David Haigh

For anyone following the UN Secretary-General race: Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's candidate, takes questions from member states at 7pm UK time tonight. Her candidacy has drawn support from some and controversy from others. I'll be watching. Tune in live: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k18/k18l0okbc1

From the archive. The Telegraph, March 2026: dozens of Britons arrested in the UAE for photos of strike sites, some from their own apartments, some never posted. Dubai Watch represented eight of them. Man City's owner is Vice President of the UAE.

UAE law: anyone who "mocks, insults, or damages the reputation" of the President or any ruler faces 15 to 25 years in jail. Mocking the state online can mean years in jail too. Lana Nusseibeh is a UAE minister. Now she wants to run the UN. https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1529

UAE minister Lana Nusseibeh wants to run the UN. Her government jailed Brits for simply having pictures on their phones. Not posting them. Just having them. My Daily Mail article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15637639/Dubai-influencers-fear-Iran-drone-attack-jail.html

Tomorrow the UAE's candidate for UN Secretary-General gets her public hearing, webcast on UN Web TV. Three questions for her: Did the UAE arm the RSF? Will she call for Ahmed Mansoor's release? Could she criticise her own rulers without breaking UAE law? https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k18/k18l0okbc1

Right words, Ed. Now match them. UN experts found reports of UAE support for the RSF credible. Abu Dhabi denies it. Tomorrow its nominee, Lana Nusseibeh, faces her hearing to run the UN. Britain has a veto on the Security Council. Use it. https://x.com/ed_miliband/status/2114671771676824042

From the archive. ABC News, 2019, before the High Court case that found the Ruler of Dubai had abducted two of his daughters: "For the first time in the last 18 months, Latifa's case is going to be looked at by a proper court in an open hearing." He lost. He is Prime Minister of the UAE.

Gwithian saying goodbye to Storm Boelo. Red flag day. No surfing.

From the archive. GZERO Media and Microsoft, 2023: a short film on how the UAE hacked my phone with Pegasus while I was trying to free my then client Princess Latifa. Ten minutes on what this government does to lawyers, journalists and its own daughters.

Three Cornish sunsets. Which one is your favourite? #Cornwall

The Times, June 2026: I expected a James Bond type to get me out of a Dubai jail. Nobody came. That is what I learned about how Britain treats its citizens in the UAE, and why I do what I do now. The Times told the whole story in one piece.

From the archive. The Guardian, 2021: Amnesty's lab found Pegasus on my phone, planted two weeks after my then client Princess Latifa stopped answering. The UAE hacked my phone, in Britain, during a British court case. Man City's owner is Vice President of the UAE.

Storm Austen hitting Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount this morning. Exceptionally windy, and the tide isn't even in yet. Please stay off the coast paths and away from the waves today. #StormAusten #Cornwall

"A problem-solver rather than a spectator to the world's crises," says Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's UN candidate. Here's a problem her government could solve today: my client Zeynab Javadli, still fighting in Dubai for her daughters. No UN vote needed. #ZeynabJavadli

"We need to stop the widening of war, protect civilians." Guterres at the UN yesterday. Could a UN chief from the UAE say that? Under UAE law, mocking the state online carries up to five years in prison. Ask Ahmed Mansoor. My client Zeynab Javadli is still fighting in Dubai for her daughters.

A fantastic piece of investigative journalism from Vanity Fair. Matthew Cole alleges MBZ and MBS put at least $2bn into accounts for Kushner's use. His lawyer denies it. Now MBZ wants his candidate to run the UN. https://www.vanityfair.com/story/jared-kushner-hacked-phone-secret-negotiations

Dubai money, mercenaries and a hacked phone. If you want to understand how the UAE's rulers operate abroad, start here. Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, Vice President of the UAE. www.vanityfair.com/story/jared-...

Storms I've filmed in Cornwall: Ciarán in Penzance in 2023, which the BBC used, Bert in 2024, and Darragh at Land's End, Sennen and Portreath. Storm Austen is here tonight. Stay safe, everyone. #StormAusten #Cornwall

Stay safe, everyone. Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, is hitting Cornwall and it's already dark, windy, rainy and stormy here. Met Office amber warning overnight, gusts up to 80mph. Don't go wave watching. Anyone in trouble on the coast, call 999, ask for the Coastguard.

Free Ahmed Mansoor. I knew Ahmed. Today is his 10th birthday in a UAE prison, held in isolation since 2017 for defending human rights. 10 years, then 15 more. Now the UAE wants Lana Nusseibeh to run the UN. How, while it jails defenders like Ahmed? #FreeAhmed #FreeAhmedMansoor

From the archive. BBC HARDtalk, 2017. Thirty minutes, not one soft question: is it safe to do business in the UAE? I thought so, until 22 months in a Dubai prison. Now the question is being asked about a football club. Man City's owner is Vice President of the UAE.

The US has just ordered non-emergency embassy staff and families out of Saudi Arabia. AFP says embassy families in the UAE are also told to leave; Washington says Saudi only. If you have family in Saudi Arabia or the UAE, make sure they have a plan. @dubaiwatchorg has the alert.

Storm Austen is on its way. Amber wind warning for Cornwall from 3am on Friday. The wind is already picking up in the west. Stay safe, everyone. Sound on. #Cornwall #StormAusten

From the archive. The Times, 2016, weeks after I got home from 22 months in a Dubai prison: my nightmare in Dubai, in my own words. Every claim against me is now over. People ask why I will not let the UAE alone. This is why.

From the archive. Al Jazeera, January 2018: UAE officials under investigation in Britain for torture, and the week I set up an organisation for other survivors of UAE prisons. I knew of 40 cases then. Far more now. Man City's owner is Vice President of the UAE.

From the archive. The Observer, March 2020. Princess Shamsa, snatched from British streets in 2000 on her father's orders, got through to Cambridgeshire Police herself in 2017 and asked for help. Her father is Prime Minister of the UAE. Man City's owner is its Vice President.

Sunset at Gwithian. Some evenings Cornwall just shows off. #Cornwall

From the archive. The Guardian, December 2013, when I was managing director of Leeds United: Robbie Rogers launching Beyond It at Elland Road, and Leeds becoming the first Stonewall Diversity Champion in English football. Still proud of that.

Sunset at Gwithian. Some evenings Cornwall just shows off. #Cornwall

From the archive. The Telegraph, 2017, a year after I came home from a Dubai prison: rebuilding a life in Cornwall. "Hell versus a little paradise and nice people around you who you can trust." Still here. Still talking about what the UAE does to people.

From the archive. Euronews, February 2021, the week the world saw my then client Princess Latifa's secret videos: "This is a lawless country with good PR firms." The PR firms are still at it. Manchester City's owner is Vice President of the same UAE.

From the archive. The Telegraph, 2021: a Nicole Kidman lookalike, a day following me around London, and a phone hacked with Pegasus while I was working to free my then client Princess Latifa. Manchester City's owner is Vice President of the UAE.

Turquoise water, a sea arch and a beach full of seals. Cornwall. Sound up for the sea.

Sunset over St Ives Bay, Cornwall. Sound up for the waves.

Lelant, looking out towards the Hayle Estuary. Blue sky and the tide out.

From the archive: the UAE hacked my phone with Pegasus in 2020 while I fought for Princess Latifa. Amnesty confirmed it. The High Court found Dubai's ruler behind the hacking of Princess Haya's phone. www.middleeasteye.net/news/pegasus...

Questions for Andy Burnham when he publishes his Manchester City meetings. Start with 11 September 2019, the Etihad, Vincent Kompany's testimonial, where he was photographed with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, City's chairman. Who hosted him, and was it declared? "One significant meeting" is not an answer.

BREAKING: Andy Burnham has finally agreed to publish his meetings with Manchester City's owners, after outrage from all sides. One "significant meeting" in 2021 is not the whole story: what about the hospitality, the calls, the messages? Publish it all. Some meetings are more equal than others.

Cornish waves. Sound up for the sea.

Liverpool v Manchester City at Anfield today, 4.30pm. If City lose their appeal against the independent commission's findings, today's points could count for nothing. City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, Vice President of the UAE.

From the archive: speaking to The Guardian about a British football fan arrested in Dubai. The UAE sells a holiday paradise; visitors can end up in a cell. davidhaigh.co.uk/former-leeds...

"Andy Burnham oversaw £55m of taxpayer loans to UAE businesses." My full interview with Tom Swarbrick on LBC. Thank you to LBC for having me on. youtu.be/QD1dscsTNrI

My then client Princess Latifa on her own family, the rulers of Dubai: "pirates, savages, brutes... they didn't get voted into power." When you're dealing with pirates, you have to be strong. Andy Burnham did get voted into power. Right now, Britain doesn't look strong.

Gwithian on an autumn morning. Blue sky and the headland catching the light.

From Blair to Starmer to Burnham, Labour's love affair with dictators and despots goes on, and the UAE is always the one they can't say no to. Thank you to LBC and Tom Swarbrick for having me on last night.

From the archive: NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt told America about Princess Latifa, and what the UAE's despots do to women who try to leave. davidhaigh.co.uk/nbc-news-les...

Manchester City have become the Phantom Menace of English football: on the pitch every week, but if the appeal fails, were they ever really there at all? Manchester City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, Vice President of the UAE. On LBC with Tom Swarbrick tonight.

Cornish sunsets. Never the same twice.

From the archive: The Times reported the UN had warned Dubai over the kidnap of Princess Latifa. Years on, the UAE's rulers still act with impunity. davidhaigh.co.uk/times-newspa...

St Michael's Mount, with the sun high over Mount's Bay.