Anti-establishment surge in UK election driven by pro-Palestine, anti-immigration sentiment

Independent and minor party candidates performed strongly in UK parliamentary elections Thursday amid a surge of anti-establishment political sentiment.

The trend was perhaps best exemplified by the strong performance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party on a pledge to reduce net migration to the United Kingdom. The populist party, originally formed to advocate a no-deal Brexit from the European Union, garnered almost 15% of the popular vote throughout the country and five seats in the House of Commons. In several constituencies Reform UK relegated the Conservative Party to third place.

Some observers have criticized the party as an electoral spoiler, splitting the right-of-center vote and enabling the Labour Party to more easily take power. Indeed, the combined vote share of Reform UK and the Tories surpassed that of the Labour Party, which became Westminster’s largest party in Thursday’s election.

Former US President Donald Trump congratulated Reform UK leader Nigel Farage Thursday on his entry into parliament from the Clacton electoral constituency.

“Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!” Trump and Farage have remained strong political allies since Farage’s successful advocacy for the UK to vote to leave the European Union in 2016.

(A video from social media shows Nigel Farage blasting the "outdated" first-past-the-post voting system in the UK)

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Meanwhile, independent candidates enjoyed unprecedented success, picking up six seats. Firebrand leftist MP George Galloway was narrowly defeated in Rochdale, but five more candidates entered parliament on a pro-Palestine platform, unseating members of the Labour Party.

“Looking at the results across the country, including in Ilford North, it is very clear that Gaza has been a real issue for the Labour Party at this election,” said Labour MP Wes Streeting, who eked out a victory over a pro-Palestine independent challenger by just 500 votes.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has been broadly criticized for his public stance on Israel’s deadly military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 38,000. Starmer claimed Israel “has the right” to withhold food, water, and electricity from the Palestinian enclave while also insisting the country has a “right to defend itself” against Palestinian resistance. The intentional starvation of a civilian population is considered a war crime under international law, while United Nations resolutions have affirmed Palestinians’ right to violently resist their occupation by the Israeli state.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn won reelection in Greater London’s Islington North constituency, easily beating back a challenge from a Labour candidate after Starmer expelled Corbyn from the party for his pro-Palestine advocacy.

“The Labour Party has won a very large majority but on a considerably lower vote than was achieved in previous elections,” noted Corbyn, responding to criticism of Thursday’s election as the UK’s “most distorted in history.”

“It does call into question the first past the post system and that no doubt is going to be a debate.”

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US finally pulling out of Niger months after government ends military agreement

The United States announced plans to complete the drawdown of its military presence in Niger Friday, four months after the government of the West African country terminated its security agreement with the US.

American personnel will leave “a small base” this weekend, according to reports, while some 500 troops will evacuate a large surveillance center in August. The drone base, known as Niger Air Base 201, has drawn particular controversy, serving as a major hub of the CIA’s spying operations in the Sahel.


The lavish $100 million facility was completed just six years ago and was the largest construction project in the US Air Force’s history. Critics questioned whether the United States would willingly abandon the costly investment, which was central to the country’s projection of power in the region.

“Our goal in the execution is [to] leave things in as good a state as possible,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman.

“If we went out and left it a wreck or we went out spitefully, or if we destroyed things as we went, we'd be foreclosing options,” he added, appearing to suggest Washington may seek to return to the facility in the future. Congress has designated the military uprising that led to Niger’s interim administration as a “coup,” although polling has revealed nearly 80% of citizens support the post-revolutionary government.

The United States has repeatedly dragged its feet in complying with Nigerien authorities’ request for American troops to leave the country, with US officials claiming they had not received a “formal request.” The continued US presence has generated local protest by government supporters.

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🇷🇺🇻🇪 Russian North Sea Fleet takes part in Venezuelan independence day parade

A contingent of sailors from Russia’s North Sea Fleet participated in a military parade in Caracas Friday marking the 213th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence.

"Our sailors will march in parade formation alongside Venezuelan friends and demonstrate their firm confidence in defending national sovereignty and independence in the emerging just multipolar world order,” Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov told a Russian news agency.

"Today we are receiving warships of the brotherly Russian Federation," said Venezuelan Vice Admiral Edward Centeno Mass, the deputy commander of the Venezuelan Navy. "Venezuela and Russia are brothers in the fight against US imperialism."

The act represents the ongoing strengthening of Russian influence in Latin America and the decline of US power in an area it has long regarded as its imperial backyard. In 2019 former US National Security Advisor John Bolton proclaimed “the Monroe Doctrine is alive and well” in a speech before veterans of the failed US Bay of Pigs coup in Cuba, declaring the United States’ presumed right to dominate the region.

The US has long opposed Venezuela’s anti-imperialist government, organizing a coup against former President Hugo Chávez in 2002 before attempting to unseat leader Nicolás Maduro in 2019. America backed a slew of fascistic dictatorships in the region during the Cold War, leading to the death and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of dissidents in a campaign of state terror known as Operation Condor.

“On this date in 1811, our country freed itself from the Spanish colonial yoke,” proclaimed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil. “Since then, our people have kept alive that fight, which culminated in the Bolivarian Revolution. Venezuela, sovereign and socialist!”

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