A Defining Week by Shane Bray
They say a week is a long time in politics, and the past seven days have certainly proved that point. I’m sure Angela has breathed a sigh of relief!
We were all shaken by the devastating news of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Although I wasn’t a die-hard follower, I admired much of what he stood for. I didn’t agree with him on every point—but on many, we shared common ground. What set Kirk apart was his willingness to debate in good faith. He consistently engaged with those who saw the world very differently, and in today’s climate of echo chambers and tribalism, that is rare and refreshing.
Ironically, only a week before his death, someone blocked me on Facebook during a short exchange about Ged Hall in Farnham—apparently because I was pro-Reform. The exchange made me laugh, but it underlined something troubling: how petulant and shallow political debate has become. Too often people refuse to even hear the other side. Charlie warned us eloquently about the dangers of shutting down dialogue, and his untimely death makes that warning all the more poignant.
Kirk’s passing also reignited discussion about freedom of speech. On that note, what a rally we saw at the weekend! Sadly, I couldn’t attend due to a family commitment, but it was uplifting to see. Predictably, the mainstream media have already sought to smear the event, despite the fact that arrests were minimal—just 5% of those seen at Notting Hill Carnival. And yet, after Carnival, we always hear voices from the left rushing to defend it. The hypocrisy is glaring.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has descended into familiar scenes of political psychodrama. In fairness to Keir Starmer, he has united people—but only against him. This weekend made clear that the knives are out. Unlike the Conservatives, who at least replaced their leader with sitting MPs, there now appears to be a concerted effort to parachute in Andy Burnham.
Make no mistake: this is the beginning of the end of Starmer’s leadership. Even Labour insiders doubt he will still be Prime Minister by Christmas. While I would welcome his downfall, we must be clear-eyed—whatever replaces him will not serve the country any better. Labour is fundamentally unfit to govern, torn between appeasing its hard-left factions and fending off the rise of Reform. They know we will devastate them in next May’s local elections, and that if an election were held tomorrow, Starmer would be replaced by Farage.
Wherever Burnham tries to land, Reform must oppose him vigorously. It is a return to the bad old days of the 19th century, when the Tories used to take Prime Ministers from the House of Lords, to install as Prime Minister someone who is not even an MP—never elected to Parliament as part of this government. We must fight that battle with everything we have.
The Mandelson fiasco has far from run its course, this is almost certainly the beginning of the end for Starmer and we need to keep pushing for answers to important questions, such as who’s idea was it to appoint Mandelson, and why? Although I have long parted ways with the conservatives I will allow Badenoch some credit, and say it was refreshing to see her actually find her feet for a change in PMQ’s! However, the conservatives are still in no position to govern and have a legacy of 14 years of failure!
Returning to Charlie Kirk, I have been struck by the number of people who effectively cancelled themselves by celebrating his death—only to then claim they were victims of “cancel culture.” Let’s be clear: losing your job for publicly cheering the death of another human being is not censorship, it’s accountability. Most organisations rightly want no association with individuals who display such warped judgment.
Real cancel culture is when debate is shut down and people are excommunicated simply for holding views outside the establishment orthodoxy—an orthodoxy largely dictated by the left without open discussion. By contrast, being sacked for celebrating murder is a consequence of behaviour, not suppression of opinion.
The irony is staggering, many who call themselves “anti-fascist/antifa” openly celebrated the death of a man whose only “crime” was to think differently to them. That, to me, looks far closer to fascism than anything Charlie Kirk ever represented. Time and again, people would turn up to his events hurling the word “fascist,” yet when challenged to define it, they stumbled or fell silent. That alone speaks volumes.
Shane Bray is Vice-Chair of Reform UK Godalming and Ash branch.
Image credit on main page: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia