Charlie Alford

National threats bill clears Parliament amid criticism, awaits Royal Assent

Post author:The Canary
Post published:8 July 2026
Post last modified:9 July 2026

The National Security (State Threats) Bill has completed its passage through Parliament and now awaits Royal Assent. Lords amendments to protect humanitarian workers and journalists from its new offences were accepted, providing some relief, but most criticisms against the Bill still stand. Sarah Champion MP, from the International Development Committee, welcomed the Government’s decision to introduce express defences for humanitarian organisations but expressed regret that ministers stopped short of a full exemption. Johnson and Corbyn raised concerns about journalists Kim Johnson (Labour) and Jeremy Corbyn (Your Party) raised significant concerns about the legislation’s potential impact on journalists in the final debate…

‘Sunbathers’ protest new oil outside Parliament amidst heatwave

Post author:The Canary
Post published:7 July 2026
Post last modified:7 July 2026

Campaigners from Fossil Free London protested new oil and gas in Parliament Square on 7 July as the third heatwave of the summer hits London. They wore matching red swimming costumes and lay on white towels, imitating popular media images of beachgoers in hot weather. Each sunbather waved a ‘Stop Rosebank’ fan and behind them a large banner read ‘No New Oil & Gas’. The protest comes as the UK just experienced its hottest June ever. And uncertainty lingers over whether Andy Burnham will approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea oil fields once he becomes prime minister. Heatwave after heatwave…

‘Don’t burn em’ Burnham!’ campaigners protest new oil outside parliament

Post author:The Canary
Post published:3 July 2026
Post last modified:3 July 2026

Campaigners from Fossil Free London challenged prime minister elect Andy Burnham in a protest outside parliament on 2 July. Uncertainty lingers over whether he will approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea oil fields once he enters No.10. People held flame cut-outs and stood behind a banner reading ‘Fossil Fuels? Andy, Don’t Burn ’em!’. Others held placards that read ‘Stop Rosebank’, ‘Stop Jackdaw’ and ‘Stop North Sea Drilling’. The Burnham protest comes just after the UK endured a record-breaking heatwave. It closed hundreds of schools, as this June became the hottest the UK has ever seen. Scientists stress this extreme heat…

Labour’s Burgon to bring debate to Parliament to ban lucrative side gigs for MPs

Post author:Maddison Wheeldon
Post published:25 June 2026
Post last modified:25 June 2026

Labour MP Richard Burgon has secured a debate in Parliament which will consider banning second jobs for all MPs. Whilst some MPs insist their roles in healthcare and law should be continued alongside MP responsibilities, this loophole has enabled other greedy MPs to turn to lucrative side gigs which bring their priorities into question. For instance, Burgon cites Farage pocketing more than £1m since being elected in “outside work” despite MPs being afforded a pretty high salary from the public purse placing them firmly in the top 1% of earners. Other reports have said that figure is actually £2m. He says:…

Thunberg speaks out against EU’s deportation bill before Parliament vote

Post author:The Canary
Post published:13 June 2026
Post last modified:13 June 2026

Greta Thunberg took to social media to condemn the EU-wide deportation plan, calling on citizens to rally against it. The European government and institutions are pushing through a law which the far right celebrated as the start of the era of deportations, she said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) European Parliament is planning to vote on it next week, the activist said on Friday, slamming efforts to pass the law “quietly and quickly.” She slammed European politicians for fueling wars and climate catastrophes and then unleashing detention on people who flee from them. The…

Reform aghast as Spencer calls them ‘grubby’ in parliament

Post author:Willem Moore
Post published:11 June 2026
Post last modified:11 June 2026

On 11 June, Hannah Spencer caused quite the commotion in parliament for vocalising a popular-held sentiment about Reform UK. Here’s what went down: "There's plenty of dirty grubbiness behind me." Look at their faces. Well said Hannah. #PMQs pic.twitter.com/9oD2OrP4KR — Oliver (@OWS1892) June 10, 2026 Presumably, that’s ‘dirty’ to the left of her and ‘grubby’ to the right. But what did Spencer say exactly? It’s a filthy job The offending comment in full was: Running a business as a plumber, I was well used to dealing with dirty grubbiness, and there is still plenty of that dirty grubbiness behind me. Given…

‘The Fraud’ author to investigate how Labour Together shaped parliament

Post author:Paul Holden
Post published:11 June 2026
Post last modified:11 June 2026

The following is a call for evidence from The Fraud author Paul Holden into how Labour Together shaped the current crop of Labour MPs. Call for Evidence: The Labour Together Parliament Shadow World Investigations and Paul Holden – author of The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney and the Crisis of British Democracy – are today announcing a new investigative project about the transformation of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) under the Labour Together Project. This long-germinating project is soliciting evidence about how Labour Party processes were used (and abused) to manipulate the selection of Labour MP candidates who now make up…

Scottish Parliament backs luxury wealth tax on mansions and private jets

Post author:Cameron Baillie
Post published:8 June 2026
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…

Supervillain Palantir has had a terrible week in UK Parliament

Post author:Alex/Rose Cocker
Post published:5 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

The past week in Parliament has seen two major blows for AI-peddler Palantir. In a highly unusual Commons debate, MPs including Jeremy Corbyn laid bare the links that disgraced ambassador Peter Mandelson forged between the UK government and the authoritarian US tech company. Mandelson lost his position after his ties to pedophile ringleader Jeffrey Epstein came to light. In a blow to PM Keir Starmer, it later transpired that Mandelson was handed the ambassadorial post in spite of failing his security vetting. Meanwhile, an influential cross-party science committee condemned the public sector’s increasing reliance of Palantir’s AI as placing the UK…

Watch: Australia’s parliament horrified that Oz gave Israel ‘nul points’ in Eurovision

Post author:Skwawkbox
Post published:29 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

Failure to vote for Israel in the Eurovision song contest is antisemitic — according to Australia’s Senate. Ozzie senators are apparently untroubled by Israel’s blatant rigging of public and panel votes. But they are deeply alarmed at the fact that Australia’s official judges dared to give the genocidal colony ‘nul points’. So much so that they want an investigation into the non-scandal: https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/io5Z1lc5ByM6AqC61.mp4 Eurovision — colonial nonsense Israel, of course, is not in Europe. Neither is Australia, which just goes to show what a colonial nonsense the whole thing is. Audiences are waking up to it, apparently, with viewer numbers collapsing and several…