There is only one historical event the study of which is compulsory under the National Curriculum – the Holocaust.
Not the Norman Conquest, not the Civil War, not the Industrial Revolution, but the Holocaust – which is part of European, not of British history.
If it is considered essential that all children study this episode of European history, then clearly the Holocaust must have very important lessons to teach us.
What lessons are these? The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust explains on its website that the Holocaust teaches us that “Genocide does not just take place on its own – it’s a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented”.
Surely, we are being told here that we should learn from the Holocaust to call out cases of discrimination, racism and hatred to ensure that they do not lead to anything worse, as they did in Nazi Germany?
Which is exactly what Gary Lineker thought he was doing when he tweeted that the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill was “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s”. One does not have to agree with Lineker’s assessment of Government policy to accept that he had the right to criticise it in the terms he did. (Whether the terms of Lineker’s relationship with the BBC permitted him to speak out on a controversial political issue, is another question altogether.)
One fundamental of Nazi policy was the scapegoating of marginalised groups, not only Jews but also gypsies, Slavs, homosexuals, Communists, even the disabled. It is perfectly reasonable to make a comparison here with the scapegoating of illegal migrants for some of the problems that beset Britain today. The analogy is far from perfect – the Jews being scapegoated by the Nazis were German nationals, not migrants – but the comparison is legitimate.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman responded to Lineker’s comments by saying that she found them offensive because her husband is Jewish and her children are directly descended from people who were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust. But Lineker did not compare the Government’s attitude to illegal immigration with the Holocaust. He compared the language of the Illegal Migrant Bill with the language used by the Nazis in 1930s Germany.
It is a common error to use the terms ‘Nazi Germany’ and ‘the Holocaust’ interchangeably. The discrimination and propaganda characteristic of Germany in the 1930s led to the Holocaust in the 1940s because they were not checked: this is what the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has told us. If people make comparisons with Nazi Germany, it is because they want to prevent a recurrence of anything comparable to the Holocaust.
Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, wrote an article in the Times about Lineker’s comments in which she argued that it was wrong to compare any current concerns to what happened in Nazi Germany.
So what, then, is the purpose of the Holocaust Educational Trust? Its avowed aim is to educate people about the Holocaust. If we’re not permitted to identify the recurrence of attitudes characteristic of Nazi Germany to ensure the terrible crimes to which they led are not repeated, then what is the point of learning about the Holocaust?
Holocaust survivor and Polish historian Marian Turski, speaking at the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in January 2020, declared that “Auschwitz did not fall from the sky [but] crept up, with small steps”. It started, he said, with the banning of Jews from park benches and choirs and swimming pools. Those who witnessed the segregation of Jews in Germany in the 1930s did not know this would lead eventually to their extermination, he said.
I never imagined that I would in my life be defending Lineker. But play the ball, not the man.
Some of Lineker’s supporters, on the other hand, have made unjustified comparisons with Nazi Germany. For example, Alastair Campbell claimed on Twitter that the abolition of BBC Singers and cuts to BBC orchestras were “another resonance with 30s Germany – the assault on culture and the arts”. As if these cuts are comparable to the burning of books and the banning of Jewish composers and the suppression of ‘degenerate’ art.
Campbell also stated in an interview on LBC that he has a book coming out in a few months which will be looking specifically at the use of neo-Fascist and neo-Nazi language by right-wing politicians and newspapers. The examples he gave were “Drain the Swamp” (popularised by Donald Trump), which he says originated with Mussolini, and “Enemies of the People” (used by the Daily Mail to refer to judges obstructing Brexit) which he says comes from the notorious Nazi propaganda outlet Der Stürmer.
Let’s hope Campbell has better examples in his book. Mussolini and Der Stürmer did use the phrases in question, but they did not invent them. “Drain the Swamp” is a phrase specific to American politics that goes back well over a century, originating in the widespread belief that Washington DC was built on a swamp that had to be drained. The phrase has been used by Nancy Pelosi as well as by Trump. “Enemies of the People” dates from Ancient Rome, and most historians would associate it with the propaganda of the Soviet Union rather than Nazi Germany.
Commentators who’ve spoken out in support of Lineker have argued for his right to free speech. As has already been pointed out in the Daily Sceptic and elsewhere, it doesn’t constitute a defence of a person’s right to free speech to insist that he should be allowed to say something that you agree with. It is only a defence of free speech if you insist on someone being allowed to say something with which you disagree. Where were all these supposed free-speech advocates when J.K. Rowling was attacked? Or Maya Forstater? Or Salman Rushdie?
What has not yet been identified is the hypocrisy of the concern that self-styled ‘liberal’ commentators – including Lineker – appear to have developed for the issue of human rights, specifically the human rights of illegal migrants. For the past three years, they have shown no interest in the human rights of British citizens who were imprisoned in their homes, compelled to cover their faces with masks that impeded their breathing, required to submit themselves to invasive tests that constituted a bodily assault, and coerced into accepting an experimental medical intervention to keep their jobs or travel abroad or attend public events. The liberal Left was conspicuous in its absence from resistance to the human-rights abuses that occurred as a result of the Government’s response to the Covid pandemic.
Supposedly, in 2020-22 human rights were overridden because of a ‘public-health emergency’. Funny thing is, this was exactly the phrase the Nazis used to justify their discrimination against Jews. They said first that Jews had to be excluded from German society because they were carriers of disease, and later that they had to be confined in ghettos to prevent them from spreading typhus to the rest of the population.
It was specifically to publicise the comparison between the human-rights abuses of the British Government during the pandemic and the tyranny of Nazi Germany that I set up the campaign group Jews for Justice in the autumn of 2021, at a time when unvaccinated people in Britain were being stigmatised in a manner reminiscent of the ‘othering’ of Jews in Germany in the 1930s. I felt that as a group of Jews we were less likely than others to be shouted down for making this comparison.
It is contemptible that in 2023 ‘liberal’ commentators have suddenly rediscovered a concern for human rights yet appear to remain blithely ignorant of the repeated ethical, moral and legal violations of our Government during the period March 2020 to July 2021.
Andrew Barr has written books on wine and the history of drink, and is working on a history of scapegoating, provisionally entitled The Enemy Within. Jews for Justice does not yet have a website, but can be contacted at jewsforjustice@protonmail.com.
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Why? Because the notion of RFI causing injury has about as solid a basis in reality as the notion of carbon dioxide causing climate change. It might therefore be weaponised by people who seek power by “Alarming the Populace with an Imaginary Hobgoblin”. Fortunately, RFI-phobia has not yet caught on, though doubtless researchers from competing cults will be paid to “model” the bio-electrical system.
(On the related matter of alleged psychological harm caused by change in habits of interpersonal communication, especially adolescents, I do not express an opinion.)
Most 5G alarmists are crackpots who are ignorant of proper scientific analysis and a sensible approach to risk. Treat all such alarmism with a big pinch of scepticism (this is the Daily Sceptic after all).
There are many links to conflicting scientific analysis in this article. I think you will find that systematic reviews and meta-analyses are hefty pieces of work.
CirrusFlyer, well yes a good number of activists who have an online and social media presence are (deliberately) quite objectionable. This has been engineered to besmirch the reputation of anyone raising awareness. It’s a well known tactic and it always surprises me that no one realises!
And do you have any evidence to support that contention?
I think Dd2 is referring to the idea of “the best way to control the opposition is to lead it” (attributed to Lenin?) which makes complete sense from the point of view of the powers that be.
For high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific research on biological detriment from RF radiation (RFR, not ‘RFI’) including clear evidence of cancer see papers and compilations at: National Toxicology Program, Ramazzini Cancer Research Institute, Environmental Health Trust (founder Dr Devra Davis, member of Nobel winning team and former scientific adviser to US govt), PHIREmedical, Physicians for Safe Technology, Bioinitiative Org. ICBE-EMF have explained in detail the flaws in the official science, and independent RF scientists have repeatedly pointed out the issues with ICNIRP and the FCC who set the ‘guidelines’ blindly followed by the UK government. See also the referenced Lancet article on planetary electrosmog showing that the belief that RFR is non-harmful is scientifically outdated.
If you are worried about RFI damaging your person then find a deep mine to live in, away from the relentless blasts coming from our star and outer space.
On the damaging effects of smartphone addiction and the ever-growing need for instant and passive gratification turning children and adolescents into brainless, dependent automatons – yes, the parents need to step in to sort that out – without interference from the state.
And as for the brainless, dependent adult automatons… Well, I don’t know what to do about that. Perhaps the seemingly inevitable power cuts the UK is heading for will help in this matter.
I think that’ll help us all in a strange kind of way… disconnect
Many are concerned with smartphone addiction, especially when it affects youngsters learning, from not learning social norms to being unable to concentrate.
Jonathan Haidt suggests involving all parents at a school, and getting non-smartphones for the under 13 or 14, so their own children aren’t isolated from electronic social circles. It’s the one-to-many social media that is the problem, while emails are one-to-one, so are possible.
I did hear that a government was considering giving schools the power, subject to parental consultation, to do this, so children couldn’t invoke the HRA.
Perhaps treated the same was as voting, sex, marriage, drugs and alcohol? All restricted until the individual is old enough?
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A comprehensive article thank you. Why is it that as soon as 5G is mentioned the hecklers pop out of the woodwork? There are now nearly 30 thousand studies mentioning electromagnetic frequencies (wi-fi and all of the G’s, not just 5G) and human animal and plant health. Over 74 % of studies show harm to health, yet time and time again this huge body of evidence is ignored. All I can say is that the human species suffers from an excess of Cognitive dissonance. To those commentating in a derogatory way, I’d advise looking up the term and taking a look at the 30K or more studies on the orsaa.org database. Then and only then tell me that you want your children to get addicted to a screen who’s content is solely due to the transmission of harmful frequencies.
Hope you’re not referring to anyone here as hecklers!
Let’s not give the authorities any more reasons to “protect” us from non-existent threats, please.
I recognise the hugely compelling and potentially damaging world of social media etc. I make my children aware of the risks and stand ready to help them make sense of it all. I certainly do not want the state trying to “protect” them nor to “help” me in that endeavour.
I do not worry about their brains or any other part of their bodies being fried by very, very weak electromagnetic radiation because it isn’t happening.
I do tell them all about natural sources of electromagnetic radiation which are many thousands of times more powerful. See what happens to your naked skin when the sun is in the sky on a summer’s day? I advise them merely to moderate exposure, because I don’t like the ingredients of sunscreen smeared all over my skin, and certainly not their more fragile skins.
Having said all this, The Invisible Rainbow has been recommended to me by two people I respect greatly on other matters. I shall see if it changes my mind.
Fwiw I found The Invisible Rainbow a bit patchy – useful in parts, woowoo in others. Inconclusive but net, net – worth the time invested.
But surely there has been one lesson from last 5 yrs: if you are mocked for employing the precautionary principle on a health matter, every alarm bell in your body should ring.
leaving one with a Q on 5G: why on earth would anyone advise against caution?
The Precautionary Principle is what you do before any investigation is made.
Those invoking the Precautionary Principle for Climate have ended up with a Climate Emergency, just because the BBC say so, and NET Zero policies, that are expected to cost each UK family over £300,000.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/press-release-net-zero-could-cost-300000-per-household
And there is plenty of evidence that it is the Sun that controls the Earth’s Climate, but Meteorologists know little Solar Physics, and so we continue with a fantasy theory.
The “Climate Emergency” is based on computer modelling. The Precautionary Principle is based on the fact that many studies show harmful effects of non-ionising radiation, though they are not 100% conclusive, but studies rarely are as study desgn, execution and funding source may skew results.
Glad you are open to having your mind changed as this is important. Natural EM radiation isn’t comparable with manmade RFR – it is pulsed, we did not evolve with it, it penetrates the body, it oxidises cells deep in the body and damages DNA. Sunlight isn’t ‘stronger’, it’s entirely different and it is puzzling that people make that mistake; possibly that is because Big Wireless likes to perpetuate that myth. For reliable up-to-date science from genuinely independent experts the best resources are ehtrust.org, PHIREmedical.org, and bioinitiative.org. See also the NTP study on cell phones and heart tumours. The recent COSMOS study from the revolving door group (WHO/ICNIRP), widely reported in mainstream media has been thoroughly critiqued and exposed as flawed here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024003933?via%3Dihub whilst the exposure guidelines which are laughably invalid are discussed by experts here: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-022-00900-9 and there is also an excellent referenced overview in The Lancet here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30221-3/fulltext. We are not short of evidence, we are short of mainstream media and governments reporting on the evidence, and picking only the ‘tobacco science’ to make their lucrative reassurances.
Can somebody please grasp the difference between g for generation and G for Gigahertz, they are totally different.
The next thing to grasp is the difference between ionising and non-ionising radiation. Below a certain frequency in the X-ray range, the photons from radio transmitters do not have sufficient energy to break chemical bonds, their only measureable effect on body tissue is thermal and the only part of the body that is vulnerable is the crystalline lens in the eye due to its lack of blood supply to carry away the heat.
There have been attempts to blame radio signals for many problems. Double blind testing has revealed no correlation with any of the reports and the field strength involved.
I’ve been resisting explaining things because I’ve found I don’t have the patience and I now find the fight too stressful. So I just remind myself that the truth needs no maintenance. But well done for banging the drum for sense, Tyrbiter… It seems people really need stuff to get frightened about, and clamour for more “protection”…
Most current 4G masts are up high. My understanding is that the 5G masts will be: lower down, much more numerous and quite high-powered in order to facilitate the data needed to aid driverless cars etc.
The downsides of living near power cables is well known but not widely publicised. There is a reasonable chance the 5G could provide a long term harm to health. I would be cautious and be one of the last to market.
If you want capacity then you need density which means lower power to reduce the frequency reuse distance. Cellular planning 101.
I have tried in the past but there are too many closed minds.
If they have home broadband then there are almost certainly being bathed constantly in 5Ghz radiation as well as 2.4 GHz.
If they have a mobile phone, I guess they have survived the scares about 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G phone masts sufficiently well to start worrying about the 5th generation, and best of luck spotting the masts for that.
Double blind testing has done no such thing. Harm has been known, and covered up with ‘tobacco science,’ for decades. There are around 2000 peer reviewed studies showing harm, listed on physicians’ and scientists’ websites such as ehtrust.org, PHIREmedical.org, bioinitiative.org and others. The 10 year authoritative, conclusive NTP program found ‘clear evidence’ of tumours. It is irrelevant and narrow to dismiss the known harms because of non-ionising radiation and chemical bonds. The damage to DNA occurs nonetheless, through oxidation, VGCCs and other biological effects.
The number of studies leaning in one direction or other is not sufficient proof of anything, just as it is claimed human caused climate change is true because 97% of climate scientists agreed with this assertion.
The electromagnetic spectrum is shown below and 5G falls below sunlight in the non-ionizing wave lengths. However, 5G is in the microwave part of the spectrum and if given enough energy and concentration it will heat anything with water in it. In addition to microwave, anyone working with radio/TV transmitter towers have to take precautions when in close proximity to these powerful transmitters, close meaning within feet, which include limiting the time near the transmitters or having the transmitter turned off.
Transmitter power is measured in Watts and it is this that is dangerous if high enough and a person is close enough. The higher the wattage the longer the range.
Crystal Palace is the joint most powerful transmitter in the country at 200kW and has a range as far out as Reading.
For 5G Antenna transmission power is anywhere between 250mW for a Small Cell, and 120W for the largest 5G MIMO arrays. A typical 2G, 3G, or 4G antenna has got a transmission power of 20W. The range is low compared to Crystal Palace. Also when there is good coverage the individual mobile phone will transmit at lower power.
The issue of ‘screen time’ damaging children’s cognitive abilities has nothing to do with radio waves and everything to do with the time spent focused on a screen giving endless dopamine ‘hits’.
Massive basic flaws here. Thermal effects are one thing but the point is that a huge body of authoritative research from genuinely independent experts shows that harmful biological effects occur even at low levels of manmade RFR. Natural EM radiation isn’t comparable with manmade RFR – it is pulsed, we did not evolve with it, it penetrates the body, it oxidises cells deep in the body and damages DNA. See compilations of peer reviewed science showing biological harm at ehtrust.org, PHIREmedical.org, and bioinitiative.org. See also the NTP study on cell phones and heart tumours. The recent COSMOS study claiming safety is flawed as detailed here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024003933?via%3Dihub whilst the exposure guidelines which are laughably invalid are discussed by experts here: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-022-00900-9 and there is also an excellent referenced overview in The Lancet here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30221-3/fulltext. We are not short of evidence, we are short of mainstream media and governments reporting on the evidence, and picking only the ‘tobacco science’ to make their lucrative reassurances and postpone the debate indefinitely, with deniers making flawed arguments about sunlight, thermal effects and non-ionising radiation which are irrelevant to the problem in hand.
The Lancet supports Man Made Climate Change narratives, Covid Lockdowns and mass vaccination using mRNA type therapies. You use the pejorative term ‘denier’ which is emotive and a shameful attempt to create an equivalence between someone sceptical of your views and a Holocaust denier.
However, I will read your links and also ask radio experts that I know.
My opinion as an electronic engineer;
1.) Whether it’s 5G or 4G, I do have some concerns about an RF transmitter capable of outputting a few Watts of power operating right next to your brain.
2.) Taking into account the enormous amount of money involved (telecom companies), I am doubtful that an objective study could be carried out at the moment.
3.) Taking into account the fact that very few people would be willing to give up their phones, I also doubt that any warning or advice about adverse effects would make a difference on people’s behaviour.
Given the abundance of clear evidence that manmade electromagnetic radiation, which is not comparable with natural forms (sunlight does not pass through walls or bodies for example), is biologically harmful (neurological, endocrine, carcinogenic and other harms have all been repeatedly proven) the denying comments below are either ignorant or biased. Note the lack of evidence also from the deniers. Non-ionising radiation may not directly break bonds, but research shows that it oxidises cells and damages DNA so it is irrational to dismiss harms based on the outdated ‘but it’s non-ionising’ mantra. For high quality research on biological detriment including clear evidence of cancer see papers and compilations at: National Toxicology Program, Ramazzini Cancer Research Institute, Environmental Health Trust, Phire Medical, Physicians for Safe Technology. ICBE-EMF have explained in detail the flaws in the official science, and independent RF scientists have repeatedly pointed out the issues with ICNIRP and the FCC who set the ‘guidelines’ blindly followed by the UK government. Note ICNIRP look only at thermal effects and, amazingly, do not review the thousands of studies showing biological harm. Children are at particular risk and it is time the UK government and schools did their duty of care and set regulations for ethernet only at schools, as has been officially advised in other countries such as France, Russia, Israel, and Cyprus. Children are currently part of an experiment – this technology has not been around long – and it is dangerous and wrong to put them at risk in this way.
“sunlight does not pass through walls”
Phew. Thankfully we can all Stay At Home.
The problems referred to by the author are easily avoided by wearing a tinfoil hat, which prevents the microwave radiation from reaching the brain…
However she is being rather silly in trying to avoid wifi radiation by not having wifi or a smart meter in her home. Her home will still be bathed in microwave radiation, both natural and from her neighbours’ wifi systems.
Therein lies the problem. We are irradiated involountarily – without consent. However not having wifi or smart devices at home still reduces the radiation.
“Other Countries Are Taking the Health Risks of 5G and Wireless Radiation Seriously. Why Isn’t the U.K.?”
Because it’s a non-problem hyped up by people with no understanding of EM radiation and its biological effect.
Years ago the same sort of lunatics insisted that overhead HT wires caused leukaemia. They don’t.
Yes, they do, and industry/government claims to the contrary have been exposed as flawed. Are people like you paid by industry to comment this way on articles exposing harms from RFR and EMFs? Your evidence-free, ad hominem approach does not reflect well on you. https://www.powerwatch.org.uk/news/20140207-powerlines-childhood-leukaemia.asp
Why does the author amalgamate the non-risk 5G with risks from masts, WiFi and mobiles, thus diminishing the potential risk of the latter? The possible wireless radiation risks were discussed decades ago, chiefly by NZ and German scientists (easy internet search). To convince the readership, the author may consider concentrating on side effects on those residing close to masts, especially on the masts’ “beam corridors”, or using obsessively mobiles. Alasdair Philips is a priceless source of information on the topic.
The author did not mention 5G. The title is given by the editor. The article is mainly about the covering up of the science showing harm from RFR generally.
The people don’t take things seriously. For example many leave their wifi routers on all night. You can easily wire any device to be cable only doesn’t cost much you can buy adapters on Amazon which will use the power cables in your houise to transmit data and then you can connect an Ethernet cable and their are adapters available for smaller devices. It isn’t my intention to lecture but you can’t just assume that because something is invisible and it doesn’t produce immediate noticeable sensory effects then it is perfectly safe. This is an assumption based on absolutely nothing.