Sunak rightly condemned being labelled a “P*ki”. That he didn’t use his time as PM to condemn other instances of racism, against other minorities, who don’t have his privileges, for politically expedient reasons, is one of his biggest failings in office.

A must read. “Accountability cannot function credibly if its intensity appears to selectively change according to the person being held accountable.”

The story of Jason Arday is the story of James Orr Of the ideology that has found a foothold in institutions like Cambridge, fostering the sorts of ideas that formed the undercurrents against Arday I returned to my alma mater for an in-depth exploration: bylinetimes.com/2026/09/17/t…

Bonnie Greer was never anybody but herself. So unique. So indomitable. So unaffected by the crowd. A lover of complexities. We were emailing in recent weeks about Jason Arday – she had much to say which she wasn't able to in the end. A mentor who lifted us up. We will miss you.

A criminal investigation is now underway into allegations Reform broke the law on foreign funding, following a C4 broadcast involving James Orr. James Orr is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity. Any media interest in hundreds of articles?

Now James Orr has stepped down as Reform UK's Head of Policy after C4's report, questions remain for Cambridge – where he is Associate Professor. We revealed serious concerns about his activities there months ago. We also all know there won't be 200+ articles on him and his life

Ayoung man who has lived with different kinds of disadvantage all his life is elevated to a position of  influence and privilege. In this position he is exposed to consistent, merciless attack, until there is no way back. It ends in death. Summarised like this, it has an almost archetypal quality. The proverbial Martian observer would very likely catalogue it with the rituals of sacrificial scapegoating chronicled in many pre-modern societies – the outsider selected for both sacred dignity and ritual humiliation so that some existing order can be consolidated by an act of collective violence. One of the many things we ought to be reflecting on in the wake of the shocking and tragic events leading to the death of Jason Arday is the nature of the shaming rituals of modern culture, the careful gradation of verbal violence from judicious headshaking through to unbridled, annihilating, joyous venom. The philosopher Bruno Latour wrote that “we have never been modern”; it is sometimes alarmingly clear that we have never been “secular”. We still repeat the ceremonies of public humiliation and cathartic sacrificial violence. A debased media culture and the fever-ridden jungle of online comment are just another iteration of habits deeply rooted in human society-building. We should not deceive ourselves into thinking that we have outgrown any of this. On the contrary. The mechanisms of scapegoating are all around us – and are not confined to the political right. Well-meaning efforts to offset the myth of the scapegoat can easily end up colluding with the process. As has so often been pointed out, tokenism sets people up to fail. Unless change is systemic, thought through, and unless it is intelligent about risk, emotional cost and the specific vulnerabilities of individuals, it is simply sucked into the magnetic field of the sacrificial drama: exalt or highlight the victim, then punish and expel. Rowan Williams: The shaming of Jason Arday newstatesman.com/politics/so…

"We must rage against its cruelty, the casual conversion of humiliation into entertainment, the idea that because each blow can be defended in isolation no one bears responsibility for the beating" Poignant reflections by @iainoverton on Jason Arday: bylinetimes.com/2026/08/19/j…

🔴 There Will Be Another Jason Arday "There will be another Jason Arday. The media knows it. The press isn't free if it lacks the impunity to do what it likes. It's how power protects itself" Editorial by Byline Times’ Editor in Chief @Hardeep_Matharu: bylinetimes.com/2026/08/17/t…

When are journalists in the established press & elsewhere going to admit that journalists & their publications are invested in their own power to shape & influence how stories unfold & what happens to people's lives? This isn't a position of neutrality. It is the starting point.

I've asked this in print. WHY did the media not take an interest in this story? Far more public interest as we are talking about foreign billionaires, corruption, Reform, student safeguarding. Why was Cambridge allowed to get away with no comment?

It remains striking that Cambridge University – which has rightly found itself subject to immense scrutiny around Jason Arday's death – did not answer any of @BylineTimes' questions re another Cambridge Professor, James Orr, Reform's Policy Head, and his activities there. Why?

Jason Arday's utterly sad death holds a stark mirror up to the dehumanising political-media-societal culture we are in – we must be honest about being complicit in – which refuses to see there is a human being at the centre of a story, an issue, a scandal. It is dehumanising.

"When people talk about the need for Black Excellence I counter with an insistence on Black mediocrity: the right for black people to be as average, flawed, compromised & mistaken as any other group of people. The right, ultimately, to be human." R.I.P. Jason Arday

I suspect this series is going to be a massive classic - proper output from the #BBC for a change. And it's a great discussion. Time we got busy demolishing the divisive shit we get from the far right with conversation & care. @Hardeep_Matharu bylinesupplement.com/p/half-…

Well deserved award from President Zelenskyy for our fearless front line reporter @zarinazabrisky who first revealed the ‘human safari’ in Kherson, and has continued to document the war crimes for over three years president.gov.ua/documents/4…

"I understand why the public feels quite deep alienation from the political system... The basics they need to live their life aren't there for them" My wide-ranging interview with Andy Burnham from last summer: bylinetimes.com/2025/07/19/a…

RT @SadiqKhan: Enjoyed speaking to @BylineTimes to discuss ten years of championing the most open, diverse and successful city in the world…

Now it looks like @AndyBurnhamGM could well return to Parliament, it’s worth revisiting this interview with @Hardeep_Matharu from the Byline Festival last year The Next Leader Of The Labour Party? | Andy Burnham piped.video/IPMTcLcWwlc?si=6zoD… via @BylineTV