openDemocracy receives so many carefully considered messages about our work that it seems a shame to keep them to ourselves. Each week, we share some of the most thought-provoking comments from our readers.
Send us your thoughts for next week’s round-up by replying directly to any of our emails or commenting on our articles or Instagram posts.
These comments are edited for clarity, accuracy and length, and aren’t necessarily a reflection of openDemocracy's editorial position.
Re: Beyond Westminster’s chaos, a new grassroots left is taking shape
This article could be summed up as wishful thinking at best, hopelessly naive at worst. Reality check: Jeremy Corbyn lost the 2019 general election disastrously. He is a narrow-minded ideologue who performs poorly in debates and most people in the UK reject him, as has been demonstrated. As for his and Zarah Sultana's fruitcake party, that is best known for comedy gold YouTube clips, entirely at the expense of the various conference members, who were at their fiasco of an inaugural party conference. Then there is the Greens, they poll at what, 12%?
No matter what Paul Rogers might wish for, people in the UK are not going to vote a loony left government into power. A centre-left or centre-right party can, has and will win general elections. Like it or not, it's true. Keir Starmer is right at least in that regard, even if he does come across as out of his depth and lacking in charisma. Why does openDemocracy publish dross like this? Wishful thinking and no critical analysis, thus exemplifying the radical left in general, I suppose. –Paul_Libertarian via our website
Most reporters and commentators fail to understand what happened after Corbyn narrowly fell short of outright defeating the much-expected huge victory for Theresa May. Contrary to Paul-Libertarian’s glib, insulting, acrimonious and vacuous statements, Corbyn actually gained more votes from the general public in 2017 than Tony Blair in 2001 or 2005.
Unfortunately, there was a concerted effort by the fifth column within Labour to save the country from having a decent leader with policies that were well-balanced and helpful to the vast majority of the British people. Instead, the huge swell of anti-Corbyn propaganda gave us what Paul-Libertarian evidently loves: a hotchpotch of right-wing loonies advocating for the worst policies… yet again. –AlBarz via our website
The political class as typified by Labour (In Name Only) and Reform/Tory are completely out of tune with the needs and desires of most people. Andy Burnham, the cardboard-cut-out hoping to replace Starmer, is just more of the same. Nigel Farage and his Reform UK have no policies to speak of apart from "we don't like immigrants". The situation suits the neo-cons and the neo-libtards who run the show. Corbyn has always been a good and moral man, but he is too old. We need a new chap (or woman) to pick up the baton, form a team and pull political power away from the crew of cyphers and no-marks that infest another Labour hopeful, Wes Streeting. Grassroots is fine, but who is going to energise them? –MikeParr via our website
I read this carefully. Sadly for Corbyn, all his good intentions come to nought. They do not appeal to a majority of the voters. Labour Together is much criticised but it was a response to Corbyn's more ardent followers, who insisted that the ordinary long-time member of the party was not true Labour unless they agreed with every word that he uttered. Those ardent followers, in some cases, closed down and excluded people from debate and membership of committees. –Pisces51 via our website
Re: How has Reform UK gone so mainstream so fast?
Sadly, I believe that Reform, like others before, is tapping into some of the most unpleasant aspects of the British character: a historic lack of interest in politics, a level of self-belief and superiority based on the colonialist past and what is basically racism. This is not unique to the UK, but has apparently been empowered and encouraged through social media like never before. –Martin via email
How anyone believes what Farage says is beyond me!!! –Esther via email
Amanda Sethi and Daniel Trilling, wondering how Reform UK went mainstream so fast, drew several parallels with India, but missed one of the more threatening. India, too, still has a first-past-the-post electoral system, and the results it produces are just as distorted as in Britain.
Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist movement portray themselves as having majority support, but the BJP's first parliamentary majority, in 2014, was achieved on 31% of the vote. Its support peaked in 2019 at 38%, which gave it a one-party landslide similar in scale to Starmer's here. There are smaller parties that back Modi in an alliance known as the NDA, but they only have about 7% support between them, still well short of any popular majority.
This then is the grim threat we face, already now realised in many local council chambers: unless we act fast to adopt a rational electoral system, in a fractured political landscape, Farage can follow Modi and Starmer, and win a solid parliamentary majority with support in the low 30s. –Leo Adamson via email
Re: We’re NHS analysts organising together against Palantir. Here’s why
The UK has far too many international contractors bleeding money and information from UK citizens. We must use our own expertise to keep patient and medical data within the NHS. In 2025, Manchester University NHS Trust advised that the data system in use within its Hospitals was significantly more advanced than the Palantir offering. So there is at least one UK data system ready to roll out. Probably there are more. –izzyix via our website
