Brazier

This week, Colin ponders a scenario once considered unthinkable in Britain: civil war. Drawing on the work of King's College London Professor Dr David Betz, alongside polling, recent unrest and his own reporting, he examines how a subject once dismissed as the preserve of cranks is steadily entering mainstream debate as the social fabric begins to unravel. Looking to countries including Japan, Lebanon and Northern Ireland, Colin explores how social cohesion is the glue that binds a nation together - and what can happen when it begins to break down. In doing so, he asks whether Britain still has the resilience to hold itself together, or whether it's no longer immune to the impulse of insurrection.

This week, Colin argues that the BBC has become less a public broadcaster than an instrument of state-sponsored activism, increasingly positioning itself as the arbiter of acceptable opinion rather than one voice among many.He traces Auntie’s evolution from John Reith’s mission to give audiences what they “ought to have” to today’s battles over bias, BBC Verify, and Labour’s proposals to promote “trusted” news online.Yet despite falling public trust and growing competition from streaming platforms, the BBC’s influence may be stronger than ever.Colin unpacks this paradox before returning to the central question: does Britain still need a state-funded public broadcaster, or is it time to defund the BBC?

This week Colin argues that Windrush Day is part of a broader ideological project to instil the idea that diversity "built Britain".While acknowledging the contributions of the 802 West Indian men who disembarked from the Empire Windrush in 1948, he argues that politicians and institutions have exaggerated their historical significance, turning a complex story of post-war migration into a national founding myth.Colin explores the various ways this rewriting of British history is shaping the present, from replacing figures such as Sir Winston Churchill with images of wildlife on banknotes to what he sees as racially-biased coverage of the Notting Hill Carnival and the World Cup.So, where does this leave us? Colin calls on Britain's leaders to confront both the benefits and the costs of immigration and to end what he regards as the uncritical promotion of state-sponsored myths and simplistic narratives.Subscribe now.www.outpoststudios.net

This week, Colin takes a 360-degree view of the unrest that has gripped Belfast after a Sudanese asylum seeker savagely attacked a local man.He urges listeners to condemn the violent response without ignoring the role that uncontrolled migration - and the mainstream media and progressive politicians’ failure to address it - has played in stoking community tensions in Northern Ireland.Set against this backdrop is the province’s history of sectarian violence. Drawing on his own reporting from the Troubles in the 1990s, Colin reveals how the latest disorder risks reopening old wounds while emboldening a new form of authoritarianism.Like, share and subscribe. 

This week, Colin examines how the killing of Henry Nowak has sparked a long overdue reckoning with issues of race, policing and justice in Britain. A system shaped by decades of anti-racism dogma has become unable or unwilling to spot racism when it falls outside the approved narrative, leaving police, politicians and the media trapped, unable to define what victimhood is in the 21st century. Tracing the rot back to the Macpherson Report, Colin asks whether the fear of being accused of prejudice has distorted public institutions and eroded equal justice. He also reflects on the uncomfortable echoes of George Floyd, and why Nowak’s death has forced a far quieter, more reluctant response. At the centre of the episode is the haunting image of Nowak’s handcuffed hand: a symbol, Colin argues, of a country whose authorities have lost their scepticism, their nerve and their willingness to tell the truth.Subscribe now.www.outpoststudios.net

This week, Colin looks at the Channel crisis through the story of Dunkirk, where small boats once came to rescue British soldiers from the beaches of northern France. Today, 86 years on, different small boats are setting off in the opposite direction. This is a story of the failure of the state, of borders, national will, and a Britain that too often treats problems as inevitable.Colin invites you to ask who is really driving the crossings, why the routes keep changing, and what will become of the country if this crisis continues unabated. Though many politicians have claimed to have a solution, stopping the boats will require more than slogans.It will require the kind of seriousness, imagination and resolve Britain once managed to summon in its darkest hour.This is Brazier. Only on Outpost.Please like, subscribe, and share.