Britain | Bagehot

Britons should watch GB News, carefully

The insurgent channel is a threat to its rivals, and a trap for the Tories

Illustration of a vicious set of teeth, emanating aggression from a GB News broadcast
Image: Nate Kitch

For years, British politicians made the error of ignoring, and then mocking, Nigel Farage and his UK Independence Party. “Fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists,” was the verdict of David Cameron, a Conservative leader, in 2006. “A collection of clowns,” later concurred Kenneth Clarke, his justice secretary. UKIP was an electoral minnow; its gatherings were farces. Yet Mr Farage’s loyal following of unfashionable people from unimportant towns allowed him to redraw the terms of British politics, and to drag the Conservative Party to the right. Brexit followed.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Watch GB News, carefully”

From the September 2nd 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Blighty newsletter: What Westminster gets wrong about Elon Musk

Illustration of Keir Starmer choosing between two shirts - one with red stripes and one with red dots. He looks confused.

The four worst words in British politics 

Saying “not a good look” is not a good look


Protesters holding placards demand urgent action on the city's rising rents.

Inflation in Britain looks irritatingly persistent

Worse, the risk has appeared just as growth is sputtering


Labour lacks good ideas for improving Britain’s schools

Making private ones a bit more expensive is not an inspiring start

Britons brace themselves for more floods

A warming planet is making a soggy island soggier 

Why meal-replacement drinks are shaking up the British lunch

They are being rebranded as aspirational as well as efficient