Huge thanks @Suomalaisuus for all hard graft creating #BattleFest #Helsinki @acadofideas. Fabulous day ahead in October. Debates on #sovereignty #populism #freespeech #AI #languagewars #GenZfuture #media #misinformation Bookmark 31 October. And spread the word. Details soon...

World Cup 2026: does size matter, who's gonna win – and who's got the best kit? W/ @Robspiked @JakeRWeston @GeoffKidder & @RedActuary Are you actually looking forward to it? Is 48 teams too many? Or is it sporting to give Scotland a run out? What of the experience for fans, with huge ticket prices and big distances between matches? Some betting tips & a defence of half time shows!? open.substack.com/pub/claire…

On the Sikh knife/kirpan issue, a confident society can make small exemptions to general rules to accommodate religious/ethnic minorities only when 1) The exemption itself is small 2) The exemption isn’t indicative of a wider culture of double standards The murder of Henry Nowak suggests both of these can no longer be maintained. 1) I distinctly remember learning in school about the Kirpan exemption and how Sikhs might carry a small decorative jewellery knife. Carrying enormous cleavers or even swords is clearly not a workable “minor exemption” to general rules on carrying knives. 2) The reaction of the police demonstrates precisely that there is a dangerous two -tier culture of double standards applied to ethnic/ religious minorities. If the Police’s reaction to a bleeding man is to arrest him for racism, then quite clearly the police are more concerned about the feelings of minorities than the safety of the general public, which is completely unsustainable as a social contract. The end result of this is something that will be uncomfortable for many liberally-inclined people: many of the accommodations made for minority groups may no longer be able to be sustained as a matter of social cohesion. A publicly-minded government would relentlessly root out all indications of a two-tier approach to minority issues, as the condition of returning the tolerance which marked British society for some time.

This unequivocally confirms three things: a) The game had not finished. b) The referee had not blown the whistle. c) The much ended because of the pitch invasion, and the perceived safety risk to Hearts players. There's no ambiguity now.

Bets are on in Labour leadership race, but won’t somebody think of the punters? The AOI's @JakeRWeston is positioned to profit from a Rayner Premiership - but can we defeat affordability checks threatening the freedom to gamble? 👇 open.substack.com/pub/claire…

The Brexit Derangement Syndrome is off the scale at the moment. Reform (formerly known as the BREXIT PARTY) just swept to victory across working class areas. Response? Oh, it’s obviously time to rejoin the EU… Do these people even believe in democracy?

I am disgusted that Father Ted is being used as a fig leaf to cover RTE's disgraceful antisemitism.

🚨AOI PODCAST🚨 Elections 2026: what next for populism, democracy, Starmer and the Union? W/ @Fox_Claire @jacobreynolds @MaximumCities @GeoffKidder @Robspiked The implosion of the two traditional major parties and the widespread success of Reform (and, to a lesser extent, the Greens) have been widely described as historic, a shifting of the tectonic plates of British politics. But what does last Thursday’s vote mean for the present and future? The Academy of Ideas team got together in the wake of Keir Starmer’s ‘speech of a lifetime’ to share their post-election thoughts in a wide-ranging discussion. 👇 open.substack.com/pub/claire…

There is much that is troubling in Mrs Justice Lieven's judgment in favour of the University of Sussex, but this stands out. The judge suggests that if someone objects to a 'gender critical feminist lecture' it might be reasonable for the university to demand that the lecture should be read in advance by 'the university'. So lecturers who believe that sex is real should have their lectures vetted by administrators if someone complains in advance of the lecture. This type of incentive is exactly what activists thrive on. And it suggests a regime which strips academics of all autonomy and acadmic freedom. judiciary.uk/judgments/the-u…

The most shocking word of the Southport Inquiry is 'preventable' - Rudakubana was a butcher hiding in plain sight while state authorities looked away. I asked the minister if there will be consequences - will people be sacked? And I was irritated when the minister suggested that it was wrong to bring race into the issue, when in fact it was a bastardised anti-racism that paralysed officials, teachers, social workers and police from confronting the dangerous threats posed by Rudukubana (as well as Calocane in Notts) - because they were black and vulnerable. "Lessons must be learned" reply from the government is unsatisfactory.

@Fox_Claire @1roddyRussell @PeterStefanovi2 @

The CPS has just been ordered to pay CAA’s legal costs after falsely prosecuting Mark Birbeck for “assaulting emergency workers” when he held a sign saying “Hamas is Terrorist”. In September 2024, Mark, who is the founder of @OurFightUk, was accused of assaulting two emergency workers at a protest at which he had been holding the sign alongside Niyak Ghorbani. CAA stepped in and has provided Mark with free legal representation, as we have many times before (for Niyak too). Two days before Mark’s trial in October 2025, the CPS revealed that it had been sitting on video footage that exonerated Mark, and discontinued its prosecution. Last week, a Judge ruled that this was one of those “very rare” and “exceptional cases” where the prosecution had made such “clear and stark” errors that the CPS was ordered to pay defence costs related to their “improper” mistakes. The CPS instructed King’s Counsel to oppose the defence costs application, but the Judge found the CPS’s approach to disclosure to have been “shambolic”. In particular, the Judge castigated the CPS for failing to serve the crucial police videographer’s footage, which vindicated Mr Birbeck, until just before the trial. CAA is proud to have assisted Mark, a staunch ally of the Jewish community in the fight against antisemitism, by providing and paying for legal representation. Mark and Niyak have been repeatedly arrested and on occasion charged, only to have bail conditions lifted by courts and cases collapse, with our support. It is obscene that the police and prosecution are wasting time hounding people who are simply pointing out that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, rather than focusing on the terror sympathisers in the regular hate marches that have transformed our cities and made antisemitic hate crime a daily feature of Jewish life in modern Britain. If it risks public disorder to point out that Hamas are terrorists, that’s because there are too many people on our streets who think they aren’t. That trend is the real menace.

Supreme Court victory, one year on: why the reluctance to implement the ruling? "The minister for women and equalities, Bridget Phillipson, has used every ‘the dog ate my homework’ excuse going..." AOI Director @Fox_Claire 👇 open.substack.com/pub/claire…

I see government are back to accusation of stoking up 'Culture Wars' as a go-to insult to close down criticism. Ironic as Labour were the original enablers of those culture warriors who inflamed identitarian division and deployed smears and cancel culture to shut opponents up. A discredited tactic, grasped in desperation, all because they won't publish guidance on the law of the land; even their commitment to Starmer's 'rule of law' is two-tier.

The BBC’s sacking of Scott Mills makes a mockery of due process. We now know the Radio 2 DJ was once interviewed by police about some historic allegations – but so what? That is hardly proof of wrongdoing, says Luke Gittos buff.ly/S7X2v6r

78-year-old Roy Hodgson is returning to manage the first club he took charge of in English football, Bristol City ✍️ A return 44 years in the making...

Very very sad. Far too young. Jenni was rare at BBC: an iconic Woman's Hour presenter who knew what a woman is. So they dumped her. RIP. With love and admiration.

This is the wrong solution!!!

.@prestonjbyrne's legal advice when the UK government tries to censor American internet users? Hit 'em with hamsters.

@Fox_Claire made excellent, honest and informed speeches during both HoL debates. She has done all possible to open up the issues through Battle of Ideas over many years A truly reprehensible response @AnnFuredi @Ella_M_Whelan @clareemurph @janmacvarish @jowilliams293