Hurrah for democracy
- 4 May 2017
We should be grateful that so many of us want to stand in this great democratic process for our House of Commons. As of today the United Kingdom has no Members of Parliament. For the next five weeks the chamber of the House of Commons stands empty. If there is an emergency ...
Theresa May is right to call an early General Election
- 18 Apr 2017
Theresa May’s decision to call a swift General Election took everyone by surprise, except those who know her well. For some time those closest to her have been weighing the pros and cons of an early election. Mrs May was sceptical about the desirability of asking people to go,...
What Donald Trump’s healthcare debacle can teach Theresa May about negotiating Brexit
- 27 Mar 2017
We have learnt more about our prime minister, and what we have seen bodes well for the weeks and months that lie ahead. Most new presidents find settling into the White House a disorientating experience. Nothing can prepare a person for the pressure and isolation, and afor ...
Triggering Article 50 is a non-event
- 14 Mar 2017
It’s the deal that matters, and it may need a General Election to have it approved. Shortly the Prime Minister will write to the President of the European Commission notifying him that the United Kingdom is giving formal notice of its intention to withdraw from the European...
The Church of England in in crisis – again – and this time it’s serious
- 13 Mar 2017
The job of picking the next Bishop of London just became much harder. This weekend the Church of England is facing a further crisis of confidence in its leadership and its own ability to hold the full range of competing and often contradictory views contained within it. Tha...
The view of America from Washington DC
- 13 Mar 2017
How has the US been adapting to the opening chapter of the Trump Presidency? Washington DC is an intimate city that is the backdrop to politics on the grand scale. It’s a “company” town whose trade has a global impact. Spending three days there talking with journalists, bus...
Budget 2017: What to expect from Philip Hammond
- 1 Mar 2017
Budgets are as much political as economic events and this one is going to be tough. Chancellor Philip Hammond is finalising his first, and in the current format his last, Budget. The Chancellor pays careful attention to the detail and unlike a few of his predecessors can ...
David Hockney at Tate Britain: blistering in scale, depth and presentation
- 20 Feb 2017
Ever vibrant and joyful, Hockney deploys ranges of colour in a way that never bores or wearies. Pretty much the whole range of David Hockney’s work over the last sixty years is currently on display at Tate Britain. This is the third exhibition of Hockney’s work in recent y...
On marriage Justin Welby is going to have to pick a side and go for it
- 16 Feb 2017
The Archbishop’s defeat marks a historic turning point in the future of the Church of England. The defeat for Justin Welby in the General Synod is a very personal one. An Archbishop, who puts leadership at the heart of his ministry, faced an apparently stunning rejection of...
The Church of England needs a second Elizabethan Settlement
- 13 Feb 2017
Parliament needs to reform the nation’s church. The Church of England’s General Synod meets this week in London. It is the Church’s Parliament. Its meetings are generally ignored, receiving coverage only when controversial or divisive issues are debated. General Synod has t...