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Conservatives take aim at cancel culture and ‘woke aggression’

The Tory party conference has opened with a battle cry against “woke aggression”, with cabinet ministers decrying “cancel culture” and expected to rail against leftwing bias at the BBC.

Oliver Dowden, the new Conservative party co-chair, set the tone for the conference as he hit out at people who see Britain as “dominated by privilege and oppression that should view its values and history with shame”.

He criticised cancel culture, which he described as “bullying and haranguing of individuals” for their views, and claimed Labour “has got woke running through it like a stick of Brighton rock”.

“Anyone who dares resist this argument – anyone who objects to this woke aggression – is branded as instigating culture wars,” he said during a speech in Manchester. He voiced support for Kemi Badenoch, the minister who is seen as “anti-woke” and has spoken out against schools supporting “the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group” or uncritically teaching “political race theory”.

Dowden’s words suggest the Conservatives are trying to draw a dividing line between themselves and Labour before the next election by attempting to associate the opposition party with so-called woke issues and identity politics.

In a sign that Dowden, formerly the culture secretary, is expected to be an anti-woke attack dog in his new role as chair, he told members: “That is why we must be robust in empowering [institutions] to stand up to this bullying. To defend the interests of taxpayers who ultimately fund them. And to keep our national heroes like Nelson, Gladstone and Churchill in the places of honour they deserve.”

The same theme of defending institutions and sectors against leftwing criticism ran through other speeches and fringe events. Nadine Dorries, the new culture secretary, is expected to warn against leftwing bias at the BBC and tell the broadcaster “what is expected of it if it wants to keep the licence fee”.

The new foreign secretary, Liz Truss, one of the most popular cabinet ministers, said the Conservative party had to “reject the zero-sum game of identity politics, we reject the illiberalism of cancel culture, and we reject the soft bigotry of low expectations that holds so many people back”.

Speaking at a fringe meeting about her role as women and equalities minister, Truss said there should not be a separate cabinet role for that function. “I fundamentally don’t agree with identity politics,” she told the Telegraph event.

“I don’t agree with the idea that you should have different policies for women or men. What I think is you should make sure your policies are accessible to everybody, so you should be, in the criminal justice system, making sure women are being treated fairly, gay people are being treated fairly, black people are being treated fairly,” she said.

“If you have a separate women’s ministry, you’re looking at people through the lens of being women. The thing I care about … is your ideas, your talent, your work ethic. I don’t care whether you’re a woman or a man, and that’s the approach I take.”

Truss and Dowden raised the case of the Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who after being accused by party activists of transphobia said she was concerned about attending the Labour conference.

“She is right that women have cervixes, but more than that, she’s also right to be able to express her view, and I’m a huge believer in free speech,” Truss said. “And I think when we try and sort of brush things under the carpet and can’t have an honest, honest and sensible debate, I think that’s a huge problem for British politics.”

Another Tory MP, Chris Loder, spoke out against what he saw as people “pushing a vegetarian or vegan agenda who think it better to ship avocados 5,000 miles for breakfast rather than to have milk or beef from the farm around the corner”. Delegates at a Young Conservative fringe made speeches decrying “wokeism in our universities”.

However, Frank Luntz, the rightwing US pollster, had a warning for Tories at another fringe event, saying they would regret engaging in culture wars. “I’m scared to death of woke. But not just of woke coming to the UK the way that it’s come to America, because it’s destroying our universities, media, entertainment and all the things that have an impact on how we think. But I’m also afraid of how you all use it,” he said.

“Because you can win an election with it, I promise you. If you want to run a woke campaign, the public will be on your side. But you will destroy your country in the process … I cannot stand what’s going on in academia in this country right now, but don’t play into it, because you’ll regret it in the end.”

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Police foil N14m ransom payment, rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects

A kidnap victim, Semiu Ogunniyi, who was abducted from a hotel in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been rescued by police operatives and local hunters.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Wilfred Afolabi, who disclosed this, revealed that one of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of Ogunniyi, Muhammed Babuga, was arrested in the course of the rescue operation.

According to Afolabi, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N14 million for the release of the victim, after which the movement of the suspects was trailed through actionable intelligence.

The police boss disclosed that during the interception, the suspects engaged the operatives in a fierce gun duel, with several suspects sustaining gunshot injuries during the exchange of gunfire.

While speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of the state police command, Afolabi added that two suspected kidnappers, Ibrahim Umar, 25, and Paul Osanyinduro, 38, were arrested in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Council Area of the state. Abubakar Bamoh, 30, a logistics provider for the kidnappers terrorising various parts of the South-West, was also arrested.

He said, “Command also arrested 3 suspected kidnappers who have confessed to their involvement in various kidnapping cases across the state. This operation marks yet another success in the Command’s ongoing offensive against kidnapping and violent crime in the state.

“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of one Abubakar Bamoh, male, aged 30 years, an indigene of Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Command swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect at one of the Fulani camps in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.”
(Daily post)

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SERAP demands explanation over missing N500bn oil revenue from NNPCL

Allow 7m Nigerians to complete voter registration or face legal action, SERAP tells INEC

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, to immediately account for and explain the whereabouts of the N500 billion oil revenue the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.

In a letter dated May 17, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP cited recent revelations by the World Bank which showed that out of N1.1 trillion earned from crude oil sales and other income in 2024, only N600 billion was remitted by the NNPCL, leaving a staggering N500 billion unaccounted for.

The organisation is demanding full disclosure and recovery of the missing funds, and has threatened legal action should the company fail to act within seven days.

“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.JAMB’s

SERAP also urged Ojulari to identify and surcharge those responsible for the missing funds and hand them over to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.

“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.

Citing the World Bank report, the group noted that revenue from oil sales and other sources was expected to be fully paid into the Federation Account and shared by all tiers of government, but the NNPCL failed to comply.

“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.

“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”

SERAP warned that the alleged disappearance of such a large sum has serious implications for economic development, poverty alleviation, and the provision of basic public services at a time of national hardship.

“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.

It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.

“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.

Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”

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Security Operatives Nab ‘Wanted’ Kidnapper In Abuja Hajj Camp

Security operatives have reportedly arrested a wanted kidnapper at the hajj camp in Abuja.

A security source at the camp confirmed the arrest to our correspondent, on Sunday.

He said the suspect was nabbed during screening of pilgrims who were preparing to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. He disclosed that the suspect identified as Yahaya Zango resided at Paikon -Kore in Gwagwalada area council of the FCT.

The source said security agencies had declared him wanted, following his alleged involvement in some kidnappings.

He said the suspect presented his passport alongside other Muslim contingent from Abuja who were on their way to observe this year’s hajj. “It was this afternoon during the screening at the hajj camp in airport when the DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” he said