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
All summer long the press — along with a depressing number of commentators and politicians — warned of a “summer of violence,” supposedly echoing last year’s riots in British cities. At times their warnings felt less like reporting and more like an attempt to foment unrest themselves, an embrace of mob politics. The reality fell … Read more
Corbyn and Musk Have New Parties “The first thing that must strike any outside observer is that Socialism, in its developed form, is a theory confined entirely to the middle classes. The typical Socialist is not, as tremulous old ladies imagine, a ferocious-looking working man with greasy overalls and a raucous voice. He is either … Read more
Musk and Trump: DOGE, Debt, and DefaultThe Department of Government Efficiency goes inefficiently bust. The last 48 hours have been historic—and not in a good way. Elon Musk has left the Trump administration with a black eye and a fresh dose of chaos. The official line is that he “tripped on something,” but given the … Read more
Imagine a right-wing regime where private business and authoritarian politics are so closely intertwined that the boundary between the two ceases to exist. A system where businessmen sit at the cabinet table, making decisions not for the public good, but to further their own corporate interests. In this world, politics and profit collude. The demand … Read more
What does Elon Musk want with all of this data? Elon Musk has been gaining access to vast amounts of data held by the U.S. government about its citizens. Assisting him in this effort are his own employees, some of whom have been seconded into government service to manage the process. At times, it’s hard … Read more
The UK Online Safety Act: More Harm Than Good? The UK’s Online Safety Act is set to come into force in just a few weeks. Last month, I wrote about why Elon Musk is furious about it. While making Elon angry is always entertaining, this Act presents a serious problem—one that could have lasting consequences … Read more
The Digital Trap: How Misinformation Targets People Like Us Writing this blog, I’m making some assumptions about my readers—primarily graduates, middle class, aged between 45 and 65, and self-identifying as well-educated. I hope what I’m about to say doesn’t upset too many of you. Hate, distrust, and disinformation designed to create political divisions have proliferated … Read more
How easy is it to cut the size of Government? The original strapline for my blog right at the start was “small business is good, big government is bad”. Part of my dislike of big government comes from my own experiences as a Civil Servant. This gave rise to Chadwick’s laws of public finance and … Read more