Notes on the New Radicalism

1 week ago | jakewallissimons.substack.com | Jake Wallis Simons

I’m convinced: Keir Starmer is a Russian spy. It’s the only plausible explanation. Today it emerged that the Government’s national security review is to expand the definition of “defence spending” to include broadband, Heathrow’s third runway, economic stability, food prices, supply chains and reducing crime.

2 weeks ago | jakewallissimons.substack.com | Jake Wallis Simons

In Britain’s latest act of betrayal, today the government has sanctioned two Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have made a name for themselves with inflammatory rhetoric about Gaza. Did Israel sanction Jeremy Corbyn back when he was leader of the opposition? It did not. I’m not defending the pair. But it shows how profoundly the government – which has failed to proscribe Iran’s IRGC or ban the Muslim Brotherhood – has lost its way.

Mar 24, 2025 | jakewallissimons.substack.com | Jake Wallis Simons

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Mar 19, 2025 | jakewallissimons.substack.com | Jake Wallis Simons

Did nobody at the benefits office notice the irony of approving a £52,770, taxpayer-funded BMW for people who claim disability allowance because they wet the bed at night? What about all those vehicles doled out to those with Munchausen Syndrome, which, as Allison Pearson points out today, is “a psychological condition where someone feigns symptoms of illness to gain sympathy or attention”? But irony is in short supply these days, having gone the way of intelligence.

Mar 9, 2025 | jakewallissimons.substack.com | Jake Wallis Simons

Last month, when intrepid podcasters Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell bravely made their way to newly liberated Syria to interview Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — who had exchanged his combat fatigues for a golden tie and jacket for the occasion — it all felt a bit rum. On X, Campbell posted: “This is why we were in Syria. Long interview with fighter turned President Ahmed al-Sharaa. We discuss on RestIsPolitics tomorrow and the full interview out on LEADING Monday.