“From a distance, Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, which has just sold at Christie’s in New York for $432,000 (£337,000), looks almost plausible. Up close, however, the paintwork becomes a grid of mechanical-looking dots, the man’s face a golden blur with black holes for eyes. Look into those eyes. They show no sign of feeling or life. Did a computer make this? The answer is yes. The first artwork generated by AI to be sold at Christie’s, its impressive price would seem to suggest that in future we will get computers to make art for us. Robot van Gogh will harmlessly cut its ear off and robot Picasso will be a genius, minus the misogyny. Is this the future AI art visionaries such as the French collective Obvious, which programmed this “painter” by getting it to compare its own work with 15,000 pre-20th century portraits, have in mind? Or are they just, God forbid, making a fast buck from gullible art collectors? Because believing the algorithm that knocked this up to be in any meaningful way an “artist” is like thinking your voice-interaction programme is out to get you. Dream on. Computers would need to replicate human consciousness before they could replicate the funny thing humans do called “art”. Art is a way in which human consciousness expresses itself, and is equally true of the earliest cave art, Rembrandt’s portraits and Duchamp’s urinal. And that is what is missing from Portrait of Edmond Bellamy. Art is a way humans communicate ideas, perceptions and feelings to each other. It has no existence outside the human passion to communicate. So in what meaningful sense can an AI replica of certain physical traits of old master paintings be called art? For a robot to really make art, it would need an autonomous mind that was emotional as well as rational. No AI developer has yet claimed to be anywhere near achieving that and if they ever do, their creation will probably have better things to do than paint portraits – like destroy humanity. Maybe afterwards robots will invent their own kind of art, but it won’t be some poor pastiche of human genius. It will be beyond anything we organics could imagine."

He has lately 'found God.

“If you support Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, a British anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists. Robinson has a history of criminal convictions. Robinson was a member of the British National Party, a British fascist political party, from 2004 to 2005. Or Katie Hopkins, Laurence Fox, or anyone of that ilk I suggest you block me because if your mask slips then I will simply block you with a merry wave as I tell you to go fuck yourself. Before you cry that we should not lose friends or associates because of a difference in political opinions then I have a have a simple lesson for you. Being xenophobic, racist, fascist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic and a downright shit stain on the backside of humanity is not a difference in a political opinion. It is a difference in morality and in your support for these individuals means your moral compass aligns with being racist, fascist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic and I would consider you a shit stain on the backside of humanity too”.

‘Farage has for decades made overtly racist and xenophobic remarks. Even as a young student at Dulwich College, an expensive south London private school, numerous teachers reportedly raised concerns about his extreme views, with one alleging that Farage “marched through a quiet Sussex village very late at night shouting Hitler Youth songs”. Farage is a well-known admirer of Enoch Powell, who gave the infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech. Farage asked Powell for his support in a by- election in 1994, and drove Powell to a UKIP rally in 1993, writing: “That meeting, with a man who had achieved so much and sacrificed so much for his principles, awoke all sorts of aspirations in me which I had not even acknowledged before. It inspired me.” Farage has reiterated his support for Powell over the years. “While his language may seem out of date now,” Farage has said, “his principles remain good and true.” He has also claimed: “I would never say that Powell was racist in any way at all. Had we listened to him, we would have much better race relations now than we have got.” Farage has elsewhere agreed with a section of the Rivers of Blood speech, claiming that the “basic principle” was correct and has even recited sections of the speech from memory. Throughout his long political career, Farage has regularly made racist statements directed at a range of minority groups. The founder of UKIP, Alan Sked, claimed that when he objected to Farage’s decision to drop the ban on former National Front members, he responded by saying, they shouldn’t “worry about the n***r vote. They will never vote for us.” In 2014 on LBC Radio, Farage famously said: “I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be.” Upon being asked whether he would object to living next door to German children, he replied: “You know what the difference is.” That same year, Farage claimed that parts of Britain were “unrecognisable” and “like a foreign land”. He had also said he felt “awkward” when he heard people speaking other languages on the train. When asked in another 2014 interview with Newsweek Europe who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: “People who do not have HIV, to be frank. That is a good start. And people with a skill.” During the 2015 general election campaign, he deployed misleading statistics about foreigners with HIV in a TV debate. During the EU referendum, Farage produced the infamous “Breaking Point” poster, which was widely compared to Nazi propaganda. Despite this, Farage refused to apologise for it. In this period, he also collaborated with Leave. EU, the unofficial Brexit campaign run by Farage’s longtime ally Arron Banks and co- founded by Reform’s chairman Richard Tice, which relentlessly sought to link immigrants and Muslims to violence and societal decline. Both Farage and Tice have distanced themselves from Leave.EU since the referendum, as multiple scandals have struck the outfit. While leader of UKIP, Farage defended a candidate’s use of the racist slur “chnky”, stating: “If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?” Farage has also propagated antisemitic conspiracy theories. For example, in 2017, on LBC, he named the so-called US “Jewish lobby” as one of his concerns. He also used well known coded language including discussing the “new world order” and the threat of “globalist” government, describing the Jewish philanthropist George Soros, who is a regular target of conspiratorial antisemitism, as “the biggest danger to the entire western world”. When Jewish groups condemned his comments, he dismissed them as “pathetic”. Farage has increasingly targeted Muslims and migrants. Following the Westminster terrorist attack, Farage spoke of a “fifth column living inside these European countries” on Fox News. “If you open your door to uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries, you are inviting in terrorism,” he said. Farage also made “fifth column” comments in the wake of the 2015 Paris attack. During the recent general election campaign, Farage argued that it “should be the immigration election” and called for a “freeze” on non-essential immigration and declared that “net migration should be zero”. Speaking on Sky News during the campaign he said, “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, [who] in fact loathe much of what we stand for.” When asked if he was talking about Muslims he responded, “We are.”’

Reform candidates come in three types. Those motivated by crazy neoliberal ideology based on the sociopathic views of Ayn Rand (“The virtue of selfishness”) Hayek and Friedman. Both social Darwinists who thought that the markets should decide everything. Xenophobic, usually homophobic, and some overtly racist. Some just want to enrich themselves at the expense of others, seek attention, and thirdly a hate fuelled repugnant mixture of both. Inept, ignorant, incompetent, stupid, perverted, or deranged.

Reform candidates come in three types. Those motivated by crazy neoliberal ideology based on the sociopathic views of Ayn Rand (“The virtue of selfishness”) Hayek and Friedman. Both social Darwinists who thought that the markets should decide everything. Xenophobic, usually homophobic, and some overtly racist. Some just want to enrich themselves at the expense of others, seek attention, and thirdly a hate fuelled repugnant mixture of both. Inept, ignorant, incompetent, stupid, perverted, or deranged.

"Britain does not need to fear a Russian invasion. It needs to wake up to the one that has already happened in our politics, our economy, and our national soul.

For years, British politicians warned that “the Russians are coming.” The phrase conjured images of spies, hackers, and shadowy figures manipulating Western democracies from afar. But the truth is starker: they are not coming they are already here. The influence of Putin’s Russia has seeped deep into British political life, reshaping the nation’s direction through propaganda, financial infiltration, and the nurturing of divisive political figures. The evidence is all around us in the rise of Nigel Farage, Reform, the toxicity of Brexit, and the slow, deliberate decline of Britain’s economic and democratic strength. The seeds were planted long before the referendum. When UKIP and later the Brexit Party now Reform UK surged to prominence, their rhetoric carried echoes of Russian disinformation: anti-EU, anti-immigrant, anti-establishment. Each slogan was designed to pit neighbour against neighbour, region against region, and Britain against its own interests. Russia’s playbook has always been about destabilisation, and few events have destabilised Britain more than Brexit. Nigel Farage, feted by Russian state media as a “man of the people” and given disproportionate airtime by RT (Russia Today), became the perfect vehicle. His populism masked a geopolitically convenient mission: to weaken the European Union and fracture Western unity. Nathan Gill, Farage’s close ally and UKIP MEP, echoed the same anti-Brussels line, parroting narratives that dovetailed neatly with Kremlin talking points. The push for Brexit was not simply a domestic rebellion it was a geopolitical victory for Moscow. By removing Britain from the EU, Putin achieved through propaganda what decades of espionage never could: a divided, isolated Britain, struggling to find its footing in a global economy that has moved on without it. The results are plain to see. The UK’s economy is shrinking relative to its peers. Public services are starved of funds. Inflation and interest rates squeeze households while infrastructure crumbles. Britain, once a pillar of European stability, is now plagued by instability of its own making. And who benefits? Russia watching gleefully as one of NATO’s key members turns inward, distracted by culture wars and internal strife. The links between Russian money and the British right are no longer mere conspiracy. Under Boris Johnson, the Tory Party accepted millions in donations from individuals with ties to the Russian elite even as intelligence agencies warned of growing Kremlin interference. Johnson himself shelved the long-delayed “Russia Report,” which detailed how deeply Moscow had infiltrated British political and financial systems. Instead of confronting the threat, he and his allies downplayed it while their media surrogates, The Daily Mail, branded anyone who raised concerns as “Remoaners” or “traitors.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage continues to parrot lines that have been written in the Kremlin press office. His public sympathy for Putin’s “understandable” invasion of Ukraine, his criticism of NATO expansion, and his insistence that the West “provoked” Russia reveal the depth of his alignment with Moscow’s worldview. Farage and his Reform movement are the tools in a decades-long campaign through direct command, and through shared goals: dismantle trust in democracy, erode Western alliances, and replace reasoned politics with perpetual anger. Farage as a fascist knows his next move is to gain power through the ballot box. Following that, the dismantling of the democratic system and replacement with his authoritarian regime. The Russians are not coming. They have already won their quiet war not with tanks or troops, but with propaganda, money, and manipulation, and the active participation of Farage and his secret army of Fascists. Their victory is visible every time a politician like Farage blames Britain’s struggles on migrants instead of oligarchic corruption, every time the Daily Mail echoes disinformation, and every time the government prioritises division over unity."

“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum

The Daily Mail is a scummy right-wing rag. It is a true and undeniable common critic that highlights its right-wing political stance, and usually aggressive and sensationalist tone. It is biased, inaccurate, and has a focus on celebrities and tawdry gossip. It has a history of sensational health scares, scrutiny of women’s appearances, and a toxic influence on neoliberal politicians. It has backed the Tory party in every general election except in1974. A former editor of the Observer newspaper has described its approach to content as being less about news and more about lifestyle or celebrities. The Telegraph is owned by the Telegraph and General Trust, a private company owned by the Harmsworth family.

Rant? I do not believe in leprechauns, pixies, ghosts, werewolves, jujus, angels, Tooth Faeries, Odin, Thor, Zeus, Ra, Brahma, Athena, Hera, Poseidon, Yahweh, Allah, or the Trinity, demons, devils, Astrology, the Tarot, Satan. For the same reason in every case: there is not the tiniest shred of 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 empirical, 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 any 𝐆𝐨𝐝 and the burden of proof rests with those who wish to believe. Even given no evidence for specific gods, we could make a case for some unspecified “intelligent designer” or “prime mover” or begetter of “something rather than nothing”? By far the most appealing version of this argument is the biological one - living things do present a powerful illusion of design. But that is the very version that Darwin destroyed. Any theist who appeals to “design” of living creatures simply betrays his ignorance of biology. Go away and read a book. And any theist who appeals to biblical “evidence” betrays ignorance of biblical scholarship. The burden of proof rests with those who wish to believe. Even given no evidence for specific gods, could 'his ignorance of modern scholarship. Go away and read another book. As for the cosmological argument, whose God goes under names such as Prime Mover or First cause, again no evidence. Because physicists are closing in, with spell-binding results. Even if there remain unanswered questions - where do the fundamental laws and constants of physics come from? Obviously, it cannot help to postulate a designer whose existence poses bigger questions than he purports to solve. If science fails, our best hope is to build a better science. The answer will lie neither in theology nor - its exact equivalent - reading tea leaves. In any case, it is a fatuously illogical jump from deistic Unmoved Mover to Christian Trinity, with the Son being tortured and murdered because the Father, for all his omniscience and omnipotence, could not think of a better way to forgive “sin”. Equally unconvincing are those who believe because it comforts them (why should truth be consoling?) or because it “feels right”. The wife of a former UK prime minister may stand for the” feels right” brigade. She based her belief on “an understanding of something that her head cannot explain but my heart knows to be true.” She aspired to become a judge! My’lud, I cannot provide the evidence you require. My head cannot explain why, but my heart knows it to be true. Why is religion immune to the critical standards we apply not just in our courts of law, but in every other life?” Richard Dawkins

I am a reasonable m!n and am certain that your holy book is an absolute heap of disgusting, slavery condoning, male infant genital mutilation demanding, repellent, demented, vicious dark age mumbo jumbo. Christians should be told quite clearly that our citizens have the legal right to criticise, lampoon, ridicule and mock god and Jesus to their heart’s content, in any way that they wish: that Christians have no special claim to protection from the rough and tumble of post-Enlightenment intellectual, political and social life. If they cannot live in a society in which this is the case, they should go somewhere else; they are, after all, spoilt for choice, at least in theory.Imagine that you were omnipotent, omniscient, and master of the entire universe. You decided that you were going to give one, just one book to humanity. It would be their moral compass, an insight into their nature and into yours, and act as a guide for how they could live rightly and walk a path that would lead their souls into an eternity with you. Obviously, the first thing you would want to put in there are some totally unscientific, archaic behavioural codes for menstruating women, and for pregnant women after they give birth. You would want to be sure to help them regulate slavery and specify how badly they were allowed to beat their slaves. And of course, you would want the book to be chock full of mythology a creation myth, a flood myth, a fictional exodus, and hagiographical stories about how your loyal armies killed the shit out of everyone who dared to worship the wrong gods. There is a point here about the Bible that, in any estimation, really cannot be understated: there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that could not have been simply made up by Bronze-Age human beings. Nothing at all. There are no profound scientific insights that such cultures could never have known. There is some bogus cosmology, a flat Earth, and instructions for how to slaughter animals among other profound insights. Now, some Christians are keen to point out that the Jews did apparently get some things right. They had “Imagine that you were the perfect, omnipotent, all-knowing Lord and Creator of a sanitation system… but so did ancient Egypt, the Hittites, the Elamites, and the Aegean civilization. So, big whoop. They also had some codes for cleansing themselves after handling dead bodies or people with leprosy, but these rituals also included ritual animal sacrifice. Not exactly innovative. Moreover, the rituals themselves were stupid - after handling a corpse, for example, you would be “unclean for seven days” [Numbers 19:11]. This obviously had little to do with hygiene. Then we have the New Testament. Written by anonymous authors decades after the events purportedly happened and filled with internal factual contradictions, with no trace of the original manuscripts and thousands of copies rife with errors, there is nothing about the New Testament that demands that a rational person should believe it to be divinely inspired. I challenge Christians to show that the evidence demanded that we believe the supernatural claims of the Bible are anything more than made-up. There is simply no reason whatsoever for any rational person to make such an assumption. Is the Bible really the best God could do? Is this book of myths, scientific blunders, and ambiguous or even downright demonstrably bogus historicity really what anyone really thinks the omnipotent Lord of the universe would bestow upon humanity. That this God would ignore humanity for the bulk of its 200,000+ years on the Earth, only deciding to reveal his One True Religion to a small, mostly illiterate Bronze Age tribal culture? Think of all the things the Bible could be if it were really divinely inspired. Think of all the knowledge and insight such a holy book could contain that simply could never have been made up -profound scientific insights, timeless moral instruction, and revelation clear enough to prevent the innumerable schisms in Christian theology over fundamental issues, like how to attain salvation. Any sane, rational view of the Bible shows it to be little more than the confused scribblings of ignorant Bronze or early Iron Age tribes.

The problem is not the Labour Party or Andy Burnham, and it is not politics or immigration at all. It is people. Brits have become thuggish, violent, selfish, backwards idiots swayed by an ultra-right-wing press and crass, insidious social media. You know how the American Idiot is a legendary figure around the world? Welcome to the British Buffoon. He is a figure that does not care about anything, will accept any level of indignity, any collapse in living standards if he gets to wave the Union Jack, shake a fist at the world, and sing Britannia Uber Alles. Maybe he is a fisherman, who voted for Brexit, now does not have any fish to catch, and instead of understanding that he was lied to, that Europe was just a convenient scapegoat, he still votes ultra conservative or the xenophobic and racist Reform. Maybe he is a farmer, who is now facing bankruptcy, since exports to Europe basically do not exist anymore in many farming sectors and yet he still votes ultra conservative or the odious Reform because he has been taught that xenophobia is worth more than having a living. Maybe she is a working-class single mom, raising a family in public housing voting against public housing and income because she has been taught that billionaires such as Farage will fix everything. Or maybe she is a middle-class professional who’s savings have been drained after more than a decade of austerity, now paying for college, healthcare, childcare, but still votes conservative or Reform because she has been taught that being “woke” is a threat to her kind, culture, identity, place in the world. What happens when people fail at democracy like this? Well, it is simple. Democracy fails. A society becomes a failed state. Not in the way we are used to thinking of it. There is a coup, there is a revolution, the army rolls in, the government collapses. But in a softer, altogether more dangerous way. Consensually. A country commits suicide as a modern, functioning society not with a bang, but with a million whimpers, shrieks of rage, howls of xenophobia, racism, guttural snarls of nationalism and inane flag waving. And soon, there is nothing left but poverty, despair, rage, and hate. That is what former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned is happening. Britain’s becoming a failed state. He is not wrong. He is right. In the deadliest way of all. Brits are failing their democracy their democracy is not failing them. They are willing their own society to self-destruction. Americans, came to their senses, voted, finally, for Joe Biden and against rampant neoliberalism. But Brits are not coming to their senses. They seem to have had the sense beaten out of them. The conservatives were in power for over a decade and were useless. Boris, Truss, Rishi were crooks or deluded. And now what will Britain be if Reform gains any influence? To infect mainstream politics and the electorate like a malignant disease with homophobic, racist, nativist, fascist, sexist, antisemitic and Islamophobic ideas. A morally bankrupt, sordid, poor little forgotten island, of fools, drunk on beer, egotism, jingoism, shouting at the world, wave flagging barbarians shaking their fists in desperate, stupid, ugly impotent rage. “We are number one!! You fools!! Bow!!” And the world, being the world, will laugh pityingly, and move swiftly on".

Leaving aside the issue of what illegal migration is supposed to be, let us have a look at how asylum seekers cost the country money and harm the economy. Yes, the process costs money: • processing claims • housing during the wait • appeals • basic support But this is the only expensive phase. Once someone is granted refugee status and allowed to work, the economics invert: Refugees are consistently a net positive to the economy. They are disproportionately likely to: • enter the workforce quickly, • start businesses at higher-than-average rates, • fill labour shortages, • pay more in taxes than they ever took in temporary support. And unlike many domestic workers, they are typically young, which means they contribute to the tax base for decades while drawing far less in age-related services. It is the waiting period, government policy, that creates the appearance of cost. And even that cost is dwarfed by: • the economic cost of the UK’s labour shortages, • the cost of detention, • the extravagant sums spent on outsourcing and by mismanagement, • and the dubious block-out hotel contracts to the hotel owners for often lackluster accommodation, caused by backlogs that nobody, least of all the refugees, want. If people were allowed to work while their claims are assessed as many countries do the cost drops to zero.

Totally agree. “The problem is not the left wing, Labour Party or Andy Burnham and it is not politics or immigration at all. It is people. Brits have become thuggish, violent, selfish, backward idiots swayed by an ultra-right-wing press and crass, insidious social media and ultra right-wing thugs such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson. The toxic growth of the neoliberal Farage and Reform are also distorting the political life and views of the electorate, a substantial number now falling for this odious world view. You know how the American Idiot is a legendary figure around the world? Welcome to the British Buffoon. He is a figure that does not care about anything, will accept any level of indignity, any collapse in living standards if he gets to wave the Union Jack, shake a fist at the world, and sing Britannia Uber Alles. Maybe he is a fisherman, who voted for Brexit, now does not have any fish to catch, and instead of understanding that he was lied to, that Europe was just a convenient scapegoat, he still votes ultra conservative or the disgustingly xenophobic and vile racist Reform. Maybe he is a farmer, who is now facing bankruptcy, since exports to Europe basically do not exist anymore in many farming sectors and yet he still votes ultra conservative or the odious Farage’s Reform because he has been taught that xenophobia is worth more than having a living. Maybe she is a working-class single mom, raising a family in public housing voting against public housing and income because she has been taught that billionaires such as Farage will fix everything. Or maybe she is a middle-class professional whose savings have been drained after more than a decade of austerity, now paying for college, healthcare, childcare, but still votes conservative or Reform because she has been taught that being “woke” is a threat to her kind, culture, identity, and place in the world. What happens when people fail at democracy like this? Well, it is simple. Democracy fails. A society becomes a failed state. Not in the way we are used to thinking of it. There is a coup, there is a revolution, the army rolls in, the government collapses. But in a softer, altogether more dangerous way. Consensually. A country commits suicide as a modern, functioning society not with a bang, but with a million whimpers, shrieks of rage, howls of xenophobia, racism, guttural snarls of nationalism and inane flag waving. And soon, there is nothing left but poverty, despair, rage, and hate. That is what former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned is happening. Britain’s becoming a failed state. He is not wrong. He is right. In the deadliest way of all. Brits are failing their democracy their democracy is not failing them. They are willing their own society to self-destruction. Americans, came to their senses, voted, finally, for Joe Biden and against rampant neoliberalism. But Brits are not coming to their senses. They seem to have had the sense beaten out of them. The conservatives were in power for over a decade and were useless. Boris, Truss, Rishi were crooks or deluded. And now what will Britain be if Reform gains any influence? To infect mainstream politics and the electorate like a malignant disease with homophobic, racist, nativist, fascist, sexist, antisemitic and Islamophobic ideas. A morally bankrupt, sordid, poor little forgotten island, of fools, drunk on beer, egotism, jingoism, shouting at the world, wave flagging barbarians shaking their fists in desperate, stupid, ugly impotent rage. “We’re number one!! You fools!! Bow!!” And the world, being the world, will laugh pityingly, and move swiftly on".

This may sound absurdly simplistic but think about it. Suppose (to take the most improbable example) you decided, or were told and chose to believe the world was created by an invisible entity who, despite all the evidence that he or she occasionally disliked us but was mostly indifferent actually loved us and thought about us all the time . Suppose, piling absurdity upon improbability, you also decided, or were told to believe , that this same person decided to split himself in two and turn one part of himself into an ordinary person like you and me and pay a visit to a desert tribe and get himself arrested and executed for treason, at which point he performed a conjuring trick, came back to from the dead, vanished mysteriously but planned to return and punish all the bad people and make everything nice (though in the meantime, the bad people could go on getting away with it and the good people go on getting buggered up by the bad people-that is, when they were not getting cancer, or run over or bankrupt. Or tortured, of flogged or were worked like beasts or raped or killed in power struggles which were nothing to do with them) Suppose you were misguided enough to believe that lot. What you would do? Would you devote all your spare hours to finding someone who would disabuse of these intently peculiar delusions, so that you could finally sleep at night? Or would you go, once a week or more, to listen to someone telling you that you were quite and every thing you believed was true and what’s more, if you ever stopped believing it, terrible things would happen to you even after you had died?

What about the noise pollution? On some days a flight goes above my home every two minutes or so. Live in London SE3.

I am fearful about the extreme ignorance, simple mindedness and gullibility of some of the electorate. They are completely blind to the effects of neoliberalism, which is the main guiding force behind the bumptious and odious Farage, and fascist/racist Reform party who believe that competition is the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that “the market” delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning. Attempts to limit competition are treated as inimical to liberty. Tax and regulation should be minimised; public services should be privatised. The organisation of labour and collective bargaining by trade unions are portrayed as market distortions that impede the formation of a natural hierarchy of winners and losers. Inequality is recast as virtuous: a reward for utility and a generator of wealth, which trickles down to enrich everyone. Efforts to create a more equal society are both counterproductive and morally corrosive. The market ensures that everyone gets what they deserve. We internalise and reproduce its creeds. The rich persuade themselves that they acquired their wealth through merit, ignoring the advantages – such as education, inheritance, and class – that may have helped to secure it. The poor begin to blame themselves for their failures, even when they can do little to change their circumstances.

Reform candidates come in three types. Those motivated by crazy neoliberal ideology based on the sociopathic views of Ayn Rand (“The virtue of selfishness”) Hayek and Friedman. Both social Darwinists who thought that the markets should decide everything. Xenophobic, usually homophobic, and some overtly racist. Some just want to enrich themselves at the expense of others, seek attention, and thirdly a hate fuelled repugnant mixture of both. Inept, ignorant, incompetent, stupid, perverted, or deranged.