A news feed of the Qatari media organisation, Al Jazeera, has been removed from a UK government emergency-planning platform following a complaint by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
The feed had appeared prominently on the West Midlands Local Resilience Forum’s section of Resilience Direct, which is a secure UK government platform used by emergency services and other public bodies for crisis preparation and information sharing.
UKLFI was informed by someone with access to the platform that the West Midlands homepage was no longer carrying Al Jazeera’s Middle East news feed. It now appeared to display only a UK-based news feed, apparently supplied by Sky News.
The removal follows a complaint sent by UKLFI to the Cabinet Office on 5 May 2026. UKLFI argued that Resilience Direct was being misused to distribute general political and international news that was unrelated to the statutory emergency-planning functions of a local resilience forum.
Screenshots supplied with the complaint showed a prominently placed “Media Wall – Middle East” containing an Al Jazeera feed, as well as scrolling headlines about Israel, the Palestinians and the wider Middle East. The Al Jazeera media wall was presented alongside operational sections dealing with incident response, firearms operations, training and regional situational awareness.
UKLFI said the arrangement risked giving one news organisation’s coverage an official appearance and exposing emergency-planning professionals to a stream of politically contentious material through a government service.
UKLFI asked for the feed to be removed, for guidance to be issued to local resilience forums about material falling outside their statutory functions, and for an investigation into who had installed and authorised the feed.
UKLFI also raised concerns about compliance with the Civil Service Code, including its requirements relating to integrity, proper use of public resources, and political impartiality.
Despite the apparent removal of the feed, the Cabinet Office has not provided UKLFI with a substantive response to its complaint.
After receiving no answer to the original letter or subsequent reminders, UKLFI submitted a Freedom of Information request on 24 May. The Cabinet Office acknowledged that request on 23 June—after the ordinary 20-working-day response period had expired. However, it has still not explained who authorised the Al Jazeera feed, why it was placed on the platform, whether any investigation has taken place, or whether guidance will now be issued to prevent a recurrence.
A UKLFI spokesperson said:
“We welcome the removal of the Al Jazeera feed. A secure government platform intended for emergency preparedness should not be used to promote politically contentious news coverage that has no apparent operational relevance.
“However, quietly removing the feed is not a substitute for accountability. The Cabinet Office should explain how this happened, who authorised it and what steps are being taken to ensure that government resources are not misused in this way again.”