Huge media coverage has been devoted to allegations, and now serious evidence, that a Christmas party was held at 10 Downing Street on 18 December 2020. London was then in a strict lockdown with social events banned, including parties. In leaked footage obtained by ITV News, senior Downing Street staff are shown four days later, […]
What the media and political establishment isn’t telling you about Afghanistanby Ian SinclairPeace NewsOctober-November 2021 ‘There is a general policy by the MoD [Ministry of Defence] to keep the horror of what’s going on in Afghanistan out of the public domain,’ a senior officer told the Telegraph in September 2008. ‘If the real truth were […]
BBC Newsnight: the more you watch, the less you know?by Ian SinclairMorning Star3 October 2021 “Watch Newsnight tonight.” This was the response from BBC Newsnight’s Policy Editor Lewis Goodall to someone tweeting on 12 August “Who should I follow to understand the contemporary situation in Afghanistan? Feel like the media in the UK not covering […]
Tell Me Lies About Afghanistanby Ian SinclairMorning Star15 September 2021 The omissions and distortions that have been made by politicians about Afghanistan over the last few weeks, echoed by much of the media, have been so big and unremitting it’s easy to start questioning one’s own grip on reality. Why are the media giving so […]
Uncovering the Ignorance of the BBC’s Big Beastsby Ian SinclairMorning Star25 March 2021 Increasingly shared on Twitter, Andrew Marr’s 1996 interview with Noam Chomsky has become a well-known TV moment for many on the left. Over the course of 30 minutes discussing the politics of the media on BBC2’s The Big Idea, the seemingly unprepared […]
Has the West tried to build liberal democracy in Afghanistan?by Ian SinclairMorning Star5 September 2021 As the Taliban approached Kabul in mid-August, Channel 4 News’s Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson noted on Twitter that the West has been “obsessed about trying to turn Afghanistan into Sweden with sand, fetishising democracy and educating women” but “Afghans outside […]
Defending democracy? The UK and Ugandaby Ian SinclairMorning Star1 August 2021 The June G7 summit in Cornwall generated the usual liberal drivel about the West’s noble global goals. The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour noted Joe Biden and Boris Johnson “had a grand agenda ahead of them, covering democracy’s defence, climate change and pandemic.” The photo illustrating […]
The importance of knowing our own strength: the anti-war movement and UK foreign policyby Ian SinclairMorning Star28 June 2021 Though considered an abject failure by many, the enormous anti-war movement against the 2003 Iraq War has had a number of long-lasting impacts on British politics and society. One unfortunate effect is, nearly 20 years later, […]
Why is the media obsessed with Russia interference in the UK, when the US influence is much bigger?by Ian SinclairMorning Star29-30 May 2021 In a discussion recorded in the indispensable 2002 book Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky points out “it was a very easy thing in the 1980s for people in the United States to denounce […]
Book review: Collateral Damage by Steve Howellby Ian SinclairMorning Star15 April 2021FROM Reagan-loving Republican Tom Clancy, to the Conservative Frederick Forsyth and Jonathan Freedland’s rose-tinted views of Democratic presidents, political thrillers are often underpinned by some unpleasant, power-friendly politics. Which makes Steve Howell’s Collateral Damage a welcome addition to the genre. The book’s politics are […]
