Published by The Daily Mail (31st August, 2023) Eight years ago George Osborne, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, took a large delegation of business and cultural leaders to […]
Europe / European Union / Politics
Tory moderates backing Boris Johnson are handing the party over to extremists
Published by New Statesman (21st June, 2019) The only good thing to have emerged so far from the depressing Conservative leadership campaign has been the arrival of Rory Stewart […]
Africa / Aid / Ghana
The charity guru who duped the world
Published by UnHerd (24 October, 2018) It is hard to think of a more famous global academic than Jeffrey Sachs. He advises the United Nations, collaborates with presidents, […]
Politics
Revenge of the Cameroons
Published by The i paper (9th October, 2017) Shortly before Theresa May became Prime Minister, I was having coffee with a former member of Gordon Brown’s team. ‘Mark […]
Aid / Politics
Rethink foreign aid, Mrs May
Published by The Mail on Sunday (23rd April, 2017) Aid for despots and dictators. Aid for rich nations with their own aid agencies and others able to afford […]
Health / Policy / Politics
The sugar tax: the sweet start to a bitter struggle
Published by The i paper & The Independent (25th March, 2016) It feels a long time since last week’s controversial budget, given the firestorm over disability benefits and […]
Disability / Politics
A petulant self-serving hypocrite
Published by The Mail on Sunday (20th March, 2016) It is hard to remember a more bitter recent departure from Government, with a brutal exchange of letters underlining […]
Disability / Policy / Politics / Welfare
Targeting disabled people is woeful politics
Published by The Daily Telegraph (18th March, 2016) Sometimes you can only shake your head at the sheer stupidity of politicians, so stuck in their Westminster bubble that […]
Economics / Politics
How I learned to love the interfering state
Published by The Guardian (15th January, 2016) Political archaeology studies the influence of the past in shaping politics. It explains why New Labour hugged the Murdoch press even […]
Aid
A daft giveaway that feeds corruption
Published by The Mail on Sunday (29th November, 2015) Every day, the British aid splurge becomes more absurd. Despite austerity at home, the sums donated abroad will double […]
Politics
The chancellor is for turning… thank goodness
Published by The Daily Telegraph (25th November, 2015) The scope of the spending review was immense with a fusillade of major announcements on everything from health to housing, […]