Home
ABOUT US
ABOUT US

Our mission

The team

Members’ EVENTS
TOPICS
TOPICS

Culture

Politics

Tech

Investigations

columnists
columnists

Stewart Lee

Philippa Perry

Natasha Walter

REGULARS
REGULARS

Hotlist

Recommender

Q&A

Review of the week

Weekend dish

sUBSCRIBE
Search

POLITICS


Politics

Iran is winning the propaganda war against Trump – brick by brick

Apr 17, 2026

•

3 min read

Iran is winning the propaganda war against Trump – brick by brick

Tehran’s viral videos satirising a Lego-style president have harnessed the power of AI – and Maga’s debasing of political discourse – and turned it against the US, writes disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz

Politics

With Orbán gone, has the British far right lost its magic money tree?

Apr 14, 2026

•

7 min read

With Orbán gone, has the British far right lost its magic money tree?

Hungary’s new PM has described his predecessor’s funding of propaganda bodies as criminal and vowed to investigate. This could be bad news for ultraconservatives in the UK – and around the rest of the world, writes Alice McCool

Alice McCool
Alice McCool

Politics

The five ways Trump could attempt a coup, by fascism expert Timothy Snyder

Apr 12, 2026

•

9 min read

The five ways Trump could attempt a coup, by fascism expert Timothy Snyder

Despite the debacle in Iran, a president at war has several pressure points at his disposal to postpone, restrict and ultimately cancel democracy, writes the historian

Timothy Snyder
Timothy Snyder

Politics

John Simpson: Today, governments can get away with anything. Israel is getting away with journacide

Apr 10, 2026

•

9 min read

John Simpson: Today, governments can get away with anything. Israel is getting away with journacide

There used to be some sense that killing a reporter would mean serious consequences. Now that understanding has vanished, writes the BBC’s world affairs editor

John Simpson
John Simpson

Politics

Israel is waging war on Lebanon. Why is the world calling it a "ground operation"?

Apr 8, 2026

•

8 min read

Israel is waging war on Lebanon. Why is the world calling it a "ground operation"?

I’ve known Lebanon for three decades. What’s happening there now is an invasion. This is Gaza 2.0 – and the world is barely paying attention. By Carole Cadwalladr

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr

Politics

Nigel Farage wants to build a British ICE. Keir Starmer may have handed him the tools

Apr 8, 2026

•

11 min read

Nigel Farage wants to build a British ICE. Keir Starmer may have handed him the tools

Reform’s proposed "Deportation Command” would integrate NHS, police and financial data into a single surveillance database. Meanwhile, Palantir has signalled it won’t stand in their way, and campaigners say Labour’s new data law opens the door. By Rei Takver

Rei Takver
Rei Takver

Politics

Election day is coming for Orbán and Hungary – and this time we dare to dream he may be toppled

Apr 2, 2026

•

9 min read

Election day is coming for Orbán and Hungary – and this time we dare to dream he may be toppled

The prime minister has swept all before him for 16 years. But now his authoritarian facade is crumbling – and a challenger is offering a hope we had all but abandoned, writes novelist Krisztián Marton

Politics

Fake quotes, factual errors and ChatGPT links – my bizarre journey into Matt Goodwin’s new book

Mar 24, 2026

•

8 min read

Fake quotes, factual errors and ChatGPT links – my bizarre journey into Matt Goodwin’s new book

The Reform UK candidate’s polemic Suicide of a Nation claims to expose a toxic elite leading Britain to annihilation, but my close reading revealed a mix of phantom sources and falsehoods. Then MattGPT answered back... By Andy Twelves

Andy Twelves
Andy Twelves

Politics

In a world of war, abuse and rising fascism, ‘woke’ was never the enemy

Mar 20, 2026

•

15 min read

In a world of war, abuse and rising fascism, ‘woke’ was never the enemy

Mainstream conservatives and even centrists rounded on progressive culture as though it were a threat to society. Now they see where the real threat lay, writes Dorian Lynskey

Dorian Lynskey
Dorian Lynskey

Politics

General Sir Richard Shirreff: Trump is trapped in a doomed war. What should Britain do now?

Mar 17, 2026

•

6 min read

General Sir Richard Shirreff: Trump is trapped in a doomed war. What should Britain do now?

The US is deploying tactics without strategy in its hubristic attack on Iran. The UK cannot afford to join it in its mistake, writes the former senior Nato commander

Politics

‘It beggars belief’: MoD sources warn Palantir’s role at heart of government is threat to UK’s security

Mar 13, 2026

•

10 min read

‘It beggars belief’: MoD sources warn Palantir’s role at heart of government is threat to UK’s security

Experts say that claims UK data remains under government ownership miss the point that the company has the capability to build its own detailed picture of the British population, and even infer state secrets. Report by Charlie Young and Carole Cadwalladr

Charlie Young
Charlie Young

Politics

This is Netanyahu’s war. Trump was just afraid of missing out

Mar 13, 2026

•

7 min read

This is Netanyahu’s war. Trump was just afraid of missing out

For four decades, the Israeli premier has wanted to attack Iran but could never persuade a US president to join him. Former diplomat Arthur Snell asks: what’s changed?

Arthur Snell
Arthur Snell

Politics

The public remembers Iraq. Why doesn't the press?

Mar 10, 2026

•

7 min read

The public remembers Iraq. Why doesn't the press?

Seven in 10 Britons are sceptical about UK involvement in Iran, but their newspapers have other ideas. Some of us recall the last time Fleet Street was so disastrously in favour of war, writes former Observer home affairs editor Martin Bright

Politics

Hooked on dopamine, fuelled by testosterone, powered by AI: this is the broligarchs’ war

Mar 10, 2026

•

10 min read

Hooked on dopamine, fuelled by testosterone, powered by AI: this is the broligarchs’ war

Three weeks ago, briefly, the world was focused on Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women and girls. Now, as conflict rages, the tide of hyper-masculinity has risen again, writes Carole Cadwalladr

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr

Politics

Parliament: this House urgently needs more plumbers

Mar 10, 2026

•

8 min read

Parliament: this House urgently needs more plumbers

Britain’s ailing construction industry should be embracing high-profile figures like builder-turned-MP Hannah Spencer. And why is the built environment media largely ignoring this positive news, asks architecture writer Phineas Harper

Politics

For GB News’s funders, a £130m loss is a small price to pay for vast influence

Mar 6, 2026

•

8 min read

For GB News’s funders, a £130m loss is a small price to pay for vast influence

The channel of “reactionary rage bait” has just released its latest accounts, which are yet another demonstration that there’s no shortage of funds on the right of British politics, argues Sam Bright

Sam Bright
Sam Bright

Politics

The Greens aren’t ‘extreme’, PM: they’re just behaving like Labour should

Mar 3, 2026

•

6 min read

The Greens aren’t ‘extreme’, PM: they’re just behaving like Labour should

After a heavy byelection defeat, Starmer only sounded absurd by implying that the winner – popular local councillor Hannah Spencer – was ready to ‘tear the country apart’, writes Sangita Myska

Sangita Myska
Sangita Myska

Politics

Shattered windows, broken rules ... and victory! The medics who protested against the climate emergency

Feb 27, 2026

•

11 min read

Shattered windows, broken rules ... and victory! The medics who protested against the climate emergency

In the latest blow to draconian restraints on the right to protest, six doctors and nurses linked to Extinction Rebellion were dramatically acquitted last week. A play about their trial aims to shine a light on a barely publicised case. Claire Armitstead tells their story

Claire Armitstead
Claire Armitstead

Politics

Could Manchester go turquoise (or Green)? No-one from Reform would speak to us

Feb 25, 2026

•

8 min read

Could Manchester go turquoise (or Green)? No-one from Reform would speak to us

John Sweeney visits Gorton and Denton to talk to voters and candidates ahead of this week's byelection. He has little joy at Reform HQ, and potential voters seem shy. Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer, however, is happily hitting the doorsteps...

John Sweeney
John Sweeney

Politics

Peter Mandelson, the Russian superyacht and the scandal we completely misread

Feb 24, 2026

•

14 min read

Peter Mandelson, the Russian superyacht and the scandal we completely misread

When Britain's most powerful political fixer was caught on an oligarch's boat in Corfu, we called it Yachtgate and moved on. The Epstein files now reveal the full picture: a web of Russian money, paedophile kompromat and New Labour access that shaped a decade of British politics, writes Tamsin Shaw

Tamsin Shaw
Tamsin Shaw

Politics

David Starkey just can’t help himself: now he’s talking about black people ‘dipped in chocolate’

Feb 20, 2026

•

9 min read

David Starkey just can’t help himself: now he’s talking about black people ‘dipped in chocolate’

The once-respected historian has descended into public racism again on his contrarian podcast. The even bigger problem is, he’s now an adviser to the hard right, says Sangita Myska

Sangita Myska
Sangita Myska

Politics

Political writer Ash Sarkar: ‘This one's really going to get me into trouble...’

Feb 20, 2026

•

10 min read

Political writer Ash Sarkar: ‘This one's really going to get me into trouble...’

The author of Minority Rule answers the Nerve Q&A - on why she's not despondent about politics, the appeal of Zack Polanski and why 'handwash only' means what it says. Interview by Ursula Kenny

Ursula Kenny
Ursula Kenny

Politics

Revealed: 80% of Reform’s funding comes from Tory donors

Feb 17, 2026

•

11 min read

Revealed: 80% of Reform’s funding comes from Tory donors

The majority of the money behind Nigel Farage’s movement was being supplied by Conservative interests even before the defection of so many high-profile figures from the party – to the alarm of former Reform faithfuls, writes Charlie Young

Charlie Young
Charlie Young

Politics

Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile, and we all live in his world

Feb 10, 2026

•

14 min read

Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile, and we all live in his world

In a week of grim revelations, perhaps the darkest of all is that the attitudes the dead millionaire represented – misogyny, control, abuse of girls – are embedded in power structures throughout our culture, writes Carole Cadwalladr

| | | RSS |

© 2026 The Nerve.
Report abusePrivacy policyTerms of use
beehiivPowered by beehiiv