British Thought Leaders

James Esses is a commentator, writer and advocate on gender ideology and free speech. He co-founded the group, ‘Thoughtful Therapists’, who are working to change the narrative regarding mental health treatment in this space. Prior to this, he was a Criminal Barrister and spent many years specialising in crime and criminal justice in the public sector, including tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation. @JamesEsses http://jamesesses.substack.com

Sam Dunning is a writer, researcher who heads up new charity, UK-China Transparency. They have thus far exposed Chinese infiltration into British Universities, investment in state-owned tech companies and the work done by UK-based Confucius Institutes. @samdunningo / @ukctransparency http://ukctransparency.org

Michael Cohen works in AI safety research at the University of Oxford. Michael shares his concerns that without intervention AI poses a risk to humanity. @Michael05156007 https://www.michael-k-cohen.com/

Anna Loutfi is a legal researcher, commentator and human rights barrister. Anna works with the Bad Law Project to challenge and de-politise our democratic institutions. @BadLawProject www.badlawproject.com

Sheldon Thomas is a former gang member who now lectures, trains and consults on gang culture to various governments, police, frontline workers and engages gangs members in the UK and the Caribbean. He is also the founder of Gangs Line. @SheldonThomas3 @Gangsline

Matt Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, is a science-writer, journalist and member of the House of Lords. He inherited the viscountcy in February 2012 and was a Conservative hereditary peer from February 2013, with an elected seat in the House of Lords, until his retirement in December 2021. His recent book Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19 written with Alina Chan ascribes the spread of the virus to the COVID-19 lab leak theory. @mattwridley

Doug Stokes is a professor and director at The Strategy and Security Institute. His new book ‘Against Decolonisation: Campus Culture Wars and the Decline of the West’ is due out late 2023. @profdws | @SSI_Exeter

Mark Sabah is a Director of The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, an expert on international affairs and campaigns for the release of Jummy Lai, jailed founder of Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. @MarkSabah | @thecfhk

Bill Browder is CEO of Hermitage Capital. He was one of the largest foreign investors in Russia until he fell afoul of the Putin regime. He is head of the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign and Author of Red Notice & Freezing Order. Bill shares his story with us and gives his views on the Ukraine invasion. @Billbrowder

Claire Fox, Baroness Fox of Buckley, is a British writer, journalist, lecturer and politician who sits in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated life peer. She is the director and founder of the think tank Institute of Ideas. Claire speaks to Lee Hall about a range of subjects including freedom of speech, the modern reality of the political left and right labels, cancel culture, activism in public services and business, and her role in the House of Lords. @Fox_Claire @acadofideas

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, Lee Hall talks to Lois Perry, broadcaster and director of CAR26, an organisation that campaigns for informed rational analysis of climate matters and the green agenda. She discusses the urgent need for a public debate on the green agenda and the need to expose issues surrounding net zero, ULEZ, energy prices and smart meters. @LoisPerry26

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, Lee Hall sits down with Dr Tony Hinton, consultant surgeon with over 30 years’ experience who is now retired from the National Health Service. Tony is part of the Health Advisory and Recovery Team or HART, a group of highly qualified UK doctors, scientists and other experts who share concerns about the handling of the pandemic. @TonyHinton2016 @hartgroup_org

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, Lee Hall sits down with Ed Rennie a broadcaster, writer and political strategist. Ed has worked for several MPs and was also a Labour councillor. He co-founded Climate Debate, an organisation aimed at tackling the green agenda by encouraging public debate and transparency in climate policy making. @edrennie77 @ClimateDebateUK

Today on British Thought Leaders we sit down with Howard Cox, founder and CEO of Fairfuel UK, one of Britain’s most successful campaign groups. Howard works in the interests of motorists, calling for lower fuel prices and freezes on taxes. Fairfuel UK addresses other motoring issues such as bans on petrol cars and environmental traffic measures. @HowardCCox founder: https://fairfueluk.com/

Today on British Thought Leaders I sit down with Eric Kaufmann, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London. Professor Kaufmann is a political scientist and the author of numerous books examining the impact of ideological and population shifts on identity and politics. @epkaufm http://www.sneps.net/

On this episode of British Thought Leaders we sit down with Alan Miller, co-founder of Together, an association founded in response to Covid lockdowns. Together campaigns on issues of public freedom such as 15-minute cities, digital IDs and free speech. @alanvibe @Togetherdec

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, we speak with Ryan Christopher, director of ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) UK, a faith based legal advocacy organisation that defends fundamental freedoms. ADF UK has recently been involved in legally representing people who were arrested for silently praying in censorship zones. https://twitter.com/RyanChrist1984 https://twitter.com/ADF_UK

Rick Bradford has had a successful career in physics and engineering and is an honourary research fellow at the University of Bristol. He is also a world-renouned authority on men's issues, writing under the pseudonym William Collins. His 2019 book 'The Empathy Gap' is a comprehensive collection of evidence arguing that men are extensively disadvantaged across many areas of life.

On this episode of British Thought Leaders we speak with Peter Humphrey. Peter is a sinologist and former journalist who operated a fraud investigation consultancy in China with his wife. They were both imprisoned in China on false charges of illegal information gathering in what Peter called a shattering experience and a miscarriage of justice.

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, we speak with Nigel Biggar, who until his recent retirement was Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford. Nigel was appointed CBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to higher education. His latest book ‘Colonialism: A moral reckoning’ was released in February 2023. @NigelBiggar | www.nigelbiggar.uk

On this episode of British Thought Leaders we speak with Doctor Clare Craig, a consultant pathologist of over 20 years who has carried out extensive research into COVID-19. Clare is Co-Chair of the Health Advisory and Recovery Team or HART, a group of highly qualified UK doctors, scientists and other experts who share concerns about the handling of the pandemic. @ClareCraigPath / https://www.hartgroup.org/

On this episode of British Thought Leaders Lee Hall hears from Kate Coleman, director of Keep Prisons Single Sex. This organisation was established in 2020 to campaign for the sex-based rights of women in prison, and for data on offending to be recorded by sex throughout the criminal justice system. @NoXYinXXprisons / https://kpssinfo.org/

Alexander Adams is an artist, art critic and cultural commentator. Alexander’s latest book examines the origins, aims and spread of artivism. He says this fusion of art and activism is putting the very existence of our cultural institutions at risk. @AdamsArtist

Martin Elliott is Provost of Gresham College and Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at University College London. Martin worked in child heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for over 30 years and has taught and operated internationally delivering hundreds of invited lectures worldwide. He was on the panel of the China Tribunal considering evidence of forced organ harvesting in Chinese detention camps. https://www.martinelliott.me/

Rick Bradford has had a successful career in physics and engineering and is an honourary research fellow at the University of Bristol. He is also a world-renouned authority on men's issues, writing under the pseudonym William Collins. His 2019 book 'The Empathy Gap' is a comprehensive collection of evidence arguing that men are extensively disadvantaged across many areas of life.

Belinda Brown is a researcher, author and commentator on issues such as gender, family and community. Belinda also writes for the Conservative Woman @TheConWom, is Children and Families Spokeswoman for the Heritage Party and a patroness of the Scottish Family Party. @bbhippopotamus

Simon Cheng is an exiled Hong Kong activist and founder of the UK-wide diaspora group Hongkongers in Britain. Simon made the news in 2021 after he was detained and allegedly tortured in China. In this episode of British Thought Leaders, Simon talks about his experience with the CCP and the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. Simon also discussed the incident where protestors were attacked at the Chinese consulate in Manchester in 2022. @SimonChengUK / @HongkongersUK

Will Knowland is an educator, writer & cultural commentator. He is outspoken on topics such as masculinity, morality and the role of men in modern society. Will was sacked from his role at Eton College for refusing to take down YouTube lecture questioning 'toxic masculinity' but was subsiquently cleared of professional misconduct. In this video he talks about this experience. @KnowlandKnows

Lord Alton is a former Liberal Party Member of Parliament for a Liverpool constituency and Chief Whip – who has sat as an Independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords since 1997 when he was made a life peer. He is a Visiting Professor at Liverpool Hope University and author of several books. Alton is known for his human rights work including the co-founding Jubilee Campaign and Jubilee Action, and serves as chair, patron, or trustee, of several charities and voluntary organisations. He is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on International Relations and Defence. https://www.davidalton.net/

Andy Shaw is the co-founder and organiser of London’s free-speech comedy club, Comedy Unleashed. The Times described it as ‘the comedy night that takes the PC out of the stand-up elite’. The club has hosted 100s of comedians who challenge conventional thinking and it has gained a reputation for hosting comics that have been cancelled or banned. Andy also writes spoofs for the Spectator magazine, including ‘A Handy Guide to Vaccine Passports’ and ‘The new CofE: Church of Extinction’. He hosts the occasional Spectator podcast, ‘That’s Life'. Follow Andy on Twitter: @AndyShaw1

David Kurten is the Leader and one of the founding members of the Heritage Party. The Heritage Party stands for free speech and liberty, traditional family values, national sovereignty, and financial responsibility. ​ David was a member of the London Assembly from May 2016 to May 2021, and sat on the Education, Environment, Fire & Emergency, Housing and Transport committees at City Hall.

Ben Pile is an independent climate researcher, commentator and blogger. He runs the Climate Resistance website, which challenges mainstream views on environmentalism. He also writes for publications such as Spiked Online. @ClimateDebateUK | http://benpile.substack.com | http://youtube.com/@ClimateResistance | UKclimatedebate.co.uk

Giles William Udy is an English writer and historian of the Soviet Gulag system, Soviet influence on British politics 1917-56 & how history repeats itself. He is a member of the council of the Keston Institute and holds an MBA from the Cass Business School. He is a regular contributor to The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the i, UnHerd and the magazine Standpoint. Udy has made a long-term study of the history of the gulag camps of Norilsk, his collection of photographs of which is in the Hoover Institution Archives. His book 'Labour and the Gulag' (2017) examines the response of the British labour movement to conditions under Stalinism and developed from his earlier Gulag studies after he discovered that the British labour movement had suppressed criticism of conditions in the camps.

Rahima Mahmut is a Uyghur singer, human rights activist, and award-winning translator of the poignant prison memoir The Land Drenched in Tears by Soyungul Chanishe. Currently, she is the U.K. Director for the World Uyghur Congress and Executive Director at Stop Uyghur Genocide. @MahmutRahima | @uyghurcongress | @UyghurStop

Dennis Hayes is professor of education at the University of Derby in England. He is the founder and director of the campaign group Academics For Academic Freedom (AFAF). AFAF was founded in late 2006, initially to promote its Statement of Academic Freedom but has subsequently undertaken the defence of many academics who have been threatened with disciplinary action or censored for their beliefs or ideas (see AFAF's The Banned List). Hayes is an author (with Kathryn Ecclestone) of the best-selling and controversial book The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education. A defender of knowledge-based education he is an advocate of the teaching of Latin and Greek in British state schools.

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert is an educator, academic, author and campaigner who believes passionately in the essential importance of impartiality both in education and as a prerequisite for the civilised conversations necessary for democracy to flourish. Alka became director of Don’t Divide Us following two years as its founder lead on education, a campaign which she felt impelled to join as a counter to the fractious and one-sided discussions about race relations in the UK which have dominated since 2020. Alka began her career teaching English Literature in inner-city London and went on to become a member of the Ofsted Advisory Panel on English. Until recently, she was still practising on the front line as an English teacher with the Civitas Education Charity supplementary schools project. She is a prolific author of specialist texts on education including the 2017 What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, Subjects and the Pursuit of Truth (IoE UCL Press). She has spoken at numerous prestigious conferences and gave evidence to the 2016 All-Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry (APPGI) on Knowledge and Skills in Education. Alka made a characteristically bold entrance into politics in 2017, standing for the Brexit Party as a protest against the potential democratic deficit that would have followed had the popular vote not been enacted. Alka is a wife and mother of two adult children. She enjoys cooking, opera and travelling to visit family in India, when time allows. Follow Alka on Twitter: @ASCphiled

On this episode of British Thought Leaders, we speak with Harry Miller, a retired police officer from Humberside. Harry was investigated by his own local force over posts he made on Twitter and ended up challenging the police in court. In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal said that Harry’s rights to freedom of expression had been violated and that his treatment could have a “chilling effect on public debate”. Harry is now the CEO of Fair Cop, an organisation representing individuals who are concerned about police attempts to criminalise people for expressing opinions that don’t contravene any laws. https://twitter.com/HarryTheOwl101 https://www.faircop.org.uk/

On this episode of BTL, we interview Leilani Dowding a former glamour model, television celebrity, and the UK representative at Miss Universe 1998. After finishing modelling Leilani was involved with the TV programmes such as “Real housewives of Cheshire” but became considerably more vocal about social issues. Since the lockdown she has been very active in the media talking about issues such as lockdown, trans issues, freedom and big tech etc. She has over 50k Twitter followers. She used to have 67k Instagram followers but was de-platformed for discussing vaccine injuries. She regularly appears on GB News and co hosts a show with David Icke’s son talking about alternative news.

Professor Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Law at Swansea University, talks to us about the loss of free speech in British universities and the forces behind these changes, what rising numbers of foreign students mean for these institutions, how foreign powers seek to influence British university education, and his own personal run-in with the censorship of the Chinese Communist Party.

We talk to Elliott Rowland, tailor at Redwood and Feller a company that has been making bespoke suits in London's Westminster since 1946. Redwood and Feller provide the finest levels of craftsmanship to the British Aristocracy, politicians and celebrities and work under a Royal Warrant. Elliott talks to us about the culture and tradition behind bespoke tailoring, inheriting skills from his father and master tailor, Edward Rowland, and what place tailoring has in contemporary British society.

On this episode of British Thought Leaders we sit down with Benedict Rogers, founder CEO of Hong Kong Watch and deputy chair of the conservative party human rights commission. Benedict human rights activist, whose work focuses on Asia and has written a number of books on China and the region. He is also the East Asia team leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and co-founder of the International Coalition to stop crime against humanity in North Korea.