Tag: Articles
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Resisting the Thought Police
The creation of the non-partisan Free Speech Union, which was launched by Toby Young at the end of February, was inspired by the May 2019 McDonald Centre annual conference, ‘Academic Freedom under Threat: What’s to be Done?‘. Chairman of the FSU’s board of directors (here), Nigel Biggar, has argued in a recent Times article (24 February 2020) that the FSU is…
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Questions that Need Satisfactory Answers
On 10 February 2020, The Telegraph published Nigel Biggar’s reflections on the ‘decolonising’ proposal, which would have ‘Western museums surrender objects taken by European imperialists centuries ago.’ For Biggar, such a proposal raises a number of questions that require satisfactory response. The article, “Let’s stop this descent into self-pitying Empire shame over our universities’ ancient artefacts”, can be found…
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Intervention Policy Report
Paul Cornish, Nigel Biggar, Robert Johnson and Gareth Stansfield prepared a report commissioned by the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) of the UK Ministry of Defence. The authors considered intervention policy and practice for those circumstances in which the UK national interest might demand action. The authors argue that UK intervention operations are permissible to maintain the rules-based…
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The Need for Moral and Political Viewpoint Diversity in the University
In The Times 10 February 2020 Letter to the Editor, Nigel Biggar challenged his readers, and Education Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson, ‘to dispel the climate of self-censorship and inner exile’ and to champion moral and political viewpoint diversity in Universities. Editor of The Article Daniel Johnson offered a response to Biggar (read his ‘Universities need more intellectual and political diversity, as…
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Not Just Democracy
Reflecting on a recent trip to Hong Kong, and the protests that spilled into its streets, Nigel Biggar raises questions about the limits of democratic elections to bring political well-being–‘votes,’ after all, ‘can’t be any wiser than the voters’. Yet rule of law and a free press are institutions thought essential for fostering political trust between…
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Phenomenon vs. Icon
July 2019 saw the publication of “Biggar vs Little Britain: God, War, Union, Brexit and Empire in Twenty-First Century Conservative Ideology,” by Richard Drayton, Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at King’s College London. In his essay Drayton mounts an attack on what he calls “the Biggar phenomenon”. While Drayton’s essay can be found in Stuart Ward and Astrid Rasch’s…
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Exclusions and Double Standards
Nigel Biggar has offered comment on the decision by Cambridge University to withdraw the invitation for Jordan Peterson to join the Divinity Faculty as a term-limited visiting fellow: Please read Biggar’s 02 April 2019 “Cambridge and the exclusion of Jordan Peterson” contribution to The Article here. Biggar’s “Cambridge has double standards on free speech”, a contribution to the Thunderer at The…
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Lost in the Cloud of Leftist Virtue Signalling
Nigel Biggar has offered comment on the Cambridge University decision to investigate its historical links to slavery in the 04 May 2019 weekend essay of The Times. Biggar argued, in part, ‘Whatever wrongs happened in the distant past, the fog of history makes it impossible to determine who deserves compensation for the slave trade’. He concluded by encouraging Cambridge to…
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Why Aren’t Illiberal Universities Challenged?
Commenting on the present crisis of herd morality and the policing of public rationalities that constrain content-full discourse and illuminating debate around issues of identity, sexuality, and the like, Nigel Biggar opened his recent contribition to UnHerd, and their ‘Groupthink’ theme, with these words: We need to talk about ‘discrimination’, ‘homophobia’, and ‘identity’. In fact, we need to rethink them.…
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Thank God for the RAF
Nigel Biggar recently reflected on the legacy of the Royal Air Force, with particular attention given to Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary (1919-1943). Hillary was the author of The Last Enemy (1942), an account of his experiences that was republished by Penguin in their 2018 Centenary Collection. The article was published alonside other reflections on the centenary of the First…