Libby Purves



Profile:
Full name: Libby Purves

Area of interest: Education, family issues, health and welfare, government policy, religion

Journals: The Times

Email:

Website: TimesOnline / Libby Purves

Blog: Faith Central blog

Agent:

Network:



Biography:
Education: Convent schools in Thailand, South Africa, France; Beechwood Sacred Heart School, Tunbridge Wells; St Anne's College, Oxford: English Language and Literature (first-class honours)

Career: After a varied journalistic career, joined BBC as studio manager, 1971 - studio manager at the World Service; studio manager Radio Oxford, then presenter and producer of the morning programme; joined Radio 4's Today programme as a freelance reporter, 1974, and (first woman) (youngest) presenter from 1977/1981; presenter of Midweek programme, from 1983, and also presents The Learning Curve; columnist on The Times since 1990. A new blog - Faith Central: Libby Purves guide to religion and thought - commenced in June 2007, inspired by the "glories, inspirations and eccentricities of world religions and cultural traditions" Viewpoints/Insight:

Controversy: Books: One Summer's Grace: A Family Voyage Round Britain, 1997 (Coronet Books) ISBN 0340707852; A Long Walk in Wintertime, 1997 (Sceptre) ISBN 0340657987; How Not to Raise the Perfect Child, 1999 (Coronet Books) ISBN 0340751371; How not to be a perfect family, 1999 (Coronet) ISBN 034075138X; More Lives Than One, 1999 (Flame) ISBN 0340680431; Holy Smoke, 1999 (Hodder & Stoughton) ISBN 0340721510; Regatta, 2000 (Sceptre) ISBN 0340718811; Nature's Masterpiece, 2000 (Coronet Books) ISBN 0340751363; Passing Go, 2001 (Flame) ISBN 0340718838; A Free Woman, 2002 (Coronet Books) ISBN 0340823771; Mother Country, 2003 (Flame) ISBN 0340793910; Home Leave, 2003 (Coronet) ISBN 0340829885; Radio: A True Love Story, 2003 (Coronet Books) ISBN 0340822422; Continental Drift, 2004 (Coronet) ISBN 0340826290; How Not to Be a Perfect Mother, 2004 (HarperCollins) ISBN 0007163843; Acting Up, 2005 (Hodder & Stoughton) ISBN 0340826312

Latest work: Love Songs and Lies OCLC 71807982, 2007

TV/Radio: BBC Radio 4: The Learning Curve - The definitive guide to learning (Info/contact/listen/archive)

Awards/Honours: OBE for services to journalism, 1999; Columnist of the year, 1999

Advisory posts:

Speaking/Conferences: Clive Conway

Other:



The Times:
Column remit: Education, family issues, health and welfare, government policy

Section: Features

Role: Columnist

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: TimesOnline / Libby Purves

Commissioning editor:

Day published: usually Monday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length: 1000 words


 * see also: Faith Central



Articles:

 * money comes first, the cost could be drastic' - Nurses are vital in giving vulnerable people a voice. The reforms threaten their role - 31st January 2011
 * politics, every day cannot be a honeymoon'' - As Alan Johnson’s sad tale shows, in a challenging job, all you need isn’t love but a quiet, dependable partner - 24th January 2011
 * along, please, or you’re not a traveller'' - It is not racism but a sense of unfairness that turns Middle England against ‘special cases’ on makeshift trailer parks - 17th January 2011
 * small charity our Big Society is failing'' - Iceni is working to help addicts like the five sex workers killed in Ipswich in 2006. Bureaucracy is working against it - 6th December 2010
 * diplomacy and keeping the peace'' - Outwardly friendly, privately frank, the diplomat plays a crucial role that Wikileaks threatens to destroy - 29th November 2010
 * last, sanity on sexuality is breaking out'' - The Pope’s more humane line on condoms is remarkable. Will the Church now show respect for homosexual love? - 22nd November 2010
 * blame lies with governments, not sailors'' - Paul and Rachel Chandler were not reckless: we let piracy flourish and more than 400 seafarers are still being held - 15th November 2010
 * your side: the bosses or the real BBC?'' - Corporation staff are more aggrieved about its legions of overpaid managers than the pension changes - 8th November 2010
 * keep safe we must focus on real dangers'' - As the cargo bomb plot shows, security depends on intelligent watchfulness, not back-covering and box-ticking - 1st November 2010
 * goodness we’re in the era of trader chic'' - Half a million people face unemployment, but at least TV programmes are helping to foster a culture of job creation - 25th October 2010
 * Stones defined the Sixties? Gimme strength'' - Keith Richards’ book makes for fascinating reading, but his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle did not represent my generation - 18th October 2010
 * alone will get us trusting teacher again'' - The rules on restraining schoolchildren badly need reforming. But it will take more than a minister’s word to do it - 4th October 2010
 * great council sell-off. Everything must go'' - It has led to strikes, errors and waste. So why does local government think outsourcing has an outside chance? - 27th September 2010
 * truth is out. They’re not selfless angels'' - Public sector employees have profited too long from the idea that they are overworked and underpaid - 20th September 2010
 * pupils make hay when the sun shines'' - We rarely need children to help with the harvest in August, but there are other benefits to a long summer break - 13th September 2010
 * should we suffer for the taxman’s pay slips?'' - It should be Pay As You Earn, not Pay When the Government Says So. The State is supposed to be our servant - 6th September 2010
 * all that private stuff back in the closet'' - Cute babies, sibling rivalry and MPs’ sexuality all distract from what matters: whether people do their jobs properly - 30th August 2010
 * of addicts deserve a chance of a better life'' - It’s not taking away benefits but taking away children from damaging and chaotic parents that will make a difference - 23rd August 2010
 * Britannia has survived the war on nostalgia'' - At last, official recognition that tradition and country houses must be allowed to play their part in luring tourists - 16th August 2010
 * of the toy cupboard and into our hearts'' - Who’d have thought Toy Story 3 would provide an insight into the Big Society? - 26th July 2010
 * face it, not all of us have an inner tycoon'' - Unemployed graduates should start their own businesses, says a minister. But many of us are natural wage slaves - 18th July 2010
 * trigger-happy reply: blame the cops'' - There are countries where the police would not hesitate to shoot a man like Moat. I am glad this is not one - 12th July 2010
 * meddling may shipwreck us'' - Boosting foreign seafarers’ pay will maroon them with unscrupulous bosses - 6th July 2010
 * Mr Fischer, a beacon in the darkness'' - The man who stood up to British Airways over overzealous child protection rules is an example to us all - 28th June 2010
 * last the BBC is telling ‘talent’ where to get off'' - If a cherry jumps off the cake, it’s still a damn good cake - 22nd June
 * not NICE, will teach kids about sex'' - Libby Purves Condoms on cucumbers mean less than kindness and respect - 20th June 2010
 * we are saying is give Field a chance'' - A tangled welfare system in which it pays to do nothing is an appalling waste — not just of money, but of lives - 14th June 2010
 * Govey, not all sink schools are failing'' - Our new Education Secretary’s eagerness to fire ‘underperforming’ headteachers could result in an own goal - 7th June 2010
 * the endangered list: free-range children'' - Dens, dams and the call of the wild are being denied to our young. Conservation bodies and parents are to blame - 31st May 2010
 * business is too big a deal for the Duchess of York'' - She is neither evil nor greedy, but Sarah Ferguson should be tucked away cooking hearty lasagnes in the shires - 24th May 2010
 * few women? Read my lips: I don’t care'' - No laws bar us from politics, so cut the squealing about there being only four female Cabinet ministers - 17th May 2010
 * to ’80s excess? No, been there, done that'' - The Tories are resurgent but few people will yearn for a return to the big hair and bigger egos of the decadent decade - 9th May 2010
 * the echoing halls of election night, it seems the rich aren’t that different'' - Democracy is a great leveller, even for plutocrats like the Goldsmith clan - 8th May 2010
 * upon a time there were three leaders . . .'' - As if by magic, we are in a fairytale election. Which of the three to choose? Goldilocks would sympathise - 3rd May 2010
 * again the little Farepak guys have been shafted'' - The golden rule is that, if anyone suffers, it mustn’t be the board - 27th April 2010
 * are recruiting a new legion of the lost'' - There are a million 18 to 24-year-olds looking for work. Joblessness on this scale is a mass psychological disaster - 26th April 2010
 * Army’s job is to fight wars, not to fret about childcare'' - Such bitter home truths would rankle like bits of Lego underfoot - 14th April 2010
 * the Pope? I rather think we should'' - The sin of making victims and the community complicit in the abuse cover-up is still not acknowledged - 12th April 2010
 * don’t know better than anyone else'' - Spare us the ‘Mumsnet’ election. Women with a fertile womb and a keyboard are only a niche market - 5th April 2010
 * unstarry creatives in short-cut Britain'' - The bottom rungs of career ladders are vanishing fast. With the demise of The Bill a few more have gone - 29th March 2010
 * a 13% pay cut. You know it makes sense'' - Unlike the whingeing public service unions here, Middle Ireland knows that a secure job is a privilege - 22nd March 2010
 * marks to Four Marks for taking a stand'' - The police alone cannot keep the peace, but dare we risk unleashing our inner baseball-swinging vigilante? - 15th March 2010
 * grotesques let us face the real horrors'' - In a bland world, P. T. Barnum and Ronald Searle reflect our need to make safe the nightmares that haunt us - 8th March 2010
 * cannot hide. They have a job to do'' - The odious self-pity of Khyra Ishaq’s father cannot obscure the paternal duty that men like him have taken on - 1st March 2010
 * Downing Street. Not a sheltered workshop'' - Rent-a-gob whiners should be given their comeuppance - 23rd February 2010
 * all play confessions! What’s in it for me?'' - Brown, Gosling, Terry, Woods, Ford ... we’ve had a rash of revelations. The acceptable ones are those that are not-for-profit - 22nd February 2010
 * this at work? Well done'' - It’s National Sickie Day. But if staff are skiving, maybe their bosses should show more appreciation - 1st February 2010
 * moral is: question your motives, parents'' - Callous neglect, ‘mercy killing’ and sickness-faking — three extreme cases reveal some awkward truths about parenting - 25th January 2010
 * staff find it doesn’t feel good on the receiving end'' - The Unite union has learnt why it is a bad idea to cross the paying public - 21st January 2010
 * you must get ill, make sure it’s before 6pm'' - As GPs reap the rewards of their 2004 pay deal, patients are dying. It’s time to rethink our contemptible out-of-hours cover - 18th January 2010
 * the sea eagle has no right to land here'' - This is not about returning birds to ancestral homelands — it’s a costly gimmick to promote meddling ‘conservationists’ - 4th January 2010
 * perfect place for an AGM is outdoors'' - The annual review of the marital enterprise is best conducted on a long frosty walk, preferably with a dog - 3rd January 2010 (writing in The Sunday Telegraph)
 * well to this part-monk, part-maverick'' - Mike Richey sailed the seas as he lived his 92 years, with simplicity, skill and a talent for making the best of each day - 28th December 2009
 * the season for all things garish'' - Hurray for tinsel and flashing Santa hats. We need to cherish this extravagant nonsense - 21st December 2009
 * mania is the besetting folly of our age'' - From grading BBC talent to marking hospital performance, dim managers hide behind the false reassurance of tables - 14th December 2009
 * out of hand by the Inland Revenue'' - If I were the Queen, I’d take my initials off HM Revenue and Customs in disgust - 10th December 2009
 * world fuelled by sex, drink and drugs'' - The bravado of the ‘sexually adventurous’, such as Amanda Knox, masks the real damage caused by a life of endless flings - 7th December 2009
 * brew: faith and power'' - Don’t blame anti-Catholicism and lawyers for the cover-up in Ireland. The Church protected itself - 30th November 2009
 * proud to claim my Jaffa Cakes on expenses'' - There are two financial camps. And a man who won’t buy his own anorak for a charity climb is in the opposite one to me - 16th November 2009
 * key to rubbing along in perfect harmony'' - Authoritarianism is a sin of religiosity: believers need to heed the Jewish experience about respecting the secular majority - 9th November 2009
 * mountains, taste the salt of risk'' - Letters by celebrities to their younger selves show that Prince Edward was right - 3rd November 2009
 * work. Commendable courage'' - Question Time wasn’t perfect the BNP won't gain from it, whatever the chattering classes say - 26th October 2009
 * drink costs us dear'' - Britain has an alochol problem, and ltitle is being done about it - 25th October 2009 (writing in The Sunday Telegraph)
 * you ready for couples therapy?'' - We’ve blown our fuse at the way MPs cheated on us. But we must offer a dash of understanding - 19th October 2009
 * the future’s worth it, it won’t be free'' - The internet generation believes it can enjoy other people’s hard work for nothing. This has got to stop - 12th October 2009
 * put prisoners on stage, Mr Straw'' - The Justice Secretary’s diktat to limit drama in jails shackles brave prison governors - 5th October 2009
 * swap is nothing to do with Ofsted'' - Government and its regulations exist to defend us from incompetent or bad strangers, not our mates - 29th September 2009
 * romantics know prenups are here to stay'' - Pragmatic couples are signing contracts to ensure that divorces don’t turn into rip-offs. It’s time the law caught up - 28th September 2009
 * we can’t have more police, have less tolerance'' - The suicide of a mother tormented by feral gangs shows that it’s time we put the frighteners on young thugs - 21st September 2009
 * people? Quick draft a law'' - Have the architects of the cockamamie child vetting scheme actually met a child? - 14th September 2009
 * times we long for yesterday'' - The Fab Four evoke an age of innocence. But we should not forget the harsh realities of the Sixties - 7th September 2009
 * Let’s stick up for boisterous boys'' - Dreary coursework and earnest women teachers have let pupils down. Many prefer the excitement of sudden-death exams - 31st August 2009
 * need to clean up their act'' - The nurse's once-spotless image has been tainted by recent revelations of neglect - 29th August (writing in The Sunday Telegraph)
 * a human: climb something'' - The adventurers who scaled Blackpool Tower belong to a tradition that defies our plodding culture - 24th August 2009
 * ungodly row with no respect on either side'' - The Muslim wedding fracas is a culture clash that has everything to do with smugness and nothing to do with faith - 17th August 2009
 * the nation: log off and invent a machine'' - Forget smooth talking, software and money manipulation — to restore our pride, we have to get back to making things - 27th July 2009
 * are old, Father William . . .'' - . . . but I'm listening. Our understanding of the past comes from recollections of earlier generations - 20th July 2009
 * Africans as part of the human jigsaw'' - Our relationship with Africa has gone from pillage to guilty patronage. Now is the time for honesty on both sides - 13th July 2009
 * dancing at 4am? That’s art all right'' - As dawn broke over London, my brother performed to the pigeons – and hardly anybody else – on the plinth in Trafalgar Square - 8th July 2009
 * populism hurts democracy'' - When ministers trade insults instead of getting things done, I can begin to see what Bernie Ecclestone means about Hitler - 6th July 2009
 * don’t want PC Panic or Terminator'' - Policing crowds is a subtle science: if we want to avoid a repeat of the G20 troubles we need to properly train bobbies - 29th June 2009
 * assault leaves listeners in silence'' - Take-up of DAB technology is so pathetic that we must fight for our beloved analog sets - 22nd June 2009
 * lord! I'm peering into a house of silly ideas'' - New Labour's ‘reforms' of the Upper House have been extraordinarily half-baked. Will it ever get its act together? - 15th June 2009
 * image - just make things work'' - I'm sick of 'personalities'. I wouldn't care if Brown were a werewolf his team got things done - 7th June 2009
 * fame dragon feasts on human sacrifice'' - Artists need recognition, but the form it takes in our age of global celebrity – and spite – can be toxic. Diversity, beware - 1st June 2009
 * is living with one foot in Hell'' - Don’t look away: it’s unbelievable that we still haven’t learnt the lessons from systematic child abuse in Ireland - 25th May 2009
 * familiar reek of misogyny and mistrust'' - Poets have always done invective nicely, but the row over the appointment of an Oxford professor offered a new target - 18th May 2009
 * do understand greed, Margaret Beckett'' - MPs should not treat the public as half-wits - 16th May 2009
 * happened to personal honour?'' - No amount of lame justification can excuse the ‘because I’m worth it’ politics exposed by the MPs’ expenses scandal - 11th May 2009
 * side of a man-hating feminist'' - Marilyn French was scary. But sometimes we need people to kick against the traces - 6th May 2009
 * get ready, go: let common sense begin'' - Personal responsibility is lost in the red stop-lights of an overregulated world. We must start thinking for ourselves again - 4th May 2009
 * women prefer the ‘mommy track’ and accept it will cost them'' - There are injustices in equal pay, but many mothers earn less than men simply because they want to avoid promotion - 24th April 2009
 * and join your favourite cluster'' - Whether edgy creatives or stolid misanthropes, we are happiest when we live close to the same character types - 20th April 2009
 * of secrecy fan flames of fiction'' - The PM can no more call back his political adviser's ugly rumours than he can unring tolling bells - 13th April 2009
 * centralised, it's nutty, it's miles from reality'' - A small protest in Oxford about cash-strapped probation services reveals more about the nation than any G20 demo - 6th April 2009
 * has to say it - austerity must reign'' - We owe a debt of gratitude to Jacqui Smith's husband. He has thrown a lurid light on all the excesses that must end - 30th March 2009
 * is short but this delightful poem lives on'' - After 150 years, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam still has an uncannily modern moral - enjoy yourself while you can - 23rd March 2009
 * Fritzl is the limit, the death of hope'' - I honour those who can pity the scheming, authoritarian torturer, but I want him dead - 19th March 2009
 * - new frontiers of oppression'' - Soon, every time you travel, you’ll have to give all kinds of details. You can bet they won’t be secure - 16th March 2009
 * beware, childen own their lives'' - Julie Myerson should have resisted the urge to describe life with her druggy son. The story is painful and worse than useless - 9th March 2009
 * wrong with a bit of drama in C Wing?'' - No amount of tabloid indignation can change this truth: entertainment and arts projects in jails are good for all of us - 2nd March 2009
 * lessons of a short life well lived'' - The story of Ivan Cameron's illness, and his family's acceptance of it, should speak volumes in our overcompetitive culture - 26th February 2009
 * will never learn unless we make it fun'' - Yes, children need literacy and numeracy, but they also need the space to socialise and engage with stories - 23rd February 2009
 * Jade Goody to those who love her'' - This mawkish voyeurism tells us nothing about modern Britain - 20th February 2009
 * - last resort for frivolous fun'' - When times are hard we must stand up to the bean-counters who want to cut uplifting entertainment - 16th February 2009
 * the winner is... the digital revolution'' - Forget the Baftas and Oscars, the real star of Revolutionary Road is the computer and the freedom it has brought women - 9th February 2009
 * worrying G-word is Greenroom'' - Was Carol Thatcher victimised because of her heritage and Is this an enlightened society, or age of the Thought Police? - 4th February 2009
 * morality tale built out of salvaged timber'' - Resourceful people clearing up the mess on their beaches - it's a romance of the high seas and a lesson for the high-ups - 2nd February 2009
 * tips for tipsy young teenagers'' - There's much to be said for continental Europe's belief in a gradual climb into adult habits - 27th January 2009
 * this for comedy: prison policy run by clowns'' - The arts are a valuable tool in prisoner rehabilitation. Jack Straw should know better than to fly into a panic and ban them - 26th January 2009
 * are woven threads of our lives'' - We know that facts can spoil a good story - but fiction arranges events to represent a higher truth - 19th January 2009
 * need real jobs for real money'' - If the Government is serious about unemployment, it must sweep away the laws that make it difficult to hire and fire - 12th January 2009
 * softly for you tread on our gift of life'' - Donors will naturally have strong feelings about who receives their organs. They should be treated with sensitivity - 5th January 2009
 * Sts must find life after shopping'' - Woolworth's, Zavvi, Whittard. By the time you read this at least one other familiar name will be gone - 29th December 2008
 * back to doing good works'' - Corrupted by government, over politicised and over professionalised, charities need to rethink their role - 23rd December 2008
 * wigs and feathers... a theatrical Everest'' - Backstage with the wardrobe mistress of La Cage Aux Folles, I witness the hard graft behind the glitter - 22nd December 2008
 * rule #1: show some respect'' - The BBC has shown us how not to fire someone. An employee should at least leave with head held high - 15th December 2008
 * fatally sentimental view of motherhood'' - Crimes against children don't always spring from a broken society. We must admit that a bad mother is a bad mother - 6th December 2008
 * more to Advent than cheap chocolate'' - Confectionery calendars are short-changing our children - 2nd December 2008
 * shock: we're not in it for the money'' - Creative types at the top of their game naturally want to entertain and amuse. They never needed to be paid like bankers - 1st December 2008
 * silly, fiddly and pointless tax cut'' - Doing your VAT return is like being a stripper in an empty room - 27th November 2008
 * vision still speaks louder than words'' - Tired of piffling celebrity, mealy-mouthed nannyism, alarmist pessimism and economic whining? Here's the antidote... - 24th November 2008
 * mean about a means test'' - We should not let the petty cruelties and errors of the 1930s cloud our debate today about how to reform the welfare state - 17th November 2008
 * knives, firearms, cash, drugs. Every night''' - Wearing a stab-proof vest, I'm ready to join a policewoman taking the fight against weapons and gangs to the streets - 10th November 2008
 * has won back our admiration'' - The wars may be unpopular but the young men and women, returning hurt, maimed and weary, touch a raw nerve in our memories - 1st November 2008
 * children need their fairytales'' - When we are young we use our fantasy world of magic and myth to grapple with fears about life - 27th October 2008
 * for a clear policy on euthanasia'' - Assisted dying is different to assisted suicide: we need to tread carefully — and sympathetically - 20th October 2008
 * time to take on gangsters of the sea'' - We run down British naval power at our peril. Without it we would have little food, fuel - or safety - 13th October 2008
 * - enough of this ghoulish sideshow'' - The creepy attempt to exhume the remains of Cardinal Newman will drive people away from the Church - 6th October 2008
 * the BBC a rival or a resource?'' - The Corporation has to decide whether it is more than just another big media competitor - 29th September 2008
 * not heading for the rocks . . .'' - In a media-crazy age business and government prefer to insist that all is well when it is not - 22nd September 2008
 * anyone know what's going on?'' - Punters predicted the XL crash - perhaps bookies' odds are as good a guide to the future as pundits - 15th September 2008
 * Words wud lose there meening'' - 8th September 2008
 * an evening class in failure'' - As the financial climate worsens, breadwinners who face ruin need lessons in survival - 8th September 2008
 * was just an availability check, Selina Scott'' - Something more irritating than ageism stalks the media world - 3rd September 2008
 * did Alistair Darling choose 1948?'' - He could have picked several other years, but went instead for cheerful years of austerity and hope - 1st September 2008
 * not what you spend, it's how you spend it'' - Our decision-makers seem to have lost the art of spending money wisely - and the results are disastrous - 25th August 2008
 * must train people to break rules'' - Petty bureaucrats are a necessary evil. But we must tell them when to use initiative and make exceptions - 18th August 2008
 * rationing: a reality to deal with'' - There will never be enough money in the pot to meet every need with the best and latest treatment - 11th August 2008
 * Dawkins, the naive professor'' -It's not a simple choice between God and evolution: none of us can know that there is nothing out there - 7th August 2008
 * way to stop being educated'' - Despite our school system and culture, Britons show a healthy urge towards autodidacticism - 4th August 2008

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