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In addition to the news in Radical Bulletin, and Lord Bonkers’ thoughts, what’s inside this issue?
WHITEHALL DINOSAURS THREATEN STABILITY
A walk on the Jurassic Coast reminds Sarah Olney MP that cliff edges in the
benefits and VAT systems undermine personal security and small businesses
LABOUR’S BLIND SPOT ON SOCIAL CARE
Solutions to the social care crisis are well-known but always blocked by the
Treasury. The government could grasp this nettle, but won’t, and the charge
sheet is long, says Claire Tyler
UKRAINE, GAZA AND THE UK’S ROLE
Will Forster MP has visited Ukraine, Gaza and Israel and calls for medical help
for the former and support for peace seekers in the Middle East
HOW TO HELP UKRAINE HELP ITSELF.
Kiron Reid talks about innovation under fire with Kostiantyn Koshelenko, who
recently stepped down as deputy minister for digital development in Ukraine’s
Ministry of Social Policy after three years
IN SEARCH OF THEIR MOTIVES
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the Reform surge came from working class
voters – more factors are at work including a collapse in Conservative values,
says Jonathan Calder
NOT SURE WE SAW THAT COMING.
Reform took 677 seats from nothing in May, despite the Liberal Democrats’
successes then, do we face a once-in-a-generation political change, wonders
Chris White
FROM THE FORGOTTEN LAND
Just four of 72 Liberal Democrat MPs are in the north and council
representation is patchy. Samuel James Jackson reports on plans to put this
right
HOMEWARD BOUND
Reform UK exploits people’s sense of disconnection among those who
Labour has abandoned, says Jon Egan
ORANGE OR GREEN?
Sophie Layton surveys fellow students and finds the Lib Dems must be wary
of the Greens’ appeal
FRIENDS WITH PRIVILEGES.
The UK and EU are at least talking again post-divorce, says David Grace
IT’S WAKE UP TIME IN CANADA
Rebecca Tinsley reports on how Donald Trump’s bellicose rhetoric drove a
surprise Liberal victory in the ‘true north’
ALIENATING AUSSIES
A little help from Donald Trump saw Labor easily defeat Australia’s misnamed
Liberal party, reports Stephen Yolland
IF MINDS MEET IN MOSCOW
In a glimpse into Russia’s future, Edward Lucas looks at the possibility of a
rapprochement between Russia and the United States – and highlights the
likely price that Europeans will pay
WALES STARTS TO RECOVER
Once a Lib Dem stronghold, the party in Wales looked in dangerous decline a
few years ago but is now fighting back, reports Peter Black
Reviews
Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis, by Nick Bano (reviewed by Jonathan Calder)
Battles at the Ballot, by John Leston (reviewed by Nick Winch)
Gang of Three play (reviewed by Mark Smulian)
This is only the beginning, the making of a new left, from anti austerity to the fall of Corbyn by Michael Chessum (reviewed by Stewart Rayment)
The Celts a modern history, by Ian Stewart (reviewed by Stewart Rayment)
Time Runs Like A River, by Emma Carlisle (reviewed by Stewart Rayment)
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The only Tory MP to gain a seat at the last election is under threat
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
IFS warn on the budget
Roy Gregg
Nonconformistradical
Richard Cripps
Sarah
One Comment
In Chris White’s article in the Liberator, he says ” in opinion polls Reform is often nowadays top of the poll. Something is in the wind.”
Well, I think what is in the wind is precisely nothing (that makes sense in the political arena). Nigel Farage is a narcissist, has no political views, and wouldn’t even understand what a political view is (but can fake it). The only reason he’s in politics is to gain adulation (in my view narcissists, paradoxically, suffer from low self-esteem which is concealed behind a façade, which is why they desperately need other people’s admiration) and he gets that by selling ‘certainty’. His speaking voice sounds as if it comes from a man who never experiences doubt, and that is what his followers latch onto, and what makes people vote for him. Every normal human being experiences doubt, and most of us are able to live with it. Those who feel overwhelmed by doubt can be tempted to fall into the paranoid schiziod position (jargon, but you can look it up – the word limit here precludes explanation) which removes anxiety, makes everything a binary right or wrong, and doesn’t solve any political problems at all.
This means, unusually, that we should be attacking the man, not his ‘political ideas’ (if you can call “I hate foreigners” a political idea).