Threats to justice and democracy in a tin-pot dictatorship

It was clear from the start that this Labour government was incompetent, but now it has turned dangerous.

- Sam Lister Deputy Editor

With the stroke of a pen, mayoral elections were cancelled in four areas — all regions that were on course for a Reform victory.The announcement came shortly after a decision to scrap the 800-year-old right to a jury trial in most cases.

Just for good measure, the Home Office says it intends to expand the use of facial recognition technology. So in the space of a week, this government has ramped up mass surveillance while taking away people’s rights. They are the actions of a tinpot dictatorship.

Imagine the shrieking from the Left if President Donald Trump had so cavalierly dispensed with such inconveniences as democracy and justice.

Whether Keir Starmer is deliberately trying to put Britain on the path to becoming an authoritarian state or not is irrelevant, the outcome is the same and it is deeply sinister.

Nigel Farage is, understandably, furious about the changes to elections, which for the second year running have denied him the chance to make major gains.

The Reform UK leader held an emergency press conference to denounce the government’s actions. He said: “It is, frankly, a very authoritarian government. It doesn’t really believe in liberty. It doesn’t really believe in individual freedom and it doesn’t believe in democracy either.”