Libby Purves



Profile:
Full name: Libby Purves

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

Journals/Organisation: The Times

Email: [mailto:libby.purves@thetimes.co.uk libby.purves@thetimes.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/libbypurves

Blog:

Representation: Clive Conway

Networks: https://twitter.com/lib_thinks



Biography:
About: Libby Purves is a BBC Radio 4 presenter, columnist and author. More at BBC Radio 4 presenters

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"

Current position/role: Presents Midweek on BBC Radio 4 and writes a column for The Times


 * also writes/written for: Writes a monthly column in the sailing magazine Yachting Monthly and is a regular contributor to The Oldie magazine

Other roles/Main role:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

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

Video:

Controversy/Criticism:

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

Scoops:

Other: Married to broadcaster Paul Heiney



Books & Debate:

 * 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

Speaking/Appearances:

Debate: 

The Times:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Education, family issues, health and welfare, government policy

Section: Features

Role: Columnist

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:libby.purves@thetimes.co.uk libby.purves@thetimes.co.uk]

Website: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/libbypurves

Commissioning editor:

Day published: usually Monday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length: 1000 words



Articles: 2013

 * The schoolyard addiction of extreme porn - It is easy to shrug, but the effect of what children are watching online is becoming impossible to ignore - 18th November
 * If 300,000 think he was poisoned, it’s here to stay - Notebook - 11th November
 * Top executives are not earning their earnings - What is truly disturbing about the culture of payoffs is that those who take them have no sense of shame - 4th November
 * Anyone might get an Annoying Behaviour Order - We don’t need vague, liberty-threatening injunctions. We just need existing laws to be enforced properly - 28th October
 * Reciting Shakespeare is good for you, bruv - Gove has removed from GCSE English a crucial element that teaches pupils how to speak confidently - 21st October
 * The man who makes Gove look a soggy liberal - The bracing opinions of Dominic Cummings will bring squawks of outrage from teachers and heads - 14th October
 * Don’t slam the door on Dick Whittington - Until London gets to grips with its housing problems, the legions of new arrivals will struggle to prosper - 7th October
 * Normal life is impossible without broadband - This huge cultural change has affected rural areas as much as cities. It is right that all should have access - 30th September
 * The Pope gets it: love means more than rules - Special headgear, no-meat Fridays, veils . . . these are the small-minded aspects of religious observance - 23rd September
 * Bosses get the surly graduates they deserve - Many leave university unprepared for work but companies aren’t keeping their side of the bargain either - 17th September
 * Bosses get the surly graduates they deserve - Many leave university unprepared for work but companies aren’t keeping their side of the bargain either - 16th September
 * This waste kills off the noble heart of the BBC - The Director-General must make it clear that the culture of astronomical payoffs is now in the past - 9th September
 * Blackpool needs its tiddly-om-pom-pom back - We are dumping society’s most vulnerable people in seaside towns and ruining Britain’s once proud resorts - 26th August
 * Push too hard and we lose our faith in charity - People are becoming alienated by overpaid chiefs, overzealous interference and overemphasis on political lobbying - 19th August
 * No kissing, no hugs: Ceausescu would approve - Denying nursery children a reassuring cuddle because of our obsession with paedophilia is wicked nonsense - 12th August
 * All the country’s a stage on the fabulous Fringe - The Festival’s not just for ranting stand-ups. Brits of all stripes can blow their own trumpets in open-access Edinburgh - 5th August
 * At last internet trolls must face the real world - Fury over Twitter abuse of the Jane Austen banknote campaigner shows how online behaviour is having to change - 29th July
 * My advice, Kate, is to ignore the baby-gurus - Breast or bottle? Cuddly or strict? Counsel for the new parents will flood from every corner - 23rd July
 * Dying with dignity must be given a reprieve - The Liverpool Care Pathway has been an honest attempt to ease patients’ last days. It should not be made a scapegoat - 15th July
 * Is it a miracle? Is it a saint? No, it’s Superstition - Viewing superheroes as Christ figures is less cringe-making than the Vatican’s canonisation-by-miracle of dead Popes - 8th July
 * If three parents mean a healthy baby, so be it - We have always used technology to make it easier to have children, whether through IVF or Caesarean sections - 1st July
 * Hysteria and self-pity don’t help our teenagers - The Jeremy Forrest case shows how an overprotective attitude to children ends up belittling and insulting them - 24th June
 * Attention, cool parents: cannabis is no joke - Ageing festivalgoers still treat smoking weed as harmless fun. But its mind-destroying effects can no longer be denied - 17th June
 * All alpha women need a husband like Philip - Raise a glass to the Duke of Edinburgh, who showed modern man how to behave when out-earned by his wife - 3rd June
 * Forget anorak-nophobia and hail the hobby - No matter how nerdy or obsessive, the spare-time scholarship of the amateur enthusiast is something to be saluted - 27th May
 * The churches do not own marriage. We do - Love, fidelity and patience are timeless values that will survive any social change, whether clerics approve or not - 20th May
 * Let these skaters swoop and crash and rattle - Destroying the Southbank’s concrete skateboarder colony to build more shops and cafés would be cultural vandalism - 13th May
 * TV needs to tame its over-mighty subjects - Too much power was bestowed upon the likes of Stuart Hall. The BBC still forgets that it is bigger than its ‘talent’ - 6th May
 * The police must stop this craze for arrests - The detention of celebrities and those who are found to have done nothing wrong looks like a punitive PR exercise - 29th April
 * Boys are paying the price of higher tuition fees - Girl undergraduates now dominate. We need to ask: is the financial logic of going to university weighted against men? - 15th April
 * Take away the cheap booze. It really does kill - One town’s alcohol crackdown has had a dramatic effect. The minimum price law should have been pursued - 8th April
 * It’s better to accept the facts of death - Kicking away the cobwebs of terror and denial about one's mortality is not the same as 'giving up’ - 7th April
 * Even foaming dinosaurs deserve free speech - A campaign against a Daily Mail columnist is in full cry. But his opinions, however nasty, must not be silenced - 25th March
 * Children wait while MPs play blame games - Primary school places are not just numbers to argue about – they are vital to the nation’s sanity and happiness - 18th March
 * Right on, Your Majesty. Tell it to the bishops - For the Queen to support gay rights would be entirely in keeping with her sense of decency and kindness - 11th March
 * Computer says ‘rape’? Time to hire a human - Frustrating errors on everything from tax bills to T-shirts show why automated systems can’t replace real brains - 4th March
 * Savile’s greatest ally was the tyranny of cool - From the Kray twins to hip-hop, moral judgment has been suspended when squares get the urge to slum it - 25th February
 * Do stop shuddering, you poncey gourmands - The TV dinner is 60 years old. When we gave up cooking, we gave up the right to fret about what’s in our food - 18th February
 * A cruel court ordeal, but justice demands it - The right to challenge robustly accounts of sexual abuse is all the more necessary in the post-Savile firestorm - 11th February
 * Yes, attack cruel humour. But don’t censor it - From Russell Brand to Virgin Mary crisps, we’re easily outraged — but we must step back. Comedy polices itself - 4th February
 * Today Mr Darcy can be Mr Right, not Mr Rich - Since Jane Austen’s time, marriage has evolved to suit the age we live in. It belongs to society, not the Church - 28th January
 * You’ve failed. Here’s an A* grade for character - Courage, resilience, honesty — these virtues aren’t taught on the exam treadmill or by modern, worry-guts parents - 21st January



Articles: 2012

 * Indian women need a cultural earthquake - The Delhi bus rape should shatter our Bollywood fantasies. Sexual harassment and worse are still a girl’s lot - 31st December
 * You say Thatcher, I say Sylvanian Families - From Barbies to Furbies, every Christmas has a toy craze that helps to define the era as much as any politician - 24th December
 * Life on the streets freezes male self-respect - How could grown men fall into a squalid life of forced labour and not resist? The answer is clear if you meet the homeless - 17th December
 * Humiliation for laughs is a dangerous game - When crass modern humour collides with an old-fashioned culture of honour, the consequences can be tragic - 10th December
 * A £20,000 snip ... a company closes down - Nicholas Hytner is right. Big venues will survive, but cuts can be fatal to small theatres, orchestras or galleries - 3rd December
 * Help! The children might sing Rule, Britannia! - Calling UKIP racist is narrow-minded nonsense and can only hurt attempts to recruit more foster parents - 26th November
 * Some tweeters are not waving but drowning - The unhealthiest falsehood spread on social networks is that users are living lives of constant glamour and hilarity - 19th November
 * This must not be the end of the bloodletting - What were they all doing? The upper layers of bloated, ineffectual BBC management cannot escape blame - 12th November
 * Don’t kill our chance of good end-of-life care - The idea of an NHS ‘pathway to death’ is always going to be unpalatable. Until you need to make that final journey - 5th November
 * However high you aim, try not to look down - Allowing children to risk failure is vital to their education. Pushy parents and defeatist teachers ignore that - 29th October
 * Take away the dish marked ‘free money’ - MPs’ living arrangements may be hard, but so are many people’s. Like us, they should live off their salaries - 21st October
 * Despite its faults, the EU deserves this prize - The coming centenary of the First World War will be a reminder of what modern Europe has been spared - 15th October
 * What little girl doesn’t want to meet a hero? - Let’s not fool ourselves. Someone like Sir Jimmy Savile could easily take advantage of starstruck teenagers today - 8th October
 * Adults do know best. Pity they won’t say so - It takes a brave parent or social worker to see past the glamorous chutzpah of teenage girls and protect them - 1st October
 * Where did all that Olympic goodwill go? - Ministerial outbursts, iPhone whines, class sniping: we’ve already forgotten that we’re all in the same boat - 24th September
 * That racist voice in your head is not the Devil - Fear or mistrust of strange faces is perfectly natural. But hostility can quickly melt away with a little re-tuning - 3rd September
 * What GCSE English needs is more red ink - Letting students make errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation is far crueller than altering their grades - 27th August
 * Brady and his ilk are the worst of addictions - The saga of a mental health advocate and a ‘sealed envelope’ shows how toxic an interest in killers can be - 20th August
 * Shock! Pleasure! The British people are nice - Sorry to come over all Pollyanna, but something has happened to us during the Olympic Games, and I rather like it - 13th August
 * Boo, hiss, heckle but don’t prosecute bad jokes - It mustn’t be one rule for professional humorists and another for online amateurs. Free speech is best self-regulated - 30th July
 * Blessed relief. A spin-free zone to cheer about - Are Olympic athletes, in our twisted PR world, going to ‘deliver winning solutions’? Nope, it’s just win – or lose - 23rd July
 * Watch those ‘partners’. They want your money - The Olympics security fiasco should put an end to the Thatcherite prejudice that ‘outsourcing’ is the best course - 16th July
 * If we’re only ‘worthies’ is it worth the bother? - Bullied, suspected and resented, volunteers are the backbone of the Big Society. Ministers should show them respect - 9th July
 * Don’t insult our intelligence, Mr Miliband - People in Britain have felt the effects of mass immigration, and they won’t accept Labour’s cynical apology - 25th June
 * An honour that shows which side we are on - April Ashley’s MBE is not just a tribute to her dignity and courage. It is a rebuke to those who belittle her - 18th June
 * Memo to my next BBC boss: ‘It’s the content, stupid’ - A new BBC Director-General must put creativity first — and forget ratings, ‘compliance’ and celebrity-worship - 11th June
 * A jubilee for us, too – and all our yesterdays - Parties like this are a chance to celebrate family memories and be at peace with the passing of the years - 4th June
 * Searching for the meaning of life? Head to sea - The Diamond Jubilee flotilla of 1,000 boats will be doing something much greater than bobbing along the Thames - 21st May
 * Full of twisted ideas, signifying nothing - The Olympic tower is like so much public art – commissioned by someone who falls for the artist’s asinine words - 14th May
 * Watch this British propaganda and be beguiled - A newly digitised archive of films promoting 1940s Britain shows why it’s good to romanticise ourselves a little - 7th May
 * London’s woes should worry the whole nation - The capital is our national hub. Even outsiders without a vote have a huge interest in its stability and wellbeing - 30th April
 * Feel bad for your boss. It is tougher at the top - As power shifts to grumblers, bloggers and interrogators, would you really want to run the country, church or team? - 23rd April
 * Norway is right to give Breivik his moment - The gunman will air his twisted views at his trial. Yet he is now an advertisement for civilised, unvengeful justice - 16th April
 * It’s not a protest if your only cause is ‘Me’ - The Boat Race was wrecked by a man with no coherent ideology. Can we expect more random action this summer? - 9th April
 * The old parties ignore Bradford at their peril - Voters are bored by traditional choices but charmed by mavericks. Galloway will not be the last oddball winner - 2nd April
 * On cars, city folk are blind to life outside the ring roads - Out in the wilds we still pay the same for a litre of petrol - 28th March
 * Enforce the law and fine public drunkards - A minimum price is a good start for sobering up Britain. But what about resurrecting some old sanctions? - 26th March
 * My radical motto for mothers: peace and love - In striving for fashionable ideas of maternal ‘perfection’, we suppress children’s natural instincts. Set them free - 19th March
 * A Noah’s Ark of nations in a troubled world - The spirit of Bush House, where I cut my teeth in broadcasting, must continue when the World Service moves on - 12th March
 * I’ll take my chances as a no-rights freelance - The idea that employees should get extra time off if they fall ill on holiday shows that the courts have gone too far - 5th March
 * No pay packet? But that’s half the experience - The Government’s work scheme isn’t all bad, but it misses the point: you don’t feel useful until you get your money - 27th February
 * Why must grief be a sign of mental illness? - Treating the bereaved for depression after two weeks typifies our urge to medicalise everyday experience - 20th February
 * Stop nudging older people into retirement - From vetting to tax issues, petty rules are the main obstacle to getting over-60s back into paid or voluntary work - 13th February
 * It’s a heckler’s world, Billy. Get used to it - At comedy shows, in Parliament or on message boards, disrespect is the default. You can’t take it personally - 6th February
 * Retreat from your battle against gay marriage - The Archbishop of York would limit same-sex couples to ‘faithful friendships’. But these are strong, serious bonds - 30th January
 * Inverted snobbery will capsize the best ideas - Those who see elitism in traditional British flagships – yachts or universities – are as bad as those who reject the new - 23rd January
 * Those in luxury are still in peril on the sea - Anyone who expected the Costa Concordia to be totally safe was as naive as those who thought the Titanic unsinkable - 16th January
 * I won’t cheer this billion-pound private party - The Olympocrats should show more respect for those bearing the costs and inconveniences of the London Games - 2nd January



Articles: 2011

 * It’s being a bit knackered that makes us happy - Shrugging self-deprecation and laughing in the face of failure has kept Britain high in the happiness league - 26th December
 * Freedom to know must not trump free speech - Openness is all very well but making ministers’ private discussions public too soon will only bring bad decisions - 19th December
 * And we call this cynical cheating ‘education’? - It is scandalous that exam boards and schools are depriving children of the mental nourishment they deserve - 12th December
 * Fact-free tattle? Yep, must be a royal biography - These gossip-mongers have a cheek speculating on the emotional life of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh - 5th December
 * This test is an insult to our great culture - A memory for obscure facts is all you need to pass the UK citizenship exam. Others can show us how to improve it - 28th November
 * Thatcher had her own polka-dot feminism - Despite her haughty housewife pose, our first female PM did more for Women’s Lib than it or she would admit - 21st November
 * The bucks have stopped for looting victims. We should pay - Small businesses wrecked in the August riots are still suffering while the authorities drag their heels over compensation - 14th November
 * What happened to innuendo? - Suggestive humour is fine provided it is witty, but adult content these days is often puerile - 6th November
 * Deference was abused in a Catholic cover-up - We mourn the loss of respect for institutions, but clerical child abuse shows how too much respect can be exploited - 31st October
 * Welcome to life under your own petty rules, Vince - I charge the BBC 20% VAT. Which it promptly claims back - 27th October
 * Enough of this Glastonbury of grievance - The St Paul’s protesters have no specific aims; no realistic demands. Occupy London should clear up and clear off - 24th October
 * If the old quit their homes, will it really help the young? - The great thing is, the over-65s do free up space. By dying - 20th October
 * There was so much more to Betty than hotpot - The unglamorous lives of the old showbiz troupers are far more interesting than those of the pampered superstars - 17th October
 * No one ever profits from a pseudo-friendship - ‘Networking’ has become a term of approval, but as the Fox furore demonstrates, it’s just nepotism by another name - 10th October
 * ‘Tory toff’ isn’t political debate, it’s prejudice - Jeers about accidents of birth are boring, bullying and dull-witted. Policy, not poshness, is what really matters - 3rd October
 * Sober up. Freshers week is just a drunken scam - Being fleeced and humiliated is no way to start student life. Let’s hope fees and austerity kill off this Saturnalia - 26th September
 * We were all Americans then. Aren’t we still? - That generous, optimistic nation deserves to be defined by the best of its leaders and the fortitude of 9/11 survivors - 12th September
 * What do we do when old lags become older? - It’s a sign of decency that the growing band of elderly convicts enjoy ‘reminiscence therapy’ and gardening - 5th September
 * our 99 problems, rap lyrics are a big one'' - Anyone familiar with rappers’ words will know there was some truth in David Starkey’s clumsy analysis of the riots - 29th August
 * have much to thank Diana Lamplugh for'' - The mother of the missing estate agent ran a relentless and innovative campaign – and I played a small part - 22nd August
 * doesn’t insult the police to heed good advice'' - There’s nothing intolerant or alien about Bill Bratton’s methods. Ministers have every right to listen to him - 15th August
 * Robinson: goodbye to a master of the 'curious trade''' - When Robert Robinson grew tired of interviewing politicians at the BBC he turned himself into a superb quizmaster - 14th August
 * vision’ won’t fix a leaky lavatory'' - You can’t run a care home on diktats from head office. Bring in the micro-managers and restore some pride - 8th August
 * our language. The bigots will hate that'' - Compulsory English lessons will integrate immigrants and undermine the far Right Brits admired by Breivik - 1st August
 * back, man on the Clapham omnibus'' - ‘Human rights’ and ‘health & safety’ shouldn’t be boo words, but the tick-box mentality has made them so - 5th July
 * revolution is still toppling tyrannies'' - The Arab Spring is the legacy of the President’s passionate commitment to democracy - 4th July
 * couldn’t the judge protect the Dowlers’ privacy?'' - The family’s court ordeal may have been a necessary evil. But I know from my own life how public intrusion can hurt - 27th June
 * off the bitching, sisters! Just be nice'' - As the world changes, so must feminism. Surely the different generations of women can unite around that? - 13th June
 * problem isn’t little girls. It’s adult ones'' - It is a truth universally acknowledged that women must look ‘hot’. Until that changes, children will be sexualised - 6th June
 * the big grin? The buck stopped with you'' - Sharon Shoesmith’s department was found to be thoroughly incompetent. The least she could have done was resign - 30th May
 * airbrushed age needs ancient sages'' - The Queen’s visit to Ireland reminds us that many of the great personal virtues only come with experience - 22nd May
 * need to talk about man-hating feminism'' - The nightmarish son in the film that’s exciting Cannes is a toxic caricature women are too ready to believe in - 16th May
 * of these disgusting sneers at Clegg'' - It’s easy to vilify the Lib Dem leader but, as a new play appreciates, he has done the right thing in a honest way - 9th May
 * grouches: the royals had the last laugh'' - A few po-faced critics tried, but it was impossible to sneer at the outbreak of family joy and national fun - 2nd May
 * to relax about interns: pay them (a little)'' - Asking young hopefuls to waive some of their rights in return for cash is the way to break the charmed circle - 25th April
 * Albert Hall must keep its broad appeal'' - And it’s not just the big blob in Kensington. All our community halls need the freedom to be recklessly diverse - 18th April
 * not in the mood for smiley ‘happyology’'' - Politicians want to measure our happiness, but they need to distinguish between fulfilment and fleeting feelings - 11th April
 * public prurience for our privacy laws'' - When the famous behave badly and the media gleefully follow, in the end we must question our own tastes - 4th April
 * flair, more care. Sheer plod also shines'' - We urge creativity in our children, but as recent police errors show, attention to dull detail matters as much - 28th March
 * sir, don’t give them any more Ritalin'' - Naughtiness is not a disease. Drugging thousands of children, from nursery age, will come to be seen as barbaric - 21st March
 * action? That’s a clear negative'' - Nick Clegg should not be shoehorning more women or black people on to his party’s lists. It doesn’t work - 14th March
 * + liberated teachers = real education'' - A painfully prescriptive curriculum and a modish faith in ‘research skills’ is driving learning from classrooms - 7th March 2011
 * the red tape and let our Kiwi spirit fly'' - In a crisis, New Zealanders cheerfully chip in. But our freedom to help has been chipped away. That must change - 28th February
 * the knot now or be tied up in knots later'' - Never mind the tradition and the trappings. Marriage is still the best way to protect yourselves financially - 7th February
 * money comes first, the cost could be drastic'' - Nurses are vital in giving vulnerable people a voice. The reforms threaten their role - 31st January
 * 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
 * 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



Articles: 2010

 * 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
 * diplomacy and keeping the peace'' - Outwardly friendly, privately frank, the diplomat plays a crucial role that Wikileaks threatens to destroy - 29th November
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * meddling may shipwreck us'' - Boosting foreign seafarers’ pay will maroon them with unscrupulous bosses - 6th July
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * again the little Farepak guys have been shafted'' - The golden rule is that, if anyone suffers, it mustn’t be the board - 27th April
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * Downing Street. Not a sheltered workshop'' - Rent-a-gob whiners should be given their comeuppance - 23rd February
 * 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
 * this at work? Well done'' - It’s National Sickie Day. But if staff are skiving, maybe their bosses should show more appreciation - 1st February
 * moral is: question your motives, parents'' - Callous neglect, ‘mercy killing’ and sickness-faking — three extreme cases reveal some awkward truths about parenting - 25th January
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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 (writing in The Sunday Telegraph)



Articles: 2009

 * 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
 * the season for all things garish'' - Hurray for tinsel and flashing Santa hats. We need to cherish this extravagant nonsense - 21st December
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * brew: faith and power'' - Don’t blame anti-Catholicism and lawyers for the cover-up in Ireland. The Church protected itself - 30th November
 * 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
 * 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
 * mountains, taste the salt of risk'' - Letters by celebrities to their younger selves show that Prince Edward was right - 3rd November
 * work. Commendable courage'' - Question Time wasn’t perfect the BNP won't gain from it, whatever the chattering classes say - 26th October
 * drink costs us dear'' - Britain has an alochol problem, and ltitle is being done about it - 25th October (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
 * 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
 * put prisoners on stage, Mr Straw'' - The Justice Secretary’s diktat to limit drama in jails shackles brave prison governors - 5th October
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * people? Quick draft a law'' - Have the architects of the cockamamie child vetting scheme actually met a child? - 14th September
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * are old, Father William . . .'' - . . . but I'm listening. Our understanding of the past comes from recollections of earlier generations - 20th July
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * assault leaves listeners in silence'' - Take-up of DAB technology is so pathetic that we must fight for our beloved analog sets - 22nd June
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * do understand greed, Margaret Beckett'' - MPs should not treat the public as half-wits - 16th May
 * 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
 * side of a man-hating feminist'' - Marilyn French was scary. But sometimes we need people to kick against the traces - 6th May
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * - 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * Jade Goody to those who love her'' - This mawkish voyeurism tells us nothing about modern Britain - 20th February
 * - 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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



Articles: 2008

 * 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
 * back to doing good works'' - Corrupted by government, over politicised and over professionalised, charities need to rethink their role - 23rd December
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * more to Advent than cheap chocolate'' - Confectionery calendars are short-changing our children - 2nd December
 * 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
 * silly, fiddly and pointless tax cut'' - Doing your VAT return is like being a stripper in an empty room - 27th November
 * vision still speaks louder than words'' - Tired of piffling celebrity, mealy-mouthed nannyism, alarmist pessimism and economic whining? Here's the antidote... - 24th November
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * for a clear policy on euthanasia'' - Assisted dying is different to assisted suicide: we need to tread carefully — and sympathetically - 20th October
 * 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
 * - enough of this ghoulish sideshow'' - The creepy attempt to exhume the remains of Cardinal Newman will drive people away from the Church - 6th October
 * the BBC a rival or a resource?'' - The Corporation has to decide whether it is more than just another big media competitor - 29th September
 * 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
 * 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
 * Words wud lose there meening'' - 8th September
 * an evening class in failure'' - As the financial climate worsens, breadwinners who face ruin need lessons in survival - 8th September
 * was just an availability check, Selina Scott'' - Something more irritating than ageism stalks the media world - 3rd September
 * did Alistair Darling choose 1948?'' - He could have picked several other years, but went instead for cheerful years of austerity and hope - 1st September
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * way to stop being educated'' - Despite our school system and culture, Britons show a healthy urge towards autodidacticism - 4th August

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