Janet Daley



Profile:


Full name: Janet Daley

Area of interest: Society, morality and arising political issues: philosophical consistency in government and opposition policy

Journals: The Daily Telegraph

Email:

Website: Telegraph.co / Janet Daley

Blog: Telegraph blogs / Janet Daley



Biography:
Education:

Career: Janet Daley spent twenty years in academic life, teaching philosophy at the Open University, the external department of London University, and the Royal College of Art. She wrote art and literary criticism from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. She left teaching to become a full-time journalist in 1987 writing for the The Times, The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator, etc., and joined The Independent as a columnist in 1989. She went to The Times as columnist and leader writer in 1990 where she stayed until 1996, when she joined The Daily Telegraph as a columnist and leader writer (until February 2005). She then wrote for The Times, The Sunday Times, and the Mail on Sunday, before returning to The Daily Telegraph. A recent publication for the Centre for Policy Studies by her is Seeking Common Ground - source: Centre for Policy Studies Current position/role: Commentator

Advisory/Other roles: Research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies since 2005

Viewpoints/Insight:
 * "Living with European socialism turned this Berkeley girl into a conservative": Up from Liberalism from City Journal, New York 2003
 * ConservativeHome: interviews, 2006
 * ConservativeHome platform: Stop talking about changing the Conservative Party and focus on changing the country, August 2007

TV/Radio:

Video: For ten years a panellist on Radio 4's Moral Maze, until 2001. Other appearances include Radio 4's Any Questions?, BBC TV's Question Time, Breakfast with Frost. Also a regular on BBC News 24s Head to Head and Dateline London
 * BBC News 24: Views on respect, 2006
 * BBC Radio4: Childcare: Has it become less affordable? Woman's Hour, January 2007

Controversy/Criticism: Dave Hill: Janet Daley's criminal fallacy

Awards/Honours:

Other:



Books & Debate:

 * All Good Men (Vintage/Ebury, 1987) OCLC 14129042 / ISBN 070113156X
 * Honourable Friends (Ulverscroft, 1990) OCLC 22714065 / ISBN 0708922953

Latest work: What does modernisation mean? OCLC 137207994 Centre for Policy Studies, 2006

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Daily Telegraph:
Column name:

Column remit: Society, morality and arising political issues: philosophical consistency in government and opposition policy

Section: Features / Comment

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: Telegraph.co / Janet Daley

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Monday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length: 1100 words



Articles: 2011

 * 'BBC Left' is using hacking to get revenge'' - Left-wing politicians and broadcasters do not want to debate ideas but they do want to remove their opponents - 17th July
 * politics has been corrupted by a cosy camaraderie'' - The excessive intimacy between press and politicians has tainted our political culture - 10th July
 * middle-class militants will get a striking lack of sympathy'' - White-collar workers protecting their unjustifiable pensions stir far less compassion than the working-class militants of old - 3rd July
 * to the era of reform by stealth'' - After the NHS debacle, the Government will have to bring in reforms via the back door - 26th June
 * Westminster's dirty little secret: the Right is right'' - Politicians on all sides know that reform is needed, but they haven't the courage to tell the voters - 19th June
 * anything be salvaged from the wreckage of New Labour?'' - The publication of Ed Balls's personal files shows how Gordon Brown and Tony Blair's project was doomed from the start - 12th June
 * Tories' own faint hearts have scuppered their NHS reforms'' - If the Tories had pitched the need for health service reform directly to the public, it might not have turned into such a debacle - 5th June
 * President Obama all talk and no action?'' - The US President has produced little of substance to underpin his high-flown rhetoric about being willing to stand up for freedom - 29th May
 * Tories must give the voters what they want'' - Tory modernisers have baffled their supporters by turning their backs on policies the voters actually like and embracing ideas - such as carbon regulation and higher spending on overseas aid - that are actively unpopular - 22nd May
 * handouts aren't fair – and the public knows it'' - A new survey shows that despite years of propaganda from the Left, Britons retain a deep-seated sense of fairness and individual responsibility - 24th April
 * is taking us back to the feudal'' - The party appears to have returned to the old model of gentry-led Conservatism - 17th April
 * Tories have made success look like a train crash'' - The Conservatives' flagship policies are in good shape - but their grasp of politics is woefully lacking - 10th April
 * Miliband offers even less than Neil Kinnock'' - Labour is now an undisguised front for the public sector interest and apologist for untrammelled state power - 3rd April
 * taxes would make us all better off'' - Ronald Reagan cut the top rate from 70 per cent to 28 per cent. That’s what you call a tax cut - 27th March
 * the Founding Fathers could see Obama now'' - The President's reluctance to act over Libya signals a new worrying direction for the United States - 20th March
 * 2011: Why the Tories can't talk about cutting taxes'' - Embracing the language of the Left won the Conservatives power, but has left them unable to make the case for lower taxation - 13th March
 * you feel the Government is on your side?'' - The Coalition says it wants to motivate people, but it is undermining their ability to live a normal life - 6th March
 * and the Arabs deserve democracy - and our help'' - we must decide whether to give active help to those who want freedom, or to consign them to the Middle Ages - 27th February
 * simple question for David Cameron - are coalitions good or bad?'' - The Prime Minister cannot use the single best argument against the monstrous proposal to switch to AV - 20th February
 * Big Society starts with our wedding vows'' - Marriage is the perfect example of the moral vision that Mr Cameron hopes to rekindle - 12th February
 * Middle East needs more than elections'' - If the end result of the Egyptian crisis is a game of musical chairs between autocrats, we will be no further on - 6th February
 * or spend – you can't have it both ways'' - Where is the cabinet minister who will say that private prosperity is liberating - 30th January
 * must be rushed, or it won't happen at all'' - For the Coalition to deliver real reform, the vested interests in the health and education sectors must be confonted or simply bypassed - 23rd January
 * Obama captured the mood of a nation. Can David Cameron do the same?'' - The president's speech in Tuscon showed the transforming power of language - a power that David Cameron has thus far been unable to master - 16th January
 * battle is on for the soul of the Tory party'' - A brand new form of Conservatism has emerged wet and wriggling from Oliver Letwin and Francis Maude's laboratory - 9th January
 * New Year's prediction: The Coalition won’t collapse - just be hated'' - All the contortions and concessions required to keep the alliance going will lead to irreparable dissatisfaction - 1st January



Articles: 2010

 * the next election, the Tories will be on their own'' - The speculation over the Coalition's long-term future ignores the reality - 19th December
 * is delinquent and anti-democratic'' - The website's insistence that it is a voice of open ‘freedom of expression’ is simply absurd - 12th December
 * Cameron needs to show us the leader, not the brand'' - The Conservatives are turning out to be far more principled than their critics feared - but will people believe it - 5th December
 * don't we love David Cameron?'' - The Prime Minister is doing most things right, but he just can't capture the public's imagination - 28th November
 * freedom to excel should be extended to all'' - The Coalition’s proposals should have a tumultuous and welcome effect on public services - 21st November
 * can't afford moral certainty about torture'' - David Cameron's repudiation of George Bush's policy on waterboarding is logically flawed - 14th November
 * West is turning against big government - but what comes next?'' - The struggle to curtail the social democratic state could have ugly consequences - 7th November
 * elections 2010: Prepare for a new American revolution'' - Popular rage against the elite could change the nature of US politics - 31st October
 * England is sacrificed for symbolism'' - The absurdity of middle-class welfare is now almost universally accepted - 17th October
 * Conservatives' child benefit plans sent precisely the wrong signal'' - The concept of fairness is not being applied to the middle classes - 10th October
 * Cameron must stand firm against Ed Miliband's unprincipled assault'' - Labour will attack the Coalition from every vantage point it can find - 3rd October
 * Tories must make the case for capitalism'' - Even if Labour becomes irrelevant electorally under Ed Miliband, its assumptions could dominate debate - 26th September
 * nightmare of union power is back again'' - The TUC conference shows that the dark days of the 1970s are not as distant as we might have hoped - 19th September
 * Terry Jones saga shows the strength of anti-Americanism'' - The 'pastor' who threatened to burn the Koran shows how eager Europe is to believe the worst of America - 11th September
 * must free itself from its ideological shackles'' - The unions, and the Labour Party, have been corrupted by the power of the state - 5th September
 * can take the middle class's benefits – if you lower their taxes'' - Child Benefit offers some recompense for what would otherwise feel like legalised robbery - 22nd August
 * can rise again as a party of the people'' - The authoritarian Big State is as much a threat to Labour’s values as Right-wing ideals - 15th August
 * house row: why David Cameron is wrong'' - Putting time limits on tenancy would destroy any sense of community - 8th August
 * Coalition will split, but it won't be Labour's doing'' - The Coalition must be preserved until the Tories have won the Great Argument - 1st August
 * Gove can earn the gratitude of a generation'' - If the education revolution on offer succeeds, it will earn the Coalition a place among the great reforming governments - 25th July
 * politics has caught the British disease'' - Under Barack Obama, the phenomenon of class resentment is a live political issue - 18th July
 * the NHS is the last thing the US should do'' - The future health care in both countries must involve a mix of state and private provision - 11th July
 * the jobless look for work is hardly cruelty'' - Paid unemployment as a lifestyle option is no longer sustainable - 4th July
 * to protect the poor? Then give them jobs'' - Most people who are 'forced’ into minimum wage jobs move quite quickly up the earnings ladder - 27th June
 * will accept tax rises if they are truly fair'' - If its decisions are at odds with the moral values of the voters, the Coalition is finished - 20th June
 * everyone could win from the 'cuts’'' - There is a way to get, quite literally, more for less in public spending - 6th June
 * is the natural party of opposition'' - Opposition suits New Labour, just as power suits the Conservatives - 30th May
 * must admit it - Big Government is dead'' - The political debate needs to move on to new and genuinely progressive territory - 16th May
 * anyone else notice that the Lib Dems lost?'' - Electoral reform is not the issue of the day, but an issue the voters decisively rejected - 9th May
 * undecided will not decide this election'' - The people will make a conscious choice to take a clearly marked fork in the road - 2nd May
 * Election 2010: Gordon Brown rejects Lord Mandelson's cosy stitch-up'' - The Prime Minister seems to have spurned a deal with the Lib Dems - and rightly so - 25th April
 * optimism have a place in British politics?'' - The great national tradition of ennui and cynicism is pouring out its acid rain - 19th April 2010
 * someone please tell us the truth?'' - The chorus of public frustration is deafening - and still the parties back away - 11th April
 * New Labour project was always destined to fail'' - The power of language defeated the forces of logic - 4th April
 * Tories have the vision but not the nerve'' - The Tories have a compelling plan for government, but they are too fearful to spell out what it is - 29th March
 * Tories have the vision but not the nerve'' - The Tories have a compelling plan for government, but they are too fearful to spell out what it is - 28th March
 * Cameron is selling a new Tory brand - but I'm not buying it yet'' - after years of modernisation, the Tories have still to convince enough of us that they should be given power - and wonders what became of the party that inspired her to vote Conservative in 1979 - 14th March
 * the passion in our politics has passed away'' - Michael Foot's death reminds us of a time when politics was a matter for everyone - 7th March
 * Conservatives must dare to defend their ideas'' - David Cameron is in danger of appearing too smooth and too comfortable in his own skin - 28th February
 * is our best chance to make the state work'' - We have a golden opportunity to rethink the way we provide public services - 21st February
 * a plan to alter the nation's soul'' - The government's policy of mass immigration was intended to remodel the social fabric of the nation - 14th February
 * wasn't a wobble for the Tories, but a fiasco'' - David Cameron's backtracking on spending represented a major loss of nerve - 7th February
 * finds out who really holds power'' - On both sides of the Atlantic, the same group of people decide who wins elections - 31st January
 * Cameron has found a defiant voice at last'' - The Tories seem to have rediscovered the rewards of authenticity - 24th January
 * immigrants' success is not down to Labour'' - The white working class should learn from the achievements of Britain's ethnic minorities - 17th January
 * Tories must tackle Labour's attacks head-on'' - The Conservatives must realise a wounded Labour can be more dangerous than a healthy one - 10th January
 * You can 'aspire', but don't you dare achieve'' - The people that Mr Brown calls 'privileged' are just those who were once aspirational - 3rd January



Articles: 2009

 * be nowhere to run from the new world government'' - 'Global' thinking won't necessarily solve the world's problems - 20th December
 * tax increases are a priceless gift to the Tories'' - Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report showed that New Labour has abandoned the aspiring classes on which its power was built - 13th December
 * can't David Cameron seal the deal?'' - The Tories' wobble in the polls shows that David Cameron needs to be respected as well as liked - 6th December
 * terrorism: our values are not optional for minority groups'' - It would be better if we enforced Britain's cultural values on immigrant communities, rather than allowing them to dictate government policy - 30th November
 * frightening thing about the Queen's Speech was that Labour really believe it'' - The Queen's Speech shows that the Labour Government now acts as though the state is the only source of goodness - 22nd November
 * says it's too expensive to keep you alive'' - If we are to escape from dilemmas such as Nice's fateful decision on Nexavar, it can only be by permitting additional revenue streams into the NHS - 20th November
 * Bill in the Queen's Speech is absurd'' - What could it mean for a government to 'guarantee' good education - 19th November
 * the EU? Then I beg you to vote Tory'' - David Cameron may have backed down on the Lisbon Treaty, but in power the Conservatives will work hard to decrease the power of Brussels - 8th November
 * have failed to learn from the death of communism in 1989'' - Capitalism cannot 'collapse' because, unlike Marxism, it is not imposed from above - 1st November
 * lessons of Obama's healthcare programme for Britain'' - There is a difference between letting people keep their own money and the state giving them an equivalent amount - 25th October
 * talk from David Cameron, but the real war lies ahead'' - David Cameron's promise of a smaller state has finally given the Conservatives real moral force - 11th October
 * must make the moral case for spending cuts'' - Better to have spending cuts made by the Tories, who believe in them, than by Labour, who don't - 4th October
 * global brings a world of problems'' - The idea of global governance is meaningless without mechanisms to enforce it - 27th September
 * Cameron must finally tell us what he stands for'' - A new commitment to fairness would provide a compelling reason to vote for David Cameron's Conservatives - 20th September
 * is no class left in British politics'' - The revivalists of the Left summon a vision of working- class life as a peasant idyll - 14th September
 * bomber: David Cameron's straight talk is what the public wants to hear'' - The Tory leader's sincerely felt anger over the Lockerbie case has been a glorious sight to behold - 6th September
 * man's instinct for violence can never be 'cured''' - Chris Grayling's trivial reference to the cult TV show 'The Wire' sabotaged the real message - 30th August
 * Kennedy death: how the Kennedys changed America'' - Janet Daley reflects on the three brothers whose politics inspired Sixties idealism, but whose sordid private lives helped to destroy it - 27th August
 * election: Would you risk your life to cast a vote?'' - People who make pains to deride the Afghan election are deliberately missing the point - 23rd August
 * is as liberating as prosperity'' - It was the Conservatives who broke the mould by offering economic self-determination - which is the real hallmark of a progressive society - 16th August
 * real reason for all those louts on holiday'' - From Riga to the West End, a certain section of British society behaves appallingly because there is nothing to stop it doing so - 9th August
 * Obama's oratory loses its oomph'' - The President's eloquent yet vague rhetoric is not enough to drive through difficult health care reform - and there is a lesson here for David Cameron - 26th July
 * are too scared of their own shadow'' - David Cameron's party must find the courage to stick to one over-arching Conservative tenet - 19th July
 * have had enough of con artists'' - In art as in politics, people have begun to see through the charade to the emptiness that lies beneath - 12th July
 * 'fairness' is not what people want'' - Labour has completely misunderstood the public's opinion on inequality - 5th July
 * a Tory war cry – power to the people'' - Individuals must be given control of that portion of their wealth that they hand to the state - 28th June
 * use the politics revival to kill class war'' - This ridiculous obsession poisons public discourse and distorts attempts at reform - 21st June
 * all prefer spending cuts to tax rises'' - Both Labour and the Conservatives have failed to grasp that there is a huge public appetite for cutting government spending - 14th June
 * Tories must beware the rise of Lord Mandelson'' - David Cameron looks set to win the next election, but there is still a remote chance that Gordon Brown might do something tactically clever in his final months of power - 7th June
 * 'new politics' depends on basic disagreement'' - The reforms that are being put forward to fix our political system are, at best, beside the point and, at worst, pernicious - 31st May
 * expenses: Our politicians could learn a lesson from congressmen'' - American politicians see their time in Washington as a period of public service, not an alternative lifestyle - 17th May
 * still remember politicians who had principles'' - MPs once devoted their lives to resolving issues that matter, rather than gathering material goods - 10th May
 * Tories must do more than simply wait for victory'' - To convince voters, David Cameron's Conservatives need to develop a positive alternative programme for when they take power - 3rd May
 * gravest danger is a 'false' economy'' - The Government seems to want to turn the market into a fiction which would not only fail to create wealth but would lose any sense of the real meaning of that term - 25th April
 * under Barack Obama is taking a long, cold look at its transatlantic relations'' - Europe's passion for the States is unlikely to be reciprocated - 13th April
 * Obama can't make rogues like North Korea play by his rules'' - The US President is in no position promise to rid the world of the Bomb - 6th April
 * If capitalism is 'overthrown', we'll lose our political freedom'' - International regulation to manage the economic crisis could have dangerous results - 30th March
 * should be 'honest and straight' with the public sector'' - Getting it Right: As part of a series of articles on how the Conservative party should tackle the future, Janet Daley argues that we should consult those who work in state services if we want sensible criticism - 23rd March
 * Republicans can take heart as Obama staggers to the Left'' - The President's recent display of liberalism – and confusion – can only help the opposition - 16th March
 * Barack Obama and Gordon Brown see 'opportunity', we really do have a crisis'' - The Left is threatening our freedom by using the downturn to bolster the power of the state - 9th March
 * a form of state capitalism really what Gordon Brown wants?'' - When the Prime Minister spoke of 'creating an economy' he was talking nonsense - 2nd March 2009
 * is the next big idea in politics. But why stop at banking?'' - The Prime Minister should extend his focus on old-fashioned values to schools and crime - 23rd February 2009
 * more we discuss religious differences the safer we will be'' - Banning any discussion about the nature of the Koran just plays into the hands of bigots and demagogues - 16th February 2009
 * prize in sight for David Cameron's triumph in the schools debate'' - how can we deliver high-quality state schooling to everyone, or at least to more than the small minority who manage to wrestle their way into the few outstanding institutions where proper academic standards are maintained? - 9th February
 * oil strikes: Europeans are finally waking up to the demise of democracy'' - Angry people across the EU are discovering the fine print in all the treaties signed by their leaders - 2nd February
 * is right to ban Gaza appeal, but for the wrong reasons'' - It is not the job of an impartial broadcaster to decide issues of foreign policy - 26th January
 * Obama: It's time for action from the man of words'' - Barack Obama has a remarkable gift for oratory, but does it mask a fatal indecisiveness - 19th January
 * of the Blairites spells trouble for Cameron'' - Alan Milburn's radical ideas for public service reform could make the Conservatives irrelevant - 12th January
 * Cameron must show that Gordon Brown is wrong about big government'' - Our Prime Minister has begun the year by making his plans for the future absolutely clear: he is going to grab every conceivable headline and perpetrate every systematic lie that is required to outmanoeuvre the Conservatives - 5th January



Articles:

 * If you want people to spend, don't take their cash away'' - Any attempt by the Government to print money to stimulate the economy will make things worse, because it won't cure the lack of consumer confidence - 15th December 2008
 * an Ofsted inspector have helped?'' - the Ed Balls-Alan Johnson social services circus shows once again that Labour has only one 'solution' - and that is bureaucracy - 8th December 2008 (see: Government to reform social services after Baby P case - Daily Telegraph, 7th December 2008)
 * MPs happen in dictatorships'' - Our freedoms are under threat from a government desperate to save its own credibility - 1st December 2008
 * is the whole state that needs cutting'' - The desperate attempts to ease the financial crisis miss the central point that it has been caused by governments over-extending themselves - 24th November 2008
 * battle with the Right, Ken Clarke'' - the former Chancellor's loyalty to George Osborne is misplaced - 21st November 2008
 * must offer middle class tax cuts'' - The Opposition should shed its position as the guardian of 'fiscal responsibilty' and radicalise tax cuts by offering them more widely - 17th November 2008
 * lesson to UK: tax cuts win votes'' - British politicians from both parties misunderstand the true nature of the President-Elect's victory and its meaning for this country - 10th November 2008
 * Obama victory will hurt US firms - and world economy'' - America is about to elect the most inexperienced candidate at a time of great international risk and unprecedented economic instability - 3rd November 2008
 * times could get worse under the Left'' - The real revelation of this past week has been the impotence and irrelevance of government policies - 13th October 2008
 * were you when Europe's leaders had their cosy little chat?'' - The American bail-out battle was certainly undignified at times, but at least the hopes and fears of the electorate were taken into account - 6th October 2008
 * is under attack - and Cameron is steadfast in defence'' - In the face of the banking crisis, all the lost arguments of the last century are returning, so it's vital that the Tories stay true to pro-market principles - 29th September 2008
 * must be free'' - Tighter financial regulations can only ever be temporary in a world where money can move anywhere in an instant - 22nd September 2008
 * woes are not a Labour problem'' - That the Prime Minister's ineptitude is presented as a party political matter is a measure of just how out of touch our rulers are - 15th September 2008
 * across the pond for lessons in listening'' - We may snigger at Sarah Palin, but Britain's patronising political elite could learn a lot from an election where ordinary voters still call the shots - 8th September 2008
 * gets spiteful Thatcher treatment'' - The viciousness of the attacks on Sarah Palin is a testimony to the degree of panic her appointment has generated in Leftist circles - 4th September 2008
 * needs to get serious - and warn about a global tempest'' - The Republicans could steal the show if they appear grave and grown-up against Obama's 'happy-clappy' extravaganza - 1st September 2008
 * will lose for not being American enough'' - The race for the White House will not be determined by skin colour, despite what so many Left-wing pundits are saying - 25th August 2008
 * cheek of Democrat bloggers'' - Only one candidate in the US Presidential contest is getting an easy ride from the media and it's not John McCain - 20th August 2008
 * and McCain would defy Russia'' - As Gordon Brown lies low and Barack Obama looks insubstantial, their opponents are coming to the fore - 18th August 2008
 * of pick-pocketing politicians bearing fuel allowance gifts'' - Is there no limit to Gordon Brown's infinite mercy? - 11th August 2008
 * Miliband will galvanise Labour so the Tories should get ready '' - The challenge to Gordon Brown will shake this Government into action. Now David Cameron must stop teasing and start talking policy - 4th August 2008

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