They are a long ways from that though.
Labour is now the militant party that fantasizes locking up dissenters (wrong think over Russia, because of course).
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Britain's Labour Party is not traditionally thought of as a bastion of militarism or authoritarianism. Yet listening to some of what its top figures have been saying recently might cause one to doubt the conventional wisdom on that.
Consider what Labour Party strategist Paul Richards said in a GB News interview earlier this month. Asked how the UK might respond to an increased Russian threat, Richardswho has worked for two Labour governmentsgave a disturbing answer. "We'd have to lock some people up," he said, "some of the pro-Russian voices, people who say there isn't a threat, [and say] 'Don't fight for your country, don't go to war for Burnham.'"
His comments are not a one-off. They reflect a worrying trend among Britain's political mainstreamthe old parties, media, and think tankswhich has increasingly adopted a siege mentality informed by the far-fetched expectation of imminent war with Russia.
Nor is the trend restricted to Britain. It spans the entire Western world. And it helps explain why the centrist political forces previously seen as "reasonable" are losing ground to the supposed "fringe." Apocalyptic millenarianism is no longer the domain of radical obscurantists, but of people like NATO's secretary-general Mark Rutte, who in 2025 seemed to foretell with relish a conflict between Europe and Russia on the scale of the SecondWorld War. "Imagine it," he said, "a conflict reaching every home, every workplace, destruction, mass mobilisation, millions displaced, widespread suffering and extreme losses."
It is politicians branded as far right or far left radicals who, surprisingly, have emerged as the main opposition to this unhinged bellicosity.
It's incredible because there, as elsewhere, they increasingly rely on their imported islamic voters to support them. Same in Germany:
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And the polls suggest German voters have little appetite for risking their country's future in such a gambit.
The AfD and other insurgent parties thrive when their opponents lean into hawkishness and authoritarianism, but so far there is little evidence the establishment understands this. Indeed, European political elites are doubling down. They recently invited Zelensky's former press secretary, Iulia Mendel, to speak in front of the European Parliament. But Mendel is a vocal critic of her former boss, and so the parliament's centrist leadership banned her from entering after Zelensky's government imposed sanctions on her (an extrajudicial punishment he is routinely applying to political rivals). By banning Mendel from speaking and turning a blind eye on Zelensky's abuse of power, the center once again chooses delusion and bellicosity over a genuine commitment to democracy.
Meanwhile, alternatives like the AfD will continue to fill the vacant space left in the middle of the political spectrum.
