Sunday, March 22, 2026
Crypto billionaire’s political base hosting ‘anti-woke’ and rightwing activists in Westminster
The paper says that Ben Delo, 42, who was pardoned by Donald Trump last year, has given support in kind to Rupert Lowe, the anti-migration MP challenging Nigel Farage from the right – while also connecting with mainstream figures including the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former cabinet minister Michael Gove:
Delo, an Oxford graduate who moved to Hong Kong in 2012 and appears to still be based there, says he is a champion of “free speech” and has vowed to tackle the “nuisance” of political correctness. He supports more than 50 organisations ranging across the political spectrum and public life, as well as non-affiliated groups and individuals.
Now a joint investigation by the Guardian and Hope Not Hate reveals some of the people and projects that have benefited from Delo’s largesse.
Among them are those who have expressed hardline positions on immigration, nationalism and abortion.
Delo, who says he has poured more than £100m into philanthropy, is providing funding, networking opportunities and help in kind via a suite of rooms in a building overlooking Westminster Abbey, known as the Sanctuary. Those given access can use the facility free of charge for events, office space and podcasting.
Restore Britain, the party founded by Lowe, a former Reform UK MP who now sits as an independent, launched its campaign for the mass deportation of millions of migrants from a room at the Sanctuary last year.
The Triggernometry podcast, which describes itself as a free speech and open inquiry platform, has used the facilities to broadcast to its 1.7 million subscribers.
Its co-host Konstantin Kisin has questioned whether the British-born former prime minister Rishi Sunak could be considered English because of his ethnicity, saying during a show recorded at the Sanctuary: “He’s a brown Hindu, how is he English?”
A spokesperson for Triggernometry said Kisin had “repeatedly explained that he is not rightwing and not only that, he never said Rishi Sunak was not English”. They added: “He said that, in his view, like his own son, who was born to two first-generation Brits in Britain, he was British and not ethnically English.”
Delo says he doesn’t necessarily endorse the views of those he supports. But he facilitates events where those with hardline views mix with more mainstream politicians. Guests at his summer party last year included the former cabinet minister Michael Gove, Reform UK’s head of policy – the Cambridge academic and anti-abortionist James Orr – and Ben Habib, the founder of Advance UK, the political party supported by Tommy Robinson.
Delo has also connected with Badenoch. The leader of the Conservative party sat at a table with him at the Spectator magazine awards dinner in 2023.
Later, Badenoch sent Delo a handwritten note on a card featuring parliament’s portcullis logo, saying: “Was great to party with you last month. We should do so more often”.
The sort of money being put into these right-wing causes is quite substantial and once more raises questions about the way that politics is funded.
Saturday, March 21, 2026
The tragic link between Mumbles and Chile
On December 8th, 1863, over 3,000 worshippers packed into the church of La Compañía de Jesús in Santiago, Chile, for a religious festival. The church was filled with thousands of candles, oil lamps, and other flammable decorations.
When a ceremonial candles accidentally ignited the church’s ornate decorations, the resulting inferno claimed more than 2,500 lives - mostly women and children. Their escape was hampered by narrow exits whose doors only opened inwards, and priests who fled through a vestry door, locking it behind them.
The New York Times reported on the fire as “a scene impossible to exaggerate, it cannot even be described... It is absolutely impossible to convey in words any idea of the harrowing spectacle of Tuesday night.”
It remains, reports say, the deadliest accidental building fire ever recorded. Eyewitnesses described how "the church was a furnace above and below" as the dome crashed down, followed by the spire.
The church’s bells - thought to be of Spanish origin and dating back to 1753 - fell with the collapsing tower, but at least four survived the flames. They were elaborately cast and beautifully inscribed - the largest measuring over 32 inches in diameter and weighing several hundred kilograms.
After the tragedy, four of the bells were sold as scrap copper to renowned Swansea industrialist Graham Vivan of Clyne Castle, and shipped 7,000 miles to Swansea - then the world's "Copperopolis", nicknamed so due to the region’s dominance in copper smelting.
The bells likely travelled aboard ships called Cape Horners - vessels named for their perilous route around South America's southern tip that regularly sailed between Swansea and Chilean ports.
Three of the bells were donated to All Saints Church in Mumbles in exchange for the church’s medieval bells, during restoration work in the 1860s. The fourth bell went to St Thomas’ Church in Neath.
For nearly 100 years, the Santiago bells called local parishioners to worship at All Saints Church, until structural issues in the bell tower made it necessary to remove them in 1964. They were later mounted in a metal brace and placed in the church porch.
Then, in the 1970s, a tragic opera called "The Bells of Santiago" was performed at Oystermouth Castle, bringing new awareness of the story and sparking wider interest in the bells' remarkable history.
Canon Keith Evans of All Saints Church later began detective work, piecing together the full story from historical records - including a photograph of the of the bells taken in the church ruins just days after the disaster. He even wrote a book about the event, The Bells of Santiago.
In 2009, the Chilean government formally requested the bells' return to form part of a memorial for the fire victims, to mark the 150th anniversary of the fire.
The response from All Saints Church - and the local community - was unanimous - the bells should go home. As Canon Keith Evans described it, returning them was about "one community's generosity to another and the renewing of historic links between Swansea and Chile."
After removing the bells from All Saints Church with the help of “small fork lift trucks and some strong men”, HMS Portland carried them on a five-month voyage back to Chile in April 2010. A ceremony to mark their departure from Mumbles was attended by Chilean Ambassador, Tomás Müller Sproat.
In September of that same year, an emotional gathering in Santiago saw Chilean and Welsh officials unite as the bells were incorporated into a memorial for those who died. The event was held at the site of the original disaster, in front of Chile's Presidential Palace, as part of the country's bicentennial celebrations.
A few years later in Wales, All Saints Church installed digital bells that faithfully recreated the sound of those from Santiago - you can listen to them ring here.
Labels: lochist
Friday, March 20, 2026
Facial recognition cameras showing racial bias
The paper says that the move to suspend use of the AI-enabled systems was revealed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates the use of the technology deployed so far by at least 13 police forces in London, south and north Wales, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Surrey and Sussex:
The ICO said Essex police had paused LFR deployments “after identifying potential accuracy and bias risks” and warned other forces to have mitigations in place. LFR systems are either mounted to fixed locations or deployed in vans. In January, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced the number of LFR vans would increase five-fold, with 50 available to every police force in England and Wales.
Essex commissioned University of Cambridge academics to conduct a study, which involved 188 actors walking past cameras being actively deployed from marked police vans in Chelmsford. The results were published last week and showed about half of the people on a watchlist were correctly identified and incorrect identifications were extremely rare, but the system was more likely to correctly identify men than women and it was “statistically significantly more likely to correctly identify black participants than participants from other ethnic groups”.
This “raises questions about fairness that require continued monitoring”, the report concluded. One of its authors, Dr Matt Bland, a criminologist, told the Guardian and Liberty Investigates: “If you’re an offender passing facial recognition cameras which are set up as they have been in Essex, the chances of being identified as being on a police watchlist are greater if you’re black. To me, that warrants further investigation.”
The problem differs from the more common public concern about the technology which is that it identifies innocent people. Last month it emerged that police arrested a man for a burglary in a city he had never visited 100 miles away after retrospective face scanning software confused him with another person of south Asian heritage.
Possible reasons for the latest issue with LFR include overtraining of the algorithm on the faces of black people. Experts believe it could be rectified by adjusting system settings. A separate study of the same technology by the government’s National Physical Laboratory found black men were most likely to be correctly matched by the system and white men least likely, but the effect was not statistically significant.
In the light of this study I would expect other police forces to also suspend use of these cameras and for the rollout of more LFR vans to be put on hold. After all, we did tell them this might happen.
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Labour MPs revolt on international aid cuts
The paper says that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is expected to make an announcement to parliament on Thursday over reduced allocations for aid, more than a year after the prime minister announced plans to reduce the funds from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent by 2027:
Keir Starmer is set to face the wrath of Labour MPs over confirmation of significant cuts to overseas development aid (ODA).
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is expected to make an announcement to parliament on Thursday over reduced allocations for aid, more than a year after the prime minister announced plans to reduce the funds from 0.5 per cent of GDP to 0.3 per cent by 2027.
The ODA budget was reduced to 0.48 per cent in 2025/26, then will drop to 0.37 per cent in 2026/27, and will be a mere 0.3 per cent in 2027/28.
Ahead of the statement, former international development minister Gareth Thomas, the Labour MP for Harrow West, issued a warning to the government that it was leaving the door open for malign foreign powers such as China to fill the space left by the UK.
He said: “In an already unsafe world, cutting aid risks alienating key allies and will make improving children’s health and education in Commonwealth countries more difficult.
“We risk creating more opportunities for regimes who don’t share our values.
“Our security depends not just on a stronger military but also on building soft power so that our soldiers aren’t needed.”
Mr Thomas’s intervention reflects growing unease on the Labour backbenches about the policy which only leaves guaranteed funding for Ukraine, Gaza, the UK’s Overseas Territories and Sudan. It is believed that protections for women and girls will also be maintained.
The cuts are the latest issue to spark discontent among Labour MPs in a week where a speech by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner describing draconian plans to control immigration as “un-British” have ignited another civil war within the party.
With Labour losing the crucial Gorton and Denton by-election to the Greens and coming third behind Reform in what had been the party’s seventh safest seat, Labour MPs are actively discussing replacing the prime minister in a bid to move left.
One senior backbencher said: “The issue on overseas aid is just another example of the way this government has moved away from Labour values.”
Labour really have lost their way.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
So, what does Nigel actually believe?
The paper says that some of the videos the Reform leader has sold include ones in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, repeated extremist slogans and supported a man convicted over his involvement in a far-right riot.
They add that the haul includes videos in which Farage repeats a motto associated with the UK far right, references antisemitic conspiracy theories and makes misogynistic remarks about leftwing politicians – including a comment about the US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s breasts:
The unearthing of the videos could prove damaging to Farage, whose party is leading in the polls in the UK. They raise questions about his relationship with the far right and who he is willing to take money from.
Farage charged £155 for one video he made in 2025 for a man he was told had received a 16-month sentence for his involvement in a far-right riot. The Reform leader told the man to “keep acting in the right way”.
He was paid £141 for another video in which he promoted an event by a Canadian neo-Nazi group, which used the clip in propaganda alongside fascist salutes and antisemitic imagery. Farage called the event “the best thing that ever happened”.
The Guardian has also identified a series of “outtake” Cameo clips in which Farage appears quick to anger when his recording is interrupted, showing a side to him that contrasts with his amiable public persona.
The Guardian analysed 4,366 clips Farage has produced on Cameo since he joined the platform in 2021. He has become a prolific user of the service, which allows celebrities and high-profile figures to sell short videos to members of the public.
Buyers of Cameo videos are required to write a prompt, which describes who the video is for and what the user wants their chosen celebrity to say.
Farage has charged a total of at least £374,893 for his videos since he joined the platform five years ago and often makes several videos a day. Most are innocuous clips in which he is paid about £85 to send his supporters personalised messages to celebrate birthdays, Christmas or Valentine’s Day.
However, there are dozens of instances in which he has made videos for people who expressed far-right or offensive views. They include clips Farage made for one Cameo user who expressed support for the National Front, a defunct fascist party, and another who asked for a video for a former Ukip supporter who dislikes “the gypsies”.
The paper suggests that Farage's relentless use of the platform raises questions about his focus as an MP and leader of a major political party but surely the real issue here are the causes he associates himself with.
Reform say that the videos “should not be treated as political statements or campaign activity”, but that is not the point. Here is the leader of a political party publicly making outrageous statements. At best it suggests poor political judgement, at worst it raises questions as to what Farage really believes.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Another Reform tax scandal
The paper says that Richard Tice reportedly avoided paying corporation tax on his property company Quidnet Reit Ltd over a three-year period after gaining a rare legal status for his firm:
The Reform MP is accused of avoiding hundreds of thousands in corporation tax by listing his firm on the Guernsey stock exchange and applying for it to become a real estate investment trust (REIT), according to the Sunday Times.
Mr Tice’s firm reportedly did not meet the technical tests for REIT status however a legal quirk meant it gained the status from 2018 to 2021. REITs are exempt from paying corporation tax during a grace period.
Firms with the status instead issue a portion of a company's earnings to shareholders, who are then taxed individually.
But Mr Tice’s ownership structure reportedly saw portions of his company’s earnings channelled into an offshore trust and dormant businesses. Quidnet no longer has REIT status.
Labour’s chair Anna Turley said: “Richard Tice urgently needs to explain himself - to the British public and to HMRC. Why has he gone to such extreme lengths to avoid paying his taxes, and has all the tax he owes been paid?
“If these claims are true, it looks like Reform’s Deputy Leader is just in it for himself - not for working people who couldn’t even dream of earning the kind of money he appears to have hidden from the taxman. Nigel Farage needs to decide whether that’s what he wants Reform to stand for.”
Mr Tice said Quidnet was a “UK company paying UK tax operating in accordance with UK laws” and that it was “not unusual for property companies to seek REIT status”.
He said there was “nothing complex or unusual about a UK company having a range of shareholders, some of whom are directors".
He added: “Voters should be reassured to have a successful businessman who knows how to make money for shareholders running a business, trade and energy department, making money and growth for taxpayers.
"If the country had had this before maybe we would not be in the current dire economic pickle.”
Once more we see that anybody who believes Reform stand up for working people is seriously deluded.
Monday, March 16, 2026
Welsh NHS and schools underperforming despite funding increase
The broadcaster says that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has concluded that Wales' health and education systems are underperforming compared with England despite significant increases in spending.
The IFS report concludes that despite recent falls waiting lists remain far higher than before Covid struck, and school absences remain 50% higher than in 2019:
David Phillips of the IFS said the causes of poor performance in Welsh public services were "not fully clear", and more work was needed to diagnose the reasons.
He said funding levels "seem unlikely to be a major factor given spending in Wales is higher than comparable areas of England" and high levels of deprivation "can likely only explain part of it too".
"Instead, policies and the way services are delivered are likely to play a role. Average hospital stays are 40% longer in Wales than England, reducing the number of patients that can be admitted and treated," he said.
The IFS cited average waiting times for elective treatments in Wales of 19 weeks in December 2025, double the pre-pandemic level of 10.7 weeks and higher than the equivalent figure of 13.4 weeks.
A&E waiting times had worsened over the last two years, with 53% of patients waiting less than four hours in December 2025, compared to a target of 95%.
But it said health spending had increased by 17% per person in real terms since 2019-20, and spending per pupil had increased by 14% - similar to or higher than those seen in England over the same period of time.
The think tank says the causes of poor performance in Welsh public services are "not fully clear" and more work is needed to diagnose the reasons.
Phillips said that when it came to schools, "accountability for poor performance may be weaker – with less data available to both teachers and parents"
.
Overall and persistent absences from school remain far higher than before the pandemic, the IFS said, citing figures from 2024-25 when 9% of pupils in Wales were absent on any given day, up from less than 6% in 2019.
Performance in the internationally comparable PISA tests for 15 year olds fell by more in Wales than England post-pandemic - with the last figures published in 2023.
Clearly, May's elections are a crunch point for devolution. With a new system and an expanded Senedd, whoever takes power needs to deliver if confidence in the devolution is to be restored.
Their first action must be a very quick, but thorough review of what is going wrong before using what resources they have in a way that can really make a difference to services.
It could be a very short honeymoon period for the new government.
Sunday, March 15, 2026
The financial challenges faced by the next Welsh Government
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published its own analysis that suggests that the next Senedd is not going to be an easy ride for whoever forms the next government.
The IFS say that increases in resource funding are set to slow significantly and capital funding is set to fall over the next few years, which will mean tough choices over tax and spending allocation for the next government. Their press release says that:
After increasing by an average of 2.5% a year in real terms so far in the 2020s, the Welsh Government’s funding for day-to-day (resource) spending is set to increase by an average of just 1.1% a year over the next three years. Funding for investment (capital) spending has increased by even more over the last few years but is now set to fall by an average of 1.3% a year.
In both cases, this more challenging funding outlook is driven by the UK government’s decision to have lower growth in overall spending across the UK in coming years as it seeks to reduce a large budget deficit and stabilise debt levels. In the context of spending pressures in areas such as health, social care and special educational needs provision, it will mean whoever is in government in the next Senedd term will face difficult decisions on tax and spending. Indeed, without increases in revenues – whether through a boost to Welsh economic growth or increases in tax rates – and/or major improvements to public sector productivity, cuts to some services are highly likely to channel money to other services with growing spending needs. This is important context for any promises made during the election campaign.
It has been suggested that a move to a needs-based funding formula for allocating funding to the Welsh Government could help address these challenges. At least on the basis of currently available assessments of Wales’s relative spending needs, such a move could in fact exacerbate the challenges. The 2010 Holtham Commission estimated Wales’s spending needs per person were around 14% to 17% higher than those of England. We estimate that UK government funding for the Welsh Government was 25% higher per person in 2024–25 than the amount spent on comparable services per person in England. That is the equivalent of around £1.5 billion a year more than would be received if funding was instead 17% higher than in England.
This assessment means that scrutiny of those manifestos must be much more thorough than usual.
Saturday, March 14, 2026
When Gladstone visited Swansea
His inauguaral lecture, 'Mr Gladstone and Swansea 1887' delivered at the College on 18 November 1980, does not appear to be any longer in print. However, I have found this account of the visit:
Gladstone visited south Wales in 1887 to draw attention to the support given for Irish Home Rule in Wales in an effort to rally similar feeling in England and Scotland. Along his route from Hawarden to Swansea he was greeted by huge crowds and probably the biggest demonstration in Welsh history at Swansea. Welsh Liberals hoped to gain his support for Church disestablishment from the visit.
The events brought much press attention to Wales and many in Wales were proud of the display that was made. While it has been argued that Welsh national identity had informed electoral politics since the middle of the century, Gladstone's visit demonstrates how this political national identity took on a more vocal, ritual form after the Third Reform Act. What is more, the proximity of Gladstone's visit to the celebration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee resulted in comparisons between the events.
His visit was also a civic occasion, to open the new public library in the town, so it was difficult for his political opponents to muster total opposition to it, while his role as both a politician and a man of letters meant that many opponents had divided feelings about him.
The events had little real impact on either Home Rule or disestablishment but they provide insights into the political culture of Wales and its sense of nationality in the late Victorian period, while the occasion also illustrates the importance of ritual and symbol in the era.
Apparently, the visit inspired a song eighty-three years later by musician John Howes, which recalled the visit to Swansea and how the grand old man tried ‘the famous oysters’. It can be listened to here.
Labels: lochist
Friday, March 13, 2026
BBC World Service under threat
The paper says that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a scathing report into the state of the World Service, warning that Britain’s soft power on the international stage is being put at risk over “poor decision making”:
While the service, which is funded jointly by the BBC licence fee and the Foreign Office (FCDO), provided in 43 languages across the world has an average weekly audience of 313 million, MPs on the committee said there is a serious risk of it losing ground to its rivals, in part because of increased spending on international media by states such as Russia and China.
The two countries invested a combined total of about £6 billion to £8 billion a year in global media operations, at a time when the World Service has experienced spending cuts.
The committee also highlighted that trust scores have also "increased markedly" for Russian and Chinese state broadcasters in recent years, while the BBC's ratings have remained stable.
The World Service's total budget fell by 21 per cent in real terms between 2021 and 2026, mainly driven by reductions in contributions from the licence fee.
The report comes as the BBC prepares to negotiate the renewal of its charter with the government, with the size of the licence fee up for discussion. The last charter renewal in 2012 saw the BBC agree to pay for the World Service.
MPs said they were "deeply troubled" to learn that the BBC has not been told how much the government will provide in funding for the World Service in the coming year.
The corporation could also not provide the committee with "a single, transparent suite of value for money measures across the service's TV, radio and digital offerings".
The report added weaknesses in BBC governance had "led to poorly evidenced decisions and unclear lines of responsibility within the organisation".
The corporation's management of the World Service's digital upgrade was found to have had weaknesses that contributed to a fall in overall digital audiences of 11% since 2021.
MPs also raised concerns about the BBC's failure to "clearly document its rationale for key decisions made as part of savings programmes", alongside a lack of metrics to effectively track performance and impact on its audiences.
The World Service has been important in helping the UK maintain its influence in many key areas of foreign policy. It must not be allowed to wither in the vine.
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Reform in chaos over Iran war
The Mirror reports that Farage has shifted his stance on the Iran war as fears mount over the hit to energy bills:
The Reform UK leader initially hit out at the Government for failing to join the initial wave of US-Israeli strikes. But today, he performed a screeching U-turn, telling journalists: "Let’s not get involved in another foreign war:"
It comes after wider confusion about Reform's stance on military action against Tehran. Deputy leader Richard Tice and Reform member Nadhim Zahawi previously backed British involvement - while Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has opposed it.
A Labour source said: "Nigel Farage and Reform spent the past week saying they would bomb Iran. Now they're backtracking as petrol prices rise, leaving their foreign policy in chaos. That's not serious leadership, that's panic."
Grilled on his position while visiting a petrol station in Derbyshire, Mr Farage said: "Given that we can't even send a Royal Navy vessel to defend British sovereign territory and an RAF base, we certainly don't have the capability to offer anything of any value to the Americans or the Israelis.
"There are differing opinions as to whether we should physically join the attacks. I, as leader, am saying to you, if we can't even defend Cyprus, let's not get ourselves involved in another foreign war."
Asked how he would respond to a potential US request for help from UK troops, Mr Farage said: "We don't have the soldiers anyway. Even if we did, I would say it's no to boots on the ground."
But his party's mayor in Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has previously declined to rule out putting troops on the ground in the Middle East.
Kemi Badenoch has also toned down her bullish rhetoric, after blasting Mr Starmer for holding back. At PMQs last week, she said: "We are in this war whether they like it or not. What is the PM waiting for?”
But today, the Conservative leader said: "I said that we support their actions. I never said we should join. I did say that where British bases are being attacked, we should do more than catch the arrows. We should stop the people who are attacking us. Stop the archer."
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said: "Going to war is the most serious decision a prime minister can make. Nigel Farage spent the past week calling for escalation that would make cost-of-living pressures even worse.
"If he had been prime minister he would have already dragged our country into this war, and wouldn't be able to U-turn like he has done today. While Keir Starmer offers serious, level-headed leadership in the national interest, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have shown themselves to be unfit for office."
Is the real reason for Farage's change of heart that an overwhelming majority of UK voters are opposed to the country getting involved in this war? God forbid that the so-called man of the people might go up against public opinion.
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Lawyers call for rethink on plans to cut jury trials
The paper says that the letter to Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, from 3,200 lawyers, including 300 senior barristers, comes as his government faces the prospect of one of its most serious backbench revolts since coming to power:
Efforts by David Lammy, the justice secretary, to change the mind of one of the leading Labour figures opposed to the plans, the backbencher Karl Turner, failed after the men met on Monday night.
Turner, who had previously coordinated a letter from 38 Labour MPs urging the prime minister to reverse the plans, said he had “absolutely not” been convinced.
The Conservatives are expected to force a vote to try to block the second reading in parliament on Tuesday. However, the true scale of the Labour rebellion may not yet be evident.
More than 65 Labour MPs are thought to be considering voting against the bill, but it is understood that many may abstain and instead vote against it at a later stage of the legislative process, such as report stage.
Sarah Sackman, the courts minister, could not confirm in interviews on Tuesday morning whether Labour MPs who rebel against the vote would lose the whip.
“Nothing difficult or worth doing was ever easy and I don’t shy away from that debate. And indeed, some of those voices will be helping us to scrutinise and improve the bill as it goes through parliament,” she told Times Radio.
Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, accused the government of mounting “an unacceptable attack on an ancient right”.
“Juries provide a safeguard between the citizen and the state. But Labour want to weaken it because Keir Starmer and David Lammy are putting what is politically expedient ahead of the hard yards of court reform,” he said.
It is quite clear that this outrageous proposal to remove juries from many court proceedings has no support amongst the legal profession and is losing support amongst Labour MPs as well.
If the government wants to reduce the backlog in the courts then they need to invest in them, not undermine the legaL system in this way.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Labour target pensioners
The paper says that the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast, published for chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spring statement on Tuesday, indicated that 600,000 more pensioners than previously estimated will face income tax by 2026-27. That figure is due to increase to 1 million by 2030-31:
While the state pension is subject to income tax, individuals whose sole income derives from it have historically avoided payments.
This is because the full state pension, currently £230.25 per week, falls below the annual personal tax allowance of £12,570.
In her November 2025 Budget, Ms Reeves extended a freeze on the personal allowance until 2031.
For the first time since its introduction, the full new state pension is set to exceed the personal allowance in the 2027-28 tax year under the triple-lock policy, which guarantees increases in line with inflation, earnings, or 2.5 per cent.
HM Revenue and Customs has updated its modelling of the impact of the threshold freezes on those whose main source of income is the state pension, the OBR said.
Some pensioners with additional income streams will already be paying tax ahead of 2027-28, according to the watchdog.
“The updated modelling of this population across all personal tax threshold freezes since April 2021 increases the estimate of the number of people brought into paying tax by 600,000 in 2026-27 and one million in 2030-31,” the OBR wrote.
“However, much of this population is projected to pay only very small additional amounts of tax due to the freezes, so this only increases the yield of the November 2025 Budget measures by £0.1bn in 2030-31.”
The OBR also said that the government has pledged to exempt those whose only income is the state pension from paying income tax on it in this parliament, but has yet to set out details.
The government confirmed its aim to exempt those relying on the state pension and to detail that policy well before the April 2027 change.
The Liberal Democrats said Ms Reeves must set out how pensioners will be protected from these stealth taxes immediately.
The party’s Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “Buried in the small print of today’s spring statement is a shock stealth grab hitting another 1 million pensioners.
“For poorer pensioners, every penny counts, and these unfair tax hikes could be the final straw.
“Rachel Reeves must urgently explain how she will protect older, poorer pensioners from this stealth tax squeeze.
“Pensioners have worked hard all their lives, paid into the system and played by the rules. Poorer pensioners should not be made to pay the price for this Labour government’s economic failure.”
Labour may have come to power pledging not to increase income tax, but the way they have handled the personal allowance is a clear breach of that pledge. Many people will be worse off because of this stealth tax, one that proportionatley hits the poorest paid workers more than the rich.
Monday, March 09, 2026
A period of silence is called for
The paper says that the former prime minister told a private Jewish News event on Friday that Sir Keir should have let the Trump administration use British airbases to strike Iran:
He reportedly added: “If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security ... you had better show up”.
Sir Tony’s comments were made in private on the understanding that he would not be quoted, but they have since appeared in the Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Times.
Asked about the former Labour prime minister’s comments on Sky News on Sunday morning, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “I just disagree.”
She added: “We learn the lessons from some of the things that went wrong in Iraq, and I think that is exactly what Keir Starmer has done.”
The intervention came as Mr Trump again criticised Sir Keir over the UK’s approach to the Middle East conflict, saying that the US does not need anyone to “join wars after we’ve already won”.
Mr Trump was referring to reports that the UK is preparing an aircraft carrier for deployment to the Middle East.
The US president posted on his Truth Social platform: “The United Kingdom, our once great Ally, maybe the greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.
“That’s OK, prime minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won!”
Sir Keir has defended his decision not to allow US forces to use British bases to support initial strikes on Iran, saying he needed to be satisfied that any military action was legal and well planned.
However Sir Tony told the Jewish News event: “I am not saying anything that I haven’t already said to the government ... I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.
“We have got to be very clear about this as a country. We’re depending on the American alliance for our country. They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?”
He continued: “The American relationship matters. It matters particularly today. It’s not a question of whether it’s this president or that president. If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security...you had better show up.”
I am not sure that Blair has the measure of public opinion here. Having once taken the UK into an illegal war, he seems keen for us to do it again. Thank goodness that the present government are learning from his mistakes.
Sunday, March 08, 2026
Major Cardiff tourist attraction to be dismantled
I first blogged on this phenomenon on 20 August 2009 just before I went on holiday. Over the next eight days my blog received 5,422 hits, most of them looking for that post. I revisited the issue a couple of times over the next two years and then moved on.
I was in Cardiff bay a few months ago and made a point of visiting the 'shrine', noting that not only is it still there but it has grown exponentially.
Now. the BBC report that the shrine is set to be taken down after nearly two decades:
The tribute was built by fans of the series to commemorate queer character Ianto Jones 17 years ago, near where the series was filmed in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff.
However, self-proclaimed shrine-keeper Carol-Anne Hillman said she was "devastated" to learn that the shrine would be taken down due to health and safety.
A spokesperson for Mermaid Quay confirmed it was exploring the possibility of a new plaque for Ianto once maintenance work had been completed.
Carol-Anne Hillman has been looking after the shrine since 2017 and is "devastated" that the tribute will be taken down.
She said: "It became part of my life in Cardiff.
"I've got a back bedroom that's got about 11 or 12 bags of decorations now that I can't use.
"I've spent hundreds buying all these decorations.
"There's loads of people now that won't get even the first look at the shrine."
More than 860 miles (1,384 km) from the shrine in Cardiff Bay, Claudia from Germany was sad to learn that the attraction would be taken down.
"I love Doctor Who, but Torchwood was something else. It was quirky, it was campy, it was just a lot of fun," she said.
"[But] let's face it, the area is dodgy.
"The metal is rusted, the wood is decaying, it's in desperate need of some refurbishing and renovation."
Having last visited the shrine in 2018, Claudia plans to spend her 60th birthday in the city this year but will not get the chance to see the shrine again before it is taken down.
It isn't just the fans who will lose out by this decision of course. The 'shrine' attracts a lot of people to Cardiff Bay, many of whom will be disappointed.
Labels: lochist
Saturday, March 07, 2026
Rock of the night
The castle was formerly owned by opera singer Adelina Patti, but is now a wedding venue. Its landscaped grounds are a country park, managed by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
According to wikipedia, the main building was built between 1841 and 1843 by Captain Rhys Davies Powell, to designs by Thomas Henry Wyatt. It was bought by Morgan Morgan of Abercrave for £6,000 in 1876:
Captain Morgan and his family, plus his son also called Morgan Morgan and his family, lived jointly in the castle for several years. The family cleared a large plantation of 80-year-old fir trees which stood between the castle and the quarries above, which were said to be home to a local population of red squirrels.
Adelina Patti purchased the castle and surrounding park land for £3500 in 1878 to develop it as her own private estate. She spent the rest of her life at Craig-y-nos, leaving it only to sing in the premier opera houses of Europe and to tour the United States:
After her second marriage, to French tenor Ernesto Nicolini, she embarked on a major building programme at the castle, adding the North and South wings, the clock tower, conservatory, winter garden and theatre. After making her last public appearance in October 1914, when she sang for the Red Cross and filled the Albert Hall, she spent the rest of her life at Craig-y-nos with her third husband. The castle is a Grade II* listed building.
The Adelina Patti Theatre is a Grade I listed opera house. Built to be Patti's own private auditorium, it was designed by Swansea architects Bucknall and Jennings, with input from Sir Henry Irving. Briefed by Patti to be her miniature version of La Scala, Milan, it incorporates features from Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus opera house in Bayreuth, and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
Able to seat 150 people, the back of the theatre houses a gallery where the domestic staff would sit, enabling them to enjoy the performances. The orchestra pit is separated from the seating area by a balustrade, and holds up to 24 musicians.
Invitations for the July 12, 1891, opening event went to two types of guest: those invited to stay at the castle, and those invited just for the performance. House guests included: the Spanish Ambassador; Baron and Baroness Julius De Reuter, founder of the Reuters news agency; and Lord and Lady Swansea. Journalists from international newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro and the Boston Herald were also invited as house guests to report on the opening.
Final rehearsals occurred in the afternoon with the Swansea Opera Company, before a specially chartered train arrived at Penwyllt with the performance guests. Due to start at 20:00, the performance eventually started at 20:30 after a light tea. Sir Henry Irving was to have given the opening address, but as he was unable to attend, leading actor William Terris deputised. Patti's performance included the prelude to act one of La traviata, and in the second half the Garden Scene from Faust. There then followed a buffet supper served in the conservatory, with a total of 450 bottles of champagne consumed at the party.
Today the theatre remains a time capsule, and the stage is probably the only surviving example of original 19th century backstage equipment. The opera house is licensed for weddings.
Naturally, the castle is said to be haunted and occasionally hosts ghost tours.
Today the theatre remains a time capsule, and the stage is probably the only surviving example of original 19th century backstage equipment. The opera house is licensed for weddings.
Naturally, the castle is said to be haunted and occasionally hosts ghost tours.
Labels: lochist
Friday, March 06, 2026
Renewables must form basis of UK energy security
The paper quotes research published on Thursday, which shows that the last fossil fuel energy crisis, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, cost the EU and the UK $1.8tn between 2022 and 2025, driving up bills and fuelling a devastating cost of living crisis.
Now, the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which started at the weekend, have resulted in fossil fuel prices surging again, with experts saying that the crisis underscores the need for the UK to end its dependance on such an unstable energy source:
Bob Ward, from the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, warned the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and subsequent surge in oil and gas prices “could translate into significantly higher energy bills for British households and consumers”.
“The UK is vulnerable to the volatility of international fossil fuel markets, and the only way to protect ourselves from these price increases is by speeding up the transition to domestic supplies of clean energy, namely renewables and nuclear power.”
The UN’s climate chief, Simon Stiell, said the latest upheaval in the Middle East “shows yet again that fossil fuel dependence leaves economies, businesses, markets and people at the mercy of each new conflict or trade policy lurch.”.
He added: “There is a clear solution to this fossil fuel cost chaos – renewables are now cheaper, safer and faster-to-market, making them the obvious pathway to energy security and sovereignty.”
Research published on Thursday by the Transition Security Project showed that the 2022 energy shock had cost the UK and the EU $1.8tn and left governments increasingly dependent on imports of liquid natural gas from the US, giving Donald Trump a stranglehold over EU and UK energy supplies.
The study found the rising costs came through higher household and business energy bills and from the cost of government policies such as price caps, rebates and tax cuts, which aimed to softened the direct impact on consumers of the fossil fuel crisis.
Kevin Cashman, author of the report, said the 2022 energy crisis “presented a fork in the road for Europe – double down on volatile fossil fuel markets, or pivot to homegrown clean energy and greater security”.
“The failure to do the latter has left people on ordinary incomes paying the price for an irresponsible and shortsighted energy policy,” he said.
This isn't just about the cost of energy and its impact on living standards. Energy security means that we have to generate our own power and reduce our dependence on others. It is about the security of the nation.
Thursday, March 05, 2026
Trump misreading history again
That comment demonstrates that once again Trump has shown that he does not understand history nor the nature of the special relationship between the UK and the USA.
The President has spent the last twelve months trashing his country's allies, abusing them for their over-reliance on the United States, imposing tariffs and trying to bully them into giving him what he wants.
In the last few months Trump has:
🔴 Threatened to seize Greenland — Danish sovereign territory
🔴 Threatened Canada with annexation
🔴 Undermined NATO's Article 5 mutual defence commitment
🔴 Backed Israel through ICC arrest warrants and genocide investigations
🔴 Bombed Iran without international mandate
🔴 Now following Spain's refusal to allow him to use their bases. he threatened to fly military aircraft into their territory, a NATO ally, without permission
Why should he be surprised then, when those same allies are reluctant to fall into line behind a campaign of agression against a country that offers no direct threat to them or the USA, has no clear objectives or end game and appears to be largely motivated by a desire to distract attention from the Epstein files?
And as for his view on Winston Churchill, Trump has got that wrong as well. Churchill pursued the 'special relationship' because it was in the UK's best interests to do so. He always put the UK's interests first, and whether you agree with him or not, that is what Starmer is doing as well.
Starmer is quite right to avoid dragging the UK into this conflict and he should continue to hold that position. After all there is a good chance that Churchill would have done the same.
Wednesday, March 04, 2026
Has the Home Secretary got it wrong on immigration?
Ms Mahmood argues that Denmark’s Social Democrats curbed inflows to protect the welfare state and won at the ballot box. A general election in Denmark later this month will test whether that policy remains popular. Her recent visit to Copenhagen kept the spotlight on asylum, the most politically charged part of the UK system. Yet asylum flows are a small fraction of overall migration and largely disconnected from the labour shortages that undergird Britain’s economic debate. Public concern about migration is real – shaped by pressures on housing, services and wages. But pollsters say that this is disproportionately driven by Reform UK supporters, who worry substantially more about immigration than voters backing far-right parties in Europe. That suggests that the politics of migration is more complex than headlines imply.
The home secretary may propose cutting migration to show that she is listening. But in ageing countries where migrant workers are concentrated in key sectors such as health and construction, the fallout is very real. In Britain, visas for overseas nurses have fallen by 93%, from 26,100 in 2022 to 1,777 in 2025. Care worker visas are down 97% over the same period. Social care providers are struggling to recruit; construction firms warn of delays; universities compete globally for talent. Clearly, imposing sudden restrictions would have consequences beyond the raw numbers.
The tension between tighter controls and reliance on migrant labour is evident across Europe. Far‑right Sweden Democrats support a government that raised repatriation grants from £800 to £30,000 per adult, only for local authorities to protest over fears that labour shortages would hit essential services. Migration policy ought to align political rhetoric with economic reality and workforce planning. Shouting about cultural threats may win votes, but it does not staff surgical wards, harvest crops or build homes.
Demographic arithmetic eventually trumps nationalist rhetoric. Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, cannot reverse a collapsing birthrate or a greying workforce, so her government last year issued record numbers of work visas to non-EU nationals. Britain faces similar constraints. Although the working-age population is not shrinking outright, the ratio of workers to dependents is tightening as society ages. Labour supply is a long-term workforce issue, not short-term politics – especially when anti‑migrant rhetoric fuels tensions.
Ministers may say they are borrowing from Denmark rather than bowing to Reform UK. Yet Denmark, too, relies on migrant labour: foreign workers there have accounted for more than a third of employment growth in recent years. Key public services depend on migrant staff. Needlessly tightening rules could damage community cohesion. Ministers would be wrong to extend the path to settlement to 10 years because this entrenches insecurity that weakens workers’ ability to assert rights and put down roots. A serious government would level with voters about the country’s needs, invest in training at home and design migration rules that reflect both democratic consent and economic requirement. Without that, sectoral shortages, not ministers, will drive policy.
Embracing popularism in this way has economic disaster all over it. We are dependent on migrant labour to deliver key public services. The impact of Brexit has been bad enough, this is just going to add to the country's economic pain.
Tuesday, March 03, 2026
Welsh voluntary sector faces perfect storm
They says that the latest Baromedr Cymru findings from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) paint what the organisation describes as a stark picture of the challenges facing the sector:
The survey, carried out in November 2025 and February 2026, gathered responses from more than 200 voluntary organisations across Wales. Generating income remains the single biggest concern, cited by 81% of respondents in the most recent wave and 90% in the previous survey.
Two-thirds of organisations say their financial position has worsened due to rising costs, while almost half report dipping into reserves simply to maintain day-to-day operations. Although most organisations still hold some reserves, 45% are currently using them, and more than one in five have three months’ cover or less remaining.
Dr Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, Chief Executive of WCVA, said the sector was facing “a perfect storm”.
“These findings show a sector under intense strain,” she said.
“Rising demand, rising costs and insufficient funding uplifts are combining to create a perfect storm. We continue to hear how organisations are doing everything they can to support people and communities, but many are now operating without the safety nets they once relied upon.”
Demand for services continues to grow. In the latest survey, 63% of organisations reported increased demand in the previous three months, and more than two-thirds expect demand to rise further in the months ahead. More than a third say they are already unable to meet current levels of need.
Workforce pressures are also intensifying. Difficulties recruiting volunteers have increased sharply, with more than half of organisations now reporting problems.
Retention challenges are also rising, with many charities relying on existing volunteers to take on additional hours to compensate for staffing gaps or reduced budgets.
Funding structures are cited as a key part of the problem. While most organisations include full costs in funding applications, only 30% say funders consistently cover those costs when grants are awarded. Multi-year funding remains rare, with just 9% reporting that public funding is provided on a longer-term basis most or all of the time.
As the chair of a charity, these problems are all too familiar to me. They have been made worse by government policies on the minimum wage and employer's national insurance. Declining high streets have also hit income, with many charity shops no longer washing their face. This is a growing crisis.
Monday, March 02, 2026
Bad loser Farage plays the Trump race card
Farage wrote on Twitter after the count that “This election was a victory for sectarian voting and cheating.”
Farage later issued a statement saying he’d reported the matter to the Electoral Commission and the police: “What was witnessed yesterday is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas,” he said.
Farage’s remarks appear to follow the same playbook deployed by his friend, US President Donald Trump, who in the wake of his loss in the 2020 presidential election, accused his opponents of cheating and rigging the vote.
The Reform leader was later quoted in the right-wing tabloid press claiming that his candidate was robbed of victory by foreign-born voters.
He is reported as vowing that if he becomes Prime Minister he will rip up rules which allow non-British citizens (that is those born in Commonwealth countries but resident here) to vote in UK elections, calling the Gorton and Denton result ‘the most glaring example yet of what happens if we’re not careful about the impacts of mass immigration and about the legitimacy of those who can vote in our elections’.
What is unprecedented is a UK party leader taking his toys home and going into a massive sulk following a by-election loss. The reaction underlines how much Farage is beholden to Donald Trump for his playbook, the extent of his barely concealed racist agenda and shows that at heart he is an autocrat not a democrat, something that makes him dangerous and unfit for power.
Sunday, March 01, 2026
Let Starmer be.....
The paper says that the scale of defeat in an area that had returned Labour MPs for nearly a century, and where Starmer’s party still believed it could win even on polling day, plunged his ministers and MPs into renewed despair just weeks after he saw off a challenge to his position:
While only a handful of backbenchers called openly for Starmer to depart after the result, even loyal ministers said the surge in the Greens’ fortunes under the leadership of Zack Polanski meant the prime minister had to address an exodus of Labour voters from its left flank.
In a pointed comment, Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister and a key figure on Labour’s left, called the result “a wake-up call”.
But Starmer appeared minded to ignore the pressure, using a TV clip and letter to his MPs to attack the Greens as an “extreme” leftwing equivalent of Reform UK, saying they could not replicate the success in a general election.
Without a significant turnaround in his fortunes, Starmer could face a leadership challenge after elections in May to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and English councils, with Labour currently expected to fare badly in all of them.
One new poll on Friday suggested that in Scotland, Labour could be pushed into fourth place for the first time, behind not just the SNP and Reform, but also the Scottish Greens.
“I think it hastens everything,” one MP on the soft left of the party said of the Gorton and Denton result. “I thought we could maybe keep going for another year after May but definitely not now. I don’t think anything can save him.”
Ministers usually loyal to the prime minister were similarly downbeat. “The result is cataclysmically bad for us. The worst possible,” one said. “It will obviously intensify calls for Keir to make moves to the progressive wing, but the calls will be to do it now – not in a few months or even a few weeks.”
The sense of humiliation for Starmer is heightened by the fact that Downing Street blocked Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, from standing in the byelection, with many in the party believing his local popularity would have saved the seat.
The two men met in Manchester this week for one-on-one talks, which were said to have been initially awkward but ultimately constructive as they cleared the air.
Burnham is understood not to have ruled out having another go at returning to parliament. “With all the chaos and turmoil, who knows what might happen. It would be foolish to say he would never,” one ally said.
The paper adds that one point of contention for ministers is likely to be the government’s move to make it harder for migrants to achieve settled status in the UK, forcing them to wait for ten years rather than the current five. “The antidote to division and hostility is unity,” said one MP. “But you’ve got to mean it. You can’t keep playing dog-whistle politics on migration and wondering why you’re losing votes among ethnic minority voters.”
In the West Wing the antidote was 'Let Bartlett be Bartlett', that doesn't appear to be an option for Starmer, who needs to have a complete rethink about his own political direction and that of his government.
