Biography:
About: http://www.henry-porter.com/Bio | http://www.vanityfair.com/contributors/henry-porter
Education: Wellington School; University of Manchester: art history
Career: The Sunday Times: reporter, interviewer, editor of the "Atticus" column (1982/1985); Illustrated London News: editor in chief 1987/1989; The Sunday Correspondent magazine: editor in chief; The Independent on Sunday: two years as executive editor; joined Vanity Fair as London editor, 1992-
Current position/role: Vanity Fair magazine: London editor; The Observer: Columnist
- also writes/has written for: Evening Standard, The Sunday Telegraph
Other roles/Main role: Author
Other activities: Co-founder of The Convention on Modern Liberty with Anthony Barnett
Disclosures:
Viewpoints/Insight:
Broadcast media:
- Channel 4 documentary: Suspect Nation on the issue of the paring down of civil liberties, November 2006 (view the TV trailer)
Video:
Controversy/Criticism:
Britain's liberties: The great debate 'Over the past few months Henry Porter has written a series of articles in The Observer criticising what he sees as a sustained government assault on fundamental freedoms. He attacked a range of measures, including legislation on identity cards, new police powers and anti-terror laws. Porter's critique has generated a huge response from the public - and now from the Prime Minister. Here, in this extraordinary email exchange, Tony Blair rejects the criticism - and announces plans to go further' - The Observer, April 23, 2006
Awards/Honours: Won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for best thriller with Brandenburg, a story set against the backdrop of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Scoops:
Other: Married to Liz Elliot, features editor of House & Garden
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Books & Debate:
Latest work: The bell ringers, Orion, August 2009
Speaking/Appearances: http://www.henry-porter.com/upcoming-events
Current debate:Against the motion - Are free markets a necessary and sufficient condition for free minds, or do they leave us prey to over-powerful corporations? - Centre for Policy Studies debate on Rupert Murdoch's Inaugural Margaret Thatcher Lecture October 2010
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Articles:
- The west is moving towards China in its quest for mass surveillance - The future of our free society demands that we seek the truth from the government about internet snooping - 9th June 2013
- Mass surveillance wouldn't have saved the life of Drummer Rigby - The introduction of a communications data bill wouldn't have prevented last week's shocking murder of Lee Rigby - 26th May 2013
- To be alone in the dawn chorus reminds us how precious life is - Many of the birds that enchant us in our woodlands and gardens are under threat. We must cherish them - 5th May 2013
- Humans are very stupid – but we're smart enough to know it - Neuroscience shows we're hard-wired for stupidity. Happily, we can change habits, and must do so if we are to survive - 14th April 2013
- Britain is signing away the right to call itself a liberal democracy - We are behaving as though liberty were a limitless resource that can be endlessly compromised - 31st March 2013
- If nothing else, we knew Nick Clegg and Co would champion civil liberties and rights. How wrong we all were - If nothing else, we knew the Lib Dems would champion civil liberties. How wrong we were - 10th March 2013
- Great Train Robbers? More Lavender Hill Mob - Despite the hype, Bruce Reynolds's heist bore all the amateurism of an Ealing comedy - 3rd March 2013
- The justice and security bill is a chilling affront to British justice - Secret courts should have no place within our judicial system - 17th February 2013
- What budget for defence? First let's work out Britain's place in the world - It's time we questioned our real defence needs for the next 50 years - 3rd February 2013
- Over-60s: say no to a bus pass if you have any conscience - Welfare expenditure has gone up, so leave the benefits for those who are truly needy - 13th January 2013
- Rendition, Zero Dark Thirty and the brutal reality of Britain's secret services - Kathryn Bigelow's film about the killing of Osama bin Laden does not touch the reality of what occurred in the 'war on terror' - 16th December 2012
- America's carbon tax offers a lesson to the rest of the planet - Thanks to extreme weather events, Republicans are slowly accepting that the government has to intervene - 2nd December 2012
- Don't press send: why restraint is a fine old virtue for a tweeting world - In the wake of the Petraeus and Newsnight scandals, it's time for society to reconsider its addiction to instant publicity - 18th November 2012
- Forests, phone masts, roads – how our leaders scorn the countryside - Successive governments have done next to nothing to halt the erosion of our countryside - 4th November
- Conrad Black, have I got news for you – you haven't discharged your sins - The disgraced press baron's complete lack of contrition should debar his re-entry into decent society - 21st October 2012
- Has a disillusioned Barack Obama lost the will to win? - The president's lacklustre TV performance cheered Republicans but they would be unwise to gloat just yet - 7th October 2012
- Hi-def CCTV technology threatens our democracy – we must act now - High-definition CCTV cameras and facial recognition will bring a nightmarish future to our streets. A privacy law is long overdue - 4th October 2012
- Islam must embrace reason and responsibility - Too many in the Islamic world are quick to condemn the west while ignoring the sins that beset their societies - 23rd September 2012
- This spying bill is against privacy and democracy. And it won't work - Should the Communications Data Bill become law, it will be an intervention too far from the surveillance state - 9th September 2012
- Forget Romney's gaffes – the real worry is he has got nothing to say - Romney has stripped himself of reason, personality and sense in his bid to become the next US president - 29th July 2012
- How I fell in love again with our beautiful land - Danny Boyle's opening Olympic ceremony will rightly remind us of how glorious the country is - 22nd July 2012
- Britons' common decency can survive corruption at the top - While the British establishment's behaviour is shameful, most ordinary people still live by a moral code - 8th July
- This snooping bill is worthy of a surveillance state - Theresa May wants to monitor every personal communication we make. It's a step too far in a democratic society - 17th June
- The BBC belongs to us. Yet we are kept in the dark about its new leader - Before the next director general is announced, the candidates should open themselves to public scrutiny - 10th June 2012
- The Greeks gave us the Olympics. Let them have their marbles - Elgin's behaviour would be absolutely unacceptable today - 20th May 2012
- The beguiling power of mystery that can make us forget a family's pain - Our desire for life to be dramatic can lead us to merge real-life stories such as the death of Gareth Williams into fiction - 6th May
- We are rid of Murdoch and that is worth celebrating - But the villain of the piece did not do it all by himself. Leading figures from many walks of life have enabled his dark side - 29th April 2012
- Oldrich Cerny: a farewell salute to my old friend – the perfect spy - The former head of the Czech intelligence service, friend of Vaclav Havel and director of the Forum 200 Foundation leaves a lasting legacy - 8th April 2012
- Privacy from state snooping defines a true democracy - Government plans to allow email surveillance are among the most serious threats to freedom in the democratic world - 4th April 2012
- The uplifting power of ingenious design enhances our daily lives - The new King's Cross is a fine example of what can be achieved when inspired architecture meets local activism - 25th March 2012
- Has Leveson finally delivered a mortal blow to Rupert Murdoch? - Allegations of lies, deceit, bribes, perversion of justice and downright malfeasance… all that has flowed out from News International - 4th March 2012
- Supermarkets have been blighting our land and lives for too long - An inquiry into the pernicious power of these retail giants should be an urgent priority for the coalition - 26th February 2012
- Jonathan Franzen is wrong: the digital age is making us smarter - Jonathan Franzen says the e-reader is a threat to our very systems of justice and self-government. He couldn't be more wrong - 5th February 2012
- Ken Clarke is ready to betray 800 years of British justice - The security and justice green paper threatens to deprive us of one of the vital traditions of common law - 15th January 2012
- My friend Christopher - You cannot read his writings about the pain he endured from radiation without shedding a tear and gulping hard - 18th December 2011
- My dying friend found kindness to be the rule, not the exception - Gilbert Adair veered towards scepticism, but he had a revelation in his last year that he wanted very much to share - 11th December 2011
- The question James Murdoch can't answer: will his father's empire survive? - Unless James Murdoch proves particularly impressive in his Commons grilling on Thursday, his family may cease to be a force in British life - 6th November 2011
- The Arab Spring will only flourish if the young are given cause to hope - As the west helped to topple the tyrants so it must ensure continued investment to help the freed nations grow - 23rd October 2011
- Why I feel such huge gratitude for Steve Jobs's life … he shaped mine - The brilliant Apple co-founder had a clarity of thought and an imagination that reached out across the world - 9th October 2011
- Mr Cameron's Great Britain campaign ignores our real strengths - Don't go on about our wonderful scenery to foreigners and moan about our sick society to the British public. Celebrate our democratic heritage and lack of corruption - 25th September 2011
- An American veto of Palestine statehood would be a tragedy - The unconditional, unquestioning support of the United States towards Israel helps neither country - 18th September 2011
- Tony Blair is godfather to Murdoch's daughter? Now it all makes sense - The true bond between Blair and Rupert Murdoch is revealed, and with it the extent of the media baron's proximity to power - 5th September 2011
- We will wear the great shame of these riots for a very long time - A great shock has been delivered to England's sense of identity. Only clear thinking will allow us to regain self-respect - 14th August 2011
- UK riots: Our wounded nation will not be healed by vengeful gestures - A peaceful protest outside one London police station evolved into successive wild nights of looting, violence and lawlessness across the country. Two of the Observer's leading commentators, Will Hutton and Henry Porter ask: where does England go from here? - 14th August 2011
- Now more than ever we need to cherish our simple pleasures - A magnifying glass and a box of paints work for me, but embrace whatever takes you out of yourself - 7th August 2011
- Over more than three decades, no one dared question the perversion of politics by and for Rupert Murdoch - After last week's events, things can never be the same again for the corrosive Murdoch media empire - 10th July 2011
- Can it be that Rupert Murdoch really is above the law now? - Rupert Murdoch's influence is so strong that even in parliament the phone-hacking scandal has been barely talked about - 12th June 2011
- Mladic's crimes have shaped the world we live in - Today's liberal interventionism is a product of Europe's shame and revulsion at the Bosnia war crimes - 29th May 2011
- Can we ever condone the notion of state-sponsored assassination? - The nature of Osama bin Laden's death raises vital moral issues - 8th May 2011
- New gagging orders stretch right into the heart of parliament - Ways have to be found to guarantee privacy and provide protection from malicious allegations, but these oppressive court orders are not the answer - 3rd April 2011
- George Monbiot is wrong to question my vigilance on liberty - I have not been gulled by Nick Clegg's promises about the freedom bill. My concerns have been detailed and sustained - 30th March 2011
- It must be bliss to be alive, young and Arab in this dawn of revolution - Spend time in Tunisia or Egypt and it is clear that the protests are not driven by ideology but the search for equity - 6th March 2011
- Rupert Murdoch's arrogant empire must be reined in - News International has become too influential for the good of British society - 24th January 2011
- If Chilcot is our finest inquisitor, thank heavens for WikiLeaks - Tony Blair's evasions at the Chilcot inquiry continue to be an insult to the British public - 23rd January 2011
- How can Murdoch be handed Sky while the stench of corruption lingers? - The phone-hacking was disgraceful, but the behaviour of News International is more scandalous still - 9th January 2011
- Vince Cable's idiocy leaves Britain at Murdoch's mercy - A newspaper sting and Vince Cable's hubris have handed the owner of the Sun yet more power - 26th December 2010
- WikiLeaks may make the powerful howl, but we are learning the truth - WikiLeaks has offered us glimpses of how the world works. And in most cases nothing but good can come of it - 12th December 2010
- What the 7/7 survivors and my friend Hitch tell us about courage - Bravery, whether performed in the public eye or in privacy, can take many forms - 28th November 2010
- Speakers' Corner tradition is under threat - It is troubling if an anti-war demonstration at Speakers' Corner can be blocked for fear of obstructing visitors to a festive event - 16th November 2010
- The freedom bill will mean nothing if we keep repressive measures like control orders - The forthcoming freedom bill will lose all its meaning if we keep repressive measures like control orders and 28-day detention without charge - 7th November 2010
- Out of the madness of 7/7 emerge lessons in how to face terrorism - The modest stories of bravery deserve the respect of politicians passing laws purporting to protect us - 24th October 2010
- Vince Cable must be bold and break Murdoch's stranglehold - Unless the business secretary intervenes, the merger of BSkyB with News International could further threaten the wellbeing of British media - 10th October 2010
- We can't just leave it to the police – we must all tackle antisocial behaviour - Throwing more resources at the problem may help, but let's restore respect and self-restraint to our streets - 26th September 2010
- Rupert Murdoch and the future of British media - As angry MPs agree witnesses should be called to account over the phone-hacking affair, Henry Porter and Will Hutton examine the wide influence of the media empire behind the scandal - 11th September 2010
- Let's have a scientific Olympiad as well as one devoted to the arts - The widespread ignorance of science reflects badly on a nation with a such a questing and inventive history - 29th August 2010
- Labour must come clean about Iraq and spurn its Blairite legacy - The leadership candidates need to come out and say what went wrong and why New Labour practised the great deceit on the British public - 25th July 2010
- Ian Tomlinson case should be aired in open court - The public needs to see justice done. Instead the DPP's decision sends a message that the police are immune from prosecution - 24th July 2010
- Bravo, Theresa May and the new spirit of freedom - The review of UK terrorism laws reveals a home secretary moving in the right direction on civil liberties - 14th July 2010
- This coalition is proving to be a champion of common sense - David Cameron and Nick Clegg share a view of the state which is fundamentally distinct from Labour's centralised authority - 11th July 2010
- Don't let's be beastly to the Germans - We believe Britain to be the superior democracy, but that unreconstructed attitude is far from the truth - 27th June 2010
- In the midst of horror, be amazed at the goodness of the survivors - An outrage such as that visited on Cumbria by Derrick Bird reveals just how far from a broken Britain we are - 6th June 2010
- The voices of liberty have triumphed and Britain is better for it - The pernicious laws of the last 13 years are to be swept away in a repeal act thanks to a chance electoral result - 16th May 2010
- Is this really the end of Punch and Judy politics? - The adversarial system we have lived with for so long is outdated and a bar to true progress - 9th May 2010 (Cif at the polls)
- A little bit of religious bigotry is tolerable in a healthy society - The new secular orthodoxy comes laden with threats to traditional religious beliefs and freedoms - 2nd May 2010
- Out of one nation's catastrophe comes a clarion call for honesty - Iceland's proposal to create a haven for investigative journalism should be welcomed by all who cherish freedom of expression - 11th April 2010
- Principled and passionate: how Obama sealed his place in history - After a bruising first year, the president has seen off the cynics by remembering what drew him to seek office - 28th March 2010
- Those who say history will absolve the Iraq warmongers are deluded - If you argue that last week's election proved the war was right, you are stepping over 100,000 bodies - 14th March 2010
- Murdoch's hunger for power is a looming threat to democracy - News International's dismissal of the parliamentary report on the News of the World phone scandal just shows their contempt for the law, MPs and other media - 28th February 2010
- Britons are fearing for their rights - The public has grown increasingly concerned about the rise of the state's surveillance culture, according to a new poll - 20th February 2010
- The hidden battle for parliament's soul - It was great last week to see MPs try to take back control of Westminster from the party machines - 14th February 2010
- As I start to write my latest book, I fear for the future of publishing - Retailing pressure and the emergence of the ebook are threatening the future of authors and their work - 7th February 2010
- Stop playing politics with our rights and freedoms. They're too valuable - What we need now is a great repeal bill that restores all that Labour has taken from us - 24th January 2010
- The snow has proved a real ice-breaker - At last, the cold snap has given us Brits an excuse to do what comes naturally: help each other - 10th January 2010
- I've discovered the virtues of idleness - Doing nothing, a good view, no stress – the best way to start a new year. But I know it won't last - 3rd January 2010
- The horror of virtual courts is upon us - Jack Straw's video links to magistrates' courts threaten young and vulnerable defendants in jail - 20th December 2009
- Obsessing on class is madness when we search for leadership - Those sneering about background in parliament should take care. As a nation we've always been more interested in character - 6th December 2009
- I've no problem voting Conservative, but I'm still not convinced by this lot - There is a lot of sense in Tory thinking but they must do more to close the gap between rich and poor - 22nd November 2009
- I love Europe, but I despair of the EU - Twenty years after I watched the Berlin Wall fall, I worry that the hope it inspired is being slowly crushed - 8th November 2009
- Is Tony Blair the right man to be president of Europe? - with Charles Grant - 25th October 2009
- We are shockingly complacent about locking up 2,000 children a year - The plight of the children of asylum seekers represents a sadly unexceptional failure of public conscience - 18th October 2009
- The end of the world is nigh? No, things are getting better - It's easy to be pessimistic at the rate at which the world is changing for the worse, but good leadership could save us yet - 27th September 2009
- Waiter, there's a spy in my soup - Even when out for dinner in a restaurant, we are not free from snooping CCTV cameras - 20th September 2009
- We need to repeal 12 years of vile laws attacking our liberty - In its final gibbering months this government continues to wage its tyrannical war on freedom - 13th September 2009
- Siena's Palio sums up civic pride - Beyond the exciting chaos of Siena's Palio lies a collective self-respect we would do well to copy - 23rd August 2009
- No one's fooled – we colluded in torture - The government must at last come clean about its complicity in this 'brutalising disease' - 2nd August 2009
- A toxic culture of suspicion is souring our children's lives - Adults will find it hard to interact with young people if hysterical paranoia means they are all viewed as potential abusers - 19th July 2009
- News of the hacked - If Murdoch's papers really believe in public interest they should disclose all details of illegal tapping - 9th July 2009
- The soldiers give all, while the politicians starve them of cash - Tony Blair still preaches the gospel of liberal interventionism, but in Afghanistan the lack of a well-resourced plan is fatal - 5th July 2009
- Only radical action will end this lethal search for 'respect' - Decriminalising drugs could be one weapon in the battle to rid Britain's inner-city streets of the menace of gang culture - 14th June 2009
- Britain is not radical enough. That is why we're in trouble - Orwell said that our national detachment could be seen as a form of wisdom - but indifference has landed us in the mess we're in - 31st May 2009
- Restrict the use of secondary legislation - new politics: Statutory instruments greatly increase the power of the executive and allow ministers to avoid public and critical scrutiny - 20th May 2009
- Renewal, reform, responsibility - the three 'Rs' every MP needs to learn - The expenses scandal has made it very clear that we suffer not from a 'broken society' but from broken politics - 17th May 2009
- I mourn the death of local newspapers - Films about journalism can only hint at the vital, exciting and romantic work of the city reporter - 26th April 2008
- The crushing of eco-protest brings shame on our police - Labour appears to agree with those campaigning against climate change, so why the vindictive action against them? - 19th April 2009
- Google is just an amoral menace - The ever-growing empire produces nothing but seems determined to control everything - 5th April 2009
- Get off that sofa and start an argument - From Ullapool pubs to the Royal Geographical Society, a new enthusiasm for debate is lightening our dark days - 22nd March
- Yesterday saw the birth of a great movement for liberty - The standard has been raised against Straw and those who would destroy rights and liberties - 1st March 2009
- MPs fiddle while parliamentary democracy burns - It rarely seems to occur to both parties that the one institution that is really ripe for radical reform is the Commons - 15th February 2009
- Riot? If I were 20 years younger I would take to the streets - The riots in Paris and the demonstrations against foreign work forces being used at British oil refineries and a power station seemed to be a presentiment of widespread civil disturbance, especially in this country - 1st February 2009
- Let the war on hypocrisy begin - Next month, an extraordinary coalition will unite to fight for our liberties. I urge you to join us - 18th January 2009
- How did so many smart people get suckered by Bernard Madoff? - His gravity-defying streak looks like a piece of botched homework, like a lie - 21st December 2008 (Summary of Bernard Madoff news articles here)
- The pity of a child's dictionary that junks words of imagination - We have moved from a roaming childhood to one that is lived indoors and must wrestle with such dull concepts - 14th December 2008
- Last week, a dear friend of freedom was laid to rest - The gentlemen's agreement that ensured our liberties has been destroyed by the Damian Green case. A Bill of Rights has therefore never been more needed - 7th December 2008
- My youthful brush with Baader Meinhof - No amount of romance should obscure the vanity of terrorists seduced by death and killing others - 23rd November 2008
- Activism, involvement and a pursuit of the common good - that's the key - Obama needs to be kept up to the mark by the activists who brought him to power: only with that scrutiny will he serve the common good - 9th November 2008
- The hope that dare not speak its name - The Democrats know an Obama victory is probable, but they've been disappointed before - 2nd November 2008
- The 42 day victory hasn't won the war - But the government's attack on civil liberties is finally driving ordinary citizens to protest - 19th October 2008
- He should have stuck to being a policeman, not a politician - Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair's besetting sin was to forget that he was a servant of the public, not our master - 5th October 2008
- The City's greatest lie was to convince us we were all rich - 21st September 2008
- Our obsession with crime is crushing our freedoms - Between talk of broken society and ever-increasing powers of police surveillance, there seems to be a competition between politicians to make us miserable - 7th September 2008
- I refuse to dismiss writers who inspired me, even if others do - Today, it is almost impossible to capture what Alexander Solzhenitsyn meant - 10th August 2008
- Max Mosley's victory has a hollow ring for the rest of us - As a privacy law now seems inevitable, we must ensure it enshrines our freedoms, not erodes them still further - 27th July 2008
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