Despite rising pint prices, pubs may be making just pennies in profit from every pound spent. And so, like everywhere else, prices at the pub are rising. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers. Pint profits plunge New research suggests that for every £1 spent on a pint in 2026, the typical drinks-focussed pub could make just 3p in profit. This is down almost half from last year. To understand where money spent at the pub actually goes, experts from money.co.uk analysed cost data from the British Beer and Pub Association. They modelled how operating expenses have shifted year-on-year, using growth trends,…

This is genuinely incredible and says SO SO MUCH about the perception of China in the West. This is the #1 news show in France, and the host – David Pujadas – asks the pundits around the table (a sample of the top media figures in France) if they can name 3 living Chinese… pic.twitter.com/gkkWxTKfni — Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 29, 2026 This selection of French media pundits was offered a simple challenge: name three living Chinese people. As you’d expect, a familiar response came: Xi Jinping; then… nothing. Rien. Juste l’embarras. These are not some random fellows interviewed vox-pop on…

Pragmatism does not mean grifting. Pragmatism is a serious philosophical movement. At its heart is a definition of truth. It seeks an honest answer to the question, “Does this work, and what practical difference does it make in our lives?” If it’s a short-term gain at a long-term cost, it is not pragmatic. If it enriches a small group of people at the cost of serious economic damage, it’s not pragmatic. At least not in the context of a democratic government. Pragmatism is one of the most abused words in politics. What should mean, “Will this work?” is weaponised to mean,…

New-ish GB Energy has wasted no time siphoning off public money to private companies. Scottish paper the National has revealed that up to £20m of taxpayer money is going straight to consultancy firms. GB Energy: corporate capture Under energy secretary Ed Miliband’s guidance, London-based firms Deloitte and Baringa Partners are gaining lucrative contracts. They’re to handle day-to-day operations of Labour’s flagship — supposedly publicly-owned — corporation GB Energy. The National has revealed that these contracts, signed on 1 May, awarded the two firms a shared programme — worth up to £10m each — in which they will: be responsible for “organisational set…

CMAT has powerfully taken aim at online trolls by showing how people direct disproportionate levels of abuse at artists who are not “thin” compared with other performers, such as Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean. This is in response to attacks the singer received online following her performance last week at BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend. As a result of this unwarranted torrent of abuse, CMAT – whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – took to Instagram as she felt: compelled to wade in and speak for myself. Her disgust isn’t hers alone – with fans having also shared their disgust…

Labour’s Defence Universities Alliance (DUA) would be a “a dangerous militarisation of higher education“, according to the campaign group Demilitarise Education (dED), which is calling on universities, students, staff, trade unions, and local communities to oppose the initiative.  Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 The DUA was initially announced in September 2025 in the Defence Industrial Strategy, which said:  We will establish a Defence Universities Alliance (DUA) to form a more strategic relationship between defence and the higher education sector.  The DUA will build on existing connections between the sectors to support careers in the defence sector and encourage ethical defence and security…

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released the interim report for the Milburn Review on Youth Unemployment yesterday. The report was an exercise in how the DWP has a compliant corporate media at its beck and call. But as always, we need to look at the parts of the report the DWP didn’t want shouted from the rooftops. Corporate shills marching to the DWP’s beat The corporate media, of course, had a field day yesterday getting to crow about the ‘lost generation’, especially those with mental health conditions. At one point, both the BBC and Guardian were running live rolling…

Jaanik Sinner, the world number one and heavy favourite at Roland Garos, was eliminated in the second round after suffering severe cramp while serving for the match. He led comfortably 6-3, 6-2, 5-1, then his body then gave out and Juan Manuel Cerundo fought back to win in five sets. The tables turn Sinner dominated the opening two sets and moved to 5-1 in the third, appearing own course for a routine finish. Then the match turned, flipping the script entirely. Sinner lost 15 consecutive points across the third set. He called for a medical timeout and received treatment mid game.…

Russian cluster munitions have been found in a Malian village. Mali is a signatory to the cluster bomb convention, though Russia is not. Russia’s mercenary group Africa Corps is currently operating in the west African state where a civil war is taking place. Investigative group Bellingcat identified the munitions in a 26 May report: Unexploded Russian-made cluster munition bomblets, as well as damage consistent with bomblet impacts, have been found in a village in northern Mali – despite the West African country being a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which prohibits their use. Radio France International first…

Under Phase One of Trump’s 20 Point “Peace Plan” for Gaza, Israeli occupation forces withdrew to a pre-designated line, the “yellow line”. During the ‘ceasefire,’ one in every three Palestinians killed were east of the yellow line The yellow line separates Gaza into two zones, and has crammed more than two million Palestinians into a narrow coastal strip of land. The land to the west of the yellow line is controlled by Hamas. That to the east is under the direct control of the Israel occupation’s military and, in October 2025, this area made up approximately 53 percent of the Gaza…

The friendly match between the Republic of Ireland national football team and the Qatar national team on Thursday evening turned into a platform for public protest against the anticipated match against Israel in the UEFA Nations League. Irish fans threw soft tennis balls bearing the Palestinian flag onto the pitch in the 10th and 20th minutes, prompting the referee to temporarily suspend the match amidst an atmosphere charged with political messages and solidarity with Gaza. The fans also wrote the phrase “Stop the match ” and raised Palestinian flags and banners demanding the cancellation of the Ireland-Israel match, reflecting a surge…

Founded as it is on a murderous, racist ideology — and run by a man using constant war to stay out of prison — Israel has no intention of allowing peace to break out between the US and Iran. Israel’s fascist security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir boasted that Israel would “not allow” a deal between Trump and Tehran to go through. The US promptly attacked Iran again in another appalling, but not shocking, display of bad faith. But the apartheid colony isn’t satisfied — and has been demanding that the US murder Iran’s chief negotiator, highly-educated parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Tehran…

The Trump regime has put UN human rights advocate Francesca Albanese back under punitive sanctions for her continued opposition to and scrutiny of Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. US judge Richard Leon had ordered the lifting of sanctions after legal action by her husband and daughter, who are US citizens, but the government appealed. Now a panel of three Washington DC appeal judges have put an “administrative stay” on Leon’s ruling. They described the stay as “procedural” only and insisted that they were making no judgment on the merits of Leon’s decision or the Trump regime’s appeal. But the White…

The massive issues Keir Starmer ignored about Peter Mandelson went far beyond the disgraced Mandelson’s fan-boying of serial child-rapist Jeffrey Epstein. New information from “multiple sources” indicates that UK Security Vetting (UKVI) raised concerns about numerous Mandelson relationships. These included his long-known closeness to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, links to Chinese finance minister Lan Fo’an and to Israeli military intelligence boss Tamir Hayman. All were flagged before Starmer appointed Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US — and ignored just as much Mandelson’s ardour for Epstein. A fourth compromising — and British — figure was also flagged, but has not yet…

US president Donald Trump just threatened to bomb Oman, a US ally. Increasingly humiliated by his failing war against Iran, Trump has become more and more erratic. Oman was mediating the last US-Iran deal which Trump broke in February under pressure from Israel. Trump was waffling about a potential Pakistan-brokered peace deal with Iran when he made the bizarre threat. Tehran has said it wants Oman to help impose tolls on a re-opened Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy corridor. Trump, whose attack predictably led to the strait being closed in the first place, had a little tantrum about the idea:…

Westminster is making Scotland complicit in Trump’s illegal, Zionist-led war on Iran. That is: concretely, materially and operationally complicit, via a publicly owned airport in South Ayrshire. Scotland’s Government claims it cannot legally close Prestwick to US Air Forces without Westminster, but the UK Government will not publicly account for its decisions. Westminster — An obfuscated Labour letter In early March, Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson wrote to Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, seeking urgent reassurance. The Scottish Government-owned airport, Robertson noted, was “not provided information about the purpose or mission of the aircraft using their facilities.” He…

Scotland is apparently complicit in Trump’s illegal, Zionist-led war on Iran. That is: concretely, materially and operationally complicit, via a publicly owned airport in South Ayrshire. Scotland — flights implicated in war crimes The National‘s analysis of flight tracking records reveals that US military aircraft departed Glasgow Prestwick Airport at least eight times in May 18–25. These seven days preceded Monday’s renewed strikes on Iran. Among aircraft identified were the C-17 Globemaster and the Lockheed C-130T Hercules. Both are heavy military transport planes, flying onwards to staging posts including Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily. The Sicilian bas is a key hub…

The settler-colonial state’s far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, has openly stated Israel’s intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Genocidal intentions have being central to Israeli state ideology. Lawyers and human rights groups attacked Katz. The Guardian reported on 29 May: Katz said the mass departure of Palestinians from Gaza would go hand in hand with the exclusion of Hamas from power. Katz himself said: We committed that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily, and so it shall be, and also the voluntary emigration plan from Gaza will be implemented. Everything at the right timing and in the right manner. Yet…