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Peter Mandelson’s exit from public office in disgrace over his links to the millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein should have been a low point for the government. Instead, it exposed a leadership in trouble, with further to fall. Sir Keir Starmer defended his ambassador after No 10 had seen the emails that sank him. Whether or not the prime minister read them, the damage is becoming institutionalised. Labour looks adrift – consumed by infighting as darker forces gather beyond Westminster.
At the weekend, more than 110,000 marched through London in Britain’s largest far-right rally in decades. Organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, and billed as a “festival of free speech”, it quickly descended into conspiracy theories, Islamophobia and anti-migrant bigotry. There was violence: 26 police officers were injured. Stirring the pot was the far-right billionaire Elon Musk, dialling in via video link, who called for the dissolution of parliament and incited violence; the French rightwinger Éric Zemmour pushed the “great replacement” lie – a white nationalist myth of engineered demographic change. Maga hats, US flags and “Send them home” signs made it feel more Mar-a-Lago than Millbank.
The story here is not just scale, though that is striking. It is that the far right is increasingly organised, transnational and opportunistic. While Labour was self-injuring, Mr Robinson and his allies staged a large-scale political mobilisation, laced with shocking aggression. British grievance, alarmingly, is now louder, American-branded and better funded.
The killing of the American far-right influencer Charlie Kirk threw fuel on to the fire. The US right has swiftly turned the death of Kirk – shot dead at a university campus event – into a rallying cry. His widow promised that his mission would grow stronger. Donald Trump refused to call for calm – instead blaming the radical left and striking a vengeful tone. It was a moment to de-escalate. He, unsurprisingly, chose not to. Mr Trump has a track record of inflaming hatred and using violence for political gain. It is appalling that Britain will roll out the red carpet for him this week.
This is the climate in which British politics now finds itself. One in which liberal democracies are not being overturned, but eroded – hollowed out from within by voter disillusionment. And Labour, the party supposedly committed to democratic renewal, is floundering. Sir Keir’s response to the Mandelson debacle was too slow. His leadership is under pressure from MPs, ministers and unions – and he shows little sense of the growing threat from the far right.
The lesson is clear: populist movements succeed not just because of what they offer, but because of what their opponents fail to provide. The US seems now trapped in a media and political ecosystem that profits from division and hate. Nothing good awaits Britain following on a path of rage and despair – fertile ground for political exploitation by unscrupulous politicians. Elected representatives here must bridge divisions, not widen them.
With Reform UK topping the polls, wages growing slowly and the NHS not improving quickly enough amid political dissatisfaction, Labour cannot retreat into technocratic management. Voters want clear direction and meaningful change – not stumbles and poor judgment. Democracy does not fail in a single moment. It corrodes. But democratic collapse happens like bankruptcy: gradually, then suddenly. The stakes could not be higher. This crisis may not stop at Downing Street – it could engulf the entire political system.
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