A new PM won't save us from the far-right

In this week's issue

• A new PM won’t save the UK from a far-right government, but building a grassroots societal coalition might
• Paul Rogers: Could Corbyn’s grassroots-led movement have the last laugh over Starmer?
• Why NHS data workers are demanding the healthcare system drop Palantir’s Federated Data Platform
• How the British establishment made Nigel Farage's far-right politics respectable
• Modern slavery victims urge UK government to guarantee their rights to support
• UK’s proposed Brit Card won’t curb immigration, but will subject ordinary citizens to mass surveillance and terrifying bureaucratic disenfranchisement
• UK government misses court-ordered deadline to compensate the families of 21 Nigerian coal miners murdered by British colonial police
• Plus: This week in history and what we’re reading

Of the hundreds of readers who responded to our poll last week, only 24% said they would vote Labour if Keir Starmer stepped down. But that is the bet that Labour must take, and hopefully its polling is far more representative than ours.

It is worth remembering that last week’s elections weren’t just about Labour losing thousands of seats, they were also about Reform UK winning thousands of seats. Just how has Nigel Farage’s latest political vehicle gone so mainstream so fast? I asked that question of Daniel Trilling, openDemocracy’s former commissioning editor and author of the new book, If We Tolerate This: How the British Establishment Made the Far Right Respectable. Read the interview, or listen to it as a podcast while you do the weekend laundry.

Retail politics takes up so much of our attention that we often mistake the symptoms (who will succeed Starmer?) for the malaise (what ails our politics?). This is something that I’ve tried to think through in my piece this week, where I argue that the next three years are an opportunity for us, as a society, to assert our democratic will. 

We are proud to platform one such instance of a group of people raising their voices on behalf of the wider social good: Data analysts at NHS England are organising against Palantir, the secretive defence contractor embedding itself across the health service and much of the UK’s data infrastructure. Read their letter to understand why they are pushing back. (If you interact with Palantir systems at your workplace, get in touch with our tech reporter Jade-Ruyu Yan on Signal at jaderuyu.08).

Also this week: A High Court in Nigeria has ordered the British government to compensate the families of 21 coal miners killed by colonial police officers in 1949; the UK government is yet to respond. Paul Rogers turns his attention from the Persian Gulf to the state of UK politics, and victims of modern slavery are urging MPs to protect their access to mental health and housing support.

Thank you as always for reading us and supporting our journalism.

Aman Sethi, Editor-in-Chief

This is bigger than Starmer vs. Streeting vs. Burnham

A new prime minister won’t save us from a far-right government – but there are other ways to fight it

openDemocracyAman Sethi

Jeremy Corbyn’s grassroots politics could outlast Keir Starmer’s Labour

As Keir Starmer fights for survival, Jeremy Corbyn’s decade-long grassroots strategy may yet have the last word

openDemocracyPaul Rogers

Modern slavery victims denied mental health support

With Starmer under fire, survivors say Labour must deliver long-overdue access to support on mental health and housing

openDemocracySian Norris

India’s Aadhar shows dangers of ‘Brit Card’ digital ID

I spent years reporting on digital IDs like the Brit Card. This is what I found

openDemocracyAman Sethi

We’re NHS analysts organising together against Palantir. Here’s why

As NHS data workers, we see Federated Data Platform’s flaws up close. That’s why we’ve launched an open letter to fight it

openDemocracyNHS Analysts Together

In 1949, Britain killed 21 miners in Nigeria. Their families are still seeking justice

Keir Starmer’s UK government missed a court-ordered deadline to compensate the families of the killed coal miners.

openDemocracySaint Ekpali

How has Reform UK gone so mainstream so fast?

Journalist Daniel Trilling on Farage, right-wing populism, and how ‘the establishment’ normalised Reform

openDemocracyAman Sethi

How the UK Establishment Normalised Reform

Is Reform fascist, far-right or merely right wing? And do we really need to get into this?

openDemocracyAman Sethi

Weekly Poll

This week in history

The Nakba — 15 May 1948 On 15 May 1948, the day after Israel declared independence, Arab armies entered the new state. What followed for Palestinians was the Nakba — "catastrophe" — during which around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from or fled their homes. Villages were destroyed. The refugee crisis has never been resolved. This week marks a foundational injustice whose consequences continue to define the Middle East.

Solidarity: trails, perils, choices

The idea of solidarity retains its moral force. Yet it is vulnerable to the same manipulations as any category of modern politics. Fred Halliday examines the paths of solidarity under colonialism, communism, and post-1989 democracy; its deformed applications to the Arab-Israeli conflict; two voice

openDemocracyFred Halliday

What we're reading

I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman

Yes, this book is popular on TikTok. But if this helps your snobbery, I actually discovered it in a little bookshop in King’s Cross. Probably because it is popular on TikTok. I saw it sitting there on the shelf and found the title appealing.

The concept behind this book is anything but appealing. There are 39 women and one girl locked in a cage, watched day and night by silent patrolling male guards. They don’t know why and how they got there, and many have stopped asking why. Aside from one person.

Once you get past this grim premise, you’re immersed in a strange type of hope. You get a glimpse of what could happen when everything–apart from enduring curiosity–is lost.

Jade-Ruyu Yan, tech investigations reporter