How many red flags do we need before we finally wake-up to the fact that Keir Starmer’s “centrist” Government is actually a socialist dictatorship turning Britain into a collectivist economic basket case hour-by-hour? This is not rage bait, it is empirical fact. I was tempted to make a lazy comparison to China or even North Korea. But it’s not that, not yet.

But the daily catastrophe we are living through does bear comparison to one of those ropey African tacit dictatorships, all smiles and “nothing to see here” to keep the IMF cash rolling in while quietly (and not so quietly) the leaders cripple democracy and crush the will of the people. Power not as a means to an end but simply as an end in itself.

Which is where Labour finds itself – a party so desperate for power it forgot to work out what to do should it ever achieve that power.

These are truly dangerous times where barefaced lies are the currency of politics and your freedoms are eroded day-by-day by this mendacious bunch of terrible mediocrities.

Think “dictatorship” is too extreme for jolly old Blighty? Mother of all Parliaments? The land of hope and glory?

Well, let’s break it down. Let’s deal with the classic hallmarks of a dictatorship, in no particular order:

1. The concentration of absolute power in a single leader or small elite

Goes without saying. Starmer has repeatedly side-stepped Parliamentary scrutiny to push forward his own agenda – the Chagos Islands being a perfect example of a policy nobody asked for being imposed with almost zero scrutiny.

2. The erosion of civil liberties

This has reached epidemic proportions since Labour came to power (just ask poor Lucy Connolly sentenced to 31 months for a tweet which angered our ruling elite). But fear even more David Lammy’s bid to end your right to a jury of your peers and instead be processed by a state-appointed judge – this is clearly the meat and drink of dictatorships.

3. Suspension or Manipulation of Elections

Today’s news Labour is scrapping mayoral elections – which would surely have seen Reform giving this Government a bloody nose – is also textbook dictatorship stuff.

4. State control over the individual

Starmer’s ID cards plan will be the thin end of the wedge. It is a tiny mental leap from ID cards containing a chip to 24 hour state surveillance. Couple that with today’s news police are to “ramp up” use of facial recognition cameras and there’s no escaping the fact Big Brother is watching you.

5. Lying and dissembling

Good Lord, where do we start? Perhaps with the whopper of all whoppers, Starmer’s almost tearful promise to put “country before party” on the steps of No 10, before capitulating at every turn to his powerful cabal of faceless hard-left backbenchers. Then there’s Rachel Reeves who simply doesn’t seem to appreciate there is actually a difference between telling the truth and lying. Is she a chess champion? Did she single-handedly mastermind a major bank for 10 years? Is there a fiscal black hole or just more and more taxes for welfare handouts? I guess we’ll just never know because we can’t trust a word that comes out of her mouth. Angela Rayner take a bow here too.

I could go on, censorship, propaganda, cronyism, corruption… it’s all there, not even bothering to hide.

Rather than the fairly reasonable Labour manifesto we were promised we are now in the midst of a full-on socialist cultural revolution, a culling of those who would try to be exceptional, who would dare to “get on”, and dare to live in a nice house as a reward for their labours (see mansion tax..)

Instead we have a championing of, well, what exactly? Welfarism? Collectivism? Perhaps just the Labour Party.

And the real evil of this constant onslaught against the people is that it makes them give up.

The number of people who have told me recently “I never listen to the news it’s too depressing” is, well, depressing.

Because we have never needed to get across the facts and fight the power quite as much as we need to right now.