Andreas Whittam Smith



Profile:
Full name: Andreas Whittam Smith

Area of interest: Politics; Current affairs: covering Society, Economics, Media, International affairs

Journals/Organisation: The Independent

Email: [mailto:a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andreas-whittam-smith

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Biography:
About:

Education: Birkenhead School; Keble College, Oxford

Career: Financial journalist until 1985 (including editor of the Stock Exchange Gazette, Investors Chronicle (1970/1977, city editor of The Guardian, city editor of The Daily Telegraph); In 1985, led the team that founded The Independent, editor of The Independent, 1986/1994; President, British Board of Film Classification, 1998/2002; Chairman of the Financial Ombudsmen Service, 1999/2003; The Children's Trust: Booard member, 1998 and then chairman 2006-; Commissioner of First Church Estates (responsible for the CoE's investments), 2002-
 * BBC News: Whittam Smith: From cinema to church, (quote: "My greatest desire has always been to be cosmopolitan") 31st July, 2002

Current position/role: columnist


 * also writes/has written for:

Other roles/Main role:

Other activities: Church of England's First Church Estates Commissioner; Chairman of the Children's Mutual (savings trust for children)
 * God’s work is an expensive enterprise - The Times, 19th June 2007

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media:

Video:

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Made a CBE in the New Year's honours list, 2002

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:


Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances: Ebor Lectures: [http://w3.yorksj.ac.uk/events/events/ebor-lectures/theme-for-2009-10-lectures.aspx Business as Usual? The Global Economy Crisis and the Future of Capitalism], York Minster, 14th October 2009

Debate: 

The Independent:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Politics, Current affairs, Media, Society, Economics, International affairs

Section:

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk]

Website: Independent.co / Andreas Whittam Smith

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Friday (formerly Monday)

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2012

 * In our race to win the Games, we lost our dignity - People manage to get to Wimbledon on time without traffic laws being changed - 26th July
 * The Utopia Lansley dreamt of is beyond politics - The NHS would be turned into a clockwork universe - a perfectly incentivised perpetual motion machine - 19th July
 * We could tax all over 50s to pay for old age - The state doesn't look after you from cradle to grave if you need it to; it misses out the last bit - 12th July
 * GlaxoSmithKline - and you thought the culture at Barclays was sick - The culture of modern business is the problem. Corrupt practices have spread far and wide - 5th July
 * How can RBS treat customers like this? - It beggars belief that the owner of RBS, Her Majesty's Government, has made no comment about this failure - 28th June
 * How are we to remain an independent nation? - There must be a clear distinction between the wider single market and the eurozone - 14th June
 * We have a duty to scrutinise the monarchy, not the tittle-tattle - I decided that the paper would not cover the Royals unless the story had solid news value - 31st May
 * Authenticity is a great asset in a leader. David Cameron lacks it - He is making the same mistake as Sarkozy. He has demeaned the office he holds - 24th May
 * What happens if Greece exits? That's what we must ask now - The risks and the pain could be mitigated. Banks have already cut their exposure - 17th May
 * The shareholder revolution is at last under way - Why did shareholders let so many years pass by without trying to halt the rise in the remuneration of directors? - 10th May
 * DSK, Murdoch and the trouble with inquiries - The magistrates interrogating the former IMF chief are engaged in a hopeless task - 3rd May
 * Forget what sounds clever. Just run the country - Cameron said what people wanted to hear when he announced the abolition of quangos. Doing it is harder - 26th April
 * An election that trades on people's deepest fears - What is this world of finance to which Mr Hollande refers? It is France's numerous creditor - 19th April
 * Osborne doesn't think much about the have-nots - The reductions in welfare are not over yet. The Chancellor needs further savings - £10bn by 2016 - 22nd March
 * Not just greedy banking, but morally worthless - I have developed a rule. If you have money, there will always be somebody trying to take it off you - 15th March
 * Britain could do with a dose of US democracy - Candidates use attack ads to try and destroy their opponents. Nothing on this scale has happened before - 8th March
 * The buck stops with Rupert Murdoch himself - The successes have been his alone, so have the failures. The scandals that tumble out daily are his doing - 1st March
 * Denigrate civil servants and a nasty price is paid - Many ministers in charge of huge departments lack the qualities appropriate to their responsibilities - 23rd February
 * The Greeks have spoken and the eurozone's fate is sealed - Creditor countries have begun to see that the solutions would be impossible to implement - 16th February
 * Sweetheart tax deals aren't for the little people - Harry Redknapp's problem was that he was a private individual and not a large company - 9th February
 * Honours are odious and harmful, and it's time they went - At a time when the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening, titles exacerbate divisions - 2nd February
 * Buy a share, cast a vote, solve the problem - Dr Cable's proposals would immediately bring shareholders back into the game by giving them a veto - 26th January
 * Sarkozy could be toppled by the downgrade - The credit downgrade is widely seen as an adverse judgement on Sarkozy's record in office - 19th January
 * The candidate who can elicit hope is the winner - In the 1980 presidential election, voters who didn't agree with Reagan still wanted to vote for him - 12th January



Articles: 2011

 * Blaming Fred the Shred alone is too easy - The real explanation for the fall of RBS was the incompetence of the ruling and managerial classes - 15th December
 * Buying time won't save the single currency - Funding and democratic crises lie ahead. The euro could perhaps survive one, but not both - 8th December
 * I don't believe the eurozone can be made to work - Poland's alarm is a true measure of the crisis. It is more vivid than the warning by the Chancellor - 1st December
 * The jobless are our own fault, not anyone else's - A high proportion of businesses say that job-seekers lack basic literacy and numeracy - 17th November
 * It's not just the borders agency that is unfit for purpose - Our politicians don't lack brainpower or ability. But what they do lack are knowledge and training - 11th November
 * Capitalism does not have to be this greedy - The two important control mechanisms are active shareholders and perceptive regulators - 3rd November
 * Bankers are to blame for this mess. And they still don't get it - Two entities are more powerful than any individual government in the West - 27th October
 * nations are now ripe for revolution'' - If there is going to be a revolutionary outburst, you do not get much warning - 20th October
 * Death by drone is swift and efficient – it's also murder - We need to start worrying about drone proliferation - 6th October
 * Failed by the very people who are there to protect us -Of course there should be an independent review of policing - 29th September
 * What's cheap, cheers you up – and could be killing you? - Trans fats have disappeared from the New York restaurant table - 23rd September
 * Germany has shifted and default is now inevitable - A Greek debt default is close. It could come next week, or very soon anyway - 15th September
 * A compelling truth revealed in the pages of a French thriller - In Dans L’Ombre, the intimate workings of politics are explained - 27th July
 * Murdoch's unique way of doing business won't change - The 'don't ask, don't tell' culture permeates his operations. When things get tougher, the Murdoch technique is to try denial, or throw the police off the scent - 21st July
 * Bullies and cowards who have killed a newspaper – for nothing - I believe that Rebekah Brooks, James Murdoch and even Rupert Murdoch himself will find themselves in court - 9th July
 * If we don't act now, worse will follow - There are similarities with the Italian mafia. Unchecked, News International's illegal practices would grow - 7th July
 * What's really troubling about Murdoch is being overlooked - Owning more than 25 per cent of the newspaper market is a bigger issue than the bid for BSkyB. But there has never been apublic inquiry into it - 30th June
 * The Greeks can't pay and won't pay, so let them default - It would crash out of the eurozone, re-establish its own currency and suffer a devaluation. Greece would be in a mess, but at least it would be its own mess - 23rd June
 * Stand back – there's a ticking time bomb that threatens us all - The spark running towards a Greek default is dangerous - 9th June
 * Who's in control? Not just governments, that's for sure - We have seen two big powers in action this week. They are not countries - 26th May
 * This fight is about power and money, not principles - Celebrity and media, MPs and judges - 24th May
 * A more 'democratic' Lords can only damage the Commons - If we believe we have a legitimate system of government - and the evidence is that we do - then there is no case for major constitutional change - 19th May
 * Television is not how to witness the passing of a life - Death has been institutionalised - 12th May
 * Our aversion to risk turns civilian heroes into cowards - The first paramedic who turned up on 7/7 said he could not treat the two injured people, because he had to assess what resources were needed - 5th May
 * Politicians deserve public disdain – they have earned it - We see them as bluffers whose luck holds for a period - 14th April
 * Can the reputation of the Met survive such a high-level duel? - We'll have to see how Yates responds to the cuts and thrusts of Keir Starmer - 7th April
 * Is it wise to criminalise respectable protest groups? - UK Uncut stirs up storms. Now it finds itself at the centre of one - 31st March
 * Not even the humanitarian urge can be a basis for war - What if there had been no UN resolution on Libya and no airborne attacks? - 24th March
 * Eliminating waste can be as simple as answering phones - It is one thing to have a good idea and quite another to put it into practice - 17th March
 * Wholesale privatisation is not what people voted for - White Paper that disguises a development of huge significance is due - 3rd March
 * Protests that can't just be dismissed as 'student politics' - During street demonstrations, the police have taken to confining people - 24th February 2011
 * We need closure, not compromise over banks - Their speculative, wild binge cost us £140bn in a single year - 10th February
 * Social networks are now the tyrant's weapon of choice, too - We've seen the incredible potential for technology to empower citizens - 3rd February
 * Cameron is guilty of moral blindness - How far does the writ run of appeasing News International? If it runs at all, we can confidently say that it starts from No. 10 - 25th January
 * Protest movements don't need a spearhead to be successful - They can remain as a protest group, or mutate from protest into power - 20th January
 * Arrogant, patronising and rude. Remind you of anyone? - The French get off to an excellent start so far as manners is concerned - 13th January



Articles: 2010

 * age of information has changed terrorism forever'' - If computer hackers have a system at all, it could be called 'organised chaos' - 16th December
 * will have to sprout angel wings to handle this madness'' - So the path to enhanced localism goes via the Kremlin. It is a weird way to go - 9th December
 * nearby country of which we know shamefully little'' - Feeling of victimhood is useful in assessing Germany's attitude to the euro crisis - 2nd December
 * trust now, or Irish people won't buy the pain'' - The Irish Government has lost the trust of its people - 25th November
 * to be cheerful about the renewal of our Parliament'' - I am even more interested in the political process than I am in politics - 18th November
 * revolt against the ruling elite'' - The American electorate has voted consistently against the party in power - 4th November
 * segregation...'' - ... coming to a town near you - 28th October
 * could be the spur that drives this movement to improve'' - Can the Whitehall machine, no matter how reform minded it is now, possibly deliver 'better for less?' - 21st October
 * a criminal injustice'' - The Crown Prosecution Service has been getting embarrassing headlines - 14th October
 * still a few cronies get to decide'' - The faults on display in the Government's announcement of the withdrawal of child benefit - 7th October
 * idea is beyond left and right'' - Because its meaning is so elusive, David Cameron's notion of a 'Big Society' is attracting a lot of attention - 30th September
 * up, pay up and play the game'' - Reckless banking and tax avoidance have characteristics in common. Both depend upon finding ways round rules - 23rd September
 * French fear of 'the other''' - Barres said Jews and Protestants were incarnations of cosmopolitanism and therefore rootless parasites - 16th September
 * the Coalition have got right so far'' - There may be one big thing wrong with plans to slash government spending - 19th August
 * case of contempt of Parliament'' - When the Academies Bill reached the Commons, the Government announced it would not allow it to be amended - 30th July
 * from a high financier'' - Siegmund Warburg was a man who created what might be termed a 'post-crash' business - 22nd July
 * myth of patient choice'' - White Paper heralds big improvement in sensitivity of NHS to patients' needs - 15th July
 * for bankers to remember'' - Should business executives have their own Hippocratic Oath? - 8th July
 * according to Blair'' - The former PM came to the Institute for Government on Monday to give 10 lessons from his decade in office - 1st July
 * dealing room had it coming'' - Some banking activities are more suitable for gamblers than for sober citizens - 18th June
 * knock consultation. Give it a go'' - The trigger for discussion is the availability of information on the Web - 11th June
 * success is a national concern'' - BP and the Pru: Two old British companies that have each made the right strategic decisions - 4th June
 * lessons May 1940 has for today'' - Why was France, a superpower with well-equipped armed forces, defeated within a matter of weeks? - 28th May
 * prepared for the biggest political shake-up since the Great Reform Act'' - There remains the issue of how constitutional change, welcome though it may be, should be brought about - 22nd May
 * out, proper debate in'' - Praise be. The new coalition government could turn out to be more effective than its recent predecessors - 14th May
 * the person, not the party'' - The electorate feels angry, but these hostile emotions are nothing to be ashamed about; they are the correct response to twenty years of duplicitous and ineffective government - 6th May
 * to the people: The leaders of Britain's political parties underestimate us at their peril'' - Our nation's recent history shows what can happen when popular discontent finds its voice - 29th April
 * triumph of political mendacity'' - There is no distinction between Mr Darling and the rest of the political class - 26th March
 * understand modern France, you really must see La Rafle'' - Chirac accepted the French state had supported the persecution of Jews - 19th March
 * as stupid as targets'' - I would like ministers to be seconded to run small businesses for six months - 12th March
 * of bullying from the frontline of the NHS'' - The Inquiry into Mid Staffs made me think of Abu Ghraib in Baghdad - 5th March
 * of press works'' - This is poacher and gamekeeper territory and stray passers-by have little to contribute - 26th February
 * show society at its fairest'' - Racism in Britain, while deeply unpleasant, is superficial - 19th February
 * to make government work'' - Labour produced a new offence for every day ministers have been in office - 12th February
 * the voting system'' - What animates British politics is the fear of losing a general election - 5th February
 * Wall Street reforms aren't nearly radical enough'' - When is a bank too big to fail? - 29th January
 * be surprised if a protest movement flowers in Britain'' - British voters feel hostile towards the political class for a variety of reasons - 22nd January
 * one way to reconnect voters'' - The meeting came up with some surprising conclusions on reform - 15th January
 * economy needs firm government'' - How could we handle a hung Parliament so investors retain confidence in Britain? - 8th January



Articles: 2009

 * Charles and the looming constitutional crisis'' - My doubts stem from the bombardment of letters to which he subjects ministers - 18th December
 * 'good' and 'bad' bonuses to clean up City'' - The moral case for levying a special tax on bankers' bonuses is strong - 10th December
 * is going to resign at RBS – nor should they'' - Bonuses would be acceptable if they rewarded genuine 'value added' only - 4th December
 * Commons has lost all power'' - If MPs want more influence they must stop whining and raise their game - 30th November
 * the banks won't be easy – but it can still be done'' - Though part of an arduous process, a Financial Service Bill could be useful - 20th November
 * is plunging down the same abyss as Major'' - Harrassment can begin when a PM's personal qualities are lacking - 13th November
 * report cannot be the end of the matter'' - The public's view is that MPs have been stealing from the public purse - 6th November
 * first rule of any regulation – bankers cannot be trusted'' - They will seek to avoid any control up to the limits of ending up in court - 23rd October
 * the theatre has taught me about the financial crisis'' - 'Enron' and 'The Power of Yes' tell you all you need to know - 16th October
 * fine of art of scapegoating'' - Sharon Shoesmith had no chance to comment on the report into child protection in Haringey - 9th October
 * cannot safely say that the Great Crash has passed'' - Financial markets are akin to living systems, driven by animal spirits - 2nd October
 * simple way to greater efficiency'' - Call centres are just factories modelled on the car plants established by Ford - 25th September
 * banking story may yet have a happy ending'' - The next chapter is how governments introduced much tougher regulation - 18th September
 * is as obsessed with winning headlines as Blair'' - Rule number one in political marketing is 'think in headlines' - 11th September
 * no other business would Trevor Phillips survive'' - Only in our politics could it happen - 24th July
 * ways we could reform our broken political system'' - Mr Brown thinks up a vote-winning headline he'd like to see, then conjures up a policy - 17th July
 * regulation – the banks are back to business as usual'' - It was supposed to be "never glad confident morning again" for capitalism - 10th July
 * has become a way of life for our politicians'' - In their hearts, I believe, they are contemptuous of ordinary people - 3rd July
 * often wonder why swearing on TV should bother us'' - The British attitude to censorship is an example of our exceptionalism - 26th June
 * is not only Brown who is losing all authority'' - Never before have Chancellor and Bank Governor disagreed like this - 19th June
 * reshuffles are no help to good government'' - If Marks & Spencer changed half its board every year we'd be incredulous - 5th June
 * I mourn the loss'' - I regret that another batch of old building society names will shortly vanish from high streets - 29th May
 * reality check bursts the bubble of optimism'' - Reducing debt could well become a virility test in the election - 22nd May
 * need to tear up the rules of our Afghan engagement'' - Rather than killing the enemy, it is better to disable him - 15th May
 * 1-1 in the war on terror'' - States of consent don't need to win, they simply need not to lose - 11th May
 * didn't make history, but that's no bad thing'' - When Gordon Brown came to the podium at 4pm yesterday to summarise the results of the G20 meeting, politics came first. For he began with a list of agreements that, although fine in themselves, will not accelerate economic recovery, will not create a single new job - 3rd April
 * last, an escape route for the banks...'' - ... But will they take it? - 27th March
 * revolution starts here – by text'' - National politics is discredited. The wrong people are in power. The whole system is broken. But through technology we can all fight back - 14th March
 * PM has more urgent tasks than bank regulation'' - He promoted a 'light touch', so the bankers got away with it - 6th March
 * should have known about Goodwin's pension'' - Ministerial incompetence has been present since this crisis began - 27th February
 * financial storm will now subside...'' - ... We've hit rock bottom - 20th February
 * blindness of a Pope led by his bureaucrats'' - It is hard to believe that Pope Benedict knew nothing of 'Bishop' Williamson - 6th February
 * the scandals is the shadowy figure of the lobbyist'' - To exert influence, dupes are needed - 30th January
 * are angry. So tell us what went wrong at the banks'' - Was this a case of incompetence or dishonesty? An inquiry would tell us - 23rd January
 * is not the Great Depression'' - We don't face anything like the intensity of the crisis that confronted Roosevelt - 16th January
 * the gloom and doom, I've a small piece of advice to offer'' - Inflation dropping like a stone? Buy government bonds - 9th January



Articles: 2008

 * the Church and State link'' - ‘Establishment’ helps explain high attendances on Christmas Day - 26th December 2008
 * real enemy now is deflation'' - It has a doomsday machine quality to it, a downward spiral difficult to stop - 19th December 2008
 * liberty and lesson of Milton'' - We can all learn from the sheer majesty of his depth of learning and sublety in debate - 12th December 2008
 * recession will run and run'' - The Banks remain terrified, albeit that they set the thing off in the first place - 5th December 2008
 * the time finally come for us to join the euro?'' - The question is whether Britain's situation isn't similar to Iceland's - 24th November 2008
 * energy threat'' - We could have a single European gas market tomorrow - 17th November 2008
 * this merger'' - The Lloyds-HBOS deal is against public interest – it will reduce competititon - 10th November 2008
 * the rednecks losing their power?'' - Alcohol, Jesus and over-eating are the three preferred avenues of escape - 10th November 2008
 * could be on the brink of a Great Depression'' - It has been fashionable to say that this can never happen again - 13th October 2008
 * put some bankers in the dock'' - Over here there has not been a peep from the law enforcement agencies - 6th October 2008
 * societies should never have gone public'' - Selling mortgages to homebuyers is not an acitivity that requires whizz kids - 29th September 2008
 * crash that has changed the world? Far from it'' - The new conventional thinking conjured up straight after the Wall Street crash last week is that life will never be the same again. But hang on - 22nd September 2008
 * banks must clean up the mess they've created'' - Lehman Brothers' CEO assumed that the credit crunch would be damaging, but not fatal - 15th September 2008
 * The flaw at the top that's causing businesses to fail - Fingers are pointed at the FSA. But I believe we should turn our attention elsewhere - 14th July 2008
 * Buy when stocks are down? Let's explode that myth - As managers at Bear Stearns appear in court, obvious lessons can be learnt - 23rd June 2008
 * Irish voters have stated the truth for all of us - The countries outside the eurozone have done better than those inside - 16th June 2008
 * Life in the long shadow of the First World War - Doris Lessing's new book is one of the most remarkable she has ever written - 12th May 2008
 * This Austrian shame is compounded by history - They thought of themselves as Hitler's first victims, but then came the Waldheim affair - 5th May 2008
 * Thriftiness just adds to recessionary forces - Consumers are already behaving as if times were hard - 28th April 2008
 * When modesty masks a sense of failure - As he listened to the PM, Deedes murmured to himself: “A sinking ship is my spiritual home” - 21st April 2008
 * These verdicts underline the dishonesty of politics - I can never get used to the fact that governments habitually break the law - 14th April 2008
 * The credit crunch will be with us for years to come - The crisis will be over when house prices in the US and Britain stop declining - 7th April 2008
 * Yet another reason to condemn Blair over Iraq - There was no analysis of British interest in joining the invasion. Now I understand why - 31st March 2008
 * It's not only the public who don't respect a uniform - 10th March 2008
 * The financial crisis is moving into its final phase - Everybody wanted to get out, including the depositors of Northern Rock - 3rd March 2008
 * Media studies is no preparation for journalism - Is it just prejudice that media studies at school and university are widely regarded as a soft option - 25th February 2008
 * Beethoven, Barenboim, and a moment of magic - 18th February 2008
 * If the Afghans don't want us, why should we stay? - The issue is whether the lot of us can achieve anything worthwhile - 4th February 2008
 * Banks invite trouble if they try to reinvent the wheel - History records no case where the economic bubble deflated gracefully - 28th January 2008
 * We have had a boom. And now, thanks to the greed of banks, we are experiencing a bust - 21st January 2008
 * Frankly, I don't believe a word Peter Hain says - Can anyone think that the Progressive Party Forum is anything but a front organisation? - 14th January 2008
 * Government isn't working. Here's how it can - Blockage at the top, and a miasma of mistrust, are damaging the quality of policy and legislation - 7th January 2008



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Links:

 * Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Whittam_Smith Wikipedia