Tuesday 4th June exactly 30 years on from the date when democracy began to be restored in Poland, Sir Roger has been given a state honour by President Andrzej Duda: “Recognising outstanding merits in the activity for the support of democratic transformation in Poland as well as for developing Polish and British scientific and academic cooperation: the grand cordon of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland has been bestowed on the citizen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Sir Roger Scruton.”

President Duda's speech in which he refers to Roger's writing and in which he talks about politics being 'for the common good' can be found on You Tube. A translation of the speech can be read here. 

Roger's acceptance speech in Polish and English can be found at 13.10 - 16.10. 

On Wednesday 5th June Roger is guest speaker at the:

4th Summit of Speakers of Central and Eastern European Parliaments. 

Opening of the session, commencement of the 1^st panel

The fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe – fostering common historical memory

• The significance of communism in the awareness of nations.
• What is the Central European community of experiences from the time of the Autumn of Nations?
• How can freedom and sovereignty of nations be implemented in the modern world?
• Cooperation between the states of the region as a guarantee of development and security

​                        Part I

                        Speech by Sir Roger Scruton - this will be livestreamed and you can watch here. 

                        (Keynote Speaker)

​                         Speeches by the Heads of Delegations 

​                        Part II

​                         Speeches by Special Guests 

12:40              Opening of the exhibition “1989 – Nations’ Freedom Year – Triumph of Free Speech”

                        (1^st floor, building C–D)

13:45​               Opening of the 2^nd panel

The approach of Central and Eastern Europe to the challenges of modern times

• The impact of globalisation, information civilisation, national identity inertia, the new geopolitical situation on the future of Central and Eastern Europe.
• Ways to ensure security in the region.
• The importance of the region for Europe and the world in the context of the EU crisis.
• How to strengthen regional unity and the richness of diversity in Central and Eastern Europe divided by various borders?
• The success of Central and Eastern Europe in a changing world.

                         Speeches by the Heads of Delegations 

14:45               Closing of the session

Reports of the events of the last two days can be found below:

ThefirstNews article 

DailyMail report

Post-Truth

Roger Scruton

For as long as there have been politicians they have lied, fabricated, and deceived. However commentators are beginning to tell us that something has changed in the last few years. It is not that politicians have ceased to tell lies or to pretend that the facts are other than they are. It is rather that they have begun to speak as though there is no such distinction as that between facts and fabrications. We live in a post-truth world – such is the mantra. Two books entitled Post Truth have just appeared, explaining the matter, one by Matthew d’Ancona and one by Evan Davis. For Matthew d’Ancona the post-truth culture explains much that troubles him in public life, not least the election of President Trump and the Brexit vote. Evan Davis, writing about what he calls ‘Peak Bullshit’, concurs. Somehow the boundaries between true and false, sense and nonsense, opinion and reality, thought and bullshit have been erased, and no-one really knows how to reinstate them.

Spectator Blogs - Ed Husain

I am not a right-winger. I am ashamed to say that I discovered Sir Roger Scruton only four years ago when an argument in a Washington DC think-tank led to a search for contemporary philosophers who took a long view of civilisation, history, ideas, and implications of philosophy.

James Delingpole for Breitbart on 25th April. 

Conservative philosopher Sir Roger Scruton has won a spectacular victory against the New Statesman – the left-wing magazine which interviewed him and then tried to smear him as a racist, bigot and anti-Semite.

Read the full article here BREITBART.

I was fired for things I didn't say and don't believe, says Sir Roger Scruton as he warns of an 'atmosphere of intimidation' growing in Britain

Two weeks ago I was sacked from my unpaid position as chair of a government commission devoted to beauty in building. Given the atmosphere of intimidation that is growing in our country, I have to say that my sacking was no surprise. It is unusual, to say the least, for a believing conservative to be appointed to a position of responsibility by a Tory government. The main aim of the Tories in office is to get through to the next election without being noticed.

Click here to read the latest newsletter from Roger. 

Scruton Tapes and Audio clips are now available on YouTube:

The text publsihed by George Eaton can be found here 

Scruton Tapes: an anatomy of a modern hit job by Douglas Murray in this week's Spectator can be found here 

Full transcript as published by the New Statesman on Friday evening (26/4) can be found here

Full podcast of Today programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p077jtxs

interview: "I want my name cleared". 

Roger appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning (26/4/19) to discuss the interview he gave George Eaton of the New Statesman. The recording can be heard on Roger's YouTube channel.

Roger Scruton: Should I forgive the journalist that got me fired?

Sunday, 7th April 2019. Travelling back from London with the St Matthew Passion filling my head, after the moving performance from the Elysian Singers and Royal Orchestral Society under Sam Laughton at St James’s Piccadilly. Why does that last chord send shivers down the spine?

pdf of the Diary: SpectatorDiary.pdf

Le Figaro 17/04/2019

Sometimes I stay on the Isle de la cité, in an apartment borrowed from a friend. From the kitchen window I look out across rooftops to the solemn towers of Notre Dame, and for long moments in the evening I am transfixed by the great shoulders that blacken the sky.