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The Sceptic

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Jan 24, 2025 • 1h 3min

The State Failed the Southport Victims

Welcome to Episode 27 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: David Shipley, writer on prison reform for publications including the Spectator, on the Government’s failings over the Southport attack and the serious questions for Keir Starmer and the Government about why we were kept in the dark about it.    Fred de Fossard, Director of Strategy at the Prosperity Institute (formerly the Legatum Institute) and writer for publications including the Critic, on how the inauguration of Donald Trump is set to blow a hole in woke capitalism – and whether Britain can ever follow suit.    And for our premium subscribers, Laurie is joined by author and historian Ed West, on why the fallout of the grooming gangs scandal could make it Britain’s Chernobyl.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.  Follow Laurie on X. Read David on the Southport riots here.  Follow David on X. Read Fred’s report on Woke Capitalism here. Follow Fred on X. Subscribe to Ed’s Wrong Side of History substack here. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Jan 17, 2025 • 1h 5min

How “Islamophobia” Protects the Grooming Gangs

Welcome to Episode 26 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Dr. Freddie Attenborough, Digital Communications Director at the Free Speech Union, on how Labour’s “Islamophobia” definition has stifled discussion of the Pakistani-Muslim rape-gangs scandal – and what that means for local inquiries. David Turver, author of the Eigen Values Substack, on how we narrowly avoided blackouts during the cold snap last week, and what that says about the parlous state of Britain’s energy grid. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie is joined by freelance investigative journalist Charlotte Gill, author of the Woke Waste Substack, on the shady Left-wing funding networks and foreign billionaires influencing our politics.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.  Follow Laurie on X. Read Freddie’s article here. Follow the Free Speech Union on X. Read David’s articles on the Daily Sceptic here. Follow David on X. Read Charlotte’s latest on the Daily Sceptic here. Follow her on X. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Jan 10, 2025 • 1h 5min

The Horror of the Grooming Gangs

Welcome to episode 25 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Dr. Mike Jones, political scientist and migration expert, on the shameful history of Britain’s grooming gangs scandal. Poppy Coburn, Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph, on how activist so-called experts have waged a campaign to deny the racial element to the grooming gangs abuse. And for our premium subscribers, journalist and Sceptic regular Ben Pile, on the dodgy politics of Environmental and Social Governance – ESG – and why a major green finance initiative just collapsed.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.  Follow Laurie on X. Read Mike on the omerta over Rotherham here.  Follow Mike on X. Read Poppy on grooming gang deniers here. Follow Poppy on X. Read Ben’s article on the Daily Sceptic here. Follow Ben on X. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Jan 3, 2025 • 28min

Southport: Arrested for Peaceful Protest

Welcome to this Special Episode of the Sceptic. Two-tier policing. Two-tier justice. Two-tier Keir. Well, we’ve spoken about all of those things on the Sceptic, especially how they’ve been in evidence in the Government response to the disorder up and down the country after the Southport murders. Much of this was in towns in the Midlands and the North, but it was in London, outside Downing Street, just two days after the attack, that my next guest was part of a peaceful protest against knife crime – when he, along with dozens of others, was arrested, placed in a prison cell and held for nearly 24 hours. Never charged – for there was nothing to charge him with – he’s now suing the Metropolitan Police for false imprisonment and assault.  Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Subscribe to the Daily Sceptic YouTube Channel. Watch Alex on YouTube here. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Dec 19, 2024 • 1h 11min

The Banter Police Are Coming

Welcome to episode 24 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Toby Young, the Daily Sceptic’s Editor-in-Chief and boss of the Free Speech Union, on a year of free-speech travesties – and the battles to come in the year ahead. Sam Bidwell, Director of the Next Generation Centre at the Adam Smith Institute, on the judge who declined to jail the woman who milkshaked Nigel Farage – and what this says about our justice system. And for our premium subscribers, I’m joined by Niall Gooch, public servant and writer for the Spectator, the Critic and UnHerd, on what it means for conservatives when they can no longer trust their country’s institutions.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Read Laurie’s article on Tan Ikram here. Follow Toby on X. Read more about the Worker Protection Bill here. Follow Sam on X. Read Niall’s article here. Follow Niall on X. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Dec 13, 2024 • 1h 9min

Keir Starmer’s Political Prisoners

Welcome to episode 23 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: David Shipley, a writer on prison reform for publications including the Spectator, on the two-tier justice in the Government’s heavy crackdown following the Southport killings. Nick Arlett, one of the Tooting Four, a group of anti-ULEZ campaigners who were arrested for peacefully protesting against the road tax and who’ve now been convicted of harassing the London mayor, Sadiq Khan – a charge they’re now going to appeal. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to David Turver, author of the Eigen Values substack, for a deep dive into the eye-watering cost of Net Zero subsidies.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X. Read David Shipley’s article on the Daily Sceptic. Follow David on X. Read Nick’s article here. Donate to the Tooting Four’s appeal fundraiser here. And follow Nick on X here. Read David Turver’s article here. Follow David on X. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Dec 6, 2024 • 1h 5min

Sam Bidwell: The Tories’ Immigration Disaster

Welcome to episode 22 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Sam Bidwell, writer and commentator and the Director of the Next Generation Centre at the Adam Smith Institute, on the social and economic disaster of the latest immigration numbers – and how best to reverse it. Fleur Meston, co-host of the Bombshells podcast and campaigner against assisted suicide, on the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at its second reading. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to Madeline Grant, parliamentary sketchwriter at the Telegraph, on her favourite parliamentarian to sketch, whether Starmer’s Army is up to snuff, and her bizarre dispute with a Labour MP over her coverage of the assisted dying debate. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X.  Follow Sam on X. Read his article on Indefinite Leave to Remain here.  Follow Fleur on X.  Follow Madeline on X. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Nov 29, 2024 • 28min

David Frost: Repeal the Hate-Speech Laws

Welcome to episode 21 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests:   David Frost, lead Brexit negotiator under Boris Johnson, Conservative peer and Telegraph columnist, on how to restore free speech in Britain, the grim reality of Starmerism and what Kemi Badenoch must do as Tory leader.   And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to Nick Dixon, comedian and broadcaster, on that mad woke Jaguar advert, the Trump win and what they both mean for the culture war.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X.  Follow David on X. Read his article on Starmerism here.  Read Nick’s article on the Daily Sceptic here. And follow Nick on X.    Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Nov 22, 2024 • 1h 3min

Matt Ridley on the Farmers’ Revolt

Welcome to episode 20 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: I speak to Matt Ridley, the acclaimed science writer and peer in the House of Lords, on the farmers’ revolt over inheritance tax changes that rocked Westminster this week. Writer and former parliamentary researcher James McSweeney, for a deep dive into Britain’s political class and why it gets so much so wrong – especially on Net Zero. And for our premium subscribers, I’m joined by Connie Shaw, an outspoken gender-critical student at Leeds University, who earlier this year experienced what trans activists say is myth – a man in the women’s bathroom. Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X.  Follow Matt on X  Read James’s article here.  And follow him on X.  Read Connie’s article on Leeds University here.  Follow Connie on X. Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
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Nov 15, 2024 • 1h 12min

Douglas Carswell: “America just got SERIOUS”

Welcome to episode 19 of the Sceptic! On the show this week, host Laurie Wastell speaks to the following guests: Douglas Carswell, former UKIP MP and now the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, on what Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory means for America – and Britain. Will Jones, Editor of the Daily Sceptic, on the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Eugyppius, the pseudonymous commentator and author of Eugyppius: a plague chronicle, on the collapse of the German Government. And for our premium subscribers, Laurie is joined in the studio by Michael Murphy, writer for the Daily Telegraph, who gives us an exclusive inside look at his new documentary with Outpost Studios: Guardians of Israel.   Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content. Follow Laurie on X.  Follow Douglas on X.  Read eugyppius’s article here.  Read Will’s article on the Daily Sceptic here. Subscribe to Outpost Studios and watch Michael’s documentary here. Watch Chuck Norris’s video here: https://ChuckDefense.com/Daily Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

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