I Intend To Escape ......................And Come Back

Labour gets itself into a mess in Batley and Spen

It seems likely the Conservatives will win the Batley and Spen by-election on 1 July. There is even the possibility of George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain beating Labour into third place.

As I discuss for spiked, having played the game of identity politics, abandoning the Batley Grammar school teacher in the process, Labour now risks being outplayed at their own game by Galloway. You'd need a heart of stone not to laugh.....

A pdf of the article is available below:

Download The Batley and Spen by-election a mess made by identity politics 24 06 2021

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On Accepting Transgender Athletes

"Men posing as female weightlifters isn't the biggest problem western civilisation faces, but it's an ominous symptom of deeper rot. When the people in charge retreat into fantasy, and demand that everyone else join them there, society itself becomes impervious to reality. The entire population develops the habits of fact-avoidance and lying. After a while, no one can see a crisis, or even admit one exists."

From Tucker Carlson's Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution. (New York: Free Press), p. 201.

The Manchester Arena Inquiry: Damaging revelations, with more to come

The first stage of the inquiry under Justice Saunders into the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, is now complete.

I analyse what has happened thus far in The Levant, and argue the second and third stages are likely to be as, or more devastating, in their criticisms.

A pdf of the article can be read below.

Download The Manchester Arena Inquiry Damaging revelations with more to come 18 06 2021

Behind the Debates: Iranian Networks in the UK

Iran pursues its interests in the UK, and seeks to build and maintain influence, in two ways.

The first is through perfectly legal outreach work and inter faith initiatives. The second is a much more underhand campaign of online disinformation and skullduggery. I set out some examples of both in an article for The Levant, available here.

You can read the article as a pdf, below.

Download Thelevantnews.com-Behind the debates Iranian Influence in the UK 15 06 2021

Batley and Spen: Bigger Than Red v Blue

The Batley and Spen by-election on 1 July is one of the most exciting in years.

My latest article for Spiked considers the challenge of George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain, the backdrop of threats and violence that have scarred the constituency in recent years, and the candidacy of several pro-Brexit parties, who are searching for political space in the pro-Brexit era.

You can read the article here, and find a pdf below.

Download Batley and Spen bigger than red v blue 10 06 2021

Discussing Iranian Influence Networks in the United Kingdom

I took part in a panel discussion yesterday on Iranian influence overseas, as part of the promotional work following the report I published with the Henry Jackson Society earlier this week.

The panel was chaired by the Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, and I was joined by Prof Saul Chorev, Simone Rodan-Benzaquen and Jonathan Spyer.

You can see a video of the event here.

Iranian Influence Networks in the United Kingdom: Audit and Analysis

I am the author of a new report on Iranian influence in the United Kingdom. You can read the press release and find a link to the report here.

The report looks at seven areas of interest: political networks, religion, the media, cultural networks, the Iranian diaspora, education and academia, and finally, the fields of business and finance. The bulk of the focus, however, is in the fields of politics and religion.

A pdf of the report can be downloaded below:

Download HJS-Iranian-Influence-Networks-in-the-UK-Report 2021

The Silence of the Metropolitan Lambs: A Review of Islamophilia by Douglas Murray

The Summer 2021 issue of the Salisbury Review is now out. You can buy the magazine, or download a copy, here.

Within its pages I have a review of Douglas Murray's short book 'Islamophilia: A Very Metropolitan Malady.' What are the consequences of an outbreak of Islamophilia? Read the review and find out.

Download Murray Islamophilia review Salisbury Review Summer 2001 p 53

Download Murray Islamophilia review Salisbury Review Summer 2021 p 54

Could the Fishmongers Hall attack have been prevented?

Following the inquest into the killing of Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt in the November 2019 terrorist attack at Fishmongers Hall in London, I have written a short piece for Spiked on the question of whether the attack could have been prevented.

The article is on the Spiked website here.

It can also be read as a pdf below.

Download Could the Fishmongers Hall attack have been prevented spiked 02 06 2021