New Culture Forum

On this week's #SWYSI, Peter Whittle is joined by his London Assembly colleague David Kurten, leader of the newly launched Heritage Party (https://www.heritageparty.org/). They discuss the London police's selective approach to policing protests -- apparently turning a blind eye to Black Lives Matter & Extinction Rebellion whilst coming down hard on anti-Lockdown protestors. For David, it seems as if we have "political policing": those causes Mayor Sadiq Khan supports get a free pass whereas those that he dislikes get the full force of the law. David Kurten, a scientist with a Master's degree in chemistry, questions a lot of the Covid information that the mainstream media are reporting. He also provides an insight into the mindset that pervades the London Assembly and what he thinks of the policies of Mayor Khan, whom he hopes to replace at the next election. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

Joining Peter Whittle on this week's #NCFCounterCulture Panel: * Austin Williams, Associate Professor of Architecture at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China and Director of the Future Cities Project * Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, Historian, Broadcaster & Author of the best-selling book "A London Peculiar" * Rob Poll, architect, property developer and committee member of the Save Our Statues campaign --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

On this week's SWYSI we speak with an eminent expert on the morality of empire and nationalism who has personal experience of cancel culture and public denunciation, after both students and other professors condemned his "Ethics & Empire" project at the University of Oxford. Prof. Nigel Biggar is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford and canon of Christ Church Cathedral. He is an expert in the ethics of nationalism and empire; the ethics of individual rights and of jurisprudence about them; ‘just war’ reasoning; the concept of proportionality; and the moral vocation of universities. Prof. Biggar rebuts many of the hackneyed tropes we hear about Britain, the British Empire and historical figures. He explains that Cecil Rhodes was not the colonial racist many in the BLM movmement perceive him to have been. He also argues at length for a balanced view of the British Empire and its historical legacy -- one that accepts the positive benefits it brought rather than focussing exclusively on its negative aspects. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

On this week's #NCFNewspeak, Benjamin Loughnane, communications consultant and theologian, argues that England's sacred choral music is also a victim of the long march through the institutions and needs to be defended/protected. To quote: "Our culture is under attack. And not just from the vandals who pull down our statues There is a quiet, pernicious threat throughout our institutions – every area of our culture is in danger. "Sacred music is the new battleground. And it is the churches themselves who are engaged in this vandalism. Such as Sheffield Cathedral who have elected to drop their choir. Throughout the country many churches and cathedrals are doing the same. On what grounds? Well, we know their excuses – it is deemed elitist and not diverse enough. "These integral parts of British culture and history are being scrapped for the most tenuous, farcical reasons. Such as those who claimed that people singing in church will spread coronavirus. "Whatever the reason, it is nonsense. The real reason is that those who hate our culture and our christian heritage will stop at nothing to obliterate it in all forms. Choral music is not going to spread plague. "English choral music is under attack because it is part of the cultural fabric of the nation. It is an awkward reminder that we are a Christian country. Now, whether you believe in god or not, england’s culture and history is inextricably Christian. Honest people understand this and they take history as it is. "Attempts to destroy this must be resisted, and those who try to destroy it are tyrants. They wish to force their world view on you. Something as simple as a group of people singing in a church is an act of resistance against these tyrants. "We must protect and preserve our choral tradition, our culture depends on it. Not just because the music is pleasant. But because it is how ordinary people can rebel against the cultural vampires who wish to suck the life out of our society. "We do not need a revolution to protect our culture, we just need to continue to engage in that culture and pass it on to the next generation. That which was entrusted to us by previous generations is not the property of this generation to squander "We do not have the right to sit idly by as insurgents tear to the ground everything which ties us to our past. One of the attacks launched against choral music is that it is ‘elitist’ and not ‘inclusive’ enough. "Tell that to all those who have escaped poverty on choir scholarships at top schools and universities. Such scholarships which for hundreds of years have driven social mobility, as did the grammar schools which faced similar attacks under successive governments twenty years ago. "Nothing is more elitist than politicians, journalists, and bishops demolishing paths out of poverty and telling ordinary people that they cannot appreciate traditional music. Choral music is for everyone, it serves an important social function, and above all is exceptionally beautiful. "You may feel powerless against the cultural vandals. But you are not. By continuing to support your local church choir you are rebelling – righteously, and in style."

Overshadowed by Covid-19 and BLM, another issue has been causing great concern in many quarters for some time: sex education. As of Sept 2020, sex education is now compulsory in our state schools [while parents can withdraw their children, in practice this is meaningless as most parents are unaware they have such a right and, indeed, unaware of what is being taught]. From trans rights to Muslim parents picketing a school in Birmingham, sex ed is dividing opinion and causing great controversy. But why? That is the subject of this week's episode of #NCFCounterCulture. The panel: * Belinda Brown, Campaigner and Journalist * Susan Mason, Founder of the School Gate campaign * Caroline Ffiske, former Conservative Councillor & Journalist * The Rev'd Linda Rose, CEO of Voice for Justice UK * Benjamin Loughnane, Theologian and Communications Consultant Members of the panel have recommended the following sources for further information on the issues raised in this discussion: Susan Mason's School Gate campaign organisation: https://schoolgatecampaign.org/ Respect Yourself: https://archive.is/nJBxV This website was taken down in 2019 following campaigning. All About Me website has similarly been withdrawn https://rsereview.org/resources/all-a... The Proud Trust https://rsereview.org/resources/the-p... For general information about RSE resources please see https://rsereview.org/resources And for more detailed analyses of the information see the following downloads from Transgender Trend: https://www.transgendertrend.com/prod... Caroline Ffiske highlights how this material has been mainstreamed. You can click through to see materials: https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/s... At this link the PSHE Association clearly indicates that the Government Equalities Offices backs and funds this material. https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/c... Ellie Barnes' stated objective to "smash heteronormativity" through her Educate and Celebrate programme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g1YN... The Too Much, Too Young booklet published by The Christian Institute a few years ago, shows some of the materials already in use for sex education in schools. N.B. The black, blocked out sections are for our benefit, and are not present when the images are presented to children: https://www.christian.org.uk/resource... The Dept for Education's declaration of war on parents in the form of guidance to LAs, instructing schools to oppose parents who object to RSE. Roger Kiska's article has good commentary and links: https://christianconcern.com/comment/...

Dr. Philip Kiszely, lecturer in cultural history at the University of Leeds, is this week's guest on "So What You're Saying Is..." (#SWYSI). In a recent article for Spiked Online Dr. Kiszely argued that we are now at a tipping point in our cultural history which requires us to stand up against the dangerous identitarian narrative we have seen most visibly during the BLM protests of recent months but which now also permeates much of wider society. The simplistic "hero" and "villains" version of history we are seeing today is all about division. History is far too complex to interpret in this way yet these tropes have become deeply embedded not only with the younger generation but apparently also amongst the older middle classes. This identitarian narrative, especially its attempt to racialise history, is dangerous to society and needs to be countered with more inclusive approaches. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

Dr. Niall McCrae is a senior mental health lecturer at King's College London and co-author of "Year of the Bat: Globalisation, China & the Coronavirus". Dr. McCrae argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to an illiberal and authoritarian global social hygiene regime. To quote: "I remember in January watching news clips from Wuhan in China, where the coronavirus outbreak began. At a police road block on a dual carriageway, a man on his way to work wound his window down and his forehead temperature was taken. He was ordered out of the vehicle, to be immediately taken into quarantine. He protested, and was beaten to the ground and pummelled by thuggish police. "Such abuse of human rights couldn’t happen in the West, could it? Well, look at the state of Victoria in Australia. The governor, nicknamed Kim Jong Dan, has imposed a severe lockdown with ruthless policing. A man heavily fined for taking out his rubbish without a mask. A young woman throttled by a male officer for the same offence. A pregnant woman arrested at home in front of her children for incitement. Inciting what? Encouraging Facebook friends to attend a freedom protest. "A long-running cartoon in the satirical Viz comic is the "Bottom Inspectors". The hygiene Gestapo who check you’ve wiped yourself properly. In the latest edition they look even more sinister, with their Covid-19 visors. Who would have believed we’d be living this dystopia. "This Covid regime is for controlling us, not the virus. But why are so many people in favour of this denial of basic liberties? This is about social class and morality. The supposedly liberal, progressive establishment is imposing its authority on the "great unwashed" You need to be told to wash your hands, to keep your distance, and to muzzle yourselves. "Of course mask-wearing isn’t based on science. It’s not much more effective than a string vest to stop mosquito bites, but masks have become a moral fault line. Sophisticated middle-class people wear them as a means of virtue-signalling. The wearer is a GOOD person, unlike the selfish ignoramuses who reject what the Guardian describes as ‘our shared reality’. "This is Cultural "Mask-ism" "The pandemic has exposed the fallacy of liberal progress. The harshest Covid-19 discipline is in countries led by left-of-centre leaders, such as Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand. Because they care. Meanwhile supposedly authoritarian presidents such as Donald Trump and Jaio Bolsanora prefer less extreme restrictions. "Our establishment is keen to instil a new normal. There’s scant opposition from politicians, trade unions, students, human rights campaigners, celebrities. Rock stars and actresses seem unperturbed at this indefinite loss of limelight. Instead of speaking out, they’re all conformists. Not edgy at all. "Look on Twitter and you’ll see middle-class snobs celebrating the aggressive policing of anti-lockdown protests, and the persecution of Piers Corbyn. "These fraudulent liberals have no respect for Enlightenment values – freedom of speech subverted by cancel culture. Democracy – they tried to overturn the EU referendum result. And equality before the law - the blatant hypocrisy in promoting Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion demos while accusing lockdown protestors of killing people. "The masked moralisers are neither liberal, nor hygienic. Our pavements are strewn with discarded face masks. Who’s really being irresponsible? "Cicero asserted ‘The health of the people is the highest law’. The Chinese Communist Party has shown how to exploit this noble duty for totalitarian ends. How sad that the civil democracies of the West chose to follow Beijing, and to trash individual liberties for a rigid collectivism." --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications)

Andrew Klavan, host of The Daily Wire's "The Andrew Klavan Show", returns to #SWYSI to chat about America's intensifying culture wars and what might happen if Donald Trump loses the upcoming election. Speaking from L.A, Andrew explains how Covid, BLM & woke virtue signalling have made the city almost intolerable to live in. He laments that across the US -- but particularly in increasingly lawless cities run by the Democrats -- the police are being attacked and prevented from maintaining law and order. Unfortunately, continues Andrew, America has also succumbed to "the Long March through the institutions", and so the violence of the far left is ignored and overlooked by the mainstream media, who focus instead on the violence of extremists on the right. Even worse, the media say that the left's violence is justified -- something we have never witnessed before. If Trump is re-elected Andrew is hopeful there will be a reckoning with these institutions and a clearing out of their houses -- as we've seen with Trump's war on "critical race theory". However if Trump loses he fears that these institutions will become increasingly extreme in their bias. The end result, Andrew fears, is that America may risk its unique freedoms -- such as a level of freedom of speech that even advanced democracies such as the U.K. do not have. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

On this week's #NCFNewspeak, student writer & commentator Freya Laidlow-Petersen argues for an end to the politicisation of our schools and the degeneration of our education system -- where teachers too often see themselves as "agents of social change". The "decolonise the curriculum" movement is not simply a spontaneous off-shoot of this year’s events. For example, “Global Education for All” is one of the United Nations’ agendas to be fulfilled by 2030. It sounds wonderful but a closer look at what this agenda actually entails, Freya argues, reveals less of a movement to truly educate and inspire children around the world, and more of a push to standardise children with the same worldview and the same limited knowledge and capacity for independent thought. Around the world, education policy makers seem set on this course of action. Douglas Bourn, the Director of the University College London Development Education Research Centre, released a document entitled “Teachers as agents of social change”. Bourn considers politicisation to be an essential aspect of the schooling system he and other education leaders envisage – he says that “whilst there have been debates about the need for teachers not to be political, this is an impossible demand because refraining from taking a political stance is itself a political act”. He mentions the Global Teachers Award which includes activities for teachers to “measure changes in attitudes of their pupils” Freya believes it is too simplistic therefore to put the decline of our schools solely down to the notion of most teachers being left-wing. We have had “Conservative” ministers of education for the past decade, with the so-called “global dimension” being incorporated into the national curriculum from September 2013, under the former Conservative education minister, Michael Gove. For Freya, the result of this is firstly politicisation, which is the inevitable result of the gradual centralisation and standardisation of the system over the years. The other issue is the steep decline of intellectual aspiration in many schools. This decline is partly due to the limiting curricula, and partly due to certain teaching methods which have taken hold in the classroom. Our mainstream schools, Freya concludes, do not effectively nurture education, but often tend to stunt children in their cognitive ability, give them a disjointed view of the world, and withhold the joy and wonder of real learning. --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)

On this week's #SWYSI we interview Inaya Folarin Iman, Director of The Equiano Project, Board member of the Free Speech Union and outspoken critic of Black Lives Matter and identity politics. Inaya is a columnist with Spiked Online and appears frequently in print (Telegraph, Spectator, Daily Mail etc) and as a media commentator. The Equiano Project seeks to facilitate conversations about and promote the values of freedom, humanism and universalism: https://www.theequianoproject.com/about --------------- SUBSCRIBE: If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube (click the Subscribe Button underneath the video and then Click on the Bell icon next to it to make sure you Receive All Notifications) AUDIO: If you prefer Audio you can subscribe on itunes or Soundcloud. Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-923838732 itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/s... SUPPORT/DONATE: "So What You're Saying Is.." is still very new and to continue to produce quality programming we need your support. Your donations will help ensure the show not only continues but can grow into a major online platform challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in our institutions, public life and media. PAYPAL/ CARD PAYMENTS - ONE TIME & MONTHLY: You can donate in a variety of ways via our website: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk/#do... It is set up to accept one time and monthly donations. ABOUT THE SHOW: So What You're Saying Is... (SWYSI) is a weekly discussion show with experts and significant figures from the political, cultural and academic worlds. The host is Peter Whittle (@PRWhittle), Founder & Director of The New Culture Forum, a Westminster-based think tank that seeks to challenge the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, and British culture / society at large. JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Web: http://www.newcultureforum.org.uk F: https://www.facebook.com/NCultureForum/ Y: http://www.youtube.com/c/NewCultureForum T: http://www.twitter.com/NewCultureForum (@NewCultureForum)