John McDonnell calls for grassroots leadership challenge to Starmer government

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The original article at the Guardian is recommended. I can’t help missing important parts by only quoting excerpts.

John McDonnell in central London protesting against redundancies and education cuts. McDonnell was among seven Labour MPs suspended last July for defying the whip on a Commons vote to end the two-child benefit cap. Photograph: Krisztián Elek/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

John McDonnell: Starmer and co are trashing Labour’s legacy. We must take back control of our party – before it’s too late

The suspended Labour veteran John McDonnell has called for a grassroots leadership challenge to the Labour government, warning that unless party members, unions and MPs “stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party”, Labour risks losing not just its power: “We could lose a party.”

The former shadow chancellor accused Keir Starmer’s government of “callousness and political incompetence”, criticising its hesitance in abolishing the two-child limit on benefits, and what he calls a “brutal launch of an attack on benefits of disabled people”.

Writing for the Guardian five decades after joining Labour as a young trade unionist, McDonnell said the movement he had devoted his life to had “instigated a series of policies that fly like a knife to the heart of what we believed the Labour party above all else stood for when we joined the party”.

“Unless the party members, our affiliated unions and members of the parliamentary Labour party stand up and assert themselves to take back control of our party, in the next period, in the Labour party’s history we may not just lose a government, we could lose a party”, he said.

The original article at the Guardian is recommended. I can’t help missing important parts by only quoting excerpts.

Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership all feel a small part of Scunthorpe.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Continue ReadingJohn McDonnell calls for grassroots leadership challenge to Starmer government

Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says his country is committing war crimes

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/27/former-israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-says-his-country-is-committing-war-crimes

Ehud Olmert in May 2025. His opinion piece in Haaretz says the Israeli government’s war has ‘no chances of success’. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP

Leader from 2006 to 2009 says Palestinian victims are at ‘monstrous proportions’ and Netanyahu heads a ‘criminal gang’

The former prime minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has said Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, and that “thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed, as well as many Israeli soldiers”.

Olmert, who was the 12th prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, wrote in an opinion piece for the Israeli newspaper and website Haaretz that “the government of Israel is currently waging a war without purpose, without goals or clear planning and with no chances of success”.

He added: “Never since its establishment has the state of Israel waged such a war … The criminal gang headed by Benjamin Netanyahu has set a precedent without equal in Israel’s history in this area, too.

The former Israeli PM and former member of Likud, the same party as Netanyahu, wrote that the “pointless victims among the Palestinian population” were reaching “monstrous proportions” in recent weeks.

Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/27/former-israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-says-his-country-is-committing-war-crimes

UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA

Continue ReadingFormer Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says his country is committing war crimes

UK envoy visits Israel despite suspending trade talks

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/25192770.uk-envoy-visits-israel-despite-suspending-trade-talks

Lord Ian Austin said the UK was still ‘open for business’ with Israel despite suspending trade talks (Image: @ukinisrael, via Twitter/X)

THE UK Government’s trade envoy to Israel has visited the country to “promote trade”, just days after Labour said they were calling off negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade deal.

Lord Ian Austin was pictured in Haifa in northern Israel visiting various projects, where he said the Government would continue to “[encourage] British businesses to export to Israel and Israeli businesses to invest in the UK”.

On Monday, the British embassy in Israel shared an image of Austin and wrote: “Great to welcome @LordIanAustin to Haifa!

“In a day full of innovation by the Carmel, the UK Trade Envoy to Israel visited the cutting-edge Customs Scanning Centre, Haifa Bayport, the Haifa–Nazareth Light Rail project, and the Technion – witnessing [Great Britain flag emoji, Israel flag emoji] cooperation at every stop.”

Last week, the UK Government called off trade negotiations with Israel, describing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as “extremists”.

Article continues at https://www.thenational.scot/news/25192770.uk-envoy-visits-israel-despite-suspending-trade-talks

UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Continue ReadingUK envoy visits Israel despite suspending trade talks

Judge rules October raid on my home was unlawful

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https://asawinstanley.substack.com/p/judge-rules-october-raid-on-my-home

I have won back my computers and phones.

Asa Winstanley

A court has ruled that the raid and resulting seizure of my devices that British “counter-terror” police carried out on my home in October were unlawful.

The most senior judge at London’s Central Criminal Court ruled on 13 May that the search warrants used in the raid were unlawfully issued and said the police must hand back all the computers, phones and other devices that they took that day.

The police have today handed back all seven seized items.

The dawn raid happened in the early hours of 17 October 2024.

As my colleague at The Electronic Intifada Ali Abunimah reported at the time: “Approximately 10 officers arrived at [Asa] Winstanley’s North London home before 6 am and served the journalist with warrants and other papers authorising them to search his house and vehicle for devices and documents.”

Police have now admitted these warrants were improperly obtained and therefore illegal.

In his ruling the Recorder of London, Mark Lucraft KC (the Old Bailey’s highest circuit judge) wrote that he was “very troubled by the way in which the search warrant was drafted, approved and granted where items were to be seized from a journalist”.

Article continues at https://asawinstanley.substack.com/p/judge-rules-october-raid-on-my-home

Continue ReadingJudge rules October raid on my home was unlawful

UK government withholding details of Palantir contract

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https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-government-withholding-details

KPMG is being paid £8 million to promote Peter Thiel’s tech in NHS hospitals – but we’re being forced to fight for information about this public contract.

It’s been a good week for Palantir. The controversial spy-tech company, co-founded by Trump donor Peter Thiel, looks set to secure even more UK government work after the defence secretary pledged to expand the role of AI in the military.

Palantir already holds a £330 million NHS data contract. But as Democracy for Sale revealed last week, most hospitals in England are not using the software, with many complaining that it simply isn’t up to scratch.

To encourage hospitals to take it up, the government signed an £8 million deal with consultancy giant KPMG to “promote the adoption” of Palantir’s tech in the NHS.

We wanted to know more about how this money is being spent. How exactly has KPMG been promoting Palantir’s software to hospitals? And has it worked?

So, we submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), asking for reports produced by KPMG under its contract, as well as briefings prepared for Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who publicly supported the deal.

The government’s response? Silence. They’re refusing to release the information—so now we’re fighting for transparency.

Sue Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, told us the government’s “impulse to secrecy around public money and public contracts” is “deeply concerning.”

“KPMG’s contract raises a real question: if [Palantir’s] software is so good, why does the government need to give £8 million of taxpayers’ money to a management consultancy to encourage NHS hospitals to use it?,” she added.

Article continues at https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-government-withholding-details

Continue ReadingUK government withholding details of Palantir contract