The Sceptic

By The Daily ScepticNews News Commentary Politics

The Sceptic episodes

October 09 Britain’s Most Controversial Judge | The Sceptic Ep.99
Steven Edginton on Tan Ikram’s campaign for Pakistani judges and the BBC’s migrant-rape blindspot. Plus: how to solve the prisons crisis and Burnham’s vibes-based energy plan.
In Episode 99 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Steven Edginton, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, on Britain’s most controversial judge, Tan Ikram, and his campaign for more Pakistani judges – plus, the BBC’s shameful reporting failures on a shocking migrant rape case.
Alexander Baker, Senior Researcher at the Prosperity Institute, on the roots of the prisons crisis – and how to solve it.
And journalist and Daily Sceptic regular Ben Pile on the vibes-based nonsense of Andy Burnham’s ‘Great British Grid’ plan – and why our energy bills keep going up under Labour.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content here.
Follow Laurie on X.
Follow Steven on X.
Follow Alexander on X.
Read his paper, Making Space for Justice, here.
Follow Ben on X.
Read his article on the Daily Sceptic here.
Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:25 Stephen Edginton on Tan Ikram’s Dodgy Record
10:35 Judicial Activism & Diversity
17:34 Holding Controversial Judges to Account
19:24 BBC’s Reporting
28:45 Protests Against Illegal Migration
31:56 Returning to Independent Journalism
34:00 Alexander Baker on the Prison Crisis
36:36 Who Is to Blame for the Prison Crisis?
37:35 Shift Away From Punishment
40:26 Impact of Emergency Prisoner Releases
42:44 Failures of Probation
44:41 Prison Conditions & Rehabilitation
57:55 Reform’s Approach to Prison Building
58:53 Political Will to Fix the Crisis
01:00:11 Ben Pile on Labour’s Energy Promise
01:08:38 The Great British Grid
01:09:16 The Promise of Lower Bills and Faster Connections
01:14:16 What Would Really Empower Energy Consumers?
01:15:18 Rising Prices
1 hr
October 02 Andy Burnham’s Soviet Britain | The Sceptic Ep.98
Michael Rainsborough on Andy Burnham’s Ministry of Truth, Richard Lyon on peak oil and the energy trap and Jack Hadfield on the new wave of anti-immigration protests and the persecution of Danny Tommo.
In Episode 98 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Michael Rainsborough, Professor of Strategic Theory at Deakin University, on Andy Burnham’s sinister new National Centre for Information Defence.
Richard Lyon, engineer and energy economist, on his new book The Energy Trap, whether we’ve reached peak oil and the truth about the ‘energy transition’.
And for our premium subscribers, Laurie speaks to independent journalist Jack Hadfield on the latest wave of anti-immigration protests and the shameful two-tier justice meted out to the protesters.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content here.
Follow Laurie on X.
Read Michael’s article on the Daily Sceptic here.
Follow Richard Lyon on X.
Order his new book The Energy Trap here.
Follow Jack on X.
Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:54 Michael Rainsborough on Burnham’s New Censorship Centre
05:40 The Political Impetus
06:39 Russia & UK’s Domestic Problems
11:04 The Meaning of Disinformation
17:36 Protecting What Matters
24:08 The State’s Loss of Legitimacy
30:29 Britain’s Approach to Governance
33:24 Richard Lyon on The Energy Trap
36:26 The Elitist Energy Debate
39:47 Climate Labels & Debate
42:02 The Case Against Net Zero
48:16 Heatwaves & Decarbonisation
51:07 A Better Energy Policy
57:24 Peak Oil
01:01:43 Oil & the Energy Transition
01:06:24 Jack Hadfield on the Boat Crisis
01:06:52 The New Anti-Immigration Protests
01:11:13 Growing Public Anger
01:14:21 Violence at the Protests
01:18:03 Violent Disorder Charges
01:25:31 Danny Tommo
01:32:36 RNLI & the Protests
1 hr 12 min
September 25 Banned From an Anti-Racism Meeting for Being Old and White | The Sceptic Ep.97
Banned from an anti-racism meeting for being too old and white, the geopolitical damage being done by Net Zero and why the Church of England seems hell-bent on trashing its own traditions.
In Episode 97 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges speaks to Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews about the extraordinary moment he was told to leave an anti-racism workshop at De Montfort University for being too old and white.
Former government adviser Rupert Darwall discusses his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West and how the West went from prioritising energy security to relying on the weather.
And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to Steven Tucker about Leeds Minster’s extraordinary decision to display the names of thousands of Palestinians, including Islamic Jihad terrorists, during the Jewish New Year, why Western institutions seem increasingly determined to turn their backs on their own traditions, the Church of England’s enthusiasm for interfaith relations and the emergence of “multicultural personality disorder”.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow Rupert Matthews on X.
Follow Rupert Darwall on X.
Order his new book The Age of Error and the West’s Undoing: Net Zero and the Destruction of the West.
Read Steven’s articles here and here.
Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:29 Rupert Matthews on Being Banned From an Anti-Racism Workshop
02:00 Why He Attended the Workshop
04:08 Being Told to Leave
08:51 Too Old and White
10:23 What Anti-Racism Means
12:27 Identity Politics and Community Relations
15:13 The Dangers of Anti-Racism
17:14 Rupert Darwall on the Net Zero Obsession
18:56 Suppressing Climate Debate
21:08 Energy Security After Ukraine
23:21 How Experts Gained Power
24:43 Elites vs Voters
26:17 Taking Back Control
28:49 Steven Tucker on the Church’s Islamic Jihad Tribute
38:37 Why Institutions Reject Their Traditions
50:02 ‘Multicultural Personality Disorder’
53:43 Critics of American Culture
01:05:28 The Future of Western Institutions
38 min
September 18 Labour’s Staggering Hypocrisy Over Reform’s £72 Million Donation | The Sceptic Ep.96
Labour’s staggering hypocrisy over Reform’s record-breaking donations, the AfD’s seismic breakthrough in Germany and the extraordinary £483 billion climate-damage claim over North Sea oil and gas.
In Episode 96 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges sits down with our very own Editor-in-Chief Toby Young to talk about Reform’s enormous £72 million donation. They get into donation caps, Labour’s proposed rules, the hypocrisy of Labour attacking Reform’s funding while taking huge sums from trade unions and what Reform should actually do with all that cash.
Then it’s over to Germany to find out what our resident Germany correspondent Eugyppius thinks of the AfD’s latest electoral breakthrough, why Friedrich Merz is a “dead Chancellor walking” and whether Germany’s AfD firewall is starting to crack.
And for premium subscribers, Ellie talks to energy expert David Turver about the eye-watering claim that the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields in the North Sea could cause £483 billion of climate damage – and whether the maths behind it makes sense.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow Toby on X.
Follow Eugyppius on X.
Read his A Plague Chronicle Substack here.
Follow David Turver on X.
Read his Eigen Values Substack here.
Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
02:13 Toby Young on Reform’s £72M Donation
03:23 Donation Caps
05:43 Labour’s New Rules
07:41 Retrospective Legislation
09:05 Buying Political Influence
11:31 Union Funding
13:53 State Funding
15:00 Spending Reform’s £72M
20:40 Eugyppius on AfD’s Big Result
23:20 Merz’s Problems
28:05 The Firewall’s Impact
31:22 Can The Firewall Survive?
33:25 AfD & Europe
36:04 David Turvey on the £483Bn Claim
38:21 The Cost Of Carbon
40:27 Counting Climate Damage
49:59 Climate Policy
41 min
September 11 David Betz on Dover, Danny Tommo and the Coming Civil War | The Sceptic Ep.95
Prof David Betz on whether the Dover protests could be the start of something much bigger; is the West making the Ukraine war more dangerous and what do the numbers really tell us about Britain’s latest heatwaves?
In Episode 95 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges talks to Prof David Betz of King’s College London about the protests in Dover and Portsmouth and the growing fury over mass migration. They get into ‘system disruption’, the radical Left’s influence, the Government’s likely response, Reform’s fading momentum, parallels with Germany and the risk that Britain’s economic fragility could fuel serious civil unrest.
Ellie then talks to former Conservative MP and defence tech entrepreneur Brooks Newmark about the war in Ukraine. They discuss NATO expansion, whether the West helped provoke the conflict, the danger of escalation, Russia’s hybrid warfare and whether Britain and Europe are actually ready for a wider war.
And for premium subscribers, meteorologist William M. Briggs takes a gander at Britain’s heatwaves and the alarmist claims surrounding them, from temperature records and ‘excess deaths’ to climate models, dodgy statistics and the assumptions lurking underneath it all.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow David on X.
Follow Brooks on X.
Follow William M. Briggs on X.
Read his Science Is Not The Answer Substack here.
Watch his YouTube channel here.
Visit his website here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:42 David Betz on the Dover Protests
04:12 Danny Tommo and Tommy Robinson
07:22 Leaderless Protest
10:51 System Disruption
12:58 Situationist Tactics
16:43 How Should the Government Respond?
21:39 Reform vs AfD
26:50 Economic Shock and Legitimacy
29:28 Russia, Ukraine and Britain
34:11 What’s Changed?
36:25 Brooks Newmark on the Ukraine War
36:49 NATO Expansion
39:00 Russia, Security and Ukraine
41:11 Long-Range Weapons and Escalation
44:24 Russia’s Hybrid War
46:39 European Defence
49:21 NATO and Britain’s Readiness
52:33 Negotiating With Russia
54:30 Risk of a Wider War
57:25 William Briggs on What the Heatwave Data Shows
59:40 Weather and Climate Claims
01:00:53 Climate Certainty
01:01:08 The Limits of Climate Models
01:02:24 Models, Homogenisation and Deaths
01:05:13 The Climate Research Industry
01:07:32 Climate Catastrophe

1 hr 1 min
September 04 “I Paid £1,400 to Cross the Channel on a Migrant Boat” | The Sceptic Ep.94
An undercover journalist’s extraordinary journey onboard a migrant dinghy, the risk of war with Russia and Canada’s energy standoff with America.
In Episode 94 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with undercover reporter Christian Drogan to hear how he infiltrated migrant camps in northern France, paid €1,400 to cross the Channel and came face to face with smugglers, migrants and French authorities.
Strategist and ex-Royal Navy Commodore Steve Jermy on the West’s incompetent approach to the war in Ukraine, the risks of escalation with Russia and whether a negotiated path to peace is still possible.
And for our premium subscribers, Ellie speaks to the Daily Sceptic’s Energy Editor Dr Tilak Doshi about the growing trade and energy row between the US and Canada, and whether Mark Carney’s brinkmanship gamble will pay off.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow Christian on X.
Follow Watchman on X.
Support Watchman here.
Watch the Undercover Migrant here.
Read Steve’s Mor Gallos – Using Power Wisely in the 21st Century Substack here.
Follow Tilak on X.
Read his article here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:51 Christian Drogen on His Undercover Channel Crossing
03:32 Getting Into the Migrant Camps
04:36 Timeline of the Operation
05:30 Posing as a Criminal on the Run
07:14 Life Inside the Camps
08:38 Danger in the Dunkirk & Calais Jungles
09:17 Why Migrants Want Britain
11:28 Demographics of the Boats
13:13 What it Felt Like on the Dinghy
14:13 Who Was on the Boat
14:49 Border Force Reaction
17:22 Home Office Criticism
17:54 Could Anyone Repeat This
19:42 How Smugglers Sell the Dream
21:10 French Police Involvement
24:22 How to Stop the Crossings
28:29 Finding the Documentary
29:15 Steve Jermy on the Ukraine War
30:48 What the West is Getting Wrong
33:06 Europe Preparing For War With Russia
35:40 Why Supporting Ukraine And Nato is Flawed
38:53 A Negotiated Path to Peace
42:04 Does Negotiation Reward Aggression
44:13 What the British Public is Missing
48:16 Tilak Doshi on Carneys Gamble
51:31 Who Has the Upper Hand
56:00 Could the Dispute Backfire On Canada
58:34 Ottawa vs Alberta
01:00:38 A Larger Geopolitical Reshaping
52 min
August 28 Is the Right Its Own Worst Enemy? | The Sceptic Ep.93
Does the Right need to compromise on its principles to win elections? And what’s really behind the shaky science of the 97% climate consensus?
In Episode 93 of the Sceptic, guest host Ellie Hodges chats to writer and commentator Nick Rendell about why the Right needs to stop preaching to the choir, explain its policies more clearly and find a way for the parties on the Right to work together.
And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to social scientist and author of the Valid Science Substack Dr José Duarte about the extraordinary flaws in the research behind the 97% climate consensus claim, why we should be wary of consensus claims and where genuine disagreement among climate scientists remains.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Read Nick’s article here.
Follow Joe on X.
Read his Valid Science Substack here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
00:00 Intro
01:26 Nick Rendell on the Right’s Electoral Strategy
01:31 Balancing Principles & Electoral Success
04:36 Winning Over Net Zero Voters
11:47 Making the Conservative Case More Convincingly
15:39 The Case For a Right-Wing Electoral Pact
19:48 What His Reader Backlash Reveals
22:13 Political Purity & Rational Compromise
25:22 Dr José Duarte on the 97% Climate Consensus
25:34 Why Climate Consensus Research is Flawed
26:22 Problems With Consensus Studies
30:45 How The 97% Figure Was Constructed
33:14 Measuring What Climate Scientists Actually Believe
35:02 The Limits of Scientific Consensus
37:17 Where Climate Scientists Still Disagree
28 min
August 21 From Fleet Street To ‘Fake News’: The Decline of British Journalism | The Sceptic Ep.92
Why trust in the mainstream media has collapsed, the rise of the ‘lanyard class’ and why cleaner air may be behind Europe’s heatwaves.
In Episode 92 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges is joined by veteran broadcaster and journalist Mike Graham to lift the lid on Britain’s increasingly cosy media establishment, the decline of Fleet Street and why so many journalists now seem cut from the same cloth. They also discuss his new book, Fake News: The Secret Deal Between Government and the Media, and the rise of independent journalism.
And for our premium subscribers, Ellie talks to Prof Roger Pielke Jr, who challenges some of the simplistic claims surrounding Europe’s heatwaves and explains why cleaner air may actually be contributing to warming.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow Mike on X.
Watch Mike’s YouTube channel here.
Buy his new book here.
Follow Roger on X here.
Read his Honest Broker Substack here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
00:00 Intro
01:18 Mike Graham on ‘Fake News’
08:46 Why Trust in the Media Has Collapsed
10:55 How Journalism Changed
14:26 The Working-Class Media Divide
16:23 How Headlines Shape Public Opinion
23:40 The Wild West of Fleet Street
28:39 How Social Media Killed the Press
30:27 The Collapse of Journalism’s Pay & Ambition
32:09 The End of the 9-to-5 Journalist
34:47 Building an Independent News Channel
39:53 Roger Pielke on Europe’s Heatwaves
40:34 Beyond the ‘Climate Change’ Explanation
42:32 Why Europe is Warming
43:14 The Role of Cleaner Air & Dry Soils
44:12 Adapting to Extreme Heat
45:39 The Problem With RCP8.5
48:40 What Happens to the Research?
43 min
August 14 Why Has Immigration Exploded Since Brexit? | The Sceptic Ep.91
The battle over Brexit’s broken immigration promises and the mystery of why a key piece of climate data has quietly disappeared from official reports.
In Episode 91 of the Sceptic, Ellie Hodges sits down with Migration Watch UK Chairman Alp Mehmet to discuss the soaring levels of migration since Brexit and whether Britain’s political class ever intended to deliver the border control voters thought they were getting.
And for our premium subscribers, Daily Sceptic Environment Editor Chris Morrison asks why decades of declining wind-speed data have disappeared from the Met Office’s latest climate report and explores what it means for public trust in Britain's climate institutions.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Ellie on X.
Follow Alp on X.
Read Migration Watch UK’s ‘Taking Back Control? Brexit and Migration Ten Years On’ report here.
Follow Chris on X.
Read his article here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:38 Alp Mehmet on Why Migration Soared After Brexit
03:54 The Decision That Opened the Floodgates
08:03 Bigger Boats, More Crossings, No Deterrent
11:58 Did Politicians Ever Intend to Cut Migration?
17:18 How Government Lost Control
22:19 The Student Visa Back Door
24:10 Why Nobody Wants to Cap Migration
26:15 The Warnings Nobody Listened to
28:00 Britain's Demographic Transformation
30:15 Chris Morrison on the Met’s Missing Climate Data
30:52 Why Hide Wind Data?
42:46 Climate Models Vs Reality
47:48 Net Zero’s Inconvenient Problem
35 min
August 07 Rupert Lowe on Uniting the Right | The Sceptic Ep.90
Rupert Lowe on uniting the Right, are thousands really dying from summer heatwaves and how one academic’s investigation ended in a DEI superstar’s Cambridge resignation.
In Episode 90 of the Sceptic, the Daily Sceptic’s Editor-in-Chief Toby Young sits down with Restore leader Rupert Lowe to discuss his attempt to mend fences with Nigel Farage, whether Reform and Restore can still work together and what a united Right might look like ahead of the next election.
Professor of Evidence Based Medicine Carl Heneghan examines the UK Health Security Agency’s claim that nearly 3,000 excess deaths were caused by this summer’s heatwaves and asks whether the evidence really supports such alarming headlines.
And for our premium subscribers, Dr Nathan Cofnas, Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at Ghent University, reflects on breaking the Jason Arday story, the extraordinary fallout that followed and whether he ever expected it to end with Arday’s resignation from Cambridge.
Donate to the Daily Sceptic to access our premium content.
Follow Toby on X.
Follow Rupert on X.
Follow Carl on X.
Subscribe to his Trust the Evidence Substack here.
Follow Nathan on X.
Subscribe to the Nathan Cofnas’s Newsletter on Substack here.
Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
02:03 Rupert Lowe’s Offer To Reform UK
08:20 Prospects For A Reform–Restore Deal
10:15 Restore Britain’s Election Plans
15:12 Continuing To Challenge Reform UK
17:07 Lowe’s Definition Of Corruption
18:42 Restore Britain’s Economic Policy
27:55 On Becoming Chancellor
31:39 Carl Heneghan and the Problems With Heat Death Estimates
35:16 Reliability Of Future Heat Death Data
37:34 The Problem With Statistical Certainty
39:27 Climate Alarmism And Media Headlines
42:43 Downfall Of Anthony Fauci
47:10 Lessons From The Covid Inquiry
49:21 Nathan Kaunas on Breaking The Jason Arday Story
56:00 The Response To Criticism Of Arday
57:09 Carter-Ruck And Legal Threats
58:03 Investigating Arday’s Academic Work
01:03:18 Claims Of Unequal Academic Standards
01:04:36 The Real Story Behind Arday
01:06:11 Fears Of Legal Action
01:06:38 Contacting Arday And Cambridge
01:07:56 Initial Reaction To The Story
01:08:39 Arday’s Extraordinary Biographical Claims
01:11:00 The Story Goes Viral
01:11:29 Concerns About Racial Motives
01:13:53 Arday’s Resignation
01:14:19 Attacks From Arday’s Defenders
01:15:51 Simon Baron-Cohen’s Defence Of Arday
01:17:31 The Story’s International Reach
01:19:25 Responding To Racism Accusations
01:21:08 Nathan's Controversial Blog Post
01:27:04 Case For Affirmative Action
01:28:11 Impact On University Hiring
01:29:09 Cambridge’s Handling Of The Plagiarism Allegations
01:30:14 Accountability For Arday’s Appointment
01:32:09 Double Standards In Academic Hiring
01:33:51 Vindication And Revenge

1 hr 1 min

About The Sceptic

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to The Sceptic, the Daily Sceptic’s weekly podcast. Host Laurie Wastell interviews the authors of some of the website’s most talked about recent pieces. Please subscribe, and remember:…