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

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2021 in an image

The Winter Solstice is here (the longest day) and it seems appropriate to consider the year, what we have done and what we have not done.

If I had to summarise 2021 in a single image, it is below:

Network of Networks: The Muslim Brotherhood in Europe

This week the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European parliament published the report on the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe that I have worked on with the Italian researcher Tommaso Virgili.

You can see the report launch, and download a copy of the report, on the ECR website here.

A pdf of the report can be found below.

Download Network of Networks MuslimBrotherhood in Europe Stott Virgili 2021

Turkey expands its religious influence

As Saudi Arabia increasingly looks to move away from influencing the growth of Islam in the west, Turkey is a more important player than ever.

This article, for Policy Exchange's Understanding Islamism project, seeks to explain the influence of the Diyanet, Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Read it online here, and as a pdf below.

Download Turkeys Ministry of Religious Affairs An increasingly important player at home and abroad 19 10 2021

14 Questions following the killing of David Amess MP

I wrote the following for the Policy Exchange website earlier this month.

You can read the text here, and as a pdf below.

Download 14 questions for ministers and police emerging from the killing of Sir David Amess MP 19 10 2021

British connections of banned French charity BarakaCity revealed

This article, for Policy Exchange, examines the French NGO BarakaCity.

Proscribed for extremism in its home country, its CEO Idriss Sihamedi, has publicly sought asylum in Turkey. However it has for several years been active in this country, and is currently seeking to expand its operations in Britain, an issue that should raise concerns.

There is a link to the article here, and a pdf below:

Download British connections of banned French Islamic charity BarakaCity revealed

Environmentalist disruption shifts from the West End to the M25

As the protests of Extinction Rebellion have become increasingly staid, it is perhaps no surprise Insulate Britain have opted for a tactic of far greater disruption.

However, those key workers who have kept the country going during the pandemic, will struggle to recognise either the world of the environmentalists, or one where the police stand by as motorways are blocked. My thought on these events can be read on the on the Policy Exchange website here.

The article can also be downloaded as a pdf below:

Download Environmentalist disruption shifts from the west end to the M25 17 09 2021

20 Years On From 9/11, Are We Still Funding Those Who Mock Us?

9/11 retrospective articles are everywhere this weekend.

This piece, for the Policy Exchange website, dabbles with that, but attempts to look more broadly at the importance of funding in the propaganda wars which follow in the wake of both terrorism and counter terrorism.

You can view online here, or as a pdf below:

Download 20 years on from 9 11 are we still funding those who mock us Policy Exchange 10 09 2021

What is Islamism and why should it concern me?

A publication unpublished when I left the Henry Jackson Society earlier this year was a short briefing document entitled 'What is Islamism.'

Aimed at the general reader, it can now be viewed online here, and as a pdf below.

Download What is Islamism and why should it concern me

Lee 'Scratch' Perry: A Tribute

Following the death of the legendary Jamaican reggae artist and producer, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, spiked were good enough to publish my tribute.

You can read it here, or as a pdf below.

Download Lee Scratch Perry Chaotic eccentic and utterly brilliant spiked 31 08 2021

The cultural revolution

How is it that the Conservative party keeps winning general elections, but the day to day running of our society appears to reflect an entirely different set of values entirely?

From Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday:

"People who would have laughed at 'loony Left' councils 30 years ago now use language and follow rules which they once mocked when Ken Livingstone and his allies proposed them. Those who claim to despise Jeremy Corbyn often follow the ideas he helped devise in his decades in London town halls.

And it is not just that they join in. They are afraid to criticise. Huge areas of opinion are now closed off from discussion, for fear of cancellation, advertising boycotts, and generally being cast into the outer darkness.

With gathering speed and completeness, a total revolution in thought and morals is taking hold of Western societies, just at the moment when they should be girding themselves against pressure to become more like China."

Kurt Westergaard Champion of Free Speech

The death at the age of 86 of the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, marks the passing of a strong proponent of free speech.

Of the 2005 Muhammad cartoons, Westergaard's, below, was by some measure the most controversial, as it showed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

Despite death threats and a serious attempt on his life, Westergaard continued to express himself freely. That, as I write for spiked, makes him a true champion of free speech. You can also download a pdf of my article below:

Download Kurt Westergaard free speech hero spiked 22 07 2021

Cressida Dick has failed upwards

It seems likely that the current Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, will be offered a second four year term in office.

This would be a mistake, and to reward failure, as I argue in this piece for spiked.

You can view the article as a pdf below.
Download Cressida Dick has failed upwards spiked 21 07 2021

Labour's Victory in Batley was Based on Hate not Hope

I neglected to post my final comments for Spiked on Labour's eventual victory in the Batley and Spen by-election.

You can read it on the excellent spiked website, here.

I also place the article as a pdf below. Perhaps the most significant development since the result has been the Labour MP for Bradford West and Shadow Minister for Social Cohesion, who spoke in the Commons of the need to protect Muslims from the 'hurt' of insults to Muhammad. It is hard not to see a connection between the by-election result, and Ms Shah's intervention. It bodes ill for the direction Labour is taking.

Download Labour's batley victory was based on hate not hope 06 07 2021

Batley's Islamist Crybullies

Shakeel Afsar has given us a masterful display of the crybullies art - hectoring and aggressive one moment, pleading for our support and sympathy the next.

Read my analysis on spiked, or in the pdf below.

Download Batleys Islamist crybullies 29 06 2021

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

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.