Nick Cohen

I’ll never forget the look of hatred Nigel Farage had for me at school, simply for existing The Reform UK leader doubts people can recall their abuse from years ago. I’ve never forgotten his – it felt malicious

I’ll never forget the look of hatred Nigel Farage had for me at school, simply for existing

Good piece by @nickcohen.bsky.social on the lies of right wingers like Farage, Jenrick, and Trump about crime in Britain and especially London, and the widespread failure to challenge them:
open.substack.com/pub/nickcohe...

The line here that made my ears prick up (and should really spook Labour) is the third one (that we need “fair and managed” migration). That’s not the answer of someone who has come to get his 12 per cent. That’s a much more “no, when I say I want to replace Labour, I’m not coming to play” line.

Former Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’ Exclusive: Yinka Bankole says he felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader’s attempts to ‘dismiss’ hurt of alleged targets

Yinke Bankola says he was 9 when the sixth form Dulwich school prefect Nigel Farage, aged 17, asked him where he was from, then told him "that's the way back to Africa".
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

When I was a young parliamentary researcher, a hereditary peer called the office to ask if the MP I worked for would support his red squirrel campaign. He said “I was going to call it the grey squirrel annihilation league but thought that might get marginally less support”

Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage To Apologise Amid Antisemitism Allegations "Praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter."

Antisemitism is the deepest, oldest hatred, the first and most reliable sign that something is very wrong with any society. Historians of the c20th have a special duty to speak out about it. If what we're told is true Farage must never hold any power at all.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/ho...

Re-upping this excellent little essay @demofuturist.bsky.social wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social, which I continue to think is an extremely pithy and insightful bit of analysis on this topic:

Politicians, police and media will not tell the truth about crime And so the demagogues win

Because frightened politicians and a compromised media dare not say that crime is falling, Nigel Farage and his demagogic allies are getting away with the most extraordinary lies

Politicians, police and media will not tell the truth about crime falling... And so the demagogues win

Because frightened politicians and a compromised media dare not say that crime is falling, Nigel Farage and his demagogic allies are getting away with the most extraordinary lies
nickcohen.substack.com/p/politician...

Which makes evidence-based policy making that much more difficult (a central pillar of the Civil Service Code, incorporated into the Constitutional Governance & Reform Act 2010 - P1 www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/2... )

£ but free trial

Politicians, police and media will not tell the truth about crime And so the demagogues win

Because frightened politicians and a compromised media dare not say that crime is falling, Nigel Farage and his demagogic allies are getting away with the most extraordinary lies

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious? Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years …

NEW BLOGPOST

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?

thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...

The “infernal circle” of immigration policy Interview with Alan Manning

Farage and other charlatans mis-sold Brexit claiming it would make stopping migration easy. Now the same grifters are using anger at the immigration they claimed they would stop to win power

To hear some sense I interviewed Alan Manning author of the newly released“Why Immigration Policy is Hard”

Fair point Bette

The “infernal circle” of immigration policy Interview with Alan Manning

Farage and other charlatans mis-sold Brexit claiming it would make stopping migration easy. Now the same grifters are using anger at the immigration they claimed they would stop to win power

To hear some sense I interviewed Alan Manning author of the newly released“Why Immigration Policy is Hard”

“Progressives” extinguish the lamp of freedom The weekend politics essay

Keir Starmer, who was once a human rights lawyer, and David Lammy, who was once an anti-racist, are planning to almost abolish trial by jury, the oldest and best safeguard against arbitrary power we have
Piece by me on an extraordinary betrayal

There are those on the left and right who offer only grievance: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewal | Keir Starmer Judge last week’s budget in the light of our bold plans to sweep away red tape, tackle inactivity among young people and pursue a closer trading relationship with the EU, says prime minister Keir Star...

I've been extremely critical of Labour's comms lately, but this is much better from Starmer. It's critical that he now should relentlessly hammer this same message away for the next two years... it is the only way that voters will start to hear it.

This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻‍♀️

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RIP Tom Stoppard: England’s great (Jewish) playwright Tom Stoppard died today aged 88 – which, as a lover of cricket, he would be the first to say was a decent innings.

RIP Tom Stoppard, a short tribute to a great playwright

Which one?

Aaron Rupar on X: "“To believe anything about Epstein coming from Trump and his cronies requires a complete suspension of common sense, which is why it’s good to remember that the simplest explanation is often the correct one: they’re lying.” https://t.co/b0GDeSe92e" / X “To believe anything about Epstein coming from Trump and his cronies requires a complete suspension of common sense, which is why it’s good to remember that the simplest explanation is often the correct one: they’re lying.” https://t.co/b0GDeSe92e

“It’s good to remember that the simplest explanation is often the correct one: Trump and Republicans are lying. Lie after desperate, confusing, and impossible lie, all aimed at an impossible goal: erasing history and the many deep and troubling ties between Epstein and Trump.”

x.com/atrupar/stat...

RIP Tom Stoppard: England’s great (Jewish) playwright Tom Stoppard died today aged 88 – which, as a lover of cricket, he would be the first to say was a decent innings.

RIP Tom Stoppard, a short tribute to a great playwright

YouTube video by Play For Forever Play of the Week - Professional Foul (1977) by Tom Stoppard & Michael Lindsay-Hogg

RIP Tom Stoppard. With the Russians returning Europe to the barbarism of the Cold War here is his Professional Foul, a great play on the need to confront tyranny honestly

“Progressives” extinguish the lamp of freedom The weekend politics essay

Piece is free to read but please sign up as a free or paying subscriber
nickcohen.substack.com/p/progressiv...

“Progressives” extinguish the lamp of freedom The weekend politics essay

Keir Starmer, who was once a human rights lawyer, and David Lammy, who was once an anti-racist, are planning to almost abolish trial by jury, the oldest and best safeguard against arbitrary power we have
Piece by me on an extraordinary betrayal

Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free.
Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.

The trump regime is at the stage where it is happier for you to talk about its treason as it stops you talking about its pedophillia.

Three things about the Witkoff tapes:

1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia.

2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea.

3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.