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Douglas Murray (author)

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Douglas Murray
BornDouglas Kear Murray
(1979-07-16) 16 July 1979 (age 45)
Scotland, United Kingdom
OccupationAssociate Director of the Henry Jackson Society
Former Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion
Author
Journalist
NationalityBritish
Alma materSt Benedict's School
Eton College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Period2000 – present day
SubjectPolitics, culture, history
Notable worksBosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas (2000)
Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (2005)
Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry (2011)
Website
@DouglasKMurray
Douglas Murray

Douglas Kear Murray (born 16 July 1979) is a British writer, journalist and commentator.[1] He was the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion from 2007 until 2011,[2] and is currently an associate director of the Henry Jackson Society.[3]

Murray appears regularly in the British broadcast media, commentating on issues from a neoconservative standpoint, and he is often critical of Islam. He writes for a number of publications, including Standpoint, the Wall Street Journal and The Spectator. He is the author of Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (2005) and Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry (2011).

Education

Murray was educated at St Benedict's School,[4] and won a sixth-form scholarship to Eton College[5] before going on to study English at Magdalen College, Oxford.[6]

Publications

While in his second year at Oxford he wrote, aged 19,[7] a biography of Lord Alfred Douglas[6] that was described by Christopher Hitchens as "masterly".[8] After leaving Oxford, Murray wrote a play, Nightfall, about the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.[9] In 2005 he published a defence of neoconservatism – Neoconservatism: Why We Need It – and undertook a related promotional tour of the United States.[10] In 2007 he assisted in the writing of Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership by Gen. Dr. Klaus Naumann, Gen. John Shalikashvili, Field Marshal The Lord Inge, Adm. Jacques Lanxade, and Gen. Henk van den Breemen.[11] Upon publication, The Guardian reported its recommendations. His book Bloody Sunday was (jointly) awarded the 2011-12 Ewart-Biggs memorial prize for advancing peace and understanding.[12] In June 2013 his Islamophilia: a Very Metropolitan Malady was published.

Media appearances and journalism

Murray has appeared on a number of British current affairs programmes, including the BBC's Question Time,[13] This Week,[14] HardTalk,[15] the Today programme,[16] The Big Questions,[17] and The Daily Politics,[18] in which he presented a piece arguing that multiculturalism is not multiracialism. Murray has written for The Guardian[19] and Standpoint,[20] and in 2012 he was appointed a contributing editor of The Spectator.[21]

Under the headline "Anyone know any Irishman jokes?" Murray wrote a column querying a council having "to pay thousands of pounds in compensation" to a union official who had been told an Irish joke by a Conservative councillor, writing "you can reflect on the ramifications for the taxpayer of a society that decides it needs officials to arbitrate on jokes".[22] The Federation of Irish Societies (an organisation that represents Irish clubs and societies in Britain)[23] lodged a formal complaint about the blog to the Press Complaints Commission.[24] Murray wrote about the incident in an article for The Spectator.[25]

Views on Islam

Murray is a frequent critic of Islam, and has identified what he sees as, "a creed of Islamic fascism – a malignant fundamentalism, woken from the dark ages to assault us here and now".[26] He views cultural relativism as exacerbating the issue.[26] Murray has labelled "Islamophobia" a "nonsense term", as "there are a considerable number of reasons to be fearful of some – though certainly not all – aspects and versions of Islam".[27] His comments about Islamic extremism in the Netherlands mean that he has to have a police guard when travelling there.[13]

In March 2009, Murray wrote to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith warning that he was planning to instruct his lawyers to issue an international arrest warrant against Ibrahim Mousawi if he entered Britain;[28] the Home Office eventually refused Mousawi a visa.[29] In 2009, Murray was prevented from chairing a debate at the London School of Economics between Alan Sked and Hamza Tzortzis. The move drew strong criticism from conservative press such as The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator.[30][31][32]

In 2009, Murray was told by police not to attend a debate scheduled between Anjem Choudary and him for fear that he might be attacked. It emerged that the security hired to protect the event were actually members of the Islamist group al-Muhajiroun.[33]

In 2010, Murray argued against the motion in an Intelligence Squared debate titled "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?" alongside Ayaan Hirsi Ali opposite Zeba Khan and Maajid Nawaz .[34]

Personal life

Murray is an atheist, having previously been an Anglican, and describes himself as a cultural Christian.[35] He is openly gay.[36]

Works

  • Murray, Douglas (2000). Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas. ISBN 0-340-76771-5.
  • Murray, Douglas (2005). Neoconservatism: Why We Need It. ISBN 1-904863-05-1.
  • Murray, Douglas (2011). Bloody Sunday: Truths, Lies and the Saville Inquiry. London: Dialogue. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-84954-149-7.
  • Murray, Douglas (2013). Islamophilia: a very metropolitan malady. emBooks. p. 57. ISBN 9781627770507.

As co-author:

International Affiliations

Murray is on the international advisory board of NGO Monitor.[37]

References

  1. ^ "4 Douglas Murray". The Scotsman. 9 November 2003. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Official Douglas Murray Site". Douglasmurray.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  3. ^ Henry Jackson Society is 'a cross-partisan, British-based think-tank.' The founders and supporters of HJS 'are united by a common interest in fostering a strong British and European commitment towards freedom, liberty, constitutional democracy, human rights, governmental and institutional reform and a robust foreign, security and defence policy and transatlantic alliance.' HJS. "Henry Jackson Society: Who We Are". Retrieved 15 December 2014. "Centre for Social Cohesion". Socialcohesion.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  4. ^ "St. Benedicts Activities Bulletin" (PDF). Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Education Supplements: Chance of a lifetime – Douglas Murray". spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  6. ^ a b Smith, Dinitia (18 July 2000). "Article". New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Pass Notes: Douglas Murray". London: The Guardian. 8 June 2000. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  8. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (30 August 2006). "Christopher Hitchens: Young Brit defends American people, politics and policies". washingtonexaminer.com/. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  9. ^ Freedman, Daniel (17 August 2006). "Mugged by Reality". nysun.com. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  10. ^ Daniel Freedman (17 August 2006). "Mugged by Reality". New York Sun. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  11. ^ "Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership" (PDF). Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  12. ^ "The 2011 – 2012 Prize | Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize". Ewartbiggsprize.org.uk. 30 January 1972. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. ^ a b "This week's panel". BBC News. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  14. ^ "This Week – Douglas Murray on Afghanistan". BBC News. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  15. ^ "Douglas Murray". BBC News. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Radio 4 – Today Programme Listen Again". BBC. 2 September 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  17. ^ "BBC One - The Big Questions, Series 2, Episode 34". bbc.co.uk. 13 September 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  18. ^ "Douglas Murray: 'multiculturalism is not multiracialism'". bbc.co.uk. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  19. ^ Murray, Douglas (31 October 2006). "Mission distorted". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  20. ^ Douglas Murray. "Power to the Spokespeople". Standpointmag.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  21. ^ Greenslade, Roy (7 March 2012). "Chancellor returns to The Spectator". London: Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Anyone know any Irishman jokes?". The Daily Telegraph. London. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  23. ^ Federation of Irish Societies. "About Us". UK. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  24. ^ Scully, Marc (2010). Scully, Marc (2010). Discourses of authenticity and national identity among the Irish diaspora in England. PhD thesis, The Open University (Ph.D.). Open University.
  25. ^ Douglas Murray. "Why can't anyone take a joke any more?". UK. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  26. ^ a b Murray, Douglas (26 October 2005). "Neoconservatism: why we need it – a talk to the Manhattan Institute". Web Review. The Social Affairs Unit. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  27. ^ Douglas Murray. "Standpoint". UK. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  28. ^ Barrett, David (7 March 2009). "Campaigners will seek arrest of Islamic radical". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  29. ^ Prince, Rosa (13 March 2009). "Ibrahim Moussawi denied visa over Hezbollah". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  30. ^ Melanie Phillips (23 January 2009). "The LSE caves in to terror". The Spectator. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  31. ^ "Civil liberties group calls for resignation of Prof Janet Hartley". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  32. ^ Damian Thompson (23 January 2009). "Gutless LSE bans Islam critic Douglas Murray for 'security reasons'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  33. ^ "Douglas Murray: Why we must debate with extremists like al-Muhajiroun | Comment is free". theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  34. ^ "Is Islam a Religion of Peace?". NPR. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  35. ^ "Studying Islam has made me an atheist". 29 December 2008.
  36. ^ The Pro-Islamist Left; Douglas Murray & Maryam Namazie (Youtube video). 20 January 2011. Event occurs at 1:32. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  37. ^ "NGO Monitor International Board Profiles". Ngo-monitor.org. Retrieved 4 December 2013.

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