PRIDE AND PREDATOR

Late last year, I released Pride and Predator as a series of episodes examining the rise and fall of Stephen Ireland, the founder of Surrey Pride.Many of you said you wanted a way to hear the entire investigation in one sitting, whether for a long journey, walking the dog, or simply so you don't have to lift a finger between episodes.So I’ve brought the whole story together into a single feature-length edition.The investigation follows Ireland’s rise as a prominent LGBT campaigner, the warnings raised by those around him, the failures of institutions that should have asked harder questions, and the events that ultimately led to his conviction for serious sexual offences against children.It is a story about power, safeguarding, ideology and accountability. Above all, it is a story about what can happen when people stop asking difficult questions.If you’ve already listened to the original series, thank you for your support. If you’re new to Pride and Predator, this is the best place to start.REPORTER: Julie BindelPRODUCTION TEAM: Maria Esposito, Ashanna Prijs Reeves, Samantha SmithARTWORK: Nicole JonesContent warning: This investigation contains discussion of child sexual abuse, grooming, safeguarding failures, drug use and sexual exploitation. Listener discretion is advised.Running time: approximately 2 hours.Prefer to listen episode by episode? All original episodes and bonus interviews are available here.Episode One: The Rise of Stephen IrelandHow Stephen Ireland rose to prominence within Surrey Pride, built influential relationships across local institutions, and became one of the most visible LGBT campaigners in the county.Episode Two: The Warnings Nobody HeededAs concerns mounted, whistleblowers found themselves ignored, sidelined or attacked. The second episode examines the safeguarding failures, political pressures and culture that allowed warning signs to be dismissed.Episode Three: The Fall of Surrey’s Pride FounderThe final episode follows the investigation, arrests and convictions, and asks what lessons institutions need to learn from one of the most disturbing scandals to emerge from the modern Pride movement.Bonus Episode: Bev Jackson – From Gay Liberation to the Capture of PrideOne of the founders of the UK Gay Liberation Front reflects on the history of Pride, the erosion of safeguarding, and how ideology can shield abuse from scrutiny.Bonus Episode: Cllr Mandy Clare – What Happens When You Don’t Look AwayA local councillor recounts how raising safeguarding concerns about Pride events led to intimidation, arrest and a battle to hold public institutions to account.When I started looking into Stephen Ireland and Surrey Pride, I found a much bigger story about institutions, safeguarding, ideology and what happens when people stop asking awkward questions.Thank you to everyone who has listened, shared the series, got in touch, and helped spread the word. If you’re coming to Pride and Predator for the first time, I hope you find it thought-provoking. And if you’ve been with me from the beginning, thank you for sticking with it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

Bev Jackson - From Gay Liberation to the Capture of PrideThis is a bonus episode - an extended, in-depth conversation with Bev Jackson, one of the founding members of the UK Gay Liberation Front, a co-founder of LGB Alliance, and a woman who has watched the gay rights movement from its birth to its current, deeply troubling incarnation.I wanted this conversation in the series because you cannot understand what has happened to Pride, in Surrey or anywhere else, without understanding its political roots, its moral failures, and the repeated refusal to confront abuse when it appears in progressive clothing.Bev takes us right back to the early 1970s: what Gay Liberation actually meant, how it differed from women’s liberation, and why lesbians were so often sidelined even at the moment of supposed radical change. She talks candidly about the misogyny inside early gay politics, the naïvety many of us had, and the belief - later proven disastrously wrong - that “progress” inevitably meant moral improvement.We then move into territory that many organisations still refuse to touch:the overlap between sexual libertarian ideology and the systematic erosion of child safeguarding.Bev explains how, in the 1970s and 80s, paedophile advocacy groups deliberately embedded themselves in gay rights organisations under the banner of “liberation”, and how that history has been quietly buried rather than reckoned with. She traces a direct line from those years to the present - to Pride committees, lobbying organisations, and charities that treat safeguarding as an inconvenience and whistleblowers as enemies.We talk in detail about:* How Pride shifted from a political protest to a brand-managed spectacle* The deliberate collapse of boundaries between adult sexuality and children* Why “inclusion” has come to mean silencing lesbians and gay men* Stonewall’s role in training institutions to ignore the law* The catastrophic impact of gender ideology on child safeguarding* Why lesbians who raise concerns are smeared, expelled, or punished* How figures like Stephen Ireland were shielded by ideology, not ignoranceThis episode also addresses something rarely said out loud: that the language of “kindness”, “allyship”, and “protecting kids” is now routinely used to mask risk, not reduce it.Bev does not speak as an outsider. She speaks as someone who was there at the beginning and who refuses to lie about where we have ended up.If you care about gay rights, women’s rights, or the safety of children, this conversation matters. It is not comfortable listening. It is not meant to be.Content warning:This episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse, paedophile advocacy, and safeguarding failures. Listener discretion advised.—This is a bonus episode featuring an extended interview. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe

In Episode Two, we move past the surface scandal and into the machinery that failed, repeatedly, predictably, and catastrophically.This episode is about safeguarding. Or rather, the deliberate dismantling of it.By 2021, Stephen Ireland wasn’t just a Pride organiser. He was embedded. He had access, credibility, the ear of police, councillors, and public bodies - and he was using all of it. At the same time, people - mainly women - around him were growing uneasy.This is the episode where you hear what happened when women tried to intervene - and what happened to them when they did.We follow a trail of red flags:an 18-year-old volunteer being paraded as part of a polyamorous relationship;a “helpline” for young people run from a single private phone that no one else could access;safeguarding policies quietly rewritten to remove protections;and a photograph of a masked teenager on a dog lead, posted openly by Ireland.That image was reported properly and responsibly to Surrey Police and to the local authority designated officer. Multiple whistleblowers raised concerns. What followed was not investigation, but retaliation.Women who spoke up were threatened, silenced, excluded, reported, or pushed out. Councillors who asked questions found themselves stripped of roles. The message was unmistakable: stop digging.This episode includes first-hand accounts from:* Former Pride insiders who walked away when safeguarding was overridden* Elected councillors punished for reporting concerns* Journalists who struggled to get these stories published* Lesbian and gay voices sidelined for refusing to endorse sexualised Pride culture* A Police and Crime Commissioner targeted for refusing to abandon women’s rightsWe also examine how fetish culture, chemsex, and adult sexual subcultures were normalised - even celebrated - at events marketed as family friendly, and how anyone questioning that shift was branded hateful.And crucially, we ask: who signed off on the safeguarding review that declared everything “fine”?Who marked that homework?And why was nothing done until a child finally reported abuse?Stephen Ireland and David Sutton are now convicted sex offenders. But this episode makes clear that their crimes didn’t happen in a vacuum. They happened in an environment that rewarded silence, punished scrutiny, and treated safeguarding as an inconvenience.This is not about hindsight.It’s about systems that chose not to see.Content warning:This episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse, safeguarding failures, sexual exploitation, and institutional retaliation.—Episode 3 looks at what happened when the case finally reached court - and how Surrey responded once the truth was no longer buried.REPORTER: Julie BindelPRODUCTION TEAM: Maria Esposito, Ashanna Prijs Reeves, Samantha SmithARTWORK: Nicole Jones This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit juliebindel.substack.com/subscribe