Welsh Reform politicians are embarrassing themselves in the Senedd

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  • Post last modified:3 July 2026

Reform’s Wales representatives in the Senedd are showing themselves up in multiple serious discussions. Supposedly the formal opposition in the nation’s devolved parliament, Reform look increasingly foolish. The Members of the Senedd (MSs) are on record making various bloopers, not taking subjects seriously, and generally cocking-up. Not worth the £80,000 salary they’re plumped with. Reform ‘having a mare’ Cardiff-based Welsh journalist Will Hayward caught one Reform MS sorely lacking when he was entirely unprepared to ask a follow-up question, or ‘supplementary,’ on the Senedd floor. MS Gareth Beer asked a question which couldn’t have taken more than 30 seconds to think of,…

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Blackpool council Reform leader exposed as BAE Systems officer, uniparty warmonger

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  • Post last modified:2 July 2026

The Canary can reveal that Reform UK’s leader in Blackpool Council is an ‘officer’ employed at BAE Systems. BAE is a weapons manufacturer heavily implicated in the Gaza genocide and other war crimes. Reform’s Blackpool Council group leader is James John (‘Jim’) O’Neill, 69. He was elected as Blackpool’s first Reform councillor in 2024, taking the Marston ward from Labour. He states his employment on his sparsely detailed Register of Interests on Blackpool Council’s website as: “Officer, BAE Systems.” O’Neill was outside BAE’s Samlesbury manufacturing plant informing policing operations and notifying anti-genocide blockaders of “trespass” in the early hours of 29 June.…

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Exclusive: Unite tells Community members ‘cancel fuel poverty protest with Greenpeace’

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  • Post last modified:26 June 2026

Unite Community (UC), set up by then-general secretary Len McCluskey, is the Unite union’s section for unwaged people — and Unite’s most politically active. But members and officials feel marginalised by new general secretary Sharon Graham. They resent the union’s interference in their political activities, and have now been told they can’t participate in a climate protest. Probably because of who created it, and its campaigning focus, ‘workplace-only’ Graham was planning to wind down Unite Community and merge it with the retired members’ section. Graham U-turned on the plan after Skwawkbox exposed it — but the interference continues. Graham is currently…

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Union bosses’ fossil activism makes an enemy of the global working class

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  • Post last modified:25 June 2026

Sharon Graham is the general secretary of Unite, the trade union. However, with rogue comments this week in defence of British fossil fuel interests, she appears to be making an enemy of the global working class. She’s joined by GMB chief Gary Smith, who’s been briefing the Times about net-zero ‘madness’. As the UK awaits the coronation of Makerfield MP Andy Burnham — and, perhaps more importantly, his cabinet-in-waiting — Ed Miliband’s name crops up repeatedly. This is hardly surprising, since Miliband has served different roles on Labour’s front benches, including as leader, for much of two decades. Miliband’s core commitment is…

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WATCH: Scottish MP Lara Bird mogs ‘royal’ oath with crossed fingers

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  • Post last modified:25 June 2026

Scottish MP Lara Bird bested the archaic royal oath of allegiance with what look like crossed fingers when she was sworn into Parliament this week. Crossing one’s fingers when making a promise means that the would-be promiser has no intention of sincerely holding that promise. Bird therefore smartly worked her way around the anachronistic ‘pledge of allegiance’ to the Windsors. This amounts to what Gen-Z and Gen-A would call a ‘mogging’ of the British crown. And too right — MPs are elected to serve us all, not just one wealthy family. It’s time more MPs did the same. In making her…

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Plaid Cymru, SNP mark 10 years of Brexit with pro-EU messages

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  • Post last modified:24 June 2026

Welsh sovereigntist party Plaid Cymru has marked 10 years since Britain voted to leave the European Union with an urge to strengthen ties between the British island and the European continent. Now the nation’s governing party for the first time in its Senedd history, Plaid Cymru staked its pro-EU leanings on the significant anniversary of the fateful 23 June 2016 Brexit vote. Plaid Cymru’s official account posted on X: 10 years since Brexit – but what was it all for? The video features a number of Plaid Cymru politicians speaking about the broken promises of Brexit: 10 years on Brexit hasn’t…

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SNP ex-chief Peter Murrell sentenced to five years for embezzlement

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  • Post last modified:23 June 2026

The Scottish National Party (SNP)’s former chief executive Peter Murrell has finally been sentenced for his conviction of embezzlement. The SNP bigwig was handed a five-year custodial sentence, or prison time, for the crime to which he pleaded guilty. Murrell is the estranged husband of SNP ex-party leader and former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. He accepted responsibility for embezzling £400,000 of SNP party funds for personal purchases over 12 years. The 61-year-old had doctored invoices and falsified SNP accounting records to cover up how he was misusing party funds. He embezzled money to buy luxuries (like a £3500 silver wine…

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Makerfield: Here’s what really motivated voters

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  • Post last modified:23 June 2026

The medium-sized town of Ashton-in-Makerfield, its ~70,000 voters and its historic by-election will forever be remembered in British political history for ridding us of Keir Starmer. And a good riddance it is! Who comes to replace him may be marginally better, more of the same, or far worse. It seems unimaginable at this point that Andy ‘U-Turn’em’ Burnham will be a significant break from the Labour mold. (See: trans existence, hostile immigration policy, water nationalisation, electoral reform or Gaza’s genocide.) Regardless of what Canary reporters make of Burnham, we find ourselves naturally sympathetic with the 55% of voters who backed him…

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Greens Manchester mayor campaign in full flow, other parties nowhere in sight

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  • Post last modified:22 June 2026

It’s just over five weeks until the people of Greater Manchester elect Andy Burnham’s replacement as mayor of the combined authority (GMCA) area. The Green Party is wasting no time in campaigning before 30 July. Less than a day after the Makerfield by-election result, the Green Party gathered for what, on paper, was their official candidate announcement. But behind the scenes and away from the screens, the party wheels were in full motion on 20 June at the Manchester Friends (Quaker) Meeting House. By the time speeches began at 2pm, the Green machine had already cleared out a hall-space full of…

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AI data centres plan causes uproar across Scotland

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  • Post last modified:11 June 2026

Scotland looks set for an AI data centre crisis after plans were revealed detailing a massive number of data centres planned for construction on Scotland’s Central Belt. ARPS, Scotland’s countryside charity, published an interactive map illustrating where the data centres are earmarked for. The charity compiled the data over growing concerns about the impact of the data units on electricity prices, communities and the environment. So far, at least 18 such data warehouse projects are seeking planning permission, the National reported, with a  further six in the pipeline. ARPS is calling for the ­Scottish government to implement a moratorium on these centres…

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Scottish Parliament backs luxury wealth tax on mansions and private jets

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

The Scottish parliament has voted to approve a new wealth tax on high-end luxury goods, especially mansions and houses over £1m and private jet travel. Scottish parliament leading the way MSPs went to the Scottish parliament chamber to debate a new “fair, progressive and sustainable” approach to tax. This included the plans for a levy on private jets and houses owned by the wealthiest in society. The motion — which passed 84-28, with 10 abstentions — highlighted the role taxes play in the delivery of essential public services. The motion welcomed all of Scotland’s recent progress made towards the creation of a…

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Senior Welsh Reform politician ‘infantilises’ entire Welsh nation

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Award-winning Welsh journalist and author Will Hayward has criticised a senior Welsh Reform politician over his comments that “infantilise” the proud people he claims to represent. The Reformer’s statement came at the Hay literary festival in Hay-on-Wye in Wales. Hayward indicated the Member of the Senedd (MS) in his post as James Evans. He’s the Shadow Minister for Health, Prevention and Sport in Reform’s Welsh cabinet. Since May’s Senedd elections, James Evans MS has occupied that position within Welsh Reform. The comments were made in the context of significant ongoing debates around devolving the Crown Estate. The MS stated that Wales…

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Mandelson ‘influential’ in electing Labour’s Scottish Secretary

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Newly revealed documents expose Labour’s Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander as a devoted friend of Peter Mandelson, publicly humiliating his position. Mandelson was “influential,” in Alexander’s own words, in securing his seat as MP for Lothian East. The SNP have called for the minister’s resignation over his apparently doting relationship with Mandelson. The disgraced corrupt former ambassador and friend of notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was well-known, well-loved, and well-connected within the Labour Party. Him and pro-corporate stooge Tony Blair shaped vile New Labour through a willingness to court power, whatever ugly face it took. However, those tight connections across the right wing…

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North of Ireland’s First Minister on the emerging ‘Celtic alliance’

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Michelle O’Neill doesn’t mince words: the first nationalist First Minister for the North of Ireland’s six counties sat down with Scottish paper the National. She had plenty to say about culture, reunification, Scottish independence, and the arrogance of Westminster. Politics trickles through culture Something huge is shifting in the North of Ireland. You can feel it in the music, with establishment-baiting Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap packing out venues across the world. You can see it on TV as Derry Girls made the six counties a cultural export. And you can measure it in the polling: 63% of people in the North…

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Private water company fined record £2m over hospitalising parasite outbreak

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

One privately-owned water company has been fined almost £2m after it was found that its water supply was infested with the dangerous parasite cryptosporidium. The outbreak affected Brixham in Devon. The private utility firm was sentenced to this record fine for a drinking water offence at Exeter Magistrates’ Court. The prosecution was brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). The privately-owned firm plead guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption at an earlier hearing, offering a “full and unreserved apology”. Four people were hospitalised out of an astonishing 140 confirmed cases of sickness and diarrhoea during the 54-day incident around…

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Student loans inquiry into ‘mountain’ of degree debts begins

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Student organisations and experts are launching an inquiry into the defunct debt-bondage system of student loans across England. In particular, the National Union of Students (NUS) wants the inquiry to look at the interest rates. Additionally, it will examine threshold repayment mechanisms. The loans inquiry can’t come soon enough for many students or graduates on the sharp end of our privatised, financialised education model. Studies show that one in three people now think that a degree: just isn’t worth the amount of time and money. The structurally defunct student loans system Much of Europe and the developed world, more broadly, receives…

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Manchester tenants organisers launch Resist Rent Rises campaign

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Housing expert lawyers Nick Bano and Kate Bradley told a packed GMTU audience in Manchester that the recent Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) is a great foothold, but not the finish line. They balanced joy in the wake of the monumental Act with cautious pessimism about our collective next steps. Greater Manchester Tenants’ Union was buzzing on a recent evening as campaigners, tenants and housing lawyers packed the GMTU offices for the Manchester area launch of the national Resist Rent Rises campaign. Two of the sharpest minds in housing law — Garden Court barrister and Against Landlords author Nick Bano, and Greater…

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Wales moves to decolonise its museums, and GB News is losing it

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  • Post last modified:9 June 2026

Right-wingers are in moral panic over government plans in Wales to promote the Welsh language, culture, and history across publicly funded museums. In characteristic fashion, the dog-whistling GB News outlet published an article titled: Plaid Cymru accused of ‘cultural extremism’ and ‘attempting to rewrite Welsh history’ amid plan to decolonise museums. This unsurprisingly frames the progressive initiative in dramatic terms. At the same time, it fails to engage seriously with the issues Plaid seeks to address. Decolonising Wales The newly-formed, Welsh nationalist government said the initiative aims to deliver the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan (ARWAP). This will include the “decolonisation of…

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Private water company leaves thousands dry amid record May heatwave

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  • Post last modified:8 June 2026

One privately-owned water company left thousands of people in south-east England dry and thirsty this week. This comes amid one of Britain’s hottest-ever May heatwaves. South East Water, which covers much of Kent, left over 8,000 people without any tap water. The company claimed that nearby reservoirs at Whitstable were at a “critical level” due to “extremely high demand”. The company’s six-figure CEO David Hinton stepped down from his position in early May over consistent failures, shortages and outages but will remain in-post to allow an orderly transition over the summer period. That and, presumably, to keep earning a slice of…

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‘Top’ French media pundits can’t name three living Chinese people

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  • Post last modified:8 June 2026

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…

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