UK Politics

[Phylo]

"Here's how I exposed Jason Arday and Cambridge" | David Starkey Talks to Nathan Cofnas​

I won't deny that watching Cambridge University's management scramble to contain the fallout from their disastrous recruitment of the dodgy academic Jason Arday has been sweetly satisfying. These are, in some instances, the very same people who sprang into action against me back in 2020, casting me out of the institution to which I'd been associated for 56 years.

Their decision to offer Mr Arday a Chair Professorship - the most coveted position in academia - on the basis of his plagiarised and completely meritless work has struck a hugely damaging blow to the practices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in higher education. They will regroup of course, and do everything they can to prevent further probes into a system by which white and Asian students and academics are discriminated against in the name of racial representation, but for now let us enjoy the spectacle of their humiliation.

There are, of course, grimmer aspects to this story. Far from being the kind of doe-eyed, dreadlocked black Bambi he presented himself as, Mr Arday employed some of the most aggressive lawyers in the country to go after people who were looking into his academic record. One journalist for the Times Higher Education supplement was investigated by the Metropolitan Police over his reporting. A student who requested they no longer be supervised by Mr Arday was accused of racism. Just as we've seen how DEI in the police force results in a young man like Henry Nowak dying in handcuffs while his killer stands over him chatting amiably to officers; we see how DEI in education can ruin the careers of honest, decent people, while charlatans reap undeserved accolades.

My guest this week is one such victim of DEI in education. Nathan Cofnas is an academic, a philosopher of biology, who penned an article back in 2024 in which he argued that academic elites were being dishonest about average differences in intelligence between different racial groups. This resulted in a year-and-a-half long investigation by the university that saw him effectively quarantined until his contract of employment ran out. Now working at another university, it was Cofnas who exposed Jason Arday's rampant plagiarism, after being alerted to it by whistleblowers at Cambridge. If it hadn't been for Cofnas's intellectual bravery, and the open marketplace of ideas that we now have on X, the chances of this scandal ever emerging are close to non-existent.

 

[Phylo]

The day small boats crisis became a BIG boats crisis: Forty-nine foot mega-dinghy carrying 230 migrants - more than a Boeing 737 - reaches Britain​

Labour's attempts to tackle the Channel crisis were branded a 'complete laughing stock' on Monday after a record 230 migrants arrived on one dinghy.

The huge number – more than the capacity of a Boeing 737 jet – crossed from France yesterday, prompting the Conservatives to taunt Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for 'presiding over a complete and utter farce'.

The record-breaking mega-dinghy arrived less than two weeks after Andy Burnham insisted the Government's plan was working.

Measuring 49ft from bow to stern, it was 7ft larger than vessels which set previous records last month, and more than 10ft longer than a standard double-decker bus.

People traffickers are thought to charge around £2,000 a head for illegal passage to Britain, meaning the dinghy could have made the criminals a staggering £450,000 profit.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour's weak attempts at fixing the Channel crisis have turned the UK into a complete laughing stock. Shabana Mahmood is presiding over a complete and utter farce.

'She's handing over £660million of our money to the French, who are pathetically standing around on the beaches while hundreds of migrants embark on massive dinghies.'

He also criticised the gendarmes' inability to halt such a behemoth, adding: 'This is now beyond a joke. The French authorities could easily have stopped a vessel this size from embarking in shallow waters.

The day small boats crisis became a BIG boats crisis with megadinghy

The record-breaking mega-dinghy arrived less than two weeks after Andy Burnham insisted the Government's plan was working.

www.dailymail.com

 

[Phylo]

IS THIS MOHAMMAD HASSAN ?

A student police officer has been charged after a woman was reportedly rescued from his car after being kidnapped and raped.

Mohammad Hassan, 23, serving with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was detained while off duty in West Yorkshire.

A 999 call had been received shortly before 10.20pm, in which a woman could be heard in distress in a vehicle in the Manchester area, according to GMP.

Officers were then able to locate Hassan and arrest him.

On Monday evening, he was charged with a number of offences, including rape, kidnap, strangulation, sexual assault, theft and dangerous driving.

Hassan was remanded in custody and due to appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

He has been suspended by GMP.

Specialist officers and various agencies are supporting the victim, who is in her 20s.

Student police officer charged after woman was 'kidnapped and raped'

Mohammad Hassan, 23, serving with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was detained while off duty in West Yorkshire after a chase down the M62 on Saturday.

www.dailymail.com