You probably won’t agree with all of Mr Embery’s policy prescriptions, but he will force you to think outside your usual political grooves — Wall Street Journal
WHEN the government introduced its official definition of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ earlier this year, ministers were at pains to point out that it would not be used to chill criticism of Islam. The move, they claimed, was motivated by nothing more than a desire to halt a rising tide of hatred towards Muslims.
Some of us were sceptical. As I wrote at the time, the definition amounted to a subjective word salad which, if we were not careful, would be used to stifle legitimate debate and punish dissenters.
We knew how in thrall the leaders of our public institutions and services, including the police, were to the cult of DEI, and this new state-approved definition – which took the form of statutory guidance – would likely embolden these people to become yet more zealous in their attempts to enforce their dogma.
Existing laws already provided Muslims and other believers with protections against religiously-aggravated crime and discrimination – and, frankly, some of these were already being applied far too broadly.
So the new statutory definition seemed to have no other purpose than to further entrench the notion that Islam must be afforded a degree of shielding from scrutiny and criticism that would not be applied to any other religious or political ideology.
Now that repressive climate appears to have captured another heretic.
Kellie-Jay Keen is a well-known feminist. She first came to prominence through her very public refusal to accept that men can become women.
Keen is no fan of Islam – something she is quite prepared to have the world know. She considers it a backward, intolerant religion which treats women as second-class citizens. In public speeches and on social media, she has railed against the ‘barbarism’ of the religion. She has also called for a halt to its promotion by public authorities.
Now, Keen’s views are somewhat provocative, and you may or may not agree with them. But do you believe that she deserves to be prosecuted for expressing her beliefs? For that is what has happened.
Keen has been charged with some kind of ‘hate speech’ offence in relation to a social media post in which she aimed both barrels at Islam. The post did not incite violence or harassment against ordinary Muslims. Neither did it promote any other sort of law breaking.
Regardless, she has been summoned to appear at Westminster magistrates court at 10.00am on 4 December 2026.
Keen is not surprised at the development. She says the police have been trying to pin something on her since 2017. And now they think they’ve found something.
Keen is calling on her supporters to gather outside the court on the day. I would urge anyone who is able to attend to do so. This is not just about defending Keen, though hers is certainly a valid cause.
More critically, we need to show the authorities that we will not bow to their attempts to enforce a de facto blasphemy law in Britain – one that only ever seems to apply to a single religion.
Fascists, fascists everywhere!
Talking of free speech, the problem of woke censorship in our universities came to the fore again this week with the emergence of footage showing University of Cambridge academic James Orr having one of his lectures disrupted by a group of student protestors.
Orr was, until recently, Reform UK’s head of policy. In eyes of the average student radical, this obviously makes him some sort of fascist.
So some of them felt they had a right to burst into the lecture room while Orr was teaching and lambast him for his, and I quote precisely here, ‘far-right ideology’ and for being linked to the ‘lynching of Jason Arday’.
The protestors said quite openly that they wanted to drive Orr and his views from the university – and then, when the man himself argued back, laughably claimed they were entitled to exercise free speech!
I have met James Orr. His politics are not mine, but there is no doubt that he is one of the most thoughtful and cerebral conservatives of our time.
Whereas his student abusers appear to be updated incarnations of Rik from The Young Ones, screaming ‘Fascist!’ at everyone and everything that doesn’t accord with their own narrow view of the world.
The Office for Students – the government’s regulator for higher education – is responsible for investigating this time of harassment on campus and has the powers to intervene to defend academic freedom. I hope it does so.
Burnham wrong to indulge slavery campaigners
Slavery was a historical evil. But with all the problems confronting our nation at this time, it is a huge misstep for the prime minister to have been drawn into the debate over reparations and to have indicated that the government may issue a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic trade.
The story is now going to hog much of the political bandwidth, pushing out other, far more important, issues.
No Briton alive today was either a transatlantic slave or slave trader. And most of our ancestors had no involvement at all in that terrible business.
So I find it hard to understand why already-hard-pressed British taxpayers, who were not offenders, should be forced to pay money to individuals who were not themselves victims. There is even less of a case for it given Britain’s leading and commendable role in bringing the wicked trade to an end.
An apology from the government would only strengthen the demands for reparations. When asked for his view, the prime minister should have given this very simple response: ‘None of this is a priority for my government at this moment in time. We have more pressing matters to deal with.’
Small boats imperilling our democracy
Around 1,600 migrants – enough to populate a modest-sized village – have arrived in Britain illegally by small boat in the past four days alone.
Despite all the promises - made over many years by government ministers of all political stripes - to fix the problem, it shows no sign of abating.
Make no mistake, this is state failure on a seismic scale. The longer it goes on, the greater the implications for the integrity of our democracy and the cohesion of our society.
EU hypocrites exposed again
Whenever a Eurosceptic voice – or, heaven forbid, a nationalist or populist one – acts in a way that is deemed to undermine the rule of law or democracy, you can’t move for EU mouthpieces willing to denounce them.
From France to Romania, from Germany to Hungary, governments or politicians that refuse to toe the pro-Brussels line can expect a rough ride from the self-proclaimed defenders of European liberal democracy.
So why aren’t these Europhile crusaders speaking up against the attempts by the prime minister of Poland and former, ahem, president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, to interfere with the integrity of his country’s top court - a move described by the president of Poland as a ‘forcible takeover of a constitutional body’?
Might it have something to do with the fact that the court had a nasty habit of prioritising national legislation over that which derived from the EU?
Perish the thought.
A reminder that you can also follow me on ‘X’: @PaulEmbery
The academic feminists despise KJK for her perceived links to the far right of British politics.
Her accusations against Islam and its less than progressive ideology towards women are ignored but her attendance at a rally or protest where Tommy Robinson is speaking is enough for the academic luvvies to tar her with the fascist brush.
I’ve asked them in social forums to debate the issues with her if they feel that strongly but the answer is the same ‘she won’t debate!’ My answer to that is…’have you asked her?’
Silence………………..🤫
You covered it well in the opening paragraphs. The Islamic religion in this country has now got itself in a position where it is treated differently from other religions thanks to weakness of our institutions and the Labour government. Even on a higher plain. And thanks to the ‘rules’ have I now got to be careful what I type? Or I’m up on a charge too? This is a truly awful state of affairs, one which I cannot have imagined not so many years ago. I don’t understand why we are so timid, especially the MSM. We’ve rolled over and let it happen. Labour has been infected by the woke virus, or it cares only for power. Surely this is a million miles from the party you joined Paul? I despise this party now. The direction travel has been wrong for 20 years now. It ain’t coming back. I am a realist. The Labour I knew from growing up has gone for good. What is left of it needs voting out for good. Perhaps you and the few left who care about ordinary people can pick up the pieces if this happens and lead it in a better direction.