British Thought Leaders

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with James Price, commentator and former government adviser. James shares his knowledge and experience of what some people call “the Blob” or “Deep State”—the thousands of civil servants who run the country no matter who is elected. He talks about JD Vance's recent speech and how changes in America could benefit Britain, and he shares his concerns about ongoing mass immigration and the impact this will have on our nation.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Michael Kelly, professor emeritus of technology at the University of Cambridge. Kelly was a government scientist when the Climate Change Act launched in 2008, and has been researching the reduction of carbon in Britain since then. He wrote to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Milliband to say that the Net Zero targets are an engineering fantasy—because the costs are enormously prohibitive and the workforce needed is not available. He is calling for open debate on these issues and says engineering's professional bodies are not acting responsibly in their silence.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Mark Clifford, an author and the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation. Clifford talks about Hong Kong entrepreneur Jimmy Lai's incredible rise from rags to riches, becoming a billionaire media owner and Hong Kong's most famous dissident. Clifford explains why, despite having the means to escape, Lai did not seek to avoid his sentence as a political prisoner—and how he has now spent years in solitary confinement. Clifford says Britain can do more to rescue Lai and Hong Kong from the Chinese communist regime.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Paul Birch, who recently retired after 24 years in the police force—including 16 in counterterrorism. Rank-and-file police officers don't believe in the "woke agenda," he says, but it's forced on them from above. Birch says that officers of all backgrounds know that two-tier policing exists and that many are frustrated by it. He believes that the establishment pushes public focus to the so-called far-right when the vast majority of counterterrorism work is Islamic extremism. Furthermore, he says that officers don't feel support from their seniors, leading to experienced officers leaving the force and an overall decline in policing standards.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Barry and Margaret Mizen, whose son Jimmy Mizen was murdered in 2008. They talk about teaching forgiveness and positive change to young people, the problems caused by violence in our society and culture, and the role their faith has played in overcoming hardship.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, to talk about imprisonment for public protection (IPP). The IPP sentence has seen thousands of people imprisoned for extra years after serving their sentence despite not committing any further offences. They have little chance of release, and even when they are released, they are often recalled to prison for the most minor of infractions. The IPP was introduced in 2003 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett, who calls it his greatest regret.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, to talk about research recently published about the arrests of foreign nationals. The centre’s data show that foreign nationals are twice as likely as British citizens to be arrested and more than three times as likely to be arrested for sexual offences. Bates talks about the lack of immigration protocols to stop the importation of crime into Britain.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Edward Paice, author and the director of the Africa Research Institute. Paice says that by 2050, 40 per cent of global births and 33 per cent of global workers will be African. These demographic shifts, coupled with the declining birth rates of the developed world, will see massive changes in the lives of everyone and force a rethinking of Africa’s place on the global stage.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with Ben Jones, director of case management at The Free Speech Union, to discuss what he sees as a relentless war against free speech in Britain. Jones talks about the connection between authoritarianism and multiculturalism, the importance of social media when it comes to free speech, and the freedom violations that are already in the pipeline for 2025.

NTD’s Lee Hall sits down with veteran China journalist Ian Williams for the second half of their interview about the Chinese economy. Williams talks about China’s billionaires and why they keep disappearing, what we should learn from the Evergrande collapse, and how Chinese dissidents use humor to combat the Chinese Communist Party.