Off-Guardian – June 23, 2025

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.

1. The UK’s “Toxic air”

A new report from the Royal College of Physicians claims the UK’s air is so polluted it will kill 30,000 people this year.

Well, not actually kill. Rather, the “toxic air” will be “linked to” 30,000 deaths.

What exactly that “link” is we don’t yet know, but thanks to Covid we can make some fairly educated guesses.

This is a potentially hard sell, because air quality in the UK – and much of the West – has actually improved significantly in the last couple of generations.

That’s why you get paragraphs like this one in the Independent [emphasis added]:

There is “no safe level” of air pollution, which negatively affects nearly every organ in the body, according to a new report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). Despite emissions having reduced significantly in recent decades, even low concentrations of air pollution can have impacts on foetal development, cancer, heart disease, stroke, mental health conditions and dementia, the report warns.

There is “no safe level” of pollution? Really?

Are we going to have to get to actual zero emissions then, rather than just net zero?

This is all in the name of rebranding pollution from an “environmental issue” to a “public health issue”, just as they are trying to do with climate change. How do I know that? Because they said so…

“Air pollution can no longer be seen as just an environmental issue – it’s a public health crisis,” said RCP president Dr Mumtaz Patel.

Apparently, medical professionals will be demanding that the government take action to meet “ambitious” air quality targets.

What exactly those actions are we don’t yet know, but thanks to Covid we can make some fairly educated guesses.

2. Cell-phone data used to “nab speeders”

Washington State police have purchased cell phone data and used it to “nab” potential speeders, according to a report published a few days ago.

Cellphone data from more than 1 million cellphone users in Washington in 2023 helped the state identify where to look for dangerous drivers.

”This is so exciting to be using data that we haven’t had access to before,” said Washington Traffic Safety Commission acting Director Shelly Baldwin, “This is predictive as opposed to reflective.”

Apparently, the data didn’t actually indicate specific people who had committed crimes, but rather identify trends and areas where people might be more likely to speed. So while it’s not quite as bad as it sounds, it is still concerning.

Really, the worrying aspect is that a government agency was able to purchase data on over a million people from a private company.

3. Paint is terrorism, apparently

UK Home Secretary is seeking to ban the Palestine Action protest group under anti-terrorism legislation this week, after members broke into a Royal Air Force base and threw paint on some planes.

I’m not going to explain how that isn’t terrorism. Nobody should have to.

That said, I trust Palestine Action – and pretty much all high-profile protest groups – about as far as I could throw them.

I would even argue the entire point of people throwing paint on Van Gogh’s and glueing themselves to the middle of the road is so people cheer on “anti-terror” legislation that hands down brutal prison sentences for non-violent protests.

BONUS: Irony of the week

Retro rocker Marilyn Manson is launching a UK tour soon, and some politicians want to ban him from performing.

The funny part is that this isn’t the conservative right, who used to protest his shows because of supposedly Satanic this or violent that or whatever moral panic was in vogue. No, now it’s the left who want to ban him, because he’s been accused of sexual assault.

Just accused, not convicted, not even charged. The prosecutor threw out the case. But still, let’s normalise censorship and cancel culture.

It’s not all bad…

Not exactly good news, but this weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Jaws, the original summer blockbluster.

It’s genuinely great movie, and I would recommend In the Teeth of Jaws, the documentary made to mark the 25th anniversary, as well.

Robert Shaw deserved an Oscar for this speech alone. Don’t watch this clip if you’ve never seen the movie before…

ll told a pretty hectic week for the new normal crowd, and we didn’t even mention the suicide pod guy expanding his business to the UK.

There’s a lot of change in the air, a lot of agendas in the works, if you see a headline, article, post or interview you think is a sign of the times, post it in the comments, email us or share it on social media and we will add it to the next edition.

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