Published in The Guardian (October 23rd, 2013) A few months ago David Davis told me that if the police did not come clean over the case of former […]
Immigration / Policy / Politics
The suburbs are changing – and so must the Tories
Published in The Guardian (October 2nd, 2013) It is hard to think of a more suburban constituency than Mole Valley at the core of the Surrey commuter belt. […]
Politics
Miliband has given Cameron a golden opportunity
Published in The Guardian (September 26th, 2013) There is consensus on one thing about Ed Miliband’s party conference speech: he has made a significant lurch to the left. He […]
Politics
Margaret Thatcher taught the next generation to set the agenda
Published in The Guardian (April 10th, 2013) The US academic Cass Sunstein was in Britain at the end of last month. In his usual slightly dishevelled style, he went […]
Immigration / Policy / Politics
The immigration debate: evidence-free and more rancid than ever
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
What is the point of Tories posing as Ukip Lite?
Published in The Independent (March 2nd, 2013) Eastleigh was a humiliation for the Tories. It was so disastrous that party spokespeople were not even pretending there were silver […]
Europe / European Union / Politics
The real meaning of the PM’s speech on Europe
Published on ConservativeHome (January 23rd, 2013) This is my annotated take on David Cameron’s keynote speech on Europe, given after much delay at Bloomberg. My notes are in […]
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 […]
Europe / European Union / Politics
Sensible rebellion on Europe, for all the wrong reasons
Published in The Financial Times (November 2, 2012) From the start of his leadership, David Cameron urged his party to stop banging on about Europe. It alienated voters, he […]
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 […]
Politics
Modern conservatism that unites the party’s left and right
Published in The Guardian (October 10th, 2012) David Cameron will never be an orator whose barnstorming speaking rouses a hall to its feet. He strikes out the flashier […]