The history of The Spectator

A review essay, published at the New Left Review blog, on the history of The Spectator and what it tells us about Britain’s new political elite.

The decline of the ‘state effect’

Comment piece on the crisis of trust in British government, originally drafted in October, now shared on the PERC blog.

Blogpost at PERC, seeking to relocate Corbynism in the political and economic context that gave rise to it: Osbornite austerity.

Comment piece in The Guardian, on trends towards polarised, plebiscitary politics, and the problem they pose for liberalism.

I discussed This Is Not Normal with Luke Cooper and Zoe Williams for the Another Europe podcast

Eliane Glaser and I discussed elites, anti-elitism and our new books. Listen here.

Comment piece in The Financial Times, on how excessive loyalty in the political arena is normalising policy failure and clientalism.

In advance of the publication of This Is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain, I discussed the themes of the book with Katrina Forrester, hosted by the RSA.

Piece for the London Review of Books on the forces mobilising against the BBC and what they actually want.

I discussed my forthcoming book This Is Not Normal: The Collapse of British Liberalism with New Humanist, reflecting on the book’s historical perspective and political implications.

‘Anti-equivalence: pragmatics of post-liberal dispute’ , looking at the fractious and warlike character of contemporary political discourse, is now published online by European Journal of Social Theory.

Blogpost published at PERC., on how the financial crisis opened the door to attacks on ‘low value’ and ‘woke’ degrees.