Everyone, even centrist-in-chief Rory Stewart, agrees that Britain needs reform. Crime, violent and petty, goes unpunished. Economic growth has flatlined since the Great Financial Crisis. Britons, especially young ones, are ashamed of their country. There lies the fundamental appeal of the Reform campaign: the current way, however articulated, isn't working and so the country needs something radically different. The party catapulted itself to the third most popular in Britain at the summer's General Election with a bold promise to break the two-party duopoly, reduce net migration to zero from its sky-high startpoint, and simultaneously cut taxes for everyone while reducing the budget. First Past the Post's tendency to protect established players prevented Reform from winning more than five seats outright. Nonetheless, the party's millions of votes nationwide made it a kingmaker in numerous constituencies and inaugurated a new era in British politics. The Labour Party...
Trump, emboldened by electoral victory last November, is governing unrestrained. He straddles the Western hemisphere as Punch's Rhodes did Africa, spanning everything from the Panama Canal to Greenland and the Great White North with the threat of mass deportations, import tariffs, and outright annexations. That he is discussing the futures of sovereign countries with democratically elected, internationally recognised leaders is all but a footnote to his one-page memorandum to see America win again. He wields his baton of choice, tarriff by executive order, with all the confidence of a Victorian policeman. It is increasingly clear, where it was not before, what Trump's priorities will be in his second term. Confusion abounded between November and January as to what Trump 2.0 would look like. His executive branch nominees included both union fanatics and business leaders, both loyalist lawyers and venture capitalists. A rift appeared in the MAGA coalition following the appointmen...