Pete Firmin

[Simon Harris @SimonHarrisMBD]

This seems like a great time to reshare my favourite Sir Patrick Stewart performance, ‘What has the ECHR ever done for us?’ It’s just perfect in every possible way … including the ending 😂😂😂 RIP.

🎥 The Guardian

[Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @UkraineSol]

Ukrainian left activist and soldier Ihor Tokovenko on the deeply anti-worker health and safety reforms the Rada has just passed - with a call for Zelensky to veto!
https://t.co/KivqkCM9TU

The Rada is also considering a deeply anti-worker and anti-union new Labour Code.

[Rebekah Jones @GeoRebekah]

The manipulation of data they tried to pull off in the UK "antisemitism" report is so forward it's almost offensive they thought people wouldn't notice.

"Are you just as open to having Jewish friends as you are to have friends from other parts of British society?

is NOT the same question as:

"Are you comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel?"

They tried to use the answers to these two VERY different questions- the first posed in 2020 and the second one in 2026 - as "evidence" that antisemitism is on the rise in the UK.

And even then they STILL had to admit that it's criticism of ISRAEL that's on the rise, NOT bias against Jewish people.

[Martin Francis @WembleyMatters]

South Kilburn Regen: ‘The proportion of social rent, other affordable tenures and market housing cannot therefore be inferred simply from the aggregate 1,600-home figure.' @Brent_Council @ballymore @Ballymore_ruin https://t.co/1AWmbt9UUp

[Bernie @Artemisfornow]

Mothin Ali – apology and Correction

On 18 July 2024, I published a post on my X account in which I stated that Mr Mothin Ali, an elected official and Deputy Leader of the Green Party, was involved in the Harehills riots of July 2024 in which people attacked the police.

That statement was incorrect. In fact, Mr Ali was asked by the police to use his position of trust in the community to help bring about peace on the streets. Mr Ali attended the scene for that purpose alone. He was not involved in the disorder or violence in any way, and on the contrary he was one of the principal reasons of bringing an end to the disorder. I offer my sincere apologies to Mr Ali for my post, the harm I caused, and I have agreed to pay him compensation to vindicate his reputation.

[Martin Francis @WembleyMatters]

WEMBLEY MATTERS: Labour's new Planning Regulations denounced as an attack on local democracy at Extraordinary Brent Council Meeting https://t.co/pXzwf9fxsR

[Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla]

When the Guardian went on strike to protest the Observer sale, I became a de facto spokesperson. Later a Tortoise employee I’d never met wrote to me to cancel my 20-year contract. No goodbye & no pay-off. This is how they now take credit for my work..but write me out of the story

[Pete Firmin @FirminPete]

SPEAKER UPDATE
We'll be joined by Dave Smith of the Blacklist Support Group, who has been heavily involved in the SpyCops inquiry into undercover policing, and by Jonathan Rosenblum, US Amazon worker and author.

[Troublemakers At Work @Troublem8kers]

@strike_map @NSSN_AntiCuts @sairskay @nehies97 @Bristol_UCU @UniBtonUnison @cherylged67 @unison_glasgow @UCUDemocracy @wforest_neu @ETCbranchUCU @gcapizzi @JonesWintersong @LincolnTUSC @before_profit Please share this

[Barry Malone @malonebarry]

Some things the British media and political class have reacted hysterically to during Israel's genocide:

- The Maccabi Tel Aviv fan ban
- Bob Vylan
- Gary Lineker
- The Green Party motion

Something they have not reacted hysterically to:

- The genocide

[MarshFamilySongs @MarshSongs]

Here's a parody about the price of gas having soared (with everything else) since the Iran war, called "Gasoline". It's adapted from the classic "Jolene" by the incredible Dolly Parton who sadly died a few weeks ago, but left an incredible legacy of music, generosity & heart ❤️

[Andrew Feinstein @andrewfeinstein]

Why does the Telegraph headline try to turn an adult political conversation into a false allegation? @ZackPolanski & others in the Greens made clear that if I was going to stand in Holborn & St. Pancras, where I’d done very well against Starmer in 2024, they would like me to consider seeking selection as a candidate for the Greens & the Camden Peoples Alliance (based on our successful cooperation agreement in the local elections). When I indicated that for a variety of health, personal & book publishing reasons I wasn’t in a position to stand this time round, Zack indicated that he would seek the selection & asked for my endorsement which I & the CPA enthusiastically gave. At no point did Zack try & get me to replace him! He wasn’t even a candidate yet when we spoke, as is reflected in the article. The mendacious headline is just an attempt to obfuscate & shit-stir for a progressive candidate, as is commonplace in the right wing media. The way in which the Greens & CPA cooperate is a testament to how progressive forces can work together for the greater good. So ignore the right wing nonsense & vote @ZackPolanski on Thursday. https://t.co/IUWOIozzkj

[Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @UkraineSol]

With our bulletin at Labour Party conference last week - NEU activist Dave Barter, CWU activist Maria Exall, and Mike Davis editor of Chartist (all Labour members)

[Ukrinform @UKRINFORM]

🇺🇦 Українські футбольні фанати розгорнули величезне полотно на трибунах у підтримку українських рятувальників, медиків та енергетиків

Перформанс під назвою «Вартові тилу» помітили під час нещодавнього матчу з Північною Ірландією. У United Ukraine розповіли, що полотно має розмір 288 м².

📹 utd_ukraine/Instagram

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

Ed Miliband is right to say that people who have demonstrated in support of Palestine and against genocide were right all along.

Match your words, Ed, and de-proscribe Palestine Action, now.

[Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis]

It has come to that: The witnesses are being prosecuted for the crime of having... witnessed the crime!

This is a warning to every European. BEWARE: As a European citizen you may be prosecuted by a EU member-state for merely documenting suspect - often criminal - acts by the authorities of an EU member-state.

The case of Tommy Olsen, and his current prosecution in Rhodes, Greece, should make us all ask again the most pertinent of questions: Who will protect us from our (supposed) protectors?

WHO IS TOMMY OLSEN?

Tommy Olsen is the Norwegian founder of Aegean Boat Report, an independent organisation established to monitor and document what happens to people crossing the Aegean Sea and arriving on the Greek islands. ABR documents arrivals, distress situations, disappearances, pushbacks and human-rights violations and provides information and
documentation to journalists, lawyers and human-rights organisations.

Olsen has been doing this important work since 2017. The criminal case concerns activities Greek authorities link to his work with refugees and people seeking asylum.

TOMMY'S PROSECUTION

The Greek authorities previously sought his surrender under a European Arrest Warrant. Olsen was arrested at his home in Tromso on 16 March 2026.

On 15 May, the Halogaland Court of Appeal refused to
surrender him.

THE NORWEGIAN DECISION

On 16 March 2026, Olsen was arrested in Norway under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Greece. Greece soughthis surrender for prosecution. On 15 May 2026, the Halogaland Court of Appeal refused surrender.

Amnesty International reported that the court confirmed that the actions for which Olsen is prosecuted in Greece are not punishable under Norwegian law and that the charges represent a "real risk of violation of his freedom of expression".

Human Rights Watch reported that the appeals court unanimously recognised that the acts described by
Greek authorities did not constitute criminal offences under Norwegian law and that surrender would risk violating

THE GREEK AUTHORITIES' CHARGES

Greek counsel has confirmed the following public wording of the charges:

1. Establishing and participating in a criminal organisation.
2. Facilitating the unlawful entry into Greek territory of third-country nationals without the legally required
border checks, jointly, in respect of multiple persons, for profit and on a professional basis.
3. Facilitating the unlawful stay of third-country nationals in Greek territory, in respect of multiple persons and for profit.

Olsen denies the charges.

LET'S END THIS TRAVESTY. PROSECUTE CRIMES. NOT THOSE WHO WITNESS THEM.

[Pete Firmin @FirminPete]

@KemiBadenoch Yes, withdraw the honour, but don't assume all Muslims share their views, and don't attempt to impose your religion on the rest of us.

[theleahfiles @leahfiles]

Scott Bessent sat in front of Congress on Tuesday and either lied or is clueless about how to do his real job. There is no third option. But based on Bessent's testimony and what I found, it looks like we could be stealing ~$11 billion from Venezuela.

Bessent told the committee Venezuela's oil money is "one of the largest assets ever to go on the US balance sheet."

The executive order the president signed on January 9 states that the money is "property of the Government of Venezuela," held by the United States "solely in a custodial and governmental capacity." You cannot hold another country's money in custody and call it your asset, because that is the difference between a bank and a thief.

Bessent said he "won't give out" the total. I found it in 15 minutes on Treasury's own daily cash statement, the one he wants to call a balance sheet when it flatters him. It is public record. So it is hard for me to believe he can't tell Congress how much.

So let me help him and Congress out. Attached is the Daily Treasury Statement for February 5, 2026, the month the Venezuelan money left Qatar. The State Department, which runs the fund, deposited $514 million in a single day. The prior two-year high for that line was $54 million. Since January it has taken in $14.5 billion against a normal year of $3.4 billion, roughly $11 billion more than it should have. About $3.5 billion has been documented going back to Venezuela. That leaves about $7.5 billion nobody has accounted for.

SO, we took a country's primary revenue stream at gunpoint, routed it through a bank in Qatar, then a Citibank account, handed the sales to two Swiss traders with federal bribery cases, put the Pentagon in business with a man the Justice Department once named in a $1.2 billion PDVSA laundering case, and declared the whole thing immune from American courts by decree. Okay....

A little more on the people we handed this to.

(1) Trafigura is the Swiss trading house that sells the oil and now carries Venezuela's gold to US refineries too. In March 2024 it pleaded guilty in a Miami federal court to bribing Brazilian officials and paid $126 million. That is a felony conviction less than two years old, and it was handed a no-bid contract to market another country's oil "at the request of the U.S. government."

(2) Vitol, the other trader, paid $135 million in 2020 under a deferred prosecution agreement for bribery in three countries. One of Vitol's senior traders gave $5 million to the president's super PAC, then stood in the White House on January 9 and told Trump that the "influence you have over the Venezuelans" would make sure he got what he wanted. Vitol had the first contract five days later.

(3) Alejandro Betancourt is the Venezuelan businessman the Pentagon just took a 35 percent stake alongside. His earlier company, Derwick Associates, won billions in no-bid power-plant contracts under Chávez. Federal prosecutors in Miami named him as an unindicted co-conspirator in a $1.2 billion scheme to launder PDVSA money. He hired Rudy Giuliani in 2019 to lobby the Justice Department about it. The AP reports that investigation was "paused earlier this year." Spain reopened its own case against him in June. He has never been charged and denies wrongdoing, and he now has the United States military as a business partner under a contract nobody outside the government has read.

(4) And David Rivera, a former congressman and Marco Rubio's old housemate, was convicted on May 1 of acting as an unregistered foreign agent after taking a $50 million contract from Citgo's parent company to lobby for normalizing relations with the Maduro government. Rubio testified at his trial. Rubio's State Department now signs off on every dollar that leaves the Venezuela account.

The president says we "paid for that war many times over" and that "to the victor belong the spoils." The executive order says it isn't our money. Bessent says it's our asset and won't say how big. Meanwhile Venezuela's acting president spent July writing to King Charles begging for gold in a London vault while we sat on eleven billion dollars of her country's oil revenue.

The written agreement Bessent promised Congress in February still has not been produced. When asked Tuesday when they'd get it: "I'll check with my staff."

Sure as heck looks like we are stealing from Venezuela and Congress doesn't have a clue, doesn't care, or both.

[Emma Dent Coad @emmadentcoad]

After a year of self-imposed 'half' isolation, I'm delighted to say my book 'Grenfell Britain' is off to print!

Details to come, but here's the cover:

[Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @UkraineSol]

From a comment just now: "... Zelenskyy banning all left-wing parties and trade unions..."

Amazing how Russian-inspired myths and inventions are obediently reproduced and circulated by people who know nothing whatsoever about the facts 🧵

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: MONEY, MEET MOUTH! Macklemore announces that he's donating the $1 million he made from the Ed Sheeran tour to Palestinian support organizations.

And it gets even better...

"With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom," Macklemore wrote on Instagram.

"I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people. And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation," he continued.

Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and a man whose name appears in the Epstein files, is the ultra-Zionist who banded together with other venue owners to get Macklemore dropped from the Sheeran tour after he voiced support for Palestine on stage. The blatant assault on free speech has since led to Sheeran's entire supporting lineup dropping from the tour, from his house band to his opening acts.

Spoiler: Kraft will not be matching Macklemore's donation. Anyone willing to go to such extreme lengths to silence reasonable, tame criticisms of Israel amidst an ongoing genocide is someone who doesn't see Palestinians as real people. Kraft would sooner donate bombs to the IDF than food to starving children in Gaza.

"Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth," wrote Macklemore.

"That is what this has always been about. Not me. Not a tour. Not the headlines or the controversy. It is about Palestinians right to freedom, dignity and safety in their own homeland," he went on. "I want to center the parents carrying their children into hospitals without the basic resources to treat them, and the physicians, paramedics, journalists and aid workers who keep going back in. I want to center the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine. Their risk is of a far different order than mine."

"Just yesterday, 15 year old Muhammad al Zinati was killed in an Israeli strike while rushing to help aid worker Sherif Lubbad, who had already been injured. He was a child. Both were murdered. Both should be alive. And the ones still under the rubble, whose names exist only in the memories of people who may not have survived to speak them. Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me. I am doing it because I can, and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it."

"But aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change. Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free. That is where my focus will remain. I will continue to stand with the Palestinian people and their fight for liberation."

"When the news cycle moves on, which it will, don't move with it."

"Free Palestine," he concluded.

Contrast Macklemore's donation with Sheeran's craven attempt to "both sides" this issue and appeal to neutrality while innocent children are being slaughtered en masse. Sheeran chose money over morality. Macklemore chose to stand on the right side of history.

Please ❤️ and share if you stand with Macklemore!