In the mean time between failures Nov 5, 2024 environment & journal & politics A train of events, the cycle of civilisations, and the Theatre of the Real A struggle for life Feb 25, 2024 philosophy & politics The Global Compassion Connectors want us to be good neighbours. It’s urgent. Meditation as civil resistance Aug 15, 2023 philosophy & politics & post-secular & wellbeing We are at war with Modernity. Begin by defending your connection to your inner self. The return of the king Sep 10, 2022 journal & politics I have never had a king, and am not sure that I want one now Clarity, rigour and Rory Stewart Aug 27, 2022 environment & politics Rory Stewart won’t return to parliamentary politics unless he can tell the truth. Is this it? The World’s End Book Club Aug 20, 2022 arts & politics A reading list for the end of our world The ghost in the shell Jan 27, 2022 law & politics How to free Britain from anonymous shell companies Policing protests in Glasgow Nov 9, 2021 community & politics I volunteered in Glasgow as a LegaL Observer at the COP26 demonstrations and protests, and was joined on the street by MSPs Monica Lennon and Paul McLennan, who invited me to report on the policing. The democracy of narcissism Oct 24, 2021 politics The Sixties heralded a new era: the personal became political. Or, Andrew Marr argues, it just suited a new economic system: politics was replaced by shopping. A duty of care Jun 1, 2021 politics What might fairly be described as the greatest inter-generational injustice ever inflicted by one generation of humans upon the next. The Post Office scandal May 11, 2021 politics The managers who prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters to conceal faults in the Post Office’s accounting systems must be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. BoJo the clown May 7, 2021 politics Is the prime minister Britain’s best clown ever? Imagine Hampstead village and South End Green with no through traffic Apr 30, 2021 cycling & politics Changes to the road network to promote active travel create congestion. It’s not the plan gone wrong; it is the plan. What makes this so dangerous Apr 29, 2021 politics They were careless people … they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. Rediscovering our animal nature Apr 17, 2021 politics & wellbeing The trouble started after Eden. We began seeing ourselves as separate from the natural world. Destined for an afterlife. We need to accept our mortality. The high streets of Hampstead Apr 15, 2021 politics High streets everywhere were already changing before the pandemic. Hampstead is lovely, but no exception. The beneficiaries of the status quo are in no rush to change Apr 15, 2021 politics If we are serious about the Paris agreement, we have to disrupt that cosy relationship between business and government. Animal Farm: Special illustrated edition Apr 14, 2021 arts & politics Rereading Animal Farm after half a century, I am struck by how much I dislike it. Nuclear-armed rogue states May 24, 2016 politics & views Who more flagrantly breaches the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Iran or Britain? The Sixth Extinction May 24, 2014 politics & views The Earth’s fossil record shows five mass extinctions, in which many or most species disappeared over a few months or centuries. We are now nearing the end of the Sixth. War on Terror May 24, 2013 politics & views The “War on Terror” is a monstrous sham, a catch-all slogan spun onto the 9/11 attack and now available to justify domestic repression, violence Terror is a tactic Sep 3, 2012 politics & views Terror is a tactic used successfully by states and groups alike. Its essence is violence to civilians; any weapon qualifies. Global worming Aug 4, 2012 politics Like every species on a roll, we’re gobbling everything in sight until we are fighting and starving in our own effluent. Art of the possible Nov 16, 2011 politics Is democracy melting away with as little fuss as the polar ice? Big Brother fears over new medical database for all Mar 19, 2010 politics Managing whom we trust and with what information is just part of life. A letter to my MP Apr 9, 2009 politics & views It appears clear there are difficult questions to be answered about the death of Ian Tomlinson, and there must be an inquiry into it, and what Conor Gearty and the “convention of cant” Mar 24, 2009 politics Conor Gearty accuses the Convention on Modern Liberty of inflating concern about civil liberties into a moral panic. His attack is a useful opportunity to dispel some comforting illusions. Clause 152 defeated? Mar 8, 2009 journal & politics Straw bows to pressure over data sharing A light shines in Buckinghamshire Mar 8, 2009 journal & politics A visit to the home of John Milton Don’t get it yet? Feb 15, 2009 politics For those still struggling to see why this event is important and urgent, a video mash-up from the Convention on Modern Liberty on 28 February. Most Contemptible to be rich? Feb 1, 2009 politics & views Nothing could be more remote from Socialist ideals than the competitive scramble of a society which pays lip-service to equality, but too often means by it merely equal opportunities of becoming unequal. Get your ticket Jan 20, 2009 politics The Convention is about claiming back liberties recently stripped from us. A suitable case for an Asbo? Sep 17, 2007 politics Thanks to Susan Ormrod A reader writes… We have a huge council house at the end of our street. A grumpy old woman with a pack of fierce dogs runs Concentrating wealth and power Sep 14, 2007 politics & software The rich have reversed the egalitarian progress of the mid-20th century, concentrating their wealth and power to levels not seen since the 1920s. A climate change for protest Aug 11, 2007 politics & views The government is encouraging the police to use anti-terrorism powers to “deal robustly” with the climate protesters at Heathrow airport, according Give war a chance Aug 2, 2007 journal & politics A claim that only an idiot or a member of the British government could believe A sudden bonfire Jul 7, 2007 politics & journal Anyone who has aspired to write science fiction or fantasy might reasonably take heart from the popularity of writers such as Neil Gaiman, who is Against the fragile human land Jun 29, 2007 arts & journal & politics In my dreams I’m still driving… Meantime, police in London report finding a car bomb outside a Park Lane night club, lucky things. MPs in the Broken and reassembled every day Jun 25, 2007 arts & politics & wellbeing They have had their moment of freedom. Career watch May 23, 2007 politics & wellbeing What will we not do for money and status?