BOTH THE “CENTRE” AND THE COBWEB LEFT WALLOWED IN FAILURE, WHILE THE FAR RIGHT EASILY HAD ITS BEST YEAR ~ Rob Ray ~ Reform UK has consistently topped national polls in 2025 as the “anything but LabCon” choice, with its predictable and often ridiculous incompetence in local government barely making a dent on numbers. Barring a minor miracle, it will win big in May’s local elections. Meanwhile its street wing, in the form of Tommy Robinson’s mob, managed to pull out a record crowd for Unite The Kingdom and litter every lamp-post from Kent to Yorkshire with the butcher’s apron. KEIR? HARDLY Much of the blame for this must be laid at the feet of former human rights lawyer Keir Starmer, whose journey from McLibel activism to implacable opponent of left dissent went supernova when his government proscribed a non-violent direct action group, Palestine Action, as a terror organisation. A monumentally stupid decision on all counts, not least for his own political future, as for many, it stripped away their last illusions of Labour as a progressive force. The impact of Labour’s attitude to the left, its abandonment of promised policies, and its seething hatred for protest can’t be overestimated in terms of where it finds itself entering 2026. Starmer’s wing of the party, its eminence thoroughly greased by Morgan McSweeney, never did understand that over the long term, if you have no tame corporate media you need grassroots activity. Not for the election-time door knocking, but for the shield it provides online. When no-one wants to defend you, because you make it clear you despise them, all that gets heard is the negative voice. The impact of this choice, to deliberately insult and alienate its own base, can be seen in the wake of the Autumn Budget, which did have a few vaguely centre-left ideas in it, and the Employment Rights Act, which (even watered down) genuinely does introduce a handful of protections for working people. Nobody cared. No-one has been jumping in on socials to pat Labour on the back, not even the old guard of (lower case r) reformists who previously would have been saying “see, this is better than the Tories”. And as a result, it all goes one way. As many predicted when Starmer first started purging Labour’s ranks of anti-Zionist Jews and rolling back on his leadership promises before the general election, a total reliance on public exhaustion with the Tories was never going to hold up, and so it has proven. With a grassroots shattered by its own hubris, an implacably hostile corporate media, and a public refusing to trust a word said by party or government, how Labour might pull out of the nosedive is anyone’s guess. All of which, in tandem with the Tories’ own self-immolation, has opened the void through which Nigel Farage sauntered. YOU’RE KIDDING ME … To his left, meanwhile, all has been chaos embodied by the extraordinary saga of Your Party. What were they thinking? Freedom has never made many bones about its position on Corbyn and the ultimate uselessness of the cobweb left, but even we weren’t predicting such an immediate and comprehensive proof. It’s hard to think of a critique, sneer, or bald-faced insult that could do justice to the absolute fucking shambles of it all. Amidst perhaps the most dangerous political situation of the postwar era, we watched a handful of inflated egos take all the potential energy created by Labour’s desertion and explode it into little pieces. The people I feel most sorry for are those who genuinely, for just a little while, believed it could go somewhere. Not in a patronising way, but in the comradely sense of knowing how it feels to have hope in a project and see it dashed. That is what the likes of good ol’ Corbs, Zara Sultana, and the various “revolutionary” parties should feel ashamed of: they took the energy and hope of hundreds of thousands of people and stamped it into the mud, unnoticed amidst the squabbling and scrabbling for position. There can be no better example of why we don’t need parties, but to turn outwards and organise the working class directly — place the horse firmly in front of the cart. Leave that pack of blithering idiots behind and give up on their decades of abject, piteous failure. SAVED BY THE (GREEN) BELL? The beneficiaries on the left from these twin towers of dung were, of course, the Greens under their affable, well-meaning and occasionally analytically shallow new leader Zack Polanski. No word of a lie, it’s been nice hearing someone be direct and relatively uncompromising in his language while taking on the press this year. His absolute refusal to play the “how many rights can we take away from trans people this week” game, in particular, is the sort of confidence many on the left could stand to learn from. But, even setting aside obvious anarchist critiques of the inchoate core and systemic shortfalls of the Green Party project, there are plenty of limitations on its surge, which already seems to have peaked. The Greens have no friendly media. Not the Independent, not the Guardian, not even the Morning Star, which (in the absence of a functional Communist Party offering) has broadly plumped for Your Party as the home of a more Proper socialist politic. And the Star is probably correct there — pathetic though Corbs and co. may be, their platform is at heart red economics, while the Greens are, well, green, with social democracy largely tacked on as an often uncomfortable coalition-building exercise. Much like the Lib Dems, green parties are notorious for opportunism, most notably in Germany where they frequently enter coalitions with the conservatives. So it remains to be seen how deep its commitments will run when placed under pressure. WHAT ABOUT US? Perhaps I’m being Mr Bias of Cheerleader City, but I think the direct action movement, particularly that wing of it which refused to simply roll over on Palestine and proscription, deserves a great deal of praise this year. It’s been a hard one, in which it became clear long sentences for non-violent dissent are here to stay, surveillance and repression are on the rise, and money has poured in to fuel our opponents. But thousands of people stood up to be counted, knowing they could face prison terms, knowing they would be mocked and mistreated. There has been a great deal of bravery on display throughout the year, and everyone involved should be proud of themselves. Always under the cosh, always few and underfunded, facing up to a State that increasingly has done away with even the slightest respect for privacy and human rights — the fact you keep going is frankly incredible. If 2025 has shown one thing, though, it’s that we’re right. The “practical” cobweb left and their electoral obsessions won’t save us; they can’t even save themselves. They’ve been given chance after chance, and shown that even if they could win power they probably shouldn’t. We need grassroots strength. We need the force of unified working class communities who can disrupt business as usual and make those in power sit up. It was direct action this year which, time and again, rattled the government where the conferences of electoral leftists produced only a distant gale of laughter. As we head towards the spectre of a far-right government which will show us no more mercy than this one, I can only say: keep going. Because they sneer at you. Because they seek to silence you. There is no greater proof of a government’s fear than a law designed to stop you from doing what you’re doing. You’re right. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Images: Radical Graffiti The post 2025: A gilded year for the right, hubris fulfilled on the left appeared first on Freedom News.

~ Jon and Simon round off the year with a trip into the weeds talking about reaching the Mark Jenner period in the Spycops saga, Labour’s disgusting joining in on European far-right efforts to undercut human rights laws, the real reasons why housing is under so much pressure, and the latest stories from our newswire. The post Anarchist News Review: What have human rights ever done for us? appeared first on Freedom News.

PLUS: ATTACKS ON JURY TRIALS, PALESTINE ACTION CHALLENGE AND US WITCH-HUNT ~ Andy and Simon talk about the Titanically deckchairish Reeves budget as it finally drops the child benefit cap but once again leaves the edifice of extractive capital untouched, the opening of the Filton 24 trial, Lord Jonny Harmsworth’s buyout plan for the Telegraph, and Trump’s designation of various aunti fah terror groups. The post Anarchist News Review: Our thoughts on the Budget appeared first on Freedom News.

MIKE AND SIMON DISCUSS THE OPPORTUNISM WHICH HAS BEEN ON DISPLAY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE STABBING ATTACK AT A MOSQUE IN MANCHESTER, AND THE MISERABLE TORY PARTY CONFERENCE After Manchester, we saw police, the media and Labour arguing that somehow this should justify not protesting against the butchery of Gaza, then shortly afterwards, the new Home Secretary started talking about bans against “regular protests” that quite obviously are directed against the Palestine protesters. Most recently Keir Starmer has gone so far as to suggest “inflammatory chants” should go in the ban pot. He plans to consult members of the Jewish community—presumably not the ones who attend the protests. Meanwhile at Tory conference, every headline that’s come out of the conference has been miserable. Not just the content but the tone. From nobody being there (including protesters) to Kemi Badenoch having to make excuses for Robert Jenrick’s racism. The post Anarchist News Review: Labour hammers protest and Tories hammer each other appeared first on Freedom News.

BETWEEN LABOUR’S BAREFACED MILITARISM AND A DOMESTICATED PEACE MOVEMENT, IT FALLS TO ANARCHISTS TO STEP UP RESISTANCE TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION ~ Ned Skinn’ ~ The patriotic flag-waving and bunting to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day has for now kept our attention away from another upcoming anniversary—that of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The images of destruction and human suffering that followed showed a horrific reality, reflected in ‘what it could be like’ films like Threads. Humanity took a deep breath in and decided no-one wanted that again. It was the fear of ‘mutually assured destruction’ that has, arguably, kept the nuclear peace since then. But now, for the first time in almost 20 years, it has just been announced that American nuclear weapons are to be based on British soil. The British Prime Minister tells us that we must prepare for war. There is talk of conscription and a ‘Dad’s Army’-style volunteer defence corps. The right-wing press tries to sell us the lie that we could survive a nuclear exchange. Businesses are being offered courses on remaining operational during war. Even ‘enemies within’ like Palestine Action are being created and police powers increased to quell potential civil unrest. Against all this, the anarchist movement in this country has a long history of involvement in anti-militarism and resisting nuclear weapons, much of which may have been forgotten. It may be useful to reflect on that past. Shortly after Britain started testing its own nuclear weapons, in 1952, came the first generation of anti-nuclear protestors with the formation of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the more radical Committee of 100. They had massive support from the public and it wasn’t long before the Labour Party realised the potential to gain votes from that support. Public concern, particularly after the global tension created by the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, meant that many believed Labour when they promised, “Vote for us and we’ll ban the bomb!”. As anti-militarists, anarchists had been involved in earlier movements against war, and warned that the Labour Party could not be trusted. Sure enough, in 1964, the ‘ban-the-bomb’ Labour Party returned to government and wasted no time deciding to further develop Britain’s nuclear arsenal. Those lies and that betrayal should have been a lesson to remember forever. Unfortunately, like many movements with radical beginnings, the CND and other peace movement organisations had come to be led by middle-class liberals, Christian pacifists, and entryist state-socialists. Since then, generations of people wanting to ‘do something’ have been drawn into the same dead end of writing to politicians, going on marches, and being encouraged to “vote Labour without illusions” again and again. This attitude carried on into the 1980s’ intensification of the Cold War. Despite mass demonstrations and the camp at Greenham Common, the mainstream leadership of the peace movement continued to channel it all into innocuous protest and and electoral politics. The 1980s also saw a resurgence of the anarchist movement. Interest in what was later to become the Class War Federation started after their presence at CND demos. The anarcho-punk scene and anarchists’ involvement in the animal rights and environmental movements boosted interest in our ideas. Direct action, in all its forms, became popular. Tory attacks on the working class provoked major strikes like the miners, printers and ambulance staff, encouraging class-struggle anarchist politics and leading to the creation of specifically working-class organisations like Anarchist Communist Federation. So, what next? We can only wait and see what effect that recent events have on the wider population, particularly the working-class. I believe things might have to get worse before they get better. With the increasing authoritarianism and militarism of our society and intensified attempts to suppress dissent, the Labour government is showing its true colours. How much will the population take before they rouse from their sleep and do something? We must remain anti-militarist and point out the clear fact that the Labour Party is not the solution but the cause. This will put the left in a quandary, so while we may be small in numbers we must speak and act with integrity. We need to take care but we also need to stand up, shout and get organised. It is anarchism that could provide the kindling that ignites the fire of change. We just need to light that match. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top image: Anti-nuclear blockade at Faslane, 15 April 2013. Ric Lander on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 The post Nuclear weapons on British soil appeared first on Freedom News.

“OH GARÇON? I’D LIKE ENOCH-WAS-RIGHT TORYISM WITH EVEN MORE GRIFTING, PLEASE. YES OF COURSE I’LL HAVE THE SIDE OF SELF-SABOTAGING INCOMPETENCE AND UNHINGED SHOUTING AT CLOUDS, THAT’S THE FLAVOUR RIGHT THERE.” ~ Rob Ray~ Jordan Tarrant-Short, a man in his 30s who has somehow never quite managed to throw off that Young Tory look, won an unremarkable by-election on May 2nd in a quite striking way.  For the last five years Tarrant-Short has been standing in Rochdale by-elections as a Tory and losing, handily, to Labour candidates. Despite a couple of second places, it’s never been close. Something about his self-satisfied, smirking, oleaginous Conservative chops just couldn’t cut through in a red seat.  Yesterday however he won in the Balderstone & Kirkholt ward by-election, tearing down a 31-point gap established in 2021. All he had done was switch parties to Reform.  As with most council by-elections, we’re talking small numbers of voters – 2,362 people turned out. But the way they split is notable:  Reform UKJordan Tarrant-Short (Elected)76632.55%LabourLeanne Greenwood62426.51%Workers Party of BritainLaura Pugh39816.91%ConservativeMudassar Razzaq2129.01%IndependentBilly Howarth1807.65%Liberal DemocratsChariss Laura Peacock1094.63%GreenMartyn David Savin652.76% Compare this to the 2021/2024 elections: Labour 1473/108660%/53%Conservative and Unionist710/29829%/7%Greens186/1508%/7%Freedom Alliance. No lockdowns. No curfews88/–4%/–Workers Party of Britain–/395–/19%Liberal Democrats–/122–/6% As I say, striking. While a large chunk of the people who still care to vote – barely 28% of the electorate – moved over to Reform, they did so to back a longtime Tory candidate who had repeatedly failed, and badly, in previous outings. But the stolen votes from Labour, and nearly as much so from the Tories, aren’t just going there. The Workers Party picked up nearly 400, while their former candidate, the far-right activist (and Reform sympathiser) Billy Howarth picked up 180, and the Lib Dems grabbed 109.  Why am I talking about this somewhat obscure bit of voting drama in the wake of Reform’s general surge? Because I think this microcosm speaks a great deal about the abject state of electoral politics, at the tail end of decades of centrist neoliberalism telling us There Is No Alternative if you don’t want worse to get in. This turn away from the status quo is not a sudden collapse, but a natural conclusion of a spiral decades in the making. In this thumping embarrassment for centrism – and even of classic hard-right politics as Labour increasingly hangs out in spaces previously reserved for the likes of the BNP – we have the public’s ultimate reply. There’s no credible left grouping, and the status quo is an ongoing slide into impoverishment. So for the loyal election-goer, what remains is varying formats of nationalist who promise they care about you even if they don’t care about the lives of refugees, and who haven’t had a chance to screw things up yet..  Much is being made of these gains essentially being a protest vote, along the lines of Nigel Farage’s most successful-ever political vehicle, Brexit.  But there’s a fair bit overlooked in that sentiment, depending on who you talk to. For some, this party led by a multi-millionaire, public funds-robbing, tweed-toting chinless stockbroker’s son, a multi-millionaire property baron and a millionaire Goldman Sachs alumni is genuinely seen as the honest voice of the common man. For others it’s a means to an end on immigration (even though the party offers very little that Labour isn’t already doing ). And for some, it’s a simple fuck you to the status quo, even though this is a party led by the rich with policies like “cut waste” and “fill potholes” – truly revolutionary.  A significant difficulty for the status quo parties is that (entirely warranted) criticisms of Reform as bought and paid for by the offshore rich, infested with corruption and fascists, led by a proven liar, is in large part simple hypocrisy. With the exception of that last (clearly not the dealbreaker at local level that you’d hope) they can all be Spiderman memed. Especially, in Starmer’s case, the constant, bald-faced lying and breaking of pledges alongside a rapidity of decline into anti-working class barbarism that has shocked even those of us who knew from the start where it was headed. As the Novara Media crew noted in their coverage, the consensus of opinion when you talk to people is “they’re all as bad as each other” and when you mix that with the sense that Reform are at least getting up the right noses, it’s (clearly) a potent mix. One which exposes the complete stupidity of Labour’s strategies in all kinds of areas, most particularly migration – it doesn’t matter how nasty government policy is, it can never “address concerns” that aren’t based in policy but in feelings and habit. The left, specifically the Greens, meanwhile have made modest gains but nothing like the breakthrough needed in an era so open to shift that both the major parties lost two thirds of their seats. Some of this is beyond their control: Worthies are less inclined to sink money into opening a fully-funded propaganda network (like GB News) to pump out Green talking points than far-right billionaires who see direct value in shifting culture rightwards. And The likes of the Mail, Sun, Times etc are less likely to give them a break if they get mentioned at all. Other elements are more the Greens’ own fault – lackluster leaderships who haven’t the media chops of a Farage, difficulties in the coalition of left and right, and a failure to cut through with head-turning policies or a sense of, for want of a better word, prickishness against the powers that be. They’re nice, well-meaning. And in the world of politics that translates as useless. So in this sense it’s not always a protest vote, as such. It’s a “what else am I going to do” vote. Reform’s approach is tailored for a particular strain of “everything’s shit especially London” British miserablism, but other than a particularly indulgent line on barely-concealed racism it’s really quite remarkable how unremarkable this London SW1-based party is. What it has is the same lack of tarnish from time and power that Corbynism had, in its early days. For non-politicos it’s a brand, for the most part they didn’t know or care who Darren Grimes was beyond some faff or other on GB News – though they will now he’s head of Durham Council. The jabber about a Tory-Reform pact being pretty laughable, the next couple of years are about Reform trying to manage the places it now controls, expand its voter base beyond an enthusiastic core and come up with some policies which sound good enough for government (as opposed to nonsensical stuff about taxing solar panels or swapping income taxes for sales taxes). That will be much harder, and there will be lots of opportunity for them to stuff it up. But in that vein, should anarchists care? We aren’t part of the vaunted (and largely obsolete) “ground game”, many of us don’t even vote. Well yes, of course. Mainly because where Reform leads, news agendas follow. Social culture follows in large part from the debates those news agendas produce. And social culture is where the battle lies for helping working class people of every stripe, under any party. We don’t need to be Labour supporters to go after Farage’s merry band of posh far-right grifters – they already stink up our communities with their mean-spirited whining. The Tarrant-Shorts of this world, before they were Reform, were knocking about in blue rosettes saying the same crap. It’s on us to make clear that when politics is a pile of bullshit the solution is not to find another cowpat and call it caviar. The vaccuum in party poltics is filled by Reform mostly because “who else” – and our anser to that is simple. There’s no-one else, especially not Reform. It’s just us, all of us, versus them. Voting has never been more useless, government never so unhelpful, capitalism never so greedy. It’s time for working people to take matters – the future – into our own hands. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pic: Nigel Farage, from Wikipedia The post All change in the councils: Except it isn’t appeared first on Freedom News.