Pro-British, Anti-Extremist

This post concerns a new blog entitled Pro-British, Anti-Extremist.   Last year, David T invited me to become a regular contributor to Harry’s Place following a number of guest posts on the British ‘far-right’. I happily accepted as I share many of the views expressed here.   The stated aim of Harry’s Place is ‘to provide an open forum for the democratic, secular, anti-fascist, liberal, anti-totalitarian left’. On many issues, however, the old notions of ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ seem to me to offer a false dichotomy. Support for democracy, secularism, anti-fascism, liberalism, and anti-totalitarianism are today neither characteristically Left or Right. Indeed, on certain issues - opposition to Islamism, defence of free speech, anti-totalitarianism, support for the right of the State of Israel to exist and promotion the Two State Solution - small ‘c’ conservatives seem to be far more engaged than the bulk of what now passes for the ‘Left’, and I have consequently been unsurprised to see my work cited on blogs such as Little Green Footballs, and at the websites of National Review and Commentary.   I consider myself to be someone who subscribes to all the central aims and concerns of Harry’s Place, but I wouldn’t identify myself as a ‘left-winger’ - I probably feel more at home considering myself generally as a progressive small ‘c’ conservative than anything else. I support Harry’s Place because it is, overall, a centrist blog (albeit one deriving from and leaning towards the Left), and we need centrism more than ever as we deal with major issues that affect us all.   Given some of my views differ quite a bit from the rest of the HP contributors, I’ve decided to set up a separate blog to express those, entitled ‘Pro-British, Anti-Extremist’. I shall continue to write articles here at HP on non-partisan issues such as opposition to the activities of the BNP and others on the British ‘far-right’, as well as on issues such as anti-Semitism and Jihadism. However, in order that my personal views are not misconstrued as being part of the ‘HP line’, I’ll be operating PBAE as a separate enterprise. Views there are mine alone and should not be taken in any way to be ‘the views of Harry’s Place’.   With all that said, feel free to check out ‘Pro-British, Anti-Extremist’ here.

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