Thank you Nick - it's particularly important that young people understand this history. I'm a dual national (with dual anxiety) and have just returned from my home state of Vermont (Bernie Sanders country). Readers might be interested in the following statement from its (Republican) Governor.
Statement from Governor Phil Scott on the Assassination of Charlie Kirk
Press Release
September 10, 2025
The heartbreaking assassination of Charlie Kirk is a painful reminder, to all of us, of why increasing polarization is so dangerous and can lead to political violence. My thoughts are with Charlie’s wife Erika, children, family, colleagues, and friends during this difficult time.
Our country continues to become more fractured, more violent, and more partisan – and we should all feel a sense of a responsibility to change that.
There is no doubt, our nation is broken. But, we’ve experienced difficult situations before and have shown just how powerful our country is when we are united, listen to the perspectives of others, treat each other with respect, and rise above the dangerous rhetoric we’re seeing more often.
We must strive to find common ground, at the most basic human level, so we can engage in the free exchange of conflicting ideas and the open debate that we desperately need to solve problems and help people.
Whilst the US hopefully retains the strength to undo this damage, could I be so bold as to suggest we in the UK need to remain vigilant.
Last Saturdays proto-fascist day out luckily passed off with little violence, but it did show that enough people can be fooled enough of the time to get a big crowd.
We can't be sure that subsequent, well-funded calls for violent overthrow of the UK govt (thanks but no thanks Elon) will pass off without incident. Especially with the rich and powerful pulling the strings
Russia has a pretty good constitution with separation of powers, individual rights, fair trials etc. Putin proved that a great constitution isn't worth the paper it's written on if the society doesn't have the necessary critical mass of democratic sentiment. At the moment I'm trying to convince myself that normie America is in a better place than the indentitarian left/MAGA subtacks are giving me cause to believe!
Nick, I do not disagree with anything you say in this piece. I have just finished reading Yascha Mounk's book, The Identity Trap, and as I read it, I was thinking, yeah, the biters bit with Trump's attack on the "woke". But that is not the point I want to raise. The point is this. Can Trump really roll over big states like California or Illinois, with powerful governors prepared to push back? I do not know the answer, but it seems to me that these may be power centres that cannot be easily subgated. America is not Hungary, nor is it Russia. We will see. But one thing is clear. We Europeans, and that includes the UK, need to take charge of our own destiny. The old order is gone, and it is not coming back.
Fascism is here in the US because it appeals...and always has...to a certain element in this country. Look at how popular the German American Bund was in the 1930s. Trump and the right wing billionaires funding him are the latest iteration of this cancer, and now have unleashed the worst of the worst upon us, and the world. Britain should not have given this cretin a second visit. It simply legitimize him.
Instead of attempting to match events today to those of 90 years ago, 'is this a Reichtag fire moment' etc it would be more worthwhile comparing the differences between them and now. Even fairley junior historians like me know that apart from rampart inflation which ruined the middle classes there was a split in the ruling class about supporting the Nazis and an incredibly embedded Communist Party that rivaled the fascists in terms of votes and street demonstrations. Completely different conditions exist today. My very left wing MP declares that he is 'very frightened' about the future. It is frightening if we think that history will repeat itself but it certainly will not. Even as tragedy but maybe as farce.
Why bother Nigel? You always seem to be lurking in Nick's comments with some criticism or other. Can't you find some MAGA/Reform writer that you like and agree with?
It's great to see people with opposing views in these comments, however it would be a lot more interesting if you explained why you think the article is sick.
Its sick….. because its not about thinking what’s good for the citizens but what can feed the left leaning ideology and use as much polarized hate to make the case to support it… It’s not about truth or flexing political position inside of democracy to suit the situation its just destructive.
The good news is that the vote will be made by sensible and balanced people based on the need they see for the future of the nation and its citizens.
You seem to be making the assumption that polarized to the left. Surely you can see that there is a lot of hate coming from the right as well? It's clear both in the UK and the US (any speeches by Trump, Vance, Kirk, Farage, Tice, Musk will contain plenty of examples to choose from). In an attempt to move away from the dangerous polarization we're seeing, which doesn't serve the voters, would you agree that people from all political views should begin by pointing out the hateful speech coming from their own side and making it clear that they dissociate themselves from it?
Not sure what vote you're referring to in the last sentence, as I don't see any mention of that in the article.
by vote i ment when people vote in a future election........ What do you mean by hate?.... maybe you confuse saying the truth with hate?... give me some examples of what you call hate.. or is it just what you disagree with?
Thank you Nick - it's particularly important that young people understand this history. I'm a dual national (with dual anxiety) and have just returned from my home state of Vermont (Bernie Sanders country). Readers might be interested in the following statement from its (Republican) Governor.
Statement from Governor Phil Scott on the Assassination of Charlie Kirk
Press Release
September 10, 2025
The heartbreaking assassination of Charlie Kirk is a painful reminder, to all of us, of why increasing polarization is so dangerous and can lead to political violence. My thoughts are with Charlie’s wife Erika, children, family, colleagues, and friends during this difficult time.
Our country continues to become more fractured, more violent, and more partisan – and we should all feel a sense of a responsibility to change that.
There is no doubt, our nation is broken. But, we’ve experienced difficult situations before and have shown just how powerful our country is when we are united, listen to the perspectives of others, treat each other with respect, and rise above the dangerous rhetoric we’re seeing more often.
We must strive to find common ground, at the most basic human level, so we can engage in the free exchange of conflicting ideas and the open debate that we desperately need to solve problems and help people.
Whilst the US hopefully retains the strength to undo this damage, could I be so bold as to suggest we in the UK need to remain vigilant.
Last Saturdays proto-fascist day out luckily passed off with little violence, but it did show that enough people can be fooled enough of the time to get a big crowd.
We can't be sure that subsequent, well-funded calls for violent overthrow of the UK govt (thanks but no thanks Elon) will pass off without incident. Especially with the rich and powerful pulling the strings
Oh sure and we don't have the same constitutional protections
Russia has a pretty good constitution with separation of powers, individual rights, fair trials etc. Putin proved that a great constitution isn't worth the paper it's written on if the society doesn't have the necessary critical mass of democratic sentiment. At the moment I'm trying to convince myself that normie America is in a better place than the indentitarian left/MAGA subtacks are giving me cause to believe!
Nick, I do not disagree with anything you say in this piece. I have just finished reading Yascha Mounk's book, The Identity Trap, and as I read it, I was thinking, yeah, the biters bit with Trump's attack on the "woke". But that is not the point I want to raise. The point is this. Can Trump really roll over big states like California or Illinois, with powerful governors prepared to push back? I do not know the answer, but it seems to me that these may be power centres that cannot be easily subgated. America is not Hungary, nor is it Russia. We will see. But one thing is clear. We Europeans, and that includes the UK, need to take charge of our own destiny. The old order is gone, and it is not coming back.
I know that is a strong ground for hope. As I say in the piece, we are about to find out what the US constitution is made of
Fascism is here in the US because it appeals...and always has...to a certain element in this country. Look at how popular the German American Bund was in the 1930s. Trump and the right wing billionaires funding him are the latest iteration of this cancer, and now have unleashed the worst of the worst upon us, and the world. Britain should not have given this cretin a second visit. It simply legitimize him.
Exactly. Short term gain and long term worthless gesture.
Would the NRA qualify as an NGO that "facilitates violence"? Hopefully Trump goes after them too.
I seem to recall that Thatcher wanted to describe some people as the enemy within
Instead of attempting to match events today to those of 90 years ago, 'is this a Reichtag fire moment' etc it would be more worthwhile comparing the differences between them and now. Even fairley junior historians like me know that apart from rampart inflation which ruined the middle classes there was a split in the ruling class about supporting the Nazis and an incredibly embedded Communist Party that rivaled the fascists in terms of votes and street demonstrations. Completely different conditions exist today. My very left wing MP declares that he is 'very frightened' about the future. It is frightening if we think that history will repeat itself but it certainly will not. Even as tragedy but maybe as farce.
This is one sick article....
Why bother Nigel? You always seem to be lurking in Nick's comments with some criticism or other. Can't you find some MAGA/Reform writer that you like and agree with?
You are welcome to go there too..
It's great to see people with opposing views in these comments, however it would be a lot more interesting if you explained why you think the article is sick.
Its sick….. because its not about thinking what’s good for the citizens but what can feed the left leaning ideology and use as much polarized hate to make the case to support it… It’s not about truth or flexing political position inside of democracy to suit the situation its just destructive.
The good news is that the vote will be made by sensible and balanced people based on the need they see for the future of the nation and its citizens.
You seem to be making the assumption that polarized to the left. Surely you can see that there is a lot of hate coming from the right as well? It's clear both in the UK and the US (any speeches by Trump, Vance, Kirk, Farage, Tice, Musk will contain plenty of examples to choose from). In an attempt to move away from the dangerous polarization we're seeing, which doesn't serve the voters, would you agree that people from all political views should begin by pointing out the hateful speech coming from their own side and making it clear that they dissociate themselves from it?
Not sure what vote you're referring to in the last sentence, as I don't see any mention of that in the article.
by vote i ment when people vote in a future election........ What do you mean by hate?.... maybe you confuse saying the truth with hate?... give me some examples of what you call hate.. or is it just what you disagree with?