New Culture Forum

What type of Conservative is Boris Johnson? On this week's episode of #NCFCounterCulture we discuss the future of conservatism now that Boris Johnson has been returned as Prime Minister with a large majority following the 2019 General Election. The Tories could be in power for the next 10 years. But what kind of conservatism will steer the ship of state? Will the Thatcherites in cabinet take back control? Or will Boris Johnson find himself needing to pander to his new voters in the North of England, taken from the Labour Party in their collapsing Red Wall? Is there even such a thing as "Johnsonism"? Joining host Marc Sidwell on this week's panel to discuss this are: Douglas Chirnside, Documentary Maker and PPC for the Brexit Party in the 2019 Election Rafe Heydel-Mankoo of the New Culture Forum, Historian & Broadcaster Mark Wallace, Chief Executive of Conservative Home Jamie Whyte, Editor of Smith Magazine & past Research Director at the Institute for Economic Affairs

On this week's NCF CounterCulture, our panel look 10 years into the future and make their predictions on what Britain might look like in 2030. With 5 and possibly 10 years of Conservative government ahead, how might Boris Johnson seek to alter the nation over the next decade? What will be the threats Britain will face? Following the House of Lords' attempt to thwart Brexit, will Lords reform become inevitable? Will recent events involving the Royal Family (i.e. the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan) have any implications for the future of the Monarchy? What impact will immigration have on Britain in 2030? Will we still be free to think and speak as much as we do today? Joining Peter Whittle on this week's panel are: Richard Bingley (Security Expert & Founder of NSA think tank) Benjamin Loughnane (Communications Consultant specialising in Migration) Rafe Heydel-Mankoo (New Culture Forum, Historian & Broadcaster specialising in British identity) Emma Webb (Civitas, specialising in Integration, Democracy & Extremism) #NCFCounterCulture

As the 2020s get underway, the BBC might seem as powerful as ever; but, PM Boris Johnson's government is boycotting key current affairs programmes and threatens to decriminalise the licence fee for non-payment. This week's panel debates BBC ethos, ideology and funding models and discusses whether the BBC is a national treasure that must be preserved or a wholly biased institution ripe for reform or even abolition. HOST: Marc Sidwell, Journalist and Author THE PANEL: * DAVID COX: TV producer & former head of current affairs for LWT (London Weekend Television) * JAMES DELINGPOLE: Writer, Journalist and Columnist * RAFE HEYDEL-MANKOO: Historian, Writer and Broadcaster * SOPHIE SANDOR: Writer and Documentary Maker #NCFCounterCulture

This week on CounterCulture, the panel debate whether the political shenanigans post Brexit referendum have damaged Britain and its institutions and how they are perceived by the British public. Joining Rafe Heydel-Mankoo are journalists & political and cultural commentators: Tim Stanley Madeline Grant Tom Harwood David Oldroyd-Bolt Among the questions explored are: * Is Britain broken? If so, was it broken by Brexit or did Brexit merely reveal long-existing damage? * Peter Oborne's book "Triumph of the Political Class": Has the post-1997 political class ushered in by Blair & Mandelson and continued by Brown & Cameron brought us here? Will they triumph or collapse?. * What, if anything, has Brexit exposed/revealed about us, our elites, institutions and nation/union? * What dangers, if any, are posed by a great swathe of the British public having this "revelation". Once seen by the British public, can it be "unseen"? * What happens now? Can/Should Britain be fixed? Is it worth fixing? * Is Brexit/the General Election about to prematurely force the political realignment in British politics that some have seen coming for some time? (Dr. Stephen Davies, Prof. Matthew Goodwin thesis: politics is aligning on cultural/values lines rather than class: Thus we would have Brexit party + Blue Labour + Tory "right" on one side and Labour right + Tory left + Lib Dems on the other) #NCFCounterCulture

The New Culture Forum is proud to present the first episode of our brand new roundtable discussion programme: CounterCulture. The sister show to our interview programme, "So What You're Saying Is...", CounterCulture will bring together 4 different guest panellists each week to discuss all the new things happening in our culture (books, films, music etc.) as well as the big philosophical and cultural issues that are defining our society and public discourse at the moment. In this episode we shall be looking at the biggest film of the moment: JOKER directed by Todd Philips and starring Joaquin Phoenix as the lead character. It's quite controversial depending on which part of the political spectrum you come from, but its arguably the best film of the year and has been a huge hit at the box office. Panellists today are: Agnieszka Kolek, co-founder of the Passion for Freedom festival Marc Sidwell, Deputy Editor of Smith magazine Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, Historian and Commentator Richard Bingley, Security Analyst and Author

Pope Francis's disastrous record includes betraying suppressed Chinese Catholics, failure on sex abuse, and surrounding himself with disreputable characters who are causing immense damage to the Church, claims conservative commentator Charles Coloumbe on this week's #SWYSI. As for his native land, people would be shocked to discover what a controversial figure Francis is today in Argentina, argues Charles -- suggesting this might explain why he has yet to return there. These are a few of the many failings of Pope Francis according to Traditional Catholic Charles Coulombe. For Charles, the basic premise of the Netflix production "The Two Popes", namely that Pope Francis was more saintly than Benedict XVI, reversed reality. Turning to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Charles argues that Meghan, willingly and knowingly entered a system (the Royal Family) that she neither liked nor believed in -- and proceeded to try to change it and completely transform Prince Harry. "If you don't like it, don't do it!". Charles believes that, for all her many faults, even The Duchess of Windsor (Wallace Simpson) would have made a better job of this than Meghan has. This is because The Duchess of Windsor believed in the institution of Monarchy and understood the role -- a role she craved. As an American Trad Catholic Monarchist from liberal Los Angeles, conservative commentator Charles Coulombe's traditionalism has been forged and tested at the coal face. This -- along with his early career as a stand-up comic -- may explain his successes in public debates and as a columnist and contributing editor for publications such as the National Catholic Register. He frequently contributes to publications including the Catholic Herald, American Thinker and New Oxford Review. Charles is the author of over 15 books primarily on British and European Monarchy & Catholicism but also on the pleasure of alcohol, titles include: "Vicars of Christ: History of the Popes"; "The Star Spangled Crown: A Simple Guide To The American Monarchy"; and "The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI". Charles Coulombe has his own YouTube podcast, TUMBLAR HOUSE, which may be visited via this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiYNKjd0Xvj5GE5dr-9n65A

Our guest this week on #SWYSI is long-standing BBC Journalist Robin Aitken MBE. Robin is the author of "Can We Trust the BBC?" And "The Noble Liar", in which he examines why and how the BBC is biased against conservatism. Robin was the first guest on #SWYSI in January 2019 and so it is a great pleasure to welcome him back just over a year later to reflect on the scenario we now face: a conservative government with a strong majority unwilling to play the BBC game and a clear desire to shake up the institution.

This week on "So What You're Saying Is...", Peter Whittle interviews Harry Miller, 1 week after his High Court victory against Humberside Police. The High Court ruled that the police response to the ex-officer's allegedly transphobic tweets was unlawful. Harry Miller was visited by Humberside Police at work in January last year after a complaint about his tweets. He was told he had not committed a crime, but it would be recorded as a non-crime "hate incident". The court found the force's actions were a "disproportionate interference" with his right to freedom of expression. Officers visited Mr Miller's workplace and then spoke with him on the phone, and he was left with the impression "that he might be prosecuted if he continued to tweet", according to a judge. Speaking after the ruling, Mr Miller, from Lincolnshire, said: "This is a watershed moment for liberty - the police were wrong to visit my workplace, wrong to 'check my thinking'." His solicitor Paul Conrathe added: "It is a strong warning to local police forces not to interfere with people's free speech rights on matters of significant controversy." Mr Justice Julian Knowles said the effect of police turning up at Mr Miller's place of work "because of his political opinions must not be underestimated". He added: "To do so would be to undervalue a cardinal democratic freedom".

This week's guest on "So What You're Saying Is...", is journalist and education campaigner Toby Young. Toby is one of Britain's best-known journalists. Now writing for The Spectator and Quilette, he founded a magazine called The Modern Review and also wrote for Vanity Fair. His best--selling book, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People", was later made into a film. He's also a champion for free schools and has founded 4 of them. His latest project is the Free Speech Union, a mass membership organisation dedicated to protecting free speech, which is increasingly under threat. The F.S.U. will be a mass membership organisation that stands up for the speech rights of its members and aims to create a more tolerant atmosphere on social media and other platforms. So if a member is targetted by a social media outrage mob for the inadvertent use of certain language, a taboo word or for dissenting from the prevailing orthodoxy, the FSU will mobilise on social media and its members will come to their defence on social media. If they are accused of something, the member will be put through some form of due process to check the evidence so that they aren't just presumed to be guilty and cast out as Sir Roger Scruton was when George Eaton of The New Statesman passed incorrect information out via social media, which led to a campaign of hate against Scruton, ultimately resulting in Sir Roger losing his position as a Government adviser. The way in which veteran ITN journalist Alistair Stewart was treated & fired is another example -- as was Toby Young's own experience at the hands of a social media mob.

Zuby, the self-styled "Jordan Peterson of rap", is this week's guest on "So What You're Saying Is...". The weight-lifting hip hop artist became an unlikely feminist icon for demonstrating that athletes who are genetically male should not be competing alongside women. In 2019 he was filmed smashing the British women’s deadlift record, in which the weights are raised from the ground to thigh level, while he said he was “identifying as a woman”. The video went viral on the Internet. The Oxford University graduate beat the UK women’s bench press record too, joking that his work was “strong, stunning and brave”.