How Centrist 'Frenemies' Podcasts Turned Politics Into a Parlour Game | | Juliet Jacques: We are living through a centrist Restoration. After a brief flirtation with genuinely different political candidates between 2015 and 2019, the 2024 election will be fought between two knights of the realm and a former investment banker, and will, like in 2010 and 2015, be contested on an ideological terrain the size of a postage stamp. With Nicola Sturgeon standing down before being arrested by Scottish police during an inquest into the SNP's finances, and Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson being investigated by the EHRC and the police and effectively barred from their parties, the British public will have little choice at the next election but to vote for a party that prioritises the interests of businesses and landlords, supports austerity at home and Atlanticism abroad, keeps tuition fees eye-wateringly high, opposes any legislative improvements to migrant or trans rights, and all but eliminates the right to protest.
While the centre claims to value reasoned argument, this is not how it has recaptured Labour from its left nor the Conservatives from their right. Instead, it's colluded with the media to discredit and ultimately dislodge its opponents, and then, in Starmer's case, won the leadership on a vaguely left-leaning platform that was subsequently dropped, purged the membership, demoted or deselected leftwing MPs on spurious charges, and fixed the rulebook so the right was unlikely to ever lose the leadership again. Sunak took advantage of the press turning on Johnson, and then of the Daily Mail's preferred candidate Liz Truss immediately imploding, winning a hastily organised and heavily orchestrated leadership 'contest' in which he ended up being the only candidate.
Everyone who worked for this outcome knows that it has not been achieved democratically but through complicity between media moguls and political factions who will protect their interests, with a mutual understanding that the press will not interrogate Starmer's McCarthyite authoritarianism. They surely understand, too, that the Thatcherite consensus is unlikely to satisfy a population dealing with skyrocketing rents, spiralling living costs, a healthcare system ruined by underinvestment and public services ravaged by austerity. So, the effort to manufacture consent for the restored status quo must be made on all fronts – including new ones, such as podcasting. | |  | OPINION Mental Health Diagnoses Are Capitalist Constructs by Micha Frazer-Carroll
Mental and physical diagnoses aren't objective facts that exist in nature, writes Micha Frazer-Carroll: they're constructed by capitalism. Read more... |  | REPORT Amazon Accused of Union-Busting at Striking UK Workplaces by Polly Smythe
A strike leader at Amazon's Coventry warehouse has had his hours reduced while workers are being subjected to anti-union posters and briefings. Read more... | | Represent Novara Media. Support independent journalism. | | | Rather than churning out fast fashion to make a quick buck, our merch represents the values that Novara Media was built upon: a commitment to social change, the liberation of workers and prioritising climate justice. We thoroughly audit every supplier we use. We make sure they are committed to fair working conditions and fair pay for workers, use recycled materials wherever possible, and have explicit policies to limit their waste. On average, 50-70% of everything you buy in our shop directly supports Novara Media to expand our reach, grow our output and become even more resilient in the media space. | | | |
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