The Sceptic

Steven Edginton on Tan Ikram’s campaign for Pakistani judges and the BBC’s migrant-rape blindspot. Plus: how to solve the prisons crisis and Burnham’s vibes-based energy plan. In Episode 99 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Steven Edginton, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, on Britain’s most controversial judge, Tan Ikram, and his campaign for more Pakistani judges – plus, the BBC’s shameful reporting failures on a shocking migrant rape case. Alexander Baker, Senior Researcher at the Prosperity Institute, on the roots of the prisons crisis – and how to solve it. And journalist and Daily Sceptic regular Ben Pile on the vibes-based nonsense of Andy Burnham’s ‘Great British Grid’ plan – and why our energy bills keep going up under Labour. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content here. Follow Laurie on X. Follow Steven on X. Follow Alexander on X. Read his paper, Making Space for Justice, here. Follow Ben on X. Read his article on the Daily Sceptic here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:25 Stephen Edginton on Tan Ikram’s Dodgy Record 10:35 Judicial Activism & Diversity 17:34 Holding Controversial Judges to Account 19:24 BBC’s Reporting 28:45 Protests Against Illegal Migration 31:56 Returning to Independent Journalism 34:00 Alexander Baker on the Prison Crisis 36:36 Who Is to Blame for the Prison Crisis? 37:35 Shift Away From Punishment 40:26 Impact of Emergency Prisoner Releases 42:44 Failures of Probation 44:41 Prison Conditions & Rehabilitation 57:55 Reform’s Approach to Prison Building 58:53 Political Will to Fix the Crisis 01:00:11 Ben Pile on Labour’s Energy Promise 01:08:38 The Great British Grid 01:09:16 The Promise of Lower Bills and Faster Connections 01:14:16 What Would Really Empower Energy Consumers? 01:15:18 Rising Prices

Banned from an anti-racism meeting for being too old and white, the geopolitical damage being done by Net Zero and why the Church of England seems hell-bent on trashing its own traditions. In Episode 97 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges speaks to Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews about the extraordinary moment he was told to leave an anti-racism workshop at De Montfort University for being too old and white. Former government adviser Rupert Darwall discusses his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West and how the West went from prioritising energy security to relying on the weather. And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to Steven Tucker about Leeds Minster’s extraordinary decision to display the names of thousands of Palestinians, including Islamic Jihad terrorists, during the Jewish New Year, why Western institutions seem increasingly determined to turn their backs on their own traditions, the Church of England’s enthusiasm for interfaith relations and the emergence of “multicultural personality disorder”. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Ellie on X. Follow Rupert Matthews on X. Follow Rupert Darwall on X. Order his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West. Read Steven’s articles here and here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro01:29 Rupert Matthews on Being Banned From an Anti-Racism Workshop02:00 Why He Attended the Workshop04:08 Being Told to Leave08:51 Too Old and White10:23 What Anti-Racism Means12:27 Identity Politics and Community Relations15:13 The Dangers of Anti-Racism17:14 Rupert Darwall on the Net Zero Obsession18:56 Suppressing Climate Debate21:08 Energy Security After Ukraine23:21 How Experts Gained Power24:43 Elites vs Voters26:17 Taking Back Control28:49 Steven Tucker on the Church’s Islamic Jihad Tribute38:37 Why Institutions Reject Their Traditions50:02 ‘Multicultural Personality Disorder’53:43 Critics of American Culture01:05:28 The Future of Western Institutions

Prof David Betz on whether the Dover protests could be the start of something much bigger; is the West making the Ukraine war more dangerous and what do the numbers really tell us about Britain’s latest heatwaves? In Episode 95 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges talks to Prof David Betz of King’s College London about the protests in Dover and Portsmouth and the growing fury over mass migration. They get into ‘system disruption’, the radical Left’s influence, the Government’s likely response, Reform’s fading momentum, parallels with Germany and the risk that Britain’s economic fragility could fuel serious civil unrest. Ellie then talks to former Conservative MP and defence tech entrepreneur Brooks Newmark about the war in Ukraine. They discuss NATO expansion, whether the West helped provoke the conflict, the danger of escalation, Russia’s hybrid warfare and whether Britain and Europe are actually ready for a wider war. And for premium subscribers, meteorologist William M. Briggs takes a gander at Britain’s heatwaves and the alarmist claims surrounding them, from temperature records and ‘excess deaths’ to climate models, dodgy statistics and the assumptions lurking underneath it all. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Ellie on X. Follow David on X. Follow Brooks on X. Follow William M. Briggs on X. Read his Science Is Not The Answer Substack here. Watch his YouTube channel here. Visit his website here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio. 00:00 Intro 01:42 David Betz on the Dover Protests 04:12 Danny Tommo and Tommy Robinson 07:22 Leaderless Protest 10:51 System Disruption 12:58 Situationist Tactics 16:43 How Should the Government Respond? 21:39 Reform vs AfD 26:50 Economic Shock and Legitimacy 29:28 Russia, Ukraine and Britain 34:11 What’s Changed? 36:25 Brooks Newmark on the Ukraine War 36:49 NATO Expansion 39:00 Russia, Security and Ukraine 41:11 Long-Range Weapons and Escalation 44:24 Russia’s Hybrid War 46:39 European Defence 49:21 NATO and Britain’s Readiness 52:33 Negotiating With Russia 54:30 Risk of a Wider War 57:25 William Briggs on What the Heatwave Data Shows 59:40 Weather and Climate Claims 01:00:53 Climate Certainty 01:01:08 The Limits of Climate Models 01:02:24 Models, Homogenisation and Deaths 01:05:13 The Climate Research Industry 01:07:32 Climate Catastrophe