Charlie Alford

EXCLUSIVE: Man who wrote Sharon Graham’s first Unite manifesto now supports challenger

Post author:Skwawkbox
Post published:18 July 2026
Post last modified:18 July 2026

Sharon Graham’s former Unite election campaign organiser Matt Smith now supports her opponent, Simon Dubbins. Having seen Graham in action as general secretary, Smith believes that another five years of Graham would be “an utter disaster for our union”. But he didn’t only play an extensive role in her 2021 general secretary election campaign. According to senior union insiders, he “wrote her manifesto”. Unite endured five misused years under Graham Smith said that Graham has increased corruption at Unite rather than reduce it. He claimed that she had appointed useless cronies to senior positions and even made up a “ghost job”…

Labour overtake Reform in a national poll for first time since 2025

Post author:Willem Moore
Post published:30 June 2026
Post last modified:1 July 2026

In a further sign that the public is responding positively to Andy Burnham, Labour has topped Reform in a national poll for the first time since mid-2025: POLL | With Burnham, Labour LEAD Lab: 27% ( +4 ) Ref: 26% ( –1 ) Con: 19% ( –1 ) Grn: 11% ( –2 ) Lib: 11% ( – ) Poll: BMG Research, 23 – 24 June––(+/– vs standard voting intention) pic.twitter.com/FcysgjQIOk — Stats for Lefties (@LeftieStats) June 29, 2026 Can Burnham hold on to this lead? We’ve got serious doubts about that. But for now, things do seem to be shifting in…

Aberystwyth to Host Mid Wales’ First YesCymru March for Independence

Post author:The Canary
Post published:30 June 2026
Post last modified:1 July 2026

Thousands of people from across Wales are expected to gather in Aberystwyth by 1pm on Saturday 26 September 2026 as the town hosts YesCymru’s first ever March for Independence in mid Wales. This will be the eleventh March for Independence which YesCymru and AUOBCymru have organised. And it follows successful marches in Cardiff, Caernarfon, Merthyr Tydfil, Wrexham, Cardiff again, Swansea, Bangor, Carmarthen, Barry and Rhyl. Since 2019, these marches have brought tens of thousands of people together from every corner of Wales and from all backgrounds to march for an independent Wales. Local organiser Siôn Jobbins from YesCymru Aberystwyth said: Aberystwyth…

First Green on South Gloucestershire Council as Labour cabinet member defects

Post author:The Canary
Post published:29 June 2026
Post last modified:29 June 2026

Sean Rhodes, who has represented Kingswood since 2023, is now South Gloucestershire Council’s first Green Party councillor. Rhodes explained: As part of the South Glos Council administration, we have worked hard to improve the lives of residents in ever more difficult economic circumstances but the Labour government have absolutely failed in their promise to bring positive change to our country. The decisions made by this Labour government are making things worse for working people, and now we see them going through the same political soap opera that the Conservatives did in their end days. The Green Party has a clear focus…

Starmer has never put the country first – not even in his final, insipid act

Post author:Rachael Swindon
Post published:22 June 2026
Post last modified:23 June 2026

It has finally happened. Keir Starmer, the man who promised to deliver “change” with all the revolutionary fervour of a Lib Dem focus group, has slithered out of Downing Street like a deflated balloon animal after a kids’ party gone wrong. Two years. That’s all it took for the great anti-Tory Labour landslide of 2024 to collapse into a humiliating pile of U-turns, scandals, and moral cowardice. Today, as he stood outside No. 10 delivering his resignation speech – all misty-eyed about his fantastic wife and being the best dad to his kids – I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.…

World Cup: First red card in football history for mouth covering

Post author:Alaa Shamali
Post published:20 June 2026
Post last modified:20 June 2026

The 2026 World Cup witnessed the first sending-off in football history under the new law regarding covering the mouth during altercations between players, after the referee showed a direct red card to Paraguay national team player Miguel Almirón during the match against the Turkey national team. The decision came after a review by the VAR, which showed Almirón covering his mouth with his hand during a heated verbal exchange with a Turkish player, an action the referee deemed a clear violation of the amendment that came into effect a few months before the start of the tournament. World Cup new records…

First war crimes complaint against UAE-backed Sudan paramilitary filed in Kenya

Post author:Joe Glenton
Post published:11 June 2026
Post last modified:11 June 2026

The UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of genocide, massacres and sexual violence. Sudan’s civil war has raged for three years with the backing of foreign and regional powers. Now survivors have filed the first war crimes complaint in Kenya. Twelve victims backed by a Swiss legal NGO urged Kenya’s chief of prosecution to pursue the case. Associated Press (AP) reported on 9 June: It is the first attempt to prosecute members of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, the paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military for over three years, outside Sudan. Adding that: The group, which has been…

Strike days drop by almost two thirds during Labour’s first year in power

Post author:The Canary
Post published:11 June 2026
Post last modified:11 June 2026

The number of working days lost to strike action plummeted by almost two thirds during Labour’s first year in power. This is according to new analysis from the GMB union. The 12 months leading up to July 2024, when Labour won power, saw 1,406,000 working days of strikes. During the year following Labour’s win, there were 559,000, a huge drop of more than 60%. The GMB will discuss the figures, which come from analysis of Office of National Statistics data, at its annual congress in Blackpool. Lifting the wages of millions of low paid workers and improvements to employment rights, such…

Maruja, SPRINTS, Pussy Riot headline first Bulletproof Festival

Post author:The Canary
Post published:9 June 2026
Post last modified:10 June 2026

After three packed days of music in some of London’s finest grassroots music venues, the inaugural edition of Bulletproof Festival has concluded. Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace & Justice Project founded Bulletproof Festival as part of the Music For The Many campaign. It aims to support grassroots music venues, UK live music and new artists. The inaugural edition of the festival was headlined by Maruja, SPRINTS, and Pussy Riot who performed their new production Riot Days. There were also performances from CQ Wrestling, SNAYX, The Oozes, Currls, Cody Frost, Dead Air, Hongza, YARD, Jools, and many more. Fast-rising live band Westside Cowboy performed…

Pérez retains Real Madrid presidency after first election in 20 years

Post author:Alaa Shamali
Post published:8 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

Florentino Pérez has retained his position as president of Real Madrid after winning the club’s first competitive election in two decades, securing a new five-year term at the helm of the club. According to the Guardian, Pérez secured around 65 per cent of the club members’ votes, beating his rival, businessman Enrique Riquelme, who received 35 per cent of the vote, in an election that reflected a stronger opposition movement than in recent years. In his first comments following the announcement of the results, Pérez described the victory as a “historic result”, emphasising that his achievement represented the second-best election result…

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

Post author:Cameron Baillie
Post published:5 June 2026
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…

Young adaptive clothing line hosts first Disability Pride Catwalk in Manchester

Post author:The Canary
Post published:4 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

Disabled models will travel the runway at Aviva Studios on Saturday 27 June 2026 ahead of Disability Pride Month. The most inclusive fashion show that’s ever been staged in Manchester is coming to the city ahead of Disability Awareness Month. Sixteen models – female, non binary and male – will travel down a specially constructed runway at Manchester’s Aviva Studios. Aged from 20s-50s, every model is disabled, neurodivergent or chronically ill and all will wear adaptive fashion designs from a young, ambitious Manchester label. Manchester Metropolitan University fashion graduate Ellie Brown founded RECONDITION in 2025. Brown’s eyes opened to how unaccommodating…

Lambeth elects first ever Green leader and moves to ‘cabinet committee’ model

Post author:The Canary
Post published:2 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

Lambeth has elected its first ever Green leader at a reconvened annual council meeting at the Town Hall in Brixton. Martin Abrams, councillor for Streatham Hill East, was elected to lead the council, and Ciara Alleyne and Natalie Kane were elected co-deputy leaders. Abrams has named his cabinet, with ten councillors covering nine remits between them: Natalie Kane. Ciara Alleyne. Pete Elliott. Scott Ainslie. Zvikomborero Chihoro. Michael Chessum. Jeremy Isaacs. Sam Dorney-Smith. Alice Weavers. Jonathan Bartley. The Greens had been moving to implement a committee system of governance. This would have scrapped the executive model in favour of cross-party committees which…