Ed Sykes, Author at Charlie Alford

The corporate lobbyists behind new defence secretary Dan Jarvis

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:13 June 2026
Post last modified:13 June 2026

New defence secretary Dan Jarvis has previously received around half a million pounds in donations from corporate lobbyists. So, as mainstream media outlets say the Labour right-winger “once looked like the future” and “is a fine choice“, let’s look into the dark money that’s been fuelling his political career. Jarvis and his local Labour Party in Barnsley have done such an awful job at countering Tory damage to the town in recent decades that it turned to Reform in the 2026 local elections. And when you look at where Jarvis’s funds come from, you can understand why the people of Barnsley…

Ealing could’ve had 14 more left-wing wins with Indy-Green collaboration

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:11 June 2026
Post last modified:12 June 2026

The Green Party did well in the 2026 local elections, especially in London. In Ealing, for example, it got five new councillors. But if it had worked together with local left-wing independents, the borough could have gained at least 14 extra progressive councillors, pulling significant power away from Labour. Instead, Labour kept control. Indy-Green collaboration could make a massive difference in Ealing In the local elections, the Green Party focused on the less diverse and more expensive Hanwell Broadway ward. All three of its candidates defeated Labour there. Ealing Community Independents (ECI) candidates, meanwhile, stood in poorer and more diverse wards,…

The Telegraph’s desperate, antisemitic attack on Zack Polanski stinks

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:8 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

Notorious pro–Israel bigot Stephen Pollard has written a desperate, antisemitic article trying to smear Zack Polanski. He did this in response to the Green leader backing calls to hold potential war criminals to account. And he did so in the Telegraph, which has joined other right-wing rags in publishing antisemitic Polanski caricatures. Lobby backlash as Polanski backs accountability calls for potential war criminals Zack Polanski, along with many other Jewish people in the UK, has been vocal in his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And hardline Zionists (whether Jewish or non-Jewish) don’t like this. So they’ve thrown their toys out…

Indy-Green relationship boosted Sefton’s left-wing election surge

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:6 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

The 2026 local election in the Merseyside borough of Sefton saw a left-wing surge against Labour. And the positive relationship between community independents and the Green Party made a meaningful difference, with both increasing their voice on the council as a result. Community independents went from one councillor to five, and the Greens from one to three. And the Canary spoke to Lydiate and Maghull Community Independents to hear more about how they became the third biggest political grouping on Sefton Council. Common-sense relationships on the left can make a big difference There are places in the UK where local independents…

The Israel lobby’s toxic attempt to silence solidarity with Palestine in the NHS

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:5 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

In a new review, notorious pro-Israel agitator John Mann has pushed for measures to silence NHS humanitarianism. The government and NHS have already pledged to implement them, including a crackdown on NHS staff members openly expressing solidarity with Palestinian people during Israel’s ongoing genocide. This is about Israel, not about ending racism Israel is a key junior partner to US billionaire–imperialism. The UK is a junior partner too, so giving Israel political and material support is just part of the deal. And for British political elites trying to get away with this shameful behaviour, consistent and widespread public outrage over Israel’s…

Education ministers funded by corporate and pro-Israel lobbyists

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:3 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

Keir Starmer’s government, true to its deeply shady form, has filled the Department for Education (DfE) with people close to both corporate and pro-Israel lobbyists. And the overlapping right-wing network flows from old Blairites like Peter Mandelson and Jim Murphy to the more recent Starmerites at Labour Together. Electoral Commission statistics show us just how much influence dodgy lobbyists have in the DfE today. The rot of Blair, Mandelson, Murphy, and Labour Together New Labour corporate cronies — from Tony Blair to Mandelson and Murphy — just refuse to go away. But it’s the shadowy lobbying and fundraising networks around them…

Colombia may soon have a pro-Israel Trumpian president

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:2 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

A brash Trump- and Israel-aligned millionaire — Abelardo De la Espriella — has come out ahead in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election. Colombia’s left-wing government has strongly criticised Israel’s genocide and resisted Trump’s attempts to reassert US influence in Latin America. Meanwhile, De la Espriella has vowed to reverse these results and restore ties with Israel. Far-right candidate sides with Israel As Latin America’s fourth–largest economy, this could be a pivotal. Colombia has stood for decades as a key US ally in Latin America. It’s also been one of Israel’s staunchest partners in the region. But its first left-wing…

Cenk Uygur banned by UK for criticising Israel, anti-genocide host says

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:1 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

The Home Office has banned left-wing commentator and TV host, Cenk Uygur, from entering the UK, on Israel’s behalf. He is a vocal critic of pro-Israel influence over Western governments. Cenk Uygur has highlighted the irony of the UK ban over X. He said: if I had said that the Israeli government controls the British government so thoroughly that they’ll ban someone from coming to the UK just for criticizing Israel, they would have said that was an antisemitic statement. The commentator noted that he was banned not for any views or opinions he’s expressed about the UK. Uygur argued that…

Shocking trade union poll is terrible news for Starmer’s Labour

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:1 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

A new poll has shown Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is rapidly losing the support of trade unionists. And it seems to be the billionaire-backed Thatcherites and ex-Tories of Reform who are making the most of Labour’s collapse. Trade unionists overwhelmingly say ‘Labour has lost touch’ Right-wing pollster JL Partners, whose co-founders have deep roots in the Conservative Party, asked 1,002 trade union members about political parties and leaders. And although 48% of the members who’d voted in the 2024 general election said they’d opted for Labour, only 28% said they would do the same today. Reform, meanwhile, went up from 16%…

Why Enfield has more Labour councillors than it needed to have

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:22 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

Labour lost control of Enfield Council at the local election but, with more coordination and cooperation, progressives could have easily taken even more seats from Labour. Enfield Independent leader to Greens: ‘If we had formed an alliance, we would have won’ A strong independent campaign hoped to play a key role in taking overall control away from Labour. But while there had previously been talks with local Greens, the Green Party chose to stand across Enfield, including in wards independents were targeting. Conservatives ended up with 31 councillors, Labour with 27, and the Greens with 5. In Upper Edmonton ward, for…

Reform losers resurrect racist election smear after Manchester arrests

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:22 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

Reform lost the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, but the Thatcherite bigots are still trying to call this massive defeat into question. How? With racist dog-whistles, and by talking about something different that some other people reportedly did somewhere else in Greater Manchester… Farage’s not-so-subtle dog-whistle Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, no stranger to dodgy tricks itself, reportedly got fake independent candidates to run in Tameside’s local elections to split the vote in its favour. And on 21 May, police arrested five people in connection to the controversial events in St Peter’s ward (which isn’t in the Gorton and Denton constituency).…

Most Democrats now oppose US aid to Israel and war on Iran

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:22 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

Israel’s genocide in Gaza and US-led war on Iran is pushing Democratic voters to increasingly oppose the sacred economic and military aid pact between Washington and Israel. Democratic voters change tack Results from a New York Times 2026 Siena poll shows that on the question of economic and military support to Israel: 68% of Democratic voters stood in opposition 25% of Democratic voters support the supply of aid 7% were ambivalent The poll also addressed the thorny question of Democratic party support for Trump’s unilateral decision to invade Iran. Polling data suggests that: 93% believed it was the wrong decision 5%…