Mehdi Hasan Wins Amnesty Award, Warns Trumpism Is Spreading in the UK
May 9, 2026
Award-winning journalist and Zeteo @zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan just issued a scorching warning to the UK, and he didn’t hold back. Speaking at the Amnesty International UK Media Awards on May 7, 2026, Hasan sounded the alarm on a systematic human rights emergency crossing the Atlantic.
He’s not just talking about politics; he’s talking about a virus. As the old saying goes: When America sneezes, the UK catches a cold. And right now, the UK is running a fever.
Hasan pointed directly at figures like Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, who look at door-to-door raids in the U.S. as a blueprint for the UK.
Hasan’s message to journalists and the public was a wake-up call: when rights are weakened in one place, they don’t stay contained. They spread. They normalize.
he question is: who is brave enough to be the cure?
SHAME ON THE SILENCE! WAKE UP THE WORLD!
Courtesy of @amnestyuk
#MehdiHasan #Zeteo #Trumpism #UKPolitics #america
English Script:
Mehdi Hassan: As we witness a global descent into authoritarianism. Let us be clear. Our work as journalists is more than a vocation. It is a necessity. It is the weight of truth in a world increasingly comfortable with silence. At the start of this year, amnesty released a chilling report ringing the alarm bells. It documented how just one year into the second Trump administration, the United States is following a recognizable pattern, quote unquote, of authoritarianism that amnesty has seen for decades in autocracies across the globe. This isn’t just about one man’s tweets. It is a systematic human rights emergency. When you intimidate the press, violations are harder to expose. When you retaliate against protesters, people become afraid to speak. When you expand surveillance and militarized law enforcement, the cost of dissent becomes too high for the average citizen to pay. Trumpism is growing and festering in the UK, too. As the old saying goes, when America sneezes, the UK catches a cold. We see it in the rhetoric of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage. We look at door to door raids and see a model for a UK removals force. We see in a labor government that thinks it can send off the right by becoming a light version of them, while staying silent in the face of the most heinous war crimes imaginable. The UK is already running a fever when rights are weakened in one place, the homes do not stay contained. They spread. They normalize when the state undermines the rule of law to punish its critics. The journalist who refuses to be intimidated is the last line of defense for a free society. Amnesty’s media awards do not exist simply to celebrate headlines, they acknowledge the heavy responsibility of those who write them. We celebrate those who understand that when the alarm bells are ringing, you don’t hit the snooze button. You wake up the world.
