25.9.22
My detailed analysis of the extraordinary coup staged by Liz Truss and her Cabinet, who, without a mandate from the British people, have delivered an energy price cap that will be paid for by taxpayers, and an energy policy that prioritises new fossil fuel extraction over renewables, and, via the new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, a ‘mini-budget’ that further widens the chasm between the rich and the poor. This is through tax cuts that overwhelmingly favour the rich, accompanied by a promise to punish the unemployed, as well as attempts to set up rights-free “investment zones” across the country — all policies drawn from the adherence of Truss and her colleagues to the far-right ‘libertarian’ think-tanks in Tufton Street in Westminster that also helped to secure the Brexit vote, and are now seeking to fulfil their dream of an utterly unregulated Britain, with no workers’ rights or environmental protections.
10.8.22
As the weather turns hostile, even in London, which is experiencing its hottest summer ever, I look at the dangerous disconnect between everyday life and the grim future that awaits us if we don’t take immediate and concerted action to address catastrophic climate change. Failed by politicians, by the oil and gas industry and by the mainstream media, can we find a way out of our predicament before it is too late?
5.8.22
My review of the WOMAD festival’s welcome return to Charlton Park in Wiltshire for the first time since 2019, and my reflections on the festival’s history, and my 20 years of attending and working in the children’s workshops, which culminate in a children’s procession through the festival site on its final evening.
27.11.21
My response to the shameful deaths of 27 refugees crossing the Channel to the UK, how it reflects appallingly on the Brexit-soaked racism and xenophobia of the Tory government, the right-wing media and far too many of the British people, and how counter-productive it is to be turning away immigrants when, post-Brexit, all manner of British businesses are critically short of workers.
9.7.21
As the wretched Tory government of Boris Johnson irresponsibly prepares to lift all Covid restrictions, I look at how the delusions of Brexit, which is crippling British businesses, have fed into a political climate in which the Tories’ irresponsible and sometimes criminal response to Covid gets overlooked, and how Johnson and his Cabinet prioritise whatever will keep them in power — opening up sports events, for example, and cynically capitalising on England’s success in the Euro 2020 championships, while almost entirely abandoning the country’s cultural sector. I also look at how, under Priti Patel, almost all immigration has been shut down (despite job shortages that are making many businesses unviable), as this particularly vile home secretary also seeks to stamp out all political dissent, as well as criminalising the way of life of Gypsies and Travellers.
29.5.20
As Boris Johnson defends Dominic Cummings’s shameful flouting of the coronavirus lockdown rules back in March and April, the outrage shows no sign of diminishing, as is entirely appropriate. Cummings has shown contempt for all the people who observed the lockdown rules, even when it involved great sacrifice and personal loss, and his refusal to resign – and Johnson’s defence of him – shows how both men believe, very fundamentally, that there is one rule for them, and another for the rest of us. Both of them must go.
21.12.19
Here’s a link to, and description of my most recent radio interview – about Boris Johnson’s lamentable victory in the UK’s recent General Election, and also about Guantánamo – with Chris Cook on his Gorilla Radio show in Victoria, Canada. Chris has been interviewing me on and off for ten years, mostly about Guantánamo, but occasionally about other topics, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about the dangerous state of British politics in the wake of Johnson’s victory.
14.12.19
My post-mortem on Thursday’s depressing General Election, which delivered a majority for the Tories under Boris Johnson, largely because of Johnson’s simplistic hammering home of a false promise to ‘Get Brexit Done’ at every opportunity. The slow and agonising reality of getting Brexit ‘done’ may, however – if there is any justice – eventually derail his shallow and deeply mendacious premiership.
11.12.19
My call to arms for tomorrow’s General Election, urging people to vote tactically to get the Tories out, and also calling for urgent reform of our profoundly unfair and unrepresentative first past the post voting system.
29.9.19
I look at the increasing violence of Brexiteers’ rhetoric regarding the UK leaving the EU, and my fears that the ideological civil war that Brexit represents is being stirred up by the disgraceful Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings into a much more physical manifestation of a civil war, even though Johnson – and his backers – are only really interested in a no-deal Brexit as a way of making huge amounts of money.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
Email Andy Worthington
Please support Andy Worthington, independent journalist: