What went wrong in Israel? A genocide scholar examines ‘what Zionism became’ In his new book, Omer Bartov tracks how a liberatory strand of Zionism transformed into an extremist ideology that he sees as responsible for genocide in Gaza

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Lord Skidelsky obituary Economic historian and politician who was a leading authority on the life and work of John Maynard Keynes

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
Holder of the torch for Keynesian, repeatedly saving the world from disaster and then promptly forgotten as the wealthy financial power elite regains hegemony

Sign the Urgent Petition - End this rip-off People in the UK are struggling to get by while some corporations are set to announce record high profits on the back of the Iran war. Join the campaign to demand these war profiteers are taxed so we ...

The Iran war is making everything more expensive for us, but some companies are cashing in. Don't think that's right? Sign the petition now demanding they are taxed more on their record profits to help us all with the cost of living. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ra...

The Palantir concerns and why you should care The US tech firm is increasingly hooked into NHS, defence and education in the UK

The Palantir manifesto and why you should care
open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...
Warning about growing Palantir role in government services. Palantir defence is how much it is improving NHS delivery so don’t fret about founders’ fascist world view or its military uses. Nazi trains also ran on time!

Why is the Maga project teetering? Because not even Trump supporters voted for this dysfunction | Moira Donegan The president’s fixation on culture-war grievances is a colossal misreading of voters who just want prices to come down, says Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Remember, it’s the economy stupid
Not just the macro numbers - justice and peace for the many not the few

The UK’s radical ‘Preston model’ faces an uncertain future with local elections looming | Andy Beckett A Lancashire council has pushed on with plans to keep wealth and power in the area, despite such ideas being out of fashion in Westminster. But Reform could unravel it all, says Guardian columnist And...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, cruel | Nesrine Malik Commentators have said that the US president’s clownishness and lack of ideology somehow make him less dangerous. They’re wrong, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Hitler and so many past villains was godlike to followers, comic to many critics (The Great Dictator), terrifying to millions of victims. Trump seems to embody all these faces simultaneously

Handcuffs, dog bites and avian warfare: how personal grudges sullied Alfred Hitchcock’s reputation The director liked to create tension on-set to draw out stronger performances. But have stories about his psychological tricks been inflated in the retelling?

www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ap...
The master of menace, off screen and on

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...
MAGA Messiah derangement syndrome

edition.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...

Reform UK’s Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay £100,000 in corporation tax Deputy leader ran shell companies that reportedly did not pay tax on profits from 2020 to 2022, during which time his firm donated £1.1m to party

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Artless dodgers

Steven Pinker Doesn’t Know Anything About Marxism Bill Gates’ favorite writer keeps spewing out lazy clichés about Marxism being a “disaster” whenever it’s “implemented.” But he’s way off-base, and Marx deserves better critics.

www.currentaffairs.org/news/steven-...
Withering demolition of Pinker’s attack on Marxism. Shows his apparent ignorance of Marx’s writings let alone broader Marxism and socialism. Also ignorant of the history of the USSR and other societies he sees as exemplifying Marxism, beyond simple caricature

www.criterion.com/current/post...

Southport, Grenfell, Windrush – all scandals defined by i... The report into the stabbing of three young girls exposes another depressingly familiar raft of systemic failures and lack of official accountability

Southport, Grenfell, Windrush – all scandals defined by institutional indifference observer.co.uk/news/columni...
Yes, declining accountability and responsibility in public institutions. But isn’t the root cause the neoliberal revolution of competitive egoism? Laissez faire economics and morality

Sunday thought: A change in the air The noxious realities of Trump's authoritarianism are revealed for all to see

Sunday thought: A change in the air
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
We shall overcome!

William Davies · The Reaction Economy Am I even interested in the news, if I have no opportunity to react to it? Being in the digital public sphere without...

The Reaction Economy www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
The response is the thing

Who’d have thought a fossil-fuel shill like Trump would be the one to spark a green revolution? | George Monbiot The US attack on Iran has made the need for renewable energy inarguable, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Silver lining even in the current dark clouds of death and destruction

Fings ain’t what they used to be
As the 1959 hit song put it back in my day

‘I feel like I’m losing her’: the families torn apart by older relatives going far right It starts with a ‘back in my day’ nostalgic meme – then suddenly your elders are sharing AI-generated ‘boomerslop’ and repeating conspiracy theories …

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘I feel like I’m losing her’: the families torn apart by older relatives going far right It starts with a ‘back in my day’ nostalgic meme – then suddenly your elders are sharing AI-generated ‘boomerslop’ and repeating conspiracy theories …

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘Whatever life throws at us, we don’t walk alone’: how a London synagogue attack birthed an act of solidarity After the attempted arson attack on a London synagogue, communities remain determined that ‘building higher walls’ will not stem rising tide of antisemitism

www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...
Love not hate

Two weeks that pushed Trump to the edge. Is his presidency unravelling? The president has opened fissures in his base by starting a war he couldn’t finish with Iran, stoking inflation and offending Christians. Barred from running again, he may feel he has nothing to lose

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
And yet he still has 38% support even now.

The assumption has been that Farage will become PM one day, even though he has shown how inept he is. It is true he gets a free pass on his vile views and obvious self-interests.

Christian Nationalism is a Cult of Convenience

The Left Needs an Alternative Cosmopolitanism While many critics view rising global chaos strictly in geopolitical terms, political philosopher Lea Ypi argues that it’s really ideological — the result of an increasingly coordinated global right. ...

jacobin.com/2026/04/left...

Cautiously hopeful about the fate of the Zionist lobby The Jewish Establishment across the world and the Zionist Lobby, especially the Christian Zionists, continue to support Israel and to…

www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/caut...
The limits of lobbying.

The woman who thinks violence is in our genes | The Observer A tendency to aggression and antisocial behaviour is encoded in certain people’s DNA, argues Kathryn Paige Harden – and it could have profound implications for crime and punishment

The woman who thinks violence is in our genes observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Nature and nurture- the current evidence

A question for those desperate to cut benefits to fund defence: who exactly are you willing to impoverish? | Polly Toynbee George Robertson has joined Reform and the Tories in making the case. Look welfare recipients in the face and say that, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Powerful demonstration that welfare has become the latest hate figure for the Right along with immigrants. Right wing media and politicians encourage public to hit down at poor not at ultra wealthy who have really stolen the money and distort debate

More confirmation of BBC bias against Palestinians This latest information from the Freedom of Information request is extremely disappointing but not surprising. We have known that Jewish…

www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/more...
Convincing documentation of BBC bias against pro Palestinian viewpoints. Question remains why this special sensitivity to mainstream Jewish organisations. Also now that the BBC in existential danger we should consider whether other news outlets worse