Paul Lashmar

Define fool in the case.

Join us on 13 Oct at Barts North Wing, London to hear from expert speakers about the Windrush generation’s significant contributions to the NHS. #BlackHistoryMonth

This event is held in partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust Archives, Barts Heritage, & Culture Mile BID.

Book here: bit.ly/48fzzQQ

Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in Israeli detention Some of those held say guns were pointed at them, they were threatened with dogs and deprived of sleep

“I was beaten from the moment we entered the port until the very end,” said Saverio Tommasi, an Italian journalist. “Blows to my back, blows to my head – and they [the Israeli soldiers] laughed, laughed at all of it. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Wow. Robert Jenrick doubles down by branding a black journalist's questions "ridiculous" and saying that the problem is not his comments, but "journalists like you who pop up and try to knock me down", adding that "this is the reason why terrorist attacks happen". ~AA

I don't think Robert Jenrick realises that the people clapping along to him when he talks about Handsworth would clap along if he said the same about Stamford Hill. I'd hope that would give him pause for thought.

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time Record solar expansion and steady wind growth driving world’s shift away from fossil fuels in 2025, report finds

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal.

China & India lead the race for renewable energy.

The US increased reliance on fossil fuels.

With corporate donations Trump wants more fossil fuels. Farage and Tories promising the same. Banks pouring money.

Tommy Robinson speaks out for Israel | The Jerusalem Post "I've never had any financial benefit from Israel," he said, confirming that he will not be paid for his upcoming trip to Israel following a personal invite from Minister Amichai Chikli.

www.jpost.com/diaspora/art...

Up to 5,000 Cuban fighters are actively participating in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing an internal US State Department cable

reuters.com/world/americas…

*gasp*

YouTube video by WeAreDeLaSoul De La Soul - Fanatic of the B Word (Official Audio) ft. Dres

PL's tune of the day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ph...

233K views · 9.9K reactions | #NowPlaying Bitches Brew What's your favorite track from the album? (🎥 via TikTok: @m_simionovschi) | Miles Davis #NowPlaying Bitches Brew What's your favorite track from the album? (🎥 via TikTok: @m_simionovschi).

PL's tune of the day: www.facebook.com/reel/2016522...

'This brilliant book', what a lovely compliment for my book Drax of Drax Hall. My thanks to Dorset Magazine for their review, which is just out. The reviewer also says the book "tells the story in away that's more matter of fact than judgmental." Praise indeed.

Israeli soldiers were filmed detaining two Palestinian children in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, while demanding to know their father’s whereabouts.

When a passerby intervened and urged their release because of their young age, a soldier replied, “I don’t care”.

Where now for Britain’s Universities? UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

New from me: a *free* short version of my Political Quarterly piece on universities... The issue is settled now: the massified and accessible Higher Education system we have spent tens of billions building since the 1970s is coming to an end. (1/2)
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

www.facebook.com/share/r/163Z...

Covid school closures in UK damaged ‘very fabric of childhood’ Inquiry hears of children exposed to pornography and suffering ‘grievous’ harm without protection of schools

PL: Boris Johnson and Gavin Williamson seemed to have screwed up badly. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

And we're underway!

Great to be at Labour Conference this year partnering with @spotlightcorruption.org and @moreincommonuk.bsky.social for our event on how big money and foreign interference skews our democracy.

Too bloody right.

I am amazed that a major political party has so failed to communicate its policies.

The British journalist shot by Trump’s immigration police Nick Stern was reporting on an anti-ICE protest in Los Angeles when he was shot in the leg, leaving him fighting for his life. He asks: is America still free?

www.thetimes.com/video/origin...

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

Just a thought, perhaps we should look more broadly at the ties between Russia and reform before they take over the country.

You know, to avoid a Trump 2016 situation?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Interesting, in complete contrast to Angela Rayner and her stamp duty story, no media or politician has forced an answer from Nigel Farage as to how his partner got £885,000 cash to buy the Essex house. Two tier politics?

Danny Thompson died this week, a titan of the double bass. First heard him with Pentangle and their 'Light Flight' (circa 1967). Later, in May 1989, I interviewed him for The Observer. It was akin to interviewing a grizzly bear. Tough old Londoner and a one off.

Drax of Drax Hall - Pluto Press An unbroken British bloodline of slavery, exploitation, and unrepentance

I was a panellist at the World Reparations Conference at the House of Lords today. The organisers are ACSIS. Other speakers included Baroness Verma, Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, and Heirs of Slavery group.
www.plutobooks.com/product/drax...

Toxins, tech and tumors: Is modern life fueling the rise of cancer in millennials? Studies suggest modern life may be fueling the rise of cancer in younger adults, with factors like ultra-processed foods and chemicals under scrutiny.

The rise in early-onset cancers has drawn a growing number of scientists into a shared investigation: not into the inherited traits that cause of cancer across generations, but into the ways modern life might be rewriting the body’s cellular fate.

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.

Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

Empire, Slavery, and Reparations Podcast Episode · Radicals in Conversation · 18/08/2025 · 1h

Just released on Pluto podcast. We talk about the new book Drax of Drax Hall: How One British Family Got Rich (and Stayed Rich) from Sugar and Slavery, and the growing international movement for reparations. Please repost. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

Letters found on eBay cast light on UK families who benefited from slavery Researcher Malik Al Nasir bought historical documents while investigating his family history – and began building an archive

I will be talking to Malik at the Bridport Literary Festival on 6 November. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Israeli strikes kill at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn <article data-history-node-id="429036" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-strikes-kill-least-19-palestinians-gaza-dawn" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-strikes-kill-least-19-palestinians-gaza-dawn" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli strikes kill at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p data-end="542" data-start="439">Hospitals in Gaza say 19 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since dawn today.</p> <p data-end="677" data-start="544">Medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that at leat 15 of those killed were in Gaza City, as Israel continues its assaults across the besieged territory.</p> </div> </div> </article>

Israeli strikes kill at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-strikes-kill-least-19-palestinians-gaza-dawn

Farage’s new think tank, the misnamed ‘Centre for a Better Britain’, is very clearly planning a ‘Project 2025’ for the UK - ripping up the Climate Change Act, Equalities Act, even the ministerial code

A recipe for chaotic authoritarianism

www.ft.com/content/2260...