Greg Bovino, the ICE agent commander with a penchant for Reinhard Heydrich–style greatcoats, has been withdrawn from the lethal chaos in Minnesota. But though he may have been this ghastly operation’s public face, his departure is not its end.
As Emily Maitlis reports for us from the scene, forced deportation flights have been taking place on a regular basis in Minnesota long before Bovino arrived on the scene. They will continue long after.
Her brilliantly vivid report is a reminder that the cruelty is not a blip. It’s structural. And, as others have said, the cruelty is the point.
This is the hallmark of the Trump regime — symbolic cruelty as a visible indicator of strength. History has a word for it: fascism.
In the UK, we’ve flirted with this symbolism. Remember Theresa May’s hostile environment and those hideous “Go Home” advertising vans boasting “106 arrests last week in YOUR area”.
That will seem like a scene from The Darling Buds of May in comparison to the operation Nigel Farage, newly bolstered by his deportation enthusiasts Jenrick and Braverman, would deploy were he ever to get to power. This is what we’re up against. It’s a fight for decency, a fight against fascism.
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Elsewhere in this week’s magazine:
Alastair Campbell delivers a super-deluxe double diary special from Davos. What was it like being in the room for the two remarkable speeches of the week — Mark Carney’s and Donald Trump’s? And did our heroic editor-at-large manage to hold his tongue as Trump rambled forth? Click here to find out.
Matthew d’Ancona’s essay this week is a challenge to us all; a call to arms to face the reality of life in the West post the American indulgence we’ve enjoyed since the end of WW2. Hug the cactus is the opening wisdom. And don’t limit our horizons to rejoining the EU. Our future ambitions at the heart of a new Europe have to be much grander than that.
In our Carousel section, Tom Arms predicts a new nuclear arms race; Peter Bale reports from New Zealand on the disturbing rise of ethno-nationalism there, much of it driven by politicians of Māori heritage; Paola Totaro goes on holiday to war-torn Sudan; Tanit Koch marvels at the EU’s capacity for self-sabotage; and Marie Le Conte makes the case for why Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform may be the salvation of the centre-right in British politics — a topic Tim Bradford deals with typical satirical brutality in his weekly Stop the World cartoon.
Especially notable this week in our Letters page is your response, dear readers, to Marie Le Conte’s article last week, Meet My Trans Friends. Your willingness to engage openly and honestly with the most challenging questions of our times does the spirit of TNW proud. Thank you!
Patience Wheatcroft analyses Green leader Zack Polanski’s opposition to the UK’s nuclear deterrent, while Paul Mason decries Trump’s efforts to undermine the most successful defence organisation in history, NATO.
James Ball looks back on the blocking of Andy Burnham’s bid to return to Westminster and suggests the politics “King of the North’s” problem isn’t really Starmer. It’s himself.
Nigel Warburton, philosopher-at-large, invites you to have a laugh along with Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Ros Taylor tracks our (alarmingly!) declining fertility rate and examines the reasons why so many progressives are wary of pro-natalism.
In Arts and Culture, the brilliant John Bleasdale remembers the first time (or was it?!) he met Timothée Chalamet. John’s first two paragraphs are for the ages. The rest of the piece is pretty great too.
If you believe Tim Berners-Lee invented the concept of the World Wide Web, then Sophie Deboick has news for you.
Florence Hallett goes inside Wes Anderson’s dollhouse; Olivia Seligman tunes into In Our Time, post-Melvyn; Jamie Klinger reckons the Beckhams have got nothing on her family when it comes to feuding; Eleanor Longman-Rood enjoys ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States, currently playing at the wonderful Park Theatre, Finsbury Park; Adam Lowes relishes the new Predator movie Badlands; and Josh Barrie reveals the long-lost duck recipe that has expat Iraqis flocking to an east London restaurant.
Philip Ball, our scientist-at-large, reveals how it is we all walk on two hind legs, unlike our fellow knuckle-dragging apes. And no, Tommy Robinson, this isn’t about you for once.
Matthew d’Ancona gives you the ultimate critical guide to what to watch at the movies — and it’s a great week for it, with three superb new releases. No Other Choice is Matt’s pick of the week.
Peter Trudgill, who I know is one of your favourite regulars, gives a timely etymological study of the word asylum and, finally, our very own dilettante Marie Le Conte has her own Gallic definition of hell: online shopping.
