Serialisation of Red Knight: The Unauthorised Biography Of Sir Keir Starmer, in The Mail on Sunday on 13 June 2021.

Even now, says a biography the Labour leader tried to obstruct, he’s guilty of overplaying his working-class credentials.

Those who know Sir Keir Starmer well often speak of his decency, integrity, intellect and reluctance to give too much away about himself.

However, Labour’s local elections trouncing in May spurred him to greater efforts on the self-promotion front.

The opening move was an interview on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, in which he spoke tearfully and movingly about his mother’s life-debilitating illness. (more…)

Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.

The June issue of the magazine has four pages on the life and career of Corporal William Edward Sparks, DSM. Sparks, known to his friends as Bill, was born in London’s East End and was a Cockney with an infectious laugh.

In 1942, he was chosen as one of just twelve men for a daring mission behind enemy lines. The plan was to use six Cockle Mark II canoes to paddle up the Gironde and Garonne rivers at night to attack German shipping by placing bombs on their hulls. (more…)

In Episode 051 | Week 19]  of The Sandton Times Podcast, the show discusses the plan by Environment Minister Barbara Creecy to ban the breeding of lions in captivity for trophy hunting or for tourists with Lord Ashcroft, author ‘Unfair Game – An Exposé of South Africa’s Captive-Bred Lion Industry.

Listen to Lord Ashcroft’s interview …

Lord Ashcroft talks to Carte Blanche, who first broadcast the Cooke Report exposé on canned lion hunting in 1997. Two decades later, the captive lion industry has expanded in scope and brutality – cubs are removed from their mothers, hand-reared, petted, then bred for the bullet or their bones.

South Africa’s new minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, appointed a high-level panel to advise her on the next steps for this industry. Last Sunday, she released her recommendations in an almost 600-page report. The findings signal a seismic shift away from captive breeding and hunting toward a new era for wildlife conservation in South Africa.

Watch interview … 

First published in the Mail on Sunday on 09 May 2021.  

For years, I have been deeply concerned about the plight of lions in South Africa.

Specifically, I have lobbied for an end to the barbaric captive-bred lion industry.

Last summer I published Unfair Game, in which I exposed the horrifying truth about what it really involves.

Captive-lion breeding operates under the umbrella of the respectable tourist trade, but in reality it has meant thousands of lions have been farmed and then exploited in the most cruel ways imaginable simply for profit – all the while risking human health as well.

Read more …

Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.

The May issue of the magazine has four pages on the life and career of Wing Commander Forest Yeo-Thomas, GC, MC & Bar.

Yeo-Thomas, widely known simply as “Tommy’, was born in London but his parents moved to France when he and his two brothers were young so the three boys became bilingual. (more…)

I am delighted to inform those who have followed my campaign to end the captive lion breeding industry in South Africa that its government has today agreed to abolish it. This move is long overdue, but it is a triumph.

For years, I and others – notably Ian Michler and his Blood Lions team – have argued that this barbaric industry must stop. At last, those in power have paid attention.

Credit must go to the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, who announced the measure today at the release of the High Level Panel report on the management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling of elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. She appears to have been prepared to take action in a way that her predecessors would not or could not.

In June 2020, I wrote to Ms Creecy and sent her a copy of my book about lion farming, Unfair Game, in which I was able to expose some of its practitioners via my undercover investigations.

Read more … 

Today [April 1] marks the start of the whaling season in Norway, one of the world’s richest countries and often championed for its political correctness.

Yet again this oil and gas rich nation will ignore its growing number of critics worldwide to hunt and kill hundreds of minke whales off its picturesque coastline.

But does ‘woke’ Norway really need to continue this slaughter in the 21^st century? I truly believe that it is time for this barbaric practice to stop once and for all. (more…)

Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC has had his latest “hero of the month” article published in Britain at War, the country’s best-selling military history monthly magazine.

The April issue of the magazine has four pages on the life and career of Colonel John Duncan Grant, VC, CB, DSO, who was awarded the only VC for the Tibet campaign.

Grant, who was born in Rurki, India, and who was usually known as “Jack”, was from a military family. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant (unattached) in January 1898, aged 20. (more…)

Published in the Mail on Sunday on 07 March 2021.

As he cycles along a quiet backstreet on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, there is an occasional wobble. And as he kicks a football at the local sports club, it is clear that his best days as a player are long behind him. Yet there is nothing to suggest that Ronny Scott celebrated his 100th birthday more than three years ago – or to hint at the incredible life he once led fighting for Britain, despite his Argentine nationality. (more…)