Published in The Guardian (May 8th, 2013) There is something reassuringly Ruritanian about the rituals associated with the Queen’s speech, from those flunkies in gold-trimmed finery to the […]
Health / Policy
A helpline in crisis and doctors who refuse to put patients’ interests above their own
Published in The Daily Mail (May 6th, 2013) For weeks there have been many stories emerging of patients left hanging on the phone, fearful or in pain; urgent […]
Policy / Race
Christians, Muslims and the reality of religious persecution
Published in The Guardian (April 22nd, 2013) It is hard not to laugh. Three Christians are taking a landmark legal case to the European Court of Human Rights […]
Arts / Books / Immigration / Policy
Frightened by foreign bodies
Published in The Observer (14th April, 2013) The British Dream by David Goodhart (Atlantic); The Diversity Illusion by Ed West (Gibson Square) A couple of years ago I […]
Policy / Politics / Welfare
The mutinous anger of Labour voters over welfare
Published in The Mail on Sunday (April 7th, 2013) Let me introduce you to two women I met on Friday. The first is Kathy Barratt, 33, a jobless […]
Disability / Policy / Politics / Welfare
All we can agree on is that welfare’s in a state
Published in The Independent (April 2nd, 2013) What a strange world we live in. A clutch of Church leaders spent their holiest weekend of the year queuing up to […]
Health / Policy / Politics
The man they couldn’t hang
Published in The Independent on Sunday (31st March, 2013) When the National Health Service rose like a merciful phoenix from the wreckage of a war-torn nation, its founder […]
Immigration / Policy / Politics
The immigration debate: evidence-free and more rancid than ever
Published in The Guardian (26th March, 2013) Nigel Farage must have been smiling to himself as he supped his pint of real ale last night. His party has no […]
Africa / China / Environment / Gabon / Policy / World
The British professor fighting to save Africa’s elephants
Published in The Mail on Sunday (March 24th, 2013) As we set off from our overnight camp in the jungle, the patrol leader turns, gesticulating with a machete […]
Aid / Health / Policy / Politics / Social care
Overseas aid: an indefensible ringfence
Published in The Guardian (March 14th, 2013) One of the first rules of opposition is to avoid rash promises that can come back to throttle you in government. […]
Health / Policy / Politics
Cover-up: the public are sickened by such cynicism
Published in The Daily Mail (February 22nd, 2013) Julie Bailey is a heroine of our age. She is the cafe owner from Stafford who saw her elderly mother […]