US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons. Planet earth bristling with deadly weapons, now space too. Others will do the same to nullify the threat or gain advantage. No end to the madness. Ultimately, no one is safe in the death race.

US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

The US Air Force Secretary says the weapons are necessary to defend the country against enemy action.

bbc.co.uk

Billionaires who don't pay taxes give tens of millions of pounds to the racist right while newspapers owned by billionaires who don't pay taxes smear the politicians who challenge them. Because they want to ensure 'a fair fight and a level playing field', apparently.

The blackshirts are back. It's just that the Daily Mail hasn't endorsed them yet.

More public control is the way to grow UK economy, Burnham to tell MPs Control is not the same thing as public ownership. Toothless Ofwat, Ofgem, Ofcom, CMA have not protected people. Need public ownership of water, energy, essentials. Need worker/consumer elected directors, vote on exec pay.

More public control is the way to grow UK economy, Burnham to tell MPs

Exclusive: Prime minister wants to ‘bring back hope’ by tackling cost of living as MPs call for electoral reform

theguardian.com

Former director of neoliberal Institute for Fiscal Studies urges disability benefit cuts. Disabled scapegoated for economic problems. Silence on major causes. Wait for 7.3m hospital appointments. Hard to see GP, dentist. Low wages, poor food/housing, economic insecurity. archive.ph/lZEx2

Cut PIP benefits, top UK economist tells Burnham

Chancellor could also raise capital gains tax and abolish stamp duty, Paul Johnson says

inews.co.uk

Capitulating to the felon UK ‘open to discussing’ digital services tax (DST) with Trump govt. Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries taxing US corporations. Govt collects £1bn DST on profits made in the UK, enough to provide free school meals for all primary pupils. Taking back control?

UK ‘open to discussing’ digital services tax with Trump administration

Jamieson Greer said Donald Trump’s threat to slap 100% tariffs on European countries with digital services taxes is “not a bluff.”

politico.eu

Reform to make long-term jobless clean streets for 20 hrs a week or no benefits. Training, education? Age 60/65, can't work, can't retire, can't see doctor, no local jobs; just clean streets. What future for old, sick, disabled and victims of redundancies? Will it all be policed at gunpoint?

Reform say people on benefits should be cleaning the streets or face being stripped of their cash | LBC

The policy would be part of a series of changes to welfare and benefits under a Reform government that would stop some claimants “taking everyone else for mugs”, the party says.

lbc.co.uk

UK economy grew by 0.4% in last quarter. Is it trickling down? 1975: workers share of gross value added, 71.9%; now 59.3% Average real wage stagnant since 2008. 25.3m live below minimum income standard. Healthy life expectancy falling. Richest 1% have more wealth than 70% of population combined.

UK economy grows between April and June but experts warn of challenges in coming months

The UK economy grew by 0.4% with some firms reporting hot weather and sports helped growth in June.

bbc.co.uk

Major oil firms make $93bn profits in just 3 months amid war and climate crisis. They shift profits, dodge taxes, fuel poverty and inflation. They don't bear the social cost of their business. Forever holding people/govts to ransom. Polluters must pay. Need windfall tax now.

Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis

Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage

theguardian.com

BP quarterly profits up from $2.5bn to $5.73bn as Iran war sends oil prices soaring. Shell doubled its net profit to almost $10bn. High bills fuelling poverty and misery for households and businesses. Boon for execs and shareholders. Must levy 100% windfall tax on oil, gas, energy companies.

BP profits more than double as Iran war sends oil prices soaring

Energy company’s $5.73bn quarterly profits come after Shell posted second highest quarterly earnings on record

theguardian.com

Corporate Welfare Centrica demands billions in govt subsidy to provide gas storage. Willing to cause chaos to extract money. It closed the Rough gas storage site in 2017, returned to partial service in 2022, suspended in 2025. Privatisation prevents national planning, fleeces the public purse.

Take Centrica’s gas storage warning seriously – Britain still needs secure supplies | Nils Pratley

One task awaiting new energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is devising a plan to avoid a crisis by the end of the decade

theguardian.com

I can't afford to turn the oven on': 7.4m households struggling to buy essentials. Result of low income; high water, energy, housing costs, profiteering, frozen income tax personal allowance. 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined. Can't build better future without redistribution

'I can't afford to turn the oven on': 7.4m households struggling to buy essentials

As Andy Burnham promises “breathing space” for households, millions are unable to buy items such as clothing, heating and food.

bbc.co.uk

Trump made more than $1bn from crypto in first year back in office. High office is now the key to personal and family riches. Former US President Harry Truman once said: "Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook."

Trump made more than $1bn from crypto in first year back in office

The president's crypto income far outpaces his earnings from real estate and Trump-themed items such as watches.

bbc.co.uk

Wednesday marks 10 years to the day since Cameron resigned to let Brexit usher in a new era of stable self governance. Since then we've burned through: 5 more prime ministers 8 chancellors 8 home secretaries 9 foreign secretaries 10 education secretaries 10 defence secretaries Masterful work.

Nigel Farage is the front man. Tommy Robinson is the delivery unit.

Interestingly, the 'Not in Employment, Education, or Training' category doesn't take in posh kids doing unpaid internships while mummy and daddy pay the London rent

I'm so old, I remember when Saturday nights out, annual holidays and the occasional takeaway weren't seen the exclusive luxuries of the pampered sybaratic bourgeoisie

Channel 4 News's Clare Fallon tracks down Nigel Farage who was absent from Parliament today avoiding questions about the £5m donation She asks him about it He jumps into his car and drives off

An embarrassing display at Tommy Robinson's march that didn't even get 50,000 people. The US and Israel flags along with the ridiculous wooden crosses picked up by people who have never been near a church show you who is funding and controlling this 'movement'. Patriotism 🤣

UK income tax personal allowance (PA) frozen at £12.570 by Tory Govt in 2021. Freeze continued by Labour. PA adjusted for inflation would have been £15,550 in 2025/26, £16,048 in 2026/27. Millions of poor forced to pay income tax. Capital gains & dividends taxed at lower marginal rates than wages

Brexit was a scam sold to you by the Billionaire Media. Boris Johnson was a scam sold to you by the Billionaire Media. Reform is a scam being sold to you by the Billionaire Media. If they are selling, DONT BUY.

Rising costs forcing 3m UK households to skip meals. Average real wage stuck at 2008 level. Real cuts in benefits. More poor people paying income tax. No curbs on profiteering. High energy, water, food prices. Can't grow economy without equitable distribution of income/wealth.

Rising costs forcing 3m UK households to skip meals, Which? report finds

Consumer insight tracker shows 85% are worried about food prices and a majority think the economy will deteriorate

theguardian.com

Deaths to outnumber births in UK every year from 2026. Number of people of pensionable age projected to rise from 12.4m to 14.2m by 2034, and more later. Fewer workers to pensioners ratio. Without immigration economy will shrink. But honest conversation difficult.

Deaths projected to outnumber births in UK every year from 2026

Latest ONS figures also suggest lower population growth in coming decades than previously expected

theguardian.com

Inequality kills. People in the wealthiest UK areas have 20 more years of good health than those in the poorest. Healthy life expectancy for Richmond upon Thames man 69.3 yrs, woman 70.3 yrs. Man in Blackpool 50.9 years; woman in Hartlepool 51.2 years. Deaths rising among 25- to 49-year-olds.

People in UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago, study finds

Exclusive: Health Foundation says Britain is ‘going backwards’ compared with most other rich countries

theguardian.com

Trump and Putin ally Viktor Orbán loses Hungary general election. US Vice-President visited Hungary to influence election. Winner Péter Magyar is no progressive, faces major challenges in dismantling the far-right control of the state. Need US voters to shackle Trump in mid-term elections.

Live updates: Trump ally Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years as prime minister | CNN

Trump ally Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years as Hungary’s prime minister Follow for live updates

edition.cnn.com

Ten years after Brexit, the UK is a divided nation frozen in time. No economic gain, culture wars rife, minorities scapegoated. Parties jostle over who can be more authoritarian; say little about inequalities, civil rights, public ownership, quality of life. Architect of Brexit became richer.

Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time | Aditya Chakrabortty

Tribalism has not faded over the past decade. Instead, new research reveals our politics has become ever-more polarised and fractious, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

theguardian.com

When I started paying National Insurance contributions in 1976, the deal was that I'd get a pension providing for a basic standard of living in a then-unimaginable 50 years' time. But now I've finally got there, it's just half the minimum wage.

UK state pension age starts rising to 67. France, 62. Millions will struggle to work, may get derisory benefits. Poor have shorter life, receive pension for fewer yrs. Rich retire whenever they want, have longer lives, receive pension for longer period Huge wealth transfer from poor to the rich

State pension age starts rising to 67 - here's how much you get and when

The age at which people can start receiving the state pension is going up in stages over the next two years.

bbc.co.uk

Rip-off Britain. A Gulf service station on Sloane Avenue in London’s wealthy Chelsea borough charged 299.9p (nearly £3) for a litre of petrol. They are using Trump's illegal Iran war as cover for profiteering. No regulator doing anything to check sharks.

UK's 'most expensive' petrol pump where a tank costs £240

metro.co.uk