On The
Ground

Josiah Mortimer

Sore Winners

Conservative peer Lord Daniel Hannan has blamed the electorate for “our once great nation’s slide into poverty” – another example of the doom-shilling the right appears so keen on these days. As one observer of his sentiments noted, “in the 35 years Daniel Hannan has been a member of the Conservative Party, they have been in government as the result of that problem electorate for a total of 21 years”.

There must be a word for Brexiters who got everything they demanded but are still deeply bitter, unhappy, and keen to blame anyone but themselves for the ensuing chaos. Perhaps ‘Vexiters’ does the job?

A Questionable Approach

Historian David Starkey was in effect blacklisted by the BBC for comments he made in 2020 claiming that slavery did not amount to genocide because “so many damn blacks” survived. But what is the threshold for being denied a platform by our troubled national broadcaster five years on?

The question arises due to the increasingly racialised musings of former academic, commentator, and Reform UK supporter Matthew Goodwin – who has become a far-right agitator in recent years and shows no signs of moderating.