Though, at least in the clip I've seen, he doesn't say what he means by that. Far-righters are taking it to mean he shares their 'we want our country back' shtick but, maybe, he means he despairs of their malignity?

only in the small print of this article do they make clear that the pensioners paying an extra £2,500 of tax would have to have “earnings over £125,140” I know many pensioners are asset rich but how many have income at that level?

That WW2 veteran who says that winning the war "wasn't worth it" for the state we are now in is just plain wrong. Naziism was an evil that caused the deaths of millions and the systematic murder of millions more. Defeating it was necessary. We need to stop treating every old person as a holy sage.

Catherine Blaiklock, the first leader of the Brexit Party, is a Rupert Lowe ally who wants 10 million people to leave. Fewer than 5 million people born abroad are neither naturalised British citizens (2.5m) nor EU settled status (3-4m) But there are another 5 million UK born ethnic minorities.

I have a new blog post out with The UK In A Changing Europe on how lower migration will be bad for the UK economy: ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...

This is what is happening. It is cynical. It is strategic. It is organised. It is well funded. And we need to pay attention. The far right - and their cheerleaders, mimics, tribute acts, and handmaidens have identified two presentational frameworks that give them cut-through and traction. 1/7

Any UK government whether whether left-liberal, centrist or right wing is going to face scepticism in Brussels after the Brexit mess and with Reform's strength in polls. Banging the table and demanding special treatment didn't work for Johnson and won't work for Starmer.

Dominic Cummings has this racialised take on David Lammy There is an increasingly prevalent kneejerk online rightwing trait to call the presence of any black or Asian person a diversity hire

Remember the rumours that Liz Truss might join Reform? After Zia Yousef’s interview, that looks dead in water. Reform is edging toward reality: sticky, Brexit-made inflation. But their past positions are catching up with them 👉we’re in this bind bc Farage sold Brexit utopia that never existed.

"The European Commission on Friday expressed confidence that a deal to allow the UK to take part in one of the EU's flagship defence programmes will be concluded over the next two weeks with enough time for member states to adjust their rearmament plans" #Europe www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

I think this constant push for immigrants to feel & act ‘grateful’ is so insidious. Let’s change the narrative. Migration is a normal part of human behaviour, not a charity case. If you’re doing your best to do your best, you don’t need to do even more to be accepted. It’s your right to be accepted.

The online baying mob shouting "Vote Reform" after Saturday's train stabbing attack may wish to note that not a single Reform MP has turned up for the Home Secretary's statement on the incident.

A new low, even by Goodwin's increasingly awful standards. Anxiety (no scare quotes are needed) takes many forms. And using his social media bully pulpit to punch down is despicable.

In case you missed it

Farage’s claim that flag mania was down to ordinary citizens couldn’t be further from the truth. Brilliant expose via @manchestermill.bsky.social. manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...

Immigration, indecency, and incompetence. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog. The ever-more indecent terms of the immigration 'debate' are another failure of Brexit, which links to the ever-more obvious incompetence of Reform in local government: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/immi...

I wonder how many other IDs like 'skinheadlad1488' conceal such outwardly respectable figures? And vice versa, no doubt.

Gotta love Private Eye. Always cuts through the crap.

65% of white Britons say they ARE well represented in advertising. So why lead with the far smaller figure?

"... the impact of Brexit for the City of London is clear. 'Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan and Paris are all doing better than they were. It has been at London’s expense. There is no question about that.'” www.theguardian.com/business/202...

It's Friday!! It's Halloween 🎃 and Chris Grey's blog is really scary!!

Immigration, indecency, and incompetence. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog. The ever-more indecent terms of the immigration 'debate' are another failure of Brexit, which links to the ever-more obvious incompetence of Reform in local government: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/immi...

Another important and thought-provoking discussion of national populism and how to counter it from @jydenham.bsky.social

Easy Mode: my SKETCH of politicians struggling even when the difficulty is turned all the way down.

This is a shift but it’s still a very vague one. It doesn’t explicitly rule out removing people with ILR based on a retrospective change to the rules. Apart from the general chaos, it’s quite something to leave so many UK residents in limbo pending a “review”.

Farage: epic grifter

Asylum seekers, housed in hotels in Manchester, are reaching out in their own words to address the concerns of the local community. Please take a minute to read their letter, & share it with the people in your life who need to hear the truth about the people they are protesting.

Fair-minded discussion by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the Brexit impact. I'm more worried about the trade data though - goods exports volumes declining since 2019 is a big problem, and finance and transport services have significantly lagged other advanced economies. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

The select committee report on the asylum hotel shambles highlights a point I made repeatedly - the absurd gimicks pursued by the last govt like Rwanda took resources away from running the actual system properly.

"It is striking that Calgie’s apology went down far worse with the population of X than his original offence. Perhaps the conservative soul has changed. But if the right’s problem is ideological hygiene, then perhaps it’s because it’s swimming in an open sewer."

This is what tolerance of anti-migrant political rhetoric leads to. A surge in racial abuse against nurses and care workers. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

In any case, there's no requirement on advertisers to represent ethnic groups proportionately. So even supposing Pochin's claim was true, it would just mean that this is what companies think will best sell their products. Do Reform want to tell them they must use a different approach?

1. Prison and Probation Service (and CJS generally) brought to its knees by cuts, subcontracting, & endless 'efficiency reforms'. 2. Bad consequences follow. 3. Outrage from those who brought the service to its knees.

Painful to watch, but revealing, too, of the tactical problem for the Tories of pitching Reform-like messages whilst also trying to differentiate themselves from Reform. And good to see dogged questioning from Lewis Goodall.

Coming back to this. The amount of attention Reform gave Caerphilly (and lack of expectation management) suggests their data showed them winning. Worth remembering when we hear similar stories about Reform's advanced data analysis in future!

The Trump Action Tracker has an update! Main change is to break down the five authoritarian domains into ten - this allows for easier understanding of why actions have been logged and more tools for searching / filtering the now 1621 actions. www.trumpactiontracker.info? 1/2

"There is no great outcry in the right-wing press or from conservative politicians against mass deportation. The days when they stood up to the injustice of retrospective legislation are long gone." Another good and valuable read on how fast things seem to shift in Britain atm. Deeply worrying.

We joined Ukrainians and their supporters in Cambridge today to remind shoppers and graduating students that Ukraine is still fighting to defend its freedom and democracy against brutal Russian aggression. We must #StandWithUkraine for a just and lasting peace. (1/2)

Today, nine years since its launch, my (now fortnightly) Brexit & Brexitism Blog (as it's now called) had its 11 millionth visit. Many thanks to all who have visited, or who read posts via the email feed, and to those who have helped promote it. chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com

A politics that claims to speak for "the people" against its "enemies" is always dangerous. "The people" are a glorious array of different ideas & interests, with democracy a dialogue between them. Populism is founded on a lie,so its fruits are always authoritarianism, simplism & conspiratorialism

Has Britain become ungovernable (again)? My weekend article for @the-independent.com www.independent.co.uk/voices/brita...

Yay. Priceless. The right column at the right time. And a gleefully English two fingers to the haters.

Listening to this (so you don't have to). Unsurprisingly, Farage says he would end alignment with the EU. And he still thinks we can play hardball with the EU to get a much better deal - shades of 'they need us more than we need them'. No question, he would take the UK to 'No Deal'.

Loving your country means loving it as it is — not as you wish it were. Britain is getting old. Instead of fearing it, we should lead the world in how to live longer, better. My new piece on making the most of an ageing society is out. howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/we-must-lo...

"Yet even once it became clear that Reform had actually lost, the script barely changed. Footage from the result showed the visiting caravan of Westminster-based journalists crowded around the losing Reform candidate" bylinetimes.com/2025/10/24/t...

And in so doing re-enforces the sense in which the current bout of flag-flying isn't a symbol of shared belonging but a political, and, here, an explicitly party political, statement.

"This is insane. Turnout 50%. Up on 41% in 21. Young Plaid organiser telling me of all the texts and DMs from apolitical friends that they’re turning out to stop Reform." www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

🔴 NEW - Zia Yusuf has resigned as Reform’s DOGE chief with the project in turmoil. Reform’s Musk-inspired slash-and-burn agenda has faced further setbacks this week

But, as the report makes clear, it wasn't simply an invention of Lam's. And even if the Tories now row back on it, much permanent damage has already been done by them (and Reform) even raising the possibility of deporting people by retrospectively changing immigration rules.

Happening also in Worcestershire