Category: Intimidation

The Best Defence is a Good Offence

by Helen Rennie-Smith, posted in Corruption, Intimidation, Lies, Principles of Democracy

As if they anticipated the court’s decision, the Mail on Sunday published an attack on the Good Law Project’s founder, Jolyon Maugham QC, last weekend.

The article includes irrelevant references to Mr Maugham’s killing of a fox in his garden and implies that donations which finance the Good Law Project may not be used as intended. The Mail on Sunday also suggests that Mr Maugham has tried to play down his previous career, despite the bio on GLP’s website.

“[The attack] is a transparent and deceitful attempt by Government to target one of its most effective critics,” the Good Law Project comments in a statement.

Yesterday the High Court ruled that our Government acted unlawfully when awarding a contract to the PR firm “Public First”, which is run by friends of Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove. It is the second time in just a few months that the High Court judged that a Cabinet Minister acted unlawfully. Both cases were brought by the Good Law Project.

Conservative Coup Could Be Cultural Cleansing

by Helen Rennie-Smith, posted in Corruption, Intimidation, Principles of Democracy

During the last 18 months close allies to the Government have filled seats on boards of public bodies.

Peter Riddell, the commissioner for public appointments commented on this in a speech last week. He emphasised that the “breadth of the campaign and close engagement of 10 Downing Street” makes a difference from earlier such trends. This is described as cultural cleansing by one chair of a big institution.

After reports of right-wing speakers being banned from university campus events the Government wanted to appoint a champion for free speech. The need for this was disputed by students and universities alike. At the same time people who disagree with the Government are being replaced by yes-men. The list is long, below are some recent examples.

Museum
Dr Aminul Hoque, whose academic work encourages decolonising the curriculum, was not reappointed as a trustee of the Royal Museums Greenwich, which also led to the resignation the chairman Sir Charles Dunstone.

Universities
Lord Wharton, who managed the prime minister’s leadership campaign, has been appointed to head the Office for Students.

Channel 4
Contrary to the recommendations of the board of Channel 4 and Ofcom, who traditionally does the vetting, the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden blocked the reappointment of Uzma Hasan and Fru Hazlitt to the board.

Ofcom
Former editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, who is known for his criticism towards the BBC and used his newspaper to ardently campaign for Brexit, has been suggested to chair the media regulator Ofcom.

Riddell, himself, was recently reappointed for six months only. It will be interesting to see if his replacement in September is yet another cosy chum of No 10.

UN-Acceptable Racism Report

by Helen Rennie-Smith, posted in Corruption, Intimidation, Lies, Principles of Democracy

The Johnson Government has not only been taken to court by the EU for breaking international law, the UN now accuses No 10 of normalising white supremacy.

After the Black Lifes Matter protests last year Samuel Kasumu, special adviser for civil society and communities, initiated a report on racism in the UK. The report was published on 31 March 2021 and concluded that there was no institutional racism in Britain.

Earlier this week the human rights experts in the UN’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Decent condemned the report, stating that it is “tone-deaf” and “reprehensible”. It notes that the report has twisted data and misapplied statistics. Researchers have shown one example of this, from the labour market, in an article published on the LSE blog.

This echoes the criticism in Britain when the Government’s report was first published. A panel of experts said in an ITV interview that the report was “deeply offensive”.

Questions have also been raised over the impartiality of the commission and how it was finalised. Several scholars claim their research was misrepresented in the report. Commissioners did not get a chance to read the text in its entirety before publication and they were not aware of the conclusions presented by the chairman in his foreword. It is reported that the final result was dictated by No 10 to accommodate the Government’s own agenda, not to give a truthful picture of Britain today. Samuel Kasumu resigned the same day the report was published.

Photo: John Button / Shutterstock.com

Historian receives Death Threat

by Helen Rennie-Smith, posted in Intimidation, Principles of Democracy

A professor working for the National Trust has received death threats for exploring the historical links to slavery of the charity’s properties.

The report was criticised for being “woke” when it was first published last September, which led to an investigation whether the trust had breached charity law. The Charity Commission has now ruled that the National Trust has acted legally and responsibly at all times and would face no regulatory action.

Hilary McGrady, the head of the National Trust, says that in hindsight it was a mistake to publish the report last autumn, when it coincided with the Black Lives Matter controversy. It is important for the National Trust to look into the history of their properties, as it unveils important stories for coming generations.

Knowing our history, we can learn from it and make progress, rather than repeating mistakes our ancestors made. Death threats as such are an ancient method of intimidation, which has no place in a modern, progressive society.