Deborah Orr



Profile:
Full name: Deborah Jane Orr

Area of interest: Society and social issues

Journals/Organisation: The Guardian | The Independent

Email: [mailto:deborah.orr@guardian.co.uk deborah.orr@guardian.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/deborah-orr | http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/deborah-orr

Blog:

Representation:

Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/DeborahJaneOrr



Biography:
About:

Education:

Career: City Limits: deputy editor; New Statesman: film critic; The Guardian (joined 1990): Weekend (magazine) editor, 1993/1998; Literary editor, 1998/1999; The Independent: commentator, 1999/2009; The Guardian: commentator, 2009

Current position/role: Commentator


 * also writes/written for:

Other roles/Main role:

Other interests:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:
 * BBC News: Views on respect: Deborah Orr 9th January 2006

Broadcast media:

Video: Regular contributions

Controversy/Criticism:
 * BBC Newswatch: Swearing on the sofa 7th October 2005
 * Gilad Shalit article controversy - Wikipedia

Awards/Honours: What The Papers Say Awards, Columnist of the Year, 1999

Scoops:

Other: Married to journalist and author Will Self



Books & Debate:


Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Debate: 

The Guardian:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Politics, Society and social issues

Section: G2

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email:

Website: Guardian.co / Deborah Orr

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity: weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2013

 * From Texas to Dhaka, economic exploitation continues to spill blood - The fertiliser plant explosion and factory collapse in Bangladesh are not natural disasters, but the avoidable consequence of a global economy in dangerous flux - 26th April
 * Those who benefited from Thatcherism must admit that others suffered - No one could bring in change of the speed and size that Thatcher did and not expect any flaws or problems to emerge - 20th April
 * Thatcher the politician was a nightmare. But I salute Thatcher the woman - On Wednesday, I'll be saluting her as a woman who had to prove her dominance over the men in her party, only to be used by them, then discarded - 12th April
 * Mick Philpott: if welfare's to blame, so is the army, prison, feminism, TV etc - Calls for benefit reform in the wake of Philpott's conviction for manslaughter are predictable but troubling. Can one man's sick psyche really be a political issue? - 5th April
 * If full-time parenting was that fulfilling, more men would have been doing it - The Bishop of Exeter would like 'full-time mothers' to be more valued, but isn't this just over-idealising the role? - 29th March
 * The Book of Mormon is genius – could this be a new golden age for musicals? - Trey Parker and Matt Stone's hit musical is a savage, brilliant satire, and is making millions. So why do musicals thrive in a recession? - 23rd March
 * Royalists make the lives of the royal family a misery - The monarchy locks people in a gilded cage and denies them the most basic freedom of all – the freedom to be themselves - 16th March
 * Children are sent to school too young in the UK - Special educational needs affect all ability levels. As other European models show, many children may be suited to less prescriptive learning – and a later start - 9th March
 * Argo won the Oscar, but Zero Dark Thirty is a far more serious work of art - In Argo, Ben Affleck doesn't offer the US more truth about itself than it can bear. Kathryn Bigelow's film is much more complex and demanding - 2nd March
 * Pistorius's case is an empty vessel into which all our prejudices may be poured - Media frenzies of this kind illuminate the motives of the media-consuming world far more than they do those of the suspects - 23rd February
 * High tax? Low tax? This is getting us nowhere. Let's rethink the whole thing - Too many people are not rich enough for capitalism to function properly, that's the real crisis. But if we really shook the tax system up, maybe we could fix it - 16th February
 * Cameron wants care and compassion? He'd do well to show some himself - It's the norm now for the people who clean up after others to be unimportant, poorly paid and denied rights - 9th February
 * Today's poor are depicted as a freak show, just as the Elephant Man was - The Conservatives are inviting people to see poverty as a kind of self-inflicted moral freak show, to be gawped at and despised - 2nd February
 * Misogyny stinks, but we need to say more than 'This is horrible, poor us' - Speaking out against misogynistic abuse is all well and good, but we need to get to the bottom of why it happens - 26th January
 * Feminism shouldn't be about telling trans women they're not female enough - At a young age, I briefly had cause to question my gender. For me, it passed. For others, it doesn't – and feminists should be fighting for their liberation, too - 19th January
 * Will the money Gérard Depardieu saves on tax really make him happy? - It is important for social democracies to allow the accumulation of individual wealth. But how that wealth is spent matters too - 12th January
 * It wasn't Labour who spent too much, it was the banks. How did we forget this? - It's only five years since the financial crisis broke, and already the truth of why it happened has been rewritten - 5th January



Articles: 2012

 * It's time for a better capitalism, one that creates jobs and provides security - The civil, civilised kind of capitalism we have long been promised could yet emerge from the rubble of the financial crisis - 29th December
 * Scotland should not be wasting time on blaming the English any more - Alasdair Gray's contention that there are too many English people working in Scottish culture jobs reveals a disappointingly parochial attitude - 22nd December
 * Why are the Tories laughing? Because they've got away with it yet again - However wrong things go for them – the election, phone-hacking, the economy – the Tories have an uncanny knack for spinning it to their advantage - 8th December
 * Smoking is a huge 'sod you' to fear of consequence, but I'm giving it up - People are afraid that their addiction will turn nasty if they don't feed it. It does for a while. Then it fades away. We hope - 1st December
 * Getting On is not just funny – it's radical, profound, a masterpiece - BBC4's acclaimed but little-watched hospital sitcom is quietly groundbreaking in its portrayals of women, age and the NHS. And it's very, very funny - 23rd November
 * How do you fix child poverty? Address their parents' poverty, for a start - The Conservatives' new approach to child poverty may be an improvement on Labour's, but it's still not enough - 17th November
 * The way we look at women is worrying, even when it's women doing the looking - Why are women's magazines just as hung up on portraying only young females as men's magazines are? -10th November
 * Jimmy Savile was an emperor with no clothes – and a celebrity cloak - Savile's invisible but dazzling cloak of fame stopped everyone from suggesting he was exactly the scary, child-catching creature he seemed to be - 3rd November
 * You cannot feed a nation on culture and sport, but you can nourish it - The government should help us enrich our lives with a little circus, even when bread is in short supply - 27th October
 * For a moment I really thought my husband had won the Booker. But no! - One starts out pleased to be long-listed for the prize, and ends up feeling anything other than winning is failure - 20th October
 * Chris Grayling says we can take on burglars? Been there. Done that - I was brought up in a fight-keen culture – to hit back if someone hit me. I was reluctant at first but when I tried it, it worked - 13th October
 * Ed Miliband's One Nation speech appalled me - Far from being a call to arms, it was a call to complacency. His supporters seemed relieved that there was plenty of time to work out how One Nation could be practically applied. But there isn't - 6th October
 * David Cameron on Letterman: politics is not light entertainment - Now is especially not the time for politicians to try getting down with celebrities. They never pull it off anyway - 29th September
 * The west and the Islamic world should leave one another to live and let live - The two have a vast arrogance in common: both want their values universally accepted and both want to win - 22nd September
 * The Sun's Page 3 is the highly visible tip of misogyny's iceberg - A lot of women feel that people who want an end to Page 3 are uptight harridans, envious, bitter and prudish, but it's important to understand why this editorial gimmick is so nasty - 15th September
 * Finally, I get it. I have fallen hopelessly in love with America - Driving through the deserts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah with my family this summer sold me on the great story of America - 8th September
 * From drugs to banks to the web, the battle over regulation will continue - Deregulation gives people an excuse to dispense with thinking about anyone other than themselves. That's the last thing we need - 1st September
 * Most of us would rather cling to life – any life – than choose to kill ourselves - Enshrining self-sacrifice in law risks making life yet more uncomfortable for the majority of us - 25th August
 * Now Cameron wants us to spend again. And borrow. Have we learned nothing? - No one seems willing to state the obvious: consumer society itself is unsustainable, not just ecologically but economically - 28th July
 * We can't keep swinging from boom to bust, Labour to Tory. It's all got to change - In truth, British politics has always been about the narcissism of small differences, and remains so - 21st July
 * Yes, banking's a mess, but be part of the solution. Move your money! - There is a better way for banking – but it relies on us voting with our financial feet - 14th July
 * Bob Diamond is typical of the private sector. He wants power but no responsibility - The private sector wants a smaller state, but refuses to accept that the only way to do this is to take on some responsibility itself - 7th July
 * Do you think you'd be a perfect parent if you were on the breadline? - Money doesn't transform people and make them lovely archetypes. But lack of money makes bad situations worse - 23rd June
 * The islands of Scotland are like heaven on earth – weather permitting - So many live in Britain without ever visiting Mull or Jura or Staffa, but they can feel as close to paradise as anywhere in the world - 16th June
 * We did socialism and capitalism, and we're still in a mess. But there is hope - Thatcher and Blair both governed as if it were only worth catering to people who wanted the same things they wanted - 2nd June
 * My roof didn't collapse, my kids didn't flee and my husband isn't that famous - My roof episode has taught me we need more decent insurers – and newspapers - 26th May
 * We will not recover the euro without re-examining our deepest held beliefs - Perhaps it's time for some political give and take – less tax on production and more on luxury consumption - 19th May
 * The rise of payday loans replaces one debt bubble with another, nastier one - Wonga's move into the business loans market shows the banks are not providing a service that they exist to provide - 12th May
 * Murdoch's detractors are proved right – but this is no time for point-scoring - Rupert Murdoch's spell is broken. But many aspects of his long influence remain troublingly present - 5th May
 * Valuing only work that generates profit is not just wrong, it's inhuman - Money is just a cargo cult, one that has been wrongly and wilfully elevated to the status of a pseudo-science - 28th April
 * Whether you're religious or secular, imposing your views on others is foolish - Whenever possible, it is best to accept people as they are, even – especially – when they are not the same as you - 21st April
 * Journalism is in crisis, and the best and worst of it is about to be laid bare - A new play, Enquirer, is shaping up to be a powerful tribute to the newspaper trade in all of its glory and all of its ignominy - 14th April
 * What Aardman's Pirates taught me about the evils of capitalism - Money will always be necessary. But as a measure of worth, it's extremely limited and highly corrupting – as Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists shows - 7th April
 * Why look at Tulisa Contostavlos when she asks you not to? - People, presumably, would not dream of climbing a drainpipe to gawp at the bedroom secrets of their neighbours - 31st March
 * Listening is fantastically powerful and soothing – we need more of it - We called ourselves a co-operative. We all had equal say, pay and power. But no idea how to foster co-operative working - 31st March
 * I oppose the bill, but don't idealise the NHS. There's room to improve - My family is from one of the parts of the country that is, statistically, less well-served by the health service. I'm not bitter, but the NHS did not save my father's life - 17th March
 * How ghastly to be facing old age with nothing but a £4m house to show for it - Opposition to a mansion tax hinges on the odd idea that wealth accidentally acquired should be sacrosanct, while it's fine to tax worked-for income - 10th March
 * 'Never explain, never apologise' is the Met police way. It's not good enough - The Met seem at pains to highlight criminality at News International, as if they themselves are hapless victims. It's absurd - 3rd March
 * A fitting epitaph for Marie Colvin - The war reporter's death has been seized on to score points, but the fact is, she always did what was right - 25th February
 * The slanging match over workfare is getting us nowhere - What's needed is constructive criticism of the work placement programme – and I have a modest proposal - 25th February
 * The myth of 'race' was invented by racism, and racism keeps it growing - Racism is incredibly successful, despite having no basis at all in fact. There is only one race – the human race - 18th February
 * We are living in a digital goldfish bowl and I can't quite bury my qualms - I'd like to see a national, collective endeavour to protect individual privacy, because privacy confers a kind of freedom - 11th February
 * Can you condone your child rioting and still be an admirable parent? Yes! - The trouble with blaming the parents is that you risk blaming people who have coped far better than you would have - 4th February
 * Artisan markets are lovely – but they ain't going to save the economy - The days when ordinary people sold their own produce and bought the produce of other ordinary people are long gone - 27th January
 * Who'd be a movie star? They are pampered, tethered goats - Most stars are just the front-of-house display for an industry that makes fortunes for many others - 21st January
 * A no vote in Scotland could leave England begging for mercy - Cameron thinks he's being clever by forcing Alex Salmond's hand. He really, really isn't - 14th January
 * In a system with winners and losers, you can't have 'equality of opportunity' - Those who are stronger need to look after those who are weaker, but the right thinks the market would look after everybody if only the welfare state didn't stop it from evolving - 7th January



Articles: 2011

 * The political stalemate in the UK is incredible. It can't continue like this, can it? - There is much speculation about David Cameron calling a March election. But this, in reality, is out of the question - 24th December
 * The harsh reality is that the EU has already failed - Only the fear of disorderly and unpredictable collapse is keeping alive the vestiges of the EU's grand ambitions - 17th December
 * I still don't know much about opera. But I surrender to it - Season of goodwill: Yes, opera is expensive, but so are football and pop concerts. Why the massive cultural antagonism? - 11th December
 * What's the ghastly result of two-sided politics? A vicious cycle of failure - If Ed Balls really was Keynesian, Labour would have put money aside from the boom to pay people in the bust - 10th December
 * Austerity needs a purpose, a crisis needs solutions. I've got a few - Society needs to a clear idea of where the lost decade is taking us. Shorter working weeks, or even years, could be part of the answer - 3rd December
 * Coalition housing plans? It's as if the country's being run by crazed homeopaths - The coalition wishes to keep the housing market artificially stimulated, to reanimate a problem that has reached its peak, and is flatlining. Why? - 26th November
 * All 70 million of us could sign an e-petition, but it won't resolve this mess - All 70 million of us could sign an e-petition, but it won't resolve this mess - 19th November
 * The family courts are there to help children, not get 'justice' for parents - If one parent is determined to remain hostile to the other, there is not much the courts can do to change that
 * This pantomime of choice has created a mess, and an awful paradox - Choice is a driver of inequality. The more money and education you have, the better the choices you can make - 5th November
 * Read all about it: Britain's shameful literacy crisis - So rioters shunned bookshops because they didn't offer anything they wanted? That points to a debilitating exclusion from a civilised culture - 27th October
 * Addiction killed Amy Winehouse – what sort doesn't matter - Making a distinction between drug and alcohol addiction is dangerous. As Winehouse showed, they can both be deadly - 27th October
 * Want to resist the rat-race? I hope you've got some cash - Dale Farm highlights what happens when people try to live outside the system - 20th October
 * Why politicians can't seem to learn from past mistakes - Another MP, another mess, but it's the politicians themselves who cannot draw the line between public and private and then stick to it - 13th October
 * Too many people were willing to believe lurid slurs about Amanda Knox - She has become the victim of the tabloid media's desire for damaging sensation - 6th October
 * The price of getting the 'predators' off our backs - A Labour government could see off the cynical traders, but only at the cost of economic growth - 29th September
 * The Liberal Democrats are in a hopeless situation - The conference may have gone smoothly, but the party, like our national politics, is in a bad way - 22nd September
 * Children are unhappy because their parents are too - Despite the best efforts of politicians, the growth agenda does not apply to our personal wellbeing - 15th September
 * The idiotic few intent on turning protest into ugly confrontation - Those who go on demonstrations hoping for trouble make peaceful protest more difficult for ordinary people to take part in - 8th September
 * At last, Tony Blair is talking sense about alienated youth - In the wake of the UK riots, the former prime minister has emerged as someone we should listen to - 25th August
 * A marriage can end, but a family is for life - Encouraging couples to marry won't make their children any better off, or society any more stable - 18th August
 * The left should respond to these riots with tough love - Instead of blame-swapping over the riots, the left should focus on helping young people out of a hell they don't have to stay in - 16th August
 * UK riots: society must change fundamentally if we are to move on - We must put aside petty political squabbles and find a way to give everyone a stake in the future - 11th August
 * How News International worked towards its own downfall - A culture of telling the boss what he wanted to hear could be behind the faltering fortunes of Murdoch's empire - 21st July
 * The press's rotten values were embraced by the whole country - We all have to do better in the future, not just newspapers - 14th July
 * Care is important enough to be expensive - There is cross-party support for Andrew Dilnot's elderly care plan, but great unease about how much it will cost - 7th July
 * Why is feminism still so afraid to focus on its flaws? - Feminism forbids women from admitting too many self-evident truths for fear that the utterance of them will encourage discrimination - 16th June
 * Sexual fantasy and sexual reality are not the same thing - What little girls wear does not create paedophiles. What big girls wear does not create rapists - 9th June
 * Forget entrepreneurs, only banks can create wealth - We must hope the banks become less sick and less mad, and realise that to save themselves they must save everyone - 2nd June
 * Ryan Giggs: celebrity or commodity? - Businesses sell products on the back of stars, so image is all - 26th May See also: TheSportBlog, Marina Hyde
 * Feminists shouldn't try to stifle debate about abortion - You cannot call yourself 'pro-choice' and then bar people who disagree with you from expressing their view - 26th May
 * Newspapers don't put a brake on sexual antics. They fuel them - Would it really have made any difference if Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been exposed by the French press? - 19th May
 * Broken Britain's children are still losing under Cameron - Iain Duncan Smith's thinktank findings and the latest juvenile crime figures show the weakness of Cameron's promises to fix Broken Britain - 12th May
 * The AV vote: by behaving like utter dolts, the Lib Dems have lost the argument - In embracing the Tories with such relish, the Lib Dems didn't just neuter their ability to be critics of first past the post, they willingly corrupted it - 5th May
 * Gagging the press isn't always an act of hypocrisy - What would the public-interest argument for exposing Andrew Marr's affair have been? - 28th April
 * What adopting Gillian Duffy as a mascot says about Labour - Ambushing Nick Clegg with the straight-talking granny was another example of empty-gesture politics - 14th April
 * It's nonsense for David Willetts to say that women have stolen men's careers - The universities minister is still playing that convenient female-bashing game - 7th April
 * Don't knock the U-turn – it's what this government does best - The government's proposals are so often so patently misguided that I can't help thinking 'You fools! That's never going to happen' - 31st March
 * Budget 2011: Guardian columnists' verdict - 24th March
 * Should we tick 'No Religion' on the census? - The British Humanist Association would like us to, but its brand of humanism sounds like religion without God - 24th March
 * Was it right to pick a fight over daffodils? - People are wary of intervening – with the result that small conflicts can become quite large - 17th March
 * Raging against anyone different is the new identity politics - People are rejecting globalisation by retreating into racial and religious identities that promise economic shelter - 10th March
 * Yes, Mervyn King, we know the banks are to blame - Our politicians have made the financial sector so powerful, it has become an unelected court of Versailles - 3rd March
 * Can Scandinavian crime fiction teach socialism? - The British are used to believing that the Scandinavians, especially the Swedes, have social democracy cracked - 24th February
 * It is vital these difficult cases are heard in public - Should a young woman be sterilised? Should a sex ban be imposed on a man in his 40s? Hearings involving vulnerable people need close monitoring - 17th February
 * Why the Tories want us all to live in Downton Abbey - David Cameron hankers for a society in which everyone knows their place - 10th February
 * The Big C is not the cancer comedy for me - This sentimental TV programme breaks none of the taboos surrounding the illness or its treatment - 3rd February
 * Sadly, Andy Gray didn't develop his ideas about women in a vacuum - The story of sacked Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray is about the lack of old-fashioned manners – and there are many men and women who share his attitudes - 27th January
 * Blame lack of work for absentee dads - Men, who were treated as tin gods as the bread-winner, haven't got a clue how to make a role for themselves when unemployed - 20th January
 * The judge was wrong in his sentencing of Edward Woollard - A disproportionate punishment to discourage others is unfair - 13th January
 * Bankers think growth will go on for ever, but that's a fantasy - The alternative to growth involves a revolution much greater than street protests or boycotting Topshop - 6th January



Articles: 2010

 * students be so scared of debt?'' - After all, it will be written off in 30 years if it is not paid - 16th December
 * slow shuffle that sees Britain condemned to a life of debt'' - The idea that debt can create wealth has been dealt a death blow by the credit crash. So why does the government persist in viewing lending as the answer? - 9th December
 * against the cuts is pointless'' - But the government's cuts, and their spending plans, are certainly worth scrutinising - 2nd December
 * got an idea to solve the tuition fee problem – tax the rich'' - University education benefits the wider society so its cost should not fall solely on students - 18th November
 * apparition at the doorstep'' - All I really know about The Woman is how she takes her tea. And that she needs urgent, intense psychiatric care - 11th November
 * controversy everywhere, but no real debate'' - Stephen Fry, Tim Loughton and Harriet Harman have all given their opinions recently, but the dust storms they've raised are stifling the real issues - 4th November
 * the housing crisis by building shared flats for the young'' - We need a rethink on high-density housing - 28th October
 * Prevention puts the price of a vasectomy – and for forfeiting a future – at £200'' - Yet the British Fertility Society says £250 is far too little for a woman who donates eggs - 21st October
 * Chilean miners rescue highlights the debt we owe to all miners'' - What's happening in Chile now is not far removed from the UK miners' strike of 1984 - 14th October
 * people don't need child benefit'' - George Osborne's plan is a blunt instrument, but welfare should only go to those who deserve it - 7th October
 * Cable is right: capitalism is neither good nor evil – just useful'' - At the Liberal Democrat conference, Cable blasted the City in a way that no neo-liberal could - 23rd September
 * the Conservatives think Britain is broken now?'' - Iain Duncan Smith wanted 'expensive' welfare reforms. But David Cameron is listening to his chancellor, who wants to cut the welfare budget - 16th September
 * pawnbrokers have become respectable'' - The banks won't lend and loan sharks charge exorbitant interest - 9th September
 * Ishaq's father has lessons to learn too'' - Clearly Birmingham social services must take a large share of the blame. But it's not the only party that needs to examine its actions - 29th July
 * was right about the Iraq war'' - Tony Blair ignored the MI5 boss's advice, as he did the public's protests, but history has proved her fears to be uncannily accurate - 22nd July
 * don't need to fight all the public sector cuts'' - We should pick our battles more carefully. Not every cut is a disaster - 15th July
 * will suffer most from the next round of job cuts'' - The axe will fall on public sector and part-time posts - 8th July
 * the financial crisis is going to hurt you'' - Nice clothes and holidays have been ridiculously cheap for 30 years. That's why the drop in living standards will be tough - 1st July
 * tribal politics has never felt less relevant – or useful'' - The coalition is making changes that leftist voices until recently argued for. Politically, these are crazy times - 17th June
 * cuts are upon us - but how will this grim drama end?'' - We saw phase one of the cuts with Margaret Thatcher. Now David Cameron has taken up the mantle - 10th June
 * Michael Gove should be realistic about what schools can offer'' - The government needs to keep the needs of young children at the forefront of its reorganisation of education - 3rd June
 * on child poverty was always a dead end'' - Plenty of people are more deserving than suffering children - 27th May
 * wealthy middle classes will never stop whining'' - This country's most well-off are upset at the loss of their lucrative tax breaks. Why am I struggling to feel any sympathy? - 20th May
 * coalition that holds out hope for all three parties'' - The Liberal Democrats will curb the excesses of the Conservative right, and Labour will have time to regroup - 13th May
 * progressive delusion of a Labour-Lib Dem deal'' - Nick Clegg must realise that electoral reform remains a minority enthusiasm and not hock his party's fragile credibility - 9th May (Cif at the polls)
 * election 2010: Parliament has been well and truly hung'' - Since even a coalition with Labour would not achieve a majority, Nick Clegg has no genuine choices to make at all - 8th May
 * fall for hung parliament scare stories'' - If undecided voters vote Conservative, hopes of a new way forward for British politics are dashed - 7th May
 * (other) reasons to vote Lib Dem'' - Electoral reform will take years to deliver. But there are more modest Lib Dem proposals that offer change quickly - 1st May
 * media have failed the Liberal Democrats'' - Nick Clegg is pilloried even for imagining that he could lead the country. It would be hilarious if it were not so sad - 29th April
 * political wife's small step from appendage to trophy'' - Samantha Cameron and Sarah Brown project an effortless, gilded ideal of family life - 25th March
 * is to blame for the Glasgow suicides?'' - What happened at the Red Road tower blocks highlights the horror of being an immigrant in Britain - 11th March
 * Mantel's teen mothers force us to rethink feminism'' - Hilary Mantel has opened up a debate that goes right to the heart of what feminism is about - 4th March
 * Brown's anger is the least of his problems'' - If the prime minister had more admirable qualities, his temper would be tolerated - 26th February
 * Edlington brothers deserve leniency'' - The two boys convicted of the attacks in Doncaster will only be further damaged by long sentences -18th February
 * does Britain find social democracy so hard?'' - Labour and the Conservatives skirmish over whether 'society is broken', even though both have contributed to Britain's insecurity - 11th February
 * Chilcot inquiry is a waste of time'' - All we can learn is that Tony Blair's ability to believe what he wants to is utterly unquench able - 4th February (Iraq war inquiry)
 * can't make meaningful laws for assisted suicide'' - We need compassion and common sense to deal effectively with such a distressing but important issue - 28th January
 * private schools can teach the state sector'' - State schools should start working on their ability to attract clever children - 21st January
 * the Islam4UK ban a blow against democracy?'' - The government's decision to proscribe the Islamist organisation throws up an age-old moral dilemma - 14th January (see: Islam4UK)
 * is not the Tory messiah'' - Cameron has been ineffectually slugging it out with Brown now for years. I don't see fresh political debate anytime soon - 7th January



Articles: 2009

 * justice for the brothers who beat a burglar'' - Munir Hussain and his brother Tokeer took the law into their own hands in beating a burglar, but justice is not being done by jailing them - 17th December
 * you're not obsessed with money? Think again'' - Cherie Blair says she thinks she'll never have enough money. It's easy to sneer – but just why do so many rich people feel like this? - 10th December
 * feminism really killing the family?'' - Politicians are blind to the realities of marriage - 3rd December
 * flooding disaster exposes our fragile economic future'' - The flooding in Cumbria will cost millions to fix, but that's nothing compared with the billions needed to safeguard the national economy - 26th November
 * can we do to help the children of broken families?'' - Court is the wrong place to deal with parenting disputes - 19th November
 * is stifling public debate'' - MPs just don't want to engage with voters - 12th November
 * problem with equal opportunity for all'' - Some people are better placed to take advantage of equal opportunity in our schools - 5th November
 * MPs' expenses row exposes the attitude to pay in this country'' - Who pays for MPs cutting their expenses? The lowly paid - 15th October
 * Tories have hijacked Labour's ideas – and left them raging'' - I'm awed by the strategic brilliance of conference – even if it was trickery politics - 8th October
 * The economy cannot be saved: it was all a mirage - The boom years never really happened – but Labour won't accept it - 1st October
 * Depressing talk - Why has Andrew Marr been criticised for asking Gordon Brown if he was on antidepressants? - 1st October
 * No need to explain, Sophie - Sophie Anderton feels she has to justify sleeping with men for £15,000 an hour. Why? - 1st October
 * Feminism can't always be healthy - Kids of working mothers being unhealthier is a regrettable side-effect of women's greater economic freedom - 1st October
 * can't help people who can't help themselves'' - Lay off the long-term unemployed for now. In a recession we need a self-help model, like Alcoholics Anonymous, that gives practical support and advice - 30th September (writing in the Guardian series: A new public services)
 * Is Suri Cruise the height of fashion? - Should we be worried that, at three, she is wearing high heels? - 24th September
 * The politics of Strictly - Was the BBC right to schedule Strictly Come Dancing in competition with The X Factor? - 24th September
 * In search of the middle class - Deborah Orr: Who are they and why is everyone out to get them? - 24th September
 * Baroness Scotland: What a fine mess - Why couldn't she just say sorry? - 24th September
 * Break the law nicely, please - Deborah Orr on the government's strange new campaign advising people not to drive while under the influence of drugs - 17th September
 * The new vetting system deserves the contempt it has attracted - The new vetting system deserves the contempt it has attracted - 17th September
 * Come on Katie Price, call the police - Why Katie Price is reporting her rape allegation to the wrong people - 17th September
 * The monumental collapse of the left - Labour appears to have been crushed by the weight of its own unacknowledged contradictions - 17th September



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Remit/Info: Society and social issues (including health, education, crime, politics, multicultralism, gender issues, children's issues)

Section:

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:d.orr@independent.co.uk d.orr@independent.co.uk]

Website: Independent.co / Deborah Orr

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Saturday and Wednesday (or occasionally Thursday)

Regularity: Twice-weekly

Column format:
 * Saturday: (usually) one lead item and two more items, plus (often) one or more short personal sketches
 * Wednesday: one main item

Average length:



Articles: 2009

 * illogical vetting scheme will not safeguard our children'' - It's the classic children's lament: "Everybody else has got one." So it's quite droll that the reaction to Philip Pullman's refusal to register with the new Vetting and Barring Scheme is similar - 18th July
 * age is not an illness and its care needs to be paid for'' - Nobody rails at the idea babies should be cared for primarily by their families - 16th July
 * is it so hard to prove the obvious?'' - News International has spent £1m on keeping victims of its techniques quiet - 11th July
 * bright sparks are left behind'' - The Government has this week launched another bunch of tinkering education reforms. In the main, they suffer from the same problem as every reform of anything that this Government, from now on, will ever announce - 4th July
 * the state is the best way to redistribute wealth'' - Progressives must lead the debate on how to restructure the funding of social support - 2nd July
 * we for once forget the rules?'' - Rules seem to trump all, including common sense, sympathy, and logic - 27th June
 * just delivers children back to the source of their woes'' - If a pupil is beyond a school's range of expertise, there must be an alternative - 25th June
 * need not fear the electorate'' - The response of the public to the scandal has largely been angry but constructive - 20th June
 * social ills caused by family breakdown cannot be ignored'' - A jaundiced view of the state of parenting in Britain is hardly surprising - 18th June
 * is not a right-left issue'' - I'm already fairly certain that the oxygen of publicity will choke the BNP - 13th June
 * feel sorry for abused children...'' - ... But what about damaged adults? - 11th June
 * self-interest is infesting Labour right to the bitter end'' - It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? - 6th June
 * collapse that is long overdue'' - Could Hazel Blears be showing some small sign of comprehension? - 4th June
 * alone is never enough'' - Boyle shows us you need grit to survive celebrity - 2nd June
 * goes beyond catfights'' - Worries over violence among young women are not hysteria - 30th May
 * sex, and a woman's fears'' - What might a controversial new film say about the female experience? - 28th May
 * is not the place for people who are a danger to themselves'' - Our prisons are in a hellish state – overcrowded, understaffed, meagrely resourced and dangerous - 23rd May
 * slippery slope of home ownership'' - In matters of property, MPs were no less attuned to the times than the rest of us - 21st May
 * to grips with Britain's dog problem'' - Can we all agree that abolishing the dog licence was not a great idea? - 16th May
 * dares 'go beyond their scope'?'' - In the wake of Baby Peter, it's clear that Haringey didn't want people to ask questions - 14th May
 * learned as a swine flu parent'' - I don't need my leaflet, because I'm fantastically well up on the H1N1 virus - 9th May
 * pupils must be tested, let the teachers do it themselves'' - Teaching to the test bores children, bores teachers and distorts results - 7th May
 * must start educating parents'' - Staff are aware of the difficulties that some children face at home - 2nd May
 * need to be inoculated against panic'' - There is no reason to imagine that this flu is any more dangerous than any other flu - 30th April
 * wrong with growing a new economy?'' - The economy has shrunk and the state must shrink in proportion - 25th April
 * get a taste of their own medicine'' - It is self-evident that the Government's desire for alacrity in reforming MPs' expenses is a matter of political survival - 23rd April
 * indictment of our criminal justice system'' - Eight years for John Worboys, a man that more than 100 women claim to have been sexually assaulted by - 22nd April
 * incidents show the Met is out of control'' - Masked police are a far greater threat to civil liberties than masked protesters - 9th April
 * has been hard done by'' - The rules are not being relaxed in the case of this second child, Mercy James - 4th April
 * shameful truth about women and sexual crimes'' - It is awful that the law is obliged to acknowledge that one of the psychological consequences of being the victim of a sex attack is a quite unwarranted feeling of shame, and awful that this highly debilitating injury is then used as propaganda by people who appear to believe that accusations of rape are something that women routinely manufacture in order to humiliate men - 28th March
 * use are patient rights when they're just ignored?'' - How could a man could lie there without anyone noticing he was unfed? - 25th March
 * women save the economy? At least give us a chance to try'' - Fern Britton raised cheers – and a few boos – on Question Time the other night when she suggested that Britain's financial crisis would not have occurred if women had been in charge - 21st March
 * case that demands we rethink our very humanity'' - There are worse crimes a person can commit than murder - 19th March
 * change nothing'' - Unlike a huge list of others Bernard Madoff has at least apologised - 14th March
 * are what every wise parent should fear'' - There is no fail-safe procedure that can save a family from substance abuse - 12th March
 * should stop treading water and call an election'' - 7th March
 * council housing the answer to our problems?'' - There would be huge social benefits in returning to Bevin's 'living tapestry' - 5th March
 * game doesn't end with Goodwin'' - Our culture has a desire to reduce systemic failure to individual failure - 28th February
 * see the world through their children's eyes...'' - ... And Ivan Cameron changed his father's view of everything - 26th February
 * excuses – only better schooling'' - Another of Labour’s supposed successes has been stripped of its baubles - 21st February
 * despise the poor, but not the rich'' - Peter Mandelson doesn’t seem to be quite so relaxed about the “filthy rich” as he once was - 19th February
 * freak show – but who is to blame?'' - Britain, has the highest rate of teenage motherhood in Western Europe - 14th February
 * crazy world of categorising drugs'' - How illegal should ecstasy be? Extremely illegal? Quite illegal? A bit illegal? - 12th February
 * legacy in a land the world wants to forget'' - One of the least visible nations on the planet has its 15 seconds of fame - 7th February
 * and responsibility?'' - They aren't always opposites - 4th February
 * protesters have a point: businesses can't ignore society'' - A local protest over the wholesale import of a team of foreign workers has been supported with enthusiasm around the country - 31st January
 * we are all taking TV more seriously'' - There is a desire that can be shared around the apocryphal water-cooler - 29th January
 * times' have little to do with UK crime'' - Those who argue that Britain is no more violent should modify their views - 24th January
 * to tread warily over Guantanamo'' - The rhetoric of human rights is soothing. The facts, however, are less comforting - 22nd January
 * deaths of children – and sense'' - the Israeli right is so impervious to accusations of disproportionality - 17th January
 * society's 'losers' really be saved?'' - The Government needs to ask itself if it can keep the promises it is making - 15th January
 * shocking price paid by those not perfect enough to be treated'' - ‘What haunts parents of disabled children is what will happen when they are no longer around’ - 10th january
 * wouldn't have been Gaza rockets without the blockade'' - Blair to his credit at least understands that the invasion and the blockade are linked - 7th January (see: 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict)
 * what if little girls like pink?'' - Given the chance, they will grow out of their babyish passions - 3rd January



Articles: 2008

 * law that limits people's actions, not their thoughts'' - Can it be humane to insist that the sexually disturbed be shielded from self-knowledge? - 31st December 2008
 * state of the high street is a spectator sport'' - Suddenly everyone is a retail expert, happy to bang on about consumption - 27th December 2008
 * had few words of comfort this year. And the Pope's not helping'' - It is easy to appeal to prejudice - and to do so is to guarantee instant attention - 24th December 2008
 * the Dog won't change anything'' - Snow this Christmas? Not if Pablo has anything to do with it - 20th December 2008
 * is what happens when only a gang makes you feel you belong'' - It was 'loyalty' that allowed Sean Mercer to call confederates in covering up his crime - 17th December 2008
 * tragic story is not over yet'' - The jury in the Jean Charles de Menezes case has delivered the most critical verdict open to it - 13th December 2008
 * poverty is at the root of so many problems'' - The truth is only money can alleviate it, but it should not go to neglectful parents - 10th December 2008
 * hides the likes of Karen Matthews'' - Is Karen Matthews evil or a product of our broken society? - 6th December 2008
 * more inquiry isn't going to help'' - I don't believe a public inquiry into the Baby P case is necessary - 3rd December 2008
 * to survive the recession: a new identity'' - Of course, the recession isn't funny. But sometimes you have to laugh - 29th November 2008
 * good old days? I don't think so...'' - It is important to remember that inadequate parenting is not some modern ill - 26th November 2008
 * the public on pointless decisions'' - People power, as it pertains to television anyway, is proving to be a tricky beast - 22nd November 2008
 * most women, prostitution is not a life choice'' - Who would want to "pay for sex with a person controlled for gain"? - 19th November 2008
 * children get trampled in the rush to pass judgement'' - Great effort is made to keep children in the homes where they are being ‘neglected’ - 15th November 2008
 * is not the time to be frugal, apparently'' - 15th November 2008
 * clash over life and death'' - It is no wonder that parents Andrew and Kirsty Jones are angry - 12th November 2008
 * sure sign of change: a young family is in the White House'' - They are the first couple with young children to have got there since American women got the vote - 8th November 2008
 * is what the Scots want too'' - Glenrothes is not about the Union, even if Gordon Brown likes to think it is - 5th November 2008
 * we agree on this: you don't discuss other people's sex lives'' - 1st November 2008
 * hypocritical immigration debate'' - The Confederation of British Industry has long been a supporter of the Government's policies on immigration - 29th October 2008
 * in Kabul and an aid system in chaos'' - Gayle Williams, say those who speak for her assassins, was killed because she was a proselytising Christian - 22nd October 2008
 * keep this loner in perspective'' - Only sectioning Barry George will bring him the support he needs - 18th October 2008
 * sex is as bad for boys as for girls'' - It is not helpful to describe Sharon Edwards as "walking free" from court - 15th October 2008
 * Left's wet dream, or crazy market logic?'' - It's the intellectual chaos that is the really frightening thing - 11th October 2008
 * right royal muddle at the BBC'' - Poor old Jeremy Paxman. He must surely wonder whether it's ever worth opening his mouth in public - 8th October 2008
 * we tell people what to eat?'' - Jamie Oliver has followed his nose from kids' schools into their parents' home - 4th October 2008
 * to be both good and famous'' - Paul Newman’s philanthropic efforts did not carry any whiff of self-publicity - 1st October 2008
 * all for gay rights. I'm also for the right to use London's parks'' - If heterosexuals began carving up common land in every town so they could shag each other with no strings attached, no one would consider it a great idea’ - 27th September 2008
 * does the Government think we're a nation of bad parents?'' - The Tories' childcare plan could be seen as more feminist than Labour's - 24th September 2008
 * trust the Government than the free marketeers'' - 20th September 2008
 * young man has been named and shamed enough'' - Craig Meehan could have been given 10 years, but it's hard to see what would have been gained - 17th September 2008
 * liberals go on the attack, why do they always sound so intolerant?'' - 13th September 2008
 * savage crime – but don't rush to blame the attacker'' - The Harkin case won't help soften attitudes towards those struggling with disorders still little understood - 10th September 2008
 * lesson for all sides... you can win votes just because of your gender'' - 6th September 2008
 * are places laws can't reach'' - Human beings really do have to take some responsibility for the moral policing of themselves - 3rd September 2008
 * While the middle classes are playing at being poor, others have no choice'' - 23rd August 2008
 * Glitter's back – but what about all the others?'' - It is estimated that worldwide, 1 million children are vulnerable to abuse by sexual tourists - 20th August 2008
 * and vilified as a serial homewrecker – who'd be Sienna?'' - 16th August 2008
 * compensation, and personal responsibility'' - No matter how Hayley Jordan behaved, she did not deserve to be subjected to such callous violation - 13th August 2008
 * housing slump is the perfect time to reform the market'' - 9th August 2008
 * We are infected by our own anxiety - Monday, 4th August 2008
 * Face the facts: men are more prone to violence than women - The Government is still aware that anger can on rare occasions be a legitimate response to abuse - Wednesday, 30th July 2008
 * New Labour has only itself to blame - Saturday, 26th July 2008
 * Radical welfare reform? I don't think so - Wednesday, 23rd July 2008
 * For many in Glasgow East, Labour picked up where Thatcher left off - Saturday 19th July 2008
 * Don't dismiss the idea of national service for the young – at least it could give them pride - Wednesday, 16th July 2008
 * If this registrar had 'Christian views', why did she ever take on the job? - Saturday, 12th July 2008
 * Poverty has a cause we're not confronting - Thursday, 10th July 2008
 * Be afraid. Be very afraid. But try not to forget that fear is the enemy - Saturday, 5th July 2008
 * A man of God we should all be supporting - Wednesday, 2nd July 2008
 * In the weird world of these embittered men, rape is a crime that doesn't exist - Saturday, 28th June 2008
 * How can you tell if witnesses are lying if they are allowed to remain anonymous? - Wednesday, 25th June 2008
 * A glimmer of hope in the dark - Saturday, 21st June 2008
 * Humiliating kids isn't the answer to crime - Wednesday, 18th June 2008
 * How bright, privileged young people can turn into murderous sociopaths - Saturday, 14th June 2008
 * Britain's treatment of its children is a disgrace. Yet we are making their plight even worse - Wednesday, 11th June 2008
 * Accusations of expenses fiddling come and go, but the gravy train trundles on - Saturday, 7th June 2008
 * For a man to refuse to acknowledge a baby he has fathered is about as low as it gets - Wednesday, 4th June 2008
 * What went wrong with this family? - Saturday, 24th May 2008
 * A simple equation: the tougher we are on youth crime, the worse the problem is - Wednesday, 21st May 2008
 * How I walked alone in a Kabul street – and scandalised everyone around me - Saturday, 17th May 2008
 * What hope is there for the lost children of the bazaar? (about her visit to Kabul) - Thursday, 15th May 2008
 * Cherie Blair has turned the private life of a PM's spouse into public property - Wednesday, 14th May 2008
 * We should all be shocked by these stories of teenagers shot and stabbed on our streets - Wednesday, 7th May 2008
 * The real tragedy after 11 years of Labour is that we have learnt so little - Saturday, 3rd May 2008
 * Josef Fritzl - The man that still lurked in the monster - Thursday, 1st May 2008
 * It is poor discipline, not low pay, that drives teachers to quit the classroom - Saturday, 26th April 2008
 * The giant delusion that lies at the heart of Brown's pledge to lift children out of poverty - Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
 * 'Gavin & Stacey' was lauded at the Baftas. So why aren't there more comedy shows about ordinary people? - Tuesday, 22nd April 2008
 * Cheers! But it's a shame we need a law on ‘love’ - Saturday, 5th April 2008
 * How ruthlessly is Britain prepared to battle with those who want a slice of its wealth? - Wednesday, 2nd April 2008
 * If we can keep politics out of the Olympic Games, it will be a first - Saturday, 29th March 2008
 * You can't blame teachers for quitting when entire families are hostile to education - Wednesday, 26th March 2008
 * Believe if you will. But don't impose your ideas on others - Saturday, 22nd March 2008
 * Proof that we fail too many children - Wednesday, 19th March 2008
 * To deride public art is to ignore the benefits it can bring - Saturday, 15th March 2008
 * Drink with a clear conscience. It will help the poor - Thursday, 13th March 2008
 * The price of ditching multiculturalism - Wednesday, 12th March 2008
 * Celebrity drug-takers need help, not jail - Saturday, 8th March 2008
 * Parental choice means nothing when our primary schools are failing children so badly - Wednesday, 5th March 2008
 * Jersey is an unwilling star in this drama - Saturday, 1st March 2008
 * Sheltered housing will soon be an option only for the very rich or the very poor - Wednesday, 27th February 2008
 * Sexual abuse: a warning we mustn't ignore - Saturday, 23rd February 2008
 * Why struggle for Scottish independence when ironic detachment is just as good? - Wednesday, 20th February 2008
 * We can't put the blame for terrorism solely on our multicultural society - Saturday, 16th February 2008
 * Flat Earth News, by Nick Davies (review) - Friday, 15th February 2008
 * It's all very well to be sensitive to Islam, but we cannot ignore the suffering of women - Wednesday, 13th February 2008
 * Don't be fooled... the archbishop wants to beat extremists at their own game - Saturday, 9th February 2008
 * Farewell to multiculturalism, welcome to community cohesion (and loads of jargon) - Wednesday, 6th February 2008
 * Labour promised social justice along with economic competence. It failed... - Saturday, 2nd February 2008
 * We must protect disabled people against this wave of barbaric and hateful crimes - Wednesday, 30th January 2008
 * When the subject is suicide, reporting on it requires the utmost sensitivity - Saturday, 26th January 2008
 * The tragic truth about collective punishment - Wednesday, 23rd January 2008
 * A diet of television chefs is enough to put anyone off their organic greens - Saturday, 19th January 2008
 * What lessons can we draw from the latest lecture by New Labour's favourite teacher? - Wednesday, 16th January 2008
 * Even the French can't do presidential cavorting with any sense of style - Saturday, 12th January 2008
 * Feminism's next challenge: to take men out of the workplace and put them in the playgroup - Wednesday, 9th January 2008
 * The dark deeds that fire the imagination - Saturday, 5th January 2008



News & updates:


References:


Links:

 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Orr