Ian Acheson, CapX

Ian Acheson

CapX

United Kingdom

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Recent:
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Past:
  • CapX

Past articles by Ian:

The Manchester Arena intelligence failures need concerted action, not empty words about 'lessons learned'

The Chairman of the 2017 Manchester Arena public inquiry, Sir John Saunders, has just delivered the final volume of his report and he doesn’t mince his words. This new final section focuses on whether the security services and counter terrorism police could have done more to prevent Islamist extremist Salman Abedi murdering 22 mostly young […] → Read More

Shamima Begum is a problem made in Britain – one we should deal with ourselves

Shamima Begum, the British-born teenager who threw her lot in with Islamic State terrorists, will remain stateless and incarcerated in a Kurdish-run detention camp in north-east Syria. For now at least. Yesterday, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a UK court that deals with nationality issues related to national security, upheld a decision by then Home […] → Read More

The Prevent review suggests that in Britain antisemites can still act with impunity

‘Jews don’t count’, they say, except perhaps in the malign statistics of hatred. Last week’s Shawcross review of the Prevent programme shone a light on just how pernicious and deep-seated antisemitism is among those judged to be at risk of becoming terrorists. Shawcross looked at a number of ‘Channel‘ referrals and was alarmed by what […] → Read More

Sad, insecure and inadequate – incels can be dangerous, but they are not terrorists

Are incels terrorists? The label ‘incel’ is short for ‘involuntarily celibate’ and embraces feelings ranging through sadness to despair to murderous rage, predominantly experienced by young men who feel they are denied sexual fulfilment by a real or imagined social or physical impairment. The question of whether or not they qualify as terrorists has been […] → Read More

Shamima Begum is telling her story – should we listen?

Shamima Begum, the British Isis bride now stateless in Syria, is once again colonising the airwaves. Her latest attempt at rehabilitation is captured in a BBC podcast series titled I’m not a Monster. The first broadcast took place yesterday, where journalist Josh Baker promised a no-holds barred examination over coming weeks into what motivated a […] → Read More

This Trojan Horse report is a valuable lesson in 'institutional timidity'

In 2016, I was tasked by the then Justice Secretary, Michael Gove, to look at Islamist extremism in our prison, probation and youth justice system. While I uncovered a litany of problems, what was really striking was the pervasive ‘institutional timidity’ I encountered when trying to get officials to name and deal with the challenge […] → Read More

We don't need more laws to stop the green zealots – we need to enforce the ones we already have

Protestors are a savvy lot these days. When Just Stop Oil activists block a road, they will have been briefed on the Zeigler ruling by our Supreme Court which, in its infinite wisdom, has ruled that sometimes physical obstruction of the highway does not amount to the highway being physically obstructed. This must be news […] → Read More

Thought-policing: the 'trans guide' for MoJ staff is nonsense on stilts

Dominic Raab might have been hoping for some weekend respite after the recent bullying allegations against him. But while the Justice Secretary sought to get on the front foot with measures to tackle extremism in prisons, trans activists in his own department were doing their level best to cut him off at the knees. The […] → Read More

Bullies need to be rooted out – but we should be clear about what 'bullying' really means

If you think you’re being bullied at work there’s no end of help available. Google ‘workplace bullying’ and you’ll be directed to a list topped with law firms offering to take up cudgels on your behalf for ‘a deal that’s right for you’. Your employer, if you have one, will have a grievance policy they […] → Read More

A cop-out: vetting failures paint an alarming picture of police recruitment

Who joins the police and why? The latest Home Office statistics show that the Conservative manifesto for an uplift of 20,000 officers is on target to deliver by March next year. However, a review of vetting ordered by former Home Secretary Priti Patel in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving officer, reveals […] → Read More

Goodhart's law and order: the problem with policing by central diktat

Some years ago, before David Cameron’s gang abolished regional government, I had a unique perspective on the tension between government rhetoric on crime reduction targets and pavement level reality. By day, I was Director of Community Safety for the Home Office for South West England. By night I was special constable 74170 Acheson, patrolling the […] → Read More

Trust in politics has broken down – but that's not just down to politicians

‘How do we restore trust in a post-Johnson administration?’. Such was the intriguing title of one of the events I attended at Conservative Party Conference this week. The answers, provided by a panel that included the boss of the senior civil service union and a couple of transparency NGO types, said much about the state […] → Read More

Restoring strong US-UK ties is about much more than the Protocol

It’s easy to lose track of world events these days, especially if you’re on a tracker mortgage. However, not enough has been made of Liz Truss’ visit to the United States last week and the question of our much vaunted ‘special relationship’. I’m not well qualified to speak about a post-Brexit trading partnership with the […] → Read More

How the next Lord Chancellor can restore our battered, broken prison service

When the dust finally settles on the Conservative leadership contest next week we will see the appointment of the seventh consecutive Lord Chancellor under a fully Conservative administration. The possible reappointment of Robert Buckland to the coterminous Secretary of State for Justice post he was fired from last September would be a welcome way to […] → Read More

The attack on Salman Rushdie calls for political courage – not hearts, flowers and pointless platitudes

Ronald Reagan was right. Freedom is not free. Forty years after his presidency, the foul attack on Salman Rushdie reveals an era where freedom has been bargained away by the West in search of an accommodation with medieval fanatics who hate us. The pen is not mightier than the sword when the shield around it […] → Read More

Rishi Sunak should be careful what he wishes to ban

What is extreme hatred of Britain? Yesterday, enduring a five-hour rail journey to London – a first class customer on third-world infrastructure – I might have strayed over the line myself. Today, leadership candidate Rishi Sunak has suggested that this is the nebulous benchmark for referral to our counter terrorism Prevent programme. This had predictable […] → Read More

The vile sectarianism we saw this July 12 does nothing to help the Unionist cause

Last weekend we held our village fete, that most culturally English of occasions. Yes, I know it’s a French word. Whatever. I manned the hoopla stall with a degree of recklessness to the rules which was I think appreciated by small children. There were two bands, cream teas correctly assembled (Devon-style) and a tug-of-war. The […] → Read More

The Met must rediscover its moral and physical courage

A few months ago, I was ‘encouraged’ to apply for a role in overseeing a new code of ethics for policing. As the College of Policing was running this process, and I’m not a great fan of woke ideologues getting in the way of thief takers, I didn’t put a lot of effort into the […] → Read More

A mob threatening women is not a 'protest' – and police in Bristol should have known that

Back in the noughties, before Police and Crime Commissioners existed, I was the senior Home Office official in South West England holding Chief Constables to account on behalf of the Home Secretary. My patch included Avon and Somerset, where I had many entertaining conversations with the then Chief Constable Colin Port about the vagaries of […] → Read More

The Tory heartlands face drastic poverty – Downing St must sit up and take notice

How was your Jubilee? Here on Dartmoor, our tiny village managed to get a beacon going that scored on altitude if not output and we’ve also celebrated the 45th year of our Twinning event with some jolly French visitors. The church bells rang. Merriment and community spirit rhymed. In other words the Full English of […] → Read More