Today I’m launching my five-part podcast investigation into the rise and fall of the Pride movement and the shocking safeguarding failures that are going unnoticed and unchallenged.
The series examines how Stephen Ireland, once a prominent figure in Pride in the UK and founder of the Pride in Surrey group, was able to build trust, credibility and influence, while carrying out serious sexual offences involving children.
Some of what happened to women who tried to raise safeguarding concerns in this story is genuinely shocking. It defies common sense and basic expectations of duty of care.
Several women who spoke up were ignored, undermined, or treated as a problem simply for asking straightforward safeguarding questions. In some cases, the response to those questions was more hostile than the concerns themselves.
I know this first-hand. I was chucked out of Surrey Pride after asking the most basic safeguarding questions - luckily we were recording throughout so you can hear and see for yourself what happened.
This series exists because safeguarding depends on a culture where questions are allowed and where those who raise them are not punished for doing so.
This is a story about systems, culture, and what happens when those concerns are minimised, dismissed, or politicised.
All episodes are available below and are best listened to in order.
WATCH THE TRAILER…
🎧 Episode guide
Episode 1:
How Pride in Surrey positioned itself and why early concerns were not taken seriously.
Episode 2:
Warning signs, internal unease, and the culture that allowed problems to escalate.
Episode 3:
What happened when questions were finally raised — and how critics were treated.
Episode 4 (Bonus): Bev Jackson — extended interview
A longer conversation with Bev Jackson, founder of the Gay Liberation Front and long-time observer of the Pride movement.
Episode 5 (Bonus): Mandy Clare — extended interview
An in-depth interview with councillor Mandy Clare, who raised safeguarding concerns and faced serious consequences for doing so.
About this series
Pride and Predator is presented by me Julie Bindel.
It is a journalistic investigation focused on safeguarding, accountability, and the importance of asking difficult questions even when doing so is uncomfortable.
If you’re new to the series, start at Episode 1.
If you’ve come here via a recommendation, welcome, and thank you for listening.
Production Team: Maria Esposito, Ashanna Prijs Reeves, Samantha Smith
Artwork: Nicole Jones
Really important investigative work here. The pattern of women being sidelined or punished for raising safeguarding concerns is somethign I've seen play out in other institutional contexts too. What gets me is how asking basic duty-of-care questions becomes reframed as causing problems, when institutional self-protection takes priority over child safety. Documenting this stuff matters because it shows the systemic patterns.
Well done, Julie. Fearless campaigning as ever.