I was one of the very few back in 2001 to question the official 911 story. This lead to a lot of ridicule and personal attack. It made my career as a recording and touring artist extremely uncomfortable. Because despite the rebellious image of industrial music, to think outside of the herd was to break the number one sacred rock and roll commandment;

THOU SHALT NOT BE UNCOOL.

Well I suspect I've got mild tourettes. Because the impulse to speak truth often over-rides my sense of personal advancement. Put simply, my mouth gets me in trouble. This is incompatible with a business that feeds upon popularity. For even in a genre touted as non-conformist, you still have to sell records to somebody…

Eventually, the inner conflict became too great for me. Though music will always be my first love, I became disillusioned with the "scene" and no longer wanted anything to do with it. I turned my back on my music career.

When I arrived back in London I found a group also skeptical of the official 911 story. Theories abounded for what happened. Some were quite imaginative. Others were completely ridiculous. But the group's official stance was to campaign for a proper investigation. This was and still is my position.

But soon I noticed an odd phenomenon. The rebels and freethinkers from the Truth Movement began to exhibit the very same cult-like thinking which they had once shunned in the mainstream. The anti-sheeple became sheeple.

Stars began to emerge. Folks began to blindly follow them.

Leaders like David Icke spoke of top-down control by an elite who controlled communication. Nobody noticed the irony of Icke himself being someone who exercised controlled, top-down communication. (He doesn't do Q&As). Likewise, Alex Jones' was an internet radio jock whose fiery preaching became more a projection of his own control freakery.

These men no doubt laid the seeds of a certain worldview. Both paint a war of good vs evil. Icke sees a place where there are good humans and bad reptilians. For both, humans are helpless against the controlling elite.

With regard to any hope of change, it is a position of powerlessness. This polarized vision is the seed behind every war in history. In seeing opponents as inhuman, one is free to use all means against them.

This was demonstrated at a meeting of Ickes followers when a woman stood up to announce that there were three reptilians in the room.

But without an objective scientific measure, who decides who is a "reptilian"?

This has led to a trend amongst modern-day conspiracy theorists, to label anyone who questions their dogma as a spy or an agent and to cast them out. The irony is, the real spies and agents are often the ones who run the conspiracy groups. These are the really personable, professional and sensible ones who get along with everyone. Because they're paid to do so. It's a cheap and easy way for the government to keep tabs on possible dissidents.

Fast forward and I now see the same intellectual straitjacket of the herd mentality which put me off the music business. Instead of seeing things as they are, most seem to blindly follow anyone who presents a story that confirms their fixed worldview.

So how do we know who to believe?

Ultimately, it is said that a man must not be judged by his words, but by the fruit he bears. Go to any meeting of Jones/Icke fans and you will see that the fruits produced are not the culture of humanitarian love and spiritual enlightenment preached by both men, but one of finger-pointing, paranoid individuals, fearful of the powerful and in danger of descent into schizophrenia.

Alex and David get away with it because 99% of the time they reveal truths. Their track records for exposing pedophilia and the movement toward one-world government are perhaps unmatched. They are often spot-on in some of their political analysis.

But all cults require 99% truth in order to attract followers. It's the 1% you've got to watch out for. Here, it helps to analyze the source of the information.

Icke claims enlightenment through the channeling of entities with the help of psychics and the use of Ayahuasca. But like those who've had the misfortune to play with Ouija boards, how do you know who's on the other end of the line? It would stand to reason that those who trust and believe David's teachings would also trust and believe in his sources. But what's to guarantee that David's disembodied spirit guide is on your side? Would you stake your life on it?

I still believe there is a grain of truth to the idea that the world is in danger of consolidating into a totalitarian one-world system. For where there's smoke, there's usually fire. I will continue to watch the occasional David Icke videos. I'll check in on the latest conspiracy news of Alex Jones. I'll file these ideas away as remote possibilities but certainly not as sacred blueprints for living.

Is Coronavirus a bioweapon? Is it a hoax to usher in global governance? Is 5G causing coronavirus? Perhaps there's something to it. But though worthy of speculation, the aggressive certainty displayed by the proponents of these theories is more akin to the groupthink of cults than to independent thought. It also makes the possibility of serious debate and the attraction of more credible voices remote.

What makes these folks so sure their particular leaders and theories are more trustworthy than mainstream leaders and theories? Scientists all over the world are scratching their heads over Coronavirus. Wouldn't it make sense to maintain a healthy skepticism of both sides?

Years of lying by world leaders has lead to a justifiable mistrust of any mainstream news. But the answer is not to blindly follow any Tom, Dick or David Icke down the path to a societal breakdown. But I reckon the truth is out there. We mustn't give up looking. (Though we could probably do without these herd induced filters and biases).

At any rate, until there truly is more certainty about this epidemic, I'll still wear my mask when I go to Tescos…