Mark Goldfinch

@FUDdaily @Donna_Rachel_ Thanks

The work of @Donna_Rachel_ on this is essential reading. What you notice is that in all the important policy debates (at the serious level) the loudmouth right wing influencers are nowhere to be seen - because they have nothing useful to contribute.

@DominicFarrell While I don’t see Iran have the capability to hit London *yet*, I think it’s certainly true Labour(!) has been (and chosen to be) a sectarian party for at leat 20 years now. Demented really.

@HJoyceGender Kim!

Any good book recommendations for boys approaching puberty (with no genderist nonsense, obviously). I know good books for girls, but none for boys - HMU with your faves!

A remarkable repetition of history: HS Kimon, Hellenic Navy's new frigate now sent to Cyprus to protect it from Iranian drones with its missiles, is named after the Athenian general Kimon, son of Miltiades, who sailed to Cyprus in 450 b.C. with 200 triremes to fight the Persians.

My fellow compatriots, Ali Khamenei, the bloodthirsty despot of our time, the murderer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons and daughters, has been erased from the face of history. With his death, the Islamic Republic has in effect reached its end and will very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. Any attempt by the remnants of the regime to appoint a successor to Khamenei is doomed to fail from the outset. Whoever they place in his stead will have neither legitimacy nor longevity, and will undoubtedly be complicit in the crimes of this regime as well. To the military, law enforcement, and security forces: any effort to preserve a collapsing regime will fail. This is your final opportunity to join the nation, to help ensure Iran’s stable transition to a free and prosperous future, and to take part in building that future. The death of the criminal Khamenei, though it does not avenge the blood that has been spilled, may serve as a balm for the wounded hearts of the grieving fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, and the families of those who gave their lives in Iran’s Lion and Sun National Revolution. Honorable and courageous people of Iran, This may be the beginning of our great national celebration, but it is not the end of the road. Remain vigilant and prepared. The time for a widespread and decisive presence in the streets is very near. Together, united and steadfast, we will bring about the final victory, and we will celebrate Iran’s freedom across our beloved homeland. Long live Iran, Reza Pahlavi

Today marks the end of the survivor participation for our rape gang inquiry hearings. I simply have no words that describe the bravery and courage of these women who have come forward. No words. What they have been through is indescribable. It has been a life-changing experience for me. I never thought such evil was possible. Never. Not here, in Britain. In our towns, in our communities. It is pure evil. These men are so utterly depraved. If it were up to me, thousands of them would receive the death penalty. To do what they did, on such an industrial scale, to innocent young girls - many of whom were already in such an incredibly vulnerable place? There is no redemption possible. The world is a better place without them in it. I started this inquiry because so many others failed. Speaking honestly, I did not understand how deep this evil is rooted in our society. Police, politicians, council officials, the NHS, social workers, children’s homes - it is everywhere. IS everywhere. Not was. IS. Meeting these women, and men, listening to how severely they were failed by those tasked to protect them? My views have changed forever. I knew it was bad. I never knew how bad it was. Every single one who has come forward is a hero in my view. The courage and grace in how they have conducted themselves is unlike anything I have seen in my life. All because they don’t want others to suffer the same fate. That is an extraordinary sacrifice. They could have just moved on with their lives. Tried to forget. But no, they chose to do this. I am in awe of all of them. Our hearings will finish tomorrow, following the contribution of three more expert witnesses. Then the next stage begins. We will produce a report, and then we will seek to put people in prison. There are FAR more testimonies and evidence to release - this will keep coming and coming and coming. Even with a media blackout, we have reached tens of millions. We have made real progress. And following such immense demand, we will reopen the portal so that more women can tell their stories. This is just the beginning. Politicians from all parties have failed these girls, again and again and again. I do not intend to join that list. To everyone who donated, thank you. To our team, thank you. And especially to the survivors, thank you. I believe that together we can start to make Britain understand what is happening, and then finally do something about it.

In 2008, Prince Charles did something that left textile historians astonished, he discovered that the last remaining artisans in Britain who could hand-weave the intricate Harris Tweed that had been synonymous with Scottish Highland culture for centuries were elderly and dying without successors and that within years authentic craft knowledge distinguishing real Harris Tweed from industrial imitations would be lost forever, taking with it not just a fabric but centuries of cultural identity, economic livelihood for remote island communities and irreplaceable expertise about creating cloth so durable and weather-resistant that modern synthetics still couldn't match its performance. What's extraordinary is how comprehensively he intervened: Charles didn't just fund preservation; he revolutionized the entire Harris Tweed economy by personally wearing fabric prominently, convincing high-end fashion designers to feature it in their collections and creating markets where traditional weavers could command prices reflecting their extraordinary skill rather than competing with cheap industrial knockoffs, essentially transforming Harris Tweed from dying craft into luxury good that made traditional production economically viable again. He established apprenticeship programs on the remote Scottish islands where Harris Tweed originated, recruiting young Hebrideans into what their parents considered a dead-end craft and pairing them with master weavers who'd assumed their knowledge would die with them, creating urgent knowledge transfer that preserved not just weaving techniques but cultural traditions, Gaelic language, and community relationships that had always been inseparable from cloth itself. What's remarkable is how he championed legal protections: Charles supported Harris Tweed's designation as protected geographic indicator, meaning that only cloth hand-woven by islanders in their homes on Outer Hebrides using local wool could legally be called Harris Tweed, essentially preventing corporate appropriation and ensuring that this cultural heritage and economic benefits remained with the communities who'd created and maintained it across generations. His foundation funded modern looms that reduced the brutal physical labor of traditional weaving while maintaining the hand-crafted quality that made Harris Tweed unique, understanding that preservation didn't mean freezing the craft in amber but allowing it to evolve sustainably so weavers could make decent livings without destroying their bodies or compromising fabric's distinctive character. What's profoundly moving is the cultural revival this enabled: young Hebrideans who'd been leaving their islands for mainland cities discovered they could build dignified careers in their communities, Gaelic language experienced modest revival because weaving knowledge was transmitted in Gaelic, and remote islands found renewed purpose and economic vitality through craft that connected them to their ancestors while creating sustainable futures. Today, Harris Tweed is thriving with waiting lists for fabric, traditional weavers earning professional wages, and global recognition as luxury sustainable textile, proving that preserving traditional crafts isn't romantic nostalgia but viable economic strategy when you create appropriate market positioning and protect artisans from exploitation. He taught us that cultural heritage and economic development aren't opposing forces but partners when traditional crafts are valued and protected appropriately, that geographic protections ensure communities benefit from their heritage rather than watching corporations steal and profit from it, that some textile production should remain hand-crafted because quality and cultural value justify cost, and that preserving traditional industries in remote communities isn't charity but recognizing that cultural diversity and sustainable livelihoods matter more than maximizing industrial efficiency. #drthehistories

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@DominicFarrell Plus the etymology of check mate is interesting. It sounds nearly identical to ‘Sheikh died’ in Arabic, and that’s what Arab players assume it means. But: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate

@DominicFarrell If the story is true, the teacher has a good defence case: chess in Arab countries (called shatranj) has existed for centuries. The Wikipedia entries give a reasonable summary en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatranj

No. Craig Guildford did not act 'honourably'. He should not be 'thanked for his service'. He is a liar. He supressed evidence. He tried to cover his tracks and he got caught. This man represents EVERYTHING that's wrong with this country. He should be sacked and prosecuted.

Radical Islamist networks tied to the Muslim Brotherhood are metastasizing across British and Irish universities. Not just the UK. #Ireland too. Campuses once built for knowledge are now incubators for jihadist ideology, antisemitism, and organized intimidation. Because of this rot, the UAE will no longer fund or send Emirati students to British and Irish universities where radical Islamists dominate student unions, intimidate faculty, and recruit under the guise of "activism," as I understand it. The UAE once trusted these institutions. Prestigious names. Serious scholarship. Today, they have devolved into riot factories, Hamas propaganda hubs, and recruitment zones for extremists who later flood streets, poison councils, and destabilize societies. British and Irish governments know this. They see it. They allow it. They tolerate it. Why? Because they do not care. The UAE does. We care about our students. We care about society. We care about humanity. We will not gamble Emirati minds on campuses where Muslim Brotherhood Islamists operate freely, where antisemitism is rebranded as "free speech," and where terror linked ideology is normalized. From these universities, you do not graduate leaders. You export rioters, propagandists, and extremists who then occupy streets, hijack institutions, and rot democracies from within. The UAE draws a red line. Muslim Brotherhood ideology is banned. Antisemitism is a crime, not an opinion. Extremism is not activism. This decision is not fear. It is responsibility. History will prove the UAE was right again.

🚨🚨Are you surprised the UAE decided Britain is too Islamist and extremist for Emirati students? Let me tell you something no one else will. This announcement comes after months of directly engaging with the UK. The UAE finally realised that Keir Starmer will never do anything they suggest and that he basically has no interest whatsoever in fighting Islamist extremism. A decision was then made to go public with this announcement to safeguard Emirati students and to publicly send a message to Starmer and the people of the UK.

‘During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act’. We now know West Midlands Police banned Jewish away fans from attending a football match in Birmingham because they feared the wrath of local armed Islamists. Then they lied and blamed the Jewish fans. It’s almost a week since the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Craig Guilford came before the Home Affairs Select Committee and was confronted with the evidence amassed by my tenacious colleague @NJ_Timothy. He obfuscated and dissembled. We’re still waiting for him to resign, or be sacked by the Home Secretary. But was the police’s deceit because didn’t they think the public could cope with the truth? The reality is the police can no longer sustain their authority in parts of Britain and have to lie to preserve the illusion. Mass migration and the abject failure of integration that has flowed with it has meant that in some places Islamists - unrespecting of British institutions of law and order, violent or openly threatening violence - now have such a foothold that the police do not know how to assert control and maintain order. They believe they would be overwhelmed if they tried to enforce the law. They are too defeatist to try. Or perhaps they believe it better not to as the sight of their failure would be catastrophic for faith in them and in the rule of law as we’ve known it. Rather than explain this shocking conclusion to the British public they develop false narratives - exemplified by the Maccabi Tel Aviv ban - to preserve the pretence of authority for as long as possible. We saw the same in the aftermath of October 7th in London and elsewhere. The police made a myriad of excuses for their inaction in the face of the hate marches. They refused to be honest and concede the scale of the Islamist challenge was too big to confront. It’s every time the police bow to the need to placate ‘community relations’. Police Commanders, sitting in mosques with so-called community leaders, praying in aid the support of local religious figures as they seek to do their jobs. In the summer disturbances of 2024 the police in Birmingham said they let the community “police itself”. The fear is understandable. Remember the almost paramilitary display we saw in Tower Hamlets recently - men in uniforms, an Islamist version of the black shirts that stalked the same streets almost a century ago. Or the school teacher run out of his home community in Batley, and still in hiding, because he dared to show an image of Muhammad to pupils in a religious education class. Or the Islamist gangs out in force at our last General Election, intimidating political rivals so their preferred extremist candidates could win. In this world honesty about what’s happening becomes a radical choice. Instead two-tier policing becomes the norm. The police crack down on otherwise law abiding citizens in more petty and pointless ways to retain a semblance of authority, all the while perpetuating rampant falsehoods to ignore the elephant in the room. The truth is we have a limited amount of time to address this, or it will become clear that the state has no clothes. Islamism will have won and the liberal, democratic values that underpinned our country for generations will have lost. With that will flow the ubiquity of Sharia courts, cousin marriage, hate preachers in mosques and antisemitism. Our foreign policy will be increasingly dictated by Islamism, rather than by any traditional understanding of British interests. Women’s rights will be further undermined. Our country will be a more threatening and violent place. This is why the West Midlands Police scandal matters. It’s about more than a football match. It’s about who controls our streets - the police or the Islamists? Who governs our country - the Islamists or the rest of the British people? The fight against Islamism is the fight of our generation. It’s a battle for the soul of the country.

@jfwduffield He’s a Roundhead, not a Cavalier… A miserable communist and puritan. Was he buying his own clothes then or expecting other people to buy them for him?

If you want to know why Keir Starmer has always been a wrong'un it is because he is an immoral human rights lawyer who has always prioritised the rights of the anti-social & criminal minority over the rights of the law abiding majority. Kilroy schooling him in 1989.

@DominicFarrell Red carpet, and mansion flat near Victoria. Jolly good.

@BenGoldsmith Thank you. I think you’ve spoken for the entire population of Kent, from Sandwich to Bromley 🙏

We are expected patiently to accept the unending heartache of one special landscape after the next concreted over for ugly housing development, vital farmland lost forever, precious rivers choked with effluent. We’re told that house building targets must be met, because housing constraints are preventing young people from getting on the housing ladder, and housing is becoming far too expensive for most Brits. This is largely accepted to be true, so conservationists don’t complain. We just plead for a little nature to be left round the edges, and for the most beautiful places to be spared. Deep down we know where this leads. Simple mathematics says we will continue to build until there are no dark skies or quiet dells remaining. Perhaps not in our lifetime, but eventually. Then reports like this one by @MigrationWatch reveal the whole thing to be worse than a scam, rather an unprecedented exercise in social engineering (and landscape destruction) started under Blair’s New Labour and perpetuated by one government after the next ever since. Unmanageable numbers of people are invited to relocate to our small island, in the millions, many of whom arrive from places and cultures which truly loathe us and everything we stand for, lured by the promise of free everything, free money, and *free housing*. All these new houses blanketing our world-renowned landscapes do next to nothing to fix the very real problem of not enough housing, because they’re given away like confetti, at vast taxpayer expense, to new arrivals. The whole thing is a total and utter outrage.

@kevinhollinrake This proceduralism is all very laudible I’m sure, but we’ve heard it all before and you did the opposite when in power. Not least, your party left my constituency without a Conservative even to vote for as our last Tory MP defected to Labour and gifted us a Labour careerist 😬

Richard, you seem to spend an extraordinary amount of time focusing on us. That’s your choice. We’ll just keep getting on with the job - standing up for the issues that matter to the public including forcing Government U-turns on Grooming Gangs, the Family Farm Tax and the Winter Fuel Allowance and setting out detailed plans to cut spending and taxes and secure our borders. The issues that actually matter to people. While others chase headlines, we’ll do the hard yards in Parliament and Town Halls and stay focused on outcomes.

🚨🚨As an Egyptian, watching the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, and Middle East Minister personally welcoming Egyptian national Alaa Abd El Fattah to Britain, I am absolutely furious, ashamed and, quite frankly, sickened. Abd El Fattah was magically granted citizenship in 2021 in an attempt to pressure the Egyptian government into releasing him. I have absolutely no bloody clue why the British government did this. He explicitly incites violence against Jews and outright promotes anti-Western sentiments and tells us, openly and blatantly, that Britain is a country he despises and hates. I have absolutely no bloody idea why the government decided to give a passport to a foreigner who hates Britain, its people, its history, and its values. Never have I ever seen a more self-hating government in the world. Labour offers a masterclass in self-sabotage and self-contempt. It's as if they want to destroy this country and everything it ever stood for!!!!

We are Arabs. We are Muslims. We are Middle Eastern. And we banned the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists. In Britain and Australia, they are allowed to operate and riot. Why are you trying to be more Muslim than Muslims themselves?