The Sceptic

Charles Talbot on how the Blob is stifling democracy in Britain and turning the state against itself. In Episode 83 of the Sceptic, guest host Michael Murphy speaks to Charles Talbot, author of the new Cambridge Circus Research report ‘Breaking the Blob’, about how a sprawling ecosystem of activist charities, quangos and captured institutions exerts a powerful chokehold on British political life, undermines government policy and leaves Britain feeling increasingly like a state at war with itself. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Michael on X. Follow Charles on X. Read ‘Breaking the Blob’ here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 00:00:47 Charles Talbot on the Blob 00:03:35 The Blob's Left-Wing Bias 00:05:16 A State at War with Itself 00:07:41 Why Government Funds Its Own Opponents 00:10:17 How the Blob Kills Policies it Doesn't Like 00:14:15 The Rwanda Scheme 00:16:17 Can Any Policy Survive the Blob? 00:18:19 Laws That Must Change 00:20:20 The Funnel Model & Weak Regulation 00:24:37 Charity vs Political Activism 00:27:12 Should Government Track Undermining Spending? 00:29:11 The Media’s Role in Aiding the Blob 00:36:08 What a Serious Government Must Do 00:39:05 Radical Reforms 00:42:29 Conspiracy or Ideological Alignment? 00:45:52 Future Work from Cambridge Circus Research 00:52:15 Where to Find the Report

The downfall of Mandelson and McSweeney, the scourge of Westminster ‘comms’ brain and why Blue Labour was always fake. In Episode 67 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Felix Hardinge, a writer and cultural critic who works in financial services. Laurie and Felix discuss the defenestration of Peter Mandelson and what his elevation to US ambassador in the first place says about Keir Starmer; his departed chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and whether his ‘Blue Labour’ politics really existed; why Starmer’s crackdown on the riots is what killed it off; why the PM is so uniquely hated – and why the Right would be worse off if he resigned; plus The Thick of It and how it convinced a generation of politicos that politics is really just media management, and why what the country really needs is ‘reheated Thatcherism’. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Follow Felix on X. Read his latest on the Daily Sceptic here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

Tom Jones on Reform, the Tories and the future of the Right, and Tilak Doshi on Trump’s America vs the global blue team. In Episode 66 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Tom Jones, Deputy Online Editor at the Critic and Conservative councillor, about what the string of Right-wing Tory defections to Reform means for the future of the British Right. And Dr Tilak Doshi, the Daily Sceptic’s Energy Editor, on the Trump administration’s battles against the EU’s censorship agenda and Net Zero ideology worldwide – and within the liberal-globalist establishment at home. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Follow Tom on X. Follow Tilak on X. Read his articles on the Daily Sceptic here and here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

Theodore Dalrymple, on the 25th anniversary of his acclaimed Life at the Bottom, on crime, the underclass and liberal hypocrisy. In Episode 64 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Anthony Daniels. Better known under his pen name, Theodore Dalrymple, the former prison doctor and psychiatrist turned writer and cultural critic has featured in the Spectator, City Journal, the Telegraph and the Wall Street Journal among many others, and is the author of numerous books and essay collections, including the acclaimed Life at the Bottom, of which the 25th anniversary edition is out this spring. Laurie and Tony discuss the violence and nihilism Tony observed as a prison doctor in the 1990s, why he started writing about it and why Life at the Bottom was so well received and had such a lasting impact. They also discuss how liberal ideology causes crime, not poverty, the hypocrisies of the “caring classes”, the unforeseen consequences of the therapeutic mindset, what has changed since the book came out, modern anarcho-tyranny and his awkward encounter at the New Statesman. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Pre-order the 25th Anniversary Edition of Life at the Bottom here. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.