England, Unrecognisable
Nicolas Padamsee’s autofictional state-of-the-nation novel confronts the vacuum left behind by liberalism’s collapse. David Peace gave us the ghosts; Padamsee gives us the afterparty, the silence, the scroll.
The rest of the blog
Nicolas Padamsee’s autofictional state-of-the-nation novel confronts the vacuum left behind by liberalism’s collapse. David Peace gave us the ghosts; Padamsee gives us the afterparty, the silence, the scroll.
On Ibtisam Azem’s The Book of Disappearance and Michel Nieva’s Dengue Boy
Tony Benn was not a relic of a lost left but a constitutional insurrectionist whose writings—on the Crown, industry, war, and tradition—still offer a blueprint for democratic rebellion in a Britain built to resist it.
In Solidarity Betrayed, Ana Avendaño takes aim at the labour institutions she once helped lead. Drawing on personal experience and survivor testimony, she reveals how trade unions, far from shielding their members, have too often shielded abusers instead
The European Army is not a shield against chaos but a new instrument of capitalist order, forged in the ruins of transatlantic decline
With Elbridge Colby whispering war into Pete Hegseth’s ear, the Trump administration has replaced strategic ambiguity with a doctrine of confrontation.
As Starmer’s Labour government deepens public sector cuts, the silence from Reform UK is as revealing as the policy itself.
Nigel Farage has never needed to hold power to wield it, his true influence lies in his ability to warp the political landscape, forcing the mainstream ever closer to his vision of permanent insurgency.
Reform UK has never run so much as a parish council, yet it styles itself as a government-in-waiting. Now, amid internal purges and power struggles, the contradictions of Faragism are laid bare.
Labour’s embrace of hardline immigration rhetoric isn’t a show of strength but a performance of weakness—an attempt to appease Reform UK’s base while maintaining credibility with big business. By mimicking the far right’s script, Starmer risks alienating the very voters Labour needs, offering border crackdowns instead of the economic transformation that could actually address their grievances.
As Farage’s Reform Party gains traction, the rise of right-wing populism across Europe signals a looming threat to UK stability and democracy.