Gordy Stewart

Photo of Yusuf at a lectern saying “shadow Home Secretary” (Wot?) Reform's plan for a 'British ICE' combines cruelty with stupidity

Project forward to 2036 under a majority Reform government and the picture darkens further. Britain would be smaller, older and whiter; more isolated from Europe; paradoxically, more vulnerable to foreign interterence and less able to fund its own defence. The welfare state would shrink to a skeleton. Charity would fill the gaps. Flags would proliferate; rights would not. The police and courts would be politicised. The BBC could disappear. The NHS would survive only as a minimal safety net. Protections against discrimination would erode - you might indeed be sacked for being disabled. Migrants and even their British-born children could find their rights curtailed unless they were deemed to "contribute" sufficiently. Meanwhile, the wealthiest would enjoy a generous, low-tax regime.

“Rarely has a British political party unveiled a programme that combines cruelty with impracticality on such an extravagant scale.”

Chilling on Reform’s increasingly confident fascism. High on viciousness and greed. Very low on wisdom. A ruinous combination.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/zia-y...

This should be a warning to everyone. Their contempt for the law when they come to deport your neighbour will be no different to their contempt for the law when they decide to scrap your rights and freedoms too.

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

Another Labour fail.

"Yes, the situation is actually worse than in the darkest days of Tory rule."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Jeffrey Bezos is destroying the Washington Post for the same reason Musk destroyed Twitter and Ellison is destroying CBS—oligarchs oppose the free press when if it threatens their wealth and power.

They don’t want normal people to see what is happening in America.

Pay it Forward vouchers hanging on a rack.

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Ah, bugger. That’s not fair.

Putin’s men on the inside merely doing their job.

'To see oursels as others see us!' on the return of Colonel Ruth Davidson, Suella Braverman and Labour's Burns Night optics ... bellacaledonia.org.uk/2026/01/26/l...

Oh, indeed - hence the USSR and East Germany doing disproportionately well with medals in Moscow in 1980 - my point - poorly made - is that when it comes to sport, it's bucks over morals.

Macron says France to fast-track social media ban for kids under 15 The plan is for the legislation to be in force by the start of the next school year

Macron says France to fast-track social media ban for kids under 15

"I feel like I've come home," says party defector to a room full of people who think her home is somewhere in Asia and she should bloody well go back there.

The Olympic rings made out of barbed wire feature on a poster advocating the boycott of the Beijing 2022 games.

Cancel World Cup + Olympics? They rewarded China with Olympics despite occupying Tibet for decades and crushing dissent in Tiananmen Square, Uyghurs…and we know what Russia has perpetrated.
FIFA allowed hosts with appalling human rights violations including Russia + Qatar.
Conscience? Nah. Profits.

Treated myself to a monster of a book: a hefty history of Malcolm III, King of Scots… Have been looking forward to this.

Woman dies after being 'shot in the face' by US ICE officers A woman has reportedly died after she was shot in the face by a US immigration officer in Minneapolis

Appalling. Utterly terrifying. Trump's Brownshirts with blood on their hands.
Imagine if the "Stop the Boats" mob get into power in the UK...?

www.thenational.scot/news/2574829...

Scottish Government 'faces questions' over airports used in US tanker operation The Scottish Government has 'serious questions' to answer after US Air Force planes used a number of Scottish airports during an operation to seize…

This is distrubing stuff. Again, showing the UK has been little more than Airstrip One since the second world war and Scotland it's nuclear dumping ground for rusting subs...
www.thenational.scot/news/2574832...

It’s easy to feel powerless about climate chaos. Here’s what gives me hope | Nina Lakhani I’ve spent six years writing about environmental justice. The uncomfortable truth is that we’re not all in it together – but people power is reshaping the fight

"The uncomfortable truth is that we’re not all in it together – but people power is reshaping the fight"

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Winter blooming of hundreds of plants in UK ‘visible signal’ of climate breakdown New year plant hunt shows rising temperatures are shifting natural cycles of wildflowers such as daisies

Another unequivocal sign of climate breakdown:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Met Office issues Hogmanay weather warnings as 'blizzard conditions' to hit Scotland A RAFT of new weather warnings has been issued for Scotland ahead of a freezing spell and “blizzard conditions” to hit over the New Year.

It's beginning to get a little chilly - take care out there on Hogmanay!

www.thenational.scot/news/2573185...

Did you enjoy our two dark tales for the festive season, Homecoming and The Last Delivery? Our next, Corryvreckan - the Cauldron of the Seas, explores the myths and legends which swirl around one of the world‘s largest whirlpools...

Wishing you a safe, peaceful 2026.
soundcloud.com/you-better-r...

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Help us fight back against corporate greed in 2026.

Chip in to our people-powered campaign today: greens.scot/donate

In Berlin, I took an evening class on fascism – and found out how to stop the AfD | Tania Roettger With the far-right party ahead in the polls, I discovered that a novel set during the rise of the Nazis provides a timely warning, says journalist Tania Roettger

"What The Effingers teaches us is not to underestimate the danger of the fascist menace, and to fight on all fronts against it, before it is no longer possible."

www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

Daily Mail+ BORIS JOHNSON: If Labour MPs try to reverse Brexit they will be walking into a hail of machine gun fire - and if that's the fight they want, bring it on! But they should heed my warning before things get bloody...

The worst, most dishonest prime minister we’ve ever had, rocks back and forth in his Daily Mail cubbyhole spewing out idiotic bilge to kid himself that he and his disastrous Brexit weren’t an almighty national fuck-up.
A deeply pathetic threat from an abject failure of a man.

GAUDETE!

I think the EU countries should collectively call the U.S. ambassadors to explain why the United States plans to undermine the EU like a hostile power.

It's just f**king relentless.

Can't they understand? The orangutans and the rainforest ecosystem of which they're a part *IS* the gold.

Keir Starmer. Gloves off. The greens are nuts.

Starmer says he’s "taking the gloves off" and that the Greens are "nuts"

Big talk from the PM of vibes based cruelty and trickle down cowardice.

Join.greenparty.org.uk

From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent

Boycott Eurovision. News clipping from Sky News: Israel allowed to take part in Eurovision 2026 - as several countries withdraw. Scottish Greens.

Once a symbol of unity and hope across Europe, the Eurovision Song Contest has been turned into a pink-washing front for war criminals in Israel.

After today's decision, there must be a global boycott of Eurovision.

Have enjoyed my first foray into botanical horror with Hazelthorn by C G Drews - beautifully grotesque, haunting, unsettling, sweet. One of my favourite reads of the year…

Former Brexit Party MEP denies taking payment from pro-Russian campaign A prominent former MEP for Nigel Farage's old party denies taking bribes in a pro-Russian campaign.

“Speaking outside his chateau in France…”
I kid you not.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...