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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
George Monbiot

Extremists would not need to create an authoritarian state in Britain: Starmer is doing that for them

Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested after protesting about McKinsey & Company’s ties to fossil fuels, in London, on 17 February 2025
Extinction Rebellion activists were arrested after protesting about McKinsey & Company’s ties to fossil fuels, in London, on 17 February 2025. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex/Shutterstock

If the Trump project implodes, it might take with it the extreme and far-right European parties to which it is umbilically connected. Like all such parties, the hard-right Reform UK poses as patriotic while grovelling to foreign interests, and this could be its undoing.

But we cannot bank on it. The UK government must do all it can to prevent the disaster that has befallen several other European nations. If it fails to meet people’s needs and keeps echoing far-right talking points, we could go the same way as Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Finland, Sweden and Austria.

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