2 JULY 2025 | OPINION
A Glastonbury performer shouted: “death to the IDF” — and the nation collapsed into outrage, denial, and hypocrisy. But this wasn’t a glitch. It was the culture working as designed. From Westminster to social media, we’ve replaced meaning with noise — and now we’re choking on it.
He shouted: “death to the IDF”, on a festival stage, in front of thousands. And the country did what it always does: it screamed, took sides, and learnt nothing.
The Left tripped over itself to explain it away. The Right tried to cancel Glastonbury entirely. Politicians issued their statements — carefully calculated to say nothing. Nobody asked the only question that matters:
Why did he feel righteous in saying it?
Because that’s the scandal. Not the words. Not the man. Not even the stage.
The culture. The one we built. The one we reward. The one that’s rotting everything it touches.
This wasn’t a one-off. It was the system working exactly as designed. Loud. Performative. Broken.
We’ve created a political and cultural machine where the only way to be heard is to be outrageous. Moderation is weakness. Nuance is boring. Fury is currency.
He didn’t shout that phrase in spite of public discourse — he did it because of it. Because everything around him, from social media to music stages to political commentary, told him that if you want to matter, make it hurt.
Truth no longer cuts through. Performance does. Principle isn’t respected; it’s rented — for applause.
The Left now treats every political statement like a liturgy. Condemn this; preface that. Offer your moral disclaimers before you’re allowed an opinion. Say the right phrases in the right order or face digital crucifixion.
We’ve turned politics into a purity contest — and outrage into a performance art.
But the Right is no better. These self-declared free speech warriors vanish the second someone offends them. Then it’s flags banned, speakers cancelled, Glastonbury outlawed — all in the name of defending expression. Hypocrisy in HD.
You don’t defend freedom by silencing people. You defend it by standing firm even when it’s uncomfortable. But nobody does that anymore. They just perform discomfort until the headlines move on.
And meanwhile, the numbers — the facts — tell a darker truth.
- Anti-Semitism in the UK rose 112% in a single year;
- London alone saw a 1,350% surge since October;
- Over 5,500 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in 12 months.
And still — still — every time someone speaks up about it, the reply is: “And all other forms of hate.”
We don’t do that when it’s Asian hate. We don’t do that when it’s Black Lives Matter. But for Jews? Suddenly that line’s acceptable again.
It’s not fairness — it’s erasure.
Let’s stop pretending this is about leadership. It’s about attention. David Lammy compared Brexit voters to Nazis. Madeleine Albright said there’s a “special place in hell” for women who didn’t back Hillary. David Cameron called UKIP supporters “swivel-eyed loons”. A Polish MEP said Brexit leaders were worse than Nazis.
The Right tosses around playground insults like “libtard” and “Robert Ozempic” like they’re clever. They’re not. They’re boring. They’re infantile. They’re useless.
You’re not debating. You’re auditioning. And the stage is on fire. You say you want to change politics? Then stop playing the game.
Labour is auditioning for likes. The Tories are doing slapstick in the Commons. The Lib Dems are cosplaying as a touring theatre group. Reform UK — and whatever Rupert Lowe is launching next, his ‘Restore Britain’ initiative — thinks noise is policy. It’s not.
And the worst part? We didn’t just allow this. We demanded it.
We voted for outrage. We shared in the rage bait. We booed the boring and cheered the blowhards. And now we’re standing in the consequences — shocked that the monster we fed grew teeth.
This isn’t just political failure — it’s cultural surrender.
Yes, Westminster failed. Yes, the media failed. Yes, the parties failed. But so did we. So did you. So did I.
We didn’t want boring competence — we wanted moral fireworks. We didn’t want answers — we wanted someone to blame. We cheered for the drama, booed the nuance, and then acted surprised when it all collapsed in on itself.
So now we get what we built: a politics of tantrums, a culture of cowards, a country that mistakes volume for value.
When everyone shouts, no-one hears. When no-one listens, the loudest win. And when the loudest win, we all lose.
Don’t look for grown-ups in Parliament. Don’t wait for the BBC to get a grip. Don’t expect Reform UK to fix what it’s fuelling. Because here’s the truth:
We let it happen. We liked it. We shared it. We voted for it.
And now we live in it.
You want it to change? Then stop asking who broke it, and start asking why we were clapping. Until then, nothing will change. It never bl**dy does.
This article is a continuation of a series on Wolves.
But we didn’t vote for it.