Charlie Alford

Burnham’s actions since becoming PM scream ‘business as usual’

Post author:Rachael Swindon
Post published:2 August 2026
Post last modified:2 August 2026

Right then. Let’s not mess about. Andy Burnham has been Prime Minister for two weeks and already the man who promised real change and a break with the past, has filled his top team with so many Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) veterans, pro-Israel donors, and establishment re-treads you’d be forgiven for thinking Starmer never actually left. Burnham offers just more of the same We were told it would be different. Burnham said he had heard the anger. He knew people were sick of being ignored and sick of lobbyists calling the shots; sick of foreign governments dictating our foreign policy…

Israel has spent over $1bn on propaganda since it began Gaza genocide

Post author:Skwawkbox
Post published:30 July 2026
Post last modified:30 July 2026

Israel has spent more than a billion US dollars on ‘hasbara’ — foreign influence — campaigns since 7 October 2023, according to new analysis by the Quincy Institute. The figure is calculated from US ‘foreign agent’ registration and represents direct spending by the colony. Indirect spending through pro-Israel groups and billionaires is not included. In the introduction to its paper, the institute says that it used: FARA data, Israeli government procurement documents, and interviews with dozens of sources to trace the size and effects of this shift. But the paper notes that even the $1 billion figure likely falls far short…

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…

Global banks finance fossil fuel with $8.7tn since the Paris Agreement

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

Major banks are putting increasing amounts of money into fossil fuel. 2025 saw nearly $1tn of investment in fossil fuel companies, even as energy instability is deepening the global cost-of-living crisis. The 17th edition of the Banking on Climate Chaos (BOCC) report finds that the world’s 65 largest banks committed $906bn to fossil fuel companies in 2025. This was an increase of 8% from the previous year. Since the Paris Agreement a decade ago, these banks have channelled $8.7tn into oil, gas, and coal operations. The report is the world’s most comprehensive open-source dataset on fossil fuel financing by commercial banks.…

Nearly five million more people experiencing poor mental health since 2009

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

The Mental Health Foundation has released The Foundation Reports: The state of mental health inequality in the UK, based on data following 40,000 individuals over 15 years. The report found higher levels of poor mental health than recently reported in other datasets. One in four adults in the UK (25%) now experiences mental distress. That’s 14 million people. This has risen from 17% since the period immediately following the 2008 financial crisis. And that means an additional 4.8 million people now experience poor mental health just 16 years later. The evaluation of the Understanding Society dataset involved examining data gathered from…

Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinian fishermen in Gaza since October 2023

Post author:Charlie Jaay
Post published:8 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

On 7 June, Israel’s occupation naval forces intentionally targeted and killed Gaza fisherman Mohammad Mousa Abu Jiyab. Mohammed Atef Al-Aqra, who was in the same vessel, was seriously injured. They were fishing off the coast of Deir al Balah, in central Gaza. Israel intentionally targets Gaza’s fishermen Off the coast of Gaza City, in a separate incident on the same day, four fishermen were forced to jump into the sea from their boat. They were then arrested by Israel and taken to an unknown location. There have been many incidents of fishermen being intentionally targeted in Gaza, if not by shooting,…

List of disgrace: Over 50 countries armed Israel since plausible genocide ruling

Post author:Joe Glenton
Post published:3 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

51 nations armed Israel during the settler-colonial state’s genocide against Palestinians. Some states gave the regime hundreds of millions of dollars in arms. Others just a few hundred dollars worth of equipment. All bear the mark of shame. Al Jazeera reported on 24 May: military-related goods originating from at least 51 countries and self-governing territories continued entering Israel after the ICJ’s warning of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. The outlet used Israel tax authority data, customs records and freedom of information requests from “between 2022 and 2025” to trace: military supply chains linked to countries across Europe, Asia, North…