The latest idea to send right-wing commentators into a frothing panic is “decolonisation”. Apparently, it represents an existential threat to Western civilisation — an effort to censor traditional Western ideas and replace them with pernicious liberalism and “woke”. This is, of course, nonsense. Empire Didn’t Need Explaining My grandparents were moderate supporters of the British … Read more
Reform UK has received a record £9 million donation from cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne — the largest single donation ever made by a living person to a British political party. Harborne, who is based in Thailand and also known as Chakrit Sakunkrit, is not new to UK political funding. He previously donated substantial sums to … Read more
Hysteria about immigration continues to dominate political debate in the UK — in the traditional media and across social platforms. The government is now under intense pressure to introduce tougher asylum rules to “appease public concern”. But that concern isn’t rooted in reality. Since Labour came into power last year, net migration to the UK … Read more
Does immigration increase crime? Every time I log onto Facebook, old school friends share horror stories about crime waves supposedly driven by immigrants. London, apparently, is now a crime-ridden hell hole plagued by gangs of foreign criminals. Other big cities, we’re told, are heading the same way. They’re so convinced this is true that it’s … Read more
Reading the press and the usual on-line outrage factories, you’d think Britain is being ruled by an authoritarian regime deterimed to lock people up posting things on the internet. The story goes like this: Labour got into office, a wave of censorious lefties took over, and suddenly the police are marching into bedrooms at midnight … Read more
The Family Feud Inside Your Party There is more trouble in Your Party, the new left-wing movement led by former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. Their first annual conference is due to begin in a few weeks, to decide policy and elect the ruling politburo. The party’s foundational documents sketch out a familiar picture … Read more
Small boat crossings fell again this month — down almost 65% in October. After a 20% drop in August and a slight bounce in September, the last three months are down 30% on 2023 and 60% on 2022, the peak year for crossings. This is, on the surface, great news. Crossing the Channel in small … Read more
The Conservatives are in permanent decline, unable to arrest their slide in the polls. They haven’t managed to poll beyond third place since April, and defections to Reform UK are now dangerously frequent. Danny Kruger became the first shadow cabinet minister to jump ship last week. Few think Kemi Badenoch will still be in place … Read more
People have lost their minds. The latest outrage that angry people are getting angry about is adverts — specifically, too many non-white people in adverts. Normally I’d start with some statistics to see if this complaint has any basis in fact. But not this time, because this isn’t really about numbers or representation. It’s about … Read more
Fake content and far-right radicalisation online are reshaping our politics and society. We live in an age of unreality, where everything is fake — except the hate. The internet has rewired how we think, argue and even feel. The exponential rise of online porn alone suggests future historians might call this the golden age of … Read more