Words by JJ Croucher
Design by Yosef Phelan

There is no doubt that society is at a tipping point. The spectre of a Reform government looms over us, promising to realise the same flavour of social and political regression the US has endured under Trump’s presidency. Recent statistics suggest many gay and bisexual men might be in favour of this. Britain’s path forwards curves in two seemingly incompatible directions – though we no longer appear to talk about “the culture wars”, the battle is more ferocious than ever. It rages bloody on our streets with a renewed, vengeful furore. 

In recent weeks, the UK saw four people convicted of criminal damage for direct action against an arms supplier to Israel – in an unprecedented move, the quartet were sentenced for carrying out ‘an act of terrorism’, despite the jury in the trial not having convicted the group of any such offence. The Right have taken to the streets in Northern Ireland in response to a knife attack carried out by a Sudanese migrant, with reports of behaviour that verges on pogrom. In Scotland, a man has been charged with attempted murder, having stabbed five men in a suspected anti-Muslim attack. Elsewhere, the Green Party is making historic gains — as of this month, 38% of 18-to-24 year olds reported an intention to vote Green. An unambiguous win for the Left. However, hate crime is also on the up. So are the controversial arrests for offensive communication. Though ‘free speech’ is a preoccupation of the Right, the ghost of Section 28, the banning of Pride displays in libraries in Essex, and increased book banning in the US remind us of its importance for the Left, too. The UK government continues to crack down on our right to protest. The “culture wars” have finally been realised – perhaps this is why the phrase feels so passé. 

We’ve moved past rhetoric and into the real world.