Published in The Independent (August 23rd, 2012) It may be the post-Olympic euphoria, but a spirit of harmony has descended on the Coalition. Insiders say that, for all […]
Housing / Policy / Politics
The housing crisis: a nightmare caused by our sanctified suburban dreams
Published in The Guardian (August 21st, 2012) Another day, another housing report. This time it is Policy Exchange, the prime minister’s favourite thinktank, urging the sale of social […]
Politics
Cameron must now embrace the spirit of the Games
Published in The Independent (August 13th, 2012) Well, that was some party, wasn’t it? A fabulous fortnight in which Britain proved it was still a global player, shattering […]
Economics / Politics
Politicians are the last people who should investigate corrupt City spivs
Published in The Daily Mail (July 4th, 2012) So farewell then, Bob Diamond. Few will mourn the departure from British public life of this arrogant and over-paid American, […]
Policy / Politics / Welfare
Can David Cameron unleash his inner Maoism?
Published in The Guardian (June 29th, 2012) The headlines are clear: the nasty party is back in business. After David Cameron revealed his desire for a tougher, more […]
Immigration / Policy / Politics
Labour’s cowardice on immigration is sickening
Published in The Independent (June 21st, 2012) Cyrus Kabiru should have been in Edinburgh next week. He has been picked as one of 19 people from around the […]
Politics
Tea Party zombies long to lurch further right
Published in The Independent (May 7th, 2012) A few days before last week’s local elections, the Tory MP Nadine Dorries wrote an article for the ConservativeHome website begging […]
Europe / France / Politics
When rulers are out of touch, voters fall for extremists’ snake-oil solutions
Published in The Daily Mail (April 24th, 2012) However you cut it, Sunday’s presidential election in France was a profoundly depressing result: not just for the French, but […]
Arts / Books / Politics
Why conservatives are fair and liberals are weird
Published in The Observer (April 22, 2012) The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Penguin) When Barack Obama won the […]
Politics
The end of privacy in British politics
Published in The Independent on Sunday (April 8th, 2012) Bumping into a trade union leader last week, we got chatting about the London mayoral election upon which so […]
Politics
The Tea Party Tories
Published in The Guardian (April 5th, 2012) For all his faults, Tony Blair was an acute observer of the political scene. Surveying events from No 10, he would […]
Economics / Politics
Osborne has sent a missile into six years of Tory modernisation
Published in The Guardian (March 21st, 2012) There was much to admire when this heavily leaked budget was finally delivered: the cut in corporation tax, the lifting of […]