Paul Chilton
@paulchilton.bsky.social
European. Internationalist. Humanist. Retired Prof of linguistics, affiliated to Oxford, Warwick, Lancaster. Can’t stop thinking, reading, writing.
My latest book is a political one: “Brexitspeak: Demagoguery and the Decline of Democracy”.
My latest book is a political one: “Brexitspeak: Demagoguery and the Decline of Democracy”.
The BBC cock-up has brought Farage fodder and danger to democracy. That doesn’t alter the FACT that Trump said what he said, near the end of his speech, a punch line that would stick in the minds of violent protesters. That was and is an even bigger danger to democracy.
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The BBC cock-up has brought Farage fodder and danger to democracy. That doesn’t alter the FACT that Trump said what he said, near the end of his speech, a punch line that would stick in the minds of violent protesters. That was and is an even bigger danger to democracy.
The producers of Panorama fell stupidly into a trap. No scientist, scholar or decent journalist would manipulate text the way they did. The far right agitators that undermine the BBC are delighted. May the rest of us not fall into such traps.
November 11, 2025 at 9:59 AM
The producers of Panorama fell stupidly into a trap. No scientist, scholar or decent journalist would manipulate text the way they did. The far right agitators that undermine the BBC are delighted. May the rest of us not fall into such traps.
… and the threat is not just to academics, of course, but to anyone who thinks and feels critically…
November 4, 2025 at 9:34 AM
… and the threat is not just to academics, of course, but to anyone who thinks and feels critically…
Academics face serious challenges worldwide. What is happening at Sheffield Hallam university is a warning. I think of my colleagues in the US, Russia, and China too. Here in Europe, including the UK we have to face
off far right threats to freedom of thought, science and creativity.
off far right threats to freedom of thought, science and creativity.
November 4, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Academics face serious challenges worldwide. What is happening at Sheffield Hallam university is a warning. I think of my colleagues in the US, Russia, and China too. Here in Europe, including the UK we have to face
off far right threats to freedom of thought, science and creativity.
off far right threats to freedom of thought, science and creativity.
“Once you recognise the way the meaning of these words had been flipped, you see it everywhere.” <iandunt@substack.com>
Trump, too, does it all the time… “fascism” is not fascism for him, “democrat” is the opposite, “invasion” is not what you thought. Watch out for flipping fascists in the UK too!
Trump, too, does it all the time… “fascism” is not fascism for him, “democrat” is the opposite, “invasion” is not what you thought. Watch out for flipping fascists in the UK too!
October 11, 2025 at 10:02 AM
“Once you recognise the way the meaning of these words had been flipped, you see it everywhere.” <iandunt@substack.com>
Trump, too, does it all the time… “fascism” is not fascism for him, “democrat” is the opposite, “invasion” is not what you thought. Watch out for flipping fascists in the UK too!
Trump, too, does it all the time… “fascism” is not fascism for him, “democrat” is the opposite, “invasion” is not what you thought. Watch out for flipping fascists in the UK too!
Ian Dunt from Striking 13 <iandunt@substack.com>
“ Often the simplest and most effective way of parsing a politician’s meaning is to listen to the words coming out of their mouth. “ Yes, and the words they don’t say, literally. Plus implied meanings and dog whistles.
“ Often the simplest and most effective way of parsing a politician’s meaning is to listen to the words coming out of their mouth. “ Yes, and the words they don’t say, literally. Plus implied meanings and dog whistles.
October 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Ian Dunt from Striking 13 <iandunt@substack.com>
“ Often the simplest and most effective way of parsing a politician’s meaning is to listen to the words coming out of their mouth. “ Yes, and the words they don’t say, literally. Plus implied meanings and dog whistles.
“ Often the simplest and most effective way of parsing a politician’s meaning is to listen to the words coming out of their mouth. “ Yes, and the words they don’t say, literally. Plus implied meanings and dog whistles.
(2) Would-be dictators seek to reverse the values of existing democratic societies. Silencing voices and values they do not like. They use the same phrase “free speech” as democrats do, to subvert what democrats understand by it, and then they suppress the right to challenge that.
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
(2) Would-be dictators seek to reverse the values of existing democratic societies. Silencing voices and values they do not like. They use the same phrase “free speech” as democrats do, to subvert what democrats understand by it, and then they suppress the right to challenge that.
On freedom of speech. (1) Democracy asserts the right to free speech. The first thing dangerous demagogues do is to exploit it, to spread anti-democratic ideology by rhetorical means. Populist rhetoric is never “mere” rhetoric. It works – on the minds and emotions of susceptible people.
September 23, 2025 at 11:30 AM
On freedom of speech. (1) Democracy asserts the right to free speech. The first thing dangerous demagogues do is to exploit it, to spread anti-democratic ideology by rhetorical means. Populist rhetoric is never “mere” rhetoric. It works – on the minds and emotions of susceptible people.
@timothysnyder.bsky.social
Is slavery alive and well in modern America, exploiting a loophole in the 13th Amendment? Historians, please help on this one.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Is slavery alive and well in modern America, exploiting a loophole in the 13th Amendment? Historians, please help on this one.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Prison labour: the last stronghold of slavery in the US
Black Americans are disproportionately incarcerated and exploited with prison labour. It’s time to finish abolition
www.opendemocracy.net
September 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
@timothysnyder.bsky.social
Is slavery alive and well in modern America, exploiting a loophole in the 13th Amendment? Historians, please help on this one.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Is slavery alive and well in modern America, exploiting a loophole in the 13th Amendment? Historians, please help on this one.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-tr...
Today Trump gets a right royal reception in the UK. Meanwhile, back in the US he masterminds the dismantling of democratic institutions, the suppression of liberal organisations, the silencing of dissenting voices.
September 17, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Today Trump gets a right royal reception in the UK. Meanwhile, back in the US he masterminds the dismantling of democratic institutions, the suppression of liberal organisations, the silencing of dissenting voices.
Some commentators are saying half the attendees at Tommy Robinson’s were just people “fed up” not really the far right. This is not the point! Far right demagogues know how to use their rhetoric to radicalise the disgruntled.
September 17, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Some commentators are saying half the attendees at Tommy Robinson’s were just people “fed up” not really the far right. This is not the point! Far right demagogues know how to use their rhetoric to radicalise the disgruntled.
The UK’s arse-licking extravaganza for the budding dictator Donald is disgusting, nauseating and dangerous. Let’s be clear, this is Appeasement. Do our schools teach history anymore?
September 14, 2025 at 9:57 AM
The UK’s arse-licking extravaganza for the budding dictator Donald is disgusting, nauseating and dangerous. Let’s be clear, this is Appeasement. Do our schools teach history anymore?
However much one may disagree with Charlie Kirk, he was a fellow human being whose family are now suffering. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t criticise his ideology and the ideology he promoted—but ideology and its consequences can never be critiqued by violence and murder.
September 11, 2025 at 1:35 PM
However much one may disagree with Charlie Kirk, he was a fellow human being whose family are now suffering. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t criticise his ideology and the ideology he promoted—but ideology and its consequences can never be critiqued by violence and murder.
Anyone earned about the rise of Farage and Reform, then check this out…
outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/i...
outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/i...
Outlook
outlook.office.com
September 9, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Anyone earned about the rise of Farage and Reform, then check this out…
outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/i...
outlook.office.com/mail/inbox/i...
Farage is following Trump to the letter. Cuts to welfare. Stop immigrants. Deport them. Climate change denial. Heavy policing. Make Britain Great Again. Farage is a clear and present danger. We must make him unelectable, or it will be too late.
September 6, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Farage is following Trump to the letter. Cuts to welfare. Stop immigrants. Deport them. Climate change denial. Heavy policing. Make Britain Great Again. Farage is a clear and present danger. We must make him unelectable, or it will be too late.
Big Brother Trump is boss of Minitrue (translate Deptrue for the US), i.e. the Ministry/Department of Lies and Fake Facts). It administers ideological alignment with BB, rewriting history, denial of science, rejection of journalism, the work of universities, and the dissemination of MAGAspeak.
August 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Big Brother Trump is boss of Minitrue (translate Deptrue for the US), i.e. the Ministry/Department of Lies and Fake Facts). It administers ideological alignment with BB, rewriting history, denial of science, rejection of journalism, the work of universities, and the dissemination of MAGAspeak.
NATO secretary general Mark Rutte called Donald Trump “Daddy “recently. But he was wrong. Trump is actually “Big Brother” . See Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984”, which should be retitled “2025”.
August 28, 2025 at 11:52 AM
NATO secretary general Mark Rutte called Donald Trump “Daddy “recently. But he was wrong. Trump is actually “Big Brother” . See Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984”, which should be retitled “2025”.
Reposted by Paul Chilton
These were the words I was looking for. "That is not policy. That is barbarism"
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...
Nigel Farage and Reform UK would break what makes Britain strong
When Nigel Farage stood up this week and outlined his so-called “plan” for immigration, he didn’t sound like a democrat. He sounded like Vladimir Putin. He called for uniformed officers to raid Britai...
www.politics.co.uk
August 28, 2025 at 8:11 AM
These were the words I was looking for. "That is not policy. That is barbarism"
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...
www.politics.co.uk/mp-comment/2...
How to recognize populism? Listen to the talk… “the people”, “us” vs. “them”, “our country/language/history/culture”. And invent a dangerous Other... “immigrants”, “Muslims”, “they’re invading us”. Then repeat and repeat and repeat.
August 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
How to recognize populism? Listen to the talk… “the people”, “us” vs. “them”, “our country/language/history/culture”. And invent a dangerous Other... “immigrants”, “Muslims”, “they’re invading us”. Then repeat and repeat and repeat.
August 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
“Ukraine has learned the hard way that U.S. security guarantees are worthless.” The Contrarian.
contrarian.substack.com/p/word-and-p...
contrarian.substack.com/p/word-and-p...
Word & Phrases We Could Do Without
A ‘guarantee’ from Trump?!
contrarian.substack.com
August 20, 2025 at 8:46 AM
“Ukraine has learned the hard way that U.S. security guarantees are worthless.” The Contrarian.
contrarian.substack.com/p/word-and-p...
contrarian.substack.com/p/word-and-p...
Fascist rhetoric: fabricate an enemy, internal and external; instil fear; claim the nation’s blood is poisoned; dehumanise ethnic others; rewrite the nation’s history; diss the media; do state propaganda instead; diss the judiciary, legislature, and administration. And, look, “I am the Savior”.
August 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Fascist rhetoric: fabricate an enemy, internal and external; instil fear; claim the nation’s blood is poisoned; dehumanise ethnic others; rewrite the nation’s history; diss the media; do state propaganda instead; diss the judiciary, legislature, and administration. And, look, “I am the Savior”.
Unless Americans resist strongly, and soon, they’re going to end up in a dictatorial police state. Trump’s moves are from the classic script of the 1930s fascists.
August 14, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Unless Americans resist strongly, and soon, they’re going to end up in a dictatorial police state. Trump’s moves are from the classic script of the 1930s fascists.
Ukraine’s future must NOT be decided by two dictators.
August 10, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Ukraine’s future must NOT be decided by two dictators.
“Land for peace” ? Much better, “imperialist annexation”, more like it, as Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia has pointed out. That’s the truth. The power of words!
August 9, 2025 at 12:46 PM
“Land for peace” ? Much better, “imperialist annexation”, more like it, as Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia has pointed out. That’s the truth. The power of words!