Free Republic

Ed Husain's autobiography The Islamist: why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left (Penguin, 2007) is a remarkably candid account of the life of a British-born Muslim who was initially seduced by radicalism but gradually came to his senses to return to the more spiritual and devotional Islam that had defined his early years. It is also an important work, in that it both carefully grounds the issue of radicalisation that has so dominated recent intellectual and political discussion of Muslim communities in Britain, and points to potential solutions. Ed Husain grew up...

Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron lashed out at Boris Johnson today, branding his decision to axe the UK’s foreign aid department a “mistake”. In what is believed to be his first policy intervention since quitting in 2016. ex-premier Mr. Cameron joined his Labour predecessors to criticize Mr. Johnson’s decision to scrap the Department for International Development. The Prime Minister told MPs in the Commons today it will be merged into the Foreign Office to create the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in a bid to “maximize British influence” overseas. He said the move would “unite our aid with our...

A bloody outrage: The decorated Para facing prosecution 44 years after shooting dead an IRA killer - while the blood-soaked men of terror know they'll never face justice (thanks to Blair's squalid 'peace' deal) Soldier C faces prosecution for shooting the IRA commander Joe McCann The 65-year-old had been cleared of any wrong-doing over killing in 1972 Thought case is politically motivated and designed to appease IRA families Meanwhile, suspected IRA terrorists avoid prosecution due to Blair's deal Soldier C is a man who rarely shows emotion. Having served his country for 23 years in both the Parachute Regiment and...

Fox News scored quite the interview Friday morning with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to get his take on the successful British referendum to leave the European Union, but decided to cut it short to hear Donald Trump speak. Blair was the perfect guest to discuss the political and legal turmoil now facing Britain, and especially to discuss the news that Prime Minister David Cameron will be resigning in the coming months. But then Trump began speaking in Scotland, and Fox made up its mind.

Couples who have more than two children are putting an 'irresponsible' burden on the environment, the Government's leading green advisor has warned. Jonathon Porritt called on ministers to divert money away from curing illnesses towards contraception and abortion services to limit the country's population and help in the fight against global warming. And he criticised fellow green campaigners for dodging the issue of population growth and its effect on the environment because it is too 'controversial'. It came as Catholic bishops in England and Wales lambasted environmentalism as an ideology every bit as dangerous as communism. In a booklet, they...

The bitter infighting in Prime Minister Tony Blair's party over when he will quit Downing Street is reminiscent of the rancorous way Margaret Thatcher was forced out, knifed by her own side in 1990. The vultures are circling over the Labour Party leader, demanding his immediate exit, just as they did with titanic Conservative prime minister Thatcher 16 years ago. Both delivered an impressive three straight general election victories for their parties, but Blair now faces the same situation Thatcher did after 11 years in Downing Street: clinging on to power while their rank and file turn against him. Mindful...

Gordon Brown must surely have had what senior ministers call "one of his little moments" last Thursday when George W Bush was asked about Tony Blair's departure date. "My attitude is," Mr Bush said, gazing fondly at the Prime Minister, "I want him to be here so long as I'm the President." That would give Mr Blair till noon on January 20, 2009 (teatime in Downing Street, allowing for the time difference). "Well, what more can I say?" said the Prime Minister, with one of his 1,000-watt grins. To which the Chancellor doubtless growled inwardly: "Say you're going tomorrow, you...

TWILIGHT IS HASTENING FOR TONY Blair. Though British prime ministers face no term limits, few can withstand the swelling tide of public boredom and familiarity's contempt. Margaret Thatcher set a peacetime record of 11 years in office before she succumbed; Blair, elected in 1997, will have clocked up nine in May. The gathering consensus now asserts that he will not, in spite of his own ambition and energy, reach the full decade in office he had hoped for.Last week the constitutional choreography in London seemed to hint strongly at an imminent succession. Blair's designated successor, Gordon Brown, the chancellor of...

Ask any politician about the possibility of having a flat tax in Britain, and they furrow their brow and say: "Hmm. Interesting idea. But it's just a tax cut for the rich isn't it? That's a tough sell." If they are a Conservative, they then descend into discussing the party's interminable leadership election (stay awake at the back). Such a parochial attitude may soon be dispelled. The flat tax - where all exemptions and allowances are abolished and everyone pays the same rate - is marching across Europe, just as other ideas have conquered the Continent once every generation or...

Poll puts parties just 3 points apart, as Blair fails to regain confidence Labour's opinion poll lead has been cut to only three points in the last month as the Tory pre-election campaign gains momentum, according to the results of this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll published today. With the expected date of the general election only 72 days away the poll results will alarm Labour election strategists who fear Conservatives could use the intensive "phoney war" campaigning to close the gap between the parties. Tony Blair effectively launched Labour's campaign a fortnight ago with his helicopter tour, the six pledges...

Since leaving office, I have not sought publicity. Even when provoked I have usually kept my counsel. Yet the changing character of the way politics is conducted is an issue on which it would be wrong to remain silent. The turnout at the last election was pitiful and is likely to be even more so at the next one – probably below that in Iraq, where voters ran the gauntlet of bomb and bullet. In one of the world's most secure democracies, how can such disillusion have set in?One cause is the way politics is conducted. It is a robust...

Tony Blair has secretly recruited a new American polling guru in an attempt to win over more traditionally Tory voters in the run-up to the general election. For the past few months, the Prime Minister has been taking direct advice from Mark Penn, a Washington-based strategist who helped to mastermind the re-election of President Bill Clinton in 1996. The sessions have been kept secret from almost the entire Cabinet, and only a tiny circle of aides knows that Mr Penn, 50, has in effect been made a key member of Labour's election team. His role, which is revealed for the...

To a free-born, free-thinking Briton, there is something both ridiculous and odd about the ceremonies to which some Japanese companies subject their workforces at the start of each working day: the physical jerks, the chanted affirmations of loyalty to their employers. The Japanese themselves, whose history is so different from ours, see nothing strange or disturbing about these rituals. But the average Sainsbury's check-out girl, or London solicitor, would find it grossly humiliating - and not a little sinister - to be forced to behave in this thoroughly unBritish way. Quite right, too. How horrifying, therefore, that the Government is...

Blunkett quits as home secretary David Blunkett has quit as home secretary following a string of newspaper claims that he fast-tracked a visa for his ex-lover's nanny. Mr Blunkett denies the claims but has faced increasing pressure in recent days from members of his own party. His position became more uncertain after he criticised a string of Cabinet colleagues in a new biography. The BBC's Mark Mardell said the withdrawal of support by Labour colleagues delivered the final blow.

The case of Christopher Hitchens is emblematic of so many things: how success can ruin a writer, how far an aristocratic British accent can get you on the American scene, how Trotskyism can morph into Rumsfeld-ism without any visible exertion. The former features editor of the Socialist Worker newspaper is today the Court Polemicist of the War Party, whose jeremiads now grace the glossy pages of Vanity Fair magazine. His evolution, more clearly and interestingly than any other figure, maps the progress of a new ideology, a political phenomenon unique to our time, one that is neither "left" nor "right."...

I left for Hong Kong in late 1998, returning just over a year ago. It was the first time I had ever spent a chunk of time outside Britain. I recommend it. You will never see your own country in the same light again, especially if you choose to live outside the west. You will realise that "our world" is a small and declining fraction of humanity, a fact that we are largely unaware of in our post-imperial hubris. I had left these shores with a feeling of unease. Far from sharing the widespread euphoria for New Labour, I was...