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The Sceptic episodes

October 30 Sadiq Khan’s Globalist War on the Car | The Sceptic Ep.102
Charlotte Gill on why pedestrianising Oxford Street is the latest stage in Sadiq Khan’s globalist war on the car, veteran climate sceptic Marcel Crok on exposing decades of shoddy climate science. Plus: why DEI targets don’t add up.
In Episode 102 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Charlotte Gill, investigative journalist, Daily Sceptic columnist and author of the Woke Waste Substack, on why pedestrianising Oxford Street is just the latest stage in Sadiq Khan’s globalist war on the car, his activist culture team’s grant for ‘queer birding’ – and the George Soros-funded think tank pushing for Britain to rejoin the EU.
Peter Crowley, actuary and founder of Crowley Analytics, on ‘Diversity Maths’ and why big employers’ DEI agendas just don’t add up.
And Marcel Crok, the veteran Dutch science journalist and co-founder of Clintel, on his life and times exposing decades of shoddy climate science – from Michael Mann’s ‘hockey stick’ graph, to Climategate and the IPCC’s implausible doomsday scenarios.
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Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
02:21 Charlotte Gill on the Pedestrianisation of Oxford St
04:31 Impact on Traffic & Congestion
05:24 The War on the Motorist
06:16 UN’s Sustainable Cities
08:08 Impact on Disabled & Elderly
10:59 Sadiq Khan’s Priorities
13:52 Mayor’s Office Blocking Scrutiny
17:04 Politics of Diversity
19:57 Mayor’s Culture Grants
21:32 Funding Behind the Pro-EU Campaign
25:01 Influence of Think Tank Donors
27:03 Peter Crowley on Diversity Maths
28:58 Diversity Targets & Employment Law
29:49 Impractical Diversity Targets
31:52 Risk of Discrimination
33:21 Workplace Discrimination
51:49 Mathematics of Diversity in Recruitment
53:28 Marcel Crok on Debunking the Hockey Stick
61:23 Challenging the Climate Consensus
65:01 Role of Investigative Science Journalism
65:46 Challenging the IPCC
69:51 Climate Gate Fallout
74:18 World Climate Declaration
80:10 IPCC’s Retreat from Extreme Climate Scenarios
83:38 Most Persistent Climate Alarmist Claims
1 hr
October 23 Abolish Asylum? | The Sceptic Ep.101
Harry Jee on Reform’s plan to abolish asylum, Bijan Omrani on his lawsuit against the Church of England’s reparations agenda. Plus: Tilak Doshi exposes the Great Recycling Swindle.
In Episode 101 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Harry Jee, Managing Editor of Pimlico Journal, on why Britain’s asylum system should be abolished, Nigel Farage’s plan to do so and what’s really behind Reform’s recent dip in the polls.
Bijan Omrani, barrister, churchwarden and author of God is an Englishman, on why he’s taking the Church of England to court over its historically illiterate plan to spend £100 million of church money on slavery ‘reparations’.
And Tilak Doshi, the Daily Sceptic’s Energy Editor, on why household recycling is a big fat scam.
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Produced by Richard Eldred. Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.
00:00 Intro
01:40 Harry Jee on Britain’s Broken Asylum System
11:12 Should Britain Accept Asylum Seekers?
14:52 Reform’s Plan
16:20 Why Is Reform Losing Ground?
20:40 Bijan Omrani on Taking the Church to Court
25:20 Did the Church Profit From Slavery?
27:03 Who Should Receive Reparations?
31:59 What Could £100M Do for Local Parishes?
35:30 Has the Church Lost Sight of Its Real Purpose?
37:06 How Strong Is the Legal Case?
40:35 Tilak Doshi on the Recycling Swindle
43:40 Why Is Recycling a Waste of Money?
49:29 When Is Recycling Worthwhile?
50:19 Why Do People Recycle?
50:57 Are Landfills Really So Bad?
55:45 Is Food Waste Recycling Worthwhile?
59:19 Is Recycling Just Moral Theatre?
1 hr 2 min
October 16 The End of France? | The Sceptic Ep.100
Michael Murphy on the battle for France, Chris Morrison on the unravelling of the great climate scam. Plus: Jason Arday, ‘autoethnography’ and the fall of academia.
In Episode 100 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Michael Murphy, writer and Head of Journalism at Outpost, about the violent student unrest rocking France – and what it means for next year’s Presidential election.
Daily Sceptic columnist Steven Tucker, on the Jason Arday scandal and what it shows about the latest academic discipline for pseuds, frauds and posers: autoethnography.
And Chris Morrison, the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor, on his hit new book Implausible and how he’s bringing down the climate change consensus.
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Produced by Richard Eldred.
Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.

00:00 Intro
01:25 Michael Murphy on the French Protests
04:09 The Scale of the Violence
06:39 The Ideology Behind the Riots
09:32 Terrorist Sympathies or Youthful Nihilism?
11:34 The Ethnic Composition of the Rioters
14:09 Greta Thunberg
16:04 The Impact on France’s Presidential Election
17:46 The Rise of the French Right
20:11 Why French & British Protests Differ
25:35 Stephen Tucker on ‘Autoethnography’
29:06 The Absurdity of Modern Research
41:04 Autoethnography & Jason Arday
48:14 Hilary Cremin & the Future of Education
55:03 The Ideological Capture of Universities
59:42 Chris Morrison on his new book Implausible
01:07:03 How Implausible Climate Predictions Became Accepted
01:13:21 Net Zero as the New Communism
01:18:45 Scale of the Climate Change Scam
01:22:22 Why the Climate Debate Needs to Happen
1 hr 7 min
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.
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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.
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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”.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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

About The Sceptic

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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:…