A solar park in Deeside, Wales. The UK broke records for solar energy generation this week. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Energy specialists say abandoning net zero and increasing oil and gas drilling would cause more instability for Britons
Abandoning net zero and drilling for more oil and gas in the North Sea would be a massive setback for the UK and would not help the economy, leading experts have said in response to claims by the former prime minister Tony Blair.
“This is a bizarre intervention to make during the worst May heatwave on record and when the Iran crisis is providing yet more evidence of the enormous costs of oil and gas,” said Ed Matthew, the UK programme director at the E3G thinktank. “Clean energy is cheaper energy – it protects our bills from prices skyrocketing, its running costs are virtually zero, and it doesn’t cause climate change which threatens economic collapse … The government should ignore Blair’s ideological nonsense and focus on what works.”
In an essay published on Wednesday, Blair argued that the UK should exploit its remaining oil and gas reserves and abandon its long-set target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Blair, who has links to petrostates and whose institute takes money from technology companies that want a large build-out of AI data centres, has made these arguments for fossil fuels and against net zero many times in the past two years.
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Calls to maximise production from the UK’s rapidly dwindling North Sea reserves have also been made by the Conservative and Reform parties.
The head of the International Energy Agency, and one of the world’s most respected energy economists, Fatih Birol, said last month that opening new fields would have little impact, and more drilling by the UK would not bring down the price of oil and gas for British consumers.
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Last week, the UK’s Climate Change Committee warned that the impacts of global heating of 2C by 2050 were likely to wipe billions from the UK’s economy, in the form of damage from heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms, but that acting to reach net zero would bring economic benefits.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark Richards
Activists from CodePink, including co-founder Medea Benjamin, kneeling center, and others hold signs as part of the ‘Nuestra América,’ or Our America Convoy after landing at the airport in Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2026. | Ramon Espinosa / AP
WASHINGTON—Federal investigators at the Justice and Treasury Departments have reportedly launched a sweeping inquiry into Cuba solidarity organizations, raising the danger of a revival of McCarthyite tactics to target Americans who oppose U.S. policy toward the island nation.
According to Fox News, the DOJ and Treasury are investigating U.S. non-profits and activist groups that do Cuba solidarity work. The Trump administration alleges the groups coordinate lobbying, messaging, fundraising, delegations, and political organizing efforts with Cuban government officials—activity the U.S. government frames as potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and Treasury sanctions regulations.
Fox News claims to have “identified 145 non-profits, labor groups, advocacy organizations, and activist collectives across the U.S. that are mobilizing in support of the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba” with supposedly “$1 billion in combined annual revenue.”
The organizations targeted by Fox include CodePink, National Network on Cuba, Hands Off Cuba Committees, Nuestra América convoy organizers, People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News, the ANSWER Coalition, the African People’s Socialist Party, the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, the Peace and Freedom Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the National Lawyers Guild, and labor unions, including SEIU affiliates and the International Association of Machinists.
The Venceremos Brigade, another of the groups now under scrutiny, traces its roots to 1969, when U.S. students and young people traveled to Cuba to participate in solidarity and labor work alongside the Cuban people.
For more than six decades, solidarity networks have operated openly, sending delegations, providing humanitarian aid, and advocating for an end to a blockade that the United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn year after year.
The blockade of Cuba has failed for over 60 years in its goal of overthrowing the government there. It has, however, impoverished ordinary Cuban people and isolated the United States from its hemispheric neighbors.
Subpoenas meant to silence dissent
All of the groups are singled out by Fox News as part of what it brands a “pro-communist Cuba ecosystem,” but most of them are not linked to one another politically, organizationally, or ideologically. It is not clear how many among them are being actively investigated by the Justice or Treasury Departments at this time.
The factual basis for the investigations comes entirely from Fox News reporting, and no charges have been filed against any of the named organizations or individuals as of this writing. The escalation from investigations to formal subpoenas, however, makes the government’s intentions more obvious.
According to Fox News, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has served formal “Requests for Information”—administrative subpoenas—on CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker seeking financial, logistical, and communications records related to their participation in the March 2026 Nuestra América Convoy, which delivered desperately-needed humanitarian aid to Havana.
Subpoenaed: CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker. | AP photos
Responding to the news, CodePink said that no subpoena has been received as of Sunday. Benjamin posted a personal statement on X, however, declaring: “I am guilty. Guilty of loving the Cuban people. Guilty of believing Cuban children deserve medicine instead of sanctions. Guilty of believing that trying to save lives should not be treated like a crime.”
Piker took aim at Democrats who are so far not challenging the attacks on him and other Cuba activists. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for instance, boosted a video posted to Threads where an individual mocked Piker. “Kamala would have never. That’s what you get for telling people to vote third party,” the video author said.
In a post to X, Piker warned, in his typical style, that the attacks won’t stop with just Cuba solidarity activists. He wrote: “every centrist blue maga who celebrates these subpoenas is a fucking moron. they think you’re all communists. they’re coming for you too.”
He further stated that centrist Democrats, whom he refers to as “blue maga,” are worried because “left flank candidates” who support Medicare for All and oppose U.S. cooperation in Israel’s wars “are winning insurgent races.” The implication of Piker’s message was that some Democrats may feel Trump’s probes undermine left-wing voices and activists, thereby helping them maintain control of their own party.
Making the costs of activism too high to bear
Fox News claims the government probe extends to as many as 40 U.S. citizens who joined the Nuestra América convoy, with additional subpoenas expected. No charges have been filed against any of them, either.
The government’s legal theory is instructive for determining its possible course of action, though. Legal experts cited in the Fox News reporting note that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control can impose civil penalties under a “strict liability” standard—meaning the government does not need to prove intent. A criminal case under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, by contrast, would require evidence that a defendant willfully violated the law.
In other words, the administration holds a loaded weapon: It can pursue public harassment campaigns against activists who traveled openly and publicly to Cuba, delivering aid, without having to prove they did anything more than go. This is precisely the kind of legal ambiguity that authoritarian governments exploit to neutralize dissent—not necessarily by winning in court, but by making the cost of activism too great to bear.
The pattern is chillingly familiar to past episodes in U.S. history. The Trump administration has been escalating a new McCarthyism—weaponizing federal law enforcement against the left, not to address genuine security threats, but to silence political opposition and intimidate movements that challenge the bipartisan foreign policy consensus. The Cuba “investigation” follows that blueprint precisely.
Fox News’s own reporting acknowledges a key legal fact: Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, advocacy itself is protected under the First Amendment, and registration under FARA doesn’t prohibit political activity. Yet the spectacle of federal subpoenas, Treasury Department probes, and multi-agency coordination serves a chilling function regardless of whether charges are ever filed.
Red Scare repeat
During the McCarthy era in the 1950s, the mere fact of investigation—of being named, scrutinized, and summoned—was enough to destroy careers, shutter organizations, and terrify entire communities of activists into silence.
A second Fox News report describes federal investigators examining a May 9 meeting in Wilmington, Calif., where a Cuban Embassy diplomat, David Ramírez Álvarez, addressed approximately 50 activists and union members. He briefed them on pending congressional legislation related to Cuba, including bills that would ease the decades-old trade embargo.
Sen. Joseph McCarthy conducting his anti-communist witch hunt. | AP
The Embassy of Cuba denied any wrongdoing, with a spokesperson stating that Cuban diplomats strictly comply with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and that engaging with civil society organizations is standard diplomatic practice.
What the government is essentially criminalizing is lobbying for a change in U.S. foreign policy.
The Fox News investigation frames the probe as flowing from National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, issued by President Trump in September 2025, which directed federal agencies to investigate “organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources” connected to political activity deemed adverse to the administration’s interests.
Accusations that the groups now facing federal scrutiny are agents of a foreign power repeat the Cold War pattern of labeling critics of capitalism and U.S. foreign policy as agents of the Soviet Union.
Subpoenas, financial audits, and threatened prosecution are not necessarily national security work and could be a cover for political repression, as they were in the past. This new McCarthyism does not yet feature Senate hearing rooms packed with television cameras. So far, it relies on news reports from media outlets friendly to the Trump administration and letters from the Justice Department.
Just like the past McCarthyism, though, the implicit message is that dissent comes with a price.
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Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP for North Herefordshire. CC image Wikipedia.
Reacting to Israel’s escalating action in Lebanon, Dr Ellie Chowns MP said:
“Israel’s escalating military campaign in Lebanon has already killed thousands of people, displaced more than a million from their homes, and destroyed vital infrastructure, displaying an indefensible disregard for civilian lives and international law.
“This cannot continue. The UK must put an end to the impunity that has enabled and emboldened the Israeli Government on the world stage. The Green Party repeats our calls for the UK Government to end all arms sales to and military cooperation with Israel, to drive independent investigations into war crimes and support justice mechanisms for victims, and to impose sanctions on Netanyahu and all other government officials responsible for breaches of international law.
“The people of Lebanon – like the people of Palestine, Iran, and Israel – deserve to live in safety and peace, not to have their human rights used as bargaining chips which can be disregarded without consequence. The UK must stand on the side of international law and justice, and act now to help prevent further atrocity.”
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A ship waits to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following the two-week temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran, which is conditional on the opening of the strait, in Oman on April 8, 2026. Shipping traffic remained at low levels, reported. [Shady Alassar – Anadolu Agency]
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said opponents of the Islamic Republic have been forced to accept what it described as new realities imposed by Iran’s armed forces, particularly regarding the management and control of the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement marking the anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the June 1963 uprising, the Revolutionary Guard said Iran’s military and political position had altered the balance of power in the region.
“The enemy is forced to accept the new rules imposed on the ground by the Iranian people and armed forces, particularly in the smart management and control of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The statement described public mobilisation as a key element of Iran’s strategy.
“The presence of the people in the streets is the backbone of the battle, the bulwark of diplomacy, and a necessary factor for achieving a complete and decisive victory.”
The Revolutionary Guard rejected what it called attempts by Iran’s adversaries to portray recent events as a success and said “the enemy is attempting to distort reality by fabricating false narratives and misleading the media”.
According to the statement, Iran’s armed forces remain on the highest level of readiness following decades of confrontation with the United States and its allies.
“Thanks to the invaluable experience gained over 48 years of confrontation with America, particularly in the imposed wars, the armed forces have maintained their full and continuous readiness at the highest level.”
The Revolutionary Guard also warned against what it described as broken promises by its adversaries and reiterated that any future military action against Iran would be met with a forceful response.
“Should any aggression occur, the response will be decisive, overwhelming, and far-reaching.”
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem.[Houssam Shbaro – Anadolu Agency]
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday rejected the outcomes of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement marking the death anniversary of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, Qassem said the outcomes of the negotiations “are completely rejected by broad segments of the Lebanese people.”
He said the US-backed ceasefire understandings reflected American and Israeli visions for Lebanon’s future and sought to subject the country to what he called the “Greater Israel project.”
A joint Lebanese-US-Israeli statement announced early Thursday that Beirut and Tel Aviv had agreed during talks in Washington to implement a ceasefire based on a complete halt to Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of all Hezbollah members from the area south of the Litani River.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the US would determine the timing and mechanism for implementing the ceasefire, which could begin within 24 hours of receiving approval.
The Hezbollah leader accused Israel of attempting “to achieve politically what it had failed to accomplish militarily.”
He added that Israeli settlements in northern Israel “will not be safe” as long as Lebanese villages remain under attack.
“We are only concerned with ending the aggression, securing a ceasefire, and ensuring Israel’s withdrawal,” he said.
Qassem stressed that any ceasefire must apply across all Lebanese territory, adding that as long as the Israeli occupation continues, “the resistance will continue.”
Israel occupies areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023–2024 conflict. During the current offensive, Israeli forces advanced more than 10 kilometers into Lebanese territory, marking their deepest incursion since 2000.
More than 3,500 people have been killed and over 10,000 injured in Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanese officials.
