Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author, and political commentator. He began his career at the Birmingham Post and Mail before becoming a reporter at The Independent. He now writes a political column for The Observer, a weekly column for the London Evening Standard, and contributes regularly to the New Statesman. His books include Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous (2000), Pretty Straight Guys (2003), and What's Left? (2007), which he describes as the story of how the liberal left of the 20th century came to support the far right of the 21st. ^[1] The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Headlines of the Evening Standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo Station The Evening Standard is a British tabloid newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast England. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ...

Cohen is known for the promotion of a left-wing democratic secular humanism, and is regarded by supporters as belonging to the intellectual tradition of radical writers such as George Orwell^[2] and Albert Camus. Hitherto a strong critic of American foreign policy, he created controversy in 2002 when he announced his support for the invasion of Iraq and denounced the left for failing to address Islamist ideology. "The left... has swerved to the right," he wrote.^[3] His critics have said the same of him. Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the spiritual as warrants of moral reflection and decision-making. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... Albert Camus (pronounced ) (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was an Algerian-French author and philosopher. ... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article is about political Islamism. ...

In 2006, he became a signatory to the Euston Manifesto, which proposes "a new political alignment" in which the left stands for liberal democracy, and opposes tyranny, terrorism, racism, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. The Euston Manifesto (pron. ... Liberal democracy is a form of government. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Terrorist redirects here. ... Manifestations Slavery · Racial profiling · Lynching Hate speech · Hate crime · Hate groups Genocide · Holocaust · Pogrom Ethnocide · Ethnic cleansing · Race war Religious persecution · Gay bashing Pedophobia · Ephebiphobia Movements Discriminatory Aryanism · Neo-Nazism · Supremacism Kahanism Anti-discriminatory Abolitionism · Civil rights Gays/Transsexes/Intersexes rights Womens/Universal suffrage · Feminism Mens/Fathers rights... Flag burning is widely used internationally as a symbolic form of protest against the U.S. Anti-Americanism, often Anti-American sentiment, is opposition or hostility toward the government, culture, or people of the United States. ... New anti-Semitism is the concept of an international resurgence of attacks on Jewish symbols, as well as the acceptance of anti-Semitic beliefs and their expression in public discourse, coming simultaneously from three political directions: the radical left, Islamism, and the far-right. ...

Domestic politics

Though arguably best known for his views on foreign policy, Cohen also writes on domestic issues, including education policy, civil liberties, and inner-city racial tension. He has been a consistent opponent of the introduction of identity cards, has declared his support for grammar schools, and has attacked the increasing involvement of the private sector within public services. Image File history File links Cover of Cruel Britannia This image is a book cover. ... German identity document sample An identity document is a piece of documentation designed to prove the identity of the person carrying it. ... A grammar school is a type of school found in some English-speaking countries. ...

He has been a longstanding critic of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the "New Labour" project, which he argues is based on image, not principle. He told the British television network, Channel 4: "You get this picture of the leadership of this country, people in the heart of power, Blair, Campbell, Powell all in Downing Street, all worried intensely and working intensely about the Prime Minister's image. This is the government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They really ought to have better things to do with their time ... Apart from Tony Blair's image, his sincerity, his integrity, there's no ideology behind it, beyond the standard neo-Conservative ideology of the day, and so his integrity is kind of all they've got." ^[4] A prime minister is the very most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... Downing Street For a wider coverage of London, visit the London Portal. ... Neoconservatism describes several distinct political ideologies which are considered new forms of conservatism. ...

Cohen takes a broadly libertarian viewpoint on civil liberties issues. In particular, he has been a consistent opponent of the introduction of identity cards, which he described in 2004 as a "counterproductive, authoritarian and ruinously expensive folly" ^[5]. He has also attacked the misuse of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, arguing that they "have created a new outlet for the small-minded and allowed them to treat people who would once have been dismissed as unlucky or unconventional or simple-minded as villains." ^[6] Enabling legislation for the British national identity card was passed under the Identity Cards Act 2006 [1]. The multi-billion pound scheme [2] has yet to enter procurement. ... In the United Kingdom an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) is a civil order made against a person, as a result of persistent anti-social behaviour. ...

He has also written frequently on the topic of inner-city racial tension, arguing that society has discouraged racial integration. In the aftermath of the Birmingham riots in October 2005, he recalled his time as a reporter for the Birmingham Post & Mail during the Handsworth riots twenty years earlier, and drew pessimistic conclusions from events in the interim period, writing: "I can see no more urgent task than taking the fight to those on the right and the left who are busily piling bricks on ghetto walls. If they're not stopped, I don't like to think what Handsworth or the rest of the country will be like in 20 years." ^[7]. He has written on the relative success of the British National Party at the 2006 local elections, arguing that, "if polite society stuffs British citizens into hermetically sealed boxes and labels them as the blacks or the Muslims, it is not so strange that people should decide to be the whites and vote accordingly." ^[8]. The Birmingham riots of 2005 occurred on two consecutive nights on Saturday October 22 and Sunday October 23, 2005 in the Lozells area of Birmingham, England. ... The two Handsworth riots occurred in the Handsworth suburb of Birmingham England during the summers of 1981 and 1985. ... This article is about the modern party. ... Local government elections took place in England (only) on Thursday May 4, 2006. ...

On economic issues, Cohen has argued forcefully against increasing economic inequality, something which he argues has been exacerbated by the disappearance of grammar schools. There is, however, some evidence that his views have shifted. In January 2007 in the Evening Standard he argued that couples earning 100,000 GBP a year were finding it difficult to survive financially in London due to the pressures of school fees, house prices and council tax, and unless the governing Labour Party addressed their concerns it would lose the next general election.

Cohen currently has no declared party political allegiance; he has said that he has never been a member of any political party other than the Labour Party ^[9] but has suggested that he might consider voting Conservative to defeat Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral elections. ^[10] The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and is the second oldest extant political party in the world. ... Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is an English politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. ...

Cohen, Islam and the "war on terror"

Alan Johnson, Eve Garrard, Nick Cohen, Shalom Lappin, and Norman Geras at the launch in London of the Euston Manifesto in 2006. They wrote that anti-Zionism has "developed to a point where supposed organizations of the Left are willing to entertain openly anti-Semitic speakers and to form alliances with anti-Semitic groups." ^[11]

Before the lead-up to the Iraq war in 2002, Cohen had been a fierce critic of UK and U.S. foreign policy. These criticisms continued for some months after the attacks of September 11, 2001; he opposed that year's Afghanistan war and, in November 2001, argued that Tony Blair had "pinned a large target sign on this country" in his alliance with the U.S. in the war on terror. ^[12]. In January 2002 he declared in the New Statesman that the US's "unilateral" foreign policy meant it was "right to be Anti-American". Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2355x1054, 549 KB) The ethnically-diverse panel at the public launch of the Euston Manifesto (May 25, 2006). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2355x1054, 549 KB) The ethnically-diverse panel at the public launch of the Euston Manifesto (May 25, 2006). ... Norman Geras is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Manchester. ... The Euston Manifesto (pron. ... Anti-Zionism is a term used to describe opposition to Zionism, the movement supporting the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about U.S. actions after September 11, 2001. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ...

After the large-scale February 2003 anti-war demonstration in London, he was particularly critical of those human-rights, feminist and gay-rights activists who marched alongside Islamist groups, whom he accused of homophobia, anti-Semitism and misogyny. For other uses of the term, see Iraq war (disambiguation) The 2003 invasion of Iraq (also called the 2nd or 3rd Persian Gulf War) began on March 20, 2003, when forces belonging primarily to the United States and the United Kingdom invaded Iraq without the explicit backing of the United... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... Homophobia is the fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Misogyny (GA , RP ) is hatred or strong prejudice against women. ...

Cohen criticized the Stop the War Coalition over its attitude toward Iraqi dissenters: "Iraq is the only country in the Arab world with a strong, democratic movement. Yet I wonder how many who marched yesterday know of the dissenters' existence. The demonstration's organisers have gone to great lengths to censor and silence ... The Socialist Workers Party, which dominates the alliance, was happy to cohost the march with the reactionary British Association of Muslims. The association had blotted its copybook by circulating a newspaper which explained that apostasy from Islam is 'an offence punishable by death'. But what the hell. In the interests of multi-culturalism, the SWP ignored the protests of squeamish lefties and let that pass. The Trots aren't Islamophobes, after all. The only Muslims they have a phobia about are secular Iraqi Muslims who, shockingly, believe in human rights." ^[13] The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a UK anti-war group set up on 21 September 2001. ... The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a political party of the far left in England. ... MAB logo The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) is an Islamist group in the United Kingdom established in 1997. ...

He has been particularly critical of George Galloway, the Respect MP, whom he has likened to Oswald Mosley, and the Respect coalition more generally, which is linked to the Stop the War Coalition and the Socialist Workers Party. He has also criticized Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, for his association with Islamist clerics such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi. For Cohen, the "principled left" is a thing of the past. George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a Scottish politician noted for his far left and socialist views, confrontational style, and rhetorical skill. ... RESPECT The Unity Coalition is a left wing British political party founded on January 25, 2004 in London. ... Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is an English politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. ... Yusuf al-Qaradawi (Arabic: يوسف القرضاوي) (born September 9, 1926) is an Egyptian Muslim scholar and preacher best known for his popular al Jazeera program, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (Shariah and Life), and IslamOnline, a website that he helped to found in 1997. ...

The hit of the season is Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, a sort of Fox News for liberals. Among the many clunking contradictions and honking errors, one unforgivable scene stands out. Moore brushes aside the millions forced into exile and mass graves by Saddam Hussein, and decides to present life in one of the worst tyrannies of the late 20th century as sweet and simple. Boys scamper to barber shops. Merry children fly kites. Blushing lovers get married. At the end of the film, leftish audiences in America and Europe show they are more than prepared to forgive and forget. They rise to their feet and applaud. ^[14]

In his switch to support for the wider war on terror, Cohen cited Paul Berman's book Terror and Liberalism as a major influence: "The only time I realised I was charging up a blind alley was when I read Paul Berman's Terror and Liberalism. I didn't see a blinding light or hear a thunder clap or cry 'Eureka!' If I was going to cry anything it would have been 'Oh bloody hell!' ... I was going to have to turn it round and see the world afresh." ^[15] Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American political-activist, a film director, author, social commentator, and political humorist. ... Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... World map showing the location of Europe. ... This article is about U.S. actions after September 11, 2001. ... Paul Berman is a prominent liberal American intellectual. ...

Critics of Cohen's position on Iraq have pointed to his support of the Iraqi National Congress in the run-up to war, and his praise for its leader Ahmed Chalabi, the alleged conduit for much of the faulty pre-war intelligence. As the possibility of war with Iraq emerged in early 2002, Cohen promoted the INC as 'an inspiring resistance group' and criticised its 'shunning... by right-thinking, Left-leaning people', as well as by the CIA and State Department: The Iraqi National Congress (INC) is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. ... Ahmed Chalabi Ahmed Abdel Hadi Chalabi,1 (Arabic: احمد الجلبي) (born October 30, 1944) was interim oil minister in Iraq[1] in April-May 2005 and December-January 2006 and deputy prime minister from May 2005 until May 2006. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...

Many in the INC believe that what truly infuriates the CIA is that Chalabi is a cultured businessman, who speaks English better than most Western politicians. He argues with style and force against the INC’s detractors on the US networks and in Congress and the Washington think-tanks. George Tenet, who, incredibly, remains the CIA director after his failure to protect his country on 11 September, is the leader of the faction in Washington which loathes the INC… In Washington, the State Department, which has stopped funding the INC after disputed accusations of fraud, and the CIA take no notice of the threat and support the ‘nicer Sunni tyrant’ option. Paradoxically, the greatest supporters of the civilian movement are the military in the Pentagon. The struggle between the departments is underway, but the balance of forces is against the INC. A democratic Iraq would give the subject peoples of the Gulf monarchies ideas above their station. ^[16]

Cohen repeated his praise of the INC in a number of columns leading up to the war, describing it as a 'a loose and fractious coalition, but one which, for all its faults, is committed to democracy.' ^[17]. Even before revelations of the role played by Chalabi and the INC in providing dubious intelligence, Mark Seddon argued that "Cohen's faith in the shambolic Iraqi National Congress, presided over by a convicted fraudster, Ahmad Chalabi, is horribly misplaced." ^[18] Mark Seddon (born 1962) is the New York-based United Nations correspondent for Al Jazeera English and formerly a British journalist and activist in the Labour Party. ...

Cohen has written about the anti-Semitic attacks his columns have attracted, particularly after writing about the relationship between the left and the far right. After one such column, he wrote: "I couldn’t believe the anti-Semitism that hit me." ^[19] Although readers may have assumed he was Jewish because of his surname, he has written that, in fact, "there hasn’t been a Jewish member of [his] family for 100 years". ^[19] The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ...

His attitude to George W. Bush has evolved concurrently with his views on foreign policy. He wrote in January 2005: "In the long-run the only solution is for the global move towards democracy to get moving again. In these strange times, the only person who believes that this is possible or desirable is George W. Bush. In his inauguration address last week he announced that the 'survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.' And was feared and hated by right-thinking people the world over for saying so." ^[20] George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

See also

• David Aaronovitch
• Christopher Hitchens
• George Orwell
• Melanie Phillips
• Euston Manifesto

David Aaronovitch (born July 8, 1954) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and author. ... Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (born in Portsmouth, England, April 13, 1949) is an author, journalist and literary critic. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... Melanie Phillips (born June 4, 1951) is a British journalist and author, best known for her column about political and social issues which currently appears in the Daily Mail. ... The Euston Manifesto (pron. ...

Notes

1. ^ "Biography", nickcohen.net.
2. ^ Ivens, Martin. "You’ve lost it, Guardianistas", The Sunday Times, February 4, 2007
3. ^ Cohen, Nick. "The great liberal betrayal", New Statesman, November 1, 2004
4. ^ Easton, Mark. "Blair's integrity under threat", Channel 4, August 2003
5. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Marking your card, The Observer, December 5, 2004
6. ^ Cohen, Nick. "A law for the vindictive", The Observer, March 27, 2005
7. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Politics of the ghetto", The Observer, October 30, 2005
8. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Bigots, racists and worthless buffoons - so why do they keep getting elected?", The Observer, May 7, 2006
9. ^ Cohen, Nick. "What’s Left? The World and His Wife", www.nickcohen.net, Feb 10, 2007
10. ^ Cohen, Nick. February 2007 "Why Ken is turning me into a Tory", London Evening Standard, February 21, 2007
11. ^ "The Euston Manifesto", March 29, 2006.
12. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Come on, you liberals", The Observer, November 4, 2001
13. ^ Cohen, Nick. "The Left isn't listening", The Observer, February 16, 2003
14. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Where have all the children of the left gone?", New Statesman, 16 August, 2004
15. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Nick Cohen on Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman", normblog, 5 July, 2005
16. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Our enemy's enemies", The Observer, July 28, 2002
17. ^ Cohen, Nick. "The last thing the US wants is democracy in Iraq", The Observer, July 28, 2002
18. ^ Seddon, Mark. "Why Nick Cohen is wrong, New Statesman, 12 May, 2003
19. ^ ^{a b} Cohen, Nick. "Anti-semitism", New Statesman, October 10, 2005
20. ^ Cohen, Nick. "Taking liberties", The Observer, January 23, 2005

Further reading

• Nick Cohen's website

• "In the name of decency: the contortions of the pro-war left"

• Cohen, Nick (2000). Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous. Verso Books. ISBN 1-85984-288-7
• __________ (2003). Pretty Straight Guys. paperback edition: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22004-5
• __________ "Protection racket" by Nick Cohen, The Observer, November 12, 2000
• __________ "Too close for comfort", The Observer, September 16, 2001
• __________ "Why it is right to be anti-American?", The New Statesman, January 14, 2002
• __________ "Who will save Iraq?", The Observer, August 11, 2002
• __________ "The Left isn't listening", The Observer, February 16, 2003
• __________ "Goodnight freedom", The Observer, May 9, 2004
• __________ "Where have all the children of the left gone?", The New Statesman, August 16, 2004
• __________ "Marking your card", The Observer, December 5, 2004
• __________ "Cowards of the left", The Observer, January 9, 2005
• __________ "Taking Liberties", The Observer, January 23, 2005
• __________ "Natural born billers", The Observer, June 19, 2005
• __________ "Nick Cohen on Terror and Liberalism" 'Normblog writer's choice, July 5, 2005
• __________ "Face up to the truth", The Observer, July 10, 2005
• __________ "Long live grammars", The Observer, July 31, 2005
• __________ "I still fight oppression", The Observer, August 5, 2005
• __________ "Don't you know your left from your right?", Part 1, The Observer, January 21, 2007 In the first extract from What's Left: How Liberals Lost Their Way Cohen outlines his political history.
• __________ "Don't you know your left from your right?", Part 2, The Observer, January 21, 2007 In the first extract from What's Left: How Liberals Lost Their Way Cohen critically discusses the anti-war movement.

• Review of 'What's left?' by Ian Birchall