Monday briefing: How radical views became normalised – from TV ads to deportation policy

In today’s newsletter: The language that once belonged to Tommy Robinson and the BNP is now the preserve of the Conservatives and Reform UK – and represents a shift so vast we barely notice itGood morning. Consider the policy slate: British residents with settled status should be deported. We should guard against demographic change by increasing birthrates instead of migration. The special treatment for minorities in a “two-tier” justice system must end. There should be fewer black and Asian people on TV. And you can’t be English unless you’re white.A few years ago, views like these belonged firmly on the fringes – and while the occasional unreconstructed backbencher might get some publicity by voicing them, they would swiftly be dismissed as irrelevant cranks. No longer. That laundry list is an amalgamation of the views held by parties now deemed mainstream and their allies in the media – and yet the blunt fact that Conservatives are echoing policies that once belonged to the BNP, or that Nigel Farage and the Daily Mail are adopting tropes popularised by Tommy Robinson, somehow seems taboo to point out.NHS | Health service bosses are seeking an emergency injection of £3bn to cover unexpected costs, a move that presents a fresh problem for Rachel Reeves as she seeks to fill an estimated £30bn hole in the public finances.UK news | A former UK asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose case sparked riots in the summer, is back in custody and faces deportation after being released from prison accidentally over the weekend.Immigration and asylum | The Home Office has squandered billions of pounds on asylum accommodation due to long-term mismanagement of a “failed, chaotic and expensive” system, according to a report published by a powerful parliamentary committee.Argentina | The party of Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, has won Sunday’s midterm elections after a campaign in which US president Donald Trump announced a $40bn bailout for the country and made continued aid conditional on the victory of his Argentinian counterpart.Louvre heist | French police have arrested two suspects believed to have helped steal crown jewels worth an estimated €88m (£76m) from the Louvre museum in Paris, a week after one of the country’s most spectacular heists in decades. Continue reading...