Christopher Nolan turning his hand to Homer’s Odyssey was always going to be an event. Here is one of the founding texts of the Western canon in the hands of arguably the most ambitious filmmaker working today, and I went in with high expectations — tempered by a degree of trepidation as to whether a…… Continue reading The Odyssey — A Review
Author: prof.t.abbas
The Zionist Label and the Two Failures of Recognition: Muslim–Jewish Relations After 7 October
There is a figure who has become almost invisible in the polarised argument that has followed 7 October 2023: the Jew who is attached to Israel, calls themselves a Zionist, and is at the same time anguished, critical, and sometimes ashamed about what has been done in Gaza. This person exists in very large numbers.…… Continue reading The Zionist Label and the Two Failures of Recognition: Muslim–Jewish Relations After 7 October
Reading the Tables, Not the Headlines: What Britain Under Strain Leaves Out
The UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Centre has launched with an inaugural report, Britain Under Strain, authored by Dame Sara Khan and Dr Matthew Godwin. It arrives with the grammar of alarm already fixed: a broken social contract, a collapsed cordon sanitaire, the mainstreaming of extremism, and a nation whose foundational bargain is failing. Much…… Continue reading Reading the Tables, Not the Headlines: What Britain Under Strain Leaves Out
Farage, Farage, Farage
Infamy, infamy, they have it infamy! Nigel Farage has resigned his Clacton seat, explicitly citing ongoing parliamentary standards probes into his failure to declare a £5 million crypto gift and related funding questions. His resignation has triggered a by-election, although the deeper question is whether he ultimately intends to contest it or use the moment…… Continue reading Farage, Farage, Farage
The Silence That Spoke Volumes: How Foreign Policy, Not Domestic Policy, Brought Down Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer’s resignation as Prime Minister and Labour leader on 22 June 2026 was delivered with characteristic composure outside 10 Downing Street. In a speech that ran to just under fifteen minutes, he catalogued his domestic achievements: a stronger economy, falling NHS waiting lists, improved workers’ and renters’ rights, and half a million children lifted…… Continue reading The Silence That Spoke Volumes: How Foreign Policy, Not Domestic Policy, Brought Down Keir Starmer
The Burnham Bounce
Andy Burnham has won a decisive victory, scoring hugely in terms of the vote in Makerfield, with the swing moving in Labour’s favour while the percentage who voted for Reform decreased even as their overall number increased. The tide has turned on Reform, and this represents a significant opportunity for Labour to get behind somebody…… Continue reading The Burnham Bounce
When Tolerance Fractures: How Everyday Exclusion Fuels Political Violence in the Netherlands
The Myth That Cracked For decades, the Netherlands wore its reputation for tolerance like a badge of honour. Amsterdam’s canals, the country’s liberal social policies, and its historical embrace of multiculturalism created an image of a nation that had solved the puzzle of living together across difference. Yet scratch beneath this polished surface, and a…… Continue reading When Tolerance Fractures: How Everyday Exclusion Fuels Political Violence in the Netherlands
The Weaponisation of Racial Inequality: How the Far Right Sells Working-Class Communities a Lie
There is a dangerous fiction taking hold in British politics, and it is being sold hardest to those who have the least. Across the airwaves, in manifestos, and through social media channels, the far right and populist radical right are pushing a single, seductive message: that diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives are themselves a source…… Continue reading The Weaponisation of Racial Inequality: How the Far Right Sells Working-Class Communities a Lie
The Architecture of Silence: Power, History, and the Unspeakable
On why the Israel-Palestine debate is not really about Israel-Palestine There is a room. In it sit Jews and Muslims who want to do the right thing. The desire matters; it may be everything. But the room is not sealed. Outside it, machinery operates that determines which voices survive the door, and the machinery is…… Continue reading The Architecture of Silence: Power, History, and the Unspeakable
From Tragedy to Backlash: How the Henry Nowak Murder Became a Flashpoint for Racism, Islamophobia, and the Sikh Community
On 3 December 2025, an 18-year-old accountancy student named Henry Nowak was walking home from a night out in Southampton when he encountered Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man. What followed was a brutal altercation that ended with Nowak stabbed five times – once fatally through the heart – with an eight-inch ceremonial blade. Digwa…… Continue reading From Tragedy to Backlash: How the Henry Nowak Murder Became a Flashpoint for Racism, Islamophobia, and the Sikh Community