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Times
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Don't write off that party name just yet, Zarah Sultana
In a summer of political strife we should thank Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana for lightening the gloom with the battle over naming their new party. Since its website is journalists made the not unreasonable assumption this was its name, causing Sultana to tweet indignantly, 'It's not called Your Party!' Rather, like the Blue Peter guide dog or that famous polar research vessel, the public were invited to make suggestions. Mixing with the radical left as a student, I struggled to differentiate between the Socialist Workers Party (omnipresent, donkey jackets, faux working-class accents), the Socialist Party (aka the Militant tendency), the Workers Revolutionary Party (humourless luvvies like the Redgraves) and the Revolutionary Communist Party (very glamorous, later veered right and set up Spiked). Alas I never met Posadists, who believed highly evolved aliens would bring the revolution from space. Now Sultana is saying that whatever the suggestions — which must surely include Party McPartyface — it will just be called The Left. I hate to disagree, but to attract the whole bandwidth of anarchists, Islamic sectarians, anti-vaxxers, soup-flingers and single-issue pensioners who don't fit on any conventional political spectrum, I'd stick with Your Party. I've unnerved my colleague Matthew Parris regarding the correct present to take to a smart dinner party. Like him, I grew up outside the subtle codes of the London middle classes, absorbing them over decades by trial and error. The rule of not taking wine applies, apparently, only to serious dinners where it's assumed your hosts will have chosen vintages to complement the food. A cheap bottle may be sniffed at and passed on round the dinner party circuit. But this practice also applies to champagne. Hosts won't serve the warm Bolly you've pulled from your bag or even look at it. They'll put it aside for when they're invited to another dinner. I'd bet some bottles of Laurent-Perrier have been regifted a dozen times. Matthew says he sometimes buys flowers, which is acceptable. But a noted socialite tells me the really smart thing to bring is something you've grown or made yourself, like marmalade, a bunch of sweetpeas from your garden or honey from your own bees. (Perhaps Matthew could knit a scarf from llama fur.) Although she adds that her husband is proper posh 'and he never takes anything at all'. Waiting for our ticket slot to the excellent Jenny Saville exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, we browsed the winners of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award. The room was full of wonderful examples of portraiture, from near photographic likenesses to those echoing the lighting and drama of old masters. I'm fascinated by how artists convey not just a person's appearance but their elusive spirit. In tune with our age, many works depicted sitters living with problems or disadvantages, including the wonderful Smaller World by Paul Wright of his mother with dementia, surrounded by her possessions, including books and a cello, whose blurry, unfinished quality convey how her brain now perceives them. I'm not so crass as to believe a portrait should be an exact likeness, but when we reached the first prize winner, I laughed. It is a supposed self-portrait by Moira Cameron, but done in such a crude, childish style it could be of anyone. Beside me were people gawping at how, in a room packed with exquisite talent, this daubing had won. Was it mould-breaking portraiture, or like a flower show giving first prize to a turnip? The breezy, inclusive patriotism of the Lionesses was at odds with a xenophobic construction from the BBC. We were told, repeatedly, they were the first England team to win big on 'foreign soil', as if the turf in St Jakob-Park in Basel had an odd and toxic composition, or the Lionesses had competed in the trenches of the Somme.
Daily Mail
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Protests at asylum hotels spread to Bournemouth, Norwich and Portsmouth
Protests against migrant hotels escalated this weekend with tense stand–offs in Norwich, Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Leeds. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside The Best Western Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich, on Saturday chanting 'we want our country back' and ' Keir Starmer 's a w*****'. Police officers separated the main group from a set of counter protesters, some of whom were waving Revolutionary Communist Party flags. Three masked anti–racism activists tried to force their way in at one point, causing angry scuffles. The hotel – one of two Norwich sites used by the Home Office to house migrants – has been the focus of fury since April when a 'predatory' asylum seeker staying there was jailed for more than eight years for raping a woman. Eritrean Dan Tesfalul, 27, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, attacked his victim in the city centre after she left a nightclub and only fled when he was challenged by a security guard. Last month, another asylum seeker staying at the hotel was jailed for 20 months after admitting three attempted child sex offences and an indecent images offence. Rashid Al–Waeli, a Yemeni, tried to persuade a 14–year–old boy to send naked images of himself, a court heard. Protesters on Saturday brandished placards with pictures of both Tesfalul and Al–Waeli. 'That's what this is about,' a 54–year–old protester who live–streamed the demonstration on YouTube said. Norfolk Police said on Saturday they made two arrests following demonstrations in Norwich and Diss last week. In Portsmouth, more than 40 anti–immigration demonstrators confronted almost 30 activists holding Stand Up to Racism placards outside the Royal Beach Hotel on Friday evening. Some on the anti–immigration side hung a banner which said 'protect our children' outside the hotel. The Mail on Sunday last week revealed how a migrant named Rabie Knissi, who was staying at the hotel, was jailed for ten years in March last year after a sex attack against a woman in her 40s. Protesters also gathered outside the Chine Hotel in Bournemouth on Friday night. Demonstrators waved signs with slogans including 'bring back Rwanda', 'two–tier Keir, two–tier policing' and 'it's not racist, it's a national security risk'. When two migrants arrived with their belongings in bin bags, some chanted 'send them back'. Angry protests also took place in Leeds on Friday outside another asylum–seeker hotel, with demonstrators shouting 'get back in your rubber dinghies' to those inside. Officers made a defensive cordon as crowds waving Union Jacks surrounded the Britannia Hotel, in the city's Seacroft area. One protester said: 'Not only have they got a free hotel, they have extra bobbies looking after them.' Meanwhile, protest organisers in Epping expect 2,000 to attend a demonstration outside the town's Bell Hotel on Sunday. Sarah White, 40, said she expected it to be the biggest so far – and vowed they would continue until the hotel closes. She added: 'Women and families are terrified. People are living in fear when this is their home. They should not feel unsafe.' The protests started after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault against a local girl. Far–Right activists have since become involved, clashing with police. The mother–of–three condemned those who 'cause trouble', saying she hoped the event would be peaceful. Essex Police said it had a 'robust policing operation in place' to deal with any disorder.
Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Palestine Action activist to give Glastonbury talk
A Palestine Action activist is set to appear as a speaker at Glastonbury Festival. Francesca Nadin, who described herself as a former 'political prisoner' and contributes to the Revolutionary Communist Party website, is listed as a speaker at the festival. Nadin said she was arrested for 'conspiracy to commit criminal damage' against two Leeds banks, Barclays and JP Morgan, that activists claim have financial ties to Israel. Details of her presence at the festival emerged on the day that Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, confirmed that the group will be banned as a terror group following a break in at the RAF base at Brize Norton. A video shared by the group showed an individual on an electric shooter spray red paint into the engines of Airbus Voyager aircraft, which they claimed would be used to support British military operations in Cyprus and the Middle East. As of Monday, official listings for Glastonbury Speakers Forum events state that Palestine Action's Nadin is set to appear. The same event listing states that other speakers will include Baroness Jones, a Green Party peer. Also listed is Sam Holland, the leader of Youth Demand, the activist group that claimed credit for vandalising Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers in the National Gallery. Lady Jones told the Telegraph that she was only aware that she would be joined by Youth Demand, and not Palestine Action. 'Shocking overreaction' She said: 'Yes, I'll debate with them. I do know that belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. 'This is a shocking overreaction by the Government to a couple of protesters using paint. 'Such a move would be completely non-proportional and a hugely worrying restriction on the right to peaceful protest which is a cornerstone of democracy. 'But PA isn't proscribed yet. Plus 239,900 people follow it. Perhaps you can ask Mark Rowley and Yvette Cooper if there is a plan to arrest them all?' Glastonbury has been approached for comment on the event, and whether it will go ahead. Both MPs and peers will need to vote for the intended ban if it is to come into force. If proscribed, the group's assets and money could be seized, and support for the group could become an offence. Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir was the last organisation to be proscribed, in 2024, after its members were accused of praising and celebrating Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel on Oct 7 2023. Proscription will make it illegal to be a member of Palestine Action, to invite support for it or to wear clothing or carry flags and placards backing it. Anyone caught doing so will face up to 14 years in jail. It comes as Glastonbury has refused to bow to pressure to remove Kneecap from its listings. Last week, Liam O'Hanna, one of the band members, appeared in court after being charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year.
National Observer
16-06-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
'Say something': Protesters gather as G7 leaders' summit begins in Alberta
As world leaders gather at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., Lesley Boyer has a message. The Calgary grandmother is angry that US President Donald Trump keeps talking about Canada becoming his country's 51st state. Sitting in a wheelchair at Calgary City Hall on Sunday, Boyer held up a sign with an expletive aimed at Trump. "I've been waving my sign around the cameras and hopefully he'll see it … go away Trump. We don't want you here," she said. Boyer was among several hundred people — including labour, youth, Indigenous, political and environmental activists — protesting before most of the G7 leaders had touched down in the city. Trump arrived late Sunday at the Calgary airport before taking a helicopter to the summit site at Kananaskis in the Rocky Mountains. He was to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday morning before the official summit was to begin. "I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to put myself on the right side of history. It's close enough," Boyer said. "I can come with my mobility issues and have my say, and I thought it was really important to get out there and say something." Others at the protest also had anti-American signs reading "Yankee Go Home," "Elbows Up" and "True North Strong and Peeved." The city hall location is one of three designated protest zones in Calgary and Banff, where demonstrations are to be broadcast on TVs set up for the leaders in Kananaskis, which has been closed to the public. G7 leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and the European Union are also at the gathering. "We see it just as a group of capitalist world leaders that are getting together," Eva Clark, a spokesperson with the Revolutionary Communist Party, said during the group's demonstration. "It's not to chat about what's best for the world, not to chat about the climate crisis or any massive crisis going around the world, but explicitly to talk about how they can best continue their extraction of profits." Clark said it's more important for others in the world to see and hear the protests — not the leaders. "I feel like the voice we have here in Canada is in moments like this, where we can protest and be heard. I'm not super interested in being heard by the fat cats in Kananaskis right now." Carney also invited leaders of non-member countries to the summit, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which sparked a protest in Ottawa on Saturday. The RCMP has accused agents of Modi's government of playing a role in "widespread violence" in Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.
Toronto Star
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
‘Say something': Protesters gather as G7 leaders' summit gets underway in Alberta
CALGARY - As world leaders gather at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., Lesley Boyer has a message. The Calgary grandmother is angry that U.S. President Donald Trump keeps talking about Canada becoming his country's 51st state. Sitting in a wheelchair at Calgary City Hall on Sunday, Boyer held up a sign with an expletive aimed at Trump. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'I've been waving my sign around the cameras and hopefully he'll see it … go away Trump. We don't want you here,' she said. Boyer was among several hundred people — including labour, youth, Indigenous, political and environmental activists — protesting before most of the G7 leaders had touched down in the city. Trump arrived late Sunday at the Calgary airport before taking a helicopter to the summit site at Kananaskis in the Rocky Mountains. He was to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday morning before the official summit was to begin. 'I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to put myself on the right side of history. It's close enough,' Boyer said. 'I can come with my mobility issues and have my say, and I thought it was really important to get out there and say something.' Others at the protest also had anti-American signs reading 'Yankee Go Home,' 'Elbows Up' and 'True North Strong and Peeved.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The city hall location is one of three designated protest zones in Calgary and Banff, where demonstrations are to be broadcast on TVs set up for the leaders in Kananaskis, which has been closed to the public. G7 leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and the European Union are also at the gathering. 'We see it just as a group of capitalist world leaders that are getting together,' Eva Clark, a spokesperson with the Revolutionary Communist Party, said during the group's demonstration. 'It's not to chat about what's best for the world, not to chat about the climate crisis or any massive crisis going around the world, but explicitly to talk about how they can best continue their extraction of profits.' Clark said it's more important for others in the world to see and hear the protests — not the leaders. 'I feel like the voice we have here in Canada is in moments like this, where we can protest and be heard. I'm not super interested in being heard by the fat cats in Kananaskis right now.' Carney also invited leaders of non-member countries to the summit, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which sparked a protest in Ottawa on Saturday. The RCMP has accused agents of Modi's government of playing a role in 'widespread violence' in Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Yes, I'd also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Politics Headlines Newsletter You're signed up! You'll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
