Stuart Waiton is a senior

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

lecturer at Abertay University. He teaches on matters relating to anti-social behaviour,

moral panics A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...

hate crimes A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

, and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. Ewan Gurr of the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' describes Waiton's political background as "on the far left of the political spectrum and rooted firmly within the revolutionary communist tradition". Waiton described himself as involved in anti-racist campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of Workers Against Racism, 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. He was unsuccessful and later stood as for the party for Dundee West. Waiton has been a columnist for the '' Times Educational Supplement'' (Scotland) and has written for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

Living Marxism ''Living Marxism'' was a British magazine originally launched in 1988 as the journal of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). Rebranded as ''LM'' in 1992, it ceased publication in March 2000 following a successful libel lawsuit brought by ...

'' and its successor ''Spiked'', and is currently a columnist for the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' and a contributor to a number of mainstream radio and television discussion programmes. He has appeared on Sky News and has been a contributor for the

alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...

media outlet ''

The Richie Allen Show ''The Richie Allen Show'' is a UK-based digital radio show and podcast hosted by Irish radio broadcaster and journalist Richie Allen, and broadcast from Salford, Greater Manchester. The show started in September 2014 and currently broadcasts four ...

''. 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." He has been involved in campaigns against the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act and is

anti-environmentalist Anti-environmentalism is a movement that favors loose environmental regulation in favor of economic benefits and opposes strict environmental regulation aimed at preserving nature and the planet. Anti-environmentalists seek to persuade the public ...

, saying that "the

green agenda Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It be ...

means no flying, no jobs, no growth". He has criticised academics for allegedly stifling the debate around

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

topics, and has in turn been criticised for describing the

transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

movement as asking for something that is biologically impossible. He has also questioned the state support for gender-neutral toilets and

school uniforms A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shirt ...

and described the dynamic of equality campaigners as potentially authoritarian. He is also critical of

lockdowns A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

put in place by the Scottish government as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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." His claims were criticised by Dundee City Council leader John Alexander and the Scottish government.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiton, Stuart Living people Reform UK parliamentary candidates 21st-century Scottish politicians Lecturers Academics of the University of Abertay Dundee Year of birth missing (living people) Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1978) members