@sundersays

@britishfuture. Author How to be a Patriot https://xitter.cf/t.co/2mVuOhKhxi Posting more under bluer skies now https://xitter.cf/t.co/58yFpmYU8o

London
Joined September 2008
My interview in today's Guardian on identity: patriotism and flags, control and compassion on asylum & racism online and offline
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"Oh God, we're all gonna end up in the papers"
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Warning: Distressing and graphic language An undercover investigation by ITV Exposure into Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has found multiple elected councillors and party candidates expressing racist views and using offensive language. ITV has obtained secretly recorded footage showing Reform officials from across England and Wales using violent, racist and sexist language. Councillors Alan Feeney, Chris Whelan and Jamie Campbell did not reply to our request for comment. Councillors Feeney and Whelan have since resigned from Reform UK. In a statement shared with ITV News, Reform UK said: "Where members, activists and councillors have clearly behaved inappropriately, investigations have commenced. In some cases, there have been suspensions and due process must be followed." "Reform UK has improved and prioritised its vetting procedures, but from time to time, a handful of individuals who do not share our values will initially make it through vetting. This is the same for all organisations."
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It is quite striking how this polemic against Farage also simply side-steps the question that Lowe says that Farage is side-stepping. He does not say that Rishi Sunak + Ian Wright are not English. (He rightly says they are not ethnically English)
Farage apparently thinks the question of Englishness is an “academic debate”, in his words, that is not worth engaging in - a simply extraordinary thing to say. We are witnessing profound demographic change across Britain, and the leader of Reform thinks the meaning of English identity is a subject to be brushed aside because he’s scared of being called a few unpleasant names. Englishness is NOT an academic debate. The English are a historic people. We have our own ancestry, heritage, culture, traditions and national identity. Incredibly, Farage disagrees with that. My view, and Restore Britain's view, is clear. We are not simply a collection of passport holders living within a geographical boundary. And acknowledging the existence of the historic English people does not mean denying that others can develop a genuine attachment and belonging to our nation, but that does not make them ethnically English. A government can print a passport, sadly we all know that - it CANNOT falsely manufacture centuries of history or ancestral roots. The historic English people have a home - it’s called England, and we have nowhere else to go. And yes, in that home, the English are being demographically replaced. That’s just a fact. It’s happening all over Britain, it’s happened all over Britain. Go to East London, Rochdale, Luton, Birmingham, Blackburn, Bradford. I could go on. This is NOT an academic debate. This is our home, or at least it was. Farage is simply not the man to save it. You cannot claim to defend a nation when you refuse to even acknowledge its historic people because you might get your feelings hurt. The hour is simply too late for that pathetic level of gutlessness. The English are not an academic abstract afterthought. We will not have our history and entire existence erased because cowardly politicians don’t have the courage to state the truth. We are a people, and England is our home. Restore Britain will defend it.
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Lowe (sensibly) avoids saying any of these things, which his supporters think & he does not - "I don't think Marcus Rashford can be English" - "I don't think Rishi Sunak can be English" - "I agree with Braverman that it takes ancestry before somebody can be in any way English"
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Lowe seems closer to Farage than Braverman in his view of English national identity - it does include Marcus Rashford - which he does not see as identical to the English ethnic group. He is signalling challenge to Farage, to overshadow the agreement on the contested question
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Do other tweeters see more political gain or risk if Reform adopt the lines promoted by @RaheemKassam that Badenoch is a "Nigerian scammer" or "woke anchor baby" who should never be PM Should Reform/Restore run on this message - or see it as an illegitimate attack?
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Tory chair Hollinrake challenges Kassam's attacks on Badenoch. Kassam says Tory chair hurls "woke, leftist terms". Reform say Kassam has no official role. (Mail on Sunday) but don't say if "Nigerian anchor baby who should never be PM" is politics/prejudice dailymail.com/news/article-1…
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Sunder Katwala retweeted
Brilliant investigation by @thetimes Insight team into a relatively recent incident in Syria where soldiers took split second decisions in the heat of combat. One SAS soldier's home was raided at night time by the Royal Military Police who asked them to remove the baby from the cot incase he had hidden anything there. One SAS soldier "forfeited his lifelong savings to pay for legal support after the Ministry of Defence capped its support to legal aid and a handout of no more than £500". Unsurprisingly, all the SAS soldiers investigated over two deaths in Syria have now left the military. Despite no charges, they remain on a police database which has stopped them living abroad. thetimes.com/article/7aa0380…
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For those who want a govt from the right to beat Labour Do you hope for cooperation between a) Reform+ Restore [not Tories] b) Tories+Reform [not Restore] c) Tories+Reform + Restore d) Tories+Restore [not Reform] Or no deals, where e) Tories prevail f) Reform prevail g) Restore
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The Telegraph asked me to comment on 4,102 babies with the surname Smith and 3,772 with the surname Khan being among 558, 988 babies born in England. "These new Smiths and Khans will all go to school together in a few years, alongside children with many other surnames", I note.
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On Robert Jenrick's journey: my @TheNewWorldmag piece on their substack thenewworld.substack.com/p/t…
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Interesting rebuttal of the idea 7% for Restore split the vote as Labour beat Refotm 32.8% to 31.3% for Refotm by 53 votes on a 15% swing
🚨 SO MUCH FOR “SPLITTING THE VOTE”! 🚨 📊 Shepshed by-election result: 🔴 Labour: 32.8% (+14.9) 🔵 Reform: 31.3% (-13.6) 🌳 Conservatives: 23.1% (-2.4) 🇬🇧 Restore Britain: 6.4% (NEW) Reform’s vote actually DROPPED by 13.6 percentage points, while Restore Britain secured 6.4% in a contest where we’re a brand-new party. Well done Alex McKenzie and the team! And if you think the Conservatives are a right-wing party, you’re out of your mind. Stop blaming Restore Britain for everything. The established parties need to start asking why voters are turning away from them. 🇬🇧 Restore Britain is here to stay. #RestoreBritain
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Reforn Councillor wanted King beheaded for being a 'secret Muslim' (ITV news) itv.com/news/2026-10-14/insi…
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A Reform Councillor wanted the King beheaded, believing he is a secret Muslim, he told an undercover reporter
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It does seem that some of X's instincts about the question of who is English + Badenoch's challenge to racism are in a different place from the general public as a whole.
Replying to @LukeTryl
Sometimes suggested Conservative politicians held back from criticising Reform because of fear of alienating voters they lost to them at 2024 election. Yet what is interesting is the biggest jump in her favourability seeing the Englishness criticism clip is Reform 2024 voters
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Sunder Katwala retweeted
In PMQs Burnham praised Badenoch's conference speech criticism of some Reform politicians definition of Englishness. We played that speech clip to half our sample. Among those who saw it Badenoch's net favourability jumps 13 to +21 Farage's drops 11 to -35 Burnham's flat at +14
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