Politics & campaigns.

We should hope all hope that BBC is well-managed. Why not give George Entwistle a nice contract to design an organisational and cultural shake-up, now he's free to concentrate on such a cerebral operation? After all, surely the problems which sank him were of others' making, and Lord Patten says Entwistle was appointed precisely on this ticket? Read more...

After Steve Hewlett's masterly commentary on the mea culpa Newsnight (BBC2, 9 November 2012), I would only add two thoughts. Read more...

The US Republicans have the problem of comprising lots of angry, dim, religiose and mean white people. Well, that's not fair, but it's the perception that's holding them back.  So how come I see great hope in the climate change which seems like it's beginning to bite in the US? The answers have been pointed-at in a brilliant piece by Camilla Cavendish in The Times (8 November 2012, "Sober suits know better than bearded greens".)  Read more...

Here are five cribsheets I have prepared for a New Culture Forum launch/outing (London, 24 October 2012) for The Right-wing Guide to Nearly Everything. They download as PDFs. Read more...

During an outing on the Daily Politics Andrew (BBC TV, 20 September 2012) Neil asked me about right-wing heroes. I think we agreed that they were thin on the ground. I mentioned Keith Richards on account of his "the buck stops here" attitude to drug abuse. (And forgetting his claim to anti-Establishment dissidence, cited in Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind.) I collected myself sufficiently to add Margaret Thatcher and Sir Keith Joseph. Below, are some more. Read more...

David Priestland had a fascinating but flawed take on Tom Stoppard's take on FMF's take on the Tory type (The Gentle Tory is alive and well – on television). Actually, I say, the BBC drama is unsurprisingly BBC-ish, but with valuable quirks. Its adaptor may be rightish, but the BBC's leftishness can live with this show pretty well.  Read more...

I want to have and give some explanation for why I was pleased when Coulson/Brooks did well at the Leveson inquiry and why - this is even trickier - I was not sorry to see Robert Jay bested.... Read more...

In April 2012 I attended a climate change conference and want just to nail some of the arguments aired, as I see them. (It was held under Chatham House, "no names, no pack-drill" rules.) Read more...

The worst charges one can make against the movie Iron Lady don't stand up. I see that her family and close admirers might be angry about it, but the rest of us can probably be glad there's an account of her time in office and life which is broadly fair (and broadly supportive, probably in spite of itself). To the slightly differing but very positive comments by Matthew Parris (in the LA Times) and by Iain Dale in his blog I mostly want to reinforce the latter's sense that this film will help the non-committal see why Mrs T was a force for good. Read more...