Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Extremism & Authoritarianism

THE PEOPLE THE SYSTEM DECIDED NOT TO SEE

I was swiping through TikTok when the headline appeared. A Telegraph column asking whether the unemployed should lose the right to vote. (“Way of the World” by Michael Deacon ,19 May 2026) I didn’t blink. I didn’t gasp. I felt the familiar drop in my stomach. The quiet recognition. The sense that something dark had shifted again yet nothing in me was surprised. When a society has spent centuries deciding who counts it doesn’t need to shout when it moves the line. It only needs to whisper. The headline was framed as satire. It didn’t feel like satire. It felt like a mask slipping. A reminder that cruelty becomes normal long before it becomes policy. A reminder that the ground has been softening for years. Beneath the Telegraph’s satire lies a worldview that treats human worth as a function of economic productivity, and imagines whole categories of people; disabled people, carers, the ill, the unemployed, anyone whose life has been interrupted by circumstance; as morally suspect citizens...

Reform UK Governance Failures

Not even in power and the Governance Failures are incredible and long. A cluster of breaches across this many categories is rarely treated as noise. In political analysis, patterns like this usually point to structural weaknesses,  gaps in governance, low professionalisation, unstable internal culture, and systems that fail to catch problems before they spread. When incidents span ethics, administration, conduct, and communication, analysts tend to read it as a sign of deeper institutional vulnerabilities rather than isolated mistakes.  Here is the full List … available through open source. I’m certain there is many many more.  Category 1: Parliamentary Standards Breaches Nigel Farage breached the MPs' Code of Conduct 17 times for failing to register £384,000 in undeclared income from GB News, a gold dealer, Google, and Cameo. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found the breaches were inadvertent due to poor administration. January 2026. Category 2: Financi...

THE IRAN PLAYBOOK: HOW TRUMP TURNED WAR INTO THEATRE AND STILL LOST

On 28 February 2026 the United States began a large military campaign against Iran. President Trump eventually offered four objectives. Destroy Iran’s missile capabilities . Eliminate its navy. Prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon . Cut off funding to its proxies . The list sounded decisive. It was not matched by the outcome. The strikes lasted about two weeks. The United States spent an estimated ten billion dollars on munitions and operations. American service members were killed. Hundreds of Iranian civilians died. Oil markets collapsed. The Strait of Hormuz , which carries one fifth of global oil, was effectively closed. Regional allies were hit by retaliation. The cost was immediate. The purpose was not. There was no evidence of an imminent threat to the United States. This was a war chosen in comfort and justified in hindsight. On 22 March Trump announced a five day pause. He spoke of productive conversations with Iran. Tehran denied any direct talks. The pause was present...

Exploring the Mental and Emotional Challenges of Trump’s Presidency

  Since Donald Trump’s rise to political prominence, questions about his mental stability have been at the centre of public and professional debate. His unpredictable behaviour, impulsive decision-making, and confrontational leadership style have raised concerns among mental health professionals, political analysts, and even some former allies. While his supporters view his approach as a necessary disruption of the political establishment, critics argue that his behaviour reflects deeper psychological and cognitive issues. So, is Donald Trump unstable? Psychological Perspectives on Trump’s Mental State From a clinical standpoint, some mental health professionals have suggested that Trump exhibits signs of psychological instability. In 2017, a group of 27 psychiatrists and psychologists contributed to The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a book in which they warned that Trump’s behavior posed a “clear and present danger” to the nation. The authors described traits such as narcissis...

Nigel Farage: The Master of Lies and How He Gets Away With It

  Nigel Farage, the charismatic and polarising figurehead of Brexit and former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), then Brexit Party and now Reform, has long been a lightning rod for controversy. Known for his populist rhetoric and anti-establishment persona, Farage has been accused of spreading lies, misrepresentations, and misinformation throughout his political career. Yet, despite the repeated debunking of his claims, he has managed to evade significant accountability. How does he do it? And why does his influence persist?     The Lies and Misrepresentations   Farage’s political career is littered with claims that have been fact-checked and found wanting. Here are some of the most notable examples:   During the Brexit campaign, Farage championed the now-infamous claim that the UK sends £350 million a week to the EU, money that could instead be spent on the National Health Service (NHS). This figure was widely debunked for ignoring the UK’s ...