A couple of years after everyone else, I have just finished reading 'The Madness of crowds: Gender, Race and Identity' by Douglas Murray. It is very good, indeed the only one of his books which has missed the mark is probably the one no one talks about now - the 2006 text 'Neoconservatism: Why we need it'. The truth of course is that we didn't! In the conclusion to the Madness of Crowds, Murray writes beautifully of the effort people put into politics, and how identity politics in particular becomes all-consuming. It is worth quoting in full: But of all... Continue reading

On Friday 12 August an attempt was made to murder the writer Salman Rushdie at a public event in New York State. I was quoted on the issue of Rushdie's security, and the wider threat from terrorism in the Sunday Post newspaper on 14 August. As the article does not appear to be online, I attach it as a pdf below. Download Sunday Post Peter Swindon on Rushdie attack p 8-9 14 08 2022 Continue reading

Since I have done this blog, one of the most popular features has been the various articles and pictures I have run on Hackney's lost pubs. Put simply, a huge slice of Hackney's history has been lost, in the space of a few years, usually for the short term profits brought about by gentrification. House building makes more money than pubs. Other London boroughs are little different. Certainly Islington and Camden, but this week brings news of the worst story yet, with one of the few decent pubs left on the Isle of Dogs, the City Pride, being sold for... Continue reading

The protests against The Lady of Heaven movie have ended in a complete victory for the protestors. England and Wales abolished laws against blasphemy under the last Labour government in 2008. As at Batley Grammar School in 2021 however, it appears possible for Islamist protestors to enforce blasphemy codes by taking to the streets. This research note, published yesterday by Policy Exchange, considers events this month, and traces the opposition to The Lady of Heaven movie back to the Islamic Republic of Iran. You can read the research note online here, and download a pdf below. Download ‘The-Lady-of-Heaven Research note... Continue reading

My take on the Shawcross review on Prevent, currently sitting in the Home Secretary's in tray. Published in the Times on Tuesday 17 May. You can view a pdf of the article below. Download Extremism review must take a tough stance on Islamism 17 05 2022 Continue reading

Yesterday spiked were good enough to publish an article I wrote on the Bristol Extinction Rebellion FB page calling a protest against a feminist meeting at Bristol University. A link to the article on the spiked website is here. A pdf of the piece may be read below. Download Why is Extinction Rebellion protesting against gender-critical feminists_ - spiked 08 05 2022 Continue reading

Last month I was one of three authors of a new report for Policy Exchange, looking at the Islamist campaign against the prevent policy. You can find a link to the report here. And download a pdf of the report below. Download Delegitimising-Counter-Terrorism 2022 Continue reading

This is a short piece for the Understanding Islamism project of the think tank Policy Exchange. It considers the advertised appearance of Jeremy Corbyn MP at an anti-Zionist event. Mr Corbyn did not however, join the proceedings. The controversy was covered in the Daily Mail. A link to the article can be read here, and a pdf of the article, below. Download Anti Zionism Coordination (AZC) Annual Conference and Jeremy Corbyn MP - Policy Exchange 25 02 2022 Continue reading

This is a short article, for the Understanding Islamism project of the website Policy Exchange. It considers the responses of British Islamists to the complete proscription of the Islamist group Hamas - previously only its military wing had been illegal in the United Kingdom. You can download a pdf of the article below, and read it online here. Download UK Islamist reactions to the proscription of Hamas as an international terrorist group - Policy Exchange 16 01 2022 Continue reading

I am currently reading the October 2019 issue of Garrison: The Journal of History and Deep Politics. What is Garrison? Think an American version of Lobster, with extra JFK assassination material thrown in, plus sadly, some ultra leftism and 9/11... Continue reading

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: Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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... Continue reading

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 Continue reading

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 Continue reading