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SubscriptionsColumn / Investigation: Democracy in Danger
The newspaper’s extensive reporting and analysis of the various threats to democracy from populism, oligarchy, dark money and online disinformation.
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Moldova Election: How Russia Tried and Failed to Hack the Vote
Russian operatives launched a vast online operation to sway the vote, bankrolled by Moscow and local proxies, Théo Provoust reports
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1,500 Pledge to Risk Arrest at ‘Largest Ever’ Protest Against Palestine Action Ban
Major demonstration in Trafalgar Square on Saturday could nearly double total of 1,600 arrested under terrorism laws since ban came into effect in July, organisers claim
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Calls for New Inquiry Into Russian Interference After Reform’s Former Welsh Leader Pleads Guilty to Bribery
As the Kremlin steps up its political interference efforts in the West, is it time for a new Russia Report?
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‘America’s Allies in Europe and Asia Are Stuck Between Trump and a Hard Place’
Trump’s Presidency has exposed the weaknesses at the heart of our global security alliances, argues Alexandra Hall Hall
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Kemi Badenoch’s ‘Free Speech’ Conservatives Ban Byline Times From Party Conference
The ban on covering the party’s annual gathering came despite Badenoch’s repeated commitment to “fight” for free speech and a free press
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Palestine Action Arrests Condemned as ‘Deeply Alarming’ While British Press Remains Silent
The Liberal Democrats described the arrests of campaigners against the ban on the group as a “dangerous precedent” for free speech, yet the British press remains largely silent about it
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Undue Influence: The Reform-Supporting Online Network Using AI to Monetise Anti-Migrant Hate
A prominent social media campaign for Brexit and Boris Johnson has morphed into a large-scale network boosting Reform and pushing anti-migrant hate, reports Katherine Denkinson
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Shock and Orr: Meet the Farage-Supporting ‘Philosopher King’ of British Authoritarianism
The Cambridge professor providing the intellectual underpinning for JD Vance and Nigel Farage, is described by one academic colleague as being ‘more Tommy Robinson than St Thomas Aquinas’
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‘Expect to be Arrested’ Met Police Warns as Hundreds Set to Defy Palestine Action Ban
The Met Police have promised mass arrests as over 500 people are expected to take part in a protest backing the banned direct action group on Saturday
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Reform’s Elon Musk-Style ‘DOLGE’ Team Accused of Making ‘False and Misleading’ Claims About Flagship Council
A Reform report into spending at Kent County Council was based largely on dubious claims made by the party’s own former chairman
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The Parliamentary Funding Loophole Allowing Murdoch To Dodge Scrutiny
‘MPs engaging with these groups may have no idea whose interests dominate the funding… allowing wealthy interests to quietly steer policy’
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‘House of the People’ Citizens’ Assembly Provides Alternative to UK’s Far-Right Descent’
The first sitting of the assembly recommended a ‘People’s Charter’, backed a wealth tax and an arms embargo on Israel
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‘Keir Starmer’s Government is Sleepwalking Britain Into the Grip of Trump-Supporting Big Tech’
The new ‘partnership’ between the UK Government and OpenAI is in reality a sellout to the one-sided interests of US tech corporations, argues Donald Campbell
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Democracy in Crisis as Half of Young People Fail to Register to Vote
As the UK Government extends the vote to 16 and 17 year olds, MPs warn that many young people believe politics is no longer offering anything for their lives
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Compulsory Voting Is Needed to Combat ‘Disastrously Low’ UK Turnout, Report Argues
Stark turnout gaps by class, race and age are creating ‘warped incentives’ for politicians, new analysis suggests
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‘Progressives Must Unite Against Nigel Farage and National Populism or Reform Will Win’
Neal Lawson on the series of numbers that really matter in UK politics right now
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Leading Lawyers Back Open Letter to Home Secretary Opposing Ban on Palestine Action
Senior barristers and campaigners warn Keir Starmer’s Government is ‘conflating peaceful protest with genuine terrorism’
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Claims that Online Misinformation Fears Are Overblown ‘Radically Understates’ the Scale of the Threat
Entire communities are now becoming locked into dangerous belief systems that are almost impossible to challenge, argues Eliot Higgins
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Public Trust in Government Collapses to Record Low as Demand for Electoral Reform Surges
New research finds record levels of support for a fairer voting system as trust in Government collapses to new lows
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Cambridge University Takes Own Professor to Court for Joining Pro-Palestine Protests
Protesters accuse university colleges of being “complicit in Israeli genocide” due to their investments in arms companies
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‘Geert Wilders Thought He Could Finally Push Through His Destructive Agenda – But He Ran Out Of Patience’
No government in recent history has produced so little new legislation – yet the damage caused is immense, writes Chris Keulemans
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Police to Get Powers to Ban Masks at Protests as Starmer’s Government Accused of ‘Copy and Pasting’ Conservative Plans
Human rights groups fear those wearing masks for health or religious reasons, and dissidents seeking to protect themselves from hostile foreign states, will be swept into the criminal justice system
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Government Urged to Adopt Automatic Voter Registration to Fix ‘Woefully Inefficient and Outdated System’
Campaigners believe ‘millions more could be enfranchised with no additional burden on individuals or extra cost’
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‘The Draconian Anti-Protest Laws That Are the Real Threat to Free Speech in the UK’
A new report calls on the Government to ‘look again’ at repealing laws passed under the last Conservative Government
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How Wales Became the Target of a Right Wing Culture War
Rachel Morris on the politicians and media organisations now cynically trying to exploit Wales for their own political gain
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‘I Was Targeted by a Hostile Crypto Spambot Swarm That Revealed How X’s Algorithm Has Been Truly Broken’
The automated block attack tricks the algorithm into thinking your account should be suppressed, reports Iain Overton
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Why the Home Office’s ‘AI Asylum Success Story’ Was Anything But
The Home Office briefed the media that their AI tool would save officials 44 years of working time. What they didn’t mention was all the mistakes that it made
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How French Activists Are Leading an ‘Urgent’ Fight Against the Surging Far Right
Melissa Chemam details the multifaceted resistance mobilising against far-right groups, Islamophobia and racism across the Channel
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Power, Visas, and the Politics of Exclusion: How Borders Are Being Used to Silence Dissent
Borders are now being used not just to prevent the passage of people, but of ideas too, argues Iain Overton
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‘Peter Mandelson’s Fixing of Keir Starmer’s Visit to Spytech Firm Palantir Raises Serious Questions’
Palantir was represented by a lobbying firm founded by Mandelson, Iain Overton and Max Colbert report
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How Nazi Race Science Conquered the White House, and is Coming for Your Democracy
One of the major ‘Dark Enlightenment’ influencers has stepped into the light, talking of the ‘negro problem’. Nafeez Ahmed explains how the Silicon Valley broligarchy has resurrected Nazi-inspired eugenics ideology and is already putting it into action
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Moscow’s Ties to the Georgian Regime Ran Through Kensington and Chelsea
Leaked documents reveal how UK firm Hunnewell Partners, controlled by alleged enablers of Georgia’s ruling oligarch, facilitated a top Putin crony’s attempts to exploit the collapse of a more than $1.5bn corruption scheme in Uzbekistan
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Protest Crackdown in Britain Now Amounts to ‘State Repression’ And the Labour Government is Continuing the Trend, Warn Campaigners
Infringements on the right to protest have been ’emboldened’ by successive governments, report argues
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Republican Activist Wins Police Settlement After Unlawful Arrest for Shouting at King Charles’ Proclamation
Thames Valley Police acknowledges arrest was unlawful but offers no formal apology as campaigner Symon Hill warns of ‘wider struggle’ to protect protest rights
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One Hundred Days of Protests: Georgia on the Crossroads between East and West
Zarina Zabrisky explores the cultural and political tensions of a country caught in the crossfire of global conflict
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Warning Over UK ‘Slide Towards Authoritarianism’ After Raft of Just Stop Oil Prison Sentences Are Upheld
The Court of Appeal upheld sentences totalling 35 years for climate activists
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Needs Musk: Minister Pledges Crackdown on ‘Dark Money’ in British Politics
Keir Starmer’s Government looks set to close loopholes that would allow foreign billionaires like Elon Musk to bankroll UK political parties
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The Loopholes That Allow MPs’ Corrupt Conflicts of Interests to Go Undetected
New research exposes the gaps in parliamentary rules which allow MPs to hide their donations, financial interests and client relationships from voters
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How the German Elections Were ‘Successfully Manipulated’ By Foreign Actors and AI-Generated Content
Social media posts using generative AI were widely circulated by far-right supporters and the AfD
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UK Taxpayers’ Cash Is Funding an Arms Firm Whose Biggest Shareholder Is Now Bankrolling Nigel Farage’s Reform UK
The UK Government’s big increase in defence spending will likely hugely benefit Reform UK’s biggest donor
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‘Reform’s Policies Are Dangerously Out of Step With Public Opinion and It’s Time the Media Started Scrutinising Them’
The British press has given Nigel Farage’s party a free ride for too long, argues Salman Shaheen
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‘Keir Starmer Must Embrace Proportional Representation and End the Coercive Duopoly Throttling Our Democracy’
Britain will never truly change for the better as long as Britain’s deeply unfair voting system remains in place, argues Neal Lawson
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‘Keir Starmer Must Accept These Hard Truths Before Meeting Donald Trump’
Before the Prime Minister heads to Washington he must wake up to the fact that the UK’s real allies may now lie elsewhere, argues UK diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
