Alice Thomson



Profile:
Full name: Alice Thomson

Area of interest: Politics

Journals/Organisation: The Times

Email: [mailto:alice.thomson@thetimes.co.uk alice.thomson@thetimes.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/profile/Alice-Thomson | www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/alicethomson

Blog:

Representation: Capel and Land

Networks: https://twitter.com/aliceTTimes



Biography:
About: Alice Thomson is an Associate Editor of The Times and author of THE SINGING LINE, in which she retraces the steps of her great-grandfather who constructed the first trans-Australian telegraph cable

Education: Studied journalism at London's City Polytechnic

Career: The Times: trainee then foreign correspondent, feature writer and political correspondent. Moved to The Telegraph in 1997 as columnist, leader writer, also restaurant reviews and political interviews. Re-joined The Times in 2008 as political columnist

Current position/role: Political columnist, Interviewer (usually with Rachel Sylvester)


 * also writes/written for:

Other roles/Main role: Author

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media:

Video: BBC Redio 4 - Woman's hour: Alice Thomson and Polly Toynbee assess Tony Blair’s legacy for women (audio), May 2007

Controversy/Criticism: Iain Dale's Diary: Cristina Odone & Alice Thomson in Catfight, February 2006

Awards/Honours:

Scoops:

Other: Married to journalist Edward Heathcoat-Amory; Great-great-granddaughter of Alice and Charles Todd - see South Australian History



Books & Debate:

 * The Singing Line (New York: Doubleday, 1999) 42397204 OCLC

Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Debate: 

The Times
Column name:

Remit/Info:

Section:

Role: Columnist

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:alice.thomson@thetimes.co.uk alice.thomson@thetimes.co.uk]

Website: www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/profile/Alice-Thomson

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Wednesday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2014

 * How to Be a Man: that’s the book we need - While girls are endlessly analysed for their problems, boys receive little help for their anxiety or lack of awareness - 8th October
 * Women rule — so why not here in Britain? - In Brazil two women are vying to be president and half of Rwanda’s MPs are female. Westminster needs to do better - 1st October
 * We’ve forgotten one member of the UK family - While Scotland is being showered with largesse, Wales – failing and underfunded – has been pointedly ignored - 24th September
 * Can you trust a man who cheats at Scrabble? - Like the gambler he is, Salmond has played his hand brilliantly but if he wins tomorrow, his problems will just be starting - 17th September
 * It’s not just better together. It’s bereft apart - The tearing apart of such a great Union would be simply unbearable. There’s a solution, though, that we could agree on - 10th September
 * Wake up, unionists. You really could lose this - Despite a complacent No campaign it’s not too late for David Cameron to spell out the advantages of staying together - 3rd September
 * Cameron needs to focus on unhappy families - We can’t afford the cost — financial or emotional — of broken lives. The prime minister must turn words into action - 27th August
 * University is for students, not their parents - If mothers and fathers can’t let go, their children will never learn how to stand on their own two feet - 30th July
 * This is insanity. We’re bringing back smoking - E-cigarettes are everywhere and supposedly ‘saving lives’. In fact we have no idea how dangerous they are to health - 23rd July
 * This isn’t caring for the fragile. It’s neglect - Care home closures are throwing the lives of people with disabilities — and their exhausted parents — into chaos - 9th July
 * State funding will save politicians from scandal - There’s nothing wrong with fêting luvvies at No 10. It’s the balls and bashes for party donors that are the real problem - 2nd July
 * Stop knocking the young. Look up to them - They have been dubbed Generation Citizen: are today’s teenagers the most altruistic and responsible for a century? - 25th June
 * Seaside schools are struggling against the tide - Inner-city pupils are often flourishing these days. Market towns and coasts are where the best teachers are needed - 18th June
 * Faith schools are divisive. Let’s get rid of them - A state education should celebrate all religions equally. Churches, synagogues and mosques can teach the devout - 11th June
 * The odd couple who may just save the union - A peer and a kick-boxing Tory leader have plotted a middle way for Scots who want to vote No without feeling unpatriotic - 4th June
 * These overpaid doctors must stop whingeing - GPs profess to put patients first but they need to modernise and adapt to increasing demand, not just lobby for money - 28th May
 * Banter is fine but Scudamore crossed the line - We need to stamp out the odious sexism creeping into everyday life before it warps the minds of the next generation - 21st May
 * Do not go squeamish into that good night - Unlike our Victorian predecessors, we seem curiously reluctant to talk about the plans for the end of our lives - 14th May
 * The human touch beats the click of a mouse - From supermarket checkouts to cruise ships, interaction is the vital ingredient of life – particularly for elderly people - 7th May
 * A poignant reminder: teachers change lives - The inspiration of the murdered Leeds schoolteacher provides the perfect riposte to complaints that her profession is full of lazy, unqualified militants - 30th April
 * Atheism and Christianity are both fine . . . - . . . as long as neither are held with too much passion. We like the Church of England because it’s not too assertive - 23rd April
 * Our children are safer today – except online - A little girl ignored in the street is not a sign of our society’s failure. Ignoring the dangers of the internet would be - 26th March
 * The fat lady was a truly rounded role model - Tough, courageous, generous and bossy, Clarissa Dickson Wright wasn’t afraid of failure. Women should take her lead - 19th March
 * Stop university fat cats lining their pockets - The sky-high salaries of vice-chancellors are a disgrace. Pay the money to hard-pressed lecturers and professors instead - 12th March
 * Build in Slough, not on green and pleasant land - Britain should build homes where there is already infrastructure and revive our great cities at the same time - 5th March
 * ‘Lookism’ should be as reviled as racism - Obesity kills but so do totalitarian social attitudes that force girls to have super-thin, impossibly perfect bodies - 26th February
 * Cameron’s country vote is being washed away - The floods highlight the coalition’s neglect of rural Britain but it’s not too late for the PM to turn the political tide - 12th February
 * We must not allow Somerset to sink into a swamp - Those suggesting we should return the levels to marshland are wrong. It would destroy villages and cost a fortune - 5th February
 * Spare a copper for a poor legal aid barrister - These lawyers are paid scandalously badly. A civilised society supports proper representation for the least well-off - 29th January
 * Let’s stop being careless in the community - My aunt was happiest when, in her final weeks, she enjoyed the institutional care and routine of her local hospital - 22nd January
 * Don’t gamble with the poorest in society - Forget the tax income, Cameron, just pull the plug on the social curse of high street mini-casinos - 7th January



Articles: 2013

 * Britain should not have a two-child policy - Tories want to cut benefits for large families but we need more children to support our ageing population - 18th December
 * Taxes will rise if we reject the nanny state - We may resent encouragements to stop smoking and improve our health but we all benefit in the end - 11th December
 * The increasingly confident, powerful Mr Clegg - Tories worry that Cameron is surrendering to Lib Dem demands in order to secure a second coalition - 4th December
 * If you want more sex, settle down and marry - The British are having sex less often. We must stop being fearful and talk about it more openly - 27th November
 * It isn’t right that non-doms pay as they like - The super-rich contribute little through tax and charitable giving. Changing that won’t scare them off - 20th November
 * We can’t understand the world without books - Downgrading English literature will rob children of a connection with other peoples, cultures and times - 13th November
 * Hiding behind the burka assaults our values - Britain should welcome diversity but must not compromise on cruel practices such as genital mutilation - 6th November
 * Progress involves 51% success and 49% error - Individuals, businesses and nations only move forwards if they take risks that sometimes go wrong - 30th October
 * Is Cameron insane? Leave foxhunting alone - The Tories should focus on the real challenges facing the countryside, including deep rural poverty - 16th October
 * Who will look after you when you’re old? - If you want to avoid loneliness in later years, don’t look to the penniless State. Start planning now - 9th October
 * If parents have a job, the children will thrive - Forget marriage allowances. Youngsters’ life chances are best improved by appreciating what work means - 2nd October
 * All politicians want to be Bob the Builder - Can MPs agree on a long-term plan to build more houses when they can’t agree on projects like HS2? - 25th September
 * Green is dead, but we’re greener than ever - Politicians don’t seem to understand that voters are passionate about protecting their environment -11th September
 * Mary Portas can’t save our shops on her own - MPs pillory the retail guru for self-promotion, but government inaction is strangling the high street - 4th September
 * This cull is good news for cows – and badgers - Ask anyone who understands the countryside what to do about bovine TB and they will support this experiment - 28th August
 * We need to buck up, not boot out foreigners - Instead of this crude campaign against illegal immigrants, let’s motivate British children to work and study harder - 31st July
 * A nudge, not a smack, will make us behave - Whether it’s physically chastising children, smoking or binge drinking, sometimes we need a paternalistic push - 24th July
 * Zara, not Kate, may become our model mum - Better by far to muddle through life combining career and caring than to stay at home to raise perfect offspring - 17th July
 * Let’s go higher. Come on, teacher, light my fire - Spelling and times tables may be important, but what we really need from our schools is creativity and inspiration - 10th July
 * Sexist Aussies? Our women have it just as bad - David Cameron should promote the talented Tory women who have fought such uphill battles to become MPs - 3rd July
 * The old deserve every penny of their pensions - Let’s avoid a battle of the generations. Britain’s oldest citizens led much harder lives than today’s young - 26th June
 * Why I refuse to give money to the RSPCA - A once great charity’s aggressive prosecutions and campaigns risk undermining donations to animal welfare''] - 19th June
 * It’s what our children spy on that worries me - Privacy is one thing, porn quite another. Images that deprave and degrade are far too easily accessible online - 12th June
 * How to fix your A&E emergency, Mr Hunt - From staffing levels to alcohol prices, there are eight ways that will help to solve the casualty department crisis - 5th June
 * Our MPs pay a high price for getting elected - Go into politics if you want to be hated by voters, live away from your family and get paid less than you’re worth - 22nd May
 * GPs must work harder – it’s an emergency - With casualty departments overrun, family doctors need to see patients in the evenings and at weekends - 15th May
 * One more reform for the Queen: her family - She needs to streamline ‘the Firm’, especially when the Royal Society treats a minor royal with absurd deference - 8th May
 * If you think your council’s poor, think again - Parking fines, home extensions, burials, street parties ... they all rake in a fortune for your local town halls - 1st May
 * More Old Etonians at No 10? Fine - Actually it’s a welcome injection of new ideas - 26th April
 * Even if he loses, Alex Salmond will still win - Whichever way Scotland votes on independence, the First Minister will wrest more power away from Westminster - 24th April
 * I got it wrong on MMR, but I wasn’t to blame - Those that rushed to worry or bully parents should have reassured them when the medical truth emerged - 17th April
 * No coal, but the UK’s energy cauldron is empty - With Didcot now closed, MPs must stop eco-dithering and back the most viable alternatives - 29th March
 * A ‘bedroom tax’ is just what families need - The much-maligned benefit reform is only a start. With ingenuity we can create more homes - 21st March
 * Lean off, women, and lead on your own terms - Sheryl Sandberg’s shoulder-pad office attitude is out of date. Charming Christine Lagarde is a better role model for Brits - 13th March
 * Parents can’t hide when porn is everywhere - Get real about what our teenagers are seeing online. It’s corrupting their view of sex – and we must tell them - 7th March
 * What really turns women off Westminster - It’s nothing to go with groping – more the unrewarding grind and the pressures of family life - 27th February
 * Our farmers are sinking in mud and red tape - The cry to buy British ignores the reality of our weather, harsh rules and the drive for cheap food - 20th February
 * The worst job in Britain – child of an MP - Every time you slip up, you harm your parent’s career. Every time he does, you suffer too - 5th February
 * This cage fighting in the Lords cannot go on - The Upper Chamber is now even more acrimonious than the Lower. Reform is needed – but not the Lib Dem kind - 30th January
 * Wake up, Royal Institution. Smell the coffee - Put Costa and Carluccio’s on the ground floor, then concentrate on the serious science - 23rd January
 * Franken-food isn’t the monster. Famine is - Once I feared GM crops. Now I see that they are a vital part of modern agriculture - 16th January
 * Give money to aid. But don’t give it to DfID - Spreading the international development budget around would keep everyone happy - 9th January
 * See Quartet. Try ensemble living for oldies - There are ways to stave off the loneliness of being elderly. How does living with friends in a commune sound? - 5th January



Articles: 2012

 * We should all give our backing to fracking - Shale gas will never be a panacea for Britain but it will bring invaluable energy – and jobs - 12th December
 * Do stop obsessing about Oxbridge, darling - This middle-class infatuation is daft. Success often comes from an utterly different route - 5th December
 * Who runs the country? It’s Labour, actually - The Tory fightback is on to counter the power of the Left on Britain’s quangos, charities and public bodies - 28th November
 * Cameron is right. Mansion taxes won’t work - The Prime Minister has overruled his Chancellor. He won’t pander to the politics of envy or attack British homes - 21st November
 * Citizens arise! Give up your lattes and Kindles - If Starbucks and Amazon wriggle out of paying tax here, customers must take a stand - 14th November
 * Where were the guardians of our ash trees? - The Forestry Commission, the Woodland Trust, the CPRE . . . blame them rather than ministers and landowners - 7th November
 * The Rolls-Royce has become an Italian tank - David Cameron sees civil servants as an obstacle. The only way round is to bolster the political side of No 10 - 31st October
 * So Badger wins. But only for the moment . . . - The Government’s cull is justified. For the sake of farming it must stick to its guns - 24th October
 * Salmond the Shrewd could still pull this off - The Scottish referendum result may look like a foregone conclusion but David Cameron has a battle on his hands - 18th October
 * We’re all in it together to grab what we can - If the Tories cut £10bn from welfare they must take benefits from the middle classes too - 10th October
 * We’ve heard the speeches, but where’s the plan? - We need to build garden cities and homes. We also need concrete thinking from politicians - 3rd October
 * The decent rich do exist. Clegg should say so - The Lib Dems must be classless warriors, rejecting Vince Cable’s petty political insults - 26th September
 * An A* for rigour – but not at the school gate - We are all in favour of tougher exams, except when it’s our own children who are affected - 19th September
 * Why aid is a dream job for Justine Greening - No 10 is now piloting transport so the reshuffled minister would have been a mere stewardess - 12th September
 * Clegg could be the El Cid of the coalition - Just as his future is looking most insecure, the Deputy Prime Minister has found his role - 5th September
 * Embrace the mentally ill, our last outsiders - Britain is discarding its prejudices, as the Olympics and Paralympics show. But one group is still shunned by society - 29th August
 * Team GB is greater than the sum of its parts - The people of these isles can produce astonishing results together. Take note, Mr Salmond - 8th August
 * Britain must exploit its inner Mary Poppins - We can beat the recession using our strengths: individualism, ideas, flair – and laughter - 1st August
 * Hard work and happiness go hand in hand - The toilers are the satisfied ones. Iain Duncan Smith is a hero, not a villain, for pushing people back into jobs - 25th July
 * Get off this island and learn to speak foreign - Bring back school exchanges and language teaching or we will pay a price for our insularity - 11th July
 * We’re the world’s best: it’s not rocket science - Britain is looking for growth. It must exploit its brilliant scientists more single-mindedly - 4th July
 * Non-doms have got away with it for too long - The Chancellor must scrap their bizarre hereditary status, then make them pay fair taxes - 27th June
 * We need good GPs. One saved my child’s life - This strike is greedy, but I know why Germany and the US want their own family doctors - 20th June
 * Be ambitious: spell ‘conscience’, learn Keats - The Education Secretary has been unfairly derided for his new primary school curriculum - 13th June
 * The best jubilee legacy? Happier children - All generations have celebrated this holiday together. Here is a parenting lesson that we can learn for free - 6th June
 * Can we learn to enjoy food but detest greed? - After the pasty debacle, a ‘fat tax’ is impossible. We must take responsibility for tackling obesity ourselves - 30th May
 * Europe should look to the club everyone loves - A hastily formed relic of empire it may be, but the Commonwealth is a perfect role model - 23rd May
 * No 10 is taking on the ‘opposition in residence’ - Ministers say it’s easier dealing with union bosses than permanent secretaries. The Civil Service love affair is over - 16th May
 * Yellow bird, purple dodo: just beat the penguin - If fancy-dress candidates are preferred to Liberal Democrats, it’s time for an urgent rebrand - 9th May
 * This is no way to say ‘Welcome to Britain’ - Horrendous airport queues can be cut without harming security if we use sensible screening techniques - 2nd May
 * Drop the bus passes to pay for humane care - Animals in abattoirs are treated better than the elderly. Cameron should take a lead - 25th April
 * But what about the workers, Mr Cameron? - MPs worry about women and ethnic groups, forgetting families who can’t fill their tanks - 4th April
 * Saved: our green, pleasant land. And growth - Housebuilding proved more divisive than hunting. But the circle has been squared - 28th March
 * Say it loud: Britain needs more introverts - In our brash, frenetic world we need people who think quietly but creatively - 21st March
 * They attack gays. Why not defend the cross? - My cosy, woolly C of E has let me down. It has suddenly turned thoroughly unpleasant - 14th March
 * Forget mansion tax. We need a windmill tax - Wind farms on inherited estates are fuelling vast government subsidies for earls and dukes - 7th March
 * Now that Boris wants the job, he might lose it - If London’s complacent Mayor wants to be at the Olympics, he needs a more convincing pitch - 29th February
 * This is not slave labour. It’s a foot in the door - Tesco and others have been vilified for taking part in one of the coalition’s best schemes - 22nd February
 * A modern Dickens would write a Tale of Two Benefits - We’ve lost the ability to say: ‘Please sir, can I have a little less’ - 8th February
 * Cross-Border skirmish leaves a family at war - Last week on this page Alice Thomson argued that more devolution would wreck the Union. But can she persuade her brother, who happens to be a leading figure in the campaign to take powers back to Scotland? - 1st February (with Ben Thomson)
 * Devo-max is the biggest threat to the Union - The third way for Scottish independence seems an ideal compromise. But it is impossible - 25th January
 * A new national yacht: what could be better? - A floating university with an occasional royal role would be a fine symbol of British identity - 18th January
 * Osborne v Salmond: the poker game of the year - The Scottish First Minister is a superb operator. The only man who can match his political skills is the Chancellor - 11th January
 * Down with arm candy. Long live the tomboy - Let’s hope this scare marks the high-silicone mark of the craze for cosmetic surgery - 4th January



Articles: 2011

 * The bankers must come out of their bubble - To regain public respect, create a lending deal for charities – and show some gratitude - 14th December
 * High-speed rail near your home? I envy you - Local objections to HS2 are misguided, costly and overlook the eternal beauty of railways - 7th December
 * The internet has made us a nation of bullies - Users hide behind anonymity to hound and insult others. This protection must be lifted - 30th November
 * A Dutch lesson in how to stop the ‘lover boys’ - Take candour into the classrooms to save teenagers at the schoolgates from being lured into sexual slavery - 23rd November
 * Split the parents’ time, not the family ties - The latest review of family law has done nothing to end institutional bias against fathers - 9th November
 * Meet our new management guru: the Queen - The Church, MPs, bankers and big business could all learn from the modernising monarch - 2nd November
 * Robbing women to reward mums isn’t progress - The more maternity rights we have, the less likely companies are to give us jobs - 19th October
 * Memo: it’s the household economy, stupid - It will take more than curbs on porn to win over women struggling with tight budgets - 12th october
 * Is our educational Berlin Wall crumbling? - There are signs that the damaging divide between state and private schools may be closing - 5th October
 * Send developers into towns, not the country - The new planning laws threaten to suck the life out of our ailing urban centres - 28th September
 * Now Scots have turned into rays of sunshine - Are they happier north of the Border because there are no super-rich lording it over them? - 21st September
 * The rich should moan less and give a bit more - Europe’s wealthy are pleading to pay more tax. Why aren’t Britons doing the same? - 14th September
 * Search for common ground, not a battlefield - Conservatives should stand for the countryside and new homes. They’re not incompatible - 7th September
 * looting continues – in the countryside'' - Pylons, wind farms and new builds may generate growth for the coalition but will cost it dearly in votes - 31st August
 * parenting starts in school, not at home'' - Support the best teachers and they will give us the mothers and fathers that we need - 17th August
 * makes prison work – even for Breivik'' - The Utøya killer’s jail might sound soft, but reoffending is far lower than in Britain - 27th July
 * more Mr Nasty Guy – or we’ll fire you'' - The press, police, MPs and bankers won’t regain our trust unless they learn to be nice - 20th July
 * the old and put prisoners in a care home'' - The elderly are getting restive about their place in society. The coalition should take heed - 13th July
 * Who’s ahead of the game and never U-turns?'' - A: The Prince of Wales. Everyone is on his back, but his value is hugely underestimated - 6th July
 * What happens if you scrap testing?'' - Answer: Grades drop, as Wales found to its cost. England mustn’t make the same mistake - 29th June
 * eyes, sans teeth, sans hope of decent care'' - Reports of abysmal treatment of the elderly are stacking up, so why is there no action? - 22nd June
 * this test to find out if you’re a Tory'' - When teachers and doctors ballot to strike over their pensions, how do you react? - 15th June
 * mum syndrome stifles a generation'' - Josephine Hart and Margaret Thatcher were great role models. Where are their like today? - 8th June
 * so many mothers is a crime in itself'' - Most female offenders are not violent and locking them up makes their children suffer - 1st June
 * isn’t the problem, Ken. Your policies are'' - The Justice Secretary is right about rape. But he’s wrong about cutting jail sentences - 25th May
 * cuts can save the international aid budget'' - In an era of savings DfID cannot be allowed to avoid the scrutiny that others have faced - 18th May
 * Alex Salmond, next year’s Nick Clegg'' - The SNP leader is riding high, but independence might mean this is as good as it gets - 11th May
 * need teachers who are in a different class'' - It’s quality in the classroom that will improve education, not tinkering with structures - 27th April
 * the flow charts and start mopping brows'' - When I spent time in hospital with my sick child I learnt that only quality of care matters - 20th April
 * mansion tax hits the heart of England'' - The Business Secretary just doesn’t understand our lifelong obsession with property - 30th March
 * a crime to think Midsomer is rural reality'' - Forget cream teas and cress sandwiches. In the countryside they’re on the breadline - 16th March
 * North West, young man, for NHS reform'' - Doctors in Cumbria will show No 10’s media man how to convince a reluctant public - 9th March
 * disabled a generation through kindness'' - Mollycoddled children have learnt at last that being indulged doesn’t make them happy - 2nd March
 * don’t be a Sarah or a Jacqui. Believe in yourself'' - Women are good at business. Businesses want women. So why so few female directors? - 23rd February
 * succeed at 18, children need inspiration at 11'' - Throwing underqualified pupils into university won’t do. They need help to map their futures - 9th February
 * sneer at ‘part-time’. It’s our salvation'' - Germany thrives on flexible working. We can too if we manage to bury our prejudices - 2nd February
 * fathers have it easier and mothers suffer'' - The modern pressures on women with families are becoming intolerable - 26th January
 * the strikers and cheats who must wake up'' - Forget your Alarm Clock Heroes, Mr Clegg. It is not work that divides goodies from baddies - 12th January
 * to avoid the hated VAT rise: don’t shop'' - By concentrating on life’s essentials, we can make our homes zero-rated zones - 5th January



Articles: 2010

 * up on the battle of the generations'' - Alas, poor students, say the over-45s. But tuition fee fury could be just the beginning - 15th December
 * Victorian lesson in climbing the ladder'' - We should focus on schools, not parents, if we want to make Britain socially mobile - 8th December
 * businesses: a rescue remedy for Britain'' - With only a bit of help from government, little companies could turn this country round - 1st December
 * has not wearied the Tory elder statesmen'' - Lord Young is condemned but the coalition needs a generation that knows its way around - 24th November
 * Downton, a new soap opera – Middleton'' - The royal engagement is the Boden breakthrough, a middle-class fairytale at long last - 17th November
 * mentally ill deserve a new kind of asylum'' - Prison is the wrong place for the vulnerable. But care in the community doesn’t help either - 10th November
 * prejudice against adoption hurts children'' - Race isn’t the only hurdle that stops us matching vulnerable infants with desperate families - 3rd November
 * is easy. When jobs go there’ll be real anger'' - The Tories must worry about the middle classes who have more to lose than pocket money - 6th October
 * Here’s compensation for the cuts'' - There’s pain ahead. But freeing people from petty rules would be popular – and cheap - 29th September
 * honest toilers, not the prodigal sons'' - Patronise the middle classes if you must. But don’t equate them with spongers and criminals - 22nd September
 * need technicians, not middle managers'' - A more practical school system could help children currently labelled as having special needs - 15th September
 * Dem dreams of power turn to a nightmare'' - As their party conference approaches, there is no upside for the junior coalition partners - 8th September
 * is so last century. Give us money instead'' - The public are less interested in MPs’ extramarital affairs than in their financial ones - 2nd September
 * must abandon the sordid dash for cash'' - Put away the begging bowls: MPs waste too much time sucking up to rich donors - 25th August
 * of magic that could cut the benefits bill'' - Slashing payments won’t work. The unemployed need fairy jobmothers to turn their lives round - 18th August
 * overpay gifted teachers. Pay off the duds'' - Before a new generation of educators can be inspired, the bed-blockers must go - 14th July
 * sticking the vulnerable in holding pens'' - Violent criminals are freed after half their sentences and the wrong people stay in jail - 7th July
 * to cut benefit costs – offer the sick a job'' - People on invalidity allowance will struggle to find work unless employers get an incentive - 2nd July
 * bit of austerity will do our children good'' - Parents may suffer in hard times but youngsters can learn about self-reliance and freedom
 * many forms to fill in? Welcome to our world, MPs'' - We’ve put up with bureaucracy and incompetence for years. And Hon Members whinge when they’re £100 short - 16th June
 * immigrants, but times have changed'' - The Age of Austerity means Britain will have to harden its attitude to foreign labour - 9th June
 * all scroungers – and it can’t carry on'' - The deficit will never be slashed unless everyone stops demanding perks from the State - 2nd June
 * the savers who did the right thing'' - Capital gains tax doesn’t hit the super-rich, it hurts the backbone of Tory support - 26th May
 * take the tarpaulin off the House of Lords'' - Blair left the Upper House looking like a building site. A short-term fix won’t finish the job - 19th May
 * tale of the naked and the not-dead-yet'' - Election fever has a flavour all of its own away far away from the media glare and the three big barking dogs - 7th May (with Austin Mitchell)
 * hard-working poor deserve better'' - Gordon Brown can comfort Tiara but in 13 years he has done precious little for her mother - 5th May
 * rural vote is being left to rot'' - Wake up and smell the bluebells – the countryside is just as important as the town - 28th April
 * Factor-style democracy has banished apathy'' - Simon Cowell has taught a new generation about politics - 21st April
 * anyone see what’s happened to crime?'' - Tony Blair was elected to be tough on it. But now the public has lost faith in the police - 14th April
 * workers need thanks, not English lessons'' - Foreign health service staff provide the kind of care that Britons think beneath them - 7th April
 * the country shouldn’t be child’s play'' - Do we really want sleep-deprived parents taking decisions that affect 60 million of us? - 25th March
 * mustn’t divorce ourselves from marriage'' - Scared politicians shy away from promoting it, but this special institution endures - 17th March
 * must listen to Rooster and wake up'' - The antihero of the play Jerusalem stands for all we loathe about interfering politicians - 3rd March
 * sex education please, we’re British'' - We have the highest rate of STDs and abortions for under 21s in Europe. We need to talk about it - 24th February
 * Blair is the very model of a modern baroness'' - Ignore the inevitable protests – Mrs Blair understands the lot of modern women and would be a great asset to the Lords - 10th February
 * out-of-hours care almost killed my baby'' - In parts of the country one doctor is responsible for 300,000 people at night. I know just how dangerous that can be - 3rd February
 * a burka you’re cutting me off as well as you'' - A ban would go too far, but covering the face makes normal human contact impossible. It is not right for 21st-century life - 27th January
 * has no cure for its binge hangover'' - Blair wooed young voters with liberal drinking laws. Now Brown is failing to clear up the mess - 20th January
 * out the elderly: is this official policy?'' - Party leaders flaunt their vote-winning child-friendly credentials, but ignore those at the other end of the spectrum - 13th January
 * not Ed, will make the case on climate'' - James Cameron’s blockbuster will persuade far more people to go green than all the hot air pumped out in Copenhagen - 6th January



Articles: 2009

 * toxic childhood won’t be cured in school'' - The Schools Secretary is appalled at the materialism of our children. He should blame the parents, who can always say no - 18th December
 * don’t care about BA strikes'' - It’s the embarrassment of it being our national airline that hurts - 15th December
 * Institution doesn’t like scientists anymore'' - The people the RI think will push the boundaries in the 21st century are managers — people who are hot at fundraising - 9th December
 * warrior ready for one last battle'' - Brown is preparing to paint the Tories as friends of the rich. But his tactics are an admission of defeat - 2nd December
 * think it’s all over. Time to think again'' - Financiers think they are indispensable to Britain. But times have changed. They face opposition at home and abroad - 25th November
 * female candidate, pretty, no opinions'' - We are the EU and half our voters are female, we’re proud of our equality laws - 18th November
 * was wrong to sneer. The lottery is a winner'' - We haven’t gone to hell in a handcart. We’re all richer for the billions spent on good causes, and there’s no harm in dreaming . . . - 16th November
 * infuriating and dangerous'' - I am lucky that my children are not all digitally challenged - 11th November
 * is about the Tories taking power'' - David Cameron’s all-female shortlists are a way to boost the Conservative Party talent pool - 22nd October
 * are taken to the cleaners'' - Two opposing views on the expenses scandal that has left Westminster in chaos on its first days back - 14th October (with Austin Mitchell)
 * in water? I lost an eyebrow'' - Why are we trying to stop explosions in school labs? They’re the best way to learn science - 6th October
 * Brown’s terrible mistake'' - A woman’s place is not two steps behind her man - 30th September
 * lessons still unlearnt a year on'' - The City is back in the money and thinks it is saving the nation. It must not be allowed to forget - 25th September
 * dinner lady was right'' - The guidelines that led to her removal are ridiculous - 23rd September
 * X Factor could decide the next election'' - Forget manufactured focus groups, the parties believe that the talent show is a better guide to what voters like and dislike - 5th September
 * shows true country grit'' - Sabotage in agricultural shows? Why, it’s a tradition - 2nd September
 * girls to be lawyers and mothers'' - The idea that women don't aim high is outdated. As one terrible tragedy has shown, balance is all - 30th July
 * not all about surf and sun'' - It’s fantastic that a schoolboy decided that he’d had enough of bars and headed into the Blue Mountains - 16th July
 * steal children’s time and our money'' - We mustn’t institutionalise a middle-class obsession - 1st July
 * can't win by banning competition'' - Children love competing. Merging good and bad schools means no one can fail - or come top - 25th June
 * Prince is right to speak out'' - The Royal Family is at its best when it is protecting our heritage and championing causes - 17th June
 * truth doesn't always make things clear'' - We watch fascinated as bankers, MPs and even poets are stripped before us. But we are losing sight of the bigger picture - 27th May
 * romance of railway travel is well and truly over'' - Never mind the fat controller, our trains are now run by the thin accountant - 25th May
 * the MPs, not the spouses'' - Being married to an MP is an awful role, even without the expenses scandal. Imagine the drudgery and the humiliations... - 15th May
 * Lumley can even make the Lib Dems look sexy'' - Good old Patsy. Hurrah for Purdey. A heroine for Britain - 1st May
 * a year of no shopping, women are back'' - Michelle Obama led the way. Now ASOS sales have doubled - 28th April
 * of the people? No, Tesco is a hero'' - Low prices, good products, staff that chat to the customers. Why knock this superstore success? - 22nd April
 * every great woman, is a prince'' - Our longest-serving consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, is one of the great male ‘professional wives’ - 15th April
 * recession has stolen our smiles'' - As families struggle with bills, the rot has set in with fewer dental visits and more extractions - 13th April
 * click before they can think'' - IT communication for anyone under 18 is instinctive. They don't have to be taught -  26th March
 * not against the rules... everyone does it'' - MPs who abuse allowances turn people off politics - 24th March
 * who work and those who won't'' - Blaming immigrants for unemployment misses the point: the problem is people who are bone idle - 20th March
 * talk about the credit crunch, baby'' - Many parents shield their young ones from financial reality, but children can handle hardship and it can be fun too - 10th March
 * wise men and women are absent'' - We urge every child to go to university, but hope none will stay. We have a peculiarly negative attitude to academic success - 9th March
 * Made in the South but felt in the North - Everyone talks about a middle-class recession, but bankers are still doing very nicely thank you - 22nd January



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