Daniel Trilling
@trillingual.bsky.social
Journalist and author in London. LRB, Guardian Long Read and others. Books about refugees in Europe and Britain's far right. danieltrilling.co.uk for contact details etc
Three pieces I wrote this year...
1. Is this fascism? An essay on the new global right
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
1. Is this fascism? An essay on the new global right
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Daniel Trilling · Is this fascism?
Are we, as Richard Seymour suggests, ‘in the early days of a new fascism’? In Disaster Nationalism, Seymour...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 31, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Three pieces I wrote this year...
1. Is this fascism? An essay on the new global right
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
1. Is this fascism? An essay on the new global right
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
My piece on why Keir Starmer isn't turning out to be the human rights hero he talked himself up as is in the Long Read's best of 2025 - and in great company... www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
The best of the long read in 2025
The long read: Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:17 AM
My piece on why Keir Starmer isn't turning out to be the human rights hero he talked himself up as is in the Long Read's best of 2025 - and in great company... www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...
Reposted by Daniel Trilling
Wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian: "Since migration has become the cornerstone of the current authoritarian turn, it is precisely around migration that resistance needs to form."
www.theguardian.com/world/commen...
www.theguardian.com/world/commen...
Ten years of fortress Europe has served only cruelty, profiteers and racists. The next decade is up to us | Maurice Stierl
The hard right and far right are the political winners from the migration ‘crisis’, but only because centrist parties keep legitimising them, says migration and border researcher Maurice Stierl
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian: "Since migration has become the cornerstone of the current authoritarian turn, it is precisely around migration that resistance needs to form."
www.theguardian.com/world/commen...
www.theguardian.com/world/commen...
Reposted by Daniel Trilling
For more than a decade, Tommy Robinson has been written off by his critics yet he keeps coming back. Now, he's trying to become the new face of Christmas.
Today, @alexvont.bsky.social and @trillingual.bsky.social unpack why it keeps working and how to stop it.
Listen: linktr.ee/bunker_pod
Today, @alexvont.bsky.social and @trillingual.bsky.social unpack why it keeps working and how to stop it.
Listen: linktr.ee/bunker_pod
December 17, 2025 at 10:50 AM
For more than a decade, Tommy Robinson has been written off by his critics yet he keeps coming back. Now, he's trying to become the new face of Christmas.
Today, @alexvont.bsky.social and @trillingual.bsky.social unpack why it keeps working and how to stop it.
Listen: linktr.ee/bunker_pod
Today, @alexvont.bsky.social and @trillingual.bsky.social unpack why it keeps working and how to stop it.
Listen: linktr.ee/bunker_pod
Reposted by Daniel Trilling
On this topic, I cannot recommend highly enough @trillingual.bsky.social's Starmer v Starmer profile. It is brilliantly put together, from title to final sentence. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights?
The long read: Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:32 PM
On this topic, I cannot recommend highly enough @trillingual.bsky.social's Starmer v Starmer profile. It is brilliantly put together, from title to final sentence. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Daniel Trilling
Rich countries are turning their backs on people fleeing violence & repression, so no surprise they’re forced to use smugglers.
Both having to flee at all & the means they use to do so are primarily problems for refugees themselves & no-one else.
Nothing’s going to change till we recognise this.
Both having to flee at all & the means they use to do so are primarily problems for refugees themselves & no-one else.
Nothing’s going to change till we recognise this.
Hardline migration policies are fuelling people smuggling, report finds
As leaders try to break smugglers’ business model, research suggests strategy so far has had opposite effect
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Rich countries are turning their backs on people fleeing violence & repression, so no surprise they’re forced to use smugglers.
Both having to flee at all & the means they use to do so are primarily problems for refugees themselves & no-one else.
Nothing’s going to change till we recognise this.
Both having to flee at all & the means they use to do so are primarily problems for refugees themselves & no-one else.
Nothing’s going to change till we recognise this.
Reposted by Daniel Trilling
NEW FREE EP!
@trillingual.bsky.social on his @equatormag.bsky.social, “Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart,” which reveals how the BBC may respond to President Trump's alleged defamation lawsuit.
www.patreon.com/posts/new-ep...
@trillingual.bsky.social on his @equatormag.bsky.social, “Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart,” which reveals how the BBC may respond to President Trump's alleged defamation lawsuit.
www.patreon.com/posts/new-ep...
NEW EP! The BBC's Gaza and Trump Fiascos | This Is Hell!
Get more from This Is Hell! on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
NEW FREE EP!
@trillingual.bsky.social on his @equatormag.bsky.social, “Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart,” which reveals how the BBC may respond to President Trump's alleged defamation lawsuit.
www.patreon.com/posts/new-ep...
@trillingual.bsky.social on his @equatormag.bsky.social, “Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart,” which reveals how the BBC may respond to President Trump's alleged defamation lawsuit.
www.patreon.com/posts/new-ep...
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on the 75th anniversary of the ECHR - and how it is threatened by the vicious politics of resentment that Labour and the Tories have enabled/encouraged in the past 20 years. This to me is what lies beneath the asylum "debate".
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How the European convention on human rights became a battleground between the centre and the right | Daniel Trilling
For 20 years, populists have been blaming the ECHR for endangering Britain by offering basic protections to immigrants, says author Daniel Trilling
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on the 75th anniversary of the ECHR - and how it is threatened by the vicious politics of resentment that Labour and the Tories have enabled/encouraged in the past 20 years. This to me is what lies beneath the asylum "debate".
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
In 2023 @tom-clark.bsky.social got me to write a chapter for his book on UK poverty about how immigration limbo, which Labour wants more of, makes people destitute. It was the most distressing piece I've ever worked on. We sent a copy to every MP. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/6081...
Destitute by design: trapped in the immigration system
Migration policy is not only failing people forced to arrive in Britain by
boats. In an extract from a new edited volume, Daniel Trilling reports on t...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 8:36 AM
In 2023 @tom-clark.bsky.social got me to write a chapter for his book on UK poverty about how immigration limbo, which Labour wants more of, makes people destitute. It was the most distressing piece I've ever worked on. We sent a copy to every MP. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/6081...
For the @equatormag.bsky.social newsletter, I talked about how I reported my piece on the BBC and Gaza, and what's at stake in the current crisis. You can read/sign up below - Equator is a brilliant and necessary new magazine, so give it your support!
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
November 15, 2025 at 10:52 AM
For the @equatormag.bsky.social newsletter, I talked about how I reported my piece on the BBC and Gaza, and what's at stake in the current crisis. You can read/sign up below - Equator is a brilliant and necessary new magazine, so give it your support!
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 8:47 AM
This contribution to the volume of human misery is yet another policy from Labour based on a false premise, in this case that refugees are overly attracted to Britain. It will increase bureaucratic limbo, thus making worse the problem of "cohesion" it purports to solve.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
V pleased to be giving a public talk (two, in fact) at Ulster University later this month:
"How did we get here? The rise of Britain's far right."
Derry, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Belfast, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Please come along, or share with friends.
"How did we get here? The rise of Britain's far right."
Derry, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Belfast, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Please come along, or share with friends.
November 14, 2025 at 11:57 AM
V pleased to be giving a public talk (two, in fact) at Ulster University later this month:
"How did we get here? The rise of Britain's far right."
Derry, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Belfast, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Please come along, or share with friends.
"How did we get here? The rise of Britain's far right."
Derry, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Belfast, 25 Nov: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-did-we...
Please come along, or share with friends.
I spoke to two dozen BBC journalists, from frontline reporters to senior staff, about how the BBC came to symbolise the West's failure to prevent genocide in Gaza - and how the row over its coverage fed directly into its current meltdown.
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco • EQUATOR
How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart
www.equator.org
November 14, 2025 at 8:01 AM
I spoke to two dozen BBC journalists, from frontline reporters to senior staff, about how the BBC came to symbolise the West's failure to prevent genocide in Gaza - and how the row over its coverage fed directly into its current meltdown.
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
www.equator.org/articles/ins...
New: for @equatormag.bsky.social I spent months talking to BBC journalists, from front-line reporters to the former head of the World Service, about how the corporation came unstuck over Gaza. But as I was working on the story, it collided with something... bigger... www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco • Articles • EQUATOR
How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart
www.equator.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM
New: for @equatormag.bsky.social I spent months talking to BBC journalists, from front-line reporters to the former head of the World Service, about how the corporation came unstuck over Gaza. But as I was working on the story, it collided with something... bigger... www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Wrote about 'Resistance', Steve McQueen's exhibition on 20th century protest. Some wonderful photographs, and some difficult questions about how to tell this story in our current moment. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Daniel Trilling · At Modern Two: Protest Photography
Although the events depicted in Resistance are familiar territory for an exhibition concerned with social history –...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Wrote about 'Resistance', Steve McQueen's exhibition on 20th century protest. Some wonderful photographs, and some difficult questions about how to tell this story in our current moment. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Piece on how the British right has managed to convince a significant minority that it would be in their interests to get rid of the European Convention on Human Rights. My suggestion: rather than capitulate, make human rights part of a wider politics of equality.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How the European convention on human rights became a battleground between the centre and the right | Daniel Trilling
For 20 years, populists have been blaming the ECHR for endangering Britain by offering basic protections to immigrants, says author Daniel Trilling
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Piece on how the British right has managed to convince a significant minority that it would be in their interests to get rid of the European Convention on Human Rights. My suggestion: rather than capitulate, make human rights part of a wider politics of equality.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A first foray into podcast script-writing... helped make this series on what to do now that we're overshooting 1.5c global warming. Presented by Laurie Laybourn and produced by Planet B. More things soon I hope!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Episode 1: Uncharted Territory
Podcast Episode · Overshoot: Navigating a world beyond 1.5°C · 05/10/2025 · 35m
podcasts.apple.com
October 6, 2025 at 10:20 AM
A first foray into podcast script-writing... helped make this series on what to do now that we're overshooting 1.5c global warming. Presented by Laurie Laybourn and produced by Planet B. More things soon I hope!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
The last time I went into a synagogue, I found out it had the Torah scroll rescued from what had once been my family's synagogue in Berlin, shortly before Kristallnacht. I was the first person in my family to see it in over 80 years.
October 3, 2025 at 7:31 AM
The last time I went into a synagogue, I found out it had the Torah scroll rescued from what had once been my family's synagogue in Berlin, shortly before Kristallnacht. I was the first person in my family to see it in over 80 years.
Will try to have something more constructive to say eventually but this is unbelievably spiteful and stupid.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights
People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Will try to have something more constructive to say eventually but this is unbelievably spiteful and stupid.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Once again, if you're interested in how and why a leading human rights barrister can end up suggesting the UK might water down its commitment to such protections as the absolute ban on torture in article 3 of the Human Rights Act, ECHR, etc...
Good morning, I've written a piece about the prime minister. I spoke to several dozen sources, including government insiders, former legal colleagues and campaigners to ask: what happened to Keir Starmer the heroic human rights lawyer? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights?
The long read: Given his career as a human rights barrister, it was hoped Keir Starmer would be the PM to restore the UK’s commitment to international law. The reality tells a different story
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Once again, if you're interested in how and why a leading human rights barrister can end up suggesting the UK might water down its commitment to such protections as the absolute ban on torture in article 3 of the Human Rights Act, ECHR, etc...
Labour's current position is that it's racist to make life much harder for people who have immigrated to the UK legally, but also that it will make life a little bit harder for people who have immigrated to the UK legally. The morality of that aside, what is the message here to the Reform-curious?
September 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Labour's current position is that it's racist to make life much harder for people who have immigrated to the UK legally, but also that it will make life a little bit harder for people who have immigrated to the UK legally. The morality of that aside, what is the message here to the Reform-curious?
Just to illustrate how much worse it's got, I have received more abuse over the past year and a bit - including death threats and a large volume of antisemitism - for what I write than in the previous 15 years of covering migration and the far right put together.
More than 150 lawyers and refugee NGOs report being ‘pressured into silence’ by far-right protesters.
At least two groups supporting UK asylum seekers have closed their offices after credible threats to their safety
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
At least two groups supporting UK asylum seekers have closed their offices after credible threats to their safety
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
More than 150 lawyers and refugee NGOs report being ‘pressured into silence’ by far-right protesters
At least two groups supporting UK asylum seekers have closed their offices after credible threats to their safety
www.theguardian.com
September 22, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Just to illustrate how much worse it's got, I have received more abuse over the past year and a bit - including death threats and a large volume of antisemitism - for what I write than in the previous 15 years of covering migration and the far right put together.
Last year I wrote for @lrb.co.uk about the families of Majella O'Hare, a young girl killed by a British soldier, and Tony Harrison, a British soldier killed by the IRA, who were campaigning together against the Legacy Act - and the vested interests supporting it.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
September 19, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Last year I wrote for @lrb.co.uk about the families of Majella O'Hare, a young girl killed by a British soldier, and Tony Harrison, a British soldier killed by the IRA, who were campaigning together against the Legacy Act - and the vested interests supporting it.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
If you want to know what the UK government's position is on its obligations under the Genocide Convention in relation to its support for Israel, here's what it argued in court this summer.
September 16, 2025 at 8:39 AM
If you want to know what the UK government's position is on its obligations under the Genocide Convention in relation to its support for Israel, here's what it argued in court this summer.
Had a few conversations recently that make me think, for the first time in ages, there are some exciting things happening in media. This is one of the highlights: Equator, a new magazine set up by Nesrine Malik, Pankaj Mishra, Jonathan Shainin and others. Sign up for info here: www.equator.org
September 15, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Had a few conversations recently that make me think, for the first time in ages, there are some exciting things happening in media. This is one of the highlights: Equator, a new magazine set up by Nesrine Malik, Pankaj Mishra, Jonathan Shainin and others. Sign up for info here: www.equator.org