Francis Beckett
@francisbeckett.bsky.social
Author, journalist, playwright, socialist
Gerry Gable, and what the fascists did next: my piece in The New World. www.thenewworld.co.uk/francis-beck...
The man who hunted fascists
Gerry Gable, the dedicated, controversial founder of Searchlight magazine, had infiltrators and spies on his books in an intelligence war against racism
www.thenewworld.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Gerry Gable, and what the fascists did next: my piece in The New World. www.thenewworld.co.uk/francis-beck...
Another chance to see... M.E.G.A. has transferred to the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes, 15-18 January, under a new name: It Couldn't Happen Here. Why the new name? Because at the rate we are going, the old one no longer felt ironic. That's why.
Enjoyed watching 'M.E.G.A.' at the @gatehouse.london. it does really get you thinking about our 'unwritten constitution' and how that could potentially be exploited. A warning of what's to come perhaps from @francisbeckett.bsky.social.
January 4, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Another chance to see... M.E.G.A. has transferred to the OSO Arts Centre in Barnes, 15-18 January, under a new name: It Couldn't Happen Here. Why the new name? Because at the rate we are going, the old one no longer felt ironic. That's why.
This is right. Peter Hennessy's good chaps have been replaced by would-be dictators and without a written constitution, we have no protection against them.
Interesting article by @georgemonbiot.bsky.social and especially relevant if you have recently seen 'Make England Great Again' by @francisbeckett.bsky.social at @gatehouse.london that showed a future vision of a PM ignoring the 'rules' of our democracy. Have a read...
We're facing a political emergency: a high likelihood of an shamelessly authoritarian government in 2029. So we urgently need this basic safeguard: a codified constitution.
This week's column explains what we're missing and why it's so important.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This week's column explains what we're missing and why it's so important.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
January 4, 2026 at 7:03 PM
This is right. Peter Hennessy's good chaps have been replaced by would-be dictators and without a written constitution, we have no protection against them.
Great review by Keith Hatch for the Unite paper of my play It Couldn't Happen Here which now moves to the OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, 15-18 January.
Wake up call! Play highlights the dangers of sliding towards dictatorship
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
buff.ly
January 3, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Great review by Keith Hatch for the Unite paper of my play It Couldn't Happen Here which now moves to the OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, 15-18 January.
Reposted by Francis Beckett
Wake up call! Play highlights the dangers of sliding towards dictatorship
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
buff.ly
October 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Wake up call! Play highlights the dangers of sliding towards dictatorship
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
buff.ly/kAdI712
Could it happen here, and now? You bet it could. Our unwritten constitution makes us more vulnerable than the US @francisbeckett.bsky.social
@marisharay.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @maxwilkinson.bsky.social
How will British democracy die? My new play It Couldn't Happen Here is at OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, 15-18 January. Tickets here: osoarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Ticketbooth
osoarts.ticketsolve.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:31 PM
How will British democracy die? My new play It Couldn't Happen Here is at OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, 15-18 January. Tickets here: osoarts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
This week Make England Great Again - my comedy about the election victory of the Britons First Party - returns to Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village, from Tuesday 14th to Sunday 19th.
Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
, phone 020 8340 3488, or in person at the box office.
Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
, phone 020 8340 3488, or in person at the box office.
Upstairs at the Gatehouse – Award Winning London Theatre
www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
This week Make England Great Again - my comedy about the election victory of the Britons First Party - returns to Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village, from Tuesday 14th to Sunday 19th.
Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
, phone 020 8340 3488, or in person at the box office.
Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com
, phone 020 8340 3488, or in person at the box office.
I'm not a fan of Owen Jones, but preventing a journalist from covering the governing party's conference because you don't like his questions is a very slippery slope indeed.
October 4, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I'm not a fan of Owen Jones, but preventing a journalist from covering the governing party's conference because you don't like his questions is a very slippery slope indeed.
Yes, I do not think anyone has summed up more clearly what has happened. It is a great tragedy.
Latest New Statesman column on an iron law of politics… governments don’t become accident prone by accident:
www.newstatesman.com/uncategorize...
www.newstatesman.com/uncategorize...
Is the end of Keir Starmer's premiership already inevitable?
Governments never become accident prone by accident. There are always deeper reasons when a sense of crisis hovers over Downing Street. In the case of
www.newstatesman.com
September 23, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Yes, I do not think anyone has summed up more clearly what has happened. It is a great tragedy.
What a right wing authoritarian government could look like...my piece in the Morning Star. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/maki...
Making England great again
THE Prime Minister loses the election. When he arrives at Buckingham Palace, King Charles III assumes he will do the usual thing: resign, and advise the King to send for the leader of the biggest part...
morningstaronline.co.uk
September 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
What a right wing authoritarian government could look like...my piece in the Morning Star. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/maki...
After the first performance of my new play Make England Great Again, Neil Kinnock will discuss the issues raised with the first night audience. It's at 7.30 pm on 30 September at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village. Tickets from upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Ticketbooth
upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com
September 20, 2025 at 11:29 AM
After the first performance of my new play Make England Great Again, Neil Kinnock will discuss the issues raised with the first night audience. It's at 7.30 pm on 30 September at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village. Tickets from upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Lovely interview with me about my new play in the Barnet Post: barnetpost.co.uk/2025/09/18/m...
Making England great again?
Madison Yarbrough on a theatrical warning of political dangers ahead
barnetpost.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Lovely interview with me about my new play in the Barnet Post: barnetpost.co.uk/2025/09/18/m...
British by-elections, ediuted by Iain Dale, out today - including my account of Darlington 1983, for which I was Labour Party press officer. www.politicos.co.uk/products/by-...
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/British-Elec...
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/British-Elec...
British By-Elections 1769-2025 - The 88 By-Elections That Shaped our Politics edited by Iain Dale (Signed copy) COMING 18 SEPTEMBER
Biteback
Hardback
18 September 2025
88 essays by 87 different politicians, historians, academics and journalists about 85 of the most important by-elections since thje John Wilkes by-election of 176...
www.politicos.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
British by-elections, ediuted by Iain Dale, out today - including my account of Darlington 1983, for which I was Labour Party press officer. www.politicos.co.uk/products/by-...
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/British-Elec...
Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/British-Elec...
How dictatorship is coming to Britain: my piece in the Camden New Journal, introducing my new play. www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/slid...
Sliding towards dictatorship?
Francis Beckett takes the political temperature of the times for his latest play, Make England Great Again, at Upstairs at the Gatehouse
www.camdennewjournal.co.uk
September 16, 2025 at 9:39 PM
How dictatorship is coming to Britain: my piece in the Camden New Journal, introducing my new play. www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/slid...
London Pub Theatres magazine interviewed me about my new play, Make England Great Again, which opens at Upstairs at the Gatehouse on 30 September. Here's what they wrote. www.londonpubtheatres.com/interview--p...
www.londonpubtheatres.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:09 PM
London Pub Theatres magazine interviewed me about my new play, Make England Great Again, which opens at Upstairs at the Gatehouse on 30 September. Here's what they wrote. www.londonpubtheatres.com/interview--p...
I shivered with horror, fear and anger when I read this, even though I saw it coming. How can anyone be so cruel and complacent as to support Israel now? www.msn.com/en-gb/news/w...
MSN
www.msn.com
August 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I shivered with horror, fear and anger when I read this, even though I saw it coming. How can anyone be so cruel and complacent as to support Israel now? www.msn.com/en-gb/news/w...
In my new play, Make Britain Great Again, Max Moore, charismatic leader of the Britons First Party, has become Prime Minister. It's at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village from 30 September to 5 October, and 14-19 October. Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com, phone 020 8340 3488.
August 17, 2025 at 2:19 PM
In my new play, Make Britain Great Again, Max Moore, charismatic leader of the Britons First Party, has become Prime Minister. It's at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village from 30 September to 5 October, and 14-19 October. Tickets from www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com, phone 020 8340 3488.
RIP the great Tom Lehrer. My Guardian obituary is at www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
Tom Lehrer obituary
Singer, songwriter and satirist who eschewed the limelight to return to teaching mathematics
www.theguardian.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
RIP the great Tom Lehrer. My Guardian obituary is at www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
I have read some horrible things, but Sarah Vine's memoir is the grubbiest: my piece in the New European. www.thenewworld.co.uk/francis-beck...
Sarah Vine: the secret remainer
Her nasty new book contains one interesting point – funny the Daily Mail chose to ignore it
www.thenewworld.co.uk
June 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I have read some horrible things, but Sarah Vine's memoir is the grubbiest: my piece in the New European. www.thenewworld.co.uk/francis-beck...
Labour's own Trotskyist: my Guardian obituary for Peter Taaffe. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Peter Taaffe obituary
Political activist who oversaw an attempt by the Militant tendency to take control of the Labour party
www.theguardian.com
May 19, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Labour's own Trotskyist: my Guardian obituary for Peter Taaffe. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
A theatrical gem: my review of The Inseparables. www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-i...
www.londonpubtheatres.com
May 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
A theatrical gem: my review of The Inseparables. www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-i...
Drama or history? My review of The Gang of Three: www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-g...
www.londonpubtheatres.com
May 9, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Drama or history? My review of The Gang of Three: www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-g...
The joy of Gilbert and Sullivan in small spaces: my review of the Tabard's Mikado. www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-m...
www.londonpubtheatres.com
May 2, 2025 at 9:38 PM
The joy of Gilbert and Sullivan in small spaces: my review of the Tabard's Mikado. www.londonpubtheatres.com/review-the-m...
I have tried not to use the word "genocide" about Israel. But when you have killed someone's friends and family, the hatred they develop for you will come back to hurt you one day. Either Israel wants a world of hate for its children, or it wants to ensure no Palestinian remains alive.
April 28, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I have tried not to use the word "genocide" about Israel. But when you have killed someone's friends and family, the hatred they develop for you will come back to hurt you one day. Either Israel wants a world of hate for its children, or it wants to ensure no Palestinian remains alive.