The Guardian has suddenly decided that Reform MP Sarah Pochin's comments about Black and Asian people on television lets them describe what she said as racist.

Zoe Williamson has written about it.

So has Jason Okundaye.

Sketch writer John Crace has noted that Farage thought her comments were ugly and unpleasant, but he did not condemn them because he did not think they were racist. Of course, he didn't. As Crace pointed out, he agrees with them.

Even Keir Starmer called them racist.

My question in response to this is simple. Why has it taken them so long to come out and say so? I have been doing so here for a long time. Reform is racist. It is blatantly so. You cannot address it until you describe it as it is.

But that leads to the other essential point, still not being addressed by the media and politicians alike, which is that the far right in this country is fascist in its intentions, and this issue can also not be avoided if it is to be tackled. Again, I have said so for some time. My question is, when will the media also acknowledge this, because until we talk in plain language about the threat that we face, we cannot address it.

Quakers are much taken by plain language. It is time we used it in society. The time when being a racist caused less offence than the accusation that someone of that opinion was a racist has to be over. The same is true with fascism. We are in a political fight with far-right politicians who are both racist and fascist by conviction. Unless we say so and spell out what that means, we're in trouble.

And, to ensure that this description is understood, these are some of the characteristics I am describing as fascist, which are all too easy to see in the behaviour of Reform and many other politicians:

The characteristics of fascism

Political Power and Control

• Authoritarian: Power is concentrated in a leader or ruling elite who demand unquestioning obedience.
• Anti democratic: Elections, rights and checks on power are dismantled or manipulated.
• Totalitarian: The regime seeks to control all aspects of life, including politics, culture and belief.
• Suppressive of dissent: Opposition is criminalised, silenced or violently removed.
• Censorious: Free expression is restricted to ensure only the regime's narrative prevails.
• Obedience demanding: Citizens are expected to comply without criticism or independent thought.
• Cult of personality-driven: The leader is presented as a heroic, infallible figure above accountability.
• Propagandist: Truth is replaced with state-endorsed lies used to manipulate perception.
• Conspiratorial: Imagined enemies and hidden plots are used to justify repression.

Identity, Exclusion and Violence

• Racist: Certain ethnic groups are deemed superior, and others are treated as threats or even subhuman.
• Xenophobic: Outsiders and migrants are portrayed as enemies of the nation.
• Colonialist: Subjugation of territories and peoples is justified as national destiny.
• Homophobic: LGBTQ+ people are targeted and denied equal rights and social protection.
• Misogynistic: Women are subordinated, confined to gendered roles and denied equality.
• Eugenicist: Purity and selective breeding are promoted to “improve” the population.
• Ableist/hostile to neurodivergence: People whose minds work differently are labelled defective or dangerous, facing forced conformity or institutional exclusion.
• Eliminationist: Unwanted groups are not just excluded but threatened with removal or extinction.
• Violence glorifying: Brutality is celebrated as a tool to maintain dominance.
• Scapegoating: Social and economic problems are blamed on minority groups to deflect responsibility.

Nation, Myth and Culture

• Divisively nationalist: The nation is elevated as a sacred entity superior to all others.
• Hyper-patriotic: Displays of loyalty are exaggerated and compulsory as proof of belonging.
• Nostalgic for a mythical past: A fictional golden age is invoked to justify present-day oppression.
• Revisionist: History is rewritten to erase crimes and glorify national greatness.
• Anti-intellectual: Independent thought, science and critical scholarship are treated as threats.
• Anti-pluralist: Cultural diversity and differing identities are rejected as signs of weakness.
• Religiously intolerant: Anything but the supposed national religion is condemned as heretical.

Economic Structure and Social Hierarchy

• Exploitative: Workers are stripped of rights and treated as instruments of the state or profit.
• Belief in economic inequality: Hierarchy and privilege are seen as natural and necessary.
• Corporate-aligned (crony capitalism): The state and favoured corporations collude for mutual enrichment.

Psychological and Social Manipulation

• Conspiratorial: Fear of hidden enemies keeps the population compliant.
• Propagandist: Repetition of untruths creates a distorted sense of reality that benefits the regime (Note: These items intentionally appear in two sections, reflecting their dual function.)

I suspect there is something I have missed: that list will do for starters. Suggestions for revision are welcome.

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