Published in The Independent on Sunday (25th May, 2014) The night before the coalition was formed, a senior member of the Tory team stormed back from a critical […]
Politics
Who would invent the Lib Dems now?
Published by The Independent (14th April, 2014) Almost four years ago a senior Liberal Democrat outlined his vision of the party’s future to me and pointed to the […]
Politics
Sharpen the axe, minister – there should be more political appointments, not fewer
Published in the ‘i’ newspaper (3rd February, 2014) Although she is a popular figure in Westminster and a peer, Sally Morgan has never been a prominent political performer. […]
Politics
Heed this warning or risk terminal decline
Published in The Independent (November 20th, 2013) The tragedy of the Conservative Party is that when things get tough it has a suicidal tendency to retreat into its […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Politics
Cameron must now embrace the spirit of the Games
Published in The Independent (August 13th, 2012) Well, that was some party, wasn’t it? A fabulous fortnight in which Britain proved it was still a global player, shattering […]
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 […]