Samizdata
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Samizdata is a British group weblog. Founded on 2 November 2001 by Perry de Havilland and originally named ‘Libertarian Samizdata’, it dropped the label due to the reluctance of editors to subscribe to a particular label. Source
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| Scope | National |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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Recent Articles
Search ArticlesSamizdata quote of the day – Why the West fails to stop antisemitism
The suffering of Gaza, the death and destruction, is undeniable. You can make a legitimate criticism of Israel’s tactics in the conduct of the war. Many Jews around the world make exactly those critiques. But you cannot engage in such criticism legitimately if you do not also condemn the terrorism of October 7.
Brian’s old blogs
We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people. Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house] Brian Micklethwait’s blogs fell off the internet a while back for reasons not entirely clear. Some of them I had scraped, and have now republished on the Brian Micklethwait Archive site.
The history of 20th Century Central & Eastern Europe explained…
We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people. Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house] The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property.
The news has reached the Guardian
“UK minimum wage is raising youth unemployment, Bank of England’s Mann says” – Reuters, Feb 15th 2026 Do you remember your first crappy job? Today’s young people would wish for half your luck, writes Gaby Hinsliff in the Guardian, Feb 20th 2026: This week, unemployment rates for 18- to 24-year-olds hit a high not seen outside the pandemic since 2015.
Samizdata quote of the day - the For Fuck Sake School of Jurisprudence
Our judges will bend over backwards to find ways to allow people who ought to be deported to remain, and will connive with charities performing strategic litigation in order to allow this to happen. And their genuflections have become so convoluted that it is almost pointless to try to subject them to careful doctrinal analysis. We simply need to cut to the chase: the problem is not a legal, but a political or even sociological one. It is an issue concerning the makeup of the judiciary itself.
Farage vs. Lowe " Samizdata
3. The Big Tent vs. The One-Man Island. Farage: Even when he’s the “dictator” of a party, he keeps the machinery moving toward a single goal (Brexit, Reform). Lowe: Recently launched Restore Britain (Feb 2026) because he couldn’t play nice with others. His “my way or the highway” approach suggests a Prime Minister who would resign by lunchtime if his Cabinet didn’t like his choice of stationery. – Steve Scrase Read the whole thing, its both on the money & quite humorous.
Samizdata quote of the day - Reform vs the Greens captures the real divide in politics
For the first time anyone can remember, in a contest for a Westminster seat in an English city, the two parties vying for power won’t be Labour or the Conservatives, but instead be two insurgent outsiders. This is a twin-pronged revolt against the political mainstream – against a clique that has become ever more detached and tin-eared since the advent of globalisation in the 1990s.
Samizdata quote of the day - Farage’s Vision Thing
First came energy: “We will ditch the insane net zero agenda,” he thundered, “and we’ll get the North Sea operating again.” A pragmatic pitch for sovereignty through self-sufficiency, part Thatcherite nostalgia, part defiance of metropolitan eco-piety. Tying this to a blast for agricultural sufficiency, backing our farmers whilst condemning the vast solar deserts to the slop bins.
Samizdata quote of the day – Iran: and the media looks away
So why was the UK, US and European media so obsessed with this one shooting? Because it was done by an ICE officer, and ICE has been painted as Donald Trump’s personal law enforcement agency, ignoring the fact that it was created by George W Bush in 2002. I make no defence of Donald Trump. I make no defence of the violent actions of ICE in so many US cities, but to pretend that this one incident was more important than the nascent revolution going on in Iran is laughable.
Samizdata quote of the day – Choice exposes irrelevance
We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people. Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house] The future is choice. The BBC hates choice — because choice exposes irrelevance. No more reverence. No more compulsory funding. No more pretending this is about anything other than control.