Re: “Paul Marshall, the man who owns the right” (TNW #456). Back in my late teens, I read Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook by Edward Luttwak (first published in 1968). In those innocent days, the first step, as I vaguely recall, was to take over the radio station.
In the connected age, Marshall, Elon Musk et al have taken over the media environment far more completely than that, and imprisoning a few newspaper editors seems tame by comparison.
Kane Clements
I take issue with the words “devout Christian philanthropist” to describe Paul Marshall. Mr Marshall seems to follow a form of “Christianity” that is not based on any of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
David Irwin
I notice that James Ball’s very useful flow chart of Paul Marshall’s right wing links mentions the “Think tanks/acadamia” – they are my favourite nuts.
Dr Ron Iphofen FAcSS
Suggested Reading
Paul Marshall, the man who owns the right
In “End this stupid ban” (TNW #456), Matt Kelly accurately describes how the proscription of Palestine Action has resulted in the arrest and labelling as terrorists of 2,100 peaceful protesters for holding a piece of cardboard or a Palestine flag in public.
When an elderly woman was arrested for holding a cardboard placard worded “I oppose genocide”, I wrote to Sir Keir Starmer asking him to tell me if I would be arrested if I held up a placard saying “I support genocide”. To date I’ve received no reply.
Pat Brandwood
Broadstone, Dorset
This proscription really is quite extraordinary. When around 100,000 racists demonstrated in London, there were assaults on the police and counter-protesters by thugs, but a mere 26 arrests. Now entirely peaceful protesters, many of them elderly with no criminal convictions, demonstrate and are arrested by the score.
Alexander Blackburn
Despite all the nonsense about Palestine Action and its proscription, still not a word that I’ve seen about an investigation or enquiry into how activists from PA were able to gain access, apparently undetected, to one of our supposedly most secure air bases and commit their bit of paint-spraying on one plane.
Where was the security? What were the officers charged with protecting this highly important military site doing? Why have we not had any minister resigning, or officers on duty charged with dereliction of duty?
I can’t help thinking the proscription of this group has less to do with terrorism and a lot more to do with diverting the media and the public away from this shocking lapse by the military and the government.
Richard Robinson
I write in full-throated agreement with Alastair Campbell’s superb column on why Donald Trump is undeserving not just of the Nobel peace prize, but of any platform that legitimises him as a force for peace (Diary, TNW #456). As Campbell rightly notes, peace is not simply the absence of war. It is the painstaking, principled effort to build a world based on justice, decency, and mutual respect.
Trump’s worldview– transactional, performative, self-enriching – has no space for that. His fetish for medals and symbols masks a deeper truth: he neither understands nor respects the values that underpin the Nobel peace prize.
Seán Hogan OBE
Alastair Campbell might have discussed the insurrection that Trump promoted in January 2021, attempting to prevent the validation of Joe Biden’s election win. Many hoodlums involved were tried, found guilty and imprisoned. An early Trump action in his second term as president was to pardon these people. How can any reasonable person support the nomination for any peace prize going to a man who is such a significant disruptor of the democratic process and the rule of law?
We remain grateful for any peace that Trump can bring to the Middle East, but that should not blind us to the shedload of evidence on the other side of the ledger that this man is anything but a peacemaker.
John Cole
Had Trump any real inclination to stop the carnage in Gaza, the “ceasefire” would have happened months ago. His interest has been to prolong the war to squeeze as much money for himself and his circle of investors as he can for as long as possible.
This real estate “peace plan” will prove to be yet another red herring in which Palestinians will be the losers again.
Nasrin Sharifi
In the opening sentence of “It had to be Trump… and that’s embarrassing” (TNW 456), Matthew d’Ancona says, “A bullying autocrat has succeeded where years of calm diplomacy failed”. But has Trump really succeeded in anything more than engineering a ceasefire and hostage and prisoner release?
Even the ceasefire is dubious, since Palestinians are continuing to be fired upon and murdered in Gaza. We are no nearer to a peace treaty, or even a peace process, than we were before Trump’s posturing.
Robert Behrman
Winter Hill, Berkshire
Re: Marie Le Conte on Denmark’s social media ban for children (Dilettante, TNW #456) was a good piece with an interesting perspective – the things that are lost from the internet because of addictive product design.
Interesting, too, having read Tim Berners-Lee’s new book, This is for Everyone, in which the inventor of the internet says he sees addictive product design of social media as its biggest problem. As he says, “no one’s addicted to Pinterest”.
Hilary Sutcliffe
I worry when people toss around terms like “addiction” when talking about children’s use of social media. Particularly when it is by journalists who are unqualified in psychology.
That does not mean children do not need to be protected from online abuse. However, the ability of teens to just hang out has been destroyed in recent years by the privatisation of public spaces, the rise of cars and the mass closure of youth clubs. Instead, they have retreated into cyberspace.
John Trew
Re: David Quantick on Richard Osman (TNW #455). My daughter, who is at school in Paris, was given The Thursday Murder Club as reading homework during the summer, to read in English. OMG, it was dull and very unfunny. We got it on audiobooks and listened to it in the car as we drove down to Italy on holiday, but couldn’t stand more than a few (mercifully short) chapters at a time.
She gave up. I attempted to battle on, so at least I could help her complete her homework task. Then we saw it was on Netflix just before term started up again. We tried that – and it was even more boring. It is probably the most overrated book I’ve ever tried to read.
Richard Riddle
BELOW THE LINE
Re: “Colditz goes hi-tech” (Carousel, TNW #456). I went to Colditz Castle last year and used the Histopad mentioned in the article. It worked flawlessly and was a revelation – it really brings everything to life. However, I would also recommend doing one of the guided tours that they still operate. You get to visit other parts of the castle and grounds that are not accessible independently, and the guides themselves are fascinating. Overall, do try to visit. It really is amazing, and in a beautiful setting, too.
ANTHONY NUTHALL
Re: “Recapturing Kerouac’s USA” (TNW #456). Josh Brolin is 57 and still has his original copy of On The Road. I’m 79 and still have my Pan paperback second printing from 1963. It cost 5/- with a cool drawing on the cover. Just opened it and found a boarding pass for Saudi flight SV0702 between Jeddah and Medina, Nov 1985 or 86!
JOHN SIMPSON
Re: “Will audiobooks kill reading?” (TNW #455). Surely one reason some real books will always be favoured over audio is that they’re a lot faster to read for most people. And much easier to reread and search back through.
COLIN QUINNEY
