Re: “How to beat Farage,” by Matthew d’Ancona, TNW #482
In the past it was assumed that people would vote for whatever party would promote their economic interests. With Nigel Farage and Reform seeking to replace the NHS with a US-style insurance-based health system, axing employment rights and reversing laws protecting renters, it seems many voters can be persuaded to support policies that are harmful to themselves, so long as other people are seen to be suffering more.
Will Douglas-Mann
Farage is a consummate Machiavellian politician. The means to power are without bounds – lies, deception, hypocrisy, distortion and corruption are all fair game.
Labour and the Tories are so out of touch. The political arena has changed, and it is Farage’s world to claim unless Labour wakes up and ups its game exponentially.
Liz Court
One problem is that government is a serious business, but to counter Farage’s populism you almost require language that dismisses his ideas colloquially (“rubbish” etc) to be heard by the mass audience. Could it be that a serious but worldly voice would be less easy to dismiss as “the usual elite”?
Martin Belsham
Suggested Reading
How to beat Farage
Labour need to get radical. We have the benefit of being able to see the US carnage. PR is the best way to inoculate against Reform.
Get a good comms person and dog Farage with his grift and lies every day. Fix the BBC leadership and replace Lisa Nandy. She’s useless. Drop the anti-EU membership nonsense. The majority knows it was stupid and is causing real harm. Say so daily and pin it on Farage. Drop the Ming vase, make sure it is very noisy.
Lauren Smith
Re: “Now Ofcom will look into GB News,” by Matt Kelly, TNW #482
Well done TNW. One of the few UK media outlets taking on the far right and its shameless propagandists in GB “News”.
Maybe the government could learn something from this – you cannot appease extremists, they have to be fought.
Alexander Blackburn
Re: “RIP FPTP,” by James Ball, TNW #482
An excellent synopsis of the issues. The last general election, from a moral point of view, should be the death of the old system, when the Labour Party won a ridiculous number of seats in comparison with the percentage of votes. Farage used to bang on about the unfairness of the system – he was right – but doesn’t mention it now. I wonder why?
Brian Ronson
Suggested Reading
How PM Andy Burnham could change British politics forever
I prefer the Alternative Voting system. It’s very simple to understand – you simply list the candidates in order of preference. Importantly, it keeps the same constituency boundaries and it’s therefore easy to keep tabs on your identifiable MP. You don’t even have to vote for everyone on the list – if you want to vote for only one candidate you can. Just like now in fact. What’s not to like?
Arthur Bennett
List systems that in effect allow party bosses to choose who will be elected, depending on the party obtaining a sufficient percentage of the vote, trouble me. FPTP does allow a single party (Labour in Wales) to choose who will be elected, but at least that means the electorate see clearly the person for whom they are casting their vote.
Jonathan Brodie
Re: “I’m a one nation Tory. I’ll never vote for Badenoch,” by Patience Wheatcroft, TNW #482
Someone still supporting the Conservatives in 2026 is by definition a person wholly lacking in compassion and empathy. This is the party of austerity, Rwanda and “benefits street”, a party locked into an arms race of nastiness with Farage, which suits Kemi well. Conservatives slide easily into the Reform camp, and many have done so. One nation Toryism is dead.
Philip Neale
Re: “Murder and racism down under,” by Lynne O’Donnell, TNW #482
Australia was founded on the principles of the British colonial era and those in power retained the underlying assumption that all non-white or non-western European peoples were in effect inferior. Let’s call it what it is: ignorance and a refusal to accept the fact that the land always belonged to indigenous peoples. The same thing happened in Canada and all colonies that had the misfortune of being part of the British empire.
Kumar Patel
Re: “Why did the Venice Biennale go soft on Russia?” by Florence Hallett, TNW #482
Shouldn’t the US be banned too? The attack on Iran was illegal. Simple as that. And as for “Operation Freedom” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, this is an example of the most cynical doublespeak ever.
Richard Riddle
Re: “What Believe Me gets horribly right,” by Ros Taylor, TNW #482
This is a difficult watch; both for the trauma that the women endured and for the casual disregard exhibited by the police. The female victims of truly horrible sexually motivated crimes are often blamed, and prosecution rates are staggeringly low. The real question, for me at least, is why women’s experiences of rape and sexual assault are trivialised by authorities and society.
Paula Finn
Re: “Your chance to mingle with Matt Goodwin and Jacob Rees-Mogg… for just £10,000,” by Rats in a Sack,” TNW #482
£10,000 sounds fair. do they pay me by cash or cheque?
David Pollard
Suggested Reading
Can Reform really call themselves Christians?
Re: “Everyday philosophy: can Reform really call themselves Christians?” by Nigel Warburton, TNW #482
If Farage and co ever bothered to pay attention to the teachings of Christ they would be in a spin about this part of the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 – 43: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ 44: But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
David Irwin
I propose the term “Christianist” analogous to “Islamist” to signify a cynical far right perversion attempting to co-opt a faith tradition for hateful ends.
Christopher Skillen
BELOW THE LINE
Re: “100 years old and still Miles ahead,” by Peter Jones, TNW #482
It’s also worth noting the singular brilliance of 1972’s On the Corner. Miles saw the future on this controversial and critically despised record. It was at least 20 years ahead of its time, with its repetitious grooves which foresaw dance, trance, world and electronic music to come. It was a truly visionary recording.
Martin Diggle
RE “Let us decant the tin,” by Matt Kelly, TNW #482
I enjoyed your piece on tinned fish. For taste and value – 57p a tin – I recommend Lidl’s tinned sardines in olive oil. My chum, Bradley, a black labrador, has his dry kibble topped with a sardine every day. His particular treat is licking the empty tin to extract the last delicious fragments.
David Jeffrey
RE: “There nothing to watch any more” by Marie Le Conte, TNW #481
I don’t have Netflix or similar subscription streaming services and I don’t miss them, but I guess that’s because of the massive age gap between us, of my 81 years to your perhaps early 30s. Your future is to me as much a foreign country as my past will be to you. Never mind, I love your column, along with TNW generally.
Nicholas Wigg
Uttoxeter
