The Epstein scandal has obliterated public trust in Britain’s core institutions: the monarchy, the police, Parliament, and the rest. Millions of people are even more convinced than they were before that the system is rigged, and the state is rotten to the core.

Lenin once explained that even the most ‘democratic’ states are nothing but dictatorships of capital, as long as the bankers and bosses are in control. Looking at the state of modern-day Britain, it’s clear that his words are as true as ever.

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham is trying to reinvent himself as a ‘man of the people’ in the run-up to the Makerfield by-election. But his talk about ending Thatcherism is hot air. Burnham is a careerist charlatan; the Greens should have no illusions in him.