Published in The Guardian (26th March, 2013) Nigel Farage must have been smiling to himself as he supped his pint of real ale last night. His party has no […]
Politics
Is this the dawn of a new coalition?
Published in The Mail on Sunday (March 17th, 2013) Picture the scene as Nick Clegg strides purposefully to the podium in the Downing Street rose garden. With the […]
Aid / Health / Policy / Politics / Social care
Overseas aid: an indefensible ringfence
Published in The Guardian (March 14th, 2013) One of the first rules of opposition is to avoid rash promises that can come back to throttle you in government. […]
Health / Police / Policy / Politics / Technology
Why does no-one ever take the blame any more?
Published in The Daily Mail (February 13th, 2013) When Nick Clegg dropped into Hampshire to boost his party’s campaign in the crucial Eastleigh by-election, he spoke passionately about […]
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 […]
Politics
The Lib Dems don’t need a new leader. They need a point
Published in The Independent (August 23rd, 2012) It may be the post-Olympic euphoria, but a spirit of harmony has descended on the Coalition. Insiders say that, for all […]
Health / Policy
The night that set back NHS reform by years
Published in The Daily Mail (August 4th, 2012) The rest of the world may have been perplexed, but it was 20 minutes that made Britain feel better about […]
Politics
Don’t let ministers treat London as their cash cow
Published in the London Evening Standard (February 20th, 2012) On one of those bitterly cold nights last month I chaired a discussion on national identity at the launch […]
Politics
Bring me sunshine
Published in The Guardian (October 4th, 2011) The meetings began in the summer with gentle debate down at Chequers over the central themes and tone of David Cameron’s […]
Politics
Lib Dems need to stake out their own territory
Published in the Financial Times (August 24th, 2011) One of the many twists to have occurred in British politics since the election is that the most eagerly anticipated […]
Politics
Betraying themselves
Published in Prospect (March 25th, 2011) An army of political obituarists is arguing that we are witnessing the suicidal spasms of one of our great political parties. Oceans […]