Published in the New Statesman (April 19, 2012) Mark Cooper is struggling to find work. He had a good offer from Lehman Brothers but on the day he […]
China / World
Why do we care more about pandas than a Briton’s very suspicious death?
Published in The Daily Mail (April 16th, 2012) The picture speaks volumes: a damning snapshot of British impotence and Chinese intransigence. A government minister sits grinning for the […]
Police / Policy / Race
Can the Met ever end the culture of racism?
Published in the London Evening Standard (April 10th, 2012) The first time Victor Adebowale visited London was as a teenager on a school trip to the Geological Museum. […]
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 […]
Africa / Mali
Accidental coup has undone decades of steady progress
Published in The Independent (April 7th, 2012) Arriving in Timbuktu after a long, hot journey across the Sahara, you come to a striking monument to peace, with guns […]
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 […]
Drugs / Policy
Even the police think our drugs laws are absurd
Published in the London Evening Standard (April 3rd, 2012) This year marks an unfortunate anniversary. It is 100 years since the first international treaty to control narcotics was […]
Arts / Music
The term ‘world music’ is outdated and offensive
Published in The Guardian (March 23, 2012) Life’s a mashup these days, isn’t it? Not just online but in the real world too. From arts to science, from […]
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 […]
Syria / World
Massacres, emails, and a modern Marie Antoinette
Published in the Daily Mail (March 15th, 2012) Among a stash of emails that emerged yesterday, apparently sent by the Syrian president and his wife, it is the […]
Aid / Europe / European Union / Iceland
Iceland owes us billions. Why on earth is the EU giving millions of our money in aid?
Published in The Daily Mail (March 8th, 2012) For all its recent problems, Iceland remains a prosperous place. Visiting there a few months ago, I was struck by […]
Economics / Politics
Forget mansions and lower the 40p tax band
Published in The Financial Times (March 6, 2012) Every successful leader of the postwar age in Britain has understood a basic truth of politics: success depends on winning […]