Author: Miles Donavan

Alexi Dimond makes the case for councillors pushing to ensure their councils aren’t complicit in Israel’s crimes Alexi Dimond is a Green Party councillor in Sheffield and member of Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Greens for Palestine Sheffield has many proud legacies, but perhaps the one that makes me most proud to be a Sheffield city councillor is our tradition of internationalism.  In 1981, the city was the first in Britain to declare itself an “apartheid free zone”, pledging to end ties with apartheid South Africa, including boycotting goods, divesting pension funds, and banning sports teams. Two years later, Sheffield was…

62 MPs have added their names 62 MPs have now signed an Early Day Motion (EDM) in parliament calling for the justice secretary David Lammy to intervene to ensure that six remand prisoners currently on hunger strike have their human rights upheld. This is equivalent to almost one in ten MPs in the UK. The hunger strikers are all on remand having been accused of a series of offences related to activities taken by Palestine Action. They have denied the charges against them, all of which relate to alleged activities which took place prior to Palestine Action being proscribed as…

The government says that up to 100,000 people of all ages could benefit in the first year. The UK’s decision to re-join the EU’s Erasmus scheme, meaning that young people from across the country will be able to study or gain work experience in the EU for the first time since Brexit, is a move supported by a clear majority of Brits, in another blow to Brexiteers. The agreement will mean that Britons will be able to spend a year studying at European universities as part of their UK degree courses without paying extra fees, and vice versa for European…

Anna Turley, the Labour party chair, has called on Farage to “urgently come out of hiding” and explain whether his party spent more than the £20,660 limit for campaigning. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is facing a possible second investigation into allegations he broke election spending laws during his Clacton election. Farage, who has also been reported to Essex Police over claims made by a former Reform councillor, Richard Everett, that he overspent by £9,000 now faces a second investigation from the Electoral Commission. The Commission has been asked to look into Farage’s expenses after being asked to do so…

Democracy depends not just on rules, but on confidence that those rules are enforced without fear or favour. Tom Brake is CEO of Unlock Democracy Jack Straw has cause to be unhappy. This Labour government seems intent on consigning some of his best work in office to the dustbin of history. As Tony Blair’s first Home Secretary, Straw oversaw changes to the way elections are run that remain to this day. Among them was a new, independent democratic watchdog: the Electoral Commission.  Tasked with regulating political finance and overseeing elections, it was designed to operate at arm’s length from ministers,…

The Prime Minister’s comments caused much laughter across the Commons, with Farage and his deputy Richard Tice looking annoyed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer ridiculed Reform UK today during PMQs, over the party’s alleged links to Russia after its former leader in Wales was convicted of taking Russian bribes. Using the final PMQs of 2025, Starmer made a brutal Christmas joke about Reform UK and offered Farage and his party some festive advice. He opened the final PMQs of the year by wishing a Merry Christmas to MPs, parliamentary staff and their families in Westminster before turning to Reform. Starmer said:…

“One of Reform’s leading representatives in Scotland is keeping company with members of the fascist Homeland Party.” A Reform councillor is facing heavy criticism for appearing at a rally with members of far-right, neo-Nazi group the Homeland Party, including one activist who has called himself “a proud racist and fascist”. According to the Daily Record, Reform’s Claire Mackie-Brown appeared at a rally earlier this month holding a banner “Born and Bred in Falkirk, Claire Mackie-Brown”. Others at the rally on 6 December held banners that read “Dundee Against Illegals” and “Stop the Boats”. The Dundee Patriots, who have been accused…

“It strikes me as a lack of trust in how the council is being run” Reform-run Leicestershire County Council has a higher than usual number of complaints against its councillors in its first seven months of running the authority. A response to a Freedom of Information Request revealed that Reform has received 35 complaints since May 2025. According to the Conservatives, they received four complaints in the first six months of their administration in 2021. This includes 18 complaints from members of the public, 10 from staff, and seven from other councillors. The Conservatives have received two complaints from members of…

The Your Party co-founder says she won’t leave the prison until they allow an ambulance in Zarah Sultana MP is at HMP Bronzefield this morning calling for a hunger-striking prisoner, Qesser Zuhrah, be transferred to hospital for urgent medical care.  Sultana has said that the prison is refusing an ambulance for Zuhrah. In recent days, Zuhrah, who has been on hunger strike for 46 days, has reported having chest pains from her neck to her shoulder, shortness of breath, dizziness and shaking limbs.  Zuhrah has already been hospitalised once in the last week, but was reportedly discharged without a diagnosis…

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the development marked a “major victory for working people in every part of the country”. Despite Reform and Tory attempts to block it, Labour’s landmark Employment Rights Bill passed both Houses of Parliament yesterday, and is set to become law before Christmas, delivering the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the development marked a “major victory for working people in every part of the country”. “We have just introduced the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation… Today our plans passed through parliament, and will…