It was Carl von Clausewitz, the early nineteenth century Prussian general, who said: “War is nothing but the continuation of policy with other means”. In other words, if a country goes to war, it should do so with a clear political objective, and the war itself should be fought in such a manner as to […]
Backbench rebels have made this a better budget than it would have been, but they have more to do to prevent the UK having the Biden experience Labour made several manifesto promises, none more important than tackling the cost-of-living crisis and rebuilding the NHS. And the Chancellor said last week, “Working families will be at the front […]
As some of you may know, I am one of the co-founders of the South Devon Primary, along with Simon Oldridge and Ben Long. Born out of frustration with an electoral system that threatened to see the Conservatives’ near hundred year rule in the Totnes/South Devon constituency because the opposition vote was split, the two […]
Activists in Exeter will be joining a national wave of protest against the banning of Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist organisation’ this Saturday, November 29. Around 25 protesters will defy the ban by sitting quietly outside Exeter Central Station from 1pm, holding placards stating “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. It’s part of what […]
The BBC may well need structural reform. It is too big and too unwieldy for one man like Tim Davie to control. But that has nothing to do with the current faked-up crisis over Panorama’s reporting of a speech by Donald Trump. Editing has a purpose. And all editing changes an original. It reduces the […]
On November 10, Nigel Farage told the press about his phone call with President Trump. “Is this how you treat your best ally?” Trump asked him, furious about BBC coverage. And what did Trump do the second he put the phone down? He wrote to the BBC to threaten legal action. Think about that for […]
Do we truly have the kind of democracy in our country which is fit for the challenges of the 21st Century? Does our government fairly represent the views and aspirations of voters? How can we best tackle and mitigate the effects of climate change? All these questions, and more, will be up for debate in […]
It’s a simple but effective trick, coined by former Conservative strategist Lynton Crosby, and used to devastating effect by Nigel Farage every day. Here’s how it works. When you’re losing a debate on the issues that matter – say the economy, the NHS, the cost of living – you throw something so shocking onto the […]
Rachel Reeves gave a speech yesterday that once again brought the cost of living to the fore in the national debate. Virtually all of the media commentary on the speech focused on the economic factors Reeves might be considering in the run-up to her Autumn Budget statement on 26 November. But the real – fundamental […]
The campaign organisation HOPE not hate‘s Weekend of HOPE will see hundreds and thousands of leaflets delivered to houses in the UK and thousands of people will take to the streets with a simple message: communities are stronger together. We live in an era in which certain politicians and oligarchs are hellbent on dividing us […]
Something extraordinary happened in Russia this week, though much of the world may have missed it. In the centre of St Petersburg, eighteen-year-old singer Diana Loginova stood before a crowd of young people and began to sing. Her song mocked Vladimir Putin, describing an old man clinging to power, fearful of the world he created. […]
The 92-year-old Tory grandee’s comparison of Reform UK to 1930s fascists isn’t hyperbole – it’s a warning from someone who knows what happens when democracies ignore the danger until it’s too late. There are few figures more influential in the modern Conservative Party than Lord Michael Heseltine. Serving in governments under three Prime Ministers, Heseltine […]
The flags were out in London for Donald Trump’s second state visit last month. Most of them telling him to f*** off home. Some placards at the protest on September 17 expressed the idea more creatively: ‘Feed him to the corgis’ ‘In England, Trump means ‘fart’ ‘We don’t want this old fossil polluting our air’ […]
Across Britain, the rise of anti-immigration protests, the surge in far-right rhetoric online, and growing public support for exclusionary policies point to an alarming shift in perspective. Anti-immigration protests have grown louder, fuelled by far-right rhetoric both in public and online. In September 2025; over 100,000 people joined an anti-migrant protest in London while there […]
If I’m honest, it was hard to watch proceedings at yesterday’s UN General Assembly. I can remember several times when the world of international relations was in similar turmoil, but I can’t remember ever being as pessimistic as I am now about the prospects that our international institutions will be able to fix things. The […]
The Telegraph reported on September 22 that Nigel Farage’s Reform Party would expel hundreds of thousands of migrants if it gained power. Reform says it would scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain retrospectively, raise the Skilled Worker salary bar to £60,000 a year, require higher English, restrict access to most benefits and free NHS care for […]
Let’s try and get a sense of proportion, but without getting complacent: fewer than one in 500 of us marched in London on Saturday; 499 didn’t – and that despite it being the most media-advertised march in years. Why the media wanted to give a fascist-organised march oxygen is a question that should be addressed […]
You know how an abuser punches someone in the face and then says, “Look what you made me do”? That logic of inversion, of projection, of impunity? It seems to me that this is now being played out on the world stage. When Donald Trump and his goon squad of squalid appointees lionise terrorising the […]
Without bold action by the government, British citizens could find ourselves living in a formerly-developed nation In the book 99%, which was published in 2019, I made what felt at the time like a bold prediction: if policy did not change significantly, neither the US nor the UK would see their civilisation remain intact to the […]
Political violence doesn’t stay contained. It cascades – and democracy pays the price Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah yesterday afternoon. The news started coming in as I was settling down for the evening, and it instantly felt surreal. Even typing this feels somewhat surreal. The BBC update that pinged on my phone felt like […]
We recently organised a free event for young people with activist and campaigner, Rob Hopkins, also of transition town fame and the author of many books, including the inspirational ‘How to Fall in Love with the Future‘. (You can read our review of the book here.) Held in Ashburton Arts Centre, which Andy Williamson generously […]
Dear Anna, I am increasingly concerned by the daily parroting of Farage’s far right immigration garbage by Keir Starmer and other senior Labour figures. This is a race to the bottom that Labour will not win. Everyone I talk to is either unimpressed by it because they are either left wing and it’s against traditional […]
In the last week of August 2025, Nigel Farage learned what he must have long suspected: that there is nothing so disgusting that he can’t say for fear of being challenged by the Prime Minister. For this was the week that Nigel Farage finally said out loud what it’s long been obvious he believes. It’s […]
This week brought us yet another example of Nigel Farage’s signature move: transforming a routine court ruling into a culture-war weapon soaked in lies. His response to the Epping court decision reveals something much darker than mere political opportunism. It reveals the systematic poisoning of public discourse by a man who treats truth as an […]
Those who remember the 1960s and 70s may recall a Soviet leader called Leonid Brezhnev. He began with the iron fist that was expected of Soviet rulers, but his grip on power began to slip after he suffered a heart attack in 1975, and his health progressively deteriorated until his death in 1982. By the […]
There is no simple, agreed definition of far-right, but we urgently need one: We know what ‘right-wing’ means – and we have many examples of people we know are right-wing but who draw the line at extremist policies; A reasonable definition of far-right can draw on that distinction; and We need to be clear about this now, because […]
Are we experiencing “collective outrage”? Not the sort that’s farmed by media barons and algo-savvy modern day shock-jocks. The kind that feels like system failure. The moral compass spinning. With more race riots looming and extreme weather, slop summer cooking our brains… A few thoughts. On the right, there are daily grievance spreaders, but usually […]
Today [July 17 2025] marks a historic moment for British democracy. The Government has published its long-awaited Strategy for Elections, announcing the most significant package of democratic reforms in a generation. There’s genuine progress to celebrate, but also a glaring omission that we cannot ignore. The good news: democracy getting a 21st century upgrade The […]
Let me start by saying straight off that I think everyone should read this book. If you are feeling bleak and despairing about the future of the planet, or utterly disgusted about the seemingly inexorable rise of the far right or just plain fed up with the way things are, then you definitely need this […]
You may well have seen that a large number of MPs abstained on the vote to proscribe Palestine Action – a vote which the government nonetheless won. A colleague wrote to their LibDem MP, asking why he had abstained. In fact, all 72 LibDems abstained, with six abstaining ‘actively’ by voting both ways. (This is […]