A costume depicting Andy Burnham, made by Protest Props. Photo: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters
Andy Burnham is stuck in neutral.
…
The budget’s £100 sticking-plaster energy bung for households in four council tax bands does nothing to solve the long-term cost-of-living crisis or improve British energy security. And this seems to be something of a pattern – big talk and puny delivery. Take the failed monopoly on water: the eight new regional water councils announced yesterday will allow local leaders to “set priorities” and “shape billions of pounds of investment” but, crucially, they do not put water back into public ownership.
This is to say nothing of the climate-illiterate decision to green-light new gas drilling in the North Sea, and murmurs that approval of the much more damaging new Rosebank oil field was baked into the budget.
Alongside the can-kicking and edge-tinkering, there’s also Burnham’s admission in the summer that his government “got it wrong” on Gaza and foreign secretary Ed Miliband’s appeal at Labour conference to everyone horrified by the slaughter of Palestinians: “You were right.” Both statements are ageing like a tuna sandwich stuffed behind a radiator (if you can afford to turn yours on, of course).
…
[P]eaceful protesters opposing the ban on Palestine Action have reportedly been handed bail conditions barring them from any protest in support of… Palestine. Not Palestine Action – Palestine in general. Burnham’s willingness to keep this authoritarian and antidemocratic farce going is damning, and the footage of retirees being carried away by cops makes Britain a laughing stock on the global stage.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.
The ongoing “super El Niño” is likely to peak at the end of 2026 and push average global temperatures to record levels next year.
That is according to Carbon Brief’s latest “state of the climate” update, which analyses El Niño forecasts from more than a dozen climate models, as well as six global temperature datasets.
Dr Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief’s climate science contributor, described this year’s El Niño as “simply staggering” when answering questions from CB+ members during a CB Connect “ask me anything” session.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern in the tropical Pacific that releases heat from the ocean into the atmosphere and temporarily boosts global temperatures.
This year’s El Niño event – which has been underway since June – has already broken a number of records and reshaped the world’s weather, fuelling fires in Indonesia and “super typhoons” in the west Pacific.
The strength of an El Niño is tracked using the “Niño3.4 anomaly”, which is a measure of how much warmer sea surface temperatures are than average in a section of the central Pacific.
Analysis of more than 600 forecasts from 14 different climate models by Hausfather for Carbon Brief’s “state of the climate” update shows how models project this year’s El Niño will peak with an anomaly of around 4C. This would be more than a degree above the previous record in 2015-16.
Niño3.4 region sea surface temperature peak anomaly projected from 656 runs of 14 different dynamical El Niño models. Y-axis denotes the share of model runs in each 0.2C “bin”.
Writing on CB Connect on 5 November, Hausfather wrote:
“This El Niño event is developing so quickly and is reaching sea surface temperatures so warm that it’s simply staggering. We haven’t seen anything like this in the historical record and it may end up being the strongest El Niño event in the past millennium.”
This year’s El Niño has already chalked up a number of milestones.
On 18 September, the daily anomaly in the Niño3.4 region broke the satellite-era record set in 2015 when it reached 3.11C.
Meanwhile, September as a whole recorded the highest monthly Niño3.4 region temperature anomaly – 2.84C – since sea surface temperature records began in the mid-1800s.
Hausfather wrote on CB Connect that this year’s El Niño had been “running well above any prior El Niño event since June, at times by a full degree [Celsius]”.
Carbon Brief’s “state of the climate” analysis indicates that El Niño is set to continue to intensify into December, with 10 out of 14 models expecting temperatures in the Niño3.4 region to peak in the final month of this year. The remainder anticipate a November peak.
Average of 656 forecasts across 14 dynamical models. The lighter shaded area reflects the period when only seven models are available.
While human emissions of greenhouse gases are responsible for almost all of long-term global warming, temperatures in specific years are strongly influenced by El Niño events.
The “state of the climate” analysis explains that this year’s El Niño event will have its largest effect on global temperatures in 2027. This is because global temperatures typically lag warming in the tropical Pacific by around three months.
Carbon Brief projects that the 2027 average global temperature will reach around 1.74C above pre-industrial levels. It calculates a 96% chance that next year will be the warmest on record.
This projection is based on the historical relationship between year-on-year temperature changes and El Niño conditions the preceding autumn. It also factors in uncertainty around how global temperatures will develop across the remainder of 2026.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.Donald Trump urges you to ignore facts and reality and 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.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.
Campaigners from Fossil Free London, Christian Climate Action and Stop Rosebank gathered outside DESNZ to protest against new oil and gas, October 31, 2026[Pic: Fossil Free London]
HUNDREDS of climate activists rallied outside the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero in London on Saturday, demanding that it rejects an application to develop the North Sea Rosebank oil field.
Activists from Fossil Free London, Christian Climate Action, Stop Rosebank, and Greenpeace also denounced the government’s decision last week to approve the Jackdaw gas field, displaying banners and chanting: “Rosebank? No thanks!”
Fossil Free London director Robin Wells said: “At a time when we need climate action, the government slapped us with Jackdaw. If Rosebank is also approved it would be a climate wrecking ball whose impact would shatter public safety for generations.
“It shouldn’t be anybody’s job to remind those in elected positions that burning more oil and gas is not compatible with a liveable future in which we can enjoy safety in our homes, workplaces and the national parks we love. Fires and heatwaves will only get worse. [Prime Minister] Andy Burnham knows this.”
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.
Green party leader Zack Polanski (Green Party of England and Wales). Image: Bristol Green Party Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Shocking levels of access afforded to oil and gas representatives revealed by Scotland’s The Sunday National newspaper have been called out by Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
Records show the main firms involved in Rosebank and Jackdaw and lobbying for it (Shell, Equinor, Ithaca, Adura and industry body OEUK) met with UK ministers 200 times between July 2024 and June 2026.
The exposé comes as Jackdaw has been approved and the cabinet are split over whether to give the green light to the highly controversial Rosebank oil field, a decision which is expected imminently.
Backbench Labour MPs are said to be furious about the Chancellor’s alleged interference in the upcoming decision, with one MP saying a decision to give the go ahead to the oil drilling project would be “politically explosive.”
It has been estimated that up to 50 Labour MPs could lose their seats to the Greens if Rosebank is given the go ahead. A new YouGov poll shows that 51% of people in the UK support laws to phase out oil and gas production.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales said:
“This summer we saw nearly 3000 people die from extreme heat while wildfires raged across the country. This is the crucial decade for climate action – yet Labour ministers are still holding cozy meetings with oil and gas bosses with alarming frequency.
“Budget documents revealed the government is paving the way to greenlight Rosebank which would be catastrophic for the climate. But it’s no wonder this Labour government is making decisions that put the profits of oil and gas giants above the safety of people in this country, when they are constantly rubbing shoulders with them.
“The people of this country deserve better. We need to say no to new oil and gas drilling, a tightened-up windfall tax on oil and gas and an end to tax breaks for fossil fuel companies so we can stop backing climate-wrecking polluters and take real action for a safe future instead.”
The Green Party was the only major political party to condemn the Labour government’s decision to give the go ahead to the Jackdaw gas field last month.
In September over 500 scientists and health professionals from across the UK wrote an open letter calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to reject Rosebank. They warned that “approval of Rosebank would be ignoring the warnings of scientific research on climate change and would be the wrong decision for the UK, sending a dangerous message on the international stage.”
In July UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “Every new fossil fuel project approved today makes tomorrow’s heatwaves more dangerous, and our world less secure.”
The decision on Rosebank will also be a test of the government’s proposed sanctions on companies involved in illegal settlements in the West Bank. The FCDO has been on notice since January 2026 that greenlighting Rosebank would put it in breach of Articles 49 and 53 of the Geneva Conventions, as an estimated £235 million would end up flowing to the Delek Group, an Israeli based company that has been blacklisted by the UN.
Today’s revelations come days after another lobbying scandal involving AI and data centres. An investigation by Spotlight on Corruption showed the UK government met representatives of 137 different businesses about AI data centres between July 2024 and June 2026, but not a single environmental group. Chancellor John Healey announced a data centre convenant in his budget last week which, although welcomed by the industry, was condemned as insulting voluntarism by campaigners.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that he’s delayed the go-ahead for Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea oil and gas extraction until after the Holborn and St. Pancras by-election – don’t want democracy interfering with Capitalism.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 ignore facts and reality and 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.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit at the Institute of Peace on October 8, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Until something is done, like overturning the Citizens United US Supreme Court decision, the wealthy’s stranglehold on our political system will continue to tighten.
The “almost cartoon-villain level of political spending” by SpaceX CEO and former Trump administration adviser Elon Musk has reached a fever pitch ahead of the midterm elections, with the right-wing billionaire’s donations of $445 million to super political action committees accounting for 10% of the $4.2 billion the PACs have brought in.
As an analysis released Tuesday by the government watchdog Public Citizen found, Musk has led the way in contributing huge sums to super PACs. The PACs can raise unlimited amounts of money on behalf of candidates and causes and have increasingly influenced elections following the 2010 Citizens UnitedSupreme Court ruling, which said the government cannot restrict political spending by corporations.
But excluding Musk, just 514 donors have contributed about $3.8 billion to super PACs this election cycle, as Republicans attempt to hold onto control of the US Senate and House of Representatives despite President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating and his record of raising the prices of gas and other essentials with his illegal war on Iran and his tariff policy.
Altogether, the donations from the 515 contributors account for 73% of all super PAC funding from individuals, corporations, and nonprofits this election cycle, according to Public Citizen.
“The figures add to a growing body of evidence that unlimited political spending has concentrated influence over elections among a tiny number of wealthy individuals and corporations,” said the organization, noting that Musk’s contributions come two years after he poured nearly $300 million into the 2024 elections, boosting Trump and other Republicans and spending close to $120 million more than the next closest donor.
The report follows an earlier Public Citizen analysis that found more than 100 super PACs that have raised at least $1 million received the majority of the funding from just a single donor, collectively gathering more than $1 billion to boost the candidates of their choice.
The Senate Leadership Fund has the most donors contributing at least $1 million each, with 61 people contributing $496 million.
“When 500 donors account for more than 70% of super PAC contributions, we should be asking whose voices our political system is prioritizing.”
MAGA Inc., the super PAC affiliated with Trump, has taken $405 million from 102 contributors ahead of the crucial midterms, while the Senate Majority PAC has received $244 million from 44 people or groups.
Fifty-three donors have sent $231 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, while 31 donors have contributed $183 million to the House Majority PAC.
“Super PACs have helped create a political system where a small number of wealthy interests can spend unlimited amounts to influence elections and shape the choices voters face,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen. “When 500 donors account for more than 70% of super PAC contributions, we should be asking whose voices our political system is prioritizing.”
After Musk, GOP megadonors Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have been the second-largest contributors to super PACs this year. The Uihleins own the packing company Uline, and have pushed for years for government deregulation and against labor unions.
Other top contributors include multiple dark money groups, right-wing megadonor Jeffrey Yass—a longtime funder of anti-LGBTQ+, anti-choice, and anti-public school campaigns—and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who said earlier this year that he would prefer to use artificial intelligence in his business rather than hire human workers.
As The Washington Sun reported Tuesday, dark money groups, which don’t have to reveal the source of their contributions, have poured more than $392 million into the four congressional leadership PACs this year.
The Public Citizen report stresses that the hundreds of top donors to super PACs this year gave amounts of money that “most Americans could not fathom donating to a political cause.”
More than 85% of the money raised by super PACs ahead of the midterms came from donors who gave at least $20,000—“nearly a quarter of the median household income,” said Public Citizen.
“Until something is done, like overturning the Citizens UnitedUS Supreme Court decision,” said the group, “the wealthy’s stranglehold on our political system will continue to tighten.”
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.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Campaigners from Fossil Free London, Christian Climate Action and Stop Rosebank gathered outside DESNZ to protest against new oil and gas, October 31, 2026[Pic: Fossil Free London]
