In this week's issue

• How a pseudo-religious doomsday ‘cult’ infiltrated the UN, the EU Parliament, and the US Capitol to launder dangerous climate disinformation
• Andy Burnham’s supporters are glossing over the reality of the ‘Burnhamism’ economic model
• Why UK government’s plan to get teens off social media will fail without investment elsewhere
• Burnham looks set to be the next PM. Defence spending may be his first hurdle – and his response will define his premiership
• Advocates warn of a draconian crackdown on dissent after a UK judge applied a ‘terrorism connection to Palestine Action protesters

Ever get the feeling that nothing makes sense anymore? That every bit of peer-reviewed research has some anti-research reviewed by a wholly different set of peers? There is a word for that: “epistemic collapse”, or when a society, as a collective, loses its ability to distinguish truth from falsehood.

This has real consequences, as this week’s cover story reveals. 

AllatRa, oD contributors Julián Reingold and Ignacio Conese report, is a doomsday cult that Ukrainian and Czech authorities are investigating for being pro-Russian and the Kremlin has proscribed for being extremist. They have met with the Pope, attended UN climate conferences, the European Parliament and the US Congress – all in the guise of fighting nano-plastic oceanic pollution, even as they deny that climate change is a man-made crisis. As Climate Week begins in London this Saturday, read our story to understand just how organisations such as AllatRa are creating just enough confusion to compromise urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.

Speaking of the collapse of meaning, the Makerfield results are in, and it seems the UK will soon have its sixth prime minister since David Cameron stepped down in the summer of 2016. Hurray for democracy! “Andy Burnham, not Labour, won this by-election,” writes openDemocracy’s Ethan Shone, but is he a candidate of continuity or change? Read more to find out.

Also in this issue, Paul Rogers on Burnham, military spending and the climate crisis (all in one column); openDemocracy editor Indra Warnes on the under-16 social media ban; continuing coverage of the Palestine Action trial and much more. We have a special podcast episode this week: “You will die at 30” takes us to Ghana, where a young trans-woman seeks community under the shadow of one of the world’s harshest crackdowns on the LGBTQI+ community.

Aman Sethi, Editor-in-Chief

Inside the doomsday ‘cult’ spreading climate disinformation to global leaders

In Parliaments, TikTok and COP summits, AllatRa spread claims that greenhouse gases are not main cause of climate crisis

openDemocracyJulián Reingold

Burnham promises change. Manchester suggests continuity

Makerfield result means we will likely have a new PM by September, and Britain will find out what Burnhamism really means

openDemocracyEthan Shone

OK, so we ban social media. Then what?

If ministers are serious about reducing screen time, they must rebuild the youth spaces and services they’ve shuttered

openDemocracyIndra Warnes

Andy Burnham must be honest about UK defence budget

A rational approach to security requires confronting two key factors. So far, no PM has been willing to do so

openDemocracyPaul Rogers

‘Direct action is not terrorism’: Filton 25 on the sentencing of Palestine Action defendants

Committee representing activists sentenced for ‘terrorism’ tells openDemocracy ruling marks a dangerous escalation

openDemocracyNandini Naira Archer

Weekly Poll

This week in history

The Battle of Orgreave • 18 June 1984

During the 1984–85 miners' strike, mounted police charged pickets at the Orgreave coking plant near Sheffield on 18 June 1984 in scenes of extraordinary violence. Many miners were subsequently prosecuted for riot; all charges were eventually dropped. South Yorkshire Police - the same force responsible for the Hillsborough cover-up - still has not been held to account.

A public inquiry was launched in March this year. They still would like to hear from any individual or organisation who was directly or indirectly involved in or impacted by the events that took place at Orgreave, or their aftermath.

Our Archive piece this week is a moving, self-aware piece written during the 2011 public sector strikes about what it means to strike for the first time and how the Miners' Strike has been written out of the national consciousness.

My first strike

After the student protests in December, many young people took part in their first British strike yesterday. A first time striker looks for wider connections in the past and elsewhere as he seeks to discover what it is he is joining.

openDemocracySamir Jeraj

What we're reading

No second chances, Morgan Jones

In a strange way, reading a book about the campaign for a second Brexit referendum, which really ended just over six years ago, feels like reading a missive from the ancient past or outer space – the world has changed so much and so dramatically since the era of indicative votes, endless discussions on the backstop, and “get Brexit done”. And yet, the rows over Brexit have shaped our political reality today in such a profound way, we barely even stop to notice or discuss it anymore. Jones’ book focuses on the failed attempt to secure a second referendum, and in doing so it offers a fascinating insight into British class politics, tribalism, how (not) to do political campaigning, social media and celebrity, how the campaign influences politics today, and so much more. On top of that, it’s laugh out loud funny, which is not what you expect from a book about Brexit! 

Sian Norris, senior investigations reporter