Stephen Pollard

Stephen Pollard (born 18 December 1964) is a British author and journalist. From 2008 until December 2021, he was the editor of The Jewish Chronicle and remains a senior advisor and writer on the paper.

For the English cricketer (born 1971), see Stephen Pollard (cricketer).

Stephen Pollard
Born (1964-12-18) 18 December 1964
London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationJohn Lyon School
Mansfield College, Oxford.
OccupationJournalist

Early life

Pollard had what he calls a "normal, nominally orthodox north-west London Jewish upbringing". His childhood dream was to become a barrister.[1] He attended Mansfield College, Oxford at the same time as Michael Gove.[2]

Career

He was a researcher for Labour MP Peter Shore.[1]

Think tanks

In 1993, Pollard worked for the Fabian Society.[3] In 1996, he joined the Social Market Foundation.[4]

In 2005, Pollard was a Senior Fellow at Civitas.[5] In 2007, he was president for the Centre for the New Europe.[6]

In 2007, it was announced that he would be the first chair of the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism.[6]

Journalism

Stephen Pollard started at the Evening Standard.[1] He then worked at the Daily Express, leaving in 2001. In his final article for the paper, he used the first letter of every paragraph to spell out the phrase "Fuck you Desmond".[7][8][9]

He has been a political columnist with The Times and the Daily Mail[6] as well as writing for The Independent and Sunday Telegraph.[1]

In November 2008, he became editor of The Jewish Chronicle.[10] As editor, he referred to the paper as "Israel's candid friend."[11]

In September 2010, Stephen Pollard and The Spectator apologised and paid damages and costs to the organisers of the Islam Expo conference, in a defamation case involving a blog post written by Pollard and published in July 2008. The apology regretted the suggestion that "Islam Expo Limited is a fascist party dedicated to genocide which organised a conference with a racist and genocidal programme" and accepted that "Islam Expo's purpose is to provide a neutral and broad-based platform for debate on issues relating to Muslims and Islam."[12]

During his editorship, as of October 2020, the Press Complaints Commission and its successor IPSO have made fourteen rulings against the paper.[13][14] The publication has also been forced to pay damages for libel on several occasions throughout his tenure.[15][16][17][18][19]

It was announced in April 2020 that the paper was going into voluntary liquidation, despite a planned merger with Jewish News, announced in February 2020.[20] Pollard resigned to join a consortium bidding for the publication's assets.[21] The bid was successful and retained Pollard as editor.

As of 2023, he writes frequently for the Daily Express, and also writes for the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Daily Telegraph.[22]

Views

Pollard is an advocate of market-based public service reforms.[23] He believes that "the state has no business running schools or hospitals"[24] and "I object to the fact I have to pay for (the BBC)".[1] He has advocated the introduction of medical co-payments for the National Health Service and the introduction of a flat tax.[23][25] He expressed support for Chancellor George Osborne's decision to limit child benefits, writing that "Welfare is thought of as an entitlement, so that those who choose not to work to support themselves can rely on the rest of us to pay their way."[26] He has praised Rupert Murdoch as "a man who has done more to democratise news, sport and leisure than any of his opponents."[27]

Writing in the Daily Express, Pollard claimed that "It's always women, never men, who suffer at hands of trans lobby bullies" and expressed support for Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch's position on trans rights.[28] He wrote in UnHerd about "the visceral hatred and abuse that pours forth from some of the more vocal trans activists when anyone dares to question whether there is a difference between sex and gender, the former being biological and the latter, perhaps, a social and cultural construct."[29] Pollard accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of having bought into "the agenda of the trans lobby."[30]

Pollard is a supporter of Britain leaving the European Union and praised the Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto.[31][32]

He was a signatory founder of the Henry Jackson Society, a neoconservative British foreign policy think tank.[33][34]

He says that he began to think about Judaism seriously and to feel loyalty to Israel in his mid-thirties.[1] Pollard has called Amnesty International a "woke joke" and accused them of allying with "groups that lionise Islamist terrorists."[35] He has also written that "Amnesty is a worthless, morally bankrupt sham that gives succour to terrorist states."[36] He has criticised Stop the War Coalition as "traitors" and criticised their opposition to the invasions of Iraq and of Afghanistan.[37] Pollard supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while acknowledging failures in reconstruction.[38][39]

Publications
  • David Blunkett, Hodder & Stoughton, 2004
  • Ten Days That Changed The Nation: The Making Of Modern Britain, Simon & Schuster, 2009
  • Falling Off A Clef: The Lives and Bizarre Deaths of Great Composers, The Robson Press, 2014

References
  1. Bell, Matthew (11 January 2009). "'Fantastic timing': a baptism of fire at the Jewish Chronicle". The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. Bennett, Owen (2019). Michael Gove: A Man in a Hurry. London: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785904400.
  3. Pollard, Stephen (1993). "More southern discomfort". More southern discomfort. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  4. Eye, Eagle (18 April 1996). "Diary". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  5. "Civitas: the Institute for the Study of Civil Society". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  6. Rocker, Simon (26 January 2007). "Pollard to head new European think-tank". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  7. Hodgson, Jessica (8 January 2001). "Stephen Pollard loses job at Times" – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. "Stephen Pollard returns to Richard Desmond's fold | Media Monkey". 21 September 2009 – via www.theguardian.com.
  9. "'Fantastic timing': a baptism of fire at the Jewish Chronicle". The Independent. 11 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
  10. Matthew Bell, "'Fantastic timing': a baptism of fire at the Jewish Chronicle", Independent on Sunday, 11 January 2009
  11. Bell, Matthew (11 January 2009). "'Fantastic timing': a baptism of fire at the Jewish Chronicle". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  12. Oliver, Laura (2 September 2010). "Spectator settles in hyperlink defamation case". Journalism.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  13. "Press Complaints Commission". www.pcc.org.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  14. "IPSO Rulings - Jewish Chronicle". www.ipso.co.uk/. Independent Press Standards Organisation. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  15. Luft, Oliver (3 April 2009). "Jewish Chronicle pays £30,000 libel damages to peace activist". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  16. "Human Appeal International: an apology". The Jewish Chronicle. 30 May 2013.
  17. "The Trustees of Interpal — Apology". The Jewish Chronicle. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  18. "Audrey White: An apology". The Jewish Chronicle. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  19. "Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard and Lee Harpin apologise and pay substantial libel damages to Nada alSanjari" (PDF). www.carter-ruck.com/. Carter Ruck. 6 October 2020.
  20. "Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News to close and staff laid off". the Guardian. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  21. Tobitt, Charlotte (21 April 2020). "Jewish News back to 'business as usual' as Chronicle merger plan thwarted by surprise bid". Press Gazette. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  22. "Articles". Muck Rack. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  23. Pollard, Stephen (24 August 2005). "Tories need a Clause 4". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  24. Pollard, Stephen (13 May 2005). "The death of the project". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  25. Pollard, Stephen (2 July 2008). "Beyond the matron state". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  26. Pollard, Stephen (27 March 2015). "We must now put a cap on the huge child benefits bill, argues STEPHEN". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  27. Pollard, Stephen (9 July 2018). "Rupert Murdoch biography review". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  28. Pollard, Stephen (5 July 2022). "It's always women, not men, who suffer at hands of trans lobby bullies". The Daily Express. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  29. Pollard, Stephen (8 October 2019). "All the world's a stage for the trans ultras". UnHerd. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  30. Pollard, Stephen (12 June 2023). "STEPHEN POLLARD: Keir Starmer's not just out of touch..." Mail Online. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  31. Pollard, Stephen (24 June 2016). "Brexit: It's a wonderful day for Britain - and its Jews". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  32. Pollard, Stephen (25 November 2019). "Only three words in the Tory manifesto matter: Get Brexit done". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  33. The Henry Jackson Society The Guardian,
  34. "...[The West's] failures in the former Yugoslavia (especially Bosnia) were more than just moral. Through their impact on the credibility of our international institutions, such as NATO and the EU, they had a profound effect on the national interests of western powers. These fiascos showed that we had to engage, robustly and sometimes preventatively. The early interventions in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, although imperfect, provide an appropriate model for future action." The Henry Jackson Society's Statement of Principles Archived 8 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  35. Pollard, Stephen (30 October 2022). "Amnesty International has become a woke joke". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  36. Pollard, Stephen (6 August 2022). "Amnesty is now utterly morally bankrupt". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  37. Pollard, Stephen (12 October 2016). "Stop the War 'oppose the West' and support dictators. They are traitors". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  38. Pollard, Stephen (20 April 2003). "Stephen Pollard: War lessons that Mr Blair should apply at home". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  39. Pollard, Stephen (24 August 2003). "Stephen Pollard: We can still succeed in reconstructing Iraq". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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