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Genocidal thug Benjamin Netanyahu is once again misusing Jewish scripture to justify the deaths of Arabs. This follows aggressors US and Israel starting an illegal war on Iran. Spain has since condemned this “war”, refusing to participate and denying the US and Israel the use of its bases to support ongoing war crimes. The UK has yet to locate its spine so it can stand up to Trump and Netanyahu.

Israel’s co-conspirator, US President Donald Trump has also repeatedly claimed that the West is freeing Iran. No one has ever been freed by having their home bombed to pieces. However, Netanyahu’s own rhetoric is entirely at odds with Trump’s assertion.

Netanyahu diverges from Trump

Speaking in Hebrew to a domestic audience, Netanyahu described Iranian civilians as “Amalek” and stated that Israel should “kill them all, including women and children”. As the Canary’s James Wright has reported:

This is a genocidal dog-whistle established on Israel’s far right. The Old Testament reads: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys”.

This demolishes the claim often repeated in Western mainstream media that these military actions seek to liberate Iranian people, when the reality is evidently far more sinister.

Netanyahu in English: "We want to free Iranians."

Netanyahu in Hebrew: "They're Amalek — kill them all, including women and children."

This is the real Netanyahu — one message for the West, another for his base.

pic.twitter.com/4bBeijSVYl

— Ounka (@OunkaOnX) March 5, 2026

Scripture mixed with politics: ‘Playing with fire’

And, Israel’s recent mass displacement orders in Lebanon make this concern impossible to ignore. Families in Lebanon were seen scrambling to find safety amidst threats of bombs across vast swathes of territory. As in Palestine, Israeli leaders often state their intentions openly – yet Western leaders appear unwilling to hear them.

Whilst bombing Iran, Israel is simultaneously waging another war on Lebanon. The IDF have been dropping thousands of evacuation orders on the neighbouring territory sparking terror amongst Lebanese civilians. Up to 500,000 people have reportedly been ordered to leave their homes, raising alarm that the conditions for ethnic cleansing in Lebanon are now being set.

Mass evacuation ordered in Beirut

Urgent | #Israel Army: Residents of the southern suburbs, specifically Bourj el-Barajneh, Al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, and Chiyah, evacuate their homes.

A similar blanket evacuation order was issued yesterday for South #Lebanon up to Litani River.… pic.twitter.com/T3f5NBsNW0

— Firas Maksad (@FirasMaksad) March 5, 2026

The rhetoric describing Iranians as “Amalek” makes the agenda behind this war difficult to ignore. In the Hebrew Bible, Amalek refers to an enemy people who Israelites were commanded to destroy completely, including civilians. When Israeli leaders invoke this language while discussing Iran, it signals a dangerous ideological agenda that we have already seen in Gaza. An agenda which seeks to normalise mass violence and displacement in places such as Iran and Lebanon.

Western governments, by continuing to support Israel militarily and politically, risk becoming increasingly complicit in the devastating consequences of these campaigns.

Ethnic cleansing in process

Below is an IDF evacuation notice which shows the size of Lebanese territory being cleared by Israel. Consequently, civilians are seen running for their lives in terror:

UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Phillippe Lazzarini has condemned Israel’s actions displacing thousands of Lebanese civilians:

Yet again, spiraling violence across the region is forcing thousands to flee their homes in Southern Lebanon.

Today’s evacuation orders of 4 neighborhoods in Southern Beirut are creating panic & greater forced & mass displacement.

As part of broader Lebanese authorities &… pic.twitter.com/xcNTFPBdmX

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 5, 2026

Lazzarini’s statement in full:

Yet again, spiraling violence across the region is forcing thousands to flee their homes in Southern Lebanon.

Today’s evacuation orders of 4 neighborhoods in Southern Beirut are creating panic & greater forced & mass displacement.

As part of broader Lebanese authorities & civil society efforts,
@UNRWA
has opened emergency shelters for displaced people — Palestine Refugees, Lebanese & Syrians alike.

Lebanon needs peace not more destruction, displacement & death.

CNN reporter Sana Noor Haq drew attention to the psychological re-traumatisation caused by Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Many critics describe this repeated overreach in Lebanon and Iran as acts of terrorism against civilians:

Lebanese people trying to survive renewed Israeli military attacks are being psychologically retraumatized by the sound of strikes, scenes of mass displacement and increased bloodshed as shelter becomes scarce, relief staffers say.

Several aid workers told CNN that Lebanese…

— Sana Noor Haq • سناء نور حق (@sananoorhaq) March 5, 2026

“Even small triggers, like a door slamming, cause people to jump in fear”

Who did the strikes on the schools and killed all these poor people?? Who did a double tap and committed intentionally this massacre? Say the name of the terrorists, do you dare? Say this bloodshed is the work of israel and the USA!

— Paul.A (@Pr0_fit_abl3) March 5, 2026

Nevertheless, it appears Israel may be getting more than it bargained for with counter attacks from Iran and Lebanon:

Hezbollah and Iran are simultaneously firing missiles and drones at Israel.

The Israelis are surprised by Hezbollah's readiness and fighting capabilities at the borders, confronting the advance of the occupation forces fiercely.

Hezbollah stated its conditions to stop: Withdraw…

— Elijah J. Magnier (@ejmalrai) March 5, 2026

Some public figures in the UK are holding firm to their principle and insisting that we do not sink to the same levels of depravity as the US and Israel. Pointing out the craziness and schoolboy rhetoric of US officials, Sayeeda Warsi confronted Netanyahu’s blatant ‘expansionist agenda’:

The language of hyped teenagers playing call of duty mixed with crusader end of times craziness and underpinned by Israelism where nations interests and sanity is being sacrificed at the alter of Netanyahu’s expansionist Israeli agenda.
The UK must resist becoming infected by… https://t.co/oQiOOeFIlY

— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 5, 2026

No to war

Israel and the US will use whatever virtue-signaling nonsense to trigger white saviour attitudes across the West. It is a lie eagerly swallowed by Westerners that our governments are bombing and invading countries to ‘liberate’ them. Liberate them from what? Who has ever had freedom delivered to them by an expansionist and neo-colonial empire?

Persecuted and terrified Iranians and Lebanese people deserve far better. It is essential that all those who believe in equality, freedom, rule of law and basic humanity fight for it. Before it is taken away from us all by Israel and the US.

Ultimately, once imperialists get what they want, they move on to the next target.

This will only leave a world order of absolute catastrophe for those without power, wealth, or privilege.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon

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While you were sleeping, more civilian locations in the Iranian capital of Tehran were hit with massive explosions, while Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on towns in southern and eastern Lebanon.

It really is anything to distract from the Epstein Files for US “president of peace”Donald Trump – and, of course, the fulfilment of a long-held ambition for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the US and Israel launched their war of aggression last weekend, more than 1,300 peoplehave been killed in Iran. This includes at least 180 children, the majority massacred in an airstrike on a girls’ school in Minab, southern Iran, on Saturday. US military investigators now believe their own country was responsible.

This is the illegal war that prime minister Keir Starmer seems determined to draw Britain into, despite claiming that he has “learnt from the mistakes of Iraq”.

Starmer caved to pressure earlier this week, allowing the US to use RAF bases for operations against Iran after initially refusing. The US and Israel started bombing Tehran on Saturday – a day later, the PM made his signature move (the U-turn) and acquiesced to the US’s request.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last night that strikes on Iran were about to “surge dramatically”thanks to Starmer’s decision to let the US use the Diego Garcia military base in the Chagos Islands. Good to know that the US can target more kids’ schools now.

Labour governments in my lifetime have a decidedly poor record when it comes to following the US into wars in the Middle East. But spare a thought for Starmer, who really has been under fire from all directions.

In fact, the PM has failed to please anyone with his decisions. Trump called Starmer a “loser” and compared him unfavourably to Winston Churchill. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of “catching arrows rather than stopping the archer”. And Reform’s Nigel Farage branded him a “coward”.

Funnily enough, anti-immigration parties are cheering loudest for our involvement in the war. As my colleague Aaron Bastani has pointed out, for political outfits that despise refugees, they sure seem committed to making more of them.

The distinction between ‘defensive’ and ‘offensive’ actions is also doing some heavy-lifting this week. According to Downing Street, we’re only letting the US launch “specific and limited defensive actions” from our bases. We won’t “join offensive action”, apparently, but will only act in the “collective self-defence of regional allies who have requested support”. If only our government had the spine of Spain’s.

While the attacks on Iran are widely viewed as illegal under international law, experts are divided on whether Iran is justified in its strikes on Gulf territories in response, and whether the UK can facilitate US strikes aimed at defending Gulf states without being complicit in those US attacks which are almost definitely illegal.

Most of Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile strikes seem to have been intercepted, but some have hit military assets and civilian infrastructure. A drone strike on the UK’s now-infamous Cyprus base RAF Akrotiri, used for Gaza spy flights during Israel’s genocide, was found not to have been launched by Iran.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has tabled a bill that would mean Starmer couldn’t just give the US (or any foreign power, no matter how ‘special’ the relationship) use of UK bases without parliamentary approval. It could also allow permission for the US using UK bases to be withdrawn.

Predictably, the UK media has been cranking up the consent-manufacturing machinery, and our further involvement in a war in the Middle East feels increasingly likely. Déjà vu, anyone?

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US military investigators have told Reuters they consider it “likely” that US forces struck the all-girls elementary school in Iraq, using “precision-guided” munitions.

The devastating attack claimed the lives of 165 people, mostly girls aged between seven and twelve. This makes it one of the deadliest incidents since US–Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury.”

Wanton destruction of civilian infrastructure

The investigations team at CBC News’ also found that the area was hit “more than once.” Satellite imagery showed multiple impact craters from attacks on the school complex. No matter how many outlets or officials cite international provisions prohibiting attacks on civilian infrastructure, these egregious war crimes continue.

Speaking to CBC News, a military researcher from the Tortono-based conflict monitoring group, Factnameh, alleged that the attack was intended to be a:

precise targeting of a military facility for the IRGC […] According to satellite images, the impacts show a pattern consistent with precision-guided munitions … There shouldn’t be any mistakes.

They were of the view that the US had either experienced either a:

fault of a weapons system or a huge intelligence failure by CENTCOM.

US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible for an attack on an Iranian girls’ school that reportedly killed 165 children, according to Reuters news agency.

LIVE updates https://t.co/q1Q18tbGFl pic.twitter.com/yNdxGhifqO

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 6, 2026

US ‘most likely perpetrators’

US military investigators have confirmed that the deaths of 165 young Iranians were ‘likely’ at the hands of their own institution.

Reuters has reported that as the investigation remains ongoing, investigators have not reached a conclusion or determined the exact munitions used, citing US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth

In an effort to deflect attention away from the US, White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt told Reuters:

While the department of War is currently investigating this matter, the Iranian regime targets civilians and children, not the United States of America.

The historical record exposes countless occasions of US military feigning ignorance. We we caution against drawing inferences at this stage, we remember the 408 Iraqi women and children murdered by two US precision bombs targeting a civilian air raid shelter in 1991.

Still there are Americans who believe their government is fighting for the freedom of Iran women and children.
No. Your government is bombing Elementary school kids. https://t.co/wEPo0TECMQ

— Zaki Dablad (@TimaAdde10) March 6, 2026

If it emerges that the United States deliberately struck a girls’ school, killing scores of defenceless children, will it admit responsibility? Israel’s continued refusal to acknowledge its crimes against Palestinians raises concerned that Washington may display the same level of indifference towards Iranian lives.

At the time of the school girls’ funeral, a time of inextricable grief and mourning for their families, China-based US journalist, Jason Smith, questioned the deafening silence from Western media, saying:

This should be on the front page of every Western newspaper. Ask yourself: Why isn’t it?”

Given the spinelessness and collaboration in genocide of the UK media and political (and Epstein) class, it’s no surprise at all — but no less appalling for that.

‘injured and traumatised children, claiming many young lives’

Contrary to the US’ dogged denials that it targets children, the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child have raised alarm bells. In addition, they have expressed the following concerns.

The committee is alarmed by reports of strikes of civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, which have injured and traumatised children, claiming many young lives.

This is a reminder that children are among the most vulnerable in armed conflicts and must never be treated as collateral damage.

Figures have yet to be independently verified. However, as per Iranian state media reporting, 165 loves have disappeared as a result of the strike on Minab province, southeast of Iran. The senseless war has so far killed 1,230 people. This is according to reports by Al Jazeera and Tasneem News.

Westerners must raise speak up against the bloodletting and stake a firm stance against the murder of innocent children. If they don’t, then they must accept complicity in these murderous crimes.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon

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From Canary via This RSS Feed.

US military investigators have said it is likely its forces were responsible for a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed scores of children and has been condemned as a war crime, according to a report by Reuters.​

The attack on the Minab girls’ school in southern Iran on Saturday is believed to have killed at least 165 people, mostly children under the age of 12.

​The UN’s education agency, Unesco, said the attack was a “grave violation of humanitarian law”.

​US war secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the military was investigating the incident. Investigators have not reached a final conclusion and it is still unclear what evidence contributed to their assessment, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed officials.

It was also unclear what type of munitions were used and who was responsible, the outlet said.

An investigation by news outlet Middle East Eye determined that the attack on the school was a “double tap” strike – where a target is hit a second time in order to kill rescuers who come to the aid of the injured.

“When the first bomb hit the school, one of the teachers and the principal moved a group of students to the prayer hall to protect them,” a Red Crescent medic told the outlet, citing conversations he had with survivors.

“The principal called the parents and told them to come and pick up their children. But the second bomb hit that area as well. Only a small number of those who had taken shelter survived.”

​The UK has joined the war on Iran – which is illegal because it was not approved by the UN or US congress – by allowing the use of its bases for strikes against the country.

Prime minister Keir Starmer has claimed the UK’s involvement is an act of self-defence, despite the fact the US and Israel started the war.

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From Novara Media via This RSS Feed.

China’s top securities regulator outlined a plan on Friday to strengthen corporate governance, boost investor returns and cultivate globally competitive companies, as Beijing seeks to reinforce confidence in the country’s capital markets. “On the basis of continuously strengthening the authenticity of listed companies, we will further enhance their investability,” said Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), at a press conference on the sidelines of China’s annual...

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From China - South China Morning Post via This RSS Feed.

Miles Morrisseau
ICT

Crystal Shawanda burst onto the Canadian music scene nearly 20 years ago with a hit debut country record, a certified classic, charting on both sides of the border.

Despite big record company pressures to keep making hit country records, however, she went to the blues to find her joy.

The blues brought her a whole new group of fans worldwide, along with additional recognition from her peers and the music industry. Her latest release, “Sing Pretty Blues,” is nominated for a 2026 Juno Award for Best Blues Album of the Year at the upcoming music celebration of the best in Canadian music.

Shawanda, Ojibwe/Potawatomi, believes that the new record is connecting with audiences who are looking to find joy in resilience.

 “This new album is called ‘Sing Pretty Blues,’ and I think there’s like a commonality of strength and resilience and finding the courage to feel joy again when you’ve been through so much,” Shawanda told ICT from her home in Nashville, Tennessee, about the title track.

“We wrote this song about a conversation I had with a photographer as I came off stage. He was like, ‘Hey, Crystal, that was a fantastic show, think I got a good shot of you, but I’m not really sure because you don’t really sing pretty. So sometimes it’s hard to get a good pic of you,’” she said.

Shawanda was at first angered by the comment, but then turned it into a positive and agreed with it.

“I don’t sing pretty,” she said. “When I get up on stage, I’m very passionate and I make all kinds of weird faces. I don’t really care what I look like because, you know, it’s not just a show,” she said. “I’m healing a different part of myself, and healing is not always pretty.”

It has been this honesty in her work that has helped her cultivate fans around the world. In Canada, she is among the most iconic First Nations female Indigenous artists in history.

‘Very eclectic’

Shawanda didn’t just show up; she exploded.

Her first single is a certified country classic,  a Canadian version of “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the George Jones song that can break you at moments of weakness.

Another song, “Let Go Now,” from her first record, “Dawn of a New Day,” tells of signature times in life when a loving father understands that his daughter is growing up and he “can let go,” from riding a bike, to getting married and to a final death bed scene. The song charted on both sides of the border and has remained an important part of her repertoire.

“I still get messages every day from people who are just discovering the song now. And that’s incredible,” she said. “You know, I hear stories at my meet and greets, of what the song has meant to people. It’s been really good medicine for a lot of people. And I feel like people hear it when they’re meant to hear it, when they need to hear it.”

First Nations singer Crystal Shawanda performs on-stage during the 2012 Canada’s Walk of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, in Toronto. Credit: Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP

Shawanda grew up in the Wikwemikong Unceded territory on Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world, in a house filled with music.

“I grew up in a home where we listened to all styles of music. It wasn’t just one genre.” she said. “There was just good music and bad music. And my family had very high standards of what they listened to.”

Her parents listened to traditional country music, such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. Her oldest brother listened to B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Etta James. Another brother listened to Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Steve Earle.

“It was very eclectic,” she said. “I’m very much a product of that.”

It is the blues, however, that is the foundation of the contemporary music that has connected most deeply to Shawanda at this point in her career. She believes that Indigenous people connect with music because of a shared history of oppression with African-Americans who created the sound.

“The Black community, they created this genre of music to inspire themselves, to keep themselves going when life got tough. And I think we as Indigenous people really connect to that because we know what it’s like, “Shawanda said. “We’re looking for inspiration, ‘How do we rise above our oppression?’”

Looking ahead

Shawanda has been nominated and won numerous awards throughout her career. In 2008 she won Female Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards and a Canadian Radio Music Award for Best New Country Artist the following year. She has won numerous Aboriginal People’s Choice awards and Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

In 2013, she took home her first Juno in the category of Best Aboriginal Album of the Year for her release, “Just Like You.”

She won the Blues Album of the Year in 2021 for “Church House Blues.” and was nominated again in that category in 2022 for her album, “Midnight Blues.”

The Juno Awards will include events in Hamilton, Ontario, throughout the final weekend in March, including the Indigenous Honoring Ceremony on Saturday March 28. The awards show is on Sunday, March 29, and will be broadcast live on CBC and CBC Gem.

The post First Nations artist Crystal Shawanda sure does ‘Sing Pretty Blues’ appeared first on ICT.

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China’s top economic officials held a press conference on the sidelines of the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and advisory body – in Beijing on Friday. The briefing, which came a day after Beijing unveiled its economic goals for 2026 and a draft outline for its 15th five-year plan, offered fresh insights into China’s agenda for trade, investment and technological development. Here are the main takeaways from the meeting: Exchange rate Pan Gongsheng, governor of...

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Joint Statement of the Communist Parties of Iran (Tudeh), Israel (Maki) and the United States (CPUSA)

The war of aggression launched by the Netanyahu criminal government and the United States Imperialism in the early hours of Saturday morning against Iran has ignited a full-scale war and dragged the region and its peoples towards more disasters and civilian casualties – all in the service of imperialist interests, against the interests of peoples, their independence and their right to self-determination in an effort to dominate and control the region and the world.

The Trump Administration’s declaration of its intention to “regime change”  in a sovereign country in the region and elsewhere in the Latin American continent is a gross trampling on the sovereignty and dignity of peoples and a dismantling of the meaning of the existence of international law and all previously established norms, and it is a danger that grows with every war and aggression of the United States and Israel.

The experiences of the peoples in Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Lebanon and in every country in the southern half of the globe facing colonialism and imperialism cannot be overlooked – true liberation and salvation from reactionary and authoritarian regimes and their change can only come with the action of the people and patriotic leadership – not from Washington or Tel Aviv.

We reiterate that this attack on Iran and the Iranian people is the prelude to total domination over the rest of the countries of the region, a plan that the Israeli government and the US administration do not hesitate to disclose, and we also affirm that this US-Israeli imperialist military aggression, not only does not herald Iran’s liberation from the yoke of tyranny and the current dictatorship, but is also an attempt to destroy Iran as a capable regional state, and to replace the current government with a subordinate and authoritarian regime that has previously announced its program to bloodily suppress its opponents.

As internationalist communist parties, we call upon all forces seeking true liberation from the regimes of exploitation and oppression in each of our countries, as well as the peace-loving and progress-loving forces in the world, to unite their efforts with all their force in these critical and decisive moments in order to struggle against the governments of war and aggression.

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The U.S. war on Iran is not a miscalculation.

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"If an algorithm breaks the law, who do you hold accountable?” The US killed 165 schoolgirls in Minab, southern Iran, on Saturday. We now know that the target list was partly AI generated. On Novara Live, Dalia Gebrial explains that relying on AI decision-making risks intensifying genocidal behaviour and cheapening human life.

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From Novara Media via This RSS Feed.

On 5 March, the Electoral Commission published its records of political donations in the last quarter of 2025. And, surprise surprise, Reform UK has taken yet another massive crypto donation from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Last quarter’s £3m donation joins the record-breaking £9m that the cryptocurrency investor already gifted to the far-right party. Likewise, on top of the £3m, Reform also received a further £2.5m from other sources.

It appears the 1% know which way their bread is buttered.

Reform is in the pocket of the super rich

As the Independent pointed out, a great deal of Reform’s newfound fortune comes from former Tory donors fleeing Badenoch’s sinking ship:

The latest register of donations, released on Thursday, also showed that more Tory donors are giving money to Reform UK. This included construction equipment firm JCB, which has previously backed the Conservatives but this time gave £200,000 to both Reform and the Tories.

Isabel Goldsmith, the sister of former Tory minister Zak Goldsmith, also gave Reform £100,000.

Former Tory donor and high-profile Reform defector Nick Candy, a property developer, donated £240,000 to the party.

Commenting on the massive donations, a spokesperson for the far-right party said:

These figures show the extraordinary momentum behind Reform UK. Raising more money than any other party in 2025 proves that people are backing the party to deliver real change.

That’s an awfully strange way of phrasing ‘we promised to be a good little lap-dog for the billionaires’.

That £5.5m total puts Reform head and shoulders above any other party in terms of donations. For contrast, the Tories received £4.2m, the Lib Dems took almost £2.2m, and Labour were given £2m. Meanwhile, the Greens received just over £294k.

If you wanted a clearer demonstration of which parties are in the pockets of the super-rich (and which aren’t) – look no further.

Reform goes crypto

Speaking of shilling for the interests of the wealthy…

Back in May, Farage told the Las Vegas Bitcoin Conference that his party would launch a “crypto revolution”. On the same day, Reform announced that it would start accepting donations in crypto.

Then, in the very next financial quarter, Harborne’s major £9m donation to Reform rolled in on 1 August. It was the largest ever gift from a private individual to a political party.

At the time, the Canary highlighted that Harborne also donated millions to the Brexit Party in 2019, as well as to the Conservatives between 2001 and 2022. While Harborne is British, he’s now based in Thailand.

Sky News spoke to political donation expert professor Justin Fisher, who told them:

It exposes the fact that this is a person who is a British citizen but is able to influence British politics without being subject to the laws that any Reform government might bring in, any tax arrangements that a Reform might bring in.

This is foreign money by any other name.

When the crypto donation revelation surfaced, Farage insisted that Harbourne “wants nothing from me”.

Farage and the crypto lobby

Completely by coincidence, in January 2026, the Reform leader used his first ever meeting with Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey to shill for the crypto lobby.

The Reform leader reportedly criticised the Bank of England for imposing restrictions on cryptocurrencies. Instead, he urged that the UK follow Trump’s example in the US by lifting efforts to police crypto.

Likewise, he also tried to push one cryptocurrency – the Tether stablecoin, the value of which is pegged to the US dollar. In an interview with LBC Radio ahead of his first meeting with the Bank of England chief, Farage said:

I’m going to go tomorrow to say this. You know, Tether is a stablecoin. Stablecoins are the way which money goes from conventional currencies through into cryptocurrencies and back again. Tether is about to be valued as a $500bn company.

And, as luck would have it, Christopher Harbourne also just happens to be a major shareholder in Tether. Funny that, isn’t it?

Reform are not a party of the common man. They are not a friend of the everyday resident of the UK just trying to get by. As their donation history – and Farage’s flip-flopping talking points – makes clear, the party is wrapped around the finger of anyone they think will launch them to power.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alex/Rose Cocker

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Statement of the European Communist Action (ECA) on the 107th anniversary of the founding of the Communist International

We are celebrating the 107th anniversary of the founding of the Communist International (Comintern). The founding of the International Workingmen’s Association —the First International— on 28 September 1864 was an important milestone of the revolutionary labor movement. 

Inspired by the Communist Manifesto and spearheaded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, it brought together trade unions, mutual aid societies, political and cultural groups, and organizations. It marked the decisive break with opportunism in an international framework and guided the struggle of the world’s working class for the overthrow of capitalism, while giving impetus to the realization of the need to establish workers’ political parties. Its dissolution (1876) came after the defeat of the Paris Commune (1871) in the face of the new circumstances it found itself confronted with.

The Second International was founded on 14 July, 1889, amid rapid growth of the capitalist system and the swift rise of the labour movement. Ideological and political problems, along with the dominance of reformism, led to the collapse of the 2nd International. This was a product of the corrosion of the Workers’ Parties in the time leading up to the outbreak of the First Imperialist World War in 1914 and the eventual betrayal of the interests of the working class in favor of the bourgeoisie. Notable examples of parties that did not follow the bourgeoisie in their countries were the Bolsheviks in Russia, led by V. I. Lenin; the Internationalists-Spartacists in Germany (Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Mehring, etc.); and certain socialists groups in the Balkans.

The Great October Socialist Revolution proved by practical example that a workers’ revolution capable of seizing power was possible and served as a beacon that continues to illuminate the struggle of working people around the world to this day. Lenin raised the crucial need to reform the programmes of the workers’ parties, rename them as Communist Parties, and establish a new International.

The founding of the Comintern on 4 March 1919 was thus an important step in giving the revolutionary labor movement a definite organizational framework in which it could fulfill its revolutionary duties. Through its theoretical and practical intervention it  made an important contribution to the forming of Communist Parties, which became the leading force for the overthrow of capitalism in many countries.

The development of the Comintern was prepared by the organization of the Zimmerwald and Kienthal conferences, in which a line of confrontation between the revolutionary labor movement and opportunism, as well as with its centrist or “left” social-democratic variety, was strengthened. Thanks to Lenin’s contribution, the contemporary epoch was characterized as the imperialist stage of capitalism and the necessary conclusion of turning the imperialist war —which threatened to break out among the imperialist states— “into a proletarian civil war against the bourgeoisie, for the purpose of establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat and socialism”, was strengthened. 

Since the beginning of the imperialist War in Ukraine a similar differentiation within the International Communist Movement has taken place. We can now observe that many so-called Communist and Workers’ Parties have given up on representing the independent interests of the working class, renounce Proletarian Internationalism in favor for supporting their own bourgeoisie in imperialist conflicts and indefinitely postpone the preparation for socialist revolution by proclaiming the need to fight for various “intermediate stages”.

Throughout its history the Comintern was the world’s leading center of the struggle of the working people for socialism-communism. It made important contributions to the theory of Marxism-Leninism, which require deeper study and include the problems and contradictions in its strategy. Important problems that had a negative impact on all its members include for example the nature of imperialist war, the struggle against fascism and the capitalist system that gives rise to it, and the stance towards social democracy. Nonetheless, this does not diminish its significant contribution to the International Communist Movement until its eventual self-dissolution in 1943.

Due to its international character the working class struggle will always need a unified political leadership and strategy. 

Today, as in 1919 when the Comintern was founded, we recognize that the imperialist system is the highest and decaying stage of capitalist development. The development of the productive forces to such a high level that they are in sharp contradiction with the capitalist relations of production, inhibits the possibility to use them for the satisfaction of the needs of the people. Socialism–communism is more necessary and timely than ever.

The founding and activities of the ECA based on its Founding Declaration and our world view, Marxism–Leninism, contribute to the effort to develop a common revolutionary strategy and lay the groundwork for a higher form of organization of the Marxist-Leninist pole within the international communist movement. The slogan of the Communist Manifesto remains as relevant as ever: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”.

eurcomact.org

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