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The Great Abdication: Why Britain's Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class (Amazon)
The Great Abdication: Why Britain's Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class (publisher)
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My guide to debating is online here
18/04/08 I have a piece online over at Human Events: The BBC and Climate Change
07/04/08 Recent appearances on Iranian TV:
On the Archbishop of Canterbury: http://www.presstv.ir/pop/wmp.aspx?id=44937
On Anglo-Iranian relations: http://www.presstv.ir/pop/wmp.aspx?id=50048
On the Middle East: http://www.presstv.ir/pop/wmp.aspx?id=50082
15/01/07 I have begun blogging as part of a regular team over at www.conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright - do drop me a line and let me know what you think.
24/12/07 I wish you a Merry Christmas!
30/11/07 I am grateful to Iain Dale for the opportunity to have blogged the Australian election at www.iaindale.blogspot.com. I am now back in the UK and back at the Bar.
16/11/07 In a tremendously thoughtful and thorough piece, Roger Kimball debunks the Norman Mailer myth in no uncertain terms. Quite right too.
15/11/07 New article online: Avoid wall to wall Labor
24/10/07 An amusing article on the climate change zealots in The Age
23/10/07 Wanted to preserve a post on the Australian election:
CAMPAIGN DAY 8: The leadership election, and the environment:
Last night’s tight debate between the Prime Minister and Kevin Rudd, and critiques thereof, dominate today’s media.
John Howard announced a new policy – a climate fund built with the funds gained from the auction of carbon permits, which will subsidise electricity bills for low income citizens. His essential message, that there is a cost to dealing with climate change and that people need to be helped to deal with those costs, is related to the fact that the best way to get people to engage with climate change is to help them to do so more easily, rather than lecturing them – an argument I’ve previously heard expressed well by Conservative blogger James Cleverly and is put really well by Crikey here.
That policy aside, the debate was a recital of a number of lines we’ve already heard – or at least, those of us who watched have heard. Debates such as these, IMHO, are watched almost solely by people who’ve made up their minds already. Certainly, most people will at least read a headline about who won or not (and, like most leaders’ debates in the modern era, this didn’t feature any knockout blows and is being spun both ways) but they don’t commit to sitting down and watching the 90 minutes of to-and-fro. I know that the heritage of such debates is very different in the
I got away from the office on Sunday and headed up into the
UPDATE
There is a meta-debate being conducted at the moment which threatens to drown out the debate proper. More precisely, the debate is about the “worm”, a fluctuating line appearing at the bottom of the screen that allegedly shows how the leaders are performing in the debate, based on the view of a group of people chosen by a TV station.
By agreement, the worm was not to be used in last night’s debate. Channel 9 chose to do it anyway. Their feed was briefly interrupted.
The response? Pandemonium. Accusations that the Liberal Party has been shutting down debate, free speech etc (Tim Blair gives a list of links to all the relevant coverage here). Kevin Rudd drew a parallel with the Soviet Union.
Putting aside the fact that the feed was interrupted by the National Press Club and not the government, the comparison is remarkably dumb, isn’t it? As I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t know why people think that it’s ok to make references to the
But Rudd must have a point in the end, no? I mean, of course dissent’s being crushed in Australia – I know, because I read it in the newspapers. Of course dissent’s being crushed – the momentary interruption of transmission of a debate between the Prime Minister and his opponent on one of the TV stations showing it displays that, doesn’t it?
12/10/07 New article online here09/10/07 I have written an article to appear on www.onlineopinion.com.au on Friday - it is a new departure for me style-wise, so please let me know what you think!
09/10/07 Last night was very enjoyable indeed. Congratulations to the Melbourne University Debating Society on a very good and well attended event.
08/10/07 I shall speak against the motion "This House Believes That The Howard Government Has Failed the Australian Economy" tomorrow night at the University of Melbourne, with Greg Hunt and Ken Phillips, against Andrew Charlton, Ken Davidson and Liz Sheargold.
06/10/07 Delighted to see the Tories back home adopt as a policy a deep cut in inheritance tax. I called for action on inheritance tax (albeit not quite like this) two years ago, here.
30/08/07 At the kind invitation of the Monash Association of Debaters, I spoke last night in the Vice-Chancellor's Annual Debate at Monash University, on the Motion "TTHW Abandon WorkChoices" Speaking in favour of the motion were Mordy Bromberg SC, Professor Julian Teicher and Shadow Minister Brendan O'Connor MHR. Speaking against the motion: Ken Phillips of the IPA, David Gregory (General Manager of Workplace Relations for VECCI and myself. It was a tremendous event – very well attended and much fun. Thanks and congratulations to Monash on a great night.
24/08/07 New article online: Where the bloody hell are you, Julia Gillard?
20/08/07 New article online: Establish a policy group to rethink Britain’s relationship with Europe
17/08/07 New article online: Kevin 'Mini-Me' Rudd (co-authored with Felicity McMahon) 06/08/07 I gave a speech to the Queensland Young Liberals in
01/04/07 When I appeared on Start The Week many moons ago to discuss my Book The Great Abdication, my contention that community involvement is in decline in this country was pooh-poohed by host and guests. Today's Daily Telegraph carries a story by Ben Leapman on the subject. The headline tells it all - "The rise of can't-be-bothered Britain". The piece details the decline in membership of almost every community organisation - from the Women's Institute to the Scouts to the political parties to religious organisations, etcetera. The most popular organisation, it says, is Neighbourhood Watch. One hardly hesitates to point out the fact that that is an organisation whose membership is driven upwards by fear. (And yes, I note the date, but don't think that this story is a spoof...)
27/03/07 I was featured on last night's Dispatches, which was a Peter Hitchens hatchet job on David Cameron. As I was loyal to the old boss, my aeon-long interview was reduced to about 5 seconds. Hi ho.
20/03/07 I appeared on two shows on www.18doughtystreet.com last night - "Vox Politix" and "The End of the Day Show". As ever, both are available in the archive at the 18 Doughty St website. The latter show was stuffed with jokes from "Airplane!". I'm assured by my most valued critic that I made a prat of myself. Plus la change. 18/03/07 I was proud and honoured to act as Chief Adjudicator for the Middle Temple Debating Intervarsity (The Ackner Cup, named after the late Lord Ackner). The real work was done by Fred Cowell, Jax Renton, Alex Wright, Rosie Unwin and their team and they ran a great competition and did the Inn proud. The competition was won by the
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