Satire

After a dramatic 12 months, here is STEVE ANGLESEY’S lowdown of the losers who ended up winning. 20 CHARLOTTE GILL A Brexiteer journalist for the Sun, Telegraph and Mail on Sunday, Gill appeared to call for the end of satire after the general election, tweeting “I can’t believe Have I Got News For You is […]

The general election is a big important part of the battle for the Remain movement – but the war won’t be over on Friday morning. I know the home stretch going into an election is supposed to be all about clarity and unity of purpose, and the last thing you want to be presented with […]

Seizing an opportunity to defeat Boris Johnson could instigate a new era of political free-thinking, according to Mitch Benn. Boris Johnson is a liar and a coward. Once more for the people in the back row: BORIS JOHNSON IS A LIAR AND A COWARD. Now, in previous eras this might have been thought sufficient reason […]

MITCH BENN on doing everything he can to make sure politicians don’t ruin his Christmas without a fight. I’m breaking one of my own cardinal rules this year. Generally I operate an absolute embargo on anything Christmas-related until December 1. Obviously one can’t entirely avoid any mention of Christmas during November, or indeed October (or, […]

Sci-fi fan MITCH BENN on what his hero Douglas Adams would have to say about politics today Whoever came up with the expression “You must never meet your heroes; they’ll always disappoint you” had dreadful taste in heroes. I’ve been lucky enough to meet quite a few of my heroes over the years and by […]

With Donald Trump and Boris Johnson up for election, MITCH BENN looks at just how untouchable they are The word ‘mistake’ has two principal uses, related but definitely distinct. It can mean an involuntary error, a slip-up, a blooper, a typo… something you didn’t want to do or intend to do, but did anyway through […]

MITCH BENN on why there are no safe seats in this election and uses Richmond Park to defend tactical voting. It’s utterly absurd that while I’ve been writing this column for a little over three years now, not only is this the second general election I’ve had to cover in that time, but that previous […]

The welfare of the country should not be forgotten amid Brexit, writes MITCH BENN. Before I became active in the Remain campaign I was active for many years in the sceptical (and indeed Skeptical) community, which is a rather self-congratulatory way of saying that before I started wasting precious hours out of every day getting […]

Every day we’re still in the EU is a solid win for Remain, says Mitch Benn First of all, a little essential housekeeping: You might recall that I ended last week’s column by issuing a plea for help. I bewailed my enforced absence from last Saturday’s march and asked if you could help me make […]

MITCH BENN challenges you to make up for his absence at the People’s Vote march. My committed activism in the Remain cause since the 2016 referendum is fuelled in no small part by residual guilt at the knowledge that I didn’t do a damn thing to help or promote the Remain cause before the 2016 […]

James Cleverly’s much-mocked graph gives a revealing insight into the mindset of panicky Brexiteers says MITCH BENN. James Cleverly’s explanation for why Brexit must be done by October 31st. Photograph: Twitter. – Credit: Archant The phrase “There are lies, damned lies and statistics” is selectively trotted out by whoever wants to dismiss whichever set of […]

The toxic twins are being met with increasingly defiant opposition – and it’s working, says MITCH BENN. Last week, I took to Twitter to express what is, these days, an unusual statement to be heard coming from the likes of me; I said I was proud of Britain. My specific point was this: just now, […]

Labour’s message on Brexit is fooling no-one says MITCH BENN. And so, we pass the autumn equinox and soldier on into the last bit of the year. There are two things which happen around this time of year with a maddening predictability: firstly, Christmas stuff will start to turn up in the shops despite it […]

MITCH BENN asks why the PM would compare himself to the Hulk – a personification of uncontrolled anger, fury, and whose alter ego is desperate to escape. It doesn’t seem to take much these days to get me feeling old. Mind you, that’s been the case since I was about 24; sometimes I wish I […]

MITCH BENN on Boris Johnson becoming the first prime minister since 1894 to lose his first commons vote and also reducing his from +1 to -43 in a week. So this time last week, you may or may not recall, I was bewailing the near-impossibility of submitting a regular current events-based (and specifically Brexit-related current […]

As a comedian, MITCH BENN knows how it feels to stand before a crowd that’s booing you. Here’s when it happened to Prime Minister. Of all the disparate elements in the jumble of intermittently remunerative hobbies which in my case passes for a ‘career’, writing this column is one of the most rewarding (and indeed […]

The Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year and Mitch Benn says it’s been a good one. So the Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year; I’m not going to start bandying figures about but suffice to say I’ve had a really good one, both in terms of audience numbers and response. This is gratifying […]

Even the legendary patience of the Scots is being exhausted as the country is dragged out of the EU against its will, says Mitch Benn. I’ve returned to my adopted hometown of Edinburgh to partake in the annual month-long ritual of comedy industry chiselling which is the Festival Fringe (my show is called Ten Songs […]

US politics tends to be a more colourful and kinetic affair than our own variety, although of course there are always parallels to be drawn says MITCH BENN. Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Home Secretary Priti Patel attending the first meeting of the National Policing Board at the Home Office in London. Picture: Kirsty Wigglewsorth/PA […]

Comedian and host of People’s Vote campaign rallies, MITCH BENN calls on remainers to reclaim the flag in the name of true patriotism. There’s just over a week to go before I head up to Edinburgh to perform my show Ten Songs To Save The World at the Festival Fringe (Underbelly, 3.45pm, in case you […]

Nelsonian traditions are one thing, but some of our modern political practices need to go out with the tide, says MITCH BENN. A few weeks ago I was asked to perform a short set at a Naval Officers’ Mess Dinner at HMS Sherwood in Nottingham. Attentive readers with a smattering of British geography will already […]

MITCH BENN says it’s time we all call out the lies and expose the liars peddling the myths about the EU and Europe. I’m in the home stretch before heading up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, so my life consists primarily of coffee-fuelled songwriting and joke-rewriting sessions, interspersed with preview shows, each slightly […]

MITCH BENN discusses the issue of anti-Semitism in the Labour party. At time of writing, I don’t know whether Chris Williamson has been re-admitted, re-expelled or re-re-admitted to the Labour Party. I do know that Alastair Campbell is still out for the foreseeable, as he told me when we met at the People’s Vote rally […]

If you’re making excuses for someone on your team you wouldn’t make for someone on theirs, you’re part of the problem says MITCH BENN. Let’s get one thing straight before we start; I don’t know what was going on in Carrie Symonds’ flat in Camberwell the other night, and neither do you. Nor indeed do […]

MITCH BENN on watching a video by the campaign supporting Boris Johnson’s (currently swaggering) effort to become leader of the Tory party and prime minister. British Conservative Party politician Boris Johnson gives a speech. Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP – Credit: AFP/Getty Images I find myself in a philosophical frame of mind, so here […]

The issue here isn’t drug use – it’s hypocrisy, says Mitch Benn. And they’re off. The hitherto ever-expanding field of candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party (and thereby the prime ministership of the country) has contracted somewhat, as they clear the first hurdle, and we’re now left with the ten ‘serious’ contenders. Perhaps […]

MITCH BENN on Rory Stewart, why good guys can be bad and what sci-fi can teach us about politics. We seem to have arrived at one of those awkward lulls, don’t we; not much is actually happening Brexit-wise but it’s still difficult to talk, think or indeed write about anything else. The big story politically […]

MITCH BENN on why Nigel Farage’s election win was not a call for speeding up Brexit. Right, brace yourself because I’m about to ruin your day. If you’re standing up, sit down; if you’re sitting down, lie down. If you haven’t had breakfast, don’t have breakfast yet and if you have had breakfast, I’m terribly […]

MITCH BENN takes a look at the end of an eight year era as Game of Thrones comes to an end and explores how the ending for our own story has not been written. Game of Thrones main city, King’s Landing, is filmed in Dubrovnik. Picture: HBO/IMDB – Credit: HBO/IMDB So, Game of Thrones then. […]

MITCH BENN discusses the parallels between comedians and politicians attracting an audience. As regular readers will know (and as irregular readers won’t, I imagine, be particularly surprised to discover), this isn’t my day job. I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions that in my primary occupation I’ve been toiling away on the lower slopes of […]

Mitch Benn discusses why Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party is not what the UK needs. I have good news and bad news. The good news is: you’re not going mad. The bad news is: you’re not going mad. Yeah, sorry about that. There are times when it might be comforting to be able to dismiss the […]

The desire to vote against something or someone you oppose will only get you so far, says MITCH BENN, at some point you have to vote for something. I’ve got a lot of time for Tom Watson. I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s always been personable and sincere. He turned up to […]