This is Northumberland Calling 7.8.26

The soft bigotry of low expectations strikes again edition

Hello America (especially Central Ohio), this is Northumberland calling.

It is silly season in British politics which means the politicians are on their hols or visiting their constituencies so no major policy announcement happen. Basically Parliament is in recess. My MP is doing his summer tour of the constituency for example. Burnham is on holiday.

This explains part of the reason for the focus on the Arday affair.

Basically did Cambridge drastically lower its standards to appoint Jason Arday, a man now shown to have exaggerated his CV (to put it politely) so that their DEI stats would look better or not. Were they in fact guilty of the soft bigotry of low expectations? The defence of Arday initially revolved around genetic fallacy (or an appeal to the origin of complaint). Basically look at the complainer (who had certain known prejudices) rather than the substance. It would seem concerted efforts were made to silence anyone who complained, including students (who were told they were racist) and journalists (who were reported to the police) Arday has now resigned. I suspect certain people and institutions want to draw a line under the affair but the Telegraph has continued to investigate and has started naming names of the people who appointed Arday and how it may have been a stitch up. Cambridge will be hoping that no one is noticing. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/06/the-cambridge-diversity-scramble-that-led-to-arday-fiasco/ or https://archive.ph/Q2tMP

This is a stack from a professor based in the US about those who appointed Arday.

Who Hired the Ridiculous Jason Arday at Cambridge? I Have the Names.

This is the Guardian reporting on the academics who want the grotesque racism which led to Arday’s appointment investigated. Leading the charge on this is Priyamvada Gopal who has been at the forefront of demanding decolonization of academia. Others are resisting. This points to a split in ‘woke’ academia – those who are worried that the affair will cause a loss of status and those who wish to defend someone who appears to be a fantasist because it is progressive to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/06/jason-arday-cambridge-dons-demand-accountability-grotesque-racism

The Atlantic has gotten its hands on Arday’s original book proposal and compared and contrasted with the book which Simon and Schuster have sent out for review. Will the book sell? It has had plenty of free PR. People will be interested. However, I suspect his speaking and academic career may be over. https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/08/jason-arday-cambridge-academic-memoir-resignation/688206/ or https://archive.ph/0RHeH

Tomiwa Owolade has written an excellent op ed about the Left’s corruption of excellence. He argues that Matthew Arnold’s maxim -- education should be about spreading “the best which has been thought and said in the world” should apply to everyone and therefore standards should be kept high. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/06/jason-arday-symptom-of-the-left-corruption-of-excellence/ or https://archive.ph/u30Yv

Sonia Sodha in the Times also has done a good op ed on the need to stop having mushy groupthink which leads a dramatic lowering of standards. She references John McWhorter who was brutal about the people who hired Arday ‘they think black people are dumb’. In other words in their unique way they are prejudiced as the man who made the original allegations against Arday and that risks undermining true equality of opportunity . https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/impact-jason-arday-saga-academia-wzsjq63xp or https://archive.ph/pvOl5

There is a sort of perverse popcorn eating pleasure in watching this unfold as a lot of hubris and being hoist own petards by the elites is involved. I also feel very sorry for the academics who were overlooked because people chose to believe in the myth-making. His place at Cambridge was not uncontested (for example).

The long awaited EHRC guidelines became statutory on Wednesday. Cue wailing and gnashing from certain quarters and performative stunts. The law is the law and has always been the law. Certain councils in London stated they would not uphold the law. They are already facing legal challenges on that stance. Council can’t pick and choose which laws to uphold. The answer for those who are concerned about services for trans people who do not feel comfortable using the appropriate biological sex facility is to campaign for more ‘accessible to all’ facilities. In a pluralistic society, we must all make reasonable compromises. And people should be expected to respect the law. It is soft bigotry to suggest that they are incapable of doing so. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-mp-samantha-niblett-single-sex-spaces-fx9gchwlj or https://archive.ph/V66RU

Equally it is not for teachers or persons in authority to give books with ‘safety covers’ on to vulnerable children whom they think might have parents who would object to their child being pushed down the ‘gender affirmation’ route. The new RSHE and KCSIE statutory guidelines are quite clear that these sorts of discussions should not be initiated by teachers and parents should be involved at the earliest stages because that is the way to ensure the best developmental outcome for the children. If teachers or people in authority truly think a child is in danger of abuse, they need to contact the police or social services. https://www.gbnews.com/news/outrage-after-publisher-launches-safety-covers-allowing-young-people-to-hide-gender-identity-books-at-home

The Scottish government continues to fail. This time with their wildfire management. The wildfire in Cairngorms continues to rage, in part because they did not learn lessons from last year’s fires. Britain has been wet in the last few decades. Ireland, for example, has experienced 40 years of abundant rainfall. This has meant scant attention was paid to the need to prepare for drought, particularly when populations explode. People also have to learn how to behave in dry conditions (for example not having open fires or using disposable barbeques) The Scottish government needs to accept its failings rather than simply blaming Westminster who did offer helicopters etc. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/wildfires-cairngorms-scottish-fire-service-gnhfxnzcs

A Royal Navy flag from the Battle of Trafalgar is to stay in Britain and will be housed in the North East. It was one of Admiral Collingwood’s flags and was apparently sewn by the ‘Tars of the Tyne’ on board his ship the HMS Sovereign. Collingwood was from the North East and served as Nelson’s second in command. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/rare-battle-trafalgar-flag-saved-34412764

Six white tailed sea eagles have been released in Exmoor national park. Sea eagles eat fish as their name implies. They do not predate livestock, dogs or little children as some mistakenly claim. Hopefully the reintroduction will be a success. All six are tagged and being monitored. Exmoor does have other raptors such as goshawks. BTW the American Bald eagle is a type of sea eagle. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74g0jz3d4yo

Here:

We finally had some rain. The blackberries have started to ripen in response to the drought. Our cannas may bloom for once. The apples are ripening and the bees are busy. I am enjoying the warm weather because winter is coming.

Northumberland has been discovered so the tourist traffic, particularly along Hadrian’s Wall is something else. It is good for the pubs etc in the area. It also makes for congestion.

Paddy posing

I finally upgraded my phone (last upgrade 2018) so the photos of Paddy should be clearer. It also means that my hearing aids are now linked to my phone. I can listen to podcasts and music without disturbing anyone else.

I am now putting my edits on the computer and am enjoying this manuscript much more. It does help that I can listen to music through my hearing aids.

I have no plans to put a paywall on. If you want to buy one of my books to reward me, fabulous. I believe they are good escapist reads, historical romance set in a wide variety of eras such as Rome, Viking and Regency. ‘Simply enchanting’ according to Romance Readers’ Reviews about A Christmas Wedding Wager. ‘Everybody loves Styles’ Vikings’ said the Romantic Times.

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