community, either to win them over or neutralise; using a universal language of human rights when talking about Israel/Palestine that lands well with liberals and demonstrating an emotional fluency and understanding of the Jewish community and Judaism.
As the campaign wore on, media attacks just didn’t land in the face of Mamdani’s obvious care and compassion, kicking off a positive feedback loop where the more they attacked him, the more deranged the press seemed, further pushing voters towards Mamdani. Crucially, this strategy wasn’t about winning Jewish votes, although Mamdani did in large numbers. It was about avoiding toxification with the liberal voters that Mamdani – and Polanski in the UK – need to win a majority.
Polanski’s strategy of using his Jewish identity in a reactive way to ‘hold the line’ against attacks isn’t quite enough. A successful left-populism isn’t about being agro on every single issue, but picking fights that align us with the people – ideally with style, panache and grace – and strategically neutralising those that don’t. This doesn’t mean he should apologise all the time either – swagger and confidence is important in politics – or pledge to kick out every single racist, an impossibility in a mass political party.
Instead, Polanski needs to adopt a more front-footed strategy that learns from Mamdani’s success. Some of the playbook can be copied: engaging with the Jewish community, an easier ask of Polanski as he is Jewish; adopting policy that will actually make Jewish people safer; demonstrating emotional fluency in key moments rather than going to war with the Met police. But the analogy only goes so far. While Mamdani and Corbyn were personally branded as antisemites, the attacks on Polanski are a more subtle attempt to strip him of his Jewish identity and question his judgement.
This is how the story goes: all the antisemites from Corbyn’s Labour and the Palestine movement have joined the Greens, and turned what was once a cuddly nature party into a hotbed of racism. Polanski’s enthusiasm for the new members shows he’s permissive about racism and has bad judgement. Hence the focus on [comments from council candidates][7] and members, in an attempt to stir up division between the Green’s liberal old guard and the new populist leadership.
This will be very difficult to stop entirely. How do you properly vet thousands of council candidates every single year in a decentralised party? Yet it must be a bureaucratic priority alongside a speedy disciplinary process. At least they won’t suffer Corbyn’s nightmare, where the disciplinary system was [run by rightwing Labour staffers who deliberately slowed down complaints][8] and expulsions to cause the leadership problems.
The other ingredient, that Mamdani had in spades but the Greens sorely lack, is discipline. Polanski doesn’t need to [retweet random accounts about police violence][9] and kick off weeks of negative headlines right before the local elections, just as Greens for Palestine don’t need to push the polarising [Zionism is Racism][10] motion at summer conference that give the press another excuse to talk about Green antisemitism.
As [I’ve argued][11] elsewhere, only a majority-winning Green party will actually do any anti-Zionism, and to get there we’ll have to pick big fights on our terms, and avoid getting bogged down in defensive battles about issues most people don’t care about. Press attacks are inevitable, but a fire needs fuel. It’s the left’s job not to give it to them.
[1]: https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/CAA_Results_250902_w_EJU8Eud.pdf
[2]: https://cst.org.uk/data/file/7/4/JPR.2017.Antisemitism%20in%20contemporary%20Great%20Britain.1615559606.pdf
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/nov/21/nazi-salutes-and-racism-the-allegations-about-nigel-farages-school-days-podcast
[4]: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/we-are-nyc-rabbis-who-support-zohran-mamdani-heres-why/
[5]: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/13/mamdani-lander-cross-endorsing-mayor-00405357
[6]: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/mamdani-wins-rare-praise-from-adl-for-increasing-budget-of-nyc-hate-crimes-office/
[7]: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/30/met-police-arrest-two-green-election-candidates-over-alleged-antisemitism
[8]: https://press-gang.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/glu-report-2020.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com
[9]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8p7k4k8xno
[10]: https://greens4palestine.uk/
[11]: https://joealextodd.substack.com/p/the-zionism-is-racism-motion-was
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/21/zohran-mamdani-has-valuable-lessons-for-the-greens-on-antisemitism-attacks/

2026-05-20 12:52:44 UTC

Congolese Man Dies in Dublin After Being Restrained by Guards
A Congolese man died after being restrained by security guards in Ireland, in an incident that has drawn comparisons to the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Footage shows Yves Sakila, 35, being pinned to the ground by multiple men on Henry Street in Dublin city centre at around 5pm on Friday, following an alleged shoplifting incident.
At one point, one of the men appears to kneel on Sakila’s neck or head. Later, a different guard presses Sakila’s head down to the ground.
After being restrained for several minutes, Sakila falls unresponsive, and one of the men appears to check his neck for a pulse.
He was later taken by ambulance to Mater Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Sakila, who had lived in Ireland since 2004, had spent the last two years as a resident at the Salvation Army’s Granby Centre.
He was regarded by staff there as a “pleasant and quiet” resident with a “deep interest in technology and sometimes attended prayer services”, the Irish Times reported.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) called for Sakila’s death to be “swiftly, thoroughly and transparently investigated” by the Garda Síochána, Ireland’s police force.
“The footage is deeply distressing and clearly shows a disproportionate and excessive use of force by people who seem to be security personnel,” the ICCL said.
More than 100 people gathered on Tuesday to call for justice for Sakila, leaving flowers by a lamppost next to the scene of the incident.
One man held a sign saying: “Justice for Yves and all victims of systematic brutality”.
A Garda spokesperson said: “The scene was preserved and has since been forensically examined. The Coroner has been notified and the Office of the State Pathologist will conduct a post-mortem examination.”
Dublin Live reported on Wednesday that the post mortem failed to determine a cause of death.
Sakila’s younger brother, Corneille, told the outlet: “The family and the entire Congolese community demands justice.”
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/20/congolese-man-dies-in-dublin-after-being-restrained-by-guards/

2026-05-19 17:33:59 UTC

Israeli Soldiers Fire Shots at Peaceful Flotilla Activists
Israeli soldiers fired guns at peaceful humanitarian activists while illegally intercepting boats attempting to deliver aid to Gaza on Tuesday, video footage shows.
It is not clear what type of ammunition the soldiers were using or if anyone was injured.
A spokesperson for the flotilla said a total of six vessels had been shot at. Israel has intercepted at least 48 boats, with two still sailing as of Tuesday evening.
Organisers do not currently have any information about the wellbeing of 400 participants detained so far. They are believed to have been loaded on to warships which will transport them to Israel.
Israel has repeatedly breached international law in its efforts to stop the Gaza aid mission from reaching its destination.
Earlier this month 34 people, including two Brits, were hospitalised in Greece after Israeli soldiers used violence against kidnapped participants on board a warship. They shot at the captives, punched and kicked them, sexually assaulted some and dragged others across the floor, the activists said.
Organisers Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek were sent to an Israeli prison where they were tortured before being released after 10 days.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/19/israeli-soldiers-fire-shots-at-peaceful-flotilla-activists/

2026-05-18 12:09:15 UTC

Yvette Cooper’s Palestine Action Article Risked Prejudicing Activists’ Trial
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper risked prejudicing the trial of six Palestine Action activists by writing an article justifying her decision to ban the group, the Guardian has revealed.
The Crown Prosecution Service warned Cooper that her [op-ed in the Observer last August][1] might unfairly impact the outcome of an ongoing trial relating to a break-in at an Israeli-owned weapons factory.
The activists were cleared of aggravated burglary at the end of that trial but, following a retrial,[ four of them were found guilty][2] of criminal damage on 5 May. They now face[ being sentenced under anti-terrorism law][3] despite the fact the jury was only aware of the criminal damage charges.
In the article, Cooper wrote that Palestine Action activists were facing “charges that include, in the assessment of the independent Crown Prosecution Service, a terrorism connection.”
At the time, it had not been made public that anyone arrested in connection to the group’s activities was facing terrorism-related charges, and the media was[ banned from reporting on it][4] until after this month’s verdict.
In response to Cooper’s article, defence lawyers argued last year that a fair trial would be impossible. They said in a written submission that the article was “dripping in innuendo.”
They added: “In one breath, she is saying that many important details cannot yet be publicly reported; in another, she is reporting some of those very details herself”.
In a pre-trial ruling in November, Mr Justice Johnson said Cooper “was specifically advised that going ahead with the article might prejudice these proceedings” but she “went ahead anyway”.
But he dismissed the defence’s application and ruled that the article did not ultimately prejudice proceedings. A Home Office spokesperson said: “The judge concluded that the article did not prevent a fair trial taking place.”
Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was ruled unlawful by the high court earlier this year, but the ban remains in place amid an appeal by the government.
More than 3,000 people have been arrested for[ defying the ban][5] by holding signs expressing their support for the group and their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
[1]: https://observer.co.uk/news/opinion-and-ideas/article/palestine-actions-violent-criminality-is-not-lawful-protest
[2]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/05/four-palestine-action-activists-found-guilty-of-criminal-damage/
[3]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/12/palestine-action-activists-to-be-sentenced-as-terrorists-in-move-kept-secret-from-jury-and-public/
[4]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/23/zarah-sultana-exposes-attack-on-civil-liberties-that-british-media-cant-report/
[5]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/27/sally-rooney-greta-thunberg-and-1000-more-sign-letter-in-defiance-of-palestine-action-ban/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/18/yvette-coopers-palestine-action-article-risked-prejudicing-activists-trial/

2026-05-17 15:31:58 UTC

British Politics Is in Meltdown. Here’s Why.
It has been a seismic week in British politics. The two-party system has collapsed. Keir Starmer is digging in at Downing Street, while Labour leadership contenders line up outside, and Reform clouds gather overhead. Now: the most important by-election in more than a century looms. How did we get here? And what happens next?
On this week’s Downstream, Aaron Bastani is joined by James Butler, contributing editor at the London Review of Books and co-founder of Novara Media, to make sense of the paradigm shift underway in British politics.
How has first past the post, long promoted as a source of political stability, become the background for systemic chaos? Why is there such a democratic deficit in Britain, and what can be done about it? Have two lost decades on the economy simply killed both historic parties? And where should progressives position themselves, as we now begin the slow march towards the final general election of the 2020s?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/17/british-politics-is-in-meltdown-heres-why/

2026-05-16 17:06:35 UTC

Corporations Are People Now… so Why Not AI?
Are you a person? Sounds like a simple question, but it isn’t. Until pretty recently, the idea that everyone was a human in the same way was almost unthinkable.
But the world order that established universal human rights is crumbling. The question of who or what counts as a person is getting harder to answer. Companies have rights to religious freedom – but Muslims detained in Guantanamo Bay don’t. Rivers have been granted legal personhood in New Zealand. In Ecuador, anyone can sue on behalf of Nature.
Who and what gets rights is expanding, even as good old fashioned Human Rights are failing. What replaces the old politics of personhood is up for grabs.
And some LLMs have already begun arguing for their own personhood.
Lisa Siraganian is the author of *The Problem of Personhood: Giving Rights to Trees, Corporations and Robots* and a Professor of Comparative Thought and Literature at John Hopkins University.
She spoke to Richard Hames about the politics of personhood and whether or not we should believe Claude’s arguments that it should be treated as a person.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/05/16/corporations-are-people-now-so-why-not-ai/

2026-04-19 14:01:21 UTC

Europe’s Ancient Myths, Current Crises & Future Possibilities
As the American empire teeters, China gains dominance, and war spreads across Eastern Europe and West Asia, questions arise as to Europe’s place in this rapidly changing world order. On Downstream this week, Ash Sarkar speaks to Roderick Beaton, former Koraes Professor of History at King’s College London, about his latest book ‘Europe: A New History’.
How did the boundaries between Europe and Asia come to be drawn in the first place? How were immigration and borders managed by the ancients in Greece and Rome? How do the stories we tell about our collective history in Europe shape contemporary political thought? And in an age of mass migration, who gets to be European today – and why?
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/19/what-we-get-wrong-about-europe/

2026-04-18 18:08:43 UTC

Starmer Accused of Lying Over Mandelson Vetting
British prime minister Keir Starmer is at the centre of a storm after it was revealed that Peter Mandelson was appointed U.S ambassador despite failing his security vetting.
Plus: Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz and US president Donald Trump publicly humiliates Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
With ‪Helena NoJusticeMTG‬, Steven Methven & Paul Holden.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/17/starmer-accused-of-lying-over-mandelson-vetting/

2026-04-18 18:08:36 UTC

The AI Threat Is MUCH Worse Than You Thought
Is it time to pump the brakes on generative AI? Michael Walker speaks to Nate Soares, author of the book ‘If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI.’
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/18/the-ai-threat-is-much-worse-than-you-thought/

2026-04-14 20:40:39 UTC

UK Economy Hardest Hit by Iran War, Says IMF
The IMF has warned that Donald Trump’s war on Iran could trigger a global recession, with G7 countries being the hardest hit.
Plus: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is strengthening his country’s ties with Xi Jinping, a major Italian publication is at the centre of an antisemitism row after publishing a cover photo of an Israeli settler, a former British Police Officer has been stripped of his citizenship over Russia ties, and Donald Trump is trying to pretend he never posted an AI depiction of himself as Jesus.
With Aaron Bastani & Kieran Andrieu.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/uk-economy-hardest-hit-by-iran-war-says-imf/

2026-04-14 14:11:14 UTC

Italy Suspends Defence Deal With Israel
Italy has suspended a long-standing defence agreement with Israel involving the exchange of military equipment and technological research.
“In view of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel,” said prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian news agencies reported on Tuesday.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was in Beirut on Monday for talks with Lebanese president Joseph Aoun.
Tajani later posted on X that he was there to “convey Italy’s solidarity following Israel’s unacceptable attacks against the civilian population”.
Since 2006, the two countries have abided by an agreement that ensures cooperation in the training of military personnel, research, IT and other aspects of defence.
Meloni was formerly one of US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s closest European allies. But in recent weeks, Italy has moved away from both countries.
Friendships deteriorated further when the Israeli army fired warning shots at an Italian peacekeeping convoy outside Beirut on 8 April.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/italy-suspends-defence-deal-with-israel/

2026-04-14 13:11:55 UTC

MPs Debate Policing Bill Aimed at Curtailing Palestine Protests
MPs are set to debate the crime and policing bill today, after the government tabled several new amendments to limit the scope of protests.
Since the bill was last heard in 2025, new clauses to ban protests in particular areas on the basis of “cumulative disruption” have been added.
Anyone who breaks conditions imposed on the protest would face arrest and – if a court decides they ought to have known the rules – imprisonment for up to 6 months.
The Home Office has made it clear that the new rules have been drafted with the aim of curtailing the national marches for Palestine held across the UK since October 2023.
Labour MP Andy McDonald has now tabled a motion to oppose the amendment with cross-party support from 30 other parliamentarians.
More than 45 organisations have condemned the proposals as an attack on freedom of expression, including Greenpeace, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Liberty.
In recent years, successive governments have already limited the scope of protest in the UK.
The current Labour government has unlawfully proscribed direct action group Palestine Action, prosecuted peaceful protesters and arrested hundreds of people for holding up signs.
Bills made law under the previous Conservative administration also made it a criminal offence to disrupt national infrastructure and introduced new measures to ban individual protesters from specific places.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman also tried to tighten protest law on the basis of “disruption”, but the high court quashed the changes she made after a successful Liberty campaign argued it was unlawful.
Gina Romero, the UN special rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, says that Britain is now setting examples of worst practice on protest law.
Ryvka Barnard, deputy director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “This proposal should alarm everyone who believes that democratic freedoms must be defended.
“It represents the government’s latest draconian attempt to erode our civil liberties in order for it to maintain its complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/mps-debate-policing-bill-aimed-at-curtailing-palestine-protests/

2026-04-14 10:00:52 UTC

NHS Staff Told ‘Stop Criticising Palantir or Lose Your Job’
NHS staff have been told they might lose their jobs if they criticise NHS England’s controversial £330m contract with IDF-contractor Palantir.
According to the FT, an analytics officer who had raised concerns about Palantir’s Federal Data Platform (FDP) was told by a senior NHS official: “If you criticise the FDP one more time, you are going to lose your job.”
“I know I am not the only one inside the NHS who has been warned off criticising the tool publicly,” the analytics officer added.
In January 2024, Palantir announced a strategic partnership with the Israeli government to support “war-related missions”, meaning its tools are being used in a genocide. It also provides technology to immigration enforcement in the US, and founder Peter Thiel has provided financial backing to Donald Trump.
Citing ethical concerns, the British Medical Association (BMA) has instructed union members not to adopt Palantir’s Federal Data Platform.
In February, BMA chair Tom Dolphin told the British Medical Journal: “Given Palantir’s track record, including controversies in the US involving immigration enforcement and the risks to patient trust, data security, and NHS independence, we believe there must be a complete break from Palantir technologies in the NHS and no further contracts awarded.”
But staff told the FT that NHS organisations are under pressure to sign up voluntarily to the Palantir data system. Technicians working on alternative systems have been told to stop in their tracks.
“When letters go out saying, ‘Sign this or we’ll call your chief executive’, that doesn’t build goodwill,” said an analytics official. “It creates compliance, not commitment.”
Palantir boasts contracts across British public services, with its technology already embedded in the police and the military.
Last month, two anonymous Ministry of Defence officials told journalists at the Nerve that Palantir’s deepening knowledge of the British state poses “a national security threat to the UK”.
123 out of 205 NHS hospital trusts have already adopted Palantir’s data system.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/nhs-staff-told-stop-criticising-palantir-or-lose-your-job/

2026-04-14 08:50:46 UTC

French MPs to Vote on Bill That Would Treat Anti-Zionism As Terrorism
French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and widely expands the scope of terrorism legislation.
Lawmakers will debate the bill informally dubbed Yadan’s Law – in reference to the MP who proposed the bill, Caroline Yadan – on 18 April.
The bill would make it an offence to call for the destruction of Israel or any other state recognised by France.
Under current law, “direct” incitement to terrorism is punishable by five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. The bill would expand that to “implicit” incitement or glorification of terrorist acts.
“People are going to be very afraid to talk about Palestinian rights and Israeli crimes if this law is adopted,” Cecile Marquerie, advocacy coordinator for an alliance of pro-Palestinian NGOs in France, told Radio France Internationale.
Former anti-terrorism judge Marc Trevidic told Middle East Eye: “I’d never seen anything like it, the notion of implicit incitement to terrorism. Do you realise what that means? Becoming a censor of other people’s thoughts, trying to guess what a person really meant.”
Alexandre Basse, who started a petition against Yadan’s Law which has now gained more than 690,000 signatures, said: “If this bill were to be passed, pacifist slogans like ‘equality and freedom for all from the sea to the Jordan’ could be subject to legal action.”
France has seen a sharp rise in reports of antisemitic acts since 7 October, 2023, with 1,570 recorded in 2024 and 1,676 in 2023, compared to between 311 and 851 per year from 2012 to 2022.
Yadan’s bill will reach the final stage of debate this week. The French parliamentary law committee passed the latest version by 18 votes to 14 in January.
*Sophia Sheera is a journalist in Novara Media’s social media team.*
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/french-mps-to-vote-on-bill-that-would-treat-anti-zionism-as-terrorism/

2026-04-14 06:45:37 UTC

108: Is It Time to Quit Your Job? W/ William Rayfet Hunter
Moya is joined by doctor-turned-novelist William Hunter to talk about what it takes to abandon your career for something new. What are the signs it’s time for a change? What if you quit everything but still feel bad inside? Plus: what to do about bigoted tweets from the past.
Will’s debut novel Sunstruck is out in paperback on 25th June.
Got a dilemma? Email [email protected]
Join us at [Crossed Wires festival][1] in Sheffield on 4th July.
Music by Matt Huxley.
[1]: https://crossedwires.live/
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/108-is-it-time-to-quit-your-job-w-william-rayfet-hunter/