On today’s #NCFWhittle, we are joined by former Metropolitan Police officer Paul Birch, a commentator on the politicisation of British police forces. After a quarter of a century in the police, Mr. Birch explains how the police went woke and why it’s so dangerous.
Author: fredalanmedforth
The War Against the Past: The Ideology of ‘Presentism’
The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight for Its History by Frank Furedi (2024); Polity Press; Cambridge; 260 pages.
Frank Furedi has established an enviable track record for challenging current cultural trends in society including obsessions and narratives around identity and history. The War Against the Past is his latest and in many ways most detailed effort to expose the corrosive nature of certain radical ideas that seek to influence and overturn cultural assumptions in the West.
Furedi is clear about the threat we face from various radical activists and destructive trends in European culture and values:
The goal of cancelling the legacy of Western civilisation is pursued through reorganizing society’s historical memory and disputing and delegitimizing its ideals and achievement.
Guilt in the West about past historical events is therefore used by radical activists as a way of dealing with present day issues around ethnicity and race, as well as explaining how identity functions as part of those things. The radical aim is to deconstruct culture and history by controlling and changing the language we use, estranging particularly young people from their past, Furedi argues. Far from the past bestowing a rich legacy on later generations, history is seen as transmitting outdated, ‘racist’ or colonial ways of viewing the world.
The past is therefore to be judged by the harsh standards of the present and ‘decolonised’. Thus the history of the West becomes little more than a history of domination and oppression of weaker groups by dominant European ethnicities and countries.
This is illustrated by the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign at Oxford University around 2015. The statue of Cecil Rhodes was so imbued by the spirit of colonialism, activists claimed, that merely having to walk past it was to suffer a form of violence. A toxic past contaminated the present.
As Furedi notes, this phenomenon has arguably been a long-time brewing. It has seen a shift in intellectual thinking. Today, the past is often seen as presenting an actual threat to minorities. Past injustices continue to somehow actively harm certain ethnic groups.
With the evils of the past having been rendered contemporary, the ideology of ‘presentism’ emerged, Furedi points out. Presentism judges the past by the standards of the present and actively tries to take apart cultural assumptions and values, to change the ‘shameful’ legacy of our Western past.
Many examples of this attack are simply laughable—such as when Penguin Random House publishers warned readers that Virginia Woolf’s 1927 novel To the Lighthouse was “published in 1927 and reflects the attitudes of its time.” No kidding—as opposed to reflecting the values of a future that didn’t yet exist, presumably?
Those attitudes from the past are seen as also capable of inflicting harm or distress on readers in the present. As literature professor Mark Hussey points out: so-called trigger warnings create a feeling that the past is a dangerous, scary place.
The battle over language and control over language is therefore a vital part of this radical crusade to view the past through the lens of the present, judging that historical past by present obsessions about ‘problematic’ words or phrases.
As Furedi points out: those who engage in such wars on the past seek to draw a favourable comparison between their own ‘progressive’ selves today and the outdated, offensive people of the past. Such radical activists flatter themselves and their superior moral positions.
Furedi also explains that in the context of education, students are left in no doubt that their new ‘progressive’ values are superior to the ‘problematic’ values of their parents.
The result of all this, says Furedi, is a kind of cultural stagnation and inertia, Western societies are increasingly demoralised and turning in on themselves, instead of thinking about how to focus on creating a better future. Decolonisation becomes a strange act of revenge on our past by “grievance entrepreneurs.”
The impact of such thinking on young people is clear. An example from 2021 is the decision of Pimlico Academy, London to stop flying the Union Flag after protests from pupils. The Headteacher Daniel Smith applauded the “intelligence” of his pupils and praised their concern over injustices. The national flag was somehow seen as historically tainted and offensive, not least to ethnic minorities.
Oddly, those who obsess about historical injustices become prisoners of the past, says Furedi—living their current lives through the endless wrongs committed years ago by others. Radical activists disown the past—and yet are obsessed by it.
However, when it comes to studying history, Furedi notes, we should remember that the positive often triumphs over the negative. In ancient Athens, the valuable insights and example of democracy have outlasted the existence of slavery and its justifications. Those on both the left and right-wing of politics can still draw valuable lessons from historical experiences of making history, he says.
In the last part of the book, Furedi underscores the important legacy of such historical events as the Renaissance, for instance. For Furedi, these were developments that encouraged an increasing emphasis on acting in accordance with one’s individual conscience. It is precisely these qualities that we need today to help overturn the dogmatic and divisive war on the past.
Frank Furedi ends his book with the following words about having a sense of the traditions we should value:
This … is not to be confused with any backward-looking antiquarianism; I am not recommending an uncritical embrace of tradition or the association of the past with a golden age. Instead, we must recognize that when we appreciate and understand tradition, we see how future possibilities might be grasped.
His book is a valuable addition to the range of books that critique ‘woke’ trends in contemporary society. Rich, detailed, The War Against the Past deserves to be read.
Berlin: Syrian man stabs German man to death in the underground
The fatal knife attack in Berlin and the police shots fired at the killer. On Sunday lunchtime, the public prosecutor’s office gives details of the case.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the incident happened at Kaiserdamm underground station. At around 4.30 pm, the later victim, a German (29), and the perpetrator, a Syrian (43), boarded a train on the U12 line in the direction of Warschauer Straße independently of each other.
Then the argument. ‘For reasons that are still unknown, an argument broke out between the two passengers within seconds, which led to the 43-year-old pushing and shoving each other,’ said a spokesperson.
The argument escalated to such an extent that the Syrian finally pulled a kitchen knife out of his waistband and stabbed the 29-year-old three times.
‘One of these stabs hit him – as the immediate autopsy carried out yesterday evening revealed – in the area of the sternum, injuring a ventricle, which led to the man’s death,’ the spokesperson continued.
The 29-year-old, who was seriously injured, dragged himself out of the train at Sophie-Charlotte-Platz underground station and then collapsed on the platform.
At the same time, the 43-year-old fled and ran out of the underground station towards Schloßstraße. There he was stopped by police officers, whom he also threatened with a kitchen knife.
An officer then fired several shots from his service weapon. At least three hit the killer – in the thigh, torso and neck!
Despite emergency surgery and medical care, the Syrian succumbed to his injuries at around 6.30 on Sunday morning.
As is usual in cases of fatal shootings, an investigation was opened against the officer on suspicion of manslaughter.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, there are no indications to date that the Syrian may have attacked the German on the basis of an Islamist-terrorist motive.
The fact is, however, that both men are known to the police and the judiciary. In the past, they have both had a history of assault offences, resisting and assaulting law enforcement officers and offences against the Narcotics Act.
No information is yet available on the Syrian’s status of asylum, the statement concludes.
A witness who was in the beer garden at the time of the offence saw the knife-wielding man as he fled. He told the newspaper BILD: “He was dressed in black. He held the knife in the air and brandished it He ran as if he was drugged, running in serpentine lines.”
Former Smart Electric Power Alliance exec and her middle-aged hubby charged with vandalizing Teslas
By Eric Utter
A former employee of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and a former executive of a green energy nonprofit have been arrested and charged with vandalizing Tesla vehicles in Washington, D.C., according to a report by the Washington Post.
Justin Fisher, 49, the former federal bureaucrat, and his wife, Emily Fisher, 50, former chief strategy officer at the Smart Electric Power Alliance, face charges of defacing at least five Tesla vehicles that they know about near their residence in D.C.’s toney Capitol Hill neighborhood.
According to the paper, the acts the paunchy, middle-aged couple are accused of are being investigated as potential hate crimes.
Fox 5 of Washington, D.C. had this report, too:
A total of six separate incidents were reported, including one vehicle that was vandalized on two separate occasions. Police say that several vehicles were marked with messages attacking Elon Musk, including one belonging to a teacher parked at her elementary school.
According to the Post, as reported in the Tampa Free Press:
Reported messages scrawled on the vehicles include phrases like “Go Doge I support Musk killing the dept of Education,” “I love Musk and hate the Fed Gov’t,” and “Ask me about my support of Nazis.”
The Tesla-targeting couple released a joint statement through their respective attorneys, which read in part:
Our understanding is that the allegations in this case involve non-violent and non-destructive conduct that resulted in no property damage. We trust that the government and the court system will treat our clients with fairness and proportionality. We look forward to ensuring their constitutional rights are upheld in accordance with the rule of law.
I hope the couple face accountability.
Their claim that the vandalism they committed did “no property damage” is ludicrous on its face.
But I’m sure “the government and the court system” will treat them with “fairness and proportionality,” unlike what it would do to, say, an avid Trump supporter.
I am similarly certain that “their constitutional rights” will be “upheld in accordance with the rule of law,” unlike those of the Tesla owners.
A former green energy executive (of the Smart Electric Power Alliance) and her husband vandalize a half dozen or so electric vehicles?!
Am I missing something? Have we entered a parallel universe?
What the hell happened to the world? We have “Gays for Palestine,” two biological males competing for the women’s billiards championship, and now this?
Beam me up, Scotty, there’s no intelligent life here.
A Kosovar migrant who threatened to behead women by shouting ‘Allah Akbar’ in the botanical garden in Metz, France, acquitted on a technicality
According to Le Républicain Lorrain, a 49-year-old Kosovan national was acquitted on a technicality after threatening to behead a woman in the Botanical Gardens of Metz, located in the municipality of Montigny-lès-Metz. The offence took place last Wednesday. According to witnesses, he shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ as he attacked a female walker before intimidating another woman by displaying a small knife in his saddlebag.
He was immediately taken to court on Friday to face charges relating to repeated death threats, violence while obviously drunk and insulting a city policewoman, whom he allegedly shouted homophobic slurs at. The man, who was arrested with almost 2 g of alcohol in his blood, has ten entries on his criminal record.
However, as there was no interpreter present at the beginning of the police custody and during his psychiatric examination, the charge collapsed, as his lawyer Elliot Hellenbrand argued. However, he was sentenced to 140 hours of community service for illegally carrying a stabbing weapon (6cm knife).
Despite the acquittal, an OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) was issued by the prefect. The defendant was taken to the Queuleu administrative deportation centre.
Montigny-lès-Metz (57) – Le migrant kosovar qui menaçait de décapiter des femmes au cri d'”Allah Akbar” dans le jardin botanique relaxé pour vice de forme – Fdesouche / Le Républicain Lorrain
France: The mayor’s office of Vendôme refuses to honour the Righteous who saved Jewish children from the Shoah so as not to offend the Turkish community
According to Le Point, a ceremony in honour of Jean and Jeanne Philippeau, who were honoured as Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jewish children during the Shoah, cannot be held at Vendôme City Hall as originally scheduled. Arlette Testyler-Reimann, president of the Union of Auschwitz Deportees, who were hidden by the Philippeaus in 1942, said she was ‘disappointed, unhappy, angry’.
After an initial agreement, the mayor of Vendôme, Laurent Brillard (UDI), and his team (UDI-LR-DVD) backed down, citing the proximity to the 2026 municipal elections and, above all, “the current geopolitical context characterised by the conflict between Israel and Hamas”, as well as “particular sensitivities within our different ethnic groups”. This allusion, according to Le Point, refers to the notable presence of a Turkish community in the city and ‘Fuck Israel’ tags spotted in one neighbourhood.
Despite the arguments of the French Committee for Yad Vashem (CFYV), which saw in the ceremony an opportunity to unite the Republic across borders of origin, the city hall rejected the ceremony. This rejection is a novelty in France for a ceremony honouring the Righteous.
Thanks to the intervention of the State, the sub-prefecture of Vendôme will finally host the event in June. The State recalled that these honours embody courage and universal values and must not give in to fears or community pressure. Arlette Testyler-Reimann summarised: “The Philippeaus are an ordinary France, but one that saved us. […] The righteous are the France that I love.”
Le Point,Vendôme (41) – La mairie UDI-LR-DVD refuse d’honorer des Justes ayant sauvé des enfants Juifs de la Shoah pour ne pas froisser la communauté turque – Fdesouche
Austrian Catholic Education Includes Ramadan Songs
It seemed mass immigration would turn Austria into a warzone resembling 1980s Beirut once Muslims achieve the numbers to drive out kafirs. But maybe not. Maybe the great country that gave us Mozart and Haydn will knuckle under without fighting to preserve its existence. Already Catholic education entails singing Ramadan songs.
Via Allah’s Willing Executioners:
Outraged parents are wondering why their children were forced to sing a religious Islamic song in Catholic religious education lessons.
‘Ramadan is the most beautiful time of the year’ is one line of a Ramadan song that the children in a fourth grade primary school had to sing at the behest of their religion teacher. The school is not in Cairo in Egypt, Tehran or somewhere in Syria, but in Salzburg’s Flachgau region.
The song is entitled “Ramadan Rap.”
A mother was asked by her daughter why “Allah is so big” and was annoyed to have to explain to her “that we have our God and not Allah.”
Incidentally, there is said to be only one pupil of Muslim faith in the class in question – a rarity these days…
Imagine what kids will be taught when infidels are in the minority.
Moonbattery Austrian Catholic Education Includes Ramadan Songs – Moonbattery
Racist Police Block White Job Applicants + Koran Burning Charges: CPS Endorses Islamic Blasphemy Law
On today’s #NCFNewspeak the panel discuss:
- Labour betrayal over rape gang inquiries
- Koran burner to be prosecuted – Does the CPS think Britain has an Islamic blasphemy law?
- West Yorkshire police prioritize ethnic minority candidates over white British candidates
Somali criminal asylum seeker allowed to stay in Britain as deportation would ‘stress’ him out
A Somali criminal seeking asylum in the UK has avoided deportation after a judge ruled that returning him to his home country would cause him too much “stress.”
The unnamed asylum seeker, who has been dependent on alcohol since 2006, would suffer stress if deported to Somalia, which would worsen his mental health.
Judges in the upper immigration tribunal ruled that deportation would breach article three of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against persecution and inhumane treatment.
The Home Office had argued the man, jailed for unspecified crimes, could receive necessary medication and treatment in Somalia for his schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations.
The Upper Tier Tribunal was told the man moved to the UK in 1999 when he was 29, claiming his family faced persecution due to their clan membership.
He was accompanied by his support worker during the hearing and was described as having a “high level of vulnerability” and “complex needs” with long-standing health problems.
“The severity of his mental health problems is closely linked to his stress levels and use of alcohol,” the tribunal noted.
The man has been “significantly dependent” on alcohol since 2006 and has served prison time for crimes that were not specified in court papers.
Lawyers representing the asylum seeker argued he would have “no real prospect” of making a living in Mogadishu and would receive only limited financial support. They claimed he had previously been “targeted for money” by others after they learned he received disability benefits.
His legal team insisted the man required “24-hour support and monitoring” that his clan could not provide, and he would have to pay for antipsychotic medication.
The Home Office countered that Somalia recognises schizophrenia as a mental health disorder and has “some psychiatrists”.
They argued a £750 payment through the Facilitated Return Scheme would enable him to access medication and support in his homeland.
Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Ian Jarvis concluded: “I conclude that the weight of the evidence before the Tribunal indicates that the [man] will very quickly become noncompliant with his medication… without the 24/7 support and monitoring which he currently receives in the United Kingdom.”
The judge upheld the asylum seeker’s appeal, ruling his mental health would “seriously deteriorate” if returned to Somalia.
The man’s lawyers had warned he would “very quickly decline” mentally if deported, potentially falling into “destitution” and ending up in an internally displaced person camp with “dire conditions” and risk of violence.
The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example where failed asylum seekers or convicted foreign criminals have attempted to halt deportations by claiming human rights breaches. There are currently a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds.
https://www.gbnews.com/news/migrant-crisis-somali-criminal-asylum-seeker-deportation-stress-him-out
The Euro’s Paper Empire: Germany’s Big Bond Gamble
By Thomas Kolbe
The new German federal government is planning hundreds of billions of euros in new debt. With this, Germany joins the ranks of the heavily indebted states of the Eurozone. Officially, the funds are intended for military capability and infrastructure development. But what strategy is the government really pursuing? The coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD is prepared to burden German taxpayers with over one trillion euros in debt. That’s a steep price for a policy that continues the stagnation of the Merkel years: no economic reforms to promote the private sector, but instead a push for greater centralization.
Revolution in the Bond Market
Germany’s fiscal turnaround signals a small revolution in the bond market. Massive bond issuances are already driving interest rates upward. The announcement of the debt program caused yields on ten-year government bonds to surge by 40 basis points. The return of the bond vigilantes looms — those investors who critically scrutinize the debt positions of struggling debtors. For decades, German government bonds were synonymous with stability. But with public debt projected to rise from 63% to as much as 95% of GDP — barring a deeper recession — that image is starting to crumble.
A New Reserve Asset?
It was Bloomberg that revealed the secret: Until now, Germany’s relatively conservative debt policy made it an unlikely candidate for the role of a reserve asset — a product that banks and investors can use as collateral to secure liquidity and credit. In Europe, that role was ironically filled by Italy, which, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 140%, offers a sizable bond market. Now, however, Bloomberg suggests German government bonds could become an alternative to the globally dominant system of U.S. Treasuries. The idea is enticing: a liquid market of euro-denominated securities offering investors a hedge while the U.S. pushes its own fiscal and monetary limits.
Investor Skepticism
But will international investors actually accept German government bonds as credit collateral? That’s highly doubtful, given the economic and fiscal troubles of the Eurozone. The urgency has grown since the U.S. Federal Reserve rapidly raised interest rates and shows no willingness to follow the swift easing course of its European, Japanese, and Chinese counterparts. Investors will carefully consider whether they can trust these new European securities amid the Ukraine crisis, energy problems in Europe, and the EU’s reluctance to embrace market-oriented reforms.
But behind the façade of fiscal responsibility, the Eurozone’s paper empire relies on fragile trust — and Germany is printing its way into the heart of it. The credibility of euro-denominated debt rests less on sound economics than on political cohesion and institutional promises. In such a system, any serious deviation — economic, geopolitical, or fiscal — could trigger a confidence shock with far-reaching consequences.
Europe in Global Competition
Germany’s rising debt is not an isolated event. It fits into a long history of European debt policy that relies on state intervention rather than reform. The tariffs introduced by U.S. president Donald Trump give the EU an excuse to further centralize political power and meddle in markets. Brussels dreams of grandeur while the coffers run dry — a prime example is the air taxi startup Volocopter, which, despite 150 million euros in subsidies from the federal government and Bavaria, filed for insolvency in December 2024 because neither the market nor investors believed in the vision. Yet these measures fall short of securing Europe’s competitiveness. Europe continues to lose direct investments to the U.S. — in 2023 alone, a net total of around 20 billion euros in investment capital flowed from Europe to North America. Jobs are being created there in the private sector, while Europe relies on state subsidies and believes the government can efficiently allocate capital.
Numbers and Reality
A look at the numbers reinforces the skepticism. While the U.S. benefits from its role as the world’s reserve currency and a dynamic economy despite high debt (over 120% of GDP), the Eurozone struggles with stagnation. Germany may create a larger bond market with its new debt, but it lacks credibility. Yields on ten-year US Treasuries currently stand at around 4%, while German bonds, despite a recent uptick, barely exceed 2%. For investors seeking safety and liquidity, the dollar remains more appealing — not least due to Europe’s geopolitical uncertainties.
The Looming Debt Mountain
This is how it will play out: German government bonds will only add to Europe’s debt mountain. Without far-reaching social reforms and a return to market-oriented policies, the EU faces significant socioeconomic tensions. The momentum cannot be underestimated once citizens realize their money is losing purchasing power faster than the EU can point to external culprits. The federal government hopes its debt programs will secure Germany a new role in the global financial system. But the reality is sobering: without fundamental reforms, Germany — and with it the Eurozone — will continue to lose ground. The bond vigilantes are watching, and markets don’t forgive illusions. German government bonds as an alternative to U.S. Treasuries? A bold hypothesis that, in practice, is likely to falter on Europe’s weaknesses.