In The Coalmine

Jody McIntrye writes:

The attempts to dismiss an undeclared £5 million “gift” are falling flat, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is under more pressure than ever.

The party’s largest donor, Christopher Harborne, is showing no signs of backing away from political donations. Farage says that he would “gladly” accept further contributions from the billionaire.

Although Farage has long said that his priority is putting Britain first, his main backer is a Thai citizen with shares in an arms firm that exports components to the Israeli military. Indeed, Harborne is the largest shareholder in weapons manufacturer QinetiQ. In 2022, QinetiQ were granted licenses to export over £13 million worth of aerial target and military training equipment to the Israeli state, as well as over £700,000 of military guidance/navigation equipment.

Reform, Friends of Israel

Reform have followed Labour and the Conservatives in pledging their support to the Israeli state during the assault on Gaza.

Like Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Farage has denied that a genocide is taking place. He also declared that a future Reform government would keep exporting weapons to Israel. After what we now know about his links to Harborne and QinetiQ – a company that profits from military aggression – perhaps these sentiments should not come as a surprise.

Last September, at Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham, Israeli deputy ambassador Daniela Grudsky declared: 

We do believe that we have friends here.

It was the first time an Israeli government official had attended.

Just weeks later, deputy leader Richard Tice was in occupied Palestine on a trip paid for by the newly-formed Reform Friends of Israel (RFOI), which Tice funds himself.

Reform’s deputy leader was met with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and foreign affairs minister Gideon Sa’ar, telling them that his party would:

stand rock solid with Israel.

Upon his return to the UK, Tice explained that the Israeli politicians “recognised and appreciated” Reform’s position.

Not so anti-establishment

Farage tries to portray himself as an anti-establishment figure, but Tice and Harborne are two of a host of former Conservative Party donors who have switched to his Reform project.

Millions have been raised from other sources, including Nick Candy, Jeremy Hosking, and Paul Sykes amongst others.

According to one investigation, 81% of Reform’s funding comes from current or former Tory funders.

Harborne and the Conservatives

Like Farage, former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also been accused of concealing a “gift” from Harborne. In his case, this came in the form of a private jet and pilot in January 2023 for a flight to Poland. Johnson was on his way to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

An earlier £1 million donation from Harborne to the Office of Boris Johnson had been declared in December 2022. Johnson, a long-standing supporter of Conservative Friends of Israel, refuses to say what the money was for. However, we do know that, in the run up to the 2019 general election, Farage stood down over 300 Brexit Party candidates to ensure a Johnson victory.

According to leaked documents, Harborne was travelling with Johnson on the Ukraine trip, with the schedule documenting that the former Prime Minister transferred from the private jet to an overnight sleeper train to Kyiv “with CH”. That same month, a QinetiQ-led consortium signed an £80-million, ten-year deal with the Ministry of Defence.

Worrying influence

This was not the first time QinetiQ had secured a major government contract.

In November 2021, QinetiQ were part of a Babcock-led consortium, which also included the UK-based subsidiary of Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems, awarded a £100 million contract to work on the MEWSIC electronic-warfare programme.

Then Conservative Party Defence Minister Ben Wallace described the companies involved as “key industry partners”. What Wallace did not mention was that he was previously QinetiQ’s overseas director, resigning from their board the same month as becoming an MP.

Whether Labour, the Conservatives, or Reform are in power, the arms industry continues to have a worrying influence on the political establishment. Farage claims that “no-one cares” about the £5 million he received from Harborne. However, successive by-election defeats and a challenge from ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe have put his position in jeopardy.

Andy Burnham has the marketing and media to take the reins of power, for now. However, there remains a cache of wealthy donors determined to get Farage into No. 10.

And Skwawkbox writes:

UK ‘counter-terror’ police have detained distinguished US human rights professor and international law expert, Dan Kovalik, at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport.

Kovalik, a well-known author and activist, said on X that he had been grilled about his opposition to Israel’s Gaza genocide and to the illegal war on Iran.

In the height of irony, I was detained at John Lennon International AirPort in Liverpool, England by anti-terrorism police concerned about my opposition to the Genocide on Gaza and the war on Iran. They seized my phone, computer, fingerprints and DNA sample. More to come . . . pic.twitter.com/WOtXQLjjO2

— Dan Kovalik (@danielmkovalik) June 29, 2026

Human rights threatened under authoritarian war on speech

The Starmer regime extensively abuses anti-terror laws to detain — not arrest — journalists, activists and others who speak out against Israel’s crimes and the UK’s collaboration. By avoiding arrest and seizing victims at ports or airports, the state denies the detainee access to lawyers and the right to silence.

Refusal to disclose passwords is punishable by two years in jail. Devices are routinely seized, as in Kovalik’s case.

All these abuses are perpetrated by a regime seeking to protect Israel from scrutiny and criticism, despite wholesale condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and international law experts. None have so far been charged, but multiple UK journalists and authors have been targeted.

One journalist, Asa Winstanley, refused to disclose passwords to protect sources, but he was raided at home where protections are greater. Winstanley has not, so far, been prosecuted. A court ruled the seizure of his devices unlawful.

Liverpool stands with Kovalik

Scousers reacted furiously to the war on free speech on their ‘patch’ and were quick to express solidarity with Kovalik against the shameful detention.

Apologies@danielmkovalik The people of #Liverpool have a proud tradition of welcoming our guests, unlike our government and security services who should frankly be prosecuted for not preventing a genocide. Hope the rest of your stay is filled with peace and love.

— Liverpool Riverside Left (@LivRivLeft) June 30, 2026

National Security (State Threats) Bill

Not satisfied with abusing anti-terror laws to wage war on UK rights for Israel, the Starmer regime is ramming through further legislation allowing it to quickly designate any group it doesn’t like as ‘terrorist’.

Starmer is pushing the National Security (State Threats) Bill through Parliament in a single day without scrutiny. The bill puts the onus on its victims to prove they didn’t know a group the government later ‘designates’ was going to be banned.

Using information is included as a crime and there are no protections, even for journalists, who quote facts obtained from sources the UK government dislikes.

Craig Murray, himself a victim of an airport detention, pointed this out:

New Labour is rushing its new National Security State Threats bill through parliament in just one day.

It will be illegal to publish TRUE casualty information from Iran, from Hamas-run hospitals in Gaza, or IDF assault details from the resistance in Lebanon.

14 years in jail.

— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) June 29, 2026

Britain is an authoritarian terror state. Shamefully, presumptive new PM, Andy Burnham, has given no indication he intends to end this reign of state terror. In fact, Burnham has accepted funds from the director of an arms firm involved in the genocide.

Making this no surprise:

The Canary has been debanked by Lloyds. Despite banking with them for almost a decade they are currently withholding a substantial amount of our money. We are left with barely any funds. / Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action. Despite multiple communications from us, the bank has not been forthcoming with its reasoning.

The Canary is now in a financially precarious situation. We do not know when our money that Lloyds is holding will be returned. Moreover, we do not know how it will affect our ability to get another bank account in the future. 

Lloyds give no explanation

We do know that multiple other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks in recent times. It is not lost on us that powerful banks are able to restrict the financial activity of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine organisations and individuals. Whilst we do not currently know the reasons behind our debanking, we cannot afford to be naive about this.

It is an outrage that The Canary has been unceremoniously dropped into financial instability with no notice or explanation from Lloyds.

Independent media targeted

Our situation is a damning indictment of the treatment of independent media in this country – whereby you can be potentially ruined without recourse by banking giants like Lloyds.

At this moment, we do not have enough cash to pay all our staff – again, because Lloyds is holding so much of our money.

Our situation highlights just how at risk independent media is at all times. We need your support constantly. But we also need it now more than ever. If you can donate to keep The Canary afloat while we resolve our debanking crisis, then you can do so here.