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  • Putting it mildly, Rupert Murdoch hasn’t had the best time lately, what with the ongoing investigation into phone hacking and the closure of the News of the World. However, one mustn’t forget that he is undoubtably the best thing to have happened to the British media in the last fifty years. As recently as the 1970s, a large sector of the British public were unrepresented by the newspaper press. The Tory middle classes had the Daily Mail, the upper middle classes had the Times and the Telegraph, the liberal left middle class had the Guardian and the left wing, union supporting workers had the Mirror. But the right wing, anti-union working classes had no outlet to represent their interests. They were discontented with modern Britain, and, unlike their forefathers, were less likely to believe that Trade Unions or the Labour Party held the answers to the country’s problems. These were the men and women Murdoch attracted to the Sun when he changed its format from broadsheet to a tabloid, dropped its support of the Labour Party, and told its readers to ‘Vote Tory This Time’ in 1979. It is hard to express just how good Rupert Murdoch has been for...

    How Rupert Murdoch transformed British media for the better

    Posted on May 12, 2012 | No Comments
    Putting it mildly, Rupert Murdoch hasn’t had the best time lately, what with the ongoing investigation into phone hacking and the closure of the News of the World. However, one mustn’t forget that he is undoubtably the best thing to have happened to the British media in the last fifty years. As recently as the 1970s, a large sector of the British public were unrepresented by the newspaper press. The Tory middle classes had the Daily Mail, the upper middle classes had the Times and the Telegraph, the liberal left middle class had the Guardian and the left wing, union supporting workers had the Mirror. But the right wing, anti-union working classes had no outlet to represent their interests. They were discontented with modern Britain, and, unlike their forefathers, were less likely to believe that Trade Unions or the Labour Party held the answers to the country’s problems. These were the men and women Murdoch attracted to the Sun when he changed its format from broadsheet to a tabloid, dropped its support of the Labour Party, and told its readers to ‘Vote Tory This Time’ in 1979. It is hard to express just how good Rupert Murdoch has been for...

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  • This is the story of how the West’s view of Islamic terrorism was informed by Osama bin Laden’s flawed ambitions and the US government believing its own fabrication. Although not well remembered by most today, the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya changed the world. These coordinated attacks were carried out by the followers of a relatively unknown Islamic extremist who headed a number of the many Islamist training camps in Afghanistan at the time. This man was Osama bin Laden. In spite of bin Laden’s vision of a grand Islamist army and an Islamic Caliphate in the centre of the Middle-East, following the victory of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, he had only a handful of followers, evn though he was well-connected (Farrall, 2011, pp. 129-131). What bin Laden did have – and lots of it – was money and charisma. Throughout the wilderness years between fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan and 9/11, bin Laden took to trying to organise takeovers of numerous other terrorist groups. These groups had formed after Arab fighters returned to their home states after the Soviets had left Afghanistan, in order to stage their own Islamist uprisings (particularly effective in Algeria). However, this...

    The origins of ‘al-Qaeda’

    Posted on May 7, 2012 | No Comments
    This is the story of how the West’s view of Islamic terrorism was informed by Osama bin Laden’s flawed ambitions and the US government believing its own fabrication. Although not well remembered by most today, the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya changed the world. These coordinated attacks were carried out by the followers of a relatively unknown Islamic extremist who headed a number of the many Islamist training camps in Afghanistan at the time. This man was Osama bin Laden. In spite of bin Laden’s vision of a grand Islamist army and an Islamic Caliphate in the centre of the Middle-East, following the victory of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, he had only a handful of followers, evn though he was well-connected (Farrall, 2011, pp. 129-131). What bin Laden did have – and lots of it – was money and charisma. Throughout the wilderness years between fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan and 9/11, bin Laden took to trying to organise takeovers of numerous other terrorist groups. These groups had formed after Arab fighters returned to their home states after the Soviets had left Afghanistan, in order to stage their own Islamist uprisings (particularly effective in Algeria). However, this...

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  • In mid-April 2012, surveys released by a number of polling organisations suggested that, were a general election to take place, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) would receive more votes than the Liberal Democrats, and take their place as the third party of British politics.[i] Subsequent polling has placed the Liberal Democrats in third place, with their lead over UKIP remaining in the low single digits, suggesting an ongoing ‘battle’ for third place. In light of these developments, it is tempting to suggest that UKIP could displace the Liberal Democrats as the natural home for the protest vote. Free from the constraints of governance, the Liberals have long presented themselves as an anti-establishment alternative to the Conservative-Labour duopoly. This claim, however, was damaged by the formation of the Coalition, and the collapse in the party’s support since May 2010 can be blamed, at least in part, on the exodus of the protest vote. Likewise, UKIP have promoted themselves as an anti-establishment party, a position perhaps best illustrated by their controversial ‘sod the lot’ poster, released during the 2010 election.[ii] Unlike the Liberal Democrats, UKIP are still able to promote themselves as political outsiders, and given that support for ‘other’ parties has...

    Poll Position? The Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Phony Battle for Third Place

    Posted on May 5, 2012 | 3 Comments
    In mid-April 2012, surveys released by a number of polling organisations suggested that, were a general election to take place, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) would receive more votes than the Liberal Democrats, and take their place as the third party of British politics.[i] Subsequent polling has placed the Liberal Democrats in third place, with their lead over UKIP remaining in the low single digits, suggesting an ongoing ‘battle’ for third place. In light of these developments, it is tempting to suggest that UKIP could displace the Liberal Democrats as the natural home for the protest vote. Free from the constraints of governance, the Liberals have long presented themselves as an anti-establishment alternative to the Conservative-Labour duopoly. This claim, however, was damaged by the formation of the Coalition, and the collapse in the party’s support since May 2010 can be blamed, at least in part, on the exodus of the protest vote. Likewise, UKIP have promoted themselves as an anti-establishment party, a position perhaps best illustrated by their controversial ‘sod the lot’ poster, released during the 2010 election.[ii] Unlike the Liberal Democrats, UKIP are still able to promote themselves as political outsiders, and given that support for ‘other’ parties has...

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  • Being a political obsessive is considerably easier when following German politics for one simple reason; there are more elections. Elections happen far more frequently, with each of the 16 German States having their own parliament and government. You can see polling trends crystallising into votes and administrations on a regular basis. In the last few months, a new party has achieved seats in 2 of these state legislatures1 2, and looks set to gain seats in 2 more this month. At the same time, this party is polling as the third largest party nationwide3. This party is the Pirate Party. Founded in 2006 as a German branch of the Swedish movement promoting file-sharing, intellectual property reform, and internet freedom, the German Pirates at first enjoyed little success4. As they repeatedly failed to breach the 5% barrier required to gain seats under Germany’s proportional electoral system, they were dismissed as a fringe movement, and not one of concern to the main parties. This opinion had to be revised after the elections for the Berlin state legislature. The Pirates ( even to the surprise of themselves) gained 8.9% of the vote, achieving seats in a state legislature for the first time, and...

    The German Pirate Party

    Posted on May 5, 2012 | No Comments
    Being a political obsessive is considerably easier when following German politics for one simple reason; there are more elections. Elections happen far more frequently, with each of the 16 German States having their own parliament and government. You can see polling trends crystallising into votes and administrations on a regular basis. In the last few months, a new party has achieved seats in 2 of these state legislatures1 2, and looks set to gain seats in 2 more this month. At the same time, this party is polling as the third largest party nationwide3. This party is the Pirate Party. Founded in 2006 as a German branch of the Swedish movement promoting file-sharing, intellectual property reform, and internet freedom, the German Pirates at first enjoyed little success4. As they repeatedly failed to breach the 5% barrier required to gain seats under Germany’s proportional electoral system, they were dismissed as a fringe movement, and not one of concern to the main parties. This opinion had to be revised after the elections for the Berlin state legislature. The Pirates ( even to the surprise of themselves) gained 8.9% of the vote, achieving seats in a state legislature for the first time, and...

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  • “What if the riots happen again? Next summer! While the Olympics are on!” This was a fear expressed frequently by the British Elite after last summer’s riots. In their eyes, it’s one thing England burning while only English people are there to see it but imagine if it happened during the Olympics, when the global great and good are there to witness it! They have reason to worry. 80% of rioters interviewed by the Guardian’s Reading the Riots survey predicted riots “would happen again”, 70% of them said before 2014 and there’s no reason to think they’re wrong. For riots to start, you need three things. Firstly, a sense amongst people, particularly young men in urban areas, that the way they are treated is unfair. As Thomas Carlyle said, “the feeling of injustice is insupportable to all men”. There are plenty of reasons for young people to feel that society is unfair and these have become more numerous since last summer; the budget’s minimum wage freeze for under 21s and tax cuts for the rich are just one example. Many rioters interviewed last year described the Olympic Games themselves as a vanity project they resented, a festival for the rich...

    Are the riots likely to happen again?

    Posted on May 1, 2012 | No Comments
    “What if the riots happen again? Next summer! While the Olympics are on!” This was a fear expressed frequently by the British Elite after last summer’s riots. In their eyes, it’s one thing England burning while only English people are there to see it but imagine if it happened during the Olympics, when the global great and good are there to witness it! They have reason to worry. 80% of rioters interviewed by the Guardian’s Reading the Riots survey predicted riots “would happen again”, 70% of them said before 2014 and there’s no reason to think they’re wrong. For riots to start, you need three things. Firstly, a sense amongst people, particularly young men in urban areas, that the way they are treated is unfair. As Thomas Carlyle said, “the feeling of injustice is insupportable to all men”. There are plenty of reasons for young people to feel that society is unfair and these have become more numerous since last summer; the budget’s minimum wage freeze for under 21s and tax cuts for the rich are just one example. Many rioters interviewed last year described the Olympic Games themselves as a vanity project they resented, a festival for the rich...

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  • The situation in Syria can be described as nothing short of heartbreaking. Whilst thousands of Syrians demand the basic political freedoms and human rights which we take for granted in the West, the Assad regime is allowed to stay in power through systematic torture and oppression of its own people. The strength of ideals and values lie with the Syrian people demanding democracy, but the strength of arms and weaponry lie with the Syrian government. It is the Russian government who are keeping the Assad regime in power by supplying virtually all of their arms. Amnesty International’s latest figures estimate that Russia have sold Syria around 3,850 million dollars worth of weapons. Yet this arrangement is not breaking any global agreement or treaty.

    Why Syria is a timely reminder of the need for arms trade regulation.

    Posted on April 14, 2012 | No Comments
    The situation in Syria can be described as nothing short of heartbreaking. Whilst thousands of Syrians demand the basic political freedoms and human rights which we take for granted in the West, the Assad regime is allowed to stay in power through systematic torture and oppression of its own people. The strength of ideals and values lie with the Syrian people demanding democracy, but the strength of arms and weaponry lie with the Syrian government. It is the Russian government who are keeping the Assad regime in power by supplying virtually all of their arms. Amnesty International’s latest figures estimate that Russia have sold Syria around 3,850 million dollars worth of weapons. Yet this arrangement is not breaking any global agreement or treaty.

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  • In this short interview, Isabella Sankey Liberty’s Director of Policy,speaks to Andrew Tromans and Rich Clare about extradition and the Coalition’s record on civil liberties.

    An Interview Liberty’s Director of Policy

    Posted on April 14, 2012 | No Comments
    In this short interview, Isabella Sankey Liberty’s Director of Policy,speaks to Andrew Tromans and Rich Clare about extradition and the Coalition’s record on civil liberties.

    Continue Reading...