Mark Steel



Profile:
Full name: Mark Steel

Area of interest: Society, Politics, Current affairs, Social justice

Journals: The Independent

Email: [mailto:info@marksteelinfo.com info@marksteelinfo.com]

Website: marksteelinfo.com

Blog: marksteelinfo / blog | Open House

Agent:

Networks: twitter: "mrmarksteel"



Biography:
Education: Swanley Comprehensive School, Kent (note: he was expelled)

Career: The Guardian: columnist, 1996/1999; The Independent: commentator, 2000-
 * Early life ~ Career (Wikipedia info)
 * marksteelinfo.com: Steel on Steel
 * offthekerbproductions.co: artist home

Current position/role: Commentator


 * also writes/has written for: Socialist Worker: opinion

Other roles: Stand-up comedian, TV and radio presenter, author

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:
 * Open2.net: interview
 * Plattitude blog: Mark Steel, the SWP and Respect, 13th November 2007

TV/Radio:
 * Open2.net: Mark Steel Lectures
 * YouTube
 * IMDb

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: The Mark Steel lectures were nominated for BAFTA's best comedy programme, 2004

Scoops:

Other: Supporter of Crystal Palace football club and Kent County Cricket Club



Books & Debate:

 * It's not a runner bean - : confessions of a slightly succesful comedian (1996) OCLC 36120998
 * Reasons to be cheerful: from punk to new labour through the eyes of a dedicated troublemaker (2001) OCLC 45854220
 * Vive la Revolution (2003) OCLC 53315356

Latest work:
 * The Worst of Cricket Malice and Misfortune in the World's Cruellest Game (2008) OCLC 221210458 by Nigel Henderson (with foreword by M.S.)
 * What's going on?: The Meanderings of a Comic Mind in Confusion (2008) OCLC 225446074

N.B. Crow on the Hill is Mark's recommended book supplier

Speaking/Appearances: updates at marksteelinfo.com

Current debate: 

The Independent:
Column remit: Society and social problems, politics

Section:

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: Independent.co / Mark Steel

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Wednesday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2011

 * a flower bed, find a sponsor'' - This week we were given a pretty good idea of which way society is heading thanks to a radio interview about flowers - 25th May
 * can see why drivers shout at prams'' - 18th May
 * the wrong people doing the gagging'' - You can understand why some tabloid newspapers are upset about these super-injunctions. Because when they write something about a footballer with a prostitute it's almost the only time they print a story that's true - 11th May
 * modern jihadist must be on Twitter'' - What seems strange is that if this raid was watched live on film, wouldn't someone have bought the rights and released it on DVD by now? Americans aren't usually slow with a commercial opportunity - 4th May
 * on, have fun. Roll out the barrel'' - A book's been rushed out called 'Knit Your Own Royal Wedding' - 13th April
 * kick hypocrisy out of football'' - Wayne Rooney seemed like such a polite young man that who would have guessed he'd be the type to use a swear word at a time of high emotion? - 6th April
 * scenes that left Benghazi in the shade'' - From the way the news has been since Saturday, I expect this week's episode of Gardeners' Question Time to go: "Before answering the question about Mister Dibley's crocus, do the panel condemn the violence we saw in Oxford Street? - 30th March
 * Blair I feel really sorry for'' - Isn't it marvellous that all these governments are determined to do "something" about Gaddafi? For example Hillary Clinton said she supported military action once the Arab League backed the air strikes. And it is encouraging that the policy of not tolerating a dictator has the backing of so many dictators - 23rd March
 * need the spirit of Wisconsin'' - It must be part of the Coalition agreement that every day every member of the Government has to do the speech full of weird facts about how much debt we're in - 17th March
 * know, let's sell weapons to a lunatic'' - The Western leaders now condemning Gaddafi as a madman must be perplexed as to what's gone wrong with him, because up until a month ago they obviously thought he was perfectly sane and well-balanced - 9th March
 * who still need our sympathy'' - Who'll be left to offer Tony and Cherie Blair a free holiday? - 23rd February
 * It's a question of taste'' - One of the joys of Mubarak's demise was watching his Western backers figure out what they were supposed to say. So the US line was: "It's not our place to intervene in a country run by a dictator we've armed and financed for 30 years." - 16th February
 * caring, sharing way to bad times'' - The first troubling side to the Big Society is no one can explain what it means - 9th February
 * people who bring about change'' - All those scenes from Cairo of mass demonstrations look like the perfect expression of the big society. So we can only assume David Cameron wants us to try something similar here - 2nd February
 * Shapps: at last – a man to really annoy us'' - One government post that always takes a while to fill after an election is the job of minister who more than any other makes you feel sick as soon as you see their face, often for reasons you can't quite put your finger on - 26th January
 * NHS choice will cure you'' - You can see why they've announced this plan to change the health service, because it looks similar to the way they transformed the railways into competing units, and that's been such a success who wouldn't want to use a similar system to deal with triple by-passes and liver transplants? - 19th January
 * owe it to bankers to feel their pain'' - Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, who himself has to suffer the trauma of an £8m bonus, said yesterday that the bankers' "period of remorse and apology should be over" - 12th January
 * can't they lie any better than this?'' - This might sound smug, but I've done marvellously at sticking to my New Year's Resolution - 5th January



Articles: 2010

 * have seen the fall of a cricketing empire'' - It feels like we've taken part in the victory as we stayed up all night - 29th December
 * apocalypse forecast'' - The moment a single flake drifts on to the Lake District, every news report tells us: "The police advise you not to go anywhere unless your journey is necessary", which is pointless because who makes journeys they don't think are necessary? - 22nd December
 * clear case of attack by wheelchair'' - The police like to set their PR department a special Christmas challenge, don't they? - 15th December
 * term, how to stage a sit-in'' - This is the age of 24-hour entertainment, so at night we can enjoy the sight of the Australian cricket team squirming helplessly, and in the daytime we can enjoy the Liberal Democrats doing exactly the same - 8th December
 * series are such an awful addiction my family have learnt coping methods'' - My Ashes: During that 1982 match that England won by three runs I was living in a filthy squat. We huddled around the radio amid the mould - 23rd November
 * you have the strength for the 7.57 to Euston?'' - The spokespeople for train operators must enjoy themselves. Yesterday they merrily announced that overcrowding on trains is going to get "much worse" without a glimmer of remorse – the equivalent of the BBC announcing their autumn season by saying, "We've got a right lot of old rubbish on between now and Christmas. Still, there we are." - 10th November
 * Obama forget he's in charge?'' - The easy view to adopt would be that we're back to normal, and Americans are just mental - 3rd November
 * the Vikings found jobs'' - Where do they get these idiots who come on the radio and television to tell us how to prepare for our pensions - 27th October
 * by our spirit of protest'' - Wayne Rooney must look in the papers every morning and think, "How does Vince Cable get away with it? Just like me, a year ago he was a national hero, the embodiment of hope, and now he's a bumbling fool and revealed as a cheat. But he's allowed to carry on as he pleases and isn't even substituted. I want a transfer to the Liberal Democrats." - 20th October
 * tips on paying for university'' - How are they allowed to suggest this mad scheme where they charge £36,000 for student fees? - 13th October
 * disputes the Boris way'' - The marvellous part about a transport strike is the reports on the news afterwards - 7th October
 * how you want? Outrageous!'' - He won the leadership, according to some people, because the unions levered him in with their wily ways. The sneaky trick they used this time was to give their members a vote each, who then acted in their usual selfish fashion by voting for the candidate they preferred - 29th September
 * right, it was all a Muslim plot'' - You might think that a plot to blow up the Pope would be news for a while. Popes don't get blown up all that often, and this one's enough of a celebrity that if he fell over drunk at the MTV awards with Kanye West it would be in the papers for a few days, so it's strange that a plot to blow him up was only of interest for one day - 22nd September
 * Ryanair run all our services'' - Eventually the Coalition will sell itself off and the country will be run by Ryanair - 15th September
 * got to be joking'' - Everyone seems to agree that the Labour party is better off having the polite contest taking place now, rather than its old ideological fights. But the result is a series of debates about nothing, with no one daring to say anything, let alone disagree with the nothing someone else has said - 8th September
 * all sell out in the end'' - Now there must be loads of people who wish they'd be accused of making mistakes on purpose to satisfy a betting scam - 1st September
 * anyone is fanatic it's Sarah Palin'' - How far away is it permissible to be a Muslim? Maybe there should be special guidelines - 25th August
 * did Tony run it by Cherie first?'' - You can't blame the British Legion for accepting this money - 18th August
 * guns? They must be terrorists'' - Somehow, the Chilcot Inquiry has become like Big Brother - 5th August
 * the messenger'' - Why are the British and US governments saying the leak of military documents about Afghanistan has "put our soldiers at risk?" It's us who's been kept hidden from this information, not the Taliban - 28th July
 * all their careers will end in failure'' - It looks like the next stage of the New Labour project is for the leaders to become proper celebrities - 21st July
 * in Greenland, passions run deep'' - The population of a packed Old Trafford is 11,000 more than the whole of Greenland - 13th July
 * needs schools anyway?'' - Michael Gove has already made two announcements this week, declaring that schools should revive the art of "deep thought", and cancelling £700m worth of school building projects - 7th July
 * that old decline and fall again'' - How long does it take for a nation that once had an empire to realise it's no longer as important as it was? - 30th June
 * only we were all in it together'' - There's already been one positive outcome of the Budget, which is the pleasure of watching Liberal Democrats squirm as they try to justify the stuff that a few weeks ago they screamed would be a disaster - 24th June
 * reckon we've never had it so bad'' - How long will this government keep their trick going? - 16th June
 * Cup obsession is healthy. It's the people who don't care that are strange'' - Fans' Eye View - 12th June
 * name's the game in football'' - One of the joys of a World Cup, is watching every single business on the planet trying to get in on it, no matter how distant they are from football - 9th June
 * course, they were asking for it'' - It's time the Israeli government's PR team made the most of its talents, and became available for hire. Then whenever a nutcase marched into a shopping mall in somewhere like Wisconsin and gunned down a selection of passers-by, they could be on hand to tell the world's press "The gunman regrets the loss of life but did all he could to avoid violence." - 2nd June
 * leadership candidates are all against the war now'' - There's an honourable tradition in the Labour Party of bravely standing against an unjust war – as long as the war ended several years ago - 26th May
 * strike - a complete load of ballots'' - At last, someone's come up with a clean, decisive system for holding elections - 19th May
 * be fooled. This is Tory rule'' - Right – who knows a way of making "Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition out out out" scan properly? - 13th May
 * to the Labour Party'' - Oh this is painful. The anticipation is probably worse than the event itself - 5th May
 * glimpse of the chaos to come'' - It is getting harder for Cameron to hide how he sees victory as his entitlement - 29th April
 * run off with the inheritance?'' - Suddenly this election is hilarious - 21st April
 * only marriage were that wholesome'' - Maybe a tax break for elderly people could help them to remember stuff - 14th April
 * Vatican should thank Rowan Williams'' - The assumption is that, if someone's a religious leader, they're wholesome - 7th April
 * must want to lose the election'' - It's hard to find any other reason for insulting Joanna Lumley - 31st March
 * 2012 is a mess already, but they could still make it fun'' - Bit by bit, the promises of the organisers are becoming cloudier - 24th March
 * anti-union brigade are just a bunch of hypocrites'' - The rage against the unions takes some spledidly imaginative forms - 17th March
 * throw away the kid gloves'' - A third of American health employees are in marketing - 10th March
 * time we put Ashcroft's money to better use'' - And this from a Tory party whose slogan is 'We're all in it together.' - 3rd March
 * can teach birth control but you'll end in hell if you do it'' - There's no other subject schools can teach with their version of the truth - 24th February
 * escape from the curse of 'easy-listening' radio'' - Someone has decided that this rot is popular, but it isn't - 17th February
 * believed what suited them, and ignored what didn't'' - Iraq evidence was collected only to back a decision already made - 10th February
 * who do you vote for given this appalling choice?'' - The moment you think of voting Labour, up pops the unregretful Blair - 3rd February
 * viewers' right to Andy Murray'' - An NBC stunt showed me what getting rid of the BBC could mean - 27th January
 * the risks before you send cash to Haiti'' - All of us must wonder if we'll ever get our 50 quid back - 20th January
 * is the news: a snowflake has fallen in High Wycombe...'' - Even the financial news has been about the weather's impact on - 13th January
 * one soldier who told truth about this war'' - L/Cpl Glenton's crime was to say we were making matters worse - 6th January



Articles: 2009

 * best way to enjoy your New Year's Eve is to scrap it'' - This festival of weirdness is made worse by being so close to Christmas - 30th December
 * next in the battle against the establishment?'' - The Christmas number one shows that the people are not powerless - 23rd December
 * will be desert before the climate deniers accept reality'' - Many prominent sceptics seem to be in the pay of the energy industry - 16th December
 * save Christmas from the dreaded X Factor'' - What makes music powerful is being systematically removed - 9th December
 * can happen when you travel on a Virgin train'' - It seems that it is being run by philosophers from the 13th century - 2nd December
 * rain or revo- lution, it's money they want'' - Haven't the 20th anniversary celebrations of the overthrow of communism been miserable? - 25th November
 * can't stick to his nonsense on Afghanistan'' - As with Iraq, the reasons for staying are sliding slowly into gibberish - 18th November
 * almost have to feel sorry for Gordon Brown'' - If she isn't careful the 'Sun' will tie Mrs Janes in a deal like a record company - 11th November
 * should I be pressured into wearing a poppy?'' - The plan must be to honour the dead of past wars by starting new ones - 4th November
 * when you thought it was safe to come out again'' - This is what Blair does: he wrecks a place, then gets the job of uniting it - 28th October
 * Mail is to blame for our broken society (obviously)'' - We can already see the 'modernisation' the Government wants from posties - 21st October
 * all in this together (except when times are good)'' - The idea of shared responsibility only seems to apply during a recession - 14th October
 * the lessons of the turnip-dumping war of 1352'' - I wonder if one day you'll be able to opt out of paying for war you don't like - 7th October
 * missiles and a PR triumph'' - Ahmadinejad uses these tests to look powerful to his own population - 30th September
 * this nonsense about whose cuts are most 'savage''' - Suddenly, no party thinks it can be serious unless it pledges to cut - 24th September
 * has anyone really been 'Islamified' against their will?'' - The most effective opposition comes when people refuse to be intimidated - 16th September
 * Poles might be leaving but the prejudice remains'' - There is an almost artistic level of irrationality about immigration panics - 9th September
 * would play golf if it wasn't so snobbish'' - Dress codes ban denim and inist on jackets and ties in the bar - 15th July
 * danse macabre of Jackson's death'' - One reporter told us the news from LA was 'truly a JFK moment' - 1st July
 * can't bath with one jug of water?'' - A vital commodity will soon only be available to the privileged few - 24th June
 * not hold all trials in private?'' - They'd have put Cherie Blair on the inquiry, only she'd have charged a fee - 17th June
 * this is New Labour's legacy...'' - They sacrificed all to get elected and now can't get elected to anything - 10th June
 * left (and then left again)'' - It's as if the left has a self-destruct button, and can't stand being popular - 3rd June
 * proof that class still rules'' - Labour can't blame thieving aristos when they deny class still exists - 27th May
 * it would be better if all MPs were sponsored...'' - They will sit in the 'Cornhill Insurance Parliament' and swig on Lucozade - 20th May
 * what filthy rich really means'' - One MP will have claimed for panda food, another for a Rembrandt - 13th May
 * so clueless it's almost heartbreaking'' - You can imagine Ed Balls crying out: ‘Let’s get Harriet on Britain’s Got Talent - 6th May
 * you can avoid tax, why bother to leave?'' - Bank robbers don't declare what they have done so let's not make it illegal - 29th April
 * can learn from the police'' - This is more than an issue about some 'hot-headed' individuals - 22nd April
 * place for arrogance any more'' - There's supposed to be an art to fiddling at work - 2nd April
 * railways – not banks'' - Inflated prices, extraordinary profits – that is the private utilities for you - 25th March
 * significance of a concrete hippo in Walsall'' - In a desire to retain their identities, towns are reaching for new symbols - 18th March
 * Karl Marx was right after all'' - Maybe the Mail will be yelling, ‘Smash the bosses, get the worker’s Mail - 4th March
 * youth of today – they just don’t show no disrespect'' - What is striking is that university officials are now backing down - 18th February
 * Labour encouraged this avarice'' - The people who couldn't see what was obvious are allowed to carry on - 11th February
 * are costing Britain billions'' - It's fine to skip work to play in the snow. But strike, and you wreck the country - 4th February
 * we've all seen through the Israeli excuses'' - If the Hamas rockets are so lethal, why doesn't Israel swap an F-16 for some? - 21st January
 * is one crisis we've ignored...'' - ... the demise of snooker - 14th January
 * creationists really hate is that we emerged by accident'' - If all species were designed, it was hardly by someone intelligent - 7th January



Articles: 2008

 * what have the Palestinians got to complain about?'' - To portray this as a conflict between equals requires some imagination - 31st December 2008
 * George Bush, his critics are just lone difficult schoolboys'' - It's impossible for the President to acknowledge his failure in Iraq - 17th December 2008
 * Tories fight against the filth'' - All of a sudden, Tory MPs sound like radical students from the 1970s - 10th December 2008
 * mind the baby, just get back to work'' - The next thing will be an exciting new scheme known as the 'workhouse' - 3rd December 2008
 * stop jazzing up our history'' - Next we'll have a group of lesbians coming into Cromwell's tent - 26th November 2008
 * do people cling to the myth of the nuclear family?'' - We look back to the Stone Age and think it embodied 'traditional' values - 19th November 2008
 * losers who hate to love Obama'' - Now he has won, Republican spokesmen are saying it's great - 12th November 2008
 * not about great men, but those who put them there'' - Millions now believe that their actions can change the world - 5th November 2008
 * frozen with fear – could Obama still lose the election?'' - The Republicans have had the worst campaign possible. It should be all over - 29th October 2008
 * all poor people's fault, isn't it?'' - All economists know that banking crashes are caused by Somalian fishermen - 22nd October 2008
 * unite! And turn Balmoral into an allotment'' - Someone should have been reading Marx... - 15th October 2008
 * curse of these demonic call centres'' - An aspect of modern society that sums up the contempt in which the mass of humanity is held by thieving executives - 8th October 2008
 * These bankers need rescuing'' - 1st October 2008
 * least the City doesn't go on strike'' - 24th September 2008
 * should bail themselves out'' - 17th September 2008
 * die of hypothermia until March'' - 10th September 2008
 * Labour and a bout of mutual loathing'' - One of the main reasons for the founding of "New Labour", its supporters insisted, was to ensure there would never be a return to the days when Labour was forever rowing with itself, over issues such as nuclear weapons or the unions - 3rd September 2008
 * you don't like sport, you're wrong'' - 20th August 2008
 * Let's make a virtue of being useless - 13th August 2008
 * A reactionary called Solzhenitsyn - 6th August 2008
 * Why do the unions keep handing over their money? - 30th July 2008
 * How to take on an arms manufacturer – and win - 23rd July 2008
 * Barack Obama has nothing to fear but himself - 16th July 2008
 * Wife-beating? That's fine – unless you're a Muslim - 9th July 2008
 * If only Andy Murray came from the Home Counties - 2nd July 2008
 * If the poor of Africa are hungry, send them arms - 18th June 2008
 * Beware – the rail companies are out to get you - 11th June 2008
 * You want children to learn? Here's how to do it - 4th June 2008
 * Our MPs are out of touch and over-compensated - 28th May 2008
 * Premier League or proper football? It's no contest - 14th May 2008
 * Has the real Gordon been replaced by a robot? - 7th May 2008
 * There was more to 1968 than hippies and festivals - 30th April 2008
 * Sorry, but Prezza's bulimia is just a trifling matter - 23rd April 2008
 * Sorry, Gordon, but you aren't a game-show host - 16th April 2008
 * So did Neolithic settlers have estate agents? - 9th April 2008
 * You couldn't make it up (unless you're Hillary, that is) - 2nd April 2008
 * So Tibetans have been brainwashed by a rogue... - 26th March 2008
 * How dare these soldiers go round getting wounded? - 19th March 2008
 * Let's be modern and swear an oath to the monarchy - 12th March 2008
 * Sixties nostalgia that hid the horrors of Jersey - 5th March 2008
 * I'm starting to feel sorry for Ken Livingstone - 27th February 2008
 * So, farewell, Fidel – but please don't give a speech - 20th February 2008
 * A taxing problem: should the rich pay for cheese? - 13th February 2008
 * Change. Hope. America. Vote for Bob the Builder... - 6th February 2008
 * Not a shopping spree, just a taste of freedom: 'My goodness, have you seen the spring collection in the Sinai branch of Debenhams?' - 30th January 2008
 * How did the share dealers get to be so important? - 23rd January 2008
 * If you think Islam is medieval, look at Catholicism - 16th January 2008
 * A few tears won't make Hillary more electable - 9th January 2008
 * And all my son wanted was a bacon sandwich - Bombarded with questions, reduced to mere objects, today's consumers enter the retailworld at their peril - 2nd January 2008



The Guardian:
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Articles:

 * We who are about to die... - The Guardian, 14th April 1999 (his final column for The Guardian)



Links:

 * The official Mark Steel writing (archive)
 * Wikipedia bio