Today marks exactly twenty-five years since 9/11. It remains, quite rightly, a day of mourning for the nearly 3,000 people killed in those attacks, and for the families and communities whose lives were altered forever. Any serious reflection on the last quarter of a century must begin there: with grief, with loss, and with the…… Continue reading The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Tag: Society
Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Debates over academic freedom become especially charged when controversial claims intersect with histories of racism, exclusion, and scientific misuse. Nathan Cofnas, an American postdoctoral researcher formerly affiliated with the University of Cambridge and Emmanuel College, and more recently with Ghent University, specialises in the philosophy of science. He has become a highly controversial figure because…… Continue reading Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
Imagine standing in a crowded town square, watching a mob chant about “taking our country back”, while a young man of South Asian descent clutches his dark blue passport — a document that legally declares “British Citizen” but is treated by the rioters as a worthless piece of paper. I am keen to explore the…… Continue reading Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation
There seems to be quite a distinction in current commentary concerning the view that British Muslims are at a particular juncture in their history. One view suggests that they are at a precipice, about to fall into an oblivion from which there may be no way back. There is also the concern, however, that Muslims…… Continue reading British Muslims at a Crossroads: Class, Belonging and the Politics of Representation
The uses of Jason Arday
Essay · Race, universities and the public sphere The uses of Jason Arday A national press campaign about scholarly rigour is resting on a self-published, machine-generated blog post. The campaign defending him is resting on a claim the evidence will not carry. Both have made one man stand in for an argument he never agreed…… Continue reading The uses of Jason Arday
The Pen and the Poison
Satire, Cynicism, and the Lasting Legacy of Rod Liddle’s Islamophobia Rod Liddle has died at 66. The tributes call him brilliant, provocative, inimitable. They are silent on the twenty years he spent making British Muslims the punchline — and on the industry that decided this was a style, not a record. Rod Liddle died on…… Continue reading The Pen and the Poison
Mosque Security in Britain Must Be About Trust, Not Just Protection
At a time when mosques in Britain are reportedly attacked, vandalised, or physically damaged every few days, the question of mosque safety is no longer peripheral. It sits at the centre of British Muslim life, shaping how people worship, travel, organise, and imagine their place in society. This essay reflects on the National Emergency Conference…… Continue reading Mosque Security in Britain Must Be About Trust, Not Just Protection
Reading the Tables, Not the Headlines: What Britain Under Strain Leaves Out
The UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Centre has launched with an inaugural report, Britain Under Strain, authored by Dame Sara Khan and Dr Matthew Godwin. It arrives with the grammar of alarm already fixed: a broken social contract, a collapsed cordon sanitaire, the mainstreaming of extremism, and a nation whose foundational bargain is failing. Much…… Continue reading Reading the Tables, Not the Headlines: What Britain Under Strain Leaves Out
Farage, Farage, Farage
Infamy, infamy, they have it infamy! Nigel Farage has resigned his Clacton seat, explicitly citing ongoing parliamentary standards probes into his failure to declare a £5 million crypto gift and related funding questions. His resignation has triggered a by-election, although the deeper question is whether he ultimately intends to contest it or use the moment…… Continue reading Farage, Farage, Farage
The Silence That Spoke Volumes: How Foreign Policy, Not Domestic Policy, Brought Down Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer’s resignation as Prime Minister and Labour leader on 22 June 2026 was delivered with characteristic composure outside 10 Downing Street. In a speech that ran to just under fifteen minutes, he catalogued his domestic achievements: a stronger economy, falling NHS waiting lists, improved workers’ and renters’ rights, and half a million children lifted…… Continue reading The Silence That Spoke Volumes: How Foreign Policy, Not Domestic Policy, Brought Down Keir Starmer