Politics & Power Quote by John Pilger

Pilger’s line lands like a punch because it turns a familiar label into an accusation: the party marketed as Labour is, in his telling, governing as the “extreme right.” The rhetorical trick is simple and ruthless. He doesn’t argue policy point by point; he declares a reality so inverted that the name itself becomes evidence of bad faith. “Although it’s called” does a lot of work here, implying branding as camouflage and inviting the audience to feel duped.

The intent is not descriptive neutrality but delegitimization. Pilger is positioning “Labour” less as an ideological home and more as a corporate wrapper around power: a party that keeps the aesthetics of social democracy while delivering the priorities of capital, security services, and Atlantic-aligned foreign policy. “Extreme” escalates the charge beyond “centrist drift.” It’s designed to collapse the comfortable distinction between conservative governance and ostensibly progressive management, suggesting continuity where voters expect contrast.

Subtext: the Overton window has shifted so far that the “left” party administers privatization, punitive welfare, surveillance, and militarism without breaking a sweat. It also hints at a media ecosystem that helps maintain the illusion; if the flagship opposition-to-the-right is itself rightwing, dissent gets trapped in a hall of mirrors.

Context matters. Pilger’s career is defined by suspicion of establishment consensus, especially around war, empire, and propaganda. Read against New Labour-era triangulation and post-9/11 security politics, the quote becomes a warning about democratic choice narrowed to different management styles, not different moral commitments. It’s meant to sting, because complacency is the real target.