Alastair Donald

Co-convenor #BattleFest @acadofideas; convenor @LivingFreedomUK for @IdeasMatterUK; author, #LetterOnLiberty 'The Scottish Question'

[Madeline Grant @Madz_Grant]

This is not the first time Starmer has shamelessly used a young person's murder to fend off legitimate Qs from opponents. Recall his opportunism in the Chamber, when he told off Sunak for an accurate observation about Labour's muddled position on gender, because Brianna Ghey's mother was watching

[Alastair Donald @MaximumCities]

As was saying..

Fifa accused of using unofficial resale websites to sell World Cup tickets
https://t.co/VWyXervIDp

[Alastair Donald @MaximumCities]

And that's good?! Basically FIFA legalised scalping. Blatter days seem almost benign compared to Infantino and current corrupt mob

[World Cup HQ @WorldCup26HQ]

A few days ago the cheapest ticket for Scotland v Haiti in the World Cup was $1,250.

It's now dropped to $400. 💰

[Harry Cole @MrHarryCole]

Ignited fury.

[Manick Govinda @manick62]

A good friend & a fellow panellist on many occasions at the @acadofideas #BattleofIdeas, @Singhtwo2 has written a most compelling piece on the vile Vickrum Digwa who has been jailed for the murder of the innocent student Henry Nowak. The Sikh community has also been put on trail.

[Innocent Bystander @supertolerant]

@ZiaYusufUK My favourite bit of this is about 6 minutes in. Cathy Newman had almost fainted with horror at the start because Nigel Farage said people should feel rage and said that was incitement.

Then she is quoted her own words following George Floyd’s murder.

[Paul Brand @PaulBrandITV]

The focus of debate around Henry Nowak's murder is turning to this document by the National Police Chiefs Council - its 'Anti-Racism Strategy', from 2025.

It states:

"Producing equality of policing outcomes for people from different ethnic groups by responding to individuals and communities according to their specific needs, circumstances and experiences...

"It does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’ (racial equality)."

Kemi Badenoch says it is "virtue signalling" and should be scrapped. Reform UK calls it 'two-tier policing'.

A source close to the Home Secretary says the wording is "clumsy".

Tonight, the NPCC says it is already reviewing the language and willing to amend it. But it stands by the principle of the document.

https://t.co/boyKJBJdc8

[Freddie Sayers @freddiesayers]

We have very regrettably had to cancel our @Econoclasts event with Hasan Piker this week. He was going to be challenged in a new and interesting way — now that cannot happen.

@UnHerd stands for free thinking, free enquiry and free expression. For meeting bad arguments with counter-arguments, not cancelling or "de-platforming". The ideal of free speech only counts if you defend the right of those you strongly disagree with to speak. Otherwise it is meaningless.

Personally I have been very depressed by people on the political Right who have talked the talk on free speech for years — we have campaigned alongside them against censorship over Covid, gender and much else — but who are now seemingly all too happy to forcibly silence people they don't agree with.

We will continue to fight against intellectual dishonesty, illiberalism and boneheadedness whichever political colour it takes.

[Claire Fox @Fox_Claire]

Important. Tragically worse than indiv police officers. This EDI-ification of public services, is systemic. In turn, public servants have been exposed to an endless diet of diversity dogma, CRT 'white privilege' orthodoxies & adopt a bastardised anti racism as righteous default

[Venice Allan @roseveniceallan]

Henry Nowak’s tragic death must be the turning point when it is finally recognised that the EDI ‘anti-racism’ model is not only not working, it is irresponsibly dangerous and literally costs lives.

[Crewkerne Gazette @CrewkerneGaz]

Keeping Up with the Sturgeons continues

After escaping Gordon Brown’s Cave of Despair, Nicola and Peter cross the Scottish border and flee to the familiar comfort of London’s Savoy Hotel.

But they weren’t counting on The Proclaimers.

{satire}

[Paul Embery @PaulEmbery]

The Henry Nowak case - and especially the muted reaction to it of the political establishment - says so much about what is wrong with our country. I feel that, like Southport, it will, in years to come, be seen as a pivotal moment causing a shift in the public mood. People can see what’s going on, and they are growing more and more angry.

[Gerard Baker @gerardtbaker]

Even discounting a certain specific Arsenal-phobia this season for various reasons, this betrays a seriously weird misunderstanding of the nature of sporting rivalries.

[Josh Howie @joshxhowie]

Brave enough to run into a burning building.

Not brave enough to stand up for women’s rights.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

The Free Speech Union is concerned by the growing trend of councils using broad and vaguely worded Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) to police everyday behaviour in an increasingly Orwellian manner.

New figures reveal that one in five councils has introduced bans on swearing, offensive language or shouting.

A survey of nearly 300 councils found that 61 (20.3%) had imposed restrictions on swearing and shouting — up from just 16 in 2022.

Josie Appleton, Director of the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life, said: “Officials should not be able to punish or restrict people simply because they might cause offence.

“We urgently need proper safeguards to ensure these powers are tightly defined and used only to address genuine nuisance and harm.

“It is extraordinary that you could now be fined for swearing in the street, shouting across a road, or even staring at someone. Council officers have been given the power to criminalise behaviour that has never previously been a matter for the law.

“This isn’t tackling antisocial behaviour — it’s policing ordinary human expression, controlling the words we use and the gestures we make.”

Read more below 👇

[Steve McNamara @stevejmcnamara]

@Dennynews

[Matilda Gosling @matildagosling]

Weekend reading, @michaelpforan

[Dean M Thomson @DeanMThomson]

Sturgeon wishes she had not kept Murrell on as chief executive — in the same way Macbeth wishes he had not kept Lady Macbeth on as wife. A revelation on a par with Bonnie and Clyde expressing regrets about their choice of travelling companion.

[Committee for Academic Freedom @ComAcFreedom]

🚨BREAKING: Following representations from CAF and a coalition of free speech organisations — including Academics for Academic Freedom and the London Universities' Council for Academic Freedom — the Government has confirmed that the recent High Court ruling in the University of Sussex v Office for Students case will not affect full implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.

The letter, which was organised by Professor @ObhishekSaha, warned ministers that some university leaders were seeking to use the judgment — in which the OfS lost on several grounds — as a reason to resist the commencement of key new enforcement provisions in the Act, including the free speech complaints scheme.

Skills Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith has now replied, stating in unexpectedly firm and unequivocal language that the judgment “does not impact” the Government’s plans to commence the Act’s key provisions. The complaints scheme therefore remains on course to open on 1 September 2026.

This is reassuring news. The scheme will provide a free-to-use route for academics, external speakers and non-student members to seek redress when their free speech or academic freedom rights are infringed. For many, it will offer a far more realistic remedy than the delays, costs and legal complexity associated with Employment Tribunal proceedings brought under the Equality Act 2010.

Without an effective enforcement mechanism, universities face little practical incentive to align their internal policies with their legal duties. At the very least, the new scheme therefore offers the prospect of a regulatory framework capable of giving meaningful effect to universities’ statutory duties to secure #freedomofspeech within the law and protect academic freedom.

@Fox_Claire @joshxhowie @MaximumCities @SpeechUnion @MShipworth @drianpace @HJoyceGender @AFFSUK @AFAF_freespeech

[Alastair Donald @MaximumCities]

Amanda deserves the praise. But also signifies bigger moment? First time SNP face genuine *party* opposition - not just individual bucking trend of their otherwise progressive hued party. @ReformUKScot strong party position -"Protect women. Defend reality. Reject gender ideology"

[Women o' Scotland @WomenOScotland]

Amanda Lindsay,
(Reform MSP Shadow Minister for Women & Equalities) delivered a truly well-measured and factual speech in the Scottish Parliament today. She rightly acknowledged the common ground on supporting high-quality childcare and giving every child the best possible start, while courageously addressing the profound concerns so many parents and professionals have about the ideological capture of our education and childcare systems.
Social transition is not a neutral or kind act when applied to very young children who still believe in the Tooth Fairy. It’s deeply concerning that guidance promoting this was rolled out across Scotland.
This wasn’t rhetoric; it was a calm, evidence-led call to put child safeguarding, biological reality, and women’s rights first. Refreshing to hear such straight-talking common sense in Holyrood. Well done Amanda.