Published in The Guardian (January 11th, 2013) According to the latest figures there are 83,632 locked up in English and Welsh prisons. This is an obscenely large number […]
Economics / Housing / Policy
We must make it easier to build homes in London
Published in the London Evening Standard (January 4th, 2013) There are plans for a handful of new houses in my neck of north London. It is a modest […]
Health / Policy
NHS privatisation fears? Grow up
Published in The Guardian (December 21, 2012) Nearly one in five patients having hip replacements and hernia repairs are handled by private companies, thanks to reforms introduced by the […]
Immigration / Politics
Confront the pessimistic protest politics of UKIP
Published in the London Evening Standard (December 19th, 2012) Nick Clegg has made a lot of noise this week, celebrating his fifth anniversary as Liberal Democrat leader with […]
Immigration / Policy / Race
We have nothing to fear from our Muslim citizens
Published in the London Evening Standard (December 11th, 2012) Shortly after the end of his first term in office, Liberal leader William Gladstone penned a pamphlet against Catholicism. […]
Disability / Health / Policy
What the NHS needs even more than money – a dose of kindness
Published in The Daily Mail (December 5th, 2012) Even today, 19 years on, I can still remember every second of the day my world crashed in. It was […]
Crime / Environment / Police / Policy
Philandering policemen, secret courts, and this insidious threat to our faith in justice
Published in The Daily Mail (November 20th, 2012) With his long hair, his sinewy body honed by daring feats of climbing, his stacks of ready money and his […]
Economics / Environment / Policy / Politics
Tory retreat on climate change is senseless
Published in The Guardian (October 29th, 2012) The year after David Cameron became Tory party leader, he did something party leaders normally never do: he spoke at a […]
Police / Policy / Politics
Polls, policing and a poor public service
Published in The Independent (October 24th, 2012) Are you excited over the prospect of voting next month for your local police chief? I suspect not; you may not even […]
Disability / Social care
Killing kindness with red tape
Published in The Independent (October 9th, 2012) Kenny’s life in not easy. He is blind, unable to speak, needs help with eating and drinking and suffers seizures that […]
Crime / Policy / United States / World
The tough-on-crime Texan judge closing down jails
Published in The Observer (September 30th, 2012) The motley gaggle of miscreants shuffles into the court, lining up silently in three rows on the benches. There are some […]
Crime / Policy / Politics
Could Chris Grayling be the ultimate Tory moderniser?
Published in The Independent (September 22nd, 2012) So here we go again: an apparently hardline new justice minister throwing red meat to the baying wolves. Chris Grayling, having […]