By-elections are supposed to be strange. Low turnout, odd swings, protest votes. But every so often they tell you something real about the direction of travel. This one did. Start with the Greens. On the face of it, good news. They can clearly mobilise a vote and, in the right conditions, win. But their real … Read more
Once upon a time, defining the far right was easy. Britain had fringe parties like the BNP and the National Front. Mainstream politicians kept their distance. Their ideas were toxic, and everyone knew it. That boundary has now broken down. The far right has been partially absorbed into mainstream politics. Just as Jeremy Corbyn opened … Read more
Are Pubs Really in Trouble? Reform are proposing a package of support for pubs — or possibly the whole hospitality sector. It’s not entirely clear. Robert Jenrick says one thing, Lee Anderson another. But before we get into subsidies, it’s worth asking a basic question: Are pubs actually in trouble? A Sector Caught in a … Read more
How much activity on social media is actually real? How much is bots? How much is click farms? And at what point does the distinction stop mattering? Readers with long memories might remember a slightly unorthodox survey I ran a while back: counting PornBots across platforms. The logic was simple—PornBots are easy to spot, so … Read more
Donald Trump’s second term is going no better than his first. He has failed to end the war in Ukraine, failed to produce a credible healthcare plan, and failed to rein in government spending. Inflation remains elevated, unemployment is rising, and growth is slowing. Strip out AI investment and deficit spending, and the underlying economy … Read more
Britain has a grooming gang problem — but it isn’t the one you’ve been told to worry about. Advances in technology and the dominance of online platforms have transformed the scale and nature of child sexual abuse. Offenders no longer need to operate in physical groups or specific locations. They can access victims anywhere, at … Read more
Reform UK’s donor list this year reads like a map of global capital. A £9 million donation from a businessman based in Thailand. Hundreds of thousands from a telecoms entrepreneur born in Beirut with global interests. Large sums emerging from corporate vehicles and overseas-linked donors. Fund raising dinners in Dubai hosted by Mumbai billionaires. According … Read more
The schism on Britain’s hard right is no longer gossip; it is formal. Rupert Lowe, reportedly buoyed by encouragement from Elon Musk’s online ecosystem, has launched a rival to Reform. His one-MP outfit is called Restore. The launch, staged in Great Yarmouth, leaned heavily into hard-line rhetoric on immigration and “national restoration”: mass deportations, drastic … Read more
Last week, Nigel Farage announced that a future Reform government would ban working from home. If that sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve heard it before. Boris Johnson floated the same idea four years ago. Same rhetoric. Same applause lines. Same fatal flaw. Reform supporters bristle when critics describe the party as a retirement home for … Read more
