The Joy of Six 1419

"Make no mistake: Raise the Colours and Unite the Kingdom, which drew more than 100,000 protesters to London last month, want the same thing: nativist dominance; a fortress Britain built on exclusion. It poses as spontaneous grassroots patriotism, but scratch its surface and you’ll find that veteran far-right and neo-fascist organisers are behind its coordination and financing." The global far-right is brainwashing a town near you, warns Joseph S. Furey.

Richard Ovendon says libraries are palaces for the people that must be defended: "More than a decade of austerity has ... ravaged the public library sector in many parts of our nation. There are fewer palaces for the people, many are open for fewer hours than before 2010, and some of them are in dire need of physical repair."

"The challenge for anyone trying to bring propagandists to trial has always been connecting vile words to horrific acts." Peter Pomerantsev on holding Putin's propagandists to account.

Liz Green says that support for councillors is vital to democracy: "Within months of being elected, many are already wrestling with exhaustion, frustration or a sense of being out of their depth. For those stepping into cabinet or committee chair roles, the pressure intensifies."

Zoe Williams mourns Jilly Cooper: "People got groped and worse in Cooper’s work, but that was never OK – it’s surprising how OK it is in many far more literary books of the era."

"Another picture here, 28 London Streets, is a gallery of evocative street names from their neighbourhood – Princelet Street, Henriques Street, Chudleigh Street. Instead of gurning or cavorting as in their other self portraits, the artists here are two misty, spectral entities: the ghosts of Gilbert & George, haunting their old streets for ever." Jonathan Jones enjoys the G&G exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.