… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Category: politics

  • Trump’s war on Iran is rapidly draining US navy budget, documents and interviews reveal

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    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/27/trump-iran-war-navy-budget

    US navy sailors on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln as part of Operation Epic Fury, on 28 February 2026. Photograph: US navy/Getty Images

    {Guardian] Exclusive: Experts and former officials say accounts are running dry, and funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge

    Donald Trump’s war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents obtained by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.

    The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military.

    One Pentagon memo about navy funding seen by the Guardian warns that there are “shortfalls in payroll” accounts due to the department “raiding” them to fund combat operations.

    …

    When Trump started the war on 28 February, it quickly strained the military’s existing budgets – particularly that of the navy, which not only helped launch the initial wave of attacks but was later responsible for an extensive naval blockade. The White House eventually asked Congress for emergency funding to pay for the war efforts, but prospects that the request will be approved are dim amid the unpopularity of the war.

    A navy official who was briefed on how the service is planning to address the shortfalls said money is shifted around in imaginative ways. “The money for payroll,” he said, “was robbed to pay for overseas contingencies and is being backfilled by money that hasn’t been spent. They are backfilling payroll so we get enough money in our paycheck.”

    …

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/27/trump-iran-war-navy-budget

    Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
    Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
    Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
    Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
    Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
    Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

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    UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
    UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.

  • Greens slam Burnham’s ‘free labour for Sainsburys’ con

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    https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/08/27/burnham-sainsburys

    Lambeth’s Green council leader has slammed PM Andy Burnham for his ‘free youth Labour for Sainsbury’s’ plan – which just happens to benefit one of Burnham’s major donors. Burnham went to Lambeth to launch his stunt – many say con – yet did not invite local council leader Martin Abrams.

    And Abrams pulled no punches in outlining the scale of the free workforce Burnham’s workfare scheme is handing to his billionaire donor’s company:

    Sainsbury’s: cut jobs, gain forced labour

    Sainsbury’s, according to the government’s spin, has “created 10,000 work experience opportunities for young people”. Like army recruitment, the scheme will target poor communities:

    New programme launching from October will target schools with higher levels of free school meal uptake and communities where young people face some of the biggest barriers to work

    But the young people will be paid benefits from the public purse, not wages from Sainsburys’ fat accounts – and will face ‘conditionality’ that means they will lose benefits if they don’t agree to work for nothing.

    Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, will fatten its profits even further – and have free workers to replace the 3,000 it made redundant last year while announcing an annual profit of over £1bn.

    …

    Continues at https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/08/27/burnham-sainsburys

  • Morning Star Editorial: The long economic crisis Britain’s not talking about

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about

     Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Kinnock (left) and Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrive for a visit to Tata Steel in Port Talbot, on the next leg of his summer tour meeting local communities outside Westminster, ahead of Parliament’s return next week,

    ANDY BURNHAM’S visit to Wales coincided with today’s announcement of current youth unemployment. In Wales 17 per cent of young people available for employment are without work. Figures are worse in London and north-east England. Overall they are higher by 30,000 than the same figures this time last year.

    Earlier in the week the Prime Minister announced he was convening the National Economic Council this October, bringing together the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss economic development. This council, re-established shortly after Burnham took over as prime minister, was originally set up by Gordon Brown in 2008 in the face of global financial crisis.

    We are not yet in such a crisis. But omens are not good. Values in the London stock exchange are up over a third on where they were a decade ago — for a period when there has been virtually no growth in Britain’s economy. And this is not mentioning Elon Musk, the AI speculators, arms spending and Trump’s wars.

    However, for the young people in Wales, and all other places, what really matters will not be what happens next year but during their working lives: the next 40 years. Here three reports published over the last month by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) are of particular importance.

    The first, by William Ellis and Carsten Young, is on “Why We Need a Better Fiscal Framework.” They calculate that, on current projections, interest payments on government debt, will increase from the current 7.6 per cent of tax income to anything between 21 and 47 per cent over the next 40 years — the money going to the very wealthy who hold the bonds and crushing anything that remains of the welfare state.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/long-economic-crisis-britains-not-talking-about

  • Burnham’s words ‘don’t inspire confidence’ for households facing rising energy bills, campaigners say

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/burnhams-words-dont-inspire-confidence-households-facing-rising-energy-bills-campaigners

     Prime Minister Andy Burnham reacts as he speaks with young people during a visit to the Oh Yeah centre in Belfast, as he makes his first visit to Northern Ireland since coming to office, August 27, 2026

    FUEL poverty campaigners warned today that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s words “don’t inspire confidence” for households facing rising energy bills.

    The End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) hit back after government sources suggested there would be no further support before October’s price cap rise.

    …

    End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis told the Morning Star that ministers must go “further and faster in bringing in support for households and reform of energy bills.”

    Mr Francis added: “Bringing down energy prices must be at the centre of the Budget.

    “But forcing households through a sixth winter of sky-high energy bills, caused by the power that volatile gas prices have on our energy system, is not going to help anyone.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/burnhams-words-dont-inspire-confidence-households-facing-rising-energy-bills-campaigners