Samizdata quote of the day – those who betrayed truth for comfort and career advancement

The sudden resignations this week of BBC director-general Tim Davie and CEO of news Deborah Turness has focussed minds on the role of the media. It has been startling – and grimly predictable – to watch senior figures at the BBC scrambling to defend their failures by muttering da … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 9 hours ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the EUs new censorship machine

In a series of reports, I have shown that the European Union already operates a vast propaganda and censorship apparatus that spans every level of civil society — NGOs, think tanks, the media and even academia. The cornerstone of this system is a network of EU-funded programmes — … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 day ago

A cruel trick to play on hurricane victims

“Hurricane Melissa a ‘real-time case study’ of colonialism’s legacies”, writes Natricia Duncan for the Guardian. The subheading is “Destruction in Jamaica shows why climate justice cannot be separated from reparatory justice, campaigners say”. The article starts with a sympatheti … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 day ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Is this how MAGA falls?

The ideological divide within MAGA has grown increasingly harsh. Trump is not, at heart, a professional politician. Rather, he is a blend of New York developer and carnival barker. His uneasy alliance with ‘tech bros’, Wall Street insiders and fervent right-wing nativists was nev … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 2 days ago

Medieval blood libel at University College London. Again.

This tweet from “GnasherJew” includes a video clip from a lecture on “The Birth of Zionism” given by Dr Samar Maqusi for UCL Students for Justice in Palestine, on 11th November 2025. Dr Marqusi is currently Research Associate at University College London’s Person-Environment-Acti … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 3 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – this eternal question: is this true?

That is certainly one way of putting it. Another is that, first, the Trump stuff is much less important than the BBC’s issues in other areas and that it seems modestly significant that Goodall devotes almost no space at all in his lengthy Substack piece to any of those issues. Se … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 4 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – BBC won’t even bother to hide it

As for its content, Simpson’s post summed up the BBC on several levels. Firstly, that its most senior journalists are simply unable to see the world as ordinary people see it. Politically motivated attack? Mate, the BBC literally edited footage. This was no innocent error; as Jan … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 5 days ago

Journalists who think lying is acceptable, and journalists who would prefer to think about something else

The day before yesterday I wrote, “Remember the names of those public figures, especially journalists, who say that this was acceptable behaviour by the BBC because it was done to Trump. These people think lying is acceptable. Assume they are lying to you; assume they would lie a … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 5 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Jezzbollah Party wants to take over the whole UK

We must take over the whole of Birmingham, the whole of the West Midlands, the whole of the UK… we will not be taken for granted, and we will win. – Iqbal Mohamed MP, Jezzbollah Party er, I mean “Your Party” | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 6 days ago

“There have been some mistakes made”

“BBC director general Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resign over Trump documentary edit”, reports the BBC about itself: BBC director general Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness resign over Trump documentary edit It comes after the Telegraph published details of a l … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 7 days ago

The best way to keep people poor

https://x.com/magattew/status/1986537994984058913 Magatte Wade is an African anti-poverty activist. No, not like you’re thinking – she’s an actual anti-poverty activist. In fact her chosen term to describe what she does is “prosperity activist”. In a tweet made yesterday, she wro … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 9 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Reform are shaping up nicely

Kruger’s presentation began with the announcement of Reform’s intention to develop a far more detailed agenda for government than any incoming administration in recent memory, including a range of pre-written legislation to give them a running start to their first term in office. … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 11 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – New York elects and avowed socialist edition

On paper, he is the kind of Democrat that might have been invented in a laboratory of perverted social science by a MAGA Dr. Frankenstein: a socialist, an immigrant, a Muslim, son of a movie director and a professor of postcolonialism, holder of a degree in “Africana studies,” a … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 11 days ago

Remember, remember…

A blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 12 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Green Party are mad

The Green Party are calling the scarcity of resources into play as an argument against the efficient use of resources. They’re mad. QED. – Tim Worstall | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 13 days ago

The BBC spliced together separate parts of Trump’s Jan 6 speech to falsely make it look like incitement

The Telegraph has a story – with accompanying videos – that ought to finish several careers at the BBC: “Exclusive: BBC ‘doctored’ Trump speech, internal report reveals”. What Trump actually said: “We’re gonna walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’re gonna walk down, we’re g … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 13 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Macron has declared war on free speech

Macron insists he’s defending democracy from manipulation and hate. But that’s the excuse. His vision is of a Europe where free speech is tolerated only when it is traceable, and where platforms pre-emptively silence anything that might draw a regulator’s glare. He calls it a ‘re … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 14 days ago

It ought to be clear by now

It seems like only yesterday that I posted this in 2021 :“The background and motive of yesterday’s attacks were unclear”. And here we are again. It has been hours since the mass stabbing on a train travelling from Doncaster to Kings Cross. There were many witnesses. Two men have … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 15 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Snoopers in high Places

Across all these laws, the pattern is the same: more data collection, more sharing between agencies, and more pressure on companies to watch what users do. The justification is usually ‘national security or ‘protecting the public,’ but once these systems are in place, they rarely … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 15 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – focus on the real issue

Now, zoom out to the regulatory burden, a beast fed by both parties. The Tories kicked it off with gusto. In 2015, George Osborne slashed mortgage interest relief, fully phasing it out by 2020, landlords could no longer deduct full interest from taxable income, effectively hiking … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 16 days ago

“The idolatry of victimhood”

“Victims petrify politicians”, writes “Bagehot” in the Economist. (Alternative link here.) “They are apex stakeholders. Normal rules for decisions—risk, cost, proportionality—are thrown away when they are involved. What if a headline suggests ministers snubbed victims? Write the … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 16 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the establishment loves your conspiracy theories

It is a constant struggle to keep a well founded scepticism descending into the kooksphere. There are shit loads of opportunists looking to take advantage of those suspicious of mainstream perspectives and narratives, and it’s hardly just incels stuck in their bedrooms who step o … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 17 days ago

Careful what you click on…

Must say this made me laugh (in a good way)… | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 19 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Price controls…

Price controls are when you solve the loud noise your smoke alarm is making by removing the battery. – Peter Hague | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 19 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the Islamo-left is on the march across Britain

The next time someone asks what we mean when we say ‘Islamo-left’, I’m going to show them footage from yesterday’s protest in Whitechapel in East London. What a morally suicidal schlep that was. What an unholy union of witless leftists and menacing Islamists. ‘Refugees welcome he … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 21 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – from Romantic Solipsism to Societal Fracture

In geology, efforts to “decolonise the curriculum” involve challenging Western epistemologies, potentially diluting rigorous methodologies with subjective narratives. A UK study on science teaching staff revealed the dangers, with some fearing it undermines core scientific princi … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 21 days ago

Agincourt – 25 October 1415

This day is call’d the feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say “To-m … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 22 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Dominic Cummings’ new nerd army

Asked for his own judgement on Britain’s prospects, Cummings claimed there is a “black pill” in the fact that few societies escape the dynamics of decline that the country now appears trapped in; the “white pill”, on the other hand, is that Britain’s system has proven surprisingl … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 22 days ago

Shocking revelation…

BREAKING: Greta Thunberg reveals horrible torture at the hands of Israeli captors. “They harvested every single one of my organs” she now says. “Then they forced me to work in a plutonium mine and we weren’t give any kind of protective equipment.” | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 23 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – How to beat the tyranny of what ‘everyone knows’

Consider almost any apparently current ‘common knowledge’ today – Net Zero, critical race theory, trans, ‘diversity is our strength’ – and you will find instead a minority concern elevated to ‘common knowledge’ with the dictatorial overlord shouting down those who dare speak agai … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 24 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – How the Free Speech Union turned the tide…

As the Metropolitan Police announce the demise of non-crime hate incidents, the Telegraph has run a feature on the Free Speech Union, crediting its years of campaigning against NCHIs and support for cancel culture victims. – Will Jones | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 25 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – When fascism comes to America…

When Fascism Comes To America, It Will Look Like Justin Trudeau’s Canada. Trudeau’s dangerous not just because he’s abusing Canadians, but because he is providing the wish list for crackdowns by Democrats in the U.S.: “every single bank, credit union, investment broker and insura … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 27 days ago

What apartheid is and what it is not – and why it matters given current events

Someone I know recently put up on Facebook what I thought was an excellent commentary about the Israel situation, its history, the actions of those who have tried to destroy it, and the arguments used by those who say it is an illegitimate state. The commentator, whom I won’t nam … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 27 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – Progressing back to the Middle Ages

I was baffled by my first exposure to antisemitism in Eastern Europe in 1992. I explained my confusion by saying it was ancient history in Britain. Our last pogrom was in the Middle Ages. Since returning to England in 2011, I’ve had a nagging fear that this was not likely to rema … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 28 days ago

Samizdata quote of the day – UK descends into high farce

An Afghan migrant who was deemed an adult by UK authorities because he had a “protruding Adam’s apple”, bags under his eyes and skin that “did not appear youthful” has won £25,000 after a judge ruled he was a child. – Will Jones | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 29 days ago

I was right. I wish I wasn’t.

News today got me thinking about a quote from T.E Utley’s Lessons of Ulster which was first published in 1975. Below is a scan from my copy. Click for full page. For the uninitiated he is referring to the creation of a “no go” zone in Londonderry which lasted from 1969 to 1972. L … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Landeur

I have a feeling this Landeur chap on YouTube is rather capturing the UK zeitgeist right now. Here he is pointing out the dangers of ever increasing taxes. | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Samizdata quote of the day – crafting the Great Reform Bill

Engaging with the Great Reform Bill 2029 idea, it’s a masterstroke. In an era of short-termism, Lee’s proposal for a omnibus bill echoes the 1832 Act’s transformative power, bundling fixes to overwhelm opposition and deliver systemic reset. It’s not pie-in-the-sky; it’s pragmatic … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the EU can never be the UK’s “friend”

You can be a “partner”, a “reliable supplier” or perhaps even an “ally” of Brussels. You can even stand next to Ursula von der Leyen in London and proclaim the end of the Brexit wars. But unless you are an EU member state, you will always be a competitor and ultimately expendable … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the modular nuclear option edition

“Nuclear has re-entered the chat because it’s the only energy source that can deliver enough clean, safe, round-the-clock electricity to feed AI. Nuclear is to AI what oil was to the Industrial Age. It’s the fuel for a new era of exponential progress.” Stephen McBride and Dan Ste … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Samizdata quote of the day – defying blasphemy laws

There is no offence of blasphemy in our law. Burning a Koran may be an act that many Muslims find desperately upsetting and offensive. The criminal law, however, is not a mechanism that seeks to avoid people being upset, even grievously upset. The right to freedom of expression, … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

“Gay rights changed my life. Today’s absurd activism is reversing decades of progress”

Ronan McCrea writes in the Telegraph: Three and a half decades ago, Henri Leconte, then one of the world’s biggest tennis stars, swept up in the adulation of the crowd, mocked a gay-looking ball boy on the centre court of a Wimbledon warm-up tournament. Pointing at the boy, he sw … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Why Mrs Thatcher’s “revolutionary zeal” was not a problem

Mrs Thatcher’s 100th birthday was recently marked, and a few commentators, not all of them friendly, have remarked on her influence and the way that she still casts a shadow over our times. Adrian Wooldridge at Bloomberg is a columnist I follow. I like and dislike some of his stu … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

The sun rises in the east and data gets stolen

The Guardian dutifully reports the inevitable: Proof-of-age ID leaked in Discord data breach Video game chat platform Discord has suffered a data breach, informing users that their personal information – including identity documents of those required to prove their age – were co … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

As news of the massacre in Israel came in two years ago, I thought of this

The following is the Wikipedia entry for the Ma’alot massacre: The Ma’alot massacre was a Palestinian terrorist attack that occurred on 14–15 May 1974 and involved the hostage-taking of 115 Israelis, chiefly school children, which ended in the murder of 25 hostages and six other … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Greens vote to make ‘Abolish Landlords’ Party policy, while getting their excuses in early

In the US the time elapsed between ‘Defund the Police’ Actually Means Defunding the Police, Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police until Ha Ha Of Course We Didn’t Really Mean It was about a year. The Green Party of England and Wales leaves lumbering American lefties standing. … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

Samizdata quote of the day – the BBC’s dangerous lies

Visit BBC Broadcasting House in Central London and you’ll pass a statue of George Orwell accompanied by a quote from an unpublished preface to Animal Farm: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” When the statue was ere … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago

The sun has now set

A few minutes ago Rachel Moiselle tweeted this, Sundown is soon and religious British Jews will be turning on their phones to learn about what happened. I am so sorry. * She was referring to this: Two Jewish people have died in a car ramming and stabbing attack at a synagogue i … | Continue reading


@samizdata.net | 1 month ago