Jason Arday, Cambridge Plagiarist, thread two

[Angeruish]

We are nearing our 1000-post limit on the original thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/education/5561878-jason-arday-cambridge-plagiarist?reply=153910946

I have now removed the question mark after "plagiarist".

I can't believe the sequel will be as good as the original, but you never know...

@mids2019 agree - I have been asked whether I would stand for public office quite a lot recently, but have gone back to say no. that I don’t want the public scrutiny, the potential invasion of family privacy, the online abuse/criticism. I don't have the emotional resilience to withstand it. I ‘cry and shake’ [LOL] after a falling out with friends and family, so there is no way I have the psychological backbone to take the onslaught dished out in the press and SM.

But am totally happy to be actively involved in other ways: think tanks, research, drafting reports to robustly support those who ARE putting heir heads above the parapet.

I think some people rush headlong into it, whether driven by passion or ego, without taking a moment to consumer the social media environment we now have. I suspect JA could never have imagined the backlash he received - but i still stand by the fact that this was the result not of the media per sé but of the intersection/conflagration of people and organisations with agendas - the GLP, the politicians who signed the letter, the drive by Cambridge to laud their youngest black professorial appointment, the involvement of Carter Ruck, the brutal calculation of the publishing industry, and yes even his family who benefited from his celebrity and income and were utterly silent until his tragic death.

As I say above/elsewhere, this should never have been about one man, but should have been about the wider issues at play, but once people jumped on the race bandwagon, that poor man fashioned into the figurehead on the bow of a ship they were collectively sailing headlong into the rocks.

Priyamvada Gopal was one of the Cambridge academics calling for an inquiry into how Cambridge let Arday in to his role on the evidence presented last week.

Now she's turned against (previous Corbyn, now green supporting) Novara media hack Aaron Bastani who last week was calling Arday a conman

https://nitter.net/BrianSpanner1/status/2089068083830747590#m

I thought exactly the same.

Also Arday said he was diagnosed age 3 with Asperger’s and GDD. That would have been 1988. Asperger’s wasn't in the DSM or ICD until 1993/94.

The NHS go strictly by those manuals so our DS has “autism” not Asperger’s and doesnt have the newer needs/support sub classification system currently used. So theres no way JA would have been given a diagnosis of Asperger’s unless his dates are wrong.

Then most importantly - as you describe in much more detail - he seems to show no verbal signs in what is labelled a “social and communication disorder “. Plus he talks about sophisticated thinking in relation to managing the police during stop and search around age 14 - which I’d expect to be very difficult unless he had no “mind blindness”.

So unfortunately - in the context of all the other fantastical claims - I strongly suspect that Arday made the GDD/mutism stuff up. Possibly at some time around his getting into uni as an undergraduate to clean up his CV and explain the lack of qualifications and large gaps. He didn’t have the qualifications to get into university the first time… so forget Cambridge. What the hell happened at St Mary’s?!?

Latterly he maybe did get into the Cambridge job with a mediocre academic record helped by being a young/charming/black guy. But most of those problems with the academic side came out in 2023 and were quietly dealt with by the corrections to papers and getting him to employ a proof reader etc. to clean up his act going forward… that wouldn’t be of interest to mainstream news would it?! Until you call the police about a journalist … which does become interesting.

The problem for Cambridge was that his back story had always been contained to the private sphere until he arrived with them. They used it as part of their virtuous fanfare when he was appointed. Thereafter these lies were out in public and instead of putting his head down, JA instead talked about it. A lot. And added audacious claims which are obviously impossible. On podcasts and interviews. Recorded leaving receipts all over the place. He enjoyed being feted. Only over time did the inconsistencies become apparent.

It’s easy for us to look back at the whole “body of work” and see there’s something badly wrong. But no one at Cambridge would have been listening to these interviews and adding it up to the academic issues. It’s only now that the whole puzzle has been able to come together

like all disasters there are many different errors which coalesce. Very sad all round tgat it’s come to this

I occasionally venture over the Gransnet just to read some of the biased comments on certain issues.

They didn’t disappoint on this subject. JA called the police on the journalist because he was afraid due to his mental state (not because he knew it was about to unravel). It’s all down to racism, all of it. Every student/lecturer plagiarises and there’s no evidence he did. He was cleared by LJMU ( well he would be - they were marking their own work). He was severely mentally ill with his autism, Asperger’s and every other ND going. There’s no questioning whether he was ND. There’s no evidence of him lying etc - it’s all gossip, wait for the investigation to conclude and the reason for the media onslaught is the pack coming together to destroy a man who set the police on one of their own.

It’s really rather depressing how certain sections of the population with left leaning views stubbornly refuse to view reality over anything that goes against their world view. Any criticism of anyone of colour, regardless of how egregious their behaviour is racism - always.

Ultimately JA felt he couldn’t carry on but was that because of the media or because of Cambridge deciding to carry out an investigation? It’s interesting that he announced his resignation once CU told him an investigation was to go ahead. Probably both. Either way, he knew the game was up and took his own life (probably). It’s sad and tragic but he could have got through it. He was on record as saying he had indomitable will. Maybe he couldn’t face no longer being a high ranking academic (supposedly).

He probably had no idea what to do next - unlikely to get any kind of academic post. He was used to being feted and admired and wasn't afraid to take action against those who questioned him.

He was autistic - perhaps he was on another planet about his lies, perhaps couldn’t see how they affected other people, was lauded and given a PhD by an inadequate LJM ?professor, lauded and petted by the interviewers at Cambridge, told he was the best in the world 🙄, These imposing Cambridge professors could see no wrong and a lot right in his thesis etc Poor guy really didn’t stand a chance - a NT might have thought WTF am I this good?? PE teacher to Cambridge Professor at only 37??
Then the whole world turns against him - after the bullshit they fed him Cambridge should have been straight in there supporting him through this but no -running for cover. Tragic.

Well yes. This is a man with (by his own admission) limited powers of comprehension. He was told by his employer that he was the best etc etc. How much can he blamed for believing his seniors' hype about his abilities?

Back on 7th August James O'Brien issued a mea culpa claiming he was deceived into standing up for Arday (he signed that GLP letter iirc). "Being taken for a mug" was how he put it.

https://nitter.net/LBC/status/2085680930291671516#m

Now he's both barrels at The MEEJA but obv not himself because he is a good person

https://nitter.net/forduk/status/2088681934457090528#m

Just seen a thread asking if GLP are the new stonewall. I think Jolyon is actually a bit Camilla Batmangelidh/ Kids Company in how they are able to successfully harness Wanting to Do The Right Thing into cold hard cash donations

The University of Sussex publicly defended Stock's right to academic freedom, she chose to resign. She has since shown how her 'diverse' views are damaging and discriminatory. She wasn't subject to anything like the press coverage Arday received.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/17/support-jason-arday-family-shows-britain-still-cares-windrush-campaigner

Not Cambridge's fault it's all the racist media. Can someone show me an article from any main stream publication including the BBC that is factually incorrect or racist?

We have established the media had a fair justification for scrutiny so is it now the case of you are black you should not be reported on? Is this in itself not a form of racism?

@Corianda They did offer support. Just because someone is not self aware, doesn’t make what they do right. We cannot just keep accepting excuses for poor behaviour or it tarnishes similar people who don’t do these things.

He also did not have to go to Cambridge and did not have to lie!

JA is a pawn now in some undignified culture war and unfortunately those with an agenda in trying to show Britain is racist are taking advantage.

It’s relentless. Thankfully KS is out, he’d probably use it as a reason to censor.

With AB it’s just a Telegraph letter so far.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/24/kemi-badenoch-hysterical-level-personal-attacks-as-black-woman

Here is a black women who has had a fair amount of horrible racism. Strangely because her politics don't align to the left then you didn't have the usual suspects rushing to condemn awful comments etc. There is hypocrisy here.

Oh they did not and she received much much worse abuse including death and rape threats. And not made up ones like JA fabricated.

It's the Guardian reporting hence the 'hysterical' in inverted commas.

Yep

Simon Baron Cohen must have thought JA had autism - he knew him very well.

The mutism claims have been debunked by schoolmates.

That's Simon Baron Cohen of "Extreme Male Brain" fame, isn't it?

Yeah...

Yeah - he claims to have apologised for that strain of research, apparently, but I’m not sure he has actually shifted his perspective to be really inclusive of the female experience.

I recommend everyone watches Storyville: Speechless on BBC IPlayer about this Critical Race Theory imported to our campuses from the US which has destroyed people's lives. Jason Arday was a part of this movement, introducing racial tensions into a University campus. How would you as a white student react to being told that you are a white supremacist coz you're white or be told to stay off a campus because you're white or be sacked like many of the people in the documentary for protesting. Part of the press converage was a backlash against racialist division, just when we thought we have got to a good place. CRT is a destructive and divisive ideology.

One of the segments in the Storyville documentary I referred to is that Standard English is now regarded as "white supremacist."

In the US there is a separation between black maths and white maths in some contexts. I don't know how that works.

Fairly sure modern maths has its roots in India, China, ancient Greece and Persia. Not sure why there was a need to be intensionally divisive and segregate between B v W?

Kathleen Stock had a horrendous time.
2018 Sussex signs up to Stonewall.
Not too long after this, students began to organise against her; some colleagues ostracised her.
By the time the university finally defended the right of staff there to think freely - after developing their own policies against 'transphobia' - the campus campaign against her had been underway for 3 years, and the university seems to have made zero effort to explain to students that universities are about debate - including hearing ideas you don't like.

So, less press coverage, but an absolutely horrendous work environment for three years.

She was hounded out for having what were at the time deeply unfashionable views and having the courage to express them.