–Why the US is the real freeloader; my Independence Day entanglement with LBC’s Ali Miraj over his false ‘warmongering is inevitable’ narrative + what I wish I’d said
July 7, 2026
Corrected transcript by Mathew Carr, Otter AI
LBC, shortly before 2pm London time, July 4
Mathew Carr (Mathew from Bow): Good afternoon.
Ali Miraj, Tory acolyte: What would you like to say, sir?
Mat: So I just want to push back on this idea that Europe is the freeloader, because it’s really the US that’s the freeloader. I mean, just think about the data that their tech companies extract from all of us, and they never really got permission properly or consent, but they’re taking 400 quid per person per year out of us.
Ali: But what do you mean they didn’t get consent …if you sign up to one of these platforms … You know what’s going to happen to you … you sign up willingly.
I wish I’d said here THAT THE BRITISH PEOPLE really didn’t know what was going to happen (and Miraj knows THIS). Still…even though he knows THE PEOPLE didn’t know what we were signing up to…HE STILL GASLIGHTS ME AND HIS LISTENERS AND INFERS THEY ARE THE STUPID ONES FOR NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE DATA EXTRACTION, THE WEALTH EXTRACTION AND THE PRIVACY CRIME
Mat: Well, I mean, I hear what you’re saying on that, that the regulators here should never have allowed …these contracts to be so permissive and to give away our privacy like they have.
Ali: Yeah, but they did … they did Mathew … and they rolled over and they accepted it, right, for whatever reason, are they still continuing to do that now.
Ali Miraj shows no humility for his complicity in this data extraction process (Ali Miraj was a rising star of the Tory party since 1998 when he was 23, before turning to broadcasting)
Mat: I don’t think they considered it properly, and that’s terrible. That’s a terrible indictment of our democracy, and I agree that that’s bad, but it’s still the behavior of these companies taking 400 quid per person per year, and then pretending they’re the victim, that, and they’re also extracting billions out of fossil fuels, while hurting everyone’s climate, and that’s like 300-400 million people taking the climate from 8 billion people, that is free loading … the clear definition of free loading ….this whole idea of defense spending not being high enough in Europe, that’s some narrative that the US has produced, because, mainly, that’s what they’re good at [war], right?
Note he did not push back on my climate point because LBC uses warmongering to distract from the climate crisis
Ali: No, no, Mathew, I disagree with that particular one … on the freeloading point, I’ll come back to in a second, but on the defense point, I think you’re completely wrong. Because the point is this, America, sorry, Europeans have been basking under the American security guarantee post 45 They have not consistently invested enough in their defense, because they felt they didn’t need to, because Big Daddy America would always be in their corner supporting them. So they never had to. Now they’re having to step up, because Trump has come in, in the last administration, when he was there before, kicked the backsides of the Europeans, and has further kicked it now, and now they’re beginning to wake up for the first time, and thinking we need to remilitarize. Now, that comes with its own challenges, because obviously in the past Germany militarized, and we know what happened, so there’s a certain amount of concern about that, I guess, but we are where we are.
Mat: But most people want peace. People want peace. They don’t want this war stuff, [which is] is completely, you know, created by warmongering.
Ali: We all want peace in the world. I mean, we want to sing that and hold hands as in Kumbaya. We live in the real world. There are some, there are some difficult things going. There’s a war on the eastern flank of Europe at the moment or heaven’s sake.
Mat: You’re living in the false world, sir.
Ali: Well, I’m not. There’s a way you’re saying there’s not all going on between Ukraine and Russia right now.
Mat: Of course there is. It’s all a false narrative. It’s to create fear.
Ali: Sorry, Mathew. What are you talking about? Is there, or is there not a war going on the Eastern flank of Europe right now? Yes or no.
Mat: When they started that war, right, the US basically shut down Nord Stream, and that created a big problem for the Russians, because they wanted to collaborate with Europe, and it was THAT collaboration between Europe and the US that the US could not stand, which is why the US [or its proxies] bombed Nord Stream.
Ali Miraj speaks over me here because this point kills the LBC warmongering narrative.
Ali: I’ve got my own issues about NATO expansion, and all the rest of it, …. eastward, which are well documented, but even I won’t, for a second, say that Russia didn’t invade Ukraine with a, with a view of our territorial expansion.
Note here Miraj changes the subject to try to infer I’m saying there was no invasion when what I’m saying is that the USA provoked the war
Mat: It was provoked, it wasn’t unprovoked.
Ali: I understand that particular point, but if you believe provoked or unprovoked, that you want to protect yourself, you got to step up and fund your own defense. Mathew, good to talk to you.
—
Hilariously (and probably demonstrating how sophisticated the gaslighting by the 0.1% is) …the last line was initially read by Otter Ai as “Good to torture you”
—
Note how he cuts me off here because if the USA started the Ukraine war then it erodes the need for Europe to boost its defence spending now. Miraj and LBC seems bought — hook, line and sinker — by the USA/Israel ‘violence is the way’ narrative.
Notes
His background
Ali Miraj is one of the more distinct voices on LBC precisely because his path to the microphone didn’t follow the traditional journalistic route. He operates as a true “multi-hyphenate”—simultaneously navigating corporate finance, Westminster politics, public broadcasting, and electronic music.
The structural snapshot of his career spans several distinct sectors:
| Sector | Career Focus & Highlights |
|—|—|
| **Media** | • LBC Weekend Presenter
• Sky News Political Commentator |
| **Finance** | • Infrastructure Finance Head
• Qualified Chartered Accountant |
| **Politics** | • Former Parliamentary Candidate
• Elected Local Councillor at 23 |
| **Civic** | • Contrarian Prize Founder
• CPRE National Vice President |
| **Music** | • International House DJ
• Shoreditch Event Producer |
### 1. Finance & Corporate Foundation
Miraj began his professional life building a technical foundation in the City. After graduating from the London School of Economics (LSE) with degrees in International Relations and the Politics of the World Economy, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
* He carved out a specialized niche in high-value global infrastructure finance, coordinating transactions across the energy, transport, and digital infrastructure sectors.
* He previously served as the Global Head of Infrastructure Sponsor Coverage at ING before moving to Rabobank to lead their infrastructure sponsor coverage.
### 2. Political Trajectory
Before shifting his focus to broadcasting, Miraj was a rising operator within the Conservative Party, though his independent stance eventually led to a major fracture with party leadership.
* **Early Start:** He was first elected as a Conservative councillor for the London Borough of Hillingdon in 1998 when he was 23.
* **Parliamentary Runs:** He contested the 2001 General Election in Aberavon, Wales, and ran in the high-profile, tight marginal seat of Watford during the 2005 General Election.
* **The Cameron Rift:** He served as an adviser to the Conservative Foreign Affairs Team and sat on policy commissions looking into national security. However, in 2007, he publicly broke ranks, accusing David Cameron of favoring style over policy substance. The fallout resulted in a high-profile suspension from the party’s approved candidate list.
### 3. Media & Broadcasting
His career pivot into mainstream media leveraged his insider perspective on both City trading floors and political campaign rooms.
* **Current LBC Role:** He hosts weekly weekend talk shows on LBC, steering phone-ins that dissect breaking political developments, international relations, and economic policy.
* **Commentary:** Beyond his flagship radio slots, he regularly appears as a panelist on Sky News and contributes written commentary to major UK broadsheets.
### 4. Civic Initiatives & Music
Miraj maintains two prominent parallel profiles outside of his day-to-day media and banking work:
* **The Contrarian Prize:** In 2012, he founded this annual award to recognize British public figures who demonstrate independence, sacrifice, and the courage to challenge conventional wisdom or the status quo.
* **The DJ Booth:** A trained House music DJ, he has played sets in club venues across London, Paris, and Berlin. To bridge his two worlds, he founded *Decks and the City*, a monthly event night in Shoreditch designed to showcase financial professionals who double as house music producers and DJs.
