DOCSLIB.ORG

Stand up to Racism Factsheet After Tommy Robinson’S Release on Bail

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Stand Up To Racism factsheet After Tommy Robinson’s release on bail... Don’t let the far right grow he far right are mobilising on the streets of Britain and are The Islamophobic Tattempting to re-organise and grow. The release of Nazi Tommy Robinson figures from the on bail, following his arrest for contempt US behind Tommy of court, has given confidence to racists and fascists. His release is seen as a Robinson victory for a campaign that was led by It was recently revealed that the Middle East key far right figures internationally. Forum thinktank (MEF) has played a key role Robinson is no hero. He’s not the voice ‘legally and diplomatically’ in pressuring the of the forgotten “white working class” or British government to release Robinson. The MEF is helping fund Robinson’s a champion of free speech. defence and along with Breitbart (a far right An ex-British National Party member, pro-Trump website) is campaigning for Robinson, he also led the violent English Robinson. Defence League. He aims to divide us Incredibly, Donald Trump’s ambassador for and to scapegoat Muslims and migrants. Robinson’s supporters repeatedly abused a Muslim international religious freedom was reported woman bus driver during their protest on 14 July to have lobbied the British government on Release attacked in a pub with beer glasses, in a behalf of Robinson, after talks with Breitbart. The fascist right, the Democratic Football ferocious assault. US officials deny this. The MEF has a ‘legal project’ which At the heart of this movement is Lads Alliance (DFLA), alt-right figures provides financial help to certain public and UKIP are backing Robinson. violent Islamophobia and increasingly figures who make inflammatory remarks Once the FLA and DFLA claimed to attacks on the Labour and trade union about Islam. be against “extremism” and distanced movement. The MEF’s president is Daniel Pipes. He themselves from Robinson. Now they’ve was nominated by ex-president George helped put him at the heart of a new far UKIP Bush to serve on the US Institute of Peace, right movement. UKIP are trying to rebuild their shattered a move criticised by many because of Pipe’s Islamophobic views. Internationally the far right are forces by aligning with this new force. Pipes has attacked Muslim immigration, mobilising behind him. Figures like Anti-racists and the whole labour claiming that Muslim migrants “bring with Trump’s ex chief of staff Steve Bannon movement has to be alert to the growing them a chauvinism that augurs badly for their and racist Dutch politician Geert Wilders threat. When Robinson’s supporters integration”. campaigned for his release. The US marched after his arrest in Leeds they Pipes refers to Geert Wilders as “the leader alt-right pumped big money into his chanted anti-Muslim slogans. Days later of Europeans who wish to retain their historic campaign. thugs acted on those slogans, carrying identity”. He also defended the right of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten, to publish They all believe the success that the out an arson attack on a mosque and a inflammatory Islamophobic cartoons. racist right has achieved in the US and Sikh gurdwara. across Europe can be repeated here. We have to build a mass anti-racist Wealthy backers Pro-Robinson protests have seen movement that can isolate far right Pipes and the MEF are pouring significant increasing levels of racism and violence. ideas. And we have to be ready to take resources into Robinson’s campaign. On 9 June 15,000 of his supporters to the streets against Robinson and Expensive large screens, placards and T shirts rallied in London. Some openly gave the his supporters when they next try to bearing Robinson’s image are financed by the MEF. The founder of the far right InfoWars Hitler salute, and attacked anti-racists mobilise. website, Alex Jones, also donated £20,000 to and police officers. A follow-up rally on Sign the Stand Up To Racism Robinson. 14 July saw a group of trade unionists statement: bit.ly/TommyNotWelcome Robinson and his racist friends On the 9 June key figures it as a badge of honour!” they wanted “fewer or more Bannon is a central player in Moroccans” in their country. Who are the from the British and trying to coordinate the far right When people shouted “fewer”, Football Lads international racist across Europe. He has wealth and Wilders said: “Then we’ll fix it.” and fascist right spoke influential contacts and admires Alliance and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage. the Democratic or sent messages of Bannon’s Breitbart operation Gerard Batten support to the “Free started several years ago. He Football Lads started Breitbart London to help Tommy Robinson” rally UKIP leader UKIP. Breitbart communicates its Batten spoke at the Robinson Alliance? in London. So who is own fake news, heavily slanted to event. Batten seems to be looking a far right nature. The Football Lads Alliance (FLA) Tommy Robinson – to the far right on the streets hit the streets seeking to whip up Bannon’s nationalism and to rebuild UKIP after its local and who are his racist pseudo anti-establishment racism in the wake of the terror elections disaster. attacks in the summer of 2017. friends? rhetoric is about shoring up He shouted in Whitehall that a base of hard-right, anti-left It initially claimed to be “mass immigration” was a “disaster against all forms of extremism, populism. Bannon likes to see that has fed Islamisation”. and distanced itself from himself as a right-wing radical. A At one point he said, “You Tommy Robinson. But it headed Tommy Robinson far right international of various either submit or resist”. The nature in an increasingly racist and lynchpin of the forces is central to his aims. of such “resistance” was left Islamophobic direction. far right hanging in the air. It mobilised over 6,000 at UKIP members were London Bridge in June 2017 and Robinson was the leader of the prominent in the crowd. But even up to 20,000 in Central London fascist English Defence League Geert Wilders former UKIP leader Nigel Farage the following October. (EDL). Mass opposition in areas leader of Dutch is reported to think Batten is too But after failing to mobilise like Walthamstow and Tower right-wing. Farage told a meeting successfully in Birmingham Hamlets broke the EDL and saw Freedom Party of UKIP activists that opposing all earlier this year its leading figure Robinson quit the group in 2013. This notoriously racist Dutch MEP Islam and backing Robinson was a John Meighan resigned. Robinson then made links spoke at length in Whitehall. He political mistake. The Democratic Football Lads with ex-UKIP figure Anne Marie called Robinson the “bravest man Alliance (DFLA) emerged as the Batten says Islam is a violent Waters and others to form Pegida in Britain” and railed that “we are FLA went into decline. The FLA “death cult”. After becoming UK. Far right groups in Europe foreigners in our own lands”. has now collapsed into the DFLA. leader, he called for Muslims to be continue to promote Robinson. He is leader of the racist UKIP has thrown in its lot with asked to sign a pledge attacking He has flirted with the DFLA, and Party for Freedom (PVV) in the the DFLA, holding joint strategy parts of the Koran. He has following his latest imprisonment, Netherlands. The party won 20 meetings, attending DFLA events been interviewed by Robinson’s has become the figurehead of the seats out of 150 in the 2017 general and calling on DFLA members to YouTube channel at least once and British far right. UKIP’s embrace election and is the second largest join the party. is a favourite of groups like the far of Robinson highlights how the in parliament. Wilders made The DFLA is now backing right Generation Identity. racist right see the movement’s several attacks on high profile the campaign to release Tommy Robinson from jail and fortunes entwined with his. British Asians, particularly MPs. Wilders continues to be a key has mobilised for two violent link person in coordinating right- Raheem Kassam Robinson rallies. wing forces inside the European Steve Bannon Parliament and beyond. He has ex-Breitbart editor former Trump close allies in France’s fascist Raheem Kassam chaired the rally. JOIN STAND UP Front National, Austria’s fascist He has associations with the alt- TO RACISM adviser FPÖ and Italy’s racist Lega. right in America and elsewhere. Steve Bannon sent a message of He followed up his trip to Kassam was the London editor Stand Up To Racism is a broad support for Robinson to be read London by announcing he will of the racist, far right, Breitbart based organisation made up out at the 9 June demo. In recent hold a Prophet Muhammad website. He is still close to Steve of anti-racists, students, trade months he has visited Europe cartoon competition at his party’s Bannon. Kassam wrote a book unionists and faith groups. several times, addressing far right parliamentary offices. This is called Enoch Was Right about the For more information and to crowds in France, Italy, Hungary a highly provocative move as racist MP Enoch Powell, infamous help with our campaigns, please get in touch: and the Czech Republic. many Muslims consider images for his “rivers of blood” speech He spoke alongside the fascist of the Prophet Muhammad to be in 1968. standuptoracism.org.uk Front National leader Marine Le blasphemous. He plays a prominent role Pen, saying, “Let them call you In 2016 he was convicted of in directing the Robinson @AntiRacismDay racist, xenophobes, nativists, inciting hatred and discrimination bandwagon, alongside ex-EDL Stand Up To Racism homophobes, misogynists—wear after asking supporters whether leaders such as Kevin Carroll..
Recommended publications
  • BBC Trust 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ

    BBC Trust 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ

    BBC Trust 180 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QZ 25 January 2010 Dear sir/madam We are writing in relation to an item that appeared on the BBC news website on 17 December ‘Jewish man jeered at SOAS university debate’ (appendix 1). Along with many other people we contacted the BBC and a revised version appeared late the following day (appendix 2) While we were pleased that a revised version appeared, the BBC has never stated publically that the original version contained many serious errors it continues to circulate on the Internet. Without a clear BBC disavowal it is far more difficult to challenge those who continue to misuse the original as evidence of BBC endorsement of patently false allegations. As joint organisers of the meeting we therefore ask the BBC to make a public statement that the original story contains multiple errors of fact and make unjustifiable claims and is a piece of journalism of which falls far short of their expected standards. This will enable us and the BBC to contest reproduction of the article or uncritical reference to it. In response to our initial complaint we received a reply from Hugh Berlyn, Editor, BBC News and Sports Interactive (see appendix 3). We contacted Mr Berlyn to express our continuing concerns (see appendix 4). However Mr Berlyn replied on 20 January only to say, “Thank you for your email. I have nothing further to add to me earlier response.” He gave us no further guidance on how to pursue our complaint. When we asked for details of the next step he directed us not to the trust not to the Editorial Complaints Unit at White City.
  • Donald Trump, the Changes: Aanti

    Donald Trump, the Changes: Aanti

    Ethnic and Racial Studies ISSN: 0141-9870 (Print) 1466-4356 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rers20 Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution Ed Pertwee To cite this article: Ed Pertwee (2020): Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution, Ethnic and Racial Studies, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688 © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 17 Apr 2020. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 193 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rers20 ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688 Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution Ed Pertwee Department of Sociology, London School of Economics, London, UK ABSTRACT This article explores the “counter-jihad”, a transnational field of anti-Muslim political action that emerged in the mid-2000s, becoming a key tributary of the recent far- right insurgency and an important influence on the Trump presidency. The article draws on thematic analysis of content from counter-jihad websites and interviews with movement activists, sympathizers and opponents, in order to characterize the counter-jihad’s organizational infrastructure and political discourse and to theorize its relationship to fascism and other far-right tendencies. Although the political discourses of the counter-jihad, Trumpian Republicanism and the avowedly racist “Alt-Right” are not identical, I argue that all three tendencies share a common, counterrevolutionary temporal structure.
  • BBC Editorial Guidelines Consultation

    BBC Editorial Guidelines Consultation

    Response to The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines Consultation 1. Introduction 1.1. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), seeks to represents the common interest of the UK’s diverse Muslim communities. Founded in 1997, it is the largest umbrella body of its kind in the UK with over 500 affiliates. It is pledged to work for the common good of society as a whole. A democratic body underpinned by a constitution, the Muslim Council of Britain’s affiliate base reflects the diversity of Muslims in the UK, being made up of hundreds of mosques, educational and charitable bodies, cultural and relief agencies and women and youth groups and associations across the UK from a range of ethnic, geographical and theological backgrounds and traditions. 1.2. The MCB has launched a Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), whose goal is to promote fair and responsible reporting of Muslims and Islam through constructive engagement. This submission is on behalf of the CfMM. 1.3. The BBC is a public service broadcaster with the important core mission of informing, educating and entertaining, and aims to be a trusted guide for everyone. Two of its five public purposes are to “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them” and to “reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions…” (Section 1, Purposes 1 and 4) – purposes that are relevant to this submission and cited in the Draft Guidelines. 1.4. There is an expectation that it continues to aspire to highest standards with respect to independence, impartiality and integrity.
  • PUB MARTÍNANDRADES TFG.Pdf

    PUB MARTÍNANDRADES TFG.Pdf

    Resumen: En este trabajo se estudia a la organización internacional The Movement y a su principal promotor, Steve Bannon, para determinar el impacto de la alt-right. Para ello, se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica que permita conocer el éxito de su propaganda, la motivación y los personajes políticos vinculados a la organización más relevantes. Palabras clave: The Movement, Steve Bannon, alt-right, propaganda, política internacional. Posverdad. Abstract: In this work, the international organization The Movement and its main promoter, Steve Bannon, are studied to establish the impact of the alt-right. To do this, a bibliographic review has been carried out to determine the success of its propaganda, the motivation and the most relevant political figures linked to the organization. Keywords: The Movement, Steve Bannon, alt-right, propaganda, international politics, post-truth. 1 Índice 1. Steve Bannon……………………………………………………………….3 2. The Movement……………………………………………………………...4 3. Miembros The Movement……………………………………….………….6 3.1 Las caras internas………………………………………….………….6 3.1.1 El equipo de Bannon…………………………….………….6 3.1.2 Financiación privada……………………………………….12 3.2 Principales políticos afines de Norteamérica y Europa………………17 4. Posverdad……………………………………………………………...…..22 5. Propaganda de la alt-right………………………………………………....28 5.1 Principios de propaganda de Goebbels………………………………28 5.2 Medios de comunicación………………………………………...…..40 5.3 Chivo expiatorio………………...…………….....…………….….....42 5.4 Enemigos de The Movement…………………………………………45 6. Los valores de The Movement…………………………………...………..52 6.1 Populismo……………………………………………………………52 6.2 Nacionalismo económico………………………………...………….54 6.3 Supremacismo blanco………………………………...……………..55 7. La madurez de The Movement……………………...…………………….56 7.1 Elecciones europeas 2019……………………………………...……56 7.2 Bolsonaro y la alt-right en Latinoamérica…………………………..57 7.3 The Movement en España………….....…………...…………………61 8.
  • Bum Dope, Blowback, and the Bomb: the Effect of Bad Information on Policy-Maker Beliefs and Crisis Stability

    Bum Dope, Blowback, and the Bomb: the Effect of Bad Information on Policy-Maker Beliefs and Crisis Stability

    Chapter 8 Bum Dope, Blowback, and the Bomb: The Effect of Bad Information on Policy-Maker Beliefs and Crisis Stability Jeffrey Lewis How might bad information affect crisis stability? We like to imag- ine that elites—military offi cials, politicians, and experts—will be immune to the kind of rumor, disinformation, and propaganda with which the internet is awash. This chapter explores that notion, with a nod to political scientist Stephen Van Evera’s notion of blowback—the idea that propaganda can, in fact, warp elite perceptions. Van Evera was concerned about psychological blurring between rhetoric and sin- cere belief while others, like Jack Snyder, another expert on interna- tional relations, emphasized the risk that policy makers might become trapped by political rhetoric.1 This chapter is principally concerned with this idea: that bad infor- mation, even deliberate disinformation knowingly planted by some cyn- ical elites, might “blow back” (or echo) through a wider range of elites and worsen a nuclear crisis. It examines two contemporary case studies of bad information, both of which help illustrate how such informa- tion—to use George P. Shultz’s colorful phrase, “bum dope”—could undermine crisis stability.2 I conclude that the same pathologies seen in online discourse could undermine stability, even in a serious crisis involving nuclear weapons. In short, policy makers tend to engage in public rhetoric that, in turn, shapes their own thinking. Often such statements are propagandistic in their initial formulation. But as they become part of the public dis- course, policy makers tend to believe them. This carries additional risk HH7667-Trinkunas.indb7667-Trinkunas.indb 115959 11/17/20/17/20 88:49:49 AAMM 160 JEFFREY LEWIS in an era of social media.
  • The Henry Jackson Society and the Degeneration of British

    The Henry Jackson Society and the Degeneration of British

    Tom Griffin Hilary Aked David Miller Sarah Marusek THE HENRY JACKSON SOCIETY AND THE DEGENERATION JUNE 2015 OF BRITISH NEOCONSERVATISM: LIBERAL INTERVENTIONISM, ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’ Sponsored by: ISBN 978-0-9570274-4-2 AUTHOR PROFILES David Miller is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. He is an RCUK Global Uncertainties Leader- ship Fellow (2013-15) conducting Tom Griffin is a freelance writer and a project to examine the construc- researcher and a doctoral candidate tion, use and impact of expertise on at the University of Bath. He is a ‘terrorism’. He has written widely on contributing editor of OpenDemoc- propaganda, spin and lobbying and racy’s OurKingdom blog and writes for was co-founder of Public Interest Investigations a non profit Spinwatch. He is a former executive company of which Spinwatch and Powerbase are projects. editor and political correspondent of Recent publications include: A Century of Spin: How Public the Irish World. Relations Became the Cutting Edge of Corporate Power (Pluto Press, 2008, co-author); Neoliberal Scotland (Cam- bridge Scholars, 2010, co-editor); Critical Terrorism Studies Dr Sarah Marusek is a freelance since 11 September 2001. What has been learned? (Rout- researcher and writer. She has a PhD in ledge, 2014, co-editor). Researching the Powerful: Public social science from the Maxwell School Sociology in Action (Routledge, forthcoming, co-editor). of Syracuse University. Her doctoral research focused on Islamic activism in Lebanon and was funded by the gener- Hilary Aked is a freelance researcher ous support of the Mellon Foundation.
  • Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Seeks to Represents the Common Interest of the UK’S Diverse Muslim Communities

    Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Seeks to Represents the Common Interest of the UK’S Diverse Muslim Communities

    Response to The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines Consultation 1. Introduction 1.1. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), seeks to represents the common interest of the UK’s diverse Muslim communities. Founded in 1997, it is the largest umbrella body of its kind in the UK with over 500 affiliates. It is pledged to work for the common good of society as a whole. A democratic body underpinned by a constitution, the Muslim Council of Britain’s affiliate base reflects the diversity of Muslims in the UK, being made up of hundreds of mosques, educational and charitable bodies, cultural and relief agencies and women and youth groups and associations across the UK from a range of ethnic, geographical and theological backgrounds and traditions. 1.2. The MCB has launched a Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM), whose goal is to promote fair and responsible reporting of Muslims and Islam through constructive engagement. This submission is on behalf of the CfMM. 1.3. The BBC is a public service broadcaster with the important core mission of informing, educating and entertaining, and aims to be a trusted guide for everyone. Two of its five public purposes are to “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them” and to “reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions…” (Section 1, Purposes 1 and 4) – purposes that are relevant to this submission and cited in the Draft Guidelines. 1.4. There is an expectation that it continues to aspire to highest standards with respect to independence, impartiality and integrity.
  • Hard Border in Ireland Threatens a Return to a Murderous Bigotry

    Hard Border in Ireland Threatens a Return to a Murderous Bigotry

    2019 HIGHLIGHTS £2.50 BUT FREE FROM FEAR OR FAVOUR HARD THE JOKE FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM IS ON ISSN 2632-7910 TRUMP'S TOXICITY BORDER US FACT ARGUMENT REPORTAGE CULTURE HIGH LIGHTS of THE YEAR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY Siân Kevill Ciaran Devane William P Mayr Michael O'Sullivan Antony Marshall Zoe Wales Steve Gall OUR READERS. Yvonne Christensen Brian Jacobs Lewis Smith Jan Safar Nina Nikolic Neil Poynter Millicent P West THANK YOU TO: Paul Lashmar Miss Lisa Rogan James Aughterson Alban Thurston ARM Kemeys Robert Singleton Carol Croft Mr S W Jones Niamh O’Connor Miriam Jordan Keane Georgina Allen James Stephen Williams SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF STORIES AS THEY WERE PUBLISHED 2 read more at bylinetimes.com BYLINE TIMES SPOTLIGHT ON: RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE EDITORIAL TO CELEBRATE THE WINTER SOLSTICE = A RAY OF LIGHT IN ALL THE DOOM AND GLOOM. WHAT BORIS JOHNSON uk ISC -10 d st ref 1026/5 This Editorial is based on a thread by our DOESN'T WANT YOU TO US Correspondent Caroline Orr. There’s a lot of doom and gloom around about KNOW how everything is broken, our systems are failing, and we can’t trust our institutions to save us. Although Byline Times agrees most of these With the British Prime Minister personally intervening to suppress a warnings are warranted, those warnings aren’t very parliamentary report into Vladimir Putin’s ‘active measures’ in UK politics during helpful if you don’t offer practical solutions. Britain’s General Election campaign, PETER JUKES looks a what the dossier may contain.
  • City Research Online

    City Research Online

    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by City Research Online City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Littler, J. (2018). Normcore plutocrats in gold elevators: reading the Trump Tower photographs. Cultural Politics, This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/20377/ Link to published version: Copyright and reuse: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] Normcore plutocrats in gold elevators: reading the Trump Tower photographs Dr Jo Littler Department of Sociology School of Arts and Social Sciences D609A, Rhind Building, St John St City, University of London London EC1V 0HB Jo Littler is Reader in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London. She is part of the editorial collective of Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, an editor of European Journal of Cultural Studies and author of Against Meritocracy: Culture, Power and Myths of Mobility (Routledge, 2018). 1 Normcore plutocrats in gold elevators: reading the Trump Tower photographs Abstract This article analyses two notorious photos of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage - one on their own, and one alongside Arron Banks, Gerry Gunster, Andy Wigmore and Raheem Kassam - standing in a gold-plated elevator after Trump had won the US election.
  • Britain After Brexit: a Nation Divided,” Journal of Democracy 28 (January 2017): 17–30

    Britain After Brexit: a Nation Divided,” Journal of Democracy 28 (January 2017): 17–30

    © 2017 National Endowment for Democracy and Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in Journal of Democracy 28 (January 2017): 17–30. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press. Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin, “Britain After Brexit: A Nation Divided,” Journal of Democracy 28 (January 2017): 17–30. Britain After Brexit: A Nation Divided Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin Robert Ford is professor of political science at the University of Manchester. Matthew Goodwin is professor of politics at the University of Kent and senior visiting fellow at Chatham House. They are coauthors of Revolt of the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain (2014). On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union.1 The vote for “Brexit” sent shockwaves around the world, rocking financial markets and rekindling global debates about the power of populism and nationalism, as well as the long-term viability of the EU. Aside from calling attention to challenges to mainstream liberal democracy and international integration, the vote for Brexit also highlights the deepening political divides that cut across traditional party lines in Britain and now threaten to further destabilize an already crumbling two-party system. On one level, the shocking result served as a powerful reminder of the sheer force of Britain’s entrenched Euroskeptic tradition and of the acrimonious splits among the country’s political elite over Britain’s relationship with Europe. But on a deeper level, Brexit should also be seen as a symptom of longer-term social changes that have quietly been reshaping public opinion, political behavior, and party competition in Britain as well as in other Western democracies.
  • More Than Words: Approaching a Definition of Islamophobia

    More Than Words: Approaching a Definition of Islamophobia

    NATHAN SPARKES, HACKED OFF CAMPAIGN Table of Contents LEVESON AND THE GOVERNMENT’S FAILURE TO KEEP ITS PROMISES TO THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................... 3 VICTIMS OF PRESS ABUSE ............................ 72 FOREWORD ................................................... 8 PART III: THE SOCIO-POLITICAL AND PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................... 9 ISLAMOPHOBIA ......................................... 82 PART I: INTRODUCING MEND’S Racial and Religious Hate Crime ................. 83 DEFINITION OF ISLAMOPHOBIA ....... 16 NAZIR AFZAL, OBE CHALLENGING TIMES A Call for a Definition of “Islamophobia” .... 17 TO BE A MUSLIM ............................................. 83 A Message from our CEO .............................. 19 DR SHAZAD AMIN, CONSULTANT MEND’s Definition of Islamophobia ............ 20 PHSYCHIATRIST ISLAMOPHOBIA AND MENTAL HEALTH .......................................... 90 Understanding MEND’s Definition of Islamophobia .................................................. 22 Youth and Education..................................... 92 Diversity of Terminology: Why use SHEREEN FERNANDEZ, QUEEN MARY “Islamophobia”? ............................................. 24 UNIVERSITY ISLAMOPHOBIA AND EDUCATION ..................................................... 93 Understanding British Muslim Communities .................................................. 27 DR SADIA HABIB BRITISHNESS, BELONGING AND ISLAMOPHOBIA: PROFESSOR SOPHIE GILLIAT-RAY, CARDIFF REFLECTION AND DIALOGUE..................
  • 21St Century Fox, Inc. / Sky Plc Merger Inquiry

    21St Century Fox, Inc. / Sky Plc Merger Inquiry

    Non-confidential version 21ST CENTURY FOX, INC. / SKY PLC MERGER INQUIRY SUPPLEMENTARY SUBMISSION IN RESPONSE TO THE ISSUES STATEMENT 1. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 This submission is made on behalf of 21st Century Fox, Inc. (21CF) in response to the CMA’s Issues Statement published on 10 October 2017 (the Issues Statement) in relation to 21CF’s proposed acquisition of the remaining shares in Sky plc (Sky) (the Transaction). 1.2 21CF has made detailed initial submissions on 27 September 2017 explaining why the Transaction cannot be expected to operate against the public interest, whether in terms of the media plurality public interest consideration or in terms of the broadcasting standards public interest consideration. These submissions address the three theories of harm set out in the Issues Statement, and 21CF does not repeat its substantive case on these matters here. 1.3 Instead, the purpose of this supplementary submission is to comment briefly on certain aspects of the CMA’s proposed approach to its investigation, as set out in the Issues Statement. Overall, 21CF agrees with many aspects of the analytical approach that the Issues Statement envisages, including the need to assess the media plurality public interest consideration by reference to the sufficiency of plurality (not merely the change brought about by the Transaction), and on the basis of the actual extent of editorial control exercised and exercisable over the relevant media enterprises pre-and post- Transaction. There are, however, several discrete points 21CF would make at this stage. 1.4 In summary, as regards the media plurality public interest consideration: (i) The Issues Statement correctly identifies that the relevant statutory question requires the CMA to assess whether plurality would remain sufficient following the Transaction; rather than merely assessing whether and, if so, to what extent, the Transaction reduces plurality.