Author: Miles Donavan

While the British right-wing press continues its obsession with punk bands and protest chants, it remains astonishingly quiet about the devastating human toll in Gaza. Each day, Haaretz, a liberal Israeli newspaper, reports the growing death toll of Palestinian civilians, figures that rarely make it into the headlines of the Mail or the Sun. News tends to move in cycles; what’s front-page outrage one day becomes chip paper the next. Unless, of course, the right-wing media smells ideological blood. Then the headlines can drone on endlessly, often with disproportionate fury. That’s exactly what’s happened in the wake of this year’s…

“Brilliant news.” It was announced this week that family hubs will be introduced in every council area across England. These hubs will offer a broad range of support services, including debt advice, birth registration, midwifery services, and assistance for parents who are separating or have separated. At the start of 2025, parenting support and youth services were launched across 75 local authorities. Every local authority is expected to have a Best Start Family Hub in place by April 2026. Under the scheme, the Department for Education is targeting £500 million at disadvantaged communities. The rollout has been widely welcomed by…

Until the ‘benefit scrounger’ narrative is finally dismantled, facts will continue to take a back seat to headlines. Following the government’s controversial welfare concessions last week, the right-wing media has been confronted with uncomfortable truths about welfare spending in the UK. A chart has been widely  shared on social media confirms that the UK is far from being a high spender when it comes to social spending. According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the UK spent 10.9 percent of its GDP on welfare in 2023 and 10.8 percent of its GDP on welfare in 2024, well below…

These groups have capitalised on the generous tax breaks afforded to charities, allowing wealthy backers to support politically charged agendas while shielding their identities from public scrutiny. Donald Trump reignited his trade war this week, unveiling the first in a series of letters threatening higher tariffs on 14 US trading partners. Meanwhile, the US dollar, long a pillar of American economic dominance, is faltering, having fallen more than 10% this year, its steepest first-half decline since 1973, when President Nixon severed the currency’s link to gold, shaking the global financial system. As markets reel and political tensions rise, the question…

“Ah, yes, Jake Berry, the Boris Johnson/Liz Truss acolyte who said “Can’t afford to eat? Just get a better paid job.” Former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry made headlines this week, announcing his defection from the Tories to Reform UK. Berry was a Conservative member for 25 years and an MP for 14 years. The move sparked a wave of mockery from political opponents and the public. In an article for the Sun, Berry explained his decision, claiming both major parties have driven the country into decline. “I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same…

To appease corporations, people may raze mountains, divert rivers, clear forests, cover countryside in tarmac and shower subsidies upon them, but they have no loyalty to any place, people or product. Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. There is a crisis of democracy. People can vote for whichever political party they want, but corporations always win as they fund the parties and legislators; control media and almost everything else. Their interests are promoted…

The ex-Reform MP is being looked into for allegedly not declaring hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations to his ‘rape gang inquiry’ project Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe is being investigated by a parliamentary watchdog for allegedly not declaring hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations to his ‘Rape Gang Inquiry’ project. Lowe launched his ‘Rape Gang Inquiry’ crowdfunder in March, and since then it has raised over £617,000. He then registered a community interest company for the project with Companies House back in May. However, Lowe hasn’t made any declarations about the donations in the MPs’ register of interests.  The…

The Tory MP was forced to admit that the Rwanda scheme resulted in zero deportations The shadow home secretary Chris Philp tried to attack Labour’s “one in, one out” small boats deal with France, before being reminded of Tories’ failed Rwanda plan. The Tory MP was humiliated in an interview on BBC Breakfast, in which he called Keir Starmer’s deal with the French President Emmanuel Macron, “laughable” and “a gimmick”. Under the deal, France would take back asylum seekers who have crossed over to the UK but cannot prove a family connection to the UK.  In return, the UK would…

Trump will visit Scotland to open a new golf course. US president Donald Trump is preparing to visit the UK in the coming weeks later this month, in order to open a new golf course. Trump’s expected visit to Scotland is separate to his full state visit to the UK, with Police Scotland confirming planning is underway for the July visit, saying it would involve a “significant policing operation”. He will reportedly be opening a new 18-hole golf course at his resort on the North Sea coast at Menie, north of Aberdeen, named in honour of his mother, Mary Anne…

The Tories introduced FPTP for mayoral and PCC elections in 2022, a change seen as an attempt to boost their chances of winning elections Labour has decided to scrap the First Past the Post voting system for Mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in a move MPs and campaigners have welcomed as recognition that FPTP is “not fit for purpose”.  The English Devolution and Empowerment Bill, which was published yesterday, has set out the government’s plans to scrap FPTP and bring back the more representative Supplementary Vote (SV) system.  Under the SV system, voters have a first and second…