Parliament is doing its job and it is a magnificent sight
- 17 Mar 2019
As we stagger out of another week of Brexit drama, and before we stumble into the next one, let’s take a step back, take a deep breath and consider the scene. First and foremost we need to establish some sense of perspective. Our lives, liberties and safety are not at stake...
A new Elizabethan Settlement is needed
- 12 Mar 2019
Four Hundred and Sixty years ago this year the Elizabethan Settlement was born in “The Revolution 0f 1559”. Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne of a country riven by political and religious division. The divisions split the great political families and divided every hamle...
No deal Brexit is a myth
- 26 Feb 2019
Brexit is consuming Westminster politics. The big parties are fracturing in ways that were unforeseen. The gulf between government and business has never been wider. The time until the UK’s official departure from the EU can now be counted in days. Still, no settled position c...
Social Media - the good side
- 17 Feb 2019
This weekend my household suffered a minor catastrophe. On route by train to visiting a grandmother in Scotland one of my children lost their suitcase. It contained the usual essentials for such a visit - toothbrush, pyjamas, a book and a much loved teddy bear. In the scale of...
Putting Britain back together after the Brexit crisis will not be easy
- 22 Jan 2019
As each day passes a new snippet of detail, via an interview with a former aide or a passing comment by an old colleague, sheds more light on how David Cameron came to call and subsequently lose the Brexit Referendum. What is emerging is not a picture of political confidence a...
We need to sort out the UK’s productivity problem once and for all
- 10 Jan 2019
The latest set of productivity figures show once again the UK lagging lethargically behind comparable countries. Latest figures show the weakest results for two years – and we did not start from a high point. Productivity – how much we produce a thing for a certain cost com...
From the Gracchi to Nero – H.H. Scullard’s enduring classic
- 9 Jan 2019
2019 is a significant year for events and anniversaries. It is 80 years since the Battle of the Atlantic (the longest continuous battle of World War Two) began, 75 years since D Day, 50 years of CASD (continuous at sea nuclear deterrent), Brexit - to name a few. Alongside thes...
It’s time for the House of Commons to do its duty
- 13 Dec 2018
As the dust settles around number 10 and the rubble is cleared away from the corridors of the House of Commons the combatants come blinking and coughing into the daylight to find they are still here, nothing has changed – and yet everything is different. Nothing at Westminster...
Remembering George Bush
- 1 Dec 2018
In his very good biography of George Bush, Destiny and Power, Jon Meacham tells how on winning the nomination of the Republican Party for President of the United States he received a telephone call from the New York businessman Donald Trump asking if he could join the ticket a...
Book Review: Thomas Cromwell - A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch
- 23 Nov 2018
Allen Lane £30 The Reverend Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Kt., Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University, is that increasingly rare thing in Britain of the early Twenty First Century, a public intellectual. As comfortable in front of a television ...