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Same here. Voted Labour but reckon we are just going to end up with Neoliberalism-lite with them. In my constituency the Tory vote was split by Reform, and Labour won because of that. So maybe that's something. I also share your concerns about Reform. Have recently been immersed in books on...

Is it not more the case that she is too right-wing and deranged even for them? She wasn't always a Tory and possesses the zeal of the adult convert that often brands those who convert to another faith, causing them to become more puritanical and holier than thou than those who grew up with it...

Great to see the back of J R-M. This is from Viz Comic:

‘The UK can do nothing to stop Turkey joining the EU’ - Penny Mordaunt (in the run-up to the Brexit referendum). This claim was false. Good riddance.

Viz Comic pre-cog.

Before anyone gets excited about Reform’s recruitment of Yusuf Ali, it should be borne in mind that it is entirely possible to belong to a far-right party or movement whilst not being part of the majority ethnic or religious group in a given country. See, for example, Guramit Singh Kalirai...

Wish it was possible to triple-like your last two posts. Thank you for articulating what I have also been thinking, namely, that it should be possible to come up with an approach to the asylum seeker issue that does not involve dehumanizing them. This is tangential to the thread but the...

Bumped into some canvassers for Reform in the town centre near where I live a few days ago. They had a stall set up. So did I engage them in a reasoned Socratic dialogue in order to expose the logical and empirical contradictions, flaws and defects in their manifesto? Nope. Just called them a...

The Sympathizer (available on Sky Atlantic). As it was already very late, only watched the first 20 minutes of episode one but could tell right away that this is on a par with the best Le Carre adaptations. It's had very good reviews so my snap judgement is almost certainly not premature.

On my PC it is possible to do a quick copy and paste before the Telegraph's slightly slower paywall portcullis descends after about 10 seconds. You end up with a lot of ads but they can be edited. Worked for this article (which isn't that great - you haven't missed much) and a Telegraph book...

‘Common sense is the metaphysics of savages’ - Douglas Clyde MacIntosh

Aside from bands like Joy Division and The Smiths (who I think are great), Cowboy Junkies are surely contenders.

This cover version of the song ‘Chatterton’ (originally performed by Serge Gainsbourg) might get some people’s vote. It consists of a list of famous people who either committed suicide or went mad. I love it.

When I was still teaching, it's the video that I made most use of in the classroom (or parts of it - didn't show the most graphic bits to younger pupils). It never failed to have an impact. What I like about it is that it's apolitical and shows how susceptible all of us are to being...

A mate of mine thinks that he is trying to seem moderate so as to appeal to those who are fairly moderate (or at least regard themselves as such) but credulous, and therefore susceptible to his views on immigration, asylum seekers, Muslims, and national security. It's a message that amounts to...

Bit short of time but the answer to your first question is 'Yes'. We are susceptible to being influenced by tyrannical/authoritarian leaders. Have had my eye on that Oborne book for a while. Thanks for the heads up about it. The suggestion that there can be left-wing populism is, if I...

The fact that we can be made to turn on others so easily tells me that our brains are hardwired for tribalistic living. We still think like that. Which means that, neurologically, we're not well-adapted for the challenges that we face in this century, like global warming. We're a territorial...

Thanks. One thing I would like to add to is that I reckon the reason why populists like Farage get traction with voters is because there is a problem with Islamism in this country, and he taps into the Islamaphobia (or anti-Muslim bigotry if you prefer) that this - and previous acts of...