How dodgy postal votes may decide our next government
The Independent, April 16th 2012 The problem is they don’t guarantee you a secret ballot Rachida (not her real name) was playing badminton in a Blackburn sports centre when I asked her if she’d talk to...
View ArticleClegg needs to find an exit route from Lords reform
The Independent, April 23rd 2011 It’s not as if the Lords perform badly. They have been doing a fine job recently What is the problem to which this is the solution? It’s a question that all...
View ArticleWe need to help more independents to break the stranglehold
The Independent, April 30th 2012 The rules are unfairly stacked against Siobhan Benita Fed up with all three main political parties? Fancy a bold, clever, sensible independent candidate to represent...
View ArticleHow to change the shape of the establishment in one generation
The Independent, May 21st 2012 Expand the grammar school system and give bright, poor kids a better chance of reaching the top It’s open season on private schools this month. Not from the left of the...
View ArticleClegg still has time to make a gracious exit
The Independent, September 20th 2012 Cable could take over in 2014 without seeming too disloyal What does it tell us about politics and modern life that a spoof video of Nick Clegg crooning “I’m sorry,...
View ArticleCan Clegg exploit the gap in the market?
The Independent, September 26th 2012 His task is to be the voice of moderation, to appeal to the thoughtful centrist How did Britain get so good at cycling? It all came down to sweaty shorts. Dave...
View ArticleMaria Miller should look at the facts before airing her views on abortion
The Independent, October 4th 2012 Until medical science advances, there’s no reason to lower the limit How wonderful to have a feminist as Minister for Women! It’s a great comfort to know that Maria...
View ArticleI used to think more cuts were the answer. But not any more
The Independent, December 6th 2012 Cut less to achieve more on debt and the deficit Many people feel torn on big economic questions. The arguments are often complicated, so they look at the...
View ArticleLet more women report how the country is run
The Independent, January 16th 2013 The fact that all the national daily papers have male political editors, and many have all-male political teams, is bound to affect the issues they cover and the...
View ArticleWestminster is a steamy workplace where men dominate
The Independent, February 25th 2013 All the ingredients conspire to give the men a sense of entitlement and the women too little power to fight back It’s a man’s world, Westminster. More than...
View ArticleTalking ’bout the UK’s generation gap
George Osborne’s latest proposed tax cuts favor the old and punish the young. Politico, 29th October 2015 “People try to put us down,” The Who’s Pete Townshend famously wrote in 1965, talkin’ ’bout his...
View ArticleEmbracing patriotism and identity could reinvent the liberal centre
The Daily Telegraph, 21 March 2017 At the jubilant election-night celebration for the centrist D66 party in The Hague my Dutch wasn’t good enough to understand the party leader’s rousing speech to his...
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