COWARDLY CAMPBELL FLUNKS OUT

Tony Blair's right hand man flunked out of a TV debate last night after being challenged about 'truth in politics'.  Appearing on Piers Morgan's Talk TV show, Alastair Campbell was involved in a fiery exchange with conservative author and commentator Douglas Murray.  Murray took umbrage with Campbell's criticism of the PM, in particular his much spouted views about Boris Johnson's 'moral compass'.  After the bickering pair were finally brought back under control, Murray delivered this damning verdict: "Most people remember Alastair Campbell's career, most people recognise him as being more responsible than anyone in our lifetimes for degrading the idea of truth in politics.  Most people in Britain want to hear Alastair Campbell talking about truth about as much as they want to hear Jeffrey Epstein about the age of consent.  The idea that Alastair Campbell is any kind of expert on truth or decency is absolutely laughable."

Campbell was furious and again tried to talk over Murray.  In responding, Campbell labelled Murray a 'right-wing non-entity' to which his opponent broke into laughter.  Murray then repeatedly taunted Campbell about Dr David Kelly.  On the third mention of Kelly's name, Campbell decided to cut and run, claiming that he had been misled about Murray's presence.  Murray continued to mock him as he hung up, beaming with a wide grin.

Click below for the clip (WARNING: Clip also contains Piers Morgan).

Staunch Remainer Campbell has had it in for Boris Johnson since the EU referendum and has ramped up his anti-Boris rhetoric since he became PM.  On Thursday morning he was again ripping into Johnson on his Twitter profile, accusing him of 'trashing and debasing the highest office in the land'.

As Douglas Murray quite rightly points out - that's a bit rich coming from a war mongerer like Campbell.

NOVARA'S CENSORSHIP HYPOCRISY

Marxist media outlet Novara Media had its YouTube channel temporarily deleted on Tuesday.  A statement put out by Novara at 11:40 said the action had been carried out by YouTube without 'warning or explanation'.  Less than three hours later Novara reported that the channel had been reinstated 'following a deluge of support from across the political spectrum'.

Novara's Michael Walker

Novara has an impressive following on YouTube with almost 170,000 subscribers.  It has a similar number of followers on its Twitter account, with smaller followings on Facebook and Instagram.  Novara's impressive social media counter-campaign against YouTube's ban attracted support from far and wide - not just from far left Labour MPs such as Richard Burgon, John McDonnell and Nadia Whittome, but also from opponents such as Conservative MP David Davis, Reclaim's Laurence Fox and broadcasters Julia Hartley-Brewer and Maajid Nawaz.  The latter had previously sought legal action against Novara's co-founder, but still found it within himself to condemn YouTube's action.  Even The Spectator's Turnpike column expressed 'solidarity'.

However, while the centre and right appeared to unite with the left against big tech censorship, it had been duly noted that Novara itself did not express feelings of solidarity when big tech came for their opponents.  The bulk of the criticism was levelled at Novara's head of video, Gary McQuiggin, who deplored YouTube's action in the following tweet.

Critics then deluged McQuiggin and his comrades Ash Sarkar, Michael Walker and Bastani with a screenshot of something he had tweeted last year...

McQuiggin has since deleted this tweet, but fortunately the internet doesn't forget.

Novara's double standards can also be applied to Ash Sarkar who has previously defended cancel culture and was also one of the main organisers of the protests against President Trump's visit to the UK in 2018.  She also welcomed his ban from Twitter, telling Unherd: "It’s a good thing that Twitter is able to just kick him off".

It appears that censorship is perfectly acceptable for the left when it's the right that is on the receiving end or things they simply don't like or agree with.

Click below for a clip in which Sarkar is asked about cancel culture for an Australian TV show.

Author Douglas Murray was among those who took exception to Novara's double standard, writing on Twitter: "These communists didn’t seem to have a problem when Big Tech came for Milo Yiannopolous, Katie Hopkins etc.  Because the hate-mongers at barely-known ‘Novara media’ thought Big Tech only came for their counterparts.  Now it’s their turn.  Funny old world".

Aaron Bastani responded directly to Murray with the following astonishing tweet.

That is quite a statement coming from a communist and one which appears to be ignore established history altogether.  Even his quote from Rosa Luxemburg is a misnomer.  The Polish Marxist made a number of quotes relating to freedom and democracy, but that apparently did not stop her from supporting the 1918 November Revolution which sought to overthrow the German government.

Like Bastani, Luxemburg never got a taste of state power.  We all know what happens when communists take power, regardless of how they get there or what they said prior to the event.  Freedom becomes mute, democracy dies.

That is the reality of communism.  The history of one-party communist states such as the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea does not lie.  The same cannot be said for Bastani.

VIOLENCE IS VIOLENCE

Douglas Murray spoke to TalkRadio's Julia Hartley-Brewer earlier this week about the left-wing insurrection taking place on our streets.  Murray takes aim at the sinister 'silence is violence' hypocrisy of the demonstrators who seem to turn a blind eye to actual acts of violence (for instance no-one mentions the fact 21 people have been killed in the US rioting).  He also expresses his dismay at the behaviour of the Colston topplers who he describes as a 'deranged mob' and goes on to make this crucial point: "The great irony is that [the protesters] do so in the countries that are most free and most desirable to live in because they are the most tolerant".  Try running around as you are now in another country like, say China or Iran, and see how many of you make it out alive and how much sympathy you will get from the media there.

Listen below (12min).

Click here for Murray's fascinating interview from last week in which he discusses the violence occurring on American streets.

IF YOU ENCOURAGE THE MOB...

... you may not escape the mob.  Those were the insightful words from the excellent Douglas Murray as he spoke at length this week about the death of George Floyd, the riots and a whole host of related issues.  Speaking to Steven Edginton from The Sun, the conservative author denounced both the rioters and the politicians, celebrities and mainstream media organisations that have encouraged them.

Murray takes apart the hypocrisy of the UK protests, including the fact that Brits have been locked down for three months, but suddenly it's acceptable for thousands of people to gather to protest the death of a black man 4,000 miles away.

Asked about the direction of Western society amid the chaos, Murray makes an excellent point: "If it's agreed that the burning down of private property is permissible then anything is permissible".  This is exactly the kind of Purge-style anarchy that the left ultimately want in order to bring down Western civilisation.  Crucially, they are being assisted by a false media narrative that refuses to call out the destruction for what it is - criminality and rioting.  These are not 'protests'.

Watch the full interview below (it's over an hour long, but well worth a listen).

THE MADNESS OF CROWDS

The excellent Douglas Murray has a new book out at the moment and he's been busy doing the rounds promoting it.  Unlike the hideous Labour narcissist Jess Phillips, who is also promoting a book this week, Douglas has not been able to command much in the way of mainstream TV interviews.  Why?  Because he doesn't pull his punches when it comes to what mainstream media regards as 'sensitive' issues such as Islamism and multi-culturalism.  Owen Jones refuses to share a platform with him (because the wee shite knows that Douglas would wipe the floor with him in a debate).  The fact that Murray is openly gay also riles up Jones.

The Madness of Crowds:  Gender, Race & Identity is Murray's sixth book and is already a number one bestseller.  You can purchase a signed copy here, or a cheaper version here.  Meanwhile, see below for a selection of Murray's interviews from his promo rounds.

Douglas chats to Rod Liddle for the Sunday Times (5min).

One of Douglas's rare TV appearances this week was on Good Morning Britain where he debated 'wokeness' with Piers Morgan and a model called Eunice Olumide (12mins).

Here Douglas chats to Talk Radio's Julia Hartley-Brewer (56mins).

Douglas chats to the left-leaning Joe website (39mins).

Douglas chats with Peter Whittle, London Assembly Member and former Ukipper (41min).