Hope In Action, Cardinal Vincent Nichols: a review
- 19 Nov 2017
Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, came to office surrounded by much hope. Here was an experienced communicator, used to appearing on television and radio and apparently at ease with doing so. He had a reputation for being modern in his thinking and was armed...
Ignore the critics. Go and see Murder on the Orient Express
- 10 Nov 2017
Much has been written about the new all star production directed and led by Kenneth Branagh, most of it negative. The criticism has generally focussed on the length of the new Murder on the Orient Express, and its flat story development, plodding pace, the prominence of Mr Bra...
Book Review: ‘Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House’
- 3 Nov 2017
It is still less than a year since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States but the Obama Presidency seems, already, a long time ago. The tone of Washington politics, the atmosphere of American public discourse, has changed so fast and so dramatic...
Trafalgar Day Sermon
- 21 Oct 2017
A few weeks ago I went into the National Portrait Gallery, just off Trafalgar Square and in the shadow of the great column that dominates that square, asked whether I could buy a print of Nelson’s portrait. ‘I don’t think we’ve got a portrait of Nelson Mandela in the galler...
Trafalgar Day: Nelson’s enduring lessons and example
- 21 Oct 2017
On this Trafalgar Day, we mark and remember Horatio Nelson’s great victory over the French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar. The victory marked the culmination of many years of Naval skirmishing, blockading and fighting between Britain and her principal European rivals. T...
The EU and the UK are slowly but surely crawling their way to a new accommodation
- 20 Oct 2017
Slowly but surely the European Union and the United Kingdom are crawling their way to an accommodation. Behind all the squawking and shouting progress is steadily being made. That it is difficult and fraught is not surprising, nor should it be alarming. This is a process that ...
The Conservatives need to rediscover their confidence in the market
- 16 Oct 2017
Just over five weeks to the Chancellor’s autumn Budget and already speculation and rumour about its contents, its importance, even who will deliver it, is running high. A kind of late summer madness has descended on the parliamentary Conservative party, exacerbated by the unse...
David Cameron should replace Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary
- 9 Oct 2017
In politics memory is short and ambition great. The old cling on, reluctant to let go of hard won position. The young are impatient to make their mark. With the call for renewal of policy comes pressure to promote the next generation. Underneath the Victorian splendour and t...
Theresa May showed grit and determination in her speech – now we need action
- 4 Oct 2017
Theresa May’s 2017 Conservative Party speech will not be one she is likely to look back on with fondness. More or less everything that could go wrong did – coughing, protest, the stage falling apart, aides walking onto the stage with glasses of water, the Chancellor popping up...
The three things Theresa May can do to get back out in front
- 3 Oct 2017
Party conference speeches are always gruelling for leaders. Drafts of the speech will have been circulating for weeks, with the final version not being completed until the last minute. They matter, whether a party is in government or opposition. The speech defines the mood of ...