Stuart Waiton

{{short description|Scottish professor and politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Stuart Waiton is a senior sociology and criminology lecturer at Abertay University. He teaches on matters relating to anti-social behaviour, moral panics, hate crimes, and politics.{{cite news |title=Dr Stuart Waiton |url=https://www.abertay.ac.uk/staff-search/dr-stuart-waiton/ |accessdate=4 September 2019 |work=Abertay |date=16 January 2018}} Ewan Gurr of the Evening Telegraph describes Waiton's political background as "on the far left of the political spectrum and rooted firmly within the revolutionary communist tradition".{{cite news |last1=Gurr |first1=Ewan |title=Ewan Gurr: 'SNP's Hate Crime Bill has united coalition of opponents' |url=https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/ewan-gurr-snps-hate-crime-bill-has-united-coalition-of-opponents/ |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=Evening Telegraph |date=10 August 2020}} Waiton described himself as involved in anti-racist campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of Workers Against Racism,{{cite news |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Ken |title=A right-on guide to imprisoning children |url=https://www.spiked-online.com/2009/01/22/a-right-on-guide-to-imprisoning-children/ |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=Spiked Online |date=22 January 2009 |language=en}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Malik |first1=Paul |title=Abertay lecturer Stuart Waiton picked to stand for the Brexit Party |url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/uk-politics/949857/abertay-lecturer-stuart-waiton-picked-to-stand-for-the-brexit-party/ |accessdate=4 September 2019 |work=The Courier |date=6 August 2019}} He was unsuccessful{{cite news |title=The UK's European elections 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crjeqkdevwvt/the-uks-european-elections-2019 |accessdate=4 September 2019 |work=BBC News}} and later stood as for the party for Dundee West.{{cite news |title=Who are the MEP candidates in Scotland? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48044192 |accessdate=4 September 2019 |work=BBC News |date=25 April 2019}}

Waiton has been a columnist for the Times Educational Supplement (Scotland){{cite book |last1=Squires |first1=Peter |title=ASBO Nation: The Criminalisation of Nuisance |date=2008 |publisher=Policy Press |isbn=978-1-84742-028-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E901DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP8 |accessdate=8 March 2020 |language=en}} and has written for The Times,{{cite news |last1=Waiton |first1=Stuart |title=Politicians are wildly out of touch on smacking ban |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/politicians-are-wildly-out-of-touch-on-smacking-ban-mvl7jmwm5 |access-date=8 March 2020 |work=The Times|url-access=registration|date=12 March 2019 }} The Independent,{{cite news |last1=Waiton |first1=Stuart |title=Parental paranoia is ruining children's lives |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/parental-paranoia-is-ruining-childrens-lives-5367275.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/parental-paranoia-is-ruining-childrens-lives-5367275.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |accessdate=8 March 2020 |work=The Independent |date=22 August 2000}} Living Marxism{{cite news |last1=Waiton |first1=Stuart |title=LM128: Lessons in life |url=http://www.informinc.co.uk/LM/LM128/LM128_Waiton.htm|accessdate=8 March 2020 |work=Living Marxism |archive-date=16 May 2000 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000516135345/http://www.informinc.co.uk/LM/LM128/LM128_Waiton.html}} and its successor Spiked,{{cite news |title=AstroTurfers of Britain Part Two: Who is Behind Brexit Party Recruitment and its PR Makeover? |url=https://bylinetimes.com/2019/05/13/astroturfers-of-britain-part-two-who-is-behind-brexit-party-recruitment-and-its-pr-makeover/ |accessdate=9 March 2020 |work=Byline Times |date=13 May 2019}} and is currently{{when|date=April 2023}} a columnist for the Glasgow Herald and a contributor to a number of mainstream radio and television discussion programmes.{{cite web |title=Dr Stuart Waiton |url=https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/speaker/dr-stuart-waiton/ |website=Battle of Ideas Festival|year=2019 |accessdate=4 September 2019}} He has appeared on Sky News{{cite web |title=Should smacking be made illegal in England? – Sky News |url=https://newsvideo.su/video/9334067 |website=newsvideo.su}} and has been a contributor for the media outlet The Richie Allen Show.{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Michael |title=Brexit party MEPs' links to alt-right media agenda exposed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/18/brexit-party-meps-links-alt-right-media-conspiracy-theories-revealed |accessdate=4 September 2019 |work=The Observer |date=18 August 2019}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Milne |first1=Scott |title='More chance of seeing Shergar': Frustration as SNP's Chris Law ducks out of Dundee hustings |url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/1036240/more-chance-of-seeing-shergar-frustration-as-snps-chris-law-ducks-out-of-dundee-hustings/ |accessdate=20 November 2020 |work=The Courier |date=6 December 2019}} He has been involved in campaigns against the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act and is anti-environmentalist, saying that "the green agenda means no flying, no jobs, no growth".

He has criticised academics for allegedly stifling the debate around transgender topics, and has in turn been criticised for describing the transgender rights movement as asking for something that is biologically impossible.{{cite news |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Mark |title=Academics closing down trans debate, claims Stuart Waiton |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/academics-closing-down-trans-debate-says-stuart-waiton-v5c8z8x2p |access-date=4 September 2019 |work=The Times |date=27 November 2018}} He has also questioned the state support for gender-neutral toilets and school uniforms and described the dynamic of equality campaigners as potentially authoritarian. He is also critical of lockdowns put in place by the Scottish government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 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."{{cite news |first=Rachel |last=Amery |title=Dundee lecturer claims Scottish Government's 'Stay at Home' message could have cost lives |url=https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-lecturer-claims-scottish-governments-stay-at-home-message-could-have-cost-lives/ |accessdate=20 November 2020 |work=Evening Telegraph |date=13 May 2020}} His claims were criticised by Dundee City Council leader John Alexander and the Scottish government.