Matt Goodwin

You personally weren't being hypocritical.

There are a few issues here. Nationally, nowhere near the percentages Goodwin claims can't speak English.

There certainly are some people (mainly women) who have lived in the country for years but can't speak English. I used to go to a Chinese takeaway where an old woman sat in the corner, using an old-fashioned abacus. I don't think she could speak English because a younger woman used to take the order, shout it out to the older woman, who shouted something back at the end. The younger woman then said - in English - how much it all cost. Presumably the younger woman was bilingual.

Some elderly Asian women can't speak more then functional English because they have no need. Their husbands look after them at home and they can be home workers. There are people like Primrose's BIL who are quite happy to use their skills. What's the problem?

However, their children, including daughters, will learn English at school. Many of them will rebel against the traditional lifestyle of their parents and some might even marry outside their immediate circle. Gradually, they will become fully integrated, so it is impossible for Goodwin to predict the demographic make-up of the country in a generation or so. That is what has happened throughout history.

sundowngirl

Casdon

It’s so hypocritical for British people to complain about people from other countries not speaking English when they live here, because a pound to a penny our natives are one the worst at not bothering to learn other countries’ languages when they live abroad. How many of the thousands of Brits living in the Middle East have learned Arabic I wonder.

I wasn’t being hypocritical. I learnt the language!
Why does other brits abroad not learning the language, make it ok for those living here for decades not learning a word of English?
A lot of Whataboutery! on this thread

I don’t accuse you of not learning the language sundowngirl, I didn’t quote you? I stand by what said though, and I don’t see how it is whataboutery. In whose eyes is it one rule for foreigners living in the UK, and a different rule for us if we live abroad? Does Matt Goodwin mention that?

BlueBelle

I m very content with how my country looks Meandrogrog
I ve lived long enough to be used to the hatred spewed out to various ethnic populations by racists and I m very far from content with racism
Hopefully one day we will eradicate these racists from our shores perhaps we can swap them and send them off in little
(or big) boats

I m much rather live next door to a Muslim than a racist

Excellent comment!
I really despair when I read some of the comments on the decline of the UK.
It’s only the racism, evident in some of the posts, that has me concerned.
Very concerned !

these Muslim women

Unless stuff like this stops, progress will be limited.

sixandahalf

*these Muslim women*

Unless stuff like this stops, progress will be limited.

?????

What should the poster have said?

" Many of these Muslim women never leave the house so never integrate. It is dreadful that they never get that chance because of domineering, selfish husbands." Primrose53

Would you like to provide some evidence for this Primrose other than an anecdotal story from a friend?

In the late 80s/90s I ran ESOL courses, we offered creche facilities because having young children at home meant that women could not attend classes. I set up the creche using a grant from BBC Children in Need and ESF funding, the college I worked for subsidised the cost of the qualified person who ran it and it was incorporated into providing the College's NNEB course with placements. Husbands often brought their wives along to enrol.
This idea that Muslim men treat their wives badly is a well known stereotypical trope and does not match with my lived experience of working with Muslim communities. The Muslim community is just like any other community. mostly good with some exceptions . In 2026 most Muslims make a valuable contribution to British culture and because they are often third generation speak fluent English. Grandma may not speak fluent English but the younger generations most certainly do.

Meandrogrog 22 March: “There must be data somewhere which shows how many copies of a particular book has sold”.

Well, there is data now available. Matt Goodwin said his book is the “second-biggest book in Britain…..I’ve never seen anything like this.” Hmmm.

The actual stats, according to the official book sales monitor NielsenIQ BookScan. In its first week of sale, in a week where the No 1 book sold 33,000 copies, Suicide of a Nation sold 5,539, making it this week’s No 20.

I thought Matt Goodwin said his book is the second best seller on Amazon - not in Britain

sundown girl 11.31: "I thought Matt Goodwin said his book is the second best seller on Amazon - not in Britain"

Matt Goodwin has made many self -aggrandising claims about his book and its sales performance- to the DM, on FaceBook on GB news, to commentators etc etc. He may well have said the book was the second best seller on Amazon- not in Britain but that is not true- nowhere near.

MG wrote the book has been taken up by a veritable army of "the people" claiming "their biggest fear is coming true" because the book is the "second- biggest book in Britain".

On Monday night he posted the book was in the top three of the Amazon UK best sellers chart, with his book sandwiched at Number 2, between Fluffy Chick: A Touch and Feel Book and a seasonal book about Paddington's Easter Egg Hunt.

If you google Amazon best sellers this morning the top three are: Sunrise on the Reaping, Onyx Storm and The Housemaid is watching. MG doesn't feature on that Amazon best seller list at all. If you google the top three Amazon UK books MG features at number 9- behind 8 children's books. Its fallen from his claim of second place on Monday night to 9th place this morning.

His book is now Number 1 in the Sunday Times list.

Primrose53

His book is now Number 1 in the Sunday Times list.

What does that tell us I wonder?

sixandahalf

Primrose53

His book is now Number 1 in the Sunday Times list.

What does that tell us I wonder?

According to AI it tells you this:

The Sunday Times bestseller list is the UK's most influential and longest-running weekly book sales chart, providing a definitive ranking of fiction, non-fiction, and paperback titles based on BookScan data. It is recognized by publishers and authors as a key benchmark of commercial success, highlighting current reading trends and popular titles.

The book I am reading at the moment is on the Sunday Times bestseller list too.
Six Little Words by Sally Page.
What does that tell you, I wonder?

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

sixandahalf

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

Best to post when you are wide awake and alert then. 😉

On Monday night he posted the book was in the top three of the Amazon UK best sellers chart, with his book sandwiched at Number 2, between Fluffy Chick: A Touch and Feel Book and a seasonal book about Paddington's Easter Egg Hunt.

I'd forgotten those lovely Touch and Feel books for babies and toddlers! They were lovely.
Must check out Paddington's Easter Egg Hunt.

sixandahalf

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

That made me laugh, intentional or not it was indeed six little words! 😃

Casdon

sixandahalf

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

That made me laugh, intentional or not it was indeed six little words! 😃

So it was!! Very observant 😁

Is it a rushed out second edition or is he still flogging the one with all the fake quotes (which he said he would correct in 48 hours in the GB News debate on 27 March) and fabricated statistics? Does he now reference the “world leading demographers” he claimed verified his data but was unable to name them?

Note that anyone who questions him on the book contents and his methods is now blocked from contacting him. A brittle, dishonest man.

His book should be in the fiction section where it wouldn’t rank in the top ten.

He’s still been outsold by Fluffy Chick and The Dinosaur that Pooped Easter.

Viktor Orbán concedes. Poor MattGPT. No more pay cheques from MCC and Russian oil.

I haven't read either the first, nor the second draft of this book.
Can anyone who has read the second tell me if the enormous lie about the schoolchildren of Kent and their language, as I mentioned up thread, has been removed?

Primrose53

sixandahalf

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

Best to post when you are wide awake and alert then. 😉

The silly face doesn't make it funny or acceptable.

sixandahalf

Primrose53

sixandahalf

I don't know. Sorry I'm tired.

Best to post when you are wide awake and alert then. 😉

The silly face doesn't make it funny or acceptable.

It’s a wink! A wink is perfectly acceptable. It’s a gentle reminder.

Chocolatelovinggran

I haven't read either the first, nor the second draft of this book.
Can anyone who has read the second tell me if the enormous lie about the schoolchildren of Kent and their language, as I mentioned up thread, has been removed?

He must still be flogging the first edition with all the falsehoods and wild claims else the edition that retailers have now would carry a different ISBN and it doesn’t.

A reprint is when more copies are printed with no substantial changes; a few typos fixed. A new edition means that there has been substantial change with revised content. A new edition is considered a different product and gets its own ISBN.

If someone wanted to carry out a critical comparison between what Goodwin first published on 16 March 2026 and what is on the shelves now, less than a calendar month later, they would need to read both side by side, wouldn’t they?

No serious academic could do a major revision and get it on the shelves in under month so it sounds very much like he’s flogging the same edition including all the fabricated data about children with EAL and no acknowledgement that, even if English is an additional language, they can speak it with fluency.

It shows how dishonest he is to keep pushing his conspiracy theories and attacking children in this way.

At least the good folk of Gorton and Denton didn’t fall for his cr** … unlike those people shelling out money to buy it in his book.

Various reviewers have pondered why this book was rushed to press, positing that it was done to capitalise on what Reform expected would be a win for Goodwin in Gorton & Denton just as they assumed they would win Caerphilly.

It was all a bit of a set up, wasn’t it? One day they were advertising for candidates for G&D charging them £125 for vetting and the next ... Goodwin was parachuted in.

As far as I am aware, other parties don’t charge for vetting. Reform is awash with billionaire donations so why do they need to do this?

Some commentators have suggested it’s to prevent poor people from applying; that Reform is a party for rich people who like to pretend they’re working class or at least stand for the working classes … and they don’t.

Going off topic but connected, look at Jenrick at the moment, banging on about how terrible it is that families who need to claim UC can take their children to museums and other cultural attractions on concessionary tickets and how Reform will put a stop to that.

One would think that they would want poor families, especially those from other cultures, to learn about the country’s history.

Not that Reform could stop this as most cultural attractions are charitable trusts. It's up to a charity’s trustees and management which concessions are offered. I co-run a charity which has regular ticketed events. We offer concessionary tickets to people on low incomes. I’d like to see Jenrick try to tell us what we can and can’t do. We would tell him just where Reform can stick their fabricated culture wars - which is all Goodwin is trying to stir with his lie-strewn book.

Incidentally, the concessionary tickets that Jenrick is moaning about are also available to people in recipe of Pension Credit. So do we assume Reform also want to put a stop to poorer pensioners taking their grandchildren for a day out?