While we are being told that UK defence industries will lead to growth and national prosperity, it seems the benefits to communities dominated by arms companies may be scant.
(5/5)
While we are being told that UK defence industries will lead to growth and national prosperity, it seems the benefits to communities dominated by arms companies may be scant.
(5/5)
Rather than give workers a pay rise to keep up with inflation, the chief executive Charles Woodburn has merely thanked the company’s 12,000 Lancashire employees for their “outstanding dedication” to the “strong operational and financial performance”.
https://tinyurl.com/4hu5wzn8
(4/5)
The dispute involves more than 1,000 workers. The trade union Unite the union called the profits “obscene” and accused BAE Systems of ”refus[ing] to pay its workers a fair wage and attempt[ing] union-busting high court injunctions to prevent strikes”.
(3/5)
Sales increased by 10% to a record £30.7bn, more than double the UK aid budget. Yet at the same time, BAE Systems workers in Lancashire are on strike over pay.
(2/5)
Last week Britain’s largest arms company, BAE Systems, reported record-breaking profits. The company and its investors are profiting from war, instability and fear-mongering.
https://tinyurl.com/4uhck6np
(1/5) @unitetheunion.bsky.social
@aljazeera.com’s In Pictures: Four Years of Ukraine War captures the tremendous scale of death and destruction on the front lines and far from them, documenting the toll on soldiers, civilians and entire communities caught in a conflict with no clear end.
www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026...
(6/6)
Drones have become standard military tools, used for surveillance and precision strikes. Drone operators track targets in real time, and confirmed kills are logged like points, a troubling gamification of warfare as remote systems become the norm.
(5/6)
The war has redefined the nature of modern warfare, marked by the widespread use of drones, the return of trench warfare and a digital battlefield that extends far beyond the front lines.
(4/6)
The UN reports more than 15,000 civilians, including 763 children, have been killed.
The conflict has also triggered one of the largest displacement crises in Europe in decades. Approx 5.3M Ukrainians have sought refuge across Europe, while 3.7M remain internally displaced within Ukraine.
(3/6)
Meanwhile, Russia is estimated to have suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths between February 2022 and December 2025. That figure represents the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II.
(2/6)
A harrowing anniversary marked the start of the fifth year of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday
For Ukraine, the @csis.org estimates military casualties at between 500,000 and 600,000, including up to 140,000 deaths.
(1/6)
These developments raise urgent questions about whether major tech companies are enabling large-scale surveillance and intensified immigration enforcement, and where the ethical and legal lines should be drawn in the use of these technologies.
(5/5)
It's not the only instance in which Microsoft’s technology has come under scrutiny. Last September the company restricted an Israeli military unit’s access to services after an investigation found they were being used to store surveillance data on Palestinians.
(4/5)
In the first months of 2026, two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good, were two among a number of people killed by federal immigration enforcement agents this year. Both deaths have drawn national scrutiny and prompted protests and calls for accountability.
(3/5)
ICE, which has been likened to a domestic surveillance agency, has a growing arsenal of surveillance technology, including facial recognition apps, phone location databases, drones and invasive spyware.
(2/5)
Leaked documents reveal that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than tripled the data it stores in Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform over six months in 2025/26.
(1/5)
New piece written by William Hartung raises key questions applicable to ongoing discussions surrounding increasing defence spending in the UK:
responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-war-...
MPs from across parties are pushing to rebrand the UK arms trade as “ethical”.
But from exports linked to killings in Gaza and Yemen, to whistle-blower testimony alleging pressure to downplay violations of international law, the reality tells a different story.
The Filton 24, who broke into an Elbit factory in 2024, have all been acquitted of the most serious charge of aggravated burglary.
Several of them have already been released on bail - after the UK government ignored their hunger strike demanding bail👇
www.declassifieduk.org/how-palestin...
Research commissioned by the MoD & cadet organisations claims that cadet forces provide unique social value. However, we have found concerns regarding the independence & methodology of these successive research reports.
Read our full investigation below.
The UK is the only country in Europe that allows people under 18 to join the armed forces. Each year, at least a quarter of new recruits to the British Army’s ‘other ranks’ are aged 16/17. The UN is one of many organisations to condemn this.
18.02.2026 13:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Cadet associations are now ‘unashamedly’ admitting that they recruit to the military, they used to prefer to put emphasis on their role as youth orgs.
This is even more reason for educators to think carefully before enabling orgs with defence agendas into schools.
🔗 @medact.bsky.social campaign toolkit, No Palantir in the NHS.
🧵7/7
🔗 Find out if your local NHS Trust is using Palantir’s software, @goodlawproject.bsky.social.
🧵6/7
🔗 @greenparty.org.uk leader, @zackpolanski.bsky.social’s Stop Palantir petition.
🧵5/7
Here are some resources to learn more and take action:
🔗 No Palantir in our NHS - petition backed by a coalition of 50+ organisations.
nopalantir.org.uk
🧵4/7
From supporting US immigration authorities to profile & target migrants, to its reported use by the Israeli military in Gaza, we must all call for scrapping of the NHS & MoD contracts and for a full review of UK dependence on corporations like Palantir.
🧵3/7
Palantir now holds up to £500m in current UK defence and NHS deals. Global Counsel, a lobbying company co-founded and part-owned by Peter Mandelson, who was recently disgraced over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, also works for Palantir.
🧵2/7
Last week, Palantir, a US tech corporation which is increasingly a military and surveillance giant, hosted a lavish party in Mayfair to celebrate its £241m MoD contract to boost military AI and innovation.
🧵1/7 Keep reading to see how to can take action below.
@goodlawproject.bsky.social
BREAKING: government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action under terrorism law ruled UNLAWFUL
This matters for everyone.
For years, the right to protest has been under sustained and deliberate attack.
Thousands of people have been arrested for something that should have never been a crime.