When Cameron Came to DC

PM Shines But Should Have Spoken Out On Fiscal Divide, Yorkshire Post, July 22, 2010. "AT least David Cameron's visit wasn't a fiasco. When Gordon Brown came to Washington last year, it was all too obvious that the US administration in general, and Barack Obama in particular, regarded him as a negligible figure."

What Cameron Should Say (Or Have Said)

Britain’s David Cameron Must Tell Obama the Truth, Foxnews.com, July 20, 2010. "In a relationship, troubles never come one at a time. The Anglo-American Special Relationship is no different. Obama’s early discourtesies – the ejection of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, the gift of incompatible DVDs to Gordon Brown, who is partially blind – were minor in themselves. But they were a token of the president’s belief that Britain is just like any other European country – easily wooed, and hence of no real account."

If At First You Don't Succeed . . . .

The Most Active Recovery Act Season Yet!, Heritage Foundation Foundry, June 18, 2010. "As Mike Allen of Politico reports, Vice President Joe Biden has kicked off what the Obama Administration calls its “Recovery Summer.” According to senior adviser David Axelrod, “This summer will be the most active Recovery Act season yet.” It sounds like Axelrod has never heard the popular saying about what to do when you’re in a hole: stop digging."

Labour's Biggest Failure and Cameron's Challenge

Why Cameron Needs That Something Special to Get Britain Back On Its Feet, Yorkshire Post, June 1, 2010. "David Cameron has a big job ahead of him. This week, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development said it again: with the exception of Ireland, the outlook for Britain's public finances is the worst in the industrialised world."

When New Labour's Luck Ran Out

New Labour Was Lucky, Then the Luck Ran Out, Foxnews.com, May 14, 2010. "The only problem with relying on luck is that, sooner or later, it runs out. And that, looking back, sums up much of New Labour’s time in power."

British Politics Need to Return to Traditions, Not Break Them

Something Must Be Done, Contentions, May 4, 2010. "A.A. Gill’s much-forwarded piece in the Times on Britain’s election is a delightfully readable mixture of wrong-headedness, error, and sputtering confusion, with some sensible ideas and superb acidity mixed in. There is a case to be made that the House of Commons is too big — though reducing it would only mean larger constituencies, and thus an even more tenuous connection between MPs and those constituencies. And there is an even better case to be made that, as the expenses scandal revealed, the Commons has been far too concerned with feathering its own nest. On the other hand, some of his ideas are revealing in their errors."

Mr. Brown and the 'Bigoted' Voter

Uh, Mr. Brown, the Microphone's Live, Contentions, April 29, 2010. "Shades of Frank Drebin: Gordon Brown may have sunk his chances in Britain’s general election with an unguarded comment into a microphone he didn’t realize he was still wearing. After campaigning in Rochdale in northern England, he muttered, amid a stream of invective directed at his aides, that 61-year-old Labour supporter Gillian Duffy was a “bigoted woman” for questioning him about the impact on the British job market of immigration from Eastern Europe."

Tony Blair and the Chilcot Inquiry

Tony Blair is Not Perfect, But He Showed Courage and Judgment over Iraq, April 4, 2010, Yorkshire Post. "Poet Walt Whitman said of the American Civil War that "the real war will never get in the books". Never is a long time. But, like the Vietnam War before it, we now know so much that isn't so about the Iraq War that it will take a generation to clear away the myths. The Chilcot Inquiry has contributed nothing to this process. That is because it, too, is a manifestation of a civil war, in this case the one inside the Labour Party. The purpose of the inquiry is to assuage the tender consciences of Labour MPs by rubbishing Gordon Brown's predecessor, who is the only reason Brown is now Prime Minister." This op-ed was written in my personal capacity.

Gordon Brown Tells A Porkie

The Economy Drive, Contentions, January 7, 2010. "The parlous state of Britain’s economy and budget and the necessity of cuts in government spending should be common knowledge. The British public certainly grasps the situation. One manifestation is the data by the polling firm Ipsos-MORI. In its latest monthly “Issues Index,” which invites interviewees to name as many issues of concern as they care to, “Economy/Economic Situation” stands at 49%."

The Gray Procurement Report and Labour Defense Cuts

Armed Forces May Count the Cost of Cutbacks on Defence, Yorkshire Post, October 28, 2009. "The publication of Bernard Gray's much-leaked report on defence procurement gives all the parties a vital chance to commit to spending plans and sensible reforms that will protect the future of Britain's armed forces."

Why A British Debate's A Bad Idea

British Politics Will Be the Big Loser if Leaders go Head to Head in TV Debate, Yorkshire Post, October 5, 2009. "David Cameron wants to have a debate. Nick Clegg wants one, too. Gordon Brown did not, but has now changed his mind. This only makes him look weak. Every time Number 10 mentions the issue, it recalls the indecision of the 2007 General Election that never was. Brown's reluctance is rational. He does not have the kind of record as Prime Minister that any politician would want to defend in an unscripted debate. He has taken his party through a staggering local election defeat, suffered resignation after resignation, and wasted billions of pounds of public money. After 12 years in power, Labour has run out of excuses. Participating in a debate is no way to find a new one. But yet, there is something in the media's enthusiasm for a debate that does not sit well." This op-ed was written in my personal capacity.

Dr. Liam Fox MP and the UK's NSS

Dr. Liam Fox MP on Afghanistan, Contentions, September 18, 2009. "Liam Fox, the Tory Shadow Defense Secretary, spoke at the Heritage Foundation yesterday. His admirably concise remarks on the “The War in Afghanistan: Why Britain, America and NATO Must Fight to Win” will be available online shortly. They’re well worth your time if you’re interested in Afghanistan, or what the Conservatives are likely to do if they come to power in May, as all the polls indicate they will. The main takeaways are clear, and welcome."

A Lengthy Update on Britain's Procurement 'Crisis'

Assessing Britain's Procurement Problems, Heritage Foundation Foundry, August 27, 2009. "Last week, we noted that a set of slides summing up an internal report from Britain’s Ministry of Defense on defense procurement that had been leaked to the BBC did not place its serious charges into context. The full report has now been leaked to the Sunday Times, which will presumably publish it in due course. Only then will it be possible to assess the report’s merits and demerits. But even now, the parts that have been produced raise important questions."

The Health of the System

Britain's Sacred Cow: The NHS and Daniel Hannan, New Ledger, August 21, 2009. "Daniel Hannan is in trouble. The young Tory European MP, who became a YouTube sensation earlier this year for his denunciation of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the “devalued prime minister of a devalued government,” has made what can in politics be a serious error: he has challenged orthodoxy in a way that is both substantive and interesting. Boring substantive challenges can be seen off, and soaring rhetoric that says nothing is the stuff of politics, but having a point and knowing how to make it will always raise bellows from the defenders of the gored sacred cow."

No Bulldogs in Britain

Brown’s Red Tape is Separating Britain From Its Friends, Yorkshire Post, August 12, 2009. "Yale University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States, and is among its most Anglophile. Its Yale Centre for British Art holds the finest such collection outside Britain's borders. Its Political Union is modelled on those of Oxford and Cambridge. And 'Bulldogs in Britain', which brings Yale students to Britain for a summer internship, is among its most popular programmes. Or rather, it was among Yale's most popular programmes. This spring, Yale was forced to suspend 'Bulldogs in Britain'. The reason? Britain's new visa regulations, which came into force in 2008, made it impossible for citizens of most nations outside the EU to take entry-level jobs or internships in Britain."

The IMF and OECD on Britain's Finances

Britain's Financial Quagmire, Heritage Foundation Foundry, July 21, 2009. "The International Monetary Fund has just published its annual “Staff Report” on Britain’s economy. It makes for grim reading. The IMF projects that Britain’s national debt will grow from 43% of GDP in 2007/08 to 73% of GDP in 2009/10. Its budget deficit in 2007/08 was 2.4% of GDP. By 2009/10, it will be 12.8%. And even those projections, though more pessimistic than the government’s widely-panned forecasts, may be too optimistic: the most recent public borrowing figures show that the pace of borrowing is accelerating as revenues fall. All due to the recession, you say? Not so, say both the government and the IMF . . . ."

Why I'm Cynical About Big Government

G8: Summits, Cynicism, and the Activist State, New Ledger, July 10, 2009. "The Group of Eight summit that closes on Friday is being hosted by Italy in L’Aquila. The summit was to have been held in La Maddalena, on Sardinia, but the venue was shifted after an earthquake hit L’Aquila in April as a “show of solidarity” with the victims. The move sums up the politics of gesture that these all too frequent summits embody. This one comes only two months after the G-20 meeting in London, and two months before the next G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, which will be the third such assembly in a year. One summit is an adventure; two are routine. After that, it’s publicity by hyperactivity, and activity as a substitute for achievement."

No One Notices When Brown Comes To Town

Brown Presides Over A Diminished Britain, Yorkshire Post, July 9, 2009. "Gordon Brown joined other world leaders in Italy this week for the annual G8 summit. The problem, from his perspective, is that no-one notices when Gordon comes to town." This op-ed was written in my personal capacity.

Public Sector Productivity in Britain

Spend More, Waste More, Heritage Foundation Foundry, June 23, 2009.

Britain, Europe, and Obama

An Especially Fraught Relationship as Obama Backs Europe's Federal Future, Yorkshire Post, June 15, 2009.