Howya. I’ve given no thought whatsoever to this. I’m effectively shooting from the hip here, but I felt I ought to say something in light of the events of the last few days. The Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne has been battered in the UK press and broadcast media, as you know by now. Swayne is a critic of lockdown and has repeatedly expressed scepticism around coronavirus case numbers and deaths. In the last few days he has been criticised relentlessly for appearing on The Richie Allen Show and has even faced calls for his suspension for granting me an interview.
This isn’t a new tactic. Many of my guests have had to deal with similar nonsense over the years. It has now become the norm to troll people for appearing on a platform, because a previous guest had something controversial to say. This is sickening to me, someone who has been producing, editing and presenting radio for well over twenty years. I never thought we’d get here. It is intellectually redundant, to put it mildly, the notion that by appearing on a show, you automatically associate yourself with the views of the host or his previous guests. Yet, here we are. Swayne, who knew nothing of me or my show before agreeing to come on, is facing calls for his job, because I’ve hosted people with controversial views and therefore by appearing with me, he has been accused of legitimising those views.
When I invited the journalist James Delingpole on, I advised him that he might be hammered for accepting. James has no time for antisemitism or bigotry, no more than I do and he’s a supporter of Israel as far as I can tell. I warned him that he’d be caned for joining me, because of my own stance on Israel and because I’d interviewed a couple of Holocaust deniers over the years. To his eternal credit, James said, and I paraphrase, “to hell with them, the notion that I could be associated with the remarks of another guest, who I know nothing about, is ludicrous.” We had a good interview as it happens.
Two organisations purporting to be charities have been throwing mud at me and my show for years. I’m a thick skinned Paddy, so it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I repeated this week, what I have been saying for years, that if any of these fake charities (they are political lobby groups) can provide evidence of me denying the Holocaust or failing to challenge someone who has, they should produce it. They never will. Incidentally, I’ve broadcast thousands of shows and Holocaust denial has only ever come up twice. I’ve always made it abundantly clear that I don’t agree with it. But none of this really matters.
The Richie Allen Show has an enormous reach. I’ve been able to use that reach to platform academics, scientists, doctors and journalists, all of them lockdown sceptics, all of them properly qualified and entitled to their opinion. They must be heard. They shouldn’t have to depend on me to platform them. But the BBC, RTE, SKY News and the rest are working day and night to silence them. Think about that for a moment.
As the opponents of free speech and open debate cannot stop me broadcasting (and they never will), all that remains for them is to attempt to scare people off the programme, by making an example of someone like Sir Desmond Swayne. They did it to Harvard scientist Martin Kulldorff too. He was trolled unmercifully for coming on with me, because of some of my past guests. He was aghast. What a wakeup call for him eh? Look at Desmond Swayne’s face as he is being interviewed by SKY’s Adam Boulton this week. He’s incredulous. He cannot believe what he is hearing. Boulton accuses him of legitimising the views of Andrew Wakefield, by appearing with Del Bigtree. Swayne and Bigtree only spoke of lockdown on the show, but Wakefield is a friend of Del’s you see. Swayne’s face really does paint a picture.
I trust my audience. I know they can see through these tactics. I hope with all of my heart, that those who do not listen to me or have never heard of me, are beginning to see through it too. Our governments are waging psychological warfare on us, imprisoning us in our homes, destroying our children’s futures, capsizing our businesses and attempting to medicate us by coercion. The independent media and in particular radio shows like mine, are all that remains and the only place you’ll hear dissenting voices and open debate. It’s time to go on the attack and expose those who would silence us. Enough is enough.
