There is a road south-west of Wigan where the old order is quietly dying. On 18 June, the towns of the Makerfield constituency — Ashton-in-Makerfield, Bryn, Hindley, and Abram — will choose a new MP, and what looks on paper like a routine by-election is really a referendum on whether Britain still has a recognisable…… Continue reading Nothing in the Middle: Makerfield and the Unravelling of Britain
Tag: Exceptionalism
The Three Lives of Faragism: How British Populism Reinvented Itself – and Built Its Own Trap
When the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, many commentators assumed Nigel Farage’s political story had reached its final chapter. After all, what use is an anti-EU insurgency once the country has actually left the EU? The assumption was simple: Faragism was a single-issue fever, and the fever would break as soon…… Continue reading The Three Lives of Faragism: How British Populism Reinvented Itself – and Built Its Own Trap
Square Zero: Anxiety, Geopolitics, and the Weight of Constant Crisis
I am in one of those really weird moments when one suddenly thinks it’s all going to go really bad, but actually, how much worse can it get? A bit of good political news I’ve heard today is that Hungary is about to elect a centre-right prime minister, shifting the current landscape dominated by Viktor…… Continue reading Square Zero: Anxiety, Geopolitics, and the Weight of Constant Crisis
The Geopolitics of Prayer: When Public Worship Becomes an “Act of Domination”
In the lexicon of contemporary political discourse, certain phrases reveal more about the speaker than the subject. When Nick Timothy, the Conservative Party’s shadow justice secretary, described Muslim prayer in Trafalgar Square as an “act of domination”, he inadvertently exposed the architecture of a deeper pathology. Writing on X regarding the Open Iftar event hosted…… Continue reading The Geopolitics of Prayer: When Public Worship Becomes an “Act of Domination”
The Racialisation of the Ballot: Why Muslim Political Power is Pathologised in Multicultural Britain
The Green Party’s historic victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election on 26 February 2026, represents one of the most dramatic and structurally significant electoral realignments in recent British political history. In capturing approximately 40% of the electorate and overturning a massive Labour majority of over 13,400 votes, 34-year-old local plumber and councillor Hannah Spencer…… Continue reading The Racialisation of the Ballot: Why Muslim Political Power is Pathologised in Multicultural Britain
Beyond the Neighborhood: 5 Surprising Truths About Islamophobia in Modern Britain
In the wake of the 2024 Southport riots and a 2025 political climate defined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s warnings of social fragmentation, a convenient but lazy narrative has taken hold: the idea that multiculturalism has “failed” because of where we live. Political leaders routinely point to segregated neighborhoods and “parallel lives” as the engine…… Continue reading Beyond the Neighborhood: 5 Surprising Truths About Islamophobia in Modern Britain
Immigration Rhetoric and the Politics of ‘Colonisation’ in Modern Britain
The comments from Sir Jim Ratcliffe in relation to the idea that Britain has been colonised by immigrants need careful unpacking. This is a man who lives in Monaco as a tax exile, avoiding £4 billion in taxation; he is arguably Britain’s seventh-richest man and is a part-owner of Manchester United Football Club. These comments…… Continue reading Immigration Rhetoric and the Politics of ‘Colonisation’ in Modern Britain
What a terrible week it’s been for British politics, and I have my own Peter Mandelson story
Some events have the ability to truly shake up our political landscape in ways that have significant and lingering impacts for years, if not decades, ahead. Many are currently talking about a political scandal of this nature. One is related to a certain Peter Mandelson, who, up until very recently, was appointed as the UK…… Continue reading What a terrible week it’s been for British politics, and I have my own Peter Mandelson story
The Narcissism of Small Differences
Mark Carney and the Western Anxiety of Being Treated Like the Global South When the “rules-based order” stops serving its architects, suddenly the system is broken, but only for them The Hypocrisy of Carney’s “New World Order”: When Imperial Chickens Come Home to Roost Mark Carney’s recent speech at Davos has sent shockwaves through the Western liberal…… Continue reading The Narcissism of Small Differences
The Old Oak: A film review
THE OLD OAK is a touching reminder of our shared humanity at a time of crises that affect individuals and communication due to local, national, and international challenges of identity, status, and belonging. The holiday this time of year provides stacks of opportunities to try and not do very much and, in some cases, find…… Continue reading The Old Oak: A film review