Author: Cameron Baillie

This author has written 73 articles

Right-wing press blame anything but human-made climate change for deadly wildfires

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  • Post last modified:4 August 2026
Right-wing press blame anything but human-made climate change for deadly wildfires

Right-wing newspapers are blaming Europe’s blazing wildfires on anything but climate change and its human-made causes. As almost every scientist (>99%) agrees, fossil fuels primarily cause climate change. But that doesn’t stop the likes of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Times, Telegraph, or Daily Mail from deflecting beyond parody. (As a reminder, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp owns the first two of these.) Europe is burning, badly As wildfires spread across Europe, hundreds of thousands are evacuating homes. We’re on track to see 500,000 hectares burned within weeks. The fires have killed at least 32 people, but the heat is the real killer. In…

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Manchester’s lowest-ever election turnout results broken down

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  • Post last modified:4 August 2026
Manchester’s lowest-ever election turnout results broken down

After a string of high-profile elections, Greater Manchester has elected another Labour mayor in Bev Craig. On the face of things, that might seem like nothing much of a change. But having been around Gorton and Denton, local elections, Makerfield and the mayoral, I can assure readers that things have changed in the region. For progressives, that change isn’t looking too great. Burnham got over 420k votes last time so 251,449 is not good for Labour. — Lady Jane Simkins (@JaneSim66) July 31, 2026 Manchester experiences poor voter turnout The most striking statistic is undoubtedly dire voter turnout on Thursday. Only…

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Property and poverty dominate Manchester’s mayoral election politics

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  • Post last modified:1 August 2026
Property and poverty dominate Manchester’s mayoral election politics

Two phrases — housing and affordability — sung out across Greater Manchester’s mayoral election. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they’ve dominated more than anything else in manifestos, hustings and social media alike. In my view, these two terms are polished, neoliberal-era euphemisms for what we’re really talking about. These underlying, harder-hitting phenomena are actually: property (ownership) and poverty (often, lack of ownership). I think it’s time that we collectively note that point, first things first. But even if there’s a hesitation to talk about property and poverty as such, they are still being discussed. One more remarkable aspect of my weeks covering this mayoral…

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Property and poverty dominate Manchester’s mayoral election politics

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  • Post last modified:1 August 2026
Property and poverty dominate Manchester’s mayoral election politics

Two phrases — housing and affordability — sung out across Greater Manchester’s mayoral election. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they’ve dominated more than anything else in manifestos, hustings and social media alike. In my view, these two terms are polished, neoliberal-era euphemisms for what we’re really talking about. These underlying, harder-hitting phenomena are actually: property (ownership) and poverty (often, lack of ownership). I think it’s time that we collectively note that point, first things first. But even if there’s a hesitation to talk about property and poverty as such, they are still being discussed. One more remarkable aspect of my weeks covering this mayoral…

Continue ReadingProperty and poverty dominate Manchester’s mayoral election politics

‘Scandal within a scandal’: DWP fails to begin Post Office convictions review

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  • Post last modified:31 July 2026
‘Scandal within a scandal’: DWP fails to begin Post Office convictions review

The UK government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is still failing families affected by the potentially wrongful Post Office convictions scandal. It’s now almost 12 months since the DWP first announced its review into its infamous handling of prosecutions against Post Office staff. Yet no review has begun and still no reviewer is even appointed. The widow of a sub-postmaster told Sky News she is “extremely” frustrated at the stalling of the review. It is supposed to investigate the (mis)handled prosecutions of multiple Post Office staff. The DWP was involved in bringing prosecutions against roughly 100 Post Office staff from…

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‘Darkest hour’: Scottish government sends aid to Palestine and Venezuela

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  • Post last modified:1 August 2026
‘Darkest hour’: Scottish government sends aid to Palestine and Venezuela

The First Minister of Scotland, SNP leader John Swinney, has announced an aid package of £500,000 to Palestinians. Swinney stated online that the aid fund aims to: support access to food, healthcare, clean water and shelter. The funding will come in addition to £600,000 already provided last year. This has reportedly assisted over two million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. In times of an unprecedented genocide, in Gaza and beyond, any amount of such valuable aid is desperately needed. First Minister @JohnSwinney met Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Dr Husam Zomlot and discussed the situation in Gaza and the…

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Green Manchester candidate vows review of police role in raids, if elected

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  • Post last modified:29 July 2026
Green Manchester candidate vows review of police role in raids, if elected

Greater Manchester Green mayoral candidate Geraldine Coggins has announced that she would join Green-led London councils in Lambeth and Lewisham in commissioning a review of policing in immigration raids. Coggins announced the plans at a cost-of-living themed hustings organised by GM Coalition of Disabled People, Acorn Tenants Union, GM Living Income Campaign, and GM Immigration Aid Unit. As mayor, she would also be the Police and Crime Commissioner for the city-region. (Her full manifesto is here.) Lewisham became the first council to pass a motion pledging not to use council resources or public money to assist with any raids “where legally…

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Labour and Reform dodge Manchester mayoral election community hustings

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  • Post last modified:28 July 2026
Labour and Reform dodge Manchester mayoral election community hustings

With days to go in Greater Manchester’s historic mayoral by-election, both Labour and Reform candidates stand accused of dodging multiple community hustings. One was a hustings organised on 26 July by the Forum of Muslim Organisations (FMO). Then there was the Mill hustings on 27 July. Another was hosted by grassroots community power organisation ACORN, which hosted its cost-of-living and housing hustings on Tuesday 28 July alongside GM Immigration Aid Unit, and the GM Coalition of Disabled People. There was also an LGBTQ+ hustings, where an audience member at ACORN’s hustings pointed out that “the millionaire parties” failed to show up. Before…

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Greater Manchester’s working class rallies against far-right advance

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  • Post last modified:27 July 2026
Greater Manchester’s working class rallies against far-right advance

Across Greater Manchester, the last few years have seen a rise in openly racist street activity and anti-Muslim attacks. Unprecedented electoral success for Reform in the recent local elections met and likely spurred this on. This mirrors familiar trends across Britain, wider Europe and internationally. Open fascism swells in Greater Manchester The first half of 2026 saw far-right group Britain First call two major national mobilisations on the streets of central Manchester. There, Greater Manchester Police were ‘disproportionately’ hostile towards antifascists and counter-demonstration organisers, rather than countering openly fascist elements. Further evidence, if it were needed, that the British state’s hired…

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The next Young Greens’ co-chairs will be anti-Zionist

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  • Post last modified:19 July 2026
The next Young Greens’ co-chairs will be anti-Zionist

The candidates bidding to become co-chairpersons of the Green Party’s youth wing, Young Greens, have unanimously affirmed that ‘Zionism is racism‘, the Canary can reveal, signalling an anti-Zionist stance for the national party. Each candidate — Cyn Muthoni, Jo Dowbor, Isaac Short, Haydn Osborne-Brookes and Elliot Retzepis — made their position clear at the hustings for co-chair selection at this year’s youth conference. The question came from an audience member regarding the party’s ongoing debate on the proposal, with one candidate promising to re-run the motion at the Green Party conference in autumn. Canary reporter, Cameron Baillie, is reporting from the…

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Would Ann Widdecombe have cared about someone showing they hate her?

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  • Post last modified:18 July 2026
Would Ann Widdecombe have cared about someone showing they hate her?

An Aberdeen University staff member has been charged with an offence after posting insensitive comments online about Ann Widdecombe‘s death. Web developer Heather Herbert called the 78-year-old politician’s death “good news” on Bluesky.  She also posted that she hoped Widdecombe had died a “painful death” before it emerged her death was being treated as murder. The late former Tory MP and Reform UK spokesperson was found dead in her home on 9 July. A 28-year-old man was arrested and re-arrested in Yorkshire in connection with her death, which is now being investigated as terrorism-related.  Reform UK scramble to make themselves main…

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WATCH: Fox News host jokes about US military rape complex in Asia

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  • Post last modified:18 July 2026
WATCH: Fox News host jokes about US military rape complex in Asia

Fox News journalist Jesse Watters has gone viral after joking about US military “wild animals” overdosing on testosterone and attacking women.  Smiling wildly, Watters joked on live TV: The guys that don’t need it [testosterone] are gonna take it — to triple boost. And then they’re gonna get out there, and women on base — you guys better be careful. Uh-huh! Port calls — women, eh-he, in Asia — you better be careful. Because these guys are going to be wild animals and you better watch out! Jesse Watters ‘scumbag’ The internet roundly denounced the vile comments, which were blatantly implying…

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“No to Manchesterism built on the backs of renters” — tenants tell Burnham ‘freeze the rents’

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  • Post last modified:17 July 2026
“No to Manchesterism built on the backs of renters” — tenants tell Burnham ‘freeze the rents’

Greater Manchester Tenants Union (GMTU) are holding a demonstration to demand rent freezes from incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Principles and evidence alike support their claims. GMTU’s demo takes place on 17 July at Albert Square at 6pm outside Manchester Town Hall. The event follows the first ever demonstration yesterday outside the proposed site for Burnham’s planned ‘Number 10 North’. Some 20+ organisations attended, demanding ‘More Than Manchesterism‘. The new PM officially takes office on 20 June, having waltzed the Labour leadership remarkably uncontested. He replaces woefully unpopular Keir Starmer, who cried goodbye earlier this week. So much for Number 10…

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Welsh Reform politician caught lying about fossil fuel interests

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  • Post last modified:16 July 2026
Welsh Reform politician caught lying about fossil fuel interests

Welsh Reform UK politician Cai Parry-Jones MS has been caught out lying about his fossil fuel interests. Another anti-Net Zero campaigner in Reform, Parry-Jones strongly denied the claim that his share holdings benefit from climate deregulation. He was quickly shown up for it. To make matters worse, this all took place as Wales and the UK grappled with another intense heatwave. Some 2,700 people already died across the UK from extreme heat exposure. In summer 2024, in just five days, at least 557 Welsh people died of extreme heat. This is our climate-changed future. Here’s yet another story of right-wing climate-reality denialism,…

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Outrage as Reform plot to criminalise Gaelic and Scots election materials

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  • Post last modified:14 July 2026
Outrage as Reform plot to criminalise Gaelic and Scots election materials

Reform UK has sparked outrage after putting forward plans which would criminalise election campaign materials in Gaelic and Scots. Another case of English supremacy within the Union… The hard-right political party has endorsed plans to criminalise all political materials that are not written or spoken in English or Welsh. Nigel Farage‘s party has moved an amendment to a Westminster bill that would, if passed, make campaigning in other national languages illegal. If Reform’s amendment to the Representation of the People Bill passes, those breaching the law could face  jail time for up to six months. Those prosecuted could also face unspecified…

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Manchester mayoral election — Greens slam ‘unserious’ Labour as Reform ‘go to war’

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  • Post last modified:13 July 2026
Manchester mayoral election — Greens slam ‘unserious’ Labour as Reform ‘go to war’

The Green Party tells the Canary that Labour’s “contempt for Greater Manchester residents” is on full display as the mayoral election looms soon. The party slams Labour for failing to yet deliver a costed manifesto, saying that Greater Manchester voters need to know what they are voting for. It’s now just over two weeks until Greater Manchester goes to the polls on 30 July. Postal votes are already landing on doorsteps for the single most significant ongoing election in English politics outside of Westminster. But Labour’s candidate, Bev Craig, has failed to publish a manifesto yet. Even Reform UK, despite Clacton-caused…

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US puppet Syrian ‘president’ silent on Zionist occupation of Golan Heights

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  • Post last modified:11 July 2026
US puppet Syrian ‘president’ silent on Zionist occupation of Golan Heights

Imagine the significance of what Donald Trump said about the Golan! The President of the United States effectively reaffirmed Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Golan Heights while Abu Mohammad al-Julani sat beside him without a single objection, not even a reminder that… pic.twitter.com/f6RlXdpmuw — Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) July 9, 2026 The US-UK-Zionist ally, former ISIS-linked Syrian terror leader al-Jolani, recently attended another intimate US-NATO press conference. In the clip, Ahmed al-Sharaa (as he since restyled himself) silently capitulates Syria’s territory to Zionist occupation. Trump reaffirms Israel’s illegal occupation and annexation of the Golan Heights, while Abu Mohammad al-Jolani sat beside…

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Cross-party MPs urge Labour to drop £330m Palantir NHS contract

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  • Post last modified:11 July 2026
Cross-party MPs urge Labour to drop £330m Palantir NHS contract

Yet another parliamentary oversight committee has urged the Labour government to drop its multimillion-pound NHS contract with Palantir. The controversial firm’s contract is valued at £330 million. The health and social care select committee joins the science and technology committee in shunning Palantir. The latter stated the need for the government to find alternative technology partnerships in June. The allegedly war-criminal US spyware firm is steadily working into the UK’s National Health Service. It claims to provide streamlining technology and data services, but MPs cite “serious mistrust”. Critics accuse the notorious spy-tech company of enabling genocide in Palestine and powering ICE’s…

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Chronically distrusted Met Police inundated with FOI requests

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  • Post last modified:8 July 2026
Chronically distrusted Met Police inundated with FOI requests

London’s controversial Metropolitan Police force is apparently inundated with a “significant volume” of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Public trust in the Met regularly ranks as very low. An automated response, seen by the Canary, to one journalist’s FOI request reveals that the Met is unable to handle the number of inquiries it receives. FOI requests are made by the press and public alike. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), public bodies and government organisations are legally bound to transparency access. The FOIA stipulates a 20-day timeframe for bodies to respond within. The automated response, shared with the Canary…

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Scottish SNP government announces popular AI data centre moratorium

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  • Post last modified:7 July 2026
Scottish SNP government announces popular AI data centre moratorium

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has announced plans to support a pause on all new AI data centre developments, the National has revealed. The move comes after many months of community protests against proposed sites across the country. There has been both grassroots and political pushback, including from several MSPs from various parties. The SNP-run government of Scotland will join calls from the Scottish Greens to support a moratorium on AI data centre developments. The moratorium will be accepted following a vote by the SNP’s National Council, a key decision-making body in the party’s organisation. The two parties hold a clear…

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