Published by The Wall Street Journal (7th May 2014) Shortly after David Cameron became leader of the Conservatives in Britain, a caller to a radio show asked him about a […]
Politics
Sharpen the axe, minister – there should be more political appointments, not fewer
Published in the ‘i’ newspaper (3rd February, 2014) Although she is a popular figure in Westminster and a peer, Sally Morgan has never been a prominent political performer. […]
Immigration / Politics
The joke’s not on Nigel Farage. It’s on the rest of us
Published in The Guardian (January 29th, 2014) It has been a bad few days for Ukip. First, one of the party’s councillors said that flooding was God’s revenge […]
Health / Policy / Politics
At last, a Health Secretary who puts patients first
Published in The Daily Mail (December 27th, 2013) As in every other walk of life, the ending of the political year offers an opportunity to pause and reflect […]
Politics
Tories would do well to read those deleted speeches
Published in The Guardian (November 15th, 2013) Lynton Crosby, the hard-nosed Australian strategist being paid £500,ooo to ensure the Conservatives win the next election, has a phrase regularly heard […]
Politics
Miliband has given Cameron a golden opportunity
Published in The Guardian (September 26th, 2013) There is consensus on one thing about Ed Miliband’s party conference speech: he has made a significant lurch to the left. He […]
Health / Policy
Worshipping the NHS costs lives
Published in The Independent on Sunday (23rd June, 2013) Imagine if an airline crashed 10 planes each year, killing 3,000 passengers in avoidable accidents. After its most disturbing […]
Immigration / Policy / Politics
A Queen’s speech ruined by absurd anti-immigration measures
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 […]
Politics
Margaret Thatcher taught the next generation to set the agenda
Published in The Guardian (April 10th, 2013) The US academic Cass Sunstein was in Britain at the end of last month. In his usual slightly dishevelled style, he went […]
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 […]