New Culture Forum

This week's guest on "So What You're Saying Is..." is Theodore Dalrymple, the English writer, doctor and psychiatrist. Dalrymple is a contributing editor to City Journal, published by the Manhattan Institute, where he is the Dietrich Weismann Fellow. In addition to City Journal, his work has appeared in The British Medical Journal, The Times, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Salisbury Review, National Review, New English Review, and Axess magasin. He is the author of a number of books, including Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass; Our Culture, What's Left of It; and Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality. In his writing, Dalrymple frequently argues that the socially liberal and progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles minimise the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and undermine traditional mores, contributing to the formation within prosperous countries of an underclass afflicted by endemic violence, criminality, sexually transmitted diseases, welfare dependency, and drug abuse. Much of Dalrymple's writing is based on his experience of working with criminals and the mentally ill.

On this week's episode of So What You're Saying Is, Peter Whittle interviews Andrew, Lord Green -- founder and chairman of the independent think tank Migration Watch. He was for 12 years a board member of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (a human rights organisation which speaks for Christians and others around the world who are suffering persecution for their religious beliefs). Lord Green was a career civil servant prior to founding Migration Watch in 2001. Joining the Diplomatic Service in 1965, he spent half his career in the Middle East where he served in six posts. The remainder of his service was divided between London, Paris, and Washington DC. He was HM Ambassador in Syria (1991–94) and then Director for the Middle East at the Foreign Office, before serving for four and a half years as ambassador in Saudi Arabia. He retired in 2000. He was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Companion (CMG) in the 1991 Birthday Honours and was promoted as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1998 Birthday Honours. On 21 October 2014 it was announced that Sir Andrew Green was to be created a life peer on David Cameron's personal recommendation for Green's "proven record of public service." He was duly raised to the peerage as Baron Green of Deddington, in the County of Oxfordshire on 28 November 2014. Lord Green sits on the cross benches in the House of Lords.

In this full-legnth interview, Thatcher's Official Biographer reveals for the first time some remarkable facts from his new biography, including: * Sir John Major's role in Thatcher's overthrow, * Thatcher's early commitment to climate change * Thatcher's desire whilst in office for the British public to decide on Britain's place in EC through both a general election and a referendum * secret channels opened up between the British government and South Africa's ANC * remarkable exchanges between Nelson Mandela and the British Prime Minister The Three decades after Thatcher left office, why does Britain's most successful Prime Minister remain such a divisive figure? What will history deem her greatest achievement, failure and legacy? Ultimately, was she a radical or a traditionalist? This week's guest on "So What You're Saying Is..." is Charles Moore, Official Biographer of Margaret Thatcher and former editor of The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator and The Sunday Telegraph. Charles joins Peter Whittle to discuss the third and final volume of his bestselling and definitive biography of Britain's first female Prime Minister, 'One of the great biographical achievements of our times' (Sunday Times) This volume tells the story of her last period in office, her combative retirement and the controversy that surrounded her even in death. It includes the Fall of the Berlin Wall which she had fought for and the rise of the modern EU which she feared. It lays bare her growing quarrels with colleagues and reveals the truth about her political assassination by her own MPs. Moore's biography of Britain's most important peacetime prime minister paints an intimate political and personal portrait of the victories and defeats, the iron will but surprising vulnerability of the woman who dominated in an age of male power. Charles Moore notes that "Whenever I go on the BBC they always start: 'Margaret Thatcher was the most divisive P.M....' rather than stating 'Margaret Thatcher was the most successful P.M...." "Whatever one thinks of her as a leader, it is factually true that she was politically successful: * The longest-serving prime minister won every election.. * She won them all with big majorities * She brought in most of the measures she wanted to. * She has a set of doctrines are named after her. * She was the first female prime minister. * She was a hugely prestigious global figure by the late 1980s, having been the senior world leader by as early as 1982. * She helped end the Cold War and was celebrated as an heroic figure in central and Eastern Europe. She also correctly forecast that the European Community's plan to tie post-reunification Germany down and stop it being a threat by placing it at the heart of an increasingly centralised European Union, tied to other European states also through a common currency, would backfire & lead to Germany dominating the continent.

Melanie Phillips is one of Britain's leading political journalists and cultural commentators, and as a champion of traditional Judeo-Christian culture and values, she is famed across the Anglosphere for her trenchant views. The first person to ever address the New Culture Forum upon its foundation in 2006, Ms. Phillips has written at various times for The Mail, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Times, The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Chronicle. She is familiar to many in the UK from her appearances on BBC's "Moral Maze", "Question Time" and "Politics Live" and in the wider world as the author of numerous best-selling books, including "Londonistan" and most recently "Guardian Angel". In this interview with Peter Whittle she explains how Brexit has seen Parliament attempt a coup against the people. She comments on the defeatisim and lack of resolve in the west, which for too long has failed to stand up for itself. Brexit and some of the more palatable forms of populism she believes are a backlash against that. Never a member of any political party -- she has only subscribed to two "isms", journalism and Judaism -- Melanie explains in her recently published personal and political memoir "GUARDIAN ANGEL", why she moved from left to right -- and to Israel. Anti-semitism played an important part in this and Melanie Phillips comments on the disturbing rise of anti-semitism on the left (as in Corbyn's Labour Party) For Ms. Phillips, the horror of the second world war and the holocaust occurring in a cultured continent, did something terrible to the Western / European idea of progress, civilisation and believes the nation state unfairly got the blame for this. Herein lie the roots of so much of the loathing for the nation state among many members of the modern liberal elite.

In November 2018 the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, chaired by Anna Soubry MP, published its report, Islamophobia Defined, to establish a working definition of Islamophobia. Subsequently the definition has been adopted by local councils and political parties, even before the Home Affairs Select Committee concluded their assessment of the proposed definition. In the wake of this our guest, Emma Webb, produced an anthology that brought together concerns about the APPG definition of Islamophobia from a variety of perspectives. It included atheist, secularist, religious and academic assessments of why the Islamophobia definition is not only unfit for purpose, but also poses a danger to civil liberties in the United Kingdom, particularly freedom of expression, and journalistic and academic freedom. It may be downloaded here: http://www.civitas.org.uk/content/fil... Emma Webb is director of the Forum on Integration, Democracy and Extremism (FIDE), a project of Civitas. She was formerly a research fellow at the Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism (CRT) at the Henry Jackson Society. Her published work focuses on Islamist extremist networks and their abuse of civil society, the education and charitable sectors, and domestic funding. She has been published in The Times, the Telegraph, Independent and Spectator, among others and has appeared on international media discussing the risks posed by terrorism and extremism in Europe. Emma holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and King’s College London.

This week, Peter is joined by acclaimed writer and journalist Douglas Murray to discuss his superb new book "The Madness of Crowds": "In his devastating new book, Douglas Murray examines the twenty-first century's most divisive issues: sexuality, gender, technology and race. He reveals the astonishing new culture wars playing out in our workplaces, universities, schools and homes in the names of social justice, identity politics and 'intersectionality'. We are living through a postmodern era in which the grand narratives of religion and political ideology have collapsed. In their place have emerged a crusading desire to right perceived wrongs and a weaponization of identity, both accelerated by the new forms of social and news media. Narrow sets of interests now dominate the agenda as society becomes more and more tribal – and, as Murray shows, the casualties are mounting. Persons of all political persuasions cannot afford to ignore Murray's masterfully argued and fiercely provocative book, in which he seeks to inject some sense into the discussion around this generation's most complicated issues. He ends with an impassioned call for free speech, shared common values and sanity in an age of mass hysteria."

Sir James MacMillan is one of today’s most successful composers and is also internationally active as a conductor. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music. In this interview Sir James recounts the guilt he felt about about toying with communism in his youth, composing his first piece of music at the age of 10, and the importance to his life played by sacred music. He holds that unlike other areas of art, music contains a spirituality not found in paintings or the spoken word. Thus, there is an acknowledgement and openmindedness among musicians of music's Judeo-Christian heritage/origins. This is something he feels many in the wider artistic world find perplexing and difficult to understand or accept. Consequently there is an assumption that one's political allegiances must be broader left politically. He touches on the Scottish Referendum which, whilst not initially a Left-Right divide, has since seen the nationalist side become very left wing and anti-English. On the broader subject of philosophy, he mentions the derision and almost chilling response received to comments he made about the philosophy underscoring much classical music -- in particular, when he had occasion to quote Sir Roger Scruton. Sir James also laments the chance encounters the public might have with classical music are on the wane. Sir James and other musicians he knows first discovered classical music on BBC 1 etc. Yet today those opportunities are few and far between if not forever removed. He feels this is particularly regrettable given the strong position in which British classical music currently finds itself -- especially in comparison with the "top down culture" that drives current German and French classical music, and which the public finds hard to relate to.

Martin Durkin is an English television producer and director, particularly on Britain's Channel 4. Durkin is managing director of Wag TV, a television production company. He has produced, directed and executive-produced programmes covering the arts, science, history, entertainment, features and social documentaries. He was formerly connected to the now defunct Revolutionary Communist Party, and a number of his documentaries have caused controversies, including those critical of state spending and environmentalism. He has been described as "the scourge of the greens" and "one of the environmentalists' favourite hate figures".

James Cary is the creator & writer of BBC Radio 4's Award-winning comedy series, Think the Unthinkable. Cary co-created & co-wrote the BBC Three series Bluestone 42, and has also contributed to the TV comedy show Miranda & My Family. In April 2017, Cary was identified as one of the few pro-Brexit comedians in the United Kingdom, noting that other comedians should be wary of pointing out that people like him might be 'backward, nationalistic and patriotic and racist'. His new book is "The Sacred Art of Joking".

In this first episode of Season Two, Peter Whittle's guest is Peter Hitchens, the celebrated conservative columnist, writer and polemicist -- and one of our most commonly requested people: Subjects discussed include free expression, identity politics, immigration, education & social mobility, conservatism etc.. Sometimes styled "Britain's Obituarist", Hitchens best-known work is "The Abolition of Britain". As with Sir Roger Scruton, Hitchen is a social conservative who feels far closer to social democracy than the unfettered market . In this indepth discussion, Peter Hitchens explains how Britain has undergone a silent and radical revolution as transformative as history's most famous, where the buildings remain but little else is the same. Whilst many assume the roots of this revolution were planted in the 1960s, Mr. Hitchens traces the foundations back to the Bloomsbury Group & the First World War. Recalling his own time as a far left student in the 1960s, he reveals how, when they were at university, many of Britain's leading political and establishment figures of the last 30 years -- such as former PM Tony Blair -- identified openly as revolutionary Marxists or Trotskyists. --------------------