Welcome to Starmer’s marshmallow dictatorship Liberal democracy has more in common with authoritarian regimes than its proponents admit Daily Telegraph 22/12/25 Sam Ashworth-Hayes It’s been a strange year in Britain. Downing Street is occupied by a cabal of human rights lawyers, obsessed with the attempt to shift human nature a degree or two closer to the Fabian ideal; the result has been a steady ratcheting of the rhetorical commitment to the grand theories of liberty and democracy, and an equally steady squeeze on the actual liberties that allow that democracy to function. In the last few days, the Electoral Commission has come out to criticise the Government for delaying local elections, stating that the official rationale is not “legitimate”. Downing Street has retreated further into itself, cutting traditional media sessions that offer an opening for press scrutiny. And the internet regulator Ofcom is drawing up plans to prevent social media users seeing posts with “potenti...