Stuart Waiton

Stuart Waiton is a senior sociology and criminology lecturer at Abertay University. He teaches on matters relating to anti-social behaviour, moral panics, hate crimes, and politics.[1] Ewan Gurr of the Evening Standard describes Waiton's political background as "on the far left of the political spectrum and rooted firmly within the revolutionary communist tradition".[2] Waiton described himself as involved in anti-racist campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of Workers Against Racism,[3] an anti-racist group associated with the British Revolutionary Communist Party.

In 2019 he joined the Brexit Party and was chosen as a candidate to be an MEP in Scotland.[4] He was unsuccessful and lost his deposit after getting less than 5% of votes overall,[5] and later stood as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Dundee West.[6]

Waiton has been a columnist for the Times Educational Supplement (Scotland)[7] and has written for The Times,[8] The Independent,[9] Living Marxism[10] and its successor Spiked,[11] and currently is a columnist for the Glasgow Herald and a contributor to a number of mainstream radio and television discussion programmes.[12] He has appeared on Sky News[13] and has been a contributor for the alt-right media outlet The Richie Allen Show.[14]

He has described himself as pro-immigration, but argued that current policies needed to be changed, saying: "It's not helpful whenever someone tries to have a discussion about immigration and the racist card is thrown at them. We need to grow the economy. Immigration is pushing wages down."[15] He has been involved in campaigns against the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act[12] and is anti-environmentalist, saying that "the green agenda means no flying, no jobs, no growth".[15]

He has criticised academics for allegedly stifling the debate around transgender topics, and has in turn been criticised for describing the transgender rights movement as asking for something that is biologically impossible.[16] He has also questioned the state support for gender-neutral toilets and school uniforms and described the dynamic of equality campaigners as potentially authoritarian.[16] He is also critical of lockdowns put in place by the Scottish government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying: "The 'Stay at Home, Protect the NHS' mantra encouraged people with the virus to be stuffed into homes and that has probably helped to kill some of those people rather than encouraging a more flexible approach."[17] His claims were criticised by Dundee City Council leader John Alexander and the Scottish government.[17]

Bibliography
  • Scared of the kids?: Curfews, crime and the regulation of young people. Sheffield Hallam University Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0863399299.
  • The Politics of Antisocial Behaviour Amoral Panics. Routledge Advances in Criminology. 2007. ISBN 978-0415872720.
  • Snobs' law: criminalising football fans in an age of intolerance (Take A Liberty ed.). Scotland. 2012. ISBN 978-0957155909.

References
  1. "Dr Stuart Waiton". Abertay. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  2. Gurr, Ewan (10 August 2020). "Ewan Gurr: 'SNP's Hate Crime Bill has united coalition of opponents'". Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. McLaughlin, Ken (22 January 2009). "A right-on guide to imprisoning children". Spiked Online. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  4. Malik, Paul (6 August 2019). "Abertay lecturer Stuart Waiton picked to stand for the Brexit Party". The Courier. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  6. "Who are the MEP candidates in Scotland?". BBC News. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  7. Squires, Peter (2008). ASBO Nation: The Criminalisation of Nuisance. Policy Press. ISBN 978-1-84742-028-2. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. Waiton, Stuart (12 March 2019). "Politicians are wildly out of touch on smacking ban". The Times. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. Waiton, Stuart (22 August 2000). "Parental paranoia is ruining children's lives". The Independent. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  10. Waiton, Stuart. "LM128: Lessons in life". Living Marxism. Archived from the original on 16 May 2000. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  11. "AstroTurfers of Britain Part Two: Who is Behind Brexit Party Recruitment and its PR Makeover?". Byline Times. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. "Dr Stuart Waiton". Battle of Ideas Festival. 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  13. "Should smacking be made illegal in England? – Sky News". newsvideo.su.
  14. Savage, Michael (18 August 2019). "Brexit party MEPs' links to alt-right media agenda exposed". The Observer. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  15. Milne, Scott (6 December 2019). "'More chance of seeing Shergar': Frustration as SNP's Chris Law ducks out of Dundee hustings". The Courier. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  16. McLaughlin, Mark (27 November 2018). "Academics closing down trans debate, claims Stuart Waiton". The Times. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  17. Amery, Rachel (13 May 2020). "Dundee lecturer claims Scottish Government's 'Stay at Home' message could have cost lives". Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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