Embracing patriotism and identity could reinvent the liberal centre
The Daily Telegraph, 21 March 2017 At the jubilant election-night celebration for the centrist D66 party in The Hague my Dutch wasn’t good enough to understand the party leader’s rousing speech to his activists. But it wasn’t hard to make out words like “Brexit!”, “Trump!” and “populism!” And when I interviewed Alexander Pechtold afterwards for a […]
Talking ’bout the UK’s generation gap
George Osborne’s latest proposed tax cuts favor the old and punish the young. Politico, 29th October 2015 “People try to put us down,” The Who’s Pete Townshend famously wrote in 1965, talkin’ ’bout his generation. Now aged 70, he’d have no such complaint — even if he weren’t still making millions touring the world. British pensioners […]
Westminster is a steamy workplace where men dominate
The Independent, February 25th 2013 All the ingredients conspire to give the men a sense of entitlement and the women too little power to fight back It’s a man’s world, Westminster. More than three-quarters of MPs are male. Granted, the secretaries are mostly women, but so rare is the sight of a young blonde […]
Let more women report how the country is run
The Independent, January 16th 2013 The fact that all the national daily papers have male political editors, and many have all-male political teams, is bound to affect the issues they cover and the politicians they rate On Tuesday evening, a rare gaggle of political women met for drinks in a room in the House […]
I used to think more cuts were the answer. But not any more
The Independent, December 6th 2012 Cut less to achieve more on debt and the deficit Many people feel torn on big economic questions. The arguments are often complicated, so they look at the politicians on each side and back the ones they trust the most – or distrust the least. It’s comforting to be […]
Maria Miller should look at the facts before airing her views on abortion
Until medical science advances, there’s no reason to lower the limit
Can Clegg exploit the gap in the market?
His task is to be the voice of moderation, to appeal to the thoughtful centrist
Clegg still has time to make a gracious exit
Cable could take over in 2014 without seeming too disloyal
We need to help more independents to break the stranglehold
The rules are unfairly stacked against Siobhan Benita
Clegg needs to find an exit route from Lords reform
It’s not as if the Lords perform badly. They have been doing a fine job recently
How dodgy postal votes may decide our next government
The problem is they don’t guarantee you a secret ballot
Is 50p a year really too much to end this corruption?
81 per cent of us believe people give money to parties in the hope of favours or special access
The more leaks, the better the discussion
Tax proposals should be scrutinised before they are put into law, not after
Be glad you live in Britain, not the US, if you’re gay or a woman
Contraception is free and uncontroversial, and gay relationships are becoming normalised
Cameron needs more blue-sky thinking to win the next election
Steve Hilton knew the Tories wouldn’t be heard if they seemed out of touch and out-of-date
Lords reform is a fight that Nick Clegg will never win
Why is Nick Clegg so determined to throw everything at a policy that will win few votes?
When the people can see what fairness is, why can’t Miliband?
At the last election, many Labour supporters were angry about the party’s position on welfare
What happens when even your supporters don’t believe in you?
The problem is that Ed Miliband is too clever for his own good
No one likes bailing out spendthrifts
We have pretty strong feelings about who is deserving and undeserving
The time to act on banking is now
Cameron wants a pause while he decides what to do. This is a great mistake
Time to call the SNP’s bluff
Treat the Nationalists like recalcitrant teenagers
How austerity is changing us
We are seeking gratification by finding new ways of saving money
Vote Yes for evolution, not revolution
The scaremongering over AV is so disproportionate, you wonder if they’re looking at the same voting system
