Author Archives: bernardporter2013

In Britain a crucial economic decision – the government taking over control of the steel industry – requires the recall of Parliament to endorse it; which it did today. Over in the USA the President, entirely on his own, makes … Continue reading →

The Swedish Vänsterpartiet (‘Left Party’: formerly Communist but no longer) is currently being attacked on exactly the same specious grounds as Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party was a few years ago. (See Asa Winstanley, Weaponising Anti-Semitism, OR Books, New York, 2023.) … Continue reading →

Here’s the Rektor of Stockholm’s equivalent of the LSE, describing the Trumpian assault on America’s universities, and the resulting exodus of some of their top academics to European and Canadian universities; and making the same point as I did yesterday … Continue reading →

Historians are usually quite good at pointing out precedents for what is happening in their own times. But I’m afraid I can’t think of any close precedents for what is going on today. For the clear ‘Fascist’ tendencies in modern … Continue reading →

‘For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike’. That was the line Donald Trump took on Tuesday (April 2), to justify the long list of ‘reciprocal’ American … Continue reading →

I’m still astonished by the revelation that the American Constitution gives so much unchecked power (as it seems at present) to a single person. George III had nothing like the same authority; and some of his royal predecessors met gruesome … Continue reading →

Easy, isn’t it? – USA gets Greenland, Russia gets Ukraine, China gets Taiwan. All neat and tidy. Everyone agrees. No more wars. Back to the 1790s: https://bernardjporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/caricature_gillray_plumpudding.jpg. (See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/28/putins-endorsement-of-trumps-greenland-takeover-reflects-their-vision-of-a-new-world-order.)

For academics a crucial aspect of ‘Fascism’ is the way it plays out in universities. As a retired academic I’ve been shocked by some of the reports coming from America over the past month featuring censorship of free speech in … Continue reading →

Ages ago I considered the idea of researching and writing a history of the political ‘Right’ in Britain, following on from my works on ‘imperialism’ and its enemies. I’ve still got notes on this, in a file somewhere back in … Continue reading →

You must see this four-part British TV series, recently released on Netflix, and starring Stephen Graham, whose craggy face will be familiar to you; and a new boy actor, Owen Cooper. Both are transcendingly good, and the film a great … Continue reading →