A Different Kind of Power review: Jacinda Ardern's political memoir is merely a warm embrace
She is indeed a hugger. Her most famous moment was when she hugged victims of the anti-Muslim Christchurch attack, and she started hugging as a young teenager when she visited two girls whose brother had killed himself. It's absolutely fine to be expressive in your sympathies, so long as you don't think this is the sole marker of authenticity, but you get the impression there's not an awful lot more to Ardern's politics.
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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
The 'nothing' politicians who measure progress in 'likes' and victories in reposts
MPs like Maguire and Sultana are 'dopamine-chasers' who favour virtue-signalling provocation over reasoned persuasion Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I think it highly unlikely there currently exists a politician who hasn't been subjected to online abuse. In days long since passed, it took effort to write a threatening letter to an MP. Now, one may fire off an endless stream of slurs and threats with ease. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Unsurprisingly, because a lot of men really hate women, the vitriol directed towards female members of parliament is especially threatening and degrading. For Women Scotland campaigners outside the Supreme Court in London after its ruling that, in law, sex is a matter of biology rather than feelings. Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire On occasion, police have acted (the case, in 2021, of Grant Karte, an SNP member who pleaded guilty to sending messages that were 'grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character' to then nationalist MP Joanna Cherry, springs to mind) but the problem continues and it grows worse. Politicians, of course, are not the only popular targets for online hate: Jews should expect to be denounced as baby-killers by righteous 'anti-Zionists'; feminists fighting to preserve the integrity of women's single-sex spaces have long since grown accustomed to accusations of transphobia, often accompanied by rape and/or death threats. With all of the above in mind, the behaviour of Liberal Democrat MP Ben Maguire is disturbing. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad During a Westminster debate last week the member for North Cornwall mocked JK Rowling's involvement in the campaign to defend women's rights against the demands of trans activists. The moment was bleakly entertaining, like a scene from a watch-through-your-fingers comedy. Maguire told fellow MPs Rowling was 'desperate for attention and relevance'. The pathos was almost unbearable. I cringed for the man. Had the Lib Dems' shadow attorney general – yes, really – left things at that, then we could comfortably have continued to ignore him. His words confirm him to be a default-setting sexist. In response to Maguire's pitiful bid for attention and relevance, Rowling evoked the words of the late Labour MP Denis Healey who once said debating Conservative Geoffrey Howe was like being savaged by a dead sheep. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I fear the pain of Rowling's barb may have lingered for in the early hours of the following morning, Maguire was still smarting about those feminists and their demands. Following another positively masochistic engagement with Rowling, Maguire turned his ire on the feminist campaign group For Women Scotland. At 12.57 am on Wednesday, the MP responded on X to a post by the group – which brought the recent case that saw the Supreme Court rule, in law, sex is a matter of biology rather than feelings – claiming it had a 'fascist agenda'. Hours later, Maguire closed his X account. A non-apology followed. The MP said he regretted the comment which had been made in 'the heat of the moment'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'This whole debate,' added Maguire, 'has become quite toxic, so I felt it best to step away from X for a while.' Suggesting the problem was the tone of debate rather than his behaviour, Maguire was riffing on that old classic 'look what you made me do'. I struggle, even when squinting, to detect any difference between Maguire's behaviour and the behaviour of the sort of trolls who revel in making the lives of MPs as miserable as possible. At 12.57 am, Maguire was just another loser lashing out at women who dared to talk back. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Is it the place of an elected politician to make wildly defamatory claims about an organisation that's only crime is to have forced governments across the UK to meet their responsibilities when it comes to the protection of women's rights? Obviously not. Nor, if we wish to be cynical about this, is it at all wise for a politician who wishes to appeal to the all important reality-aligning demographic to attack an organisation whose objectives are supported by a clear majority of voters. A YouGov poll in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's April ruling found that 63 per cent thought it correct while just 18 per cent reckoned the wrong decision had been made. In Maguire, I see the archetype of the dopamine-hit politician. These caricatures of the radical, who see posting something provocative online as an act of leadership, who eschew such basics of politics as diplomacy, intellectual curiosity, and a grasp of the law, while chasing ultimately worthless plaudits from ideologues and social media users, enjoying their own dopamine-hits, with every like and re-post. The contemporary pseudo-iconoclast politician thrives both on the adoration of those who support their positions and the anger they provoke among those they don't. Driven by the need for another roar of approval from the cool kids, they state all-or-nothing positions that betray their failure to engage in the issues they proclaim to care about. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ben Maguire does nothing for the case he wishes to advance by smearing his opponents. Rather, he helps reinforce the position of the majority which believes him to be on the wrong side of the argument over the impact on women's rights of the demands of trans activists. Labour MP Zarah Sultana is another dopamine-chaser who favours virtue-signalling provocation over reasoned persuasion. When it was announced, last week, that the group Palestine Action faced proscription as a terror group after members broke into RAF Brize Norton, Sultana posted on X the message: 'We are all Palestine Action'. A statement which was as provably wrong as it was needlessly offensive. Intentional damage to any part of the UK's defence hardware goes far beyond the principle of freedom of expression and into the serious realm of national security. Members of Palestine Action understood this when they broke into Brize Norton. That was the point. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Like Maguire, Sultana measures political progress in 'likes', sees victories in reposts, and gains validation from outrage. She cannot imagine the existence of someone who might feel sympathy for, even rage on behalf of, Palestinians while simultaneously believing the UK's national security is important.
Powys County Times
5 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Serbian riot police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters
Riot police fired tear gas at thousands of anti-government protesters in Serbia's capital on Saturday. The major rally in Belgrade against Serbia's populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, was called to back the demand for an early parliamentary election. The protest, attended by tens of thousands of people, was held after nearly eight months of persistent demonstrations led by Serbia's university students that have rattled Mr Vucic's firm grip on power in the Balkan country. The huge crowd chanted 'We want elections!' as they filled the capital's central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue. Tensions were high before and during the gathering. Riot police were deployed around government buildings and close to a camp of Mr Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade. Skirmishes erupted between riot officers and groups of protesters near the camp. Students gave speeches to the crowd. One, who didn't give her name, said: 'Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people. 'Today, on June 28 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate.' At the end of the official part of the rally, students told the crowd to 'take freedom into your own hands.' University students have been a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people on November 1 2024. Many blamed the concrete roof crash on rampant government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests. 'We are here today because we cannot take it any more,' Darko Kovacevic said. 'This has been going on for too long. We are mired in corruption.' Mr Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they didn't specify. The president's authorities have launched a crackdown on Serbia's striking universities and other opponents, while increasing pressure on independent media as they tried to curb the demonstrations. While numbers have shrunk in recent weeks, the massive showing for Saturday's anti-Vucic rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests. Serbian police, which is firmly controlled by Mr Vucic's government, said that 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest on Saturday. Saturday marks St Vitus Day, a religious holiday and the date when Serbs mark a 14th-century battle against Ottoman Turks in Kosovo that was the start of hundreds of years of Turkish rule, holding symbolic importance. In their speeches, some of the speakers at the student rally on Saturday evoked the theme, which was also used to fuel Serbian nationalism in the 1990s, which later led to the incitement of ethnic wars following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Hours before the student-led rally, Mr Vucic's party bused in scores of its own supporters to Belgrade from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts with slogans including: 'We won't give up Serbia'. They were joining a camp of Mr Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade, where they have been staying in tents since mid-March. In a show of business as usual, Mr Vucic handed out presidential awards in the capital to people he deemed worthy, including artists and journalists. 'People need not worry — the state will be defended and thugs brought to justice,' Mr Vucic told reporters on Saturday. Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027. Earlier this week, police arrested several people accused of allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and banned entry into the country, without explanation, to several people from Croatia and a theatre director from Montenegro. Serbia's railway company halted train service over an alleged bomb threat, in what critics said was an apparent bid to prevent people from travelling to Belgrade for the rally. Authorities made similar moves back in March, before what was the biggest ever anti-government protest in the Balkan country, which drew hundreds of thousands of people. Mr Vucic's loyalists then set up a camp in a park outside his office, which still stands. The otherwise peaceful gathering on March 15 came to an abrupt end when part of the crowd suddenly scattered in panic, triggering allegations that authorities used a sonic weapon against peaceful protesters — an accusation officials have denied. Mr Vucic, a former extreme nationalist, has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago. Though he formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, critics say he has stifled democratic freedoms as he strengthened ties with Russia and China.
Glasgow Times
5 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Serbian riot police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters
The major rally in Belgrade against Serbia's populist president, Aleksandar Vucic, was called to back the demand for an early parliamentary election. Tens of thousands of people turned out (Marko Drobnjakovic/AP) The protest, attended by tens of thousands of people, was held after nearly eight months of persistent demonstrations led by Serbia's university students that have rattled Mr Vucic's firm grip on power in the Balkan country. The huge crowd chanted 'We want elections!' as they filled the capital's central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue. Tensions were high before and during the gathering. Riot police were deployed around government buildings and close to a camp of Mr Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade. Skirmishes erupted between riot officers and groups of protesters near the camp. Students gave speeches to the crowd. One, who didn't give her name, said: 'Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people. 'Today, on June 28 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate.' At the end of the official part of the rally, students told the crowd to 'take freedom into your own hands.' Skirmishes erupted between riot police and protesters (Marko Drobnjakovic/AP) University students have been a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people on November 1 2024. Many blamed the concrete roof crash on rampant government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests. 'We are here today because we cannot take it any more,' Darko Kovacevic said. 'This has been going on for too long. We are mired in corruption.' Mr Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they didn't specify. The president's authorities have launched a crackdown on Serbia's striking universities and other opponents, while increasing pressure on independent media as they tried to curb the demonstrations. The rally fell on St Vitus Day, a religious holiday that holds symbolic importance in the country (Marko Drobnjakovic/AP) While numbers have shrunk in recent weeks, the massive showing for Saturday's anti-Vucic rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests. Serbian police, which is firmly controlled by Mr Vucic's government, said that 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest on Saturday. Saturday marks St Vitus Day, a religious holiday and the date when Serbs mark a 14th-century battle against Ottoman Turks in Kosovo that was the start of hundreds of years of Turkish rule, holding symbolic importance. In their speeches, some of the speakers at the student rally on Saturday evoked the theme, which was also used to fuel Serbian nationalism in the 1990s, which later led to the incitement of ethnic wars following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Hours before the student-led rally, Mr Vucic's party bused in scores of its own supporters to Belgrade from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts with slogans including: 'We won't give up Serbia'. They were joining a camp of Mr Vucic's loyalists in central Belgrade, where they have been staying in tents since mid-March. In a show of business as usual, Mr Vucic handed out presidential awards in the capital to people he deemed worthy, including artists and journalists. 'People need not worry — the state will be defended and thugs brought to justice,' Mr Vucic told reporters on Saturday. The protesters called for an early election in the country (Marko Drobnjakovic/AP) Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027. Earlier this week, police arrested several people accused of allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and banned entry into the country, without explanation, to several people from Croatia and a theatre director from Montenegro. Serbia's railway company halted train service over an alleged bomb threat, in what critics said was an apparent bid to prevent people from travelling to Belgrade for the rally. Authorities made similar moves back in March, before what was the biggest ever anti-government protest in the Balkan country, which drew hundreds of thousands of people. Mr Vucic's loyalists then set up a camp in a park outside his office, which still stands. The otherwise peaceful gathering on March 15 came to an abrupt end when part of the crowd suddenly scattered in panic, triggering allegations that authorities used a sonic weapon against peaceful protesters — an accusation officials have denied. Mr Vucic, a former extreme nationalist, has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago. Though he formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, critics say he has stifled democratic freedoms as he strengthened ties with Russia and China.
