Crashing through the undergrowth, Tommy gun blazing, Jason Arday claimed yet another bar for his Victoria Cross as the enemy fell like leaves before him. Or rather he didn’t, as, unlike the ‘real’ Walter Mitty in Thurber’s New Yorker short story, the recently discredited Cambridge professor’s fantasies were arguably mild-mannered, heartwarming and helpful to humanity.
He ran 600 miles in 6 days with a broken leg. Raised £5.5 million for charity. Overcame crippling nonverbal shyness to earn a PhD. Despite social media being awash with memes of him on the deck of the Victory, or driving a tank at El Alamein, it would be unfair to call the civilian academic and married father of two a military glory-hunting ‘Mitty’.
All well and good. But, if not hiding in plain sight on the pages of a pre-war American arts magazine, where might we find the real Jason Arday? Perhaps on BBC Question Time? Yes, he has been a guest. Which begs the question: was QT Review HQ taken in as hopelessly as the woke educational establishment?
Judge for yourselves. Here’s his QTR biography from the 22nd February 2024 edition of the programme, broadcast from Theresa May’s old constituency of Maidenhead:
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‘Jason Arday is a sociologist and writer best known for his research on race, ‘inequality’ and education. One of four siblings and a son to Joseph and Gifty, the 39-year-old was born in Clapham, South London. Diagnosed with ‘global development delay’ and autism spectrum disorder, he was only able to communicate by sign language until aged eleven and couldn’t read and write until eighteen.
‘After gaining two GCSEs, PE and textiles, Arday studied for a BTEC before completing a first degree in PE and education studies. Following two master’s qualifications and a PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education), Jason completed a PhD at Liverpool John Moores University. Those who know about such things, inform this humble reviewer his doctoral thesis focused on peer-mentoring among student teachers to inform reflective practice within the context of action research. Quite.
‘Making a profession of his skin colour, Mr Arday’s research interests encompass areas such as education, social mobility, mental health and race. Notably, he has conducted research into the experiences of black students at universities and has been vocal about the omission of people of colour in academia and the enduring effects of ‘racial discrimination’.
‘Perhaps proving himself wrong, by March 2023 Arday had made history by becoming the youngest black professor at the University of Cambridge where he was appointed as the Professor of Sociology of Education.
‘According to wiki, his published works include, ‘Fighting the Tide: Understanding the Difficulties Facing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Doctoral Students’ Pursuing a Career in Academia’, ‘The Black Curriculum: Black British History in the National Curriculum Report’ and ‘No One Can See Me Cry: Understanding Mental Health Issues for Black and Ethnic Minority Academic Staff in Higher Education’.
‘However, these aren’t published works; they’re niche articles elevated beyond their status as the box-ticking Jason is over-praised.
The one book of his I was able to find is ‘Cool Britannia and Multi-Ethnic Britain: Uncorking the Champagne Supernova’ which sits a very disappointing 1,940,079 places behind the Marquis de Sade’s ‘120 Days of Sodom’ in the (racist?) Amazon best sellers chart.
‘No doubt Jason’s impressive CV will be further augmented tonight after easy questions from Fiona Bruce and patronising pap from a BBC audience.’
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If not a full demolition, at least we were onto him. Unlike Fiona Bruce, who introduced her fraudulent guest thus:
‘Jason Arday is the youngest ever professor at Cambridge University, all the more remarkable given that he didn’t speak until he was 11 and couldn’t read or write till he was 18, and tonight he’s making his debut on Question Time.’
As for when he spoke, perhaps fortunately, he didn’t have much to say. The first question was about the previous day’s non-vote in the House of Commons when Speaker Lindsay Hoyle changed the rules to help Labour – still then in opposition – avoid an SNP ambush on Gaza.
Jason found it difficult. The priority should be the preservation of human life. Speaker Hoyle showed contrition; prior to this, his record is exemplary. As for bringing peace to the Middle East, politicians should coalesce around a permanent ceasefire. ‘The sanctity of preserving the human condition’ was the odd phrase he used, perhaps picked up while misunderstanding a copied thesis?
A subsequent question referenced Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s sudden but not unexpected death in a Siberian ‘corrective colony’ three and a half degrees of latitude south of the North Pole.
Forsaking to tell of his own expedition thereabouts (two broken legs, two hundred miles a day across the permafrost hauling a two-ton sledge with no runners), the great academic suggested we ‘globally coalesce’.
What the panel omitted – and at this point we nod towards Arday’s fortitude at sitting among Stella Creasy, Camilla Tominay and Laura Ferris – is that Navalny was also a Russian nationalist and potentially as difficult as Putin.
The next question was about a right not to be pestered when not at work. ‘Jason, a good idea?’ inquired Bruce. ‘Yes’, he replied. The audience laughed and applauded, perhaps at the brevity of the response, but, then again, did they know something? Let’s not forget that if a journalist contacts Jason in or out of hours, he reports them to the police for harassment.
People are absolutely overworked, he continued. The endless marathons? The raising of millions for charity? Copying other people’s theses into the small hours by candlelight? No, mental health, COVID and the pandemic.
‘If your students wanted to contact you outside hours? Would you say sorry and not respond?’ asked the chair.
‘I’m always so scared of getting into trouble,’ he replied. Hmm. ‘So that’s not going to happen.’
La Bruce forced a laugh.
‘There is that fear and trepidation in our work,’ he continued.
Now that’s for real!
© Always Worth Saying 2026
