David Southwell
Encyclopedia
David Southwell is the author of a number of best-selling books on conspiracy theories and organized crime
. He has also written scripts for Independent British comic books.
- before turning to full-time writing.
In his role at the BRC, he regularly clashed with the British government's media relations department, and pressure groups, and played a part in forcing Stephen Byers
to scrap the Rip-Off Britain
campaign.
In 2003, in a front page story in The Sunday Times
Southwell, then a spokesman for the BRC, mentioned that MI5
was co-ordinating with the business community with regard to potential terrorism. Many people in the conspiracy community believed that this was confirmation that he was allied with Secret Intelligence Service agents and may have been publishing disinformation on behalf of the British security services in his conspiracy books. Southwell later reported in his own books that he had liaised with MI5 on anti-terrorism issues and with the UK Government's emergency planning Cabinet Committee COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A).
He has acknowledged a specialist knowledge and ongoing interest in the Angry Brigade and conspiracies surrounding the events that inspired VALIS
.
In 2005 he was thanked as an inspiration by Gary Russell
in his Doctor Who
novel Spiral Scratch.
A regular broadcaster in the UK and North America on the subjects of conspiracies and counter-culture, he jokingly claims on the back of his books that if he 'dies a mysterious death it will be because he knows too much and has upset some very powerful people.'
Southwell lives on a narrowboat
on the Regent's Canal
in London and married in 2010.
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. He has also written scripts for Independent British comic books.
Biography
Previously Southwell spent worked as a journalist and as Director of Communications for the British Retail ConsortiumBritish Retail Consortium
The British Retail Consortium is one of the leading trade associations in the United Kingdom. They represent all forms of retailers from small, independently owned stores, to big chain stores and department stores...
- before turning to full-time writing.
In his role at the BRC, he regularly clashed with the British government's media relations department, and pressure groups, and played a part in forcing Stephen Byers
Stephen Byers
Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010; in the previous parliament, from 1992, he represented Wallsend...
to scrap the Rip-Off Britain
Rip-Off Britain
Rip-off Britain is when some products and services cost significantly more in the United Kingdom than in other places, especially the United States and other member states of the European Union....
campaign.
In 2003, in a front page story in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
Southwell, then a spokesman for the BRC, mentioned that MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
was co-ordinating with the business community with regard to potential terrorism. Many people in the conspiracy community believed that this was confirmation that he was allied with Secret Intelligence Service agents and may have been publishing disinformation on behalf of the British security services in his conspiracy books. Southwell later reported in his own books that he had liaised with MI5 on anti-terrorism issues and with the UK Government's emergency planning Cabinet Committee COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A).
He has acknowledged a specialist knowledge and ongoing interest in the Angry Brigade and conspiracies surrounding the events that inspired VALIS
VALIS
VALIS is a 1981 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Dick's gnostic vision of one aspect of God....
.
In 2005 he was thanked as an inspiration by Gary Russell
Gary Russell
Gary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
in his Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novel Spiral Scratch.
A regular broadcaster in the UK and North America on the subjects of conspiracies and counter-culture, he jokingly claims on the back of his books that if he 'dies a mysterious death it will be because he knows too much and has upset some very powerful people.'
Southwell lives on a narrowboat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
on the Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
in London and married in 2010.
Major Non-Fiction works
- Conspiracy Theories (with Sean Twist) - 1999
- Dirty Cash - 2002
- Conspiracy FilesConspiracy FilesConspiracy Files is a 2006 Discovery Times documentary 4-part television series about conspiracy theories.-Episodes:...
(with Sean Twist) - 2004 - Secrets and Lies - 2005
- Global Gangland The History of Organized Crime - 2006
- 1001 Ridiculous Ways to Die (with Matt Adams) - 2008
External links
- ENGLISH DREAMING, ENGLISH RAIN David's blog
- David's tweets