The Critic

[[File:The Critic, March 2021.jpeg|thumb|right|165px|''The Critic'': the anti-lockdown issue for the [[COVID]] [[pandemic]]]]
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{{hatnote|Not to be confused with {{wpl|The Critic||,}} an animated sitcom from the 90s.}}
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'''''The Critic''''' is a [[British]] [[right-wing]] [[culture war]] magazine, dedicated to offering self-described "critical voices" to the mainstream "consensus of virtue" that it claims rules the UK.<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2019/introducing-the-critic/ Introducing the Critic], ''The Critic'', November 2019</ref> It was launched in November 2019, funded by wealthy financier Jeremy Hosking, who afterwards established the Reclaim Party with [[Laurence Fox]].<ref name=wilby/> While it claims to be non-partisan, it has close links to the British right, with its editor Christopher Montgomery formerly working for a [[Conservative Party]] fringe group and the [[Democratic Unionist Party]].<ref name=orderorder/><ref name=wilby/>

Supposedly its purpose is to challenge [[closed mind]]s in universities, the civil service, the [[BBC]], and other public bodies.<ref name=wilby/> Its chief method is to publish the same sort of boring, petty articles found in every other right-wing newspaper, magazine, and blog.

==Ownership==
It arose from another right-wing magazine, ''Standpoint'', which was funded via the Social Affairs Unit (an offshoot of the [[Institute of Economic Affairs]]), and took a [[neoconservative]] and [[islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] line. When one of its major backers stopped giving money, it looked to other sources and found Jeremy Hosking, despite the fact that he was more interested in Brexit than the Middle East. However by that point ''Standpoint'' was in decline and riven by factionalism, made worse by debates over its change of direction, and Hosking and most of its staff gave up and decided to found a new magazine instead.<ref>[https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/standpoint-the-critic-and-unherd-whos-their-daddies Standpoint, the Critic and UnHerd: who’s their daddies?], The Morning Star</ref>

So the key backer behind ''The Critic'' is Jeremy Hosking, also a big donor to [[Laurence Fox]] and Fox's Reclaim Party.<ref name=wilby>[https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/11/first-thoughts-ft-s-first-female-editor-launch-critic-and-tuneless-welsh First Thoughts: The FT’s first female editor, the launch of the Critic, and the tuneless Welsh], Peter Wilby, New Statesman, 13 Nov 2019</ref><ref>[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/londoners-diary-laurence-fox-reclaim-party-banking-problems-b930423.html Londoner’s Diary: Laurence Fox’s Reclaim party didn’t bank on rule that prevents donations], Evening Standard, 19 Apr 2021</ref> Hosking had previously had donated £1.5 million to Vote Leave for the 2016 [[Brexit]] referendum, £350,000 to [[Conservative Party]] candidates in 2017, and £200,000 to [[Nigel Farage]]'s [[Brexit Party]].<ref>[https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/former-conservative-backer-jeremy-hosking-named-as-200000-donor-to-nigel-farages-brexit-party Former Conservative backer Jeremy Hosking named as £200,000 donor to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party], Politics Home</ref>

==Staff==
The editor as of 2021 is Christopher Montgomery, with contributing editors Daniel Johnson, Roger Kimball, and [[Toby Young]].<ref name=aboutmasthead>[https://thecritic.co.uk/about-the-critic-2/ About The Critic], The Critic, accessed 2 June 2021</ref>

Montgomery had previously worked for the European Research Group, a right-wing and [[eurosceptic]] group of Conservative MPs (whose most prominent member was probably [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]]), and before that he was Chief of Staff for the Democratic Unionist Party, the more insane and [[theocratic]] of [[Northern Ireland]]'s main Unionist parties.<ref name=orderorder>[https://order-order.com/2019/10/24/top-erg-strategist-christopher-montgomery-leaves-group-co-edit-new-magazine-full-time/ Top ERG Strategist Christopher Montgomery Leaves Group to Co-edit New Magazine Full Time], ''Guido Fawkes'', 24 Oct 2019</ref> Not a CV that immediately says "iconoclastic free thinker".

Michael Mosbacher was originally co-editor but is no longer listed on the masthead. Mosbacher was formerly editor of ''Standpoint'', another magazine that staked out similar territory to ''The Critic''.<ref name=orderorder/> Contributing editor Daniel Johnson was the founder of ''Standpoint'', so ''The Critic'' at least initially was seen as something of a continuation of the earlier magazine.

Roger Kimball, another contributing editor, is a well-known [[American]] conservative writer, editor of ''The New Criterion'', author of ''Tenured Radicals: How Politics Has Corrupted Higher Education'', and also involved with various international versions of ''[[The Spectator]]''.

==Writers==
It features articles by many familiar faces:

*[[Maya Forstater]], a [[TERF]] who became famous after circumstances of her not being hired by an NGO were twisted by TERFs and right-wingers into an example of liberal intolerance.<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/author/maya-forstater/ Author: Maya Forstater], ''The Critic'' website, accessed 2 June 2021</ref>
*[[Peter Hitchens]]<ref name=wilby/>
*Jeremy Hosking, the owner, who has written about his fun times setting up the Reclaim Party.<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2021/banking-party-poopers/ Banking Party Poopers], Jeremy Hosking, The Critic, April 2021</ref>
*[[Graham Linehan]], [[TERF]] campaigner, who wrote an entire article complaining about Neil Gaiman mentioning people's preferred pronouns.<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/spare-us-the-pronouns-sandman/ Spare us the pronouns, Sandman], Graham Linehan, The Critic, 2 June 2021</ref> This is despite Gaiman having a history of supporting trans rights since the 1980s, so his support for the issue is a complete non-story.<ref>[https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/90321366676/neil-youve-written-a-trans-woman-character-in untitled post], Neil Gaiman, The official Neil Gaiman Tumblr, 29 July 2014</ref>
*Titania McGrath<ref name=mcgrath>[https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/june-2021/no-babies-no-more-nazis/ No babies, no more Nazis], ''The Critic'', June 2021</ref>, a parody of young people with their crazy ways of talking and politically liberal positions who has written for various publications but has a column here called Woke World.
*[[Douglas Murray]]<ref name=wilby/>
*[[David Starkey]]<ref name=wilby/>, a historian who has been widely criticised and lost several positions for his views on race and [[slavery]], including denying slavery constituted [[genocide]] because there are "so many damn blacks" around; this included condemnation by former Conservative Party Chancellor Sajid Javid who called his comments "[[racist]]".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53308061 David Starkey: Historian apologises for 'clumsy' slavery comments], BBC News, 6 July 2020</ref><ref>[https://news.sky.com/story/david-starkeys-so-many-damn-blacks-comment-is-indefensible-12020107 David Starkey splits with Cambridge over 'so many damn blacks' comment], Sky News, 3 July 2020</ref> Naturally this made him the ideal candidate for a magazine dedicated to challenging [[cancel culture]] and [[trolling]] [[libtard]]s.
*[[Toby Young]]<ref name=wilby/>

==Content==
It is very fond of [[Roger Scruton]], the deceased conservative [[philosopher]] known for racist and [[homophobic]] views, particularly in his capacity as editor of the ''Salisbury Review''.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/18/the-uncomfortable-truths-about-roger-scruton-conservatism The uncomfortable truths about Roger Scruton’s conservatism], Kenan Malik, ''The Observer'', 18 Jan 2020</ref> It has published numerous articles on Scruton covering everything from his views on Wagner to his taste in wine.<ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/category/roger-scruton/ Category: Roger Scruton], ''The Critic'' website</ref><ref>[https://thecritic.co.uk/what-wine-meant-to-roger-scruton/ What wine meant to Roger Scruton], Bruce Newsome, ''The Critic'', 12 January, 2021</ref>

Most of its content is published under the section title "Artillery Row", because they like shooting things.

==Criticism==
''Prospect'' editor David Goodhart commented "Does the world need another magazine of tastefully written… conservatively inclined thinking? Probably not." Peter Wilby of the ''New Statesman'' replied: "I would say probably yes, so why do we never get one?".<ref name=wilby/> Miao!

Claire Alleaume on ''Medium'' noted that the "under-represented" it claimed to stand up for were actually the [[privilege]]d likes of Toby Young and Dominic Green, and she defended [[centrism]] against the glib cries of the extremes such as the ''Critic'', saying:
{{quotebox|Being sensationalist and polarising is easy, as a decade of social media pushing opinions to the extremes has shown us. The real hard work lies with those brave enough to sometimes sit on the fence – painful backsides notwithstanding.<ref name=alleaume>[https://medium.com/@claire.alleaume/a-critique-of-the-critic-a-new-uk-political-and-cultural-magazine-17f7c88e950e A critique of The Critic, the UK’s new political and cultural magazine], Claire Alleaume, Medium, 25 Nov 2019</ref>}}
Regardless of whether centrism is really a dangerous position, Alleaume is certainly correct about the laziness of the ''Critic'''s project.

==See also==
*''[[The Spectator]]''
*''[[Spiked]]''
*''[[UnHerd]]''

==External links==
* [https://thecritic.co.uk/ The Critic] 

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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[[Category:British media]]
[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:British right wing]]

Categories: British media, British politics, British right wing