Martin Kettle

Profile: Full name: Martin James Kettle Area of interest: British, European and American politics, media, law, classical music Journals/Organisation: The Guardian Email: martin.kettle@guardian.co.uk Personal website: Website: Guardian.co / Martin Kettle Blog: Comment is free...; the blog arts & enertainment Representation: Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/martinkettle

Biography: About: Education: Leeds Modern School; Balliol College, Oxford University: modern history Career: National Council for Civil Liberties: research officer, 1973/1977; New Society: home affairs correspondent, 1977/1981; Sunday Times: political correspondent, 1981/1984; Guardian (1984): Washington correspondent, columnist, classical music critic, political leader writer 1984/1988 & 1993/1997, (appointed an assistant editor of the paper, 1994), Europe editor and US bureau chief 1997/2001, chief leader writer 2001/2006 Current position/role: Columnist and assistant editor also writes 'performance notes' classical music column for Prospect magazine Other roles/Main role: Classical music reviewer Other activities: Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Broadcast media: Video: Extensive TV and Radio broadcasting, including British TV and radio, CNN, US TV, International TV, New Zealand TV and radio Martin Kettle on Sir Menzies Campbell Guardian Unlimited, 18th September 2007 (video) Controversy/Criticism: New Statesman: John Pilger kebabs the Tonier-than-thou club 7th March 2005 Awards/Honours: Scoops: Other: Son of prominent communist activists Arnold Kettle and Margot Kettle

Books & Debate: Policing the police OCLC4942624 , with Peter Hain et al, 1979 Uprising!: police, the people and the riots in Britain's cities OCLC9031351 , with Lucy Hodges, 1982 Guardian guide to Europe - (ed) ISBN 1-85702-119-3 , 1993 The single currency: should Britain join? OCLC59613141 , 1997 Latest work: The Bedside "Guardian" OCLC 246905906, 2008 Speaking/Appearances: Debate:

The Guardian Column name: Remit/Info: British, European and American politics and national issues Section: Comment Role: Columnist / assistant editor Pen-name: Email: martin.kettle@guardian.co.uk Website: Guardian.co / Martin Kettle Commissioning editor: Day published: Friday (since July 4th 2008), previously Saturday Regularity: Weekly Column format: Average length: also contributes to Comment is free... blog

Articles: 2012 David Cameron and Ed Miliband: two leaders so alike in their failure of nerve - Cameron and Miliband's reluctance to confront their parties' electoral liabilities willl severely limit everything else they aspire to do - 17th May Queen's speech: a story of coalition uncertainty - David Cameron is now struggling to send a clear message to the nation about what the coalition is for - 10th May Devolution and the separation of the English mind - These local elections will measure the role of English ignorance towards Scotland and Wales in Britain's disintegrating union - 3rd May Rupert Murdoch's spell is broken. But not his baleful influence - If the Murdochs walk out of Britain today, their impact on our European politics will last a generation. That's why all this matters - 26th April Cheer for François Hollande in France. But he won't change Europe - If the Socialists win in France it will create a new pole of influence. But their options will be severely limited - 19th April Gesture politics is thriving, yet we always return to the big parties - British political history is littered with wreckage of fringe parties, from Mosley and the communists to Natural Law and the SDP - 12th April National liberty is at stake, as well as national security - The plan to hold secret court hearings is anti-terror reflex, imported at the behest of the US by the security services - 5th April Britain must beware the dystopic drift towards a US-style judiciary - Obama's current healthcare case with an explicity partisan supreme court should serve as a warning - 29th March Budget 2012: A budget for the rich or the poor? It's too early to say - Whether this is a budget for millionaires, as Ed Miliband says, or the millions, will depend on the tax-dodging super-rich - 22nd March Cameron and Obama ended the neocon era. But the era of Assad goes on - David Cameron and Barack Obama buried the neocons in Washington. But the west will pay a price for the quiet life - 15th March Why the Scottish referendum date matters - No difference between a vote in 2013 or 2014? Apart from the small matter of the next general election, that is - 8th March Mitt Romney is no moderate, and American voters know it - Republicans have failed to restore their instincts for electability. That's the real lesson of the Michigan primary - 1st March The Liberal Democrats must abandon the doomed folly of Lords reform - Lib Dems can be proud of much of their coalition work. But pursuing Lords reform risks wasting what time they have left - 16th February Liberal Democrats can again enjoy the reflection in the mirror - Nick Clegg has taken the Lib Dems on a traumatic journey. But his battle-hardened party now has real grounds for confidence - 9th February The mood in Britain is to muddle along - This may be an era of economic turmoil, but people have little appetite for a radical alternative - 2nd February Alex Salmond's wish is for a home rule option for Scotland – and he'll get it - The now imminent date for the Scottish referendum leaves little time for the consideration of its impact on the rest of the UK - 26th January David Hockney is still an artist who genuinely matters - Hockney's show poses hard questions, on how and why we decide how much things matter - 19th January Alex Salmond does not make Scottish independence inexorable - The Scottish Nationalist party leader wants a referendum deal – because without it the SNP is more likely to lose - 12th January Labour is right to rethink, but it could do with some Republican heart - Labour and the US Republican party have reacted very differently to defeat – but each can learn from the other - 6th January Iowa caucus results make Mitt Romney the man to beat - Republican presidential rivals look to southern states for victory as doubts remain over Romney's ability to fire up voters - 6th January

Articles: 2011 Margaret Thatcher unmasked: the lady was for turning - Meryl Streep and state papers may portray a more nuanced Thatcher – but her divisive legacy should not be rewritten - 30th December Farewell, Sir Gus O'Donnell, but you got it wrong on government - The retiring cabinet secretary, Gus O'Donnell, believed the private sector had more to teach the public sector than the other way round - 23rd December Labour's toughest test: the politics of 'no more money' - Simply blaming the cuts won't cut it any longer. The spending party must present a credible alternative for voters - 16th December Voter rights are under threat, and the devil is in the detail - The Lib Dems as well as Labour stand to suffer from changes in electoral registration. It must not become a lifestyle choice - 9th December George Osborne's autumn statement speaks to the public mood - The British are pessimistic about the economy. But they still do not blame the coalition - 2nd December Cameron's 'blame Europe' strategy is full of holes – but so far it's working - Blaming the eurozone crisis for Britain's economic ills will play well with the Tory faithful, and have Labour on the back foot - 11th November Cameron, take note. The UK can't step aside from this eurozone crisis - There's no justification for smugness at the fate of the eurozone. Debt is a global issue, and all our economies are vulnerable - 4th November This Tory addiction to the Europe myth could cost them 2015 - The Conservative party is seriously out of touch if it thinks voters care for the referendum. It is the economy that matters - 28th October Alex Salmond's opponents are now forced to reinvent themselves - Here in Inverness it is clear that the SNP leader's bold move on devolution has wrongfooted the other main parties - 21st October Liam Fox ran a freelance international security policy. He will pay for it - The defence secretary's parallel advice service with Adam Werritty has cost him the confidence of his senior officials - 14th October These demeaning rituals are a waste political parties can ill afford - The conference season – dominated by lobbyists and media and devoid of any debate – has long outlived its purpose - 7th October Ed Miliband has offered an alternative – but will anyone vote for it? - Miliband's indisputable leftward shift has put Labour at ease with itself but risks making the party less relevant than ever - 30th September While Labour remains in denial, it will be stuck in a dark alley - Both right and left of the party refuse to own up to its economic record. This places them off the high street in voters' minds - 23rd September Lib Dems' illusions are gone. Now they need imagination - The party members who believe in social justice have to look at the reality of the cuts agenda and find a way out of coalition - 16th September Heard the one about the corrupt, lying politician? - Today's satire is deeply cynical, depicting British politics as a nest of fools. It may make us laugh, but its impact is not funny - 26th August US voters are not mad. Our stereotype of them is patronising and wrong - We shouldn't get carried away by media coverage of the Tea Party. Many Americans are put off by the Christian right - 19th August We must talk to the rioters, not turn our backs on them - To seek an explanation is not to excuse them, yet the rioters know better than all of us why they acted as they did - 12th August What MI5's records on my father tell us about the uses of surveillance - I'd like to believe the security service have got better at sorting out the public from the private, the lethal from the harmless - 27th July Richard Wagner was no ranter - It is banal to suggest his music promotes antisemitism, but the Israel Chamber Orchestra's Bayreuth performance matters - 26th July Watergate took some time to unravel. The phone-hacking scandal could too - David Cameron's poll ratings show he's having a good hacking crisis. But his insouciance may prove to be his downfall - 22nd July Murdoch's reckless gesture is Cameron's historic chance - Murdoch still dominates but is weakened. The PM can show the strength of his liberal Toryism by stopping the BSkyB deal - 8th July These strikes could become the coalition's Iraq moment - David Cameron owns this dispute. If he's not careful, he might end up irreversibly alienating the public - 1st July Greece, Schengen, Nato – it's time to admit the European dream is over - As its leaders meet to grapple with the Greek crisis, the airwaves are full of existential debates about the future of the EU itself - 24th June David Cameron has just learned that he can't defy eternal truths - The Conservative brand is not yet decontaminated. The prime minister realises the party can't be seen as an enemy of the NHS - 17th June Nick Clegg's House of Lords reform is folly. Abolition would be a better option - The Lib Dem leader's plan is noble yet naive; against his party's interests and destined to fail. But do we need a second chamber anyway? - 3rd June To argue for controls over the internet may not be cool, but it's right - Downing Street should not be so quick to dismiss Sarkozy's plan to regulate the internet. Its problems require global solutions - 27th May An outsider like Peter Mandelson could be perfect for the IMF - In a world of debt crises and bailouts, a European successor to Strauss-Kahn is seen as essential. But the appointment should be transparent - 20th May This Tory attack on red tape will cause a clearout of good law - The Tories' seemingly innocuous, populist tilt at bureaucracy is a red-meat onslaught on essential, hard-won legislation - 13th May Nick Clegg's pain offers new hope for centre-left harmony - Tonight's AV results will feel very raw for the Lib Dems, but could open the way for progressive parties to re-engage - 6th May Vote yes to AV if you want to see Tories feel the fear again - But if you're happy to see Labour prime ministers snubbed by the royals and taunted by Cameron, go for the status quo - 29th April This hatred of Clegg says more about us than it does about him - The collective bullying of the Lib Dem leader is bad for our democracy. Is it just a reaction to the end of the honeymoon? - 22nd April The banks needed Scarman's cold eye, but Vickers blinked - The report on the riots 30 years ago changed police. Today's Vickers commission on banking makes proposals to fit our timorous times - 15th April Scotland will tell if Lib Dems face just disaster – or oblivion - Scottish and Welsh elections are fought on different issues, yet the coalition partners are losing their long-standing voters fast - 8th April A yes to AV could make the Green party a force to reckon with - The German greens' astonishing result in Baden-Württemberg hints at eventual breakthrough for Caroline Lucas and co - 1st April Osborne's budget speech was like a Brown tribute album - In terms of ideology and economics the two chancellors are deeply opposed, but their political moves are eerily similar - 25th March Budget 2011: Guardian columnists' verdict - 24th March The left should look to the laws of physics to overcome this losing streak - Maybe David Miliband was watching Brian Cox. But he has shown Europe's progressive parties how to become electable again - 11th March To win the next election, just find the next big question - The parties should think now about what the voters will be asking for in 2015. And it won't all be about the current cuts - 4th March Lincoln, evil? Our certainties of 1865 give us pause today - The Guardian's stance on the US civil war was of its era. Those who now wish to intervene abroad can't foretell the future either - 25th February Public hostility to politics will deliver a yes to AV - The mood is for change: people hate the system and believe in fairness. The May vote will have lasting consequences for British politics - 18th February This failure to curb banks is a failure of government itself - The coalition flunked its most important challenge this week, just as Labour once did. The public deserves better - 11th February If Egyptians want change, then they should have it - It is a risk, and could destabilise the country and the region, but who are Mubarak or the west to deny it to them? - 4th February Irish election: this will be Ireland's chance to move on from 1921 - Ireland's ruling coalition has imploded, and the imminent vote could mark the historic downfall of Fianna Fáil - 28th January Why deny prisoners the vote? - The reluctance to let prisoners vote is a hangover from the age of John Locke – a view of rights that sees the vote as a privilege - 21st January Labour's recent history may be about to repeat itself - Ed Balls will frighten the Tories – but he may also frighten the voters. And Ed Miliband has good reason to fear him, too - 21st January The Lib Dems will gain strength through weakness - In coalition small parties are offered concessions. And in the modern world of fairness and volatility, they can thrive - 14th January Face it, Ed: Labour and the Lib Dems need each other - Despite the current intense bitterness, the parties of the progressive movement may yet learn to work together - 7th January

Articles: 2010 What Harold Macmillan could teach David Cameron - In a 1980 private memo to Thatcher, the former PM warned against divisive politics. The coalition must take note - 31st December Vince Cable's debacle is a clause IV opportunity for David Cameron - Rupert Murdoch's takeover of BSkyB a shoo-in? Not if Cameron shows he is radically different to his Thatcherite predecessors - 24th December The credit rating agencies are leading an assault on nations and peoples - Moody's, S&P's, Fitch: they are unelected, unaccountable and have hugely inflated powers. We must curb them - 17th December Tuition fees vote: For the coalition, this is the end of the beginning - The vote was won, but divisions and wounds have been exposed in the most public way. Things will never be the same - 10th December WikiLeaks: Openness against secrecy has a rich history of struggle - A needless war, a distrust of governments and diplomats, and a desire for greater transparency – we've been here before - 3rd December If Cameron's wellbeing is seats on trains, affording a ticket comes first - Cameron is right to talk about our quality of life. But as commuters know, carriages don't feel comfy when money worries bite - 26th November For 60 years, Nato kept the peace in Europe. What now? - The alliance now has few common objectives, and bows to a US agenda. Europe must make a stand to keep it relevant - 19th November Welfare reform: Stop hoping for the worst and give Duncan Smith a chance - Iain Duncan Smith's welfare reforms may not be as exciting as those of Beveridge, but their aims are just as profound - 12th November Boris Johnson could be the Sarah Palin of a British Tea Party - A low-tax anti-European group taking on a corrupt Westminster elite could repeat the US experience – with the right leader - 5th November Disgracefully, Turkey's EU accession bid is going nowhere soon - As a weak Europe frets over Turkey's membership, the booming south-eastern nation is increasingly thinking: why bother? - 29th October Too clever by half, Osborne put his message before facts - This isn't Thatcher 2.0. Yet the chancellor is looking careless over the outcome his measures will have on real lives - 22nd October Shed no tears for Liverpool: our football needs deflating - Bill Shankly was wrong. This unimportant game is an insatiable monster. Financial collapse would get it back in perspective - 15th October The government isn't foolish: there's a plan B in the offing - Lord Hutton's pensions report demonstrates that if the opposition adopts a principled approach the coalition can compromise - 8th October The coalition is far stronger than Labour optimists think - The Tories and Lib Dems are braced for short-term damage, but Cameron is popular and public trust is largely undiminished - 1st October The speech the new Labour leader must deliver - The party must rekindle the sense that it knows what it fights for – but be ready for coalition - 24th September If Blair absorbs me, Mahler's chord ousts him every time - That opening A of the composer's stunning first symphony, to be played at the Proms tomorrow night, still touches more than words - 3rd September The Labour party faces a choice of either politics or religion - Both Milibands offer a social democratic critique of New Labour. But one aims at a majority, the other at the core vote - 27th August Trapped in the Anglosphere, we've lost sight of next door - It's great the internet has engaged us in Australian elections and Alaska, but language has cut Europe from our mental maps - 20th August The late, great Jimmy Reid left a legacy for our times - Both workers and bosses could learn from how the late, great trade unionist directed his shipbuilders in an hour of crisis - 13th August Be clear, Labour is playing fast and loose on AV reform - A policy put forward in its manifesto just three months ago has been spiked by a spasm of hatred of all things Clegg - 29th July A genuine sporting king in a world of unworthy princes - Amid the overpaid egos and brats of global sport, Muttiah Muralitharan's successes and humility make him a true legend - 23rd July A man of grace. Cameron has been good for Britain - From Bloody Sunday to the international stage, the prime minister has charmed his friends and disarmed his opponents - 9th July A tough lesson: Labour may never win alone again - Across Europe, centre-left parties are suffering at the polls. Returning to power will mean having to alter and compromise - 2nd July Obama's reason cannot calm the Groucho Marxist right - The BP disaster is just the latest crisis that has seen this consensus-seeking president rebuffed by the worst of partisan politics - 18th June A tough new era can't start by dodging tough questions - As long as all parties fail to speak frankly about the economic crisis, few long-term, balanced solutions will be found - 11th June With no common culture, a common history is elusive - Gove may find, as others did, that Britain lacks the national narrative to forge consensus on the history taught in schools - 4th June Labour will be tempted. But this is no way to break the coalition - Labour will soon face a historic choice on the electoral reform vote. Their wisest strategy is to back the yes campaign - 27th May If it survives early tests, this coalition could outlive the decade - In a mirror image of Blair's efforts, Cameron is set on marginalising the right, as part of a bold attempt to redraw the political map - 21st May Tories rule: but liberal Tories with a New Labour legacy - The bold risk Cameron and Clegg took means that instead of a lurch to the right, this regime will keep vying for the centre - 14th May Election results: Britain is more Cameronian than Conservative - This is a moment of existential crisis for the centre-left – Labour needs to relearn the lessons of 1983 - 7th May (Cif at the polls) Could the Conservatives steal this election? - Even if he can command only a minority government, David Cameron will tear up the constitution to block a Lib-Lab pact - 6th May Election 2010: Conservatives – not just for England - The overnight: David Cameron's visits to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales aim to portray the Tories as a truly national UK-wide party - 5th May TV debate: David Cameron faced the most important job interview of his life tonight. I think he passed - Cleggmania and post-bigotgate Brown were sideshows. What really mattered was how Cameron performed - 30th April 2010 Ed Balls as leader would be a gift to Cameron - The Tories are foolish to want to remove Ed Balls from parliament. He could be their greatest asset - 28th April Who will lead the opposition? - A hung parliament doesn't just change the nature of government – it changes almost everything about the workings of parliament - 27th April Labour is incapable of removing Gordon Brown - The overnight: So senior Labour figures are preparing to oust the PM and do a deal with Clegg? Get real - 26th April Nick Clegg held on in a gripping debate. This will go to the wire - David Cameron and Gordon Brown both went up a gear – but Nick Clegg impressively kept the Lib Dems in the hunt - 23rd April The latest poll would deliver an outrageous election result - The Liberal Democrat surge could yet unleash an intractable political and constitutional crisis for Britain - 17th April Labour asleep to Lib Dem threat - The party's strategists might be relaxed, but these jaw-dropping poll results say it all: Labour could be facing a fight for survival - 16th April Clegg was the winner in this historic leaders' debate - Cameron disappointed, Brown held the line. But the Lib Dem success will put them in the crosshairs. This election has come alive - 16th April Election 2010: The building of David Cameron's big society - Day eight: There's a lot I like in Cameron's idea, but Tory manifesto tactics have left rich pickings for the Lib Dems - 14th April Election 2010: Labour manifesto v expenses row - Day seven: Labour fought a frantic battle to keep its manifesto launch atop the news list. Can it now derail the Tories' launch? - 13th April (Cif at the polls) Election 2010: Gordon Brown hunkers down -Day six: Labour released its first party election broadcast, featuring a man plodding uphill alone - 12th April bly-win-wasnt-gordon-brownBrown is hoist by his own petard, but cannot admit it - The original architect of the hands-off approach, post-crash, extols hands back on, when all voters want is contrition - 9th April ) Election 2010: Back to the future taxes - Day two: Gordon Brown's promises of constitutional reform were buried by the row over national insurance - 8th April Election 2010: You're never alone with Gordon Brown - On day one it became clear how anxious Labour are to surround the PM with friends, allies and Sarah - 7th April Cameron's big society is bound to become mean - Blair is right to ask where the Tories are centred. Even Cameron's bold, warm vision cannot defy his party's gravity - 2nd April Easy peerages for MPs stink. Now the reek is intolerable - As the likes of Hewitt and Hoon expect a free pass to the Lords, attacking this cosy Whitehall club has ever more urgency - 26th March Darling's budget could point the way for Britain's renewal - No party has created a vision for post-banking-crisis capitalism. Next week the chancellor, now his own master, can do so - 19th March Politicians and voters are all colluding in this financial deception - We face a huge deficit. But honesty about cuts is losing out to party self-interest and a fog of fatuous euphemisms - 5th March David Cameron muddles in the middle - The Conservative leader needs to hone his message and get specific, otherwise voters will have no reason to trust him - 1st March Nigel Farage's rampage of rudeness - The Ukip MEP is desperately trying to get noticed, and some have risen to his bait - 26th February Clegg's coalition ruling is one more nail in Labour's coffin - Brown should learn from Ted Heath's hard lessons. A hung parliament cannot resurrect a defeated government -19th February It's time to shout down the bobbies-on-the-beat mantra - For 20 years Britain's two main parties have used police numbers as a vote-getter. But where's the evidence of public good? - 12th February Hattie and Jack's carry on - I respect Harriet Harman and her husband Jack Dromey, but for him to be gifted a safe Labour seat would look – and be – terrible - 11th February My heart refuses to race to this cross-Channel love-in - Logically, allied Britain and France should tie the military knot and stand as one. Only 900 years of enmity stand in the way - 5th February The real problem was Blair's policy to America, not Iraq - He was not wrong about intervention. It was his political judgment that went badly awry. If only this was Chilcot's focus - 29th January (see: Iraq war inquiry: summary) Chilcot's missing witnesses - Without evidence from witnesses such as Tory MPs, Bush officials, Chirac and Blix, our view of Iraq will remain partial - 26th January Falling jobless stats won't save Labour - Ministers may feel they are due some credit for the drop in unemployment figures – but most voters remain unimpressed - 22nd January Cuts and tax divide Labour, but could sink the Tories too - The spending plans to be outlined in the budget, and Osborne's response, will be the critical pre-election moment - 22nd January Lib Dems eye the battle over cuts - Brown and Balls may still want to spend us out of recession, but Nick Clegg sees that the debate is shifting to how to make cuts - 18th January Britain must call a truce on its criminal justice arms race - If imprisonment is the measure, Britain is twice as wicked as 30 years ago. We have become the Texas of Europe - 15th January Nick Clegg capitalises on Iraq issue - The Lib Dems are pleased to have the invasion back on the agenda – no matter what Gordon Brown does about Chilcot - 13th January Gordon Brown's pantomime of unity - Tonight the PM will offer Labour MPs a display of 'collegiate leadership' that not even his cabinet ministers believe - 12th January Brown's defeat of this revolt is hardly any victory at all - Only a lack of planning in the plot saved the PM. Yet a newly confident cabinet may, with skill and luck, boost his party's fortunes - 8th January Hewitt and Hoon's great gamble - Whether this challenge to Gordon Brown's leadership succeeds or fails, the stakes for Labour are now frighteningly high - 6th January Shame Labour into holding byelection - Invoking a 'six-month rule' to deprive NW Leicestershire of an MP is a nakedly self-serving act. Labour mustn't get away with it - 4th January Is a Labour-Tory coalition unthinkable? Only until you think about it - Seeing Britain's problems through the prism of a hung parliament could convince the Tories and Labour to do the deal - 1st January

Articles: 2009 Not even Cameron can control the politics of anger - The next election will take place amid a mood of public hostility to government that is near revolutionary in its force - 18th December A March election? Go for it, Gordon - The country seems ready to go to the polls. It may not make a difference to the result, but Brown has no good reason to hold on - 15th December Liberals should beware the lazy cry of betrayal - In his Oslo speech, Obama showed that he understands politics is a messier, more nuanced business than many like to imagine - 11th December Ditch the pre-budget report - This avowedly political event is a New Labour invention we don't need. At the very least, its date should be independently set - 8th December If Labour's class war calls bankers' bluff, bring it on - It is more Lennon than Lenin, but this new approach demanding morality for the financial sector could hit home - 4th December Is this Iraq memo really so explosive? - Legality is partly a matter of dates, and a 'smoking gun' legal note was written before the key UN security council resolution - 1st November (see: Iraq war enquirt: summary) Hung parliaments are only good for whips and scribblers - They can enliven politics and force leaders to think twice. But they are rare and a recipe for factions rather than consensus - 27th November Dull, imperfect, but let's all cheer Van Rompuy's victory - The dystopic European vision peddled by the Tories, the media et al has been shown to be a malicious fantasy - 20th November Brown is right: he is odds on to emulate John Major - Major's victory in 1992 is the precedent Labour likes to talk about. But it's his defeat five years later that should concern them - 20th November Queen's speech: too much politics? - The Queen's speech should be judged not on its emphasis on electoral goals, but on whether it embodies smart politics - 19th November Braveheart it ain't. Salmond's army like the taste of office - Most Scots don't share the goal of independence – and the SNP won't risk throwing away power on a battle it is likely to lose - 16th October MPs should call time on payback - The expenses system has been a disaster – including for Gordon Brown. But Legg's letters demanding repayment stink - 13th October Doctrinaire and dangerous, Cameron's speech could unseal the deal - Conference season 09: Here was a revelatory political moment, raising a massive question about the Conservative leader's claims to run the country - 9th October George Osborne's speech did the business - It was a good morning's work for George Osborne, as he set out what a Conservative government would do to fix the economy - 6th October The strange survival of Labour England - Talk of Labour's demise is premature – it might not be re-elected, but it's had a good conference and still has its supporters - 2nd October The Tories' Eurosceptic toxicity could leave Britain stranded - Clearly, Cameron should mould himself on Merkel. But he is a prisoner of his own views and of an ideologically phobic party - 2nd October Merkel's minor miracle - Germany has given Angela Merkel a vote of confidence in moderate pro-business politics. Cold comfort for Gordon Brown - 28th September Bankers, beware - Conference season 09: The Labour election strategy is becoming clear - to capitalise on the rage against the banks - 28th September Talk of a revival is fantasy. With Brown, Labour is toast - To limit the damage to mere defeat at the next election, the Labour party must shine at conference – and then ditch Gordon Brown - 25th September Nick Clegg comes of age - The Lib Dems are still far from making three-party politics a reality, but this conference speech had brio and conviction - 23rd September Rigid party conferences are the enemy of the new politics - Party conferences should be forums for innovation and lively debate, not bland, tightly controlled festivals of backslapping - 18th September Wales: a land lost to Labour - A political earthquake is about to hit Wales, with the Tories set to become the dominant party - 16th September Lord Peter's whimsy - Speaking on cuts, Peter Mandelson showed that he, not Brown, is really running government. But will it make any difference? - 15th September The biggest problem for the Liberal Democrats is illiberal Britain - From the economy to climate change the party has often been right, yet a breakthrough in the polls remains a dream - 11th September What Brown's Afghanistan speech didn't say - Gordon Brown put his case well – but he must now decide whether to please his generals and send more troops - 5th September An October revolt is plotted. Brown's head is not safe yet - Loyalty will last as long as conference season, but if the polls don't improve Labour's leader may face one more coup attempt - 4th September The absurd Megrahi conspiracy theorists - The facts of the UK government's role in the Lockerbie bomber's release are simple – it had its hands tied by a lack of jurisdiction - 2nd September (see: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi) The golden age of wise, dull government is a fanciful idea - Some, like Ted Kennedy, go into politics and then grow up. But it's not true, in the US or UK, that most grow up and then go into politics - 28th August Why Brown is silent on Megrahi - The PM's 'no comment' stance over the Lockerbie bomber's release shows a man who's lost the nerve to lead - 24th August It's just not cricket as I remember it - The Ashes victory would once have been cheered by a better, more diverse crowd than today's pre-booked bunch - 24th August We should take more notice of this woman at the top - Brown should drop his Obama pretensions and look to Germany for his inspiration. Angela Merkel has got a lot right - 21st August Rumblings in the Tory ranks - Cameron's firefighting this week shows that indiscretion, sleaze and resurgent Thatcherism will haunt his project, but won't halt it - 15th August You can trust Handel. He is music's great communicator - This revival bears witness to his desire to please and elevate the audience. Where is that impulse in composers today? -14th August Osborne causes a stir - George Osborne's Demos speech made an arresting, tactical claim that the Tories – not Labour – are the progressive force - 12th August It took 142 years, but at last Bagehot has got his way - The birth of the supreme court is not just for show. The removal of judges from parliament is a victory for liberty and law - 31st July Brown rewrites history, again - Gordon Brown could not simply mark the death of Harry Patch, he had to pretend the first world war was something it wasn't - 28th July Punch-drunk and fatalistic, they stumble into summer - Brown drags Labour down badly, as Norwich North is likely to show. It says it all that MPs know this and still do nothing - 24th July Do the Tories have a real foreign policy? - William Hague's speech will be carefully scrutinised, but without their hatred of Europe, it is not clear what the Tories believe in - 22nd July Britain's defence policy is mired in deceit and denial - Robert McNamara was haunted by an act of great military folly. Those who order war in Afghanistan risk a similiar, awful fate - 10th July What happened to Gordon's goats? - Lord Malloch-Brown is the latest disillusioned specialist to leave Brown's once-touted 'government of all the talents' - 9th July Obama's future depends upon his nation's health - American voters want healthcare overhauled. But reform is a high stakes game that can wound the president - 3rd July Europe's left is in crisis. The choice is stark: adapt or wilt - The big social democratic parties – not least Labour – must learn from Blair's example. Or accept a role on the political margins - 12th June Brown's portfolio of possibilities - This is no grand new settlement, but Gordon Brown's statement on political reform does have the potential to bring about change - 11th June Labour must change, or the party's over - Labour's historically low vote has left it without authority – but how do its results compare with the performance of other parties? - 8th June Darling should stay but will be sacrificed for his honesty - The chancellor knows the voters' choice will be Labour cuts or Tory cuts. But Brown and Balls will never play it straight - 5th June Gunning for Darling - Whatever the truth about the chancellor's expenses, the mere suspicion of wrongdoing has given his enemies a field day - 2nd June This rush for the Lords shows Labour is a barrier to reform - More than 50 of the party's MPs are scrambling for a place in the upper house. The only aspiration they still stand for is their own - 29th May Looking back on anger - We should be more self-critical about our rage, be it directed towards politicians or bankers, as it is no substitute for action - 25th May Philadelphia 1787 it's not. But one radical reform is realistic - It's easy to oversell the talk of change. Brown can make a real difference, however, by ensuring MPs get a real mandate - 22nd May My choice for the next Speaker - If Michael Martin quits he cannot be replaced by another Labour MP. Of all the contenders for the job, I know who'd get my vote - 18th May The true patrons of this greed are an over-mighty press - Media that increasingly prioritise personality over serious debate have no real interest in restoring trust in politics - 15th May A leader picked by unions is an explosive trap for Labour - Party rules will mean five barons have huge clout in electing a successor to Brown. The system needs scrapping now - 8th May Could Hazel Blears be Labour's Margaret Thatcher? - The parallel is not as crazy as it sounds. Maybe Blears could do for Labour what the Iron Lady did for the Conservative party - 6th May You'd think Labour couldn't go on. But they probably will - Despite a brutal week ministers seem doggedly convinced that a partial economic recovery will make them re-electable - 1st May The Conservatives have had an easy ride. That has to stop - The public needs to know which Tory approach it is buying. The longer the answer is denied, the more suspicious they get - 24th April Brown's missed opportunity on MPs' expenses - The PM's announcement about expenses is proactive, but it should have come from the perspective of parliament, not Labour - 22nd April Brown must flush the dark arts culture out of his regime - Unless the PM acts to put an end to the dirty tricks and sleaze corroding his government, public disgust will persist - 17th April Policing needs urgent reform. But not by partial politicians - The Tomlinson scandal and Quick affair highlight crucial controversies, and reinforce the demand for a royal commission - 10th April Parliament at 25% off? - Jacqui Smith's defence of her expenses was abject. Here are two ways the government could tamp down the row - 7th April Next on Mr Brown's agenda: invade the Channel Islands - The prime minister's new zeal on tax havens rings hollow, as does his grand G20 roadshow. I'm now less sure he can hang on - 27th March Brown and Darling will stick together - Don't get over-excited by Mervyn King's comments about fiscal stimulus – it won't cause a rift between the PM and the chancellor - 26th March Problems this big need more than the state v market stuff - If climate change is to be tackled, or the financial system rebuilt, we need to move beyond the old, dumb, polarising politics - 20th March 'Clunking fist' – down but not out - Until PMQs today, I thought Cameron's lead in the polls unassailable. But then he failed to land a glove on Brown ... - 19th March Labour's centralist impulse is verging on the demented - Chairman Balls's reaction to the Baby P report is just the latest result of a political generation drunk on management theory - 13th March You can't throw custard in a police state - Leila Deen's attack on Peter Mandelson is a reminder that the assault on freedom does not have the universal upper hand - 7th March Brown's finest hour won't change the political weather - Engaging with the global crisis in Washington and the G20 wins plaudits. But only honesty about errors can win back voters - 6th March This Thatcher-fest does not mean it's 1979 all over again - The Conservatives may be on the verge of power, but by any rational standards this is still a left-of-centre moment - 27th February 2009 Seismic times could yet see the Lib Dems eclipse Labour - Vince Cable is setting the agenda, and the party is closer than it seems to reclaiming the mantle of British progressivism - 20th February 2009 Now Brown has to accept his share of guilt for this mess - Tangled by his tactics, the prime minister seems incapable of recognising that politicians should take some responsibility - 13th February 2009 Darling, Clarke and Cable in the cabinet? Don't rule it out - Another disaster for Labour in this European elections, and the drums will beat for a national emergency government - 6th February 2009 He mentioned the D-word - Gordon Brown didn't want to use the word 'depression' today. It's his great unconscious fear - 5th February 2009 Obama cares about Europe. Britain he can take or leave - Denying ourselves a place in the president's new world order could be the greatest regret of this political generation - 30th January 2009 Sketchy plan, but Cameron's pitch for the centre is serious - Labour scoffs at ideas of progressive conservatism but the Tory leader is signalling his intent to fight the middle ground - 23rd January 2009 Runway 3 will be a shrine to Labour's congenital frailty - When backed in a corner, ministers seem unable to make the right choices on tough issues and build alliances to support them - 16th January 2009 (see: Runway 3) He wants to, yet he doesn't. Will Brown do a Callaghan? - The last thing on his mind? Get real. The prime minister will be agonising over election timing. It's all worryingly like 1978 - 9th January 2009

Articles: 2008 Jargon and central diktat have strangled police reform - The old consensus has broken down. A new relationship must begin with the Home Office devolving responsibility - 19th December 2008 Stop lecturing Germany, Gordon. Steinbrück is right - The finance minister had reason to be exasperated. Britain's economic future hinges on Europe, and this is no time for animus - 12th December 2008 Labour now delights in its new Mandelson with a plan - The man of the hour is the once-reviled business secretary, who has raised his game as a thinker in the face of financial crisis - 5th December 2008 Genius, or an empty gesture by men groping in the dark? - Whether or not Brown and Darling's plans ease the crisis, their symbolic killing of New Labour will reap more pain than gain -28th November 2008 Legal or not, Iraq's legacy is a boost to the rule of law - The public's judgment on the war came long before Lord Bingham's. States and leaders will hesitate to repeat the experience - 21st November 2008 Tabloid irresponsibility has left us in a civic Catch-22 - People believe that standards in public life are low and getting worse. No wonder, when that's what they read every day - 14th November 2008 The Hispanic vote shaped the contours of this election - A huge swell of support for Obama in the south-western states is the real race story behind this historic victory - 7th November 2008 The challenge ahead - Obama has won a historic mandate. But delivering his promised 'change' will depend on holding that support through 2012 - 5th November 2008 All this inner racist demon stuff is wildly overblown - Americans have spent a long time getting to know Obama. Despite Europe's condescension, this isn't at core a vote about colour - 31st October 2008 TV debates rarely swing it, but let voters test the timber - The presidency is not won or lost by televised knockabout, but Obama has taken the opportunity to confirm his credentials - 17th October 2008 History can guide, yet there are new limits of the possible - Brown's lead shows he has learnt much from the 1930s and from Keynes, as market dogma gives way to real choices again - 10th October 2008 If money is reining in debate, we will have to pay to free it - State funding for political parties is the surest way to keep their conferences open, honest and secure from corporate influence - 3rd October 2008 Salvaged with a kiss? Maybe, but Brown's woes run deep - A conference bounce is a wave soon absorbed by the ocean. Dysfunction at No 10 remains, and the Tories are still to come - 26th September 2008 This fast-sinking leader has received an unlikely lifeline - Market turmoil insulates Brown from a challenge, rendering next week in Manchester a carnival of collective hypocrisy - 19th September 2008 The elephant in the hangar - They resist it – but the Liberal Democrats will have to decide which side to prop up in the event of a hung parliament - Guardian.co.uk - 16th September 2008 Labour is far too frightened to learn Obama's lesson - There is a sense that the government wants the Democrats to lose, as that would somehow validate its own failure - 12th September 2008 Palin lit the touchpaper. But the race is won elsewhere - McCain's running mate has fired up Republicans. Yet when the hype fades good vice-presidents don't clinch elections - 5th September 2008 Proud to be a maverick - John McCain's nomination acceptance speech last night offered some uncomfortable messages for his own party - Republicans in St Paul - 5th September 2008 McCain could yet ignite a bonfire of the liberal vanities - Electing Obama would be one of America's noblest gestures of historical redemption - which is why it may not happen - 29th August 2008 Is America ready to embrace a black first lady? - Michelle Obama is at least as much of a pioneer as her husband - Guardian.co.uk, 26th August 2008 40 years on, the left is yet to grasp the eclipse of socialism - Russia's invasion to crush the Prague Spring began the slow death of Labour as a party. A new political map needs to be drawn - 22nd August 2008 Go early and take the hit - or go late and risk a knockout? - The timing of this latest byelection is vital for both Brown and the party's fortunes. And the obvious option is wrong - 15th August 2008 Change the leader? Yes. Go to the country early? No - There is no reason why a new prime minister should call a snap poll. Toughing it out could be the honourable course - 8th August 2008 Wolfgang's curtain call - A new generation of Wagners is about to take over Europe's most controversial arts legacy - 2nd August 2008 Something's got to give - will it be Brown or the party? - Yesterday on these pages David Miliband issued an order to mobilise. Brown now knows he needs to act to survive September - 31st July 2008 Clutching at Straw - Jack Straw would be a plausible PM, should Brown stand aside. But does Labour need another coronation without contest? - 28th July 2008 Glasgow East: it doesn't get worse than this - Everything that could go wrong for Labour did go wrong. Here are last night's 10 terrible messages for Gordon Brown - Comment is free - 25th July 2008 I somehow just can't picture Brown in his summer shorts - The prime minister's holiday spot is chosen to make him seem more normal, but it achieves exactly the opposite - 25th July 2008 MPs cool on Lords reform are very, very future focused - This once noble crusade is hardly a priority for Labour politicians aboard a sinking ship who fancy a move into ermine - 18th July 2008 The 42-day plan is dead, but its assassin may surprise you - It wasn't David Davis or East Riding voters who holed the government's plans. It was a new arrival in the House of Lords - 11th July 2008 This byelection could be the most important ever - It would be not just a disaster for Brown to lose a seat like Glasgow East, but a sign of wider Labour disintegration - 4th July 2008 The real story of Henley is a historic Tory recovery -It was a humiliation for Brown, but this result is really about Cameron's astonishing repulsion of the Lib Dem challenge - 28th June 2008 Actually, it wasn't the Sun wot won it. Sun readers did - Politicians who obsess about the contents of each day's newspapers are looking in completely the wrong direction - 7th June 2008 The false rhinoceros is alive and well in modern politics - As Obama and Clinton have both recently proved, there is no end to our capacity to see only what we want to see - 31st May 2008 Who will have the courage to be Labour's Geoffrey Howe? - Backbenchers all agree that Brown must go - but, as with Thatcher's overthrow, the key players are in the cabinet - 24th May 2008 Time to decide: are we with the Germans or the Irish? - As referendums return to centre stage, we should heed one of the wisest speakers on the subject: Margaret Thatcher - 17th May 2008 Regroup, refocus, reprioritise - and that starts at the top - More bloody-minded denial could consign Labour to the margins for a century. It must make the tough decisions now - 10th May 2008 This carnage marks the end of Labour's great revival - 3rd May 2008 Speak for England, Gordon, and stop all this flag-waving - If the prime minister thinks this kind of identity promotion will create a cohesive society, he is deluding himself - 26th April 2008 Brown did well in Boston, but must avoid the Blair delusion - Here, at least, he's on the right track. But the prime minister must remember that he will never shape US global thinking - 19th April 2008 Labour's best way to recover might be for Brown to go - We've had too much wishful thinking about the prime minister. There really is no Roosevelt or Attlee lurking within - 12th April 2008 In Asquith's failure there is a chilling message for Brown - The Labour leader should not ignore the disasters that befell a Liberal party used to electoral triumphs - 5th April 2008 A Euro-army is fantasy land. We need our American ally - Nato today is very much a solution in search of a problem. It needs to be reformed and refined - but not to be replaced - 29th March 2008 Brown shouldn't deny the potency of climate change - Rather than pursuing the agenda voters clearly want, the PM is waiting, Micawber-like, for something to rescue him - 15th March 2008 This shambles is in fact a sign of Lib Dem strength - Nick Clegg can shrug off his discomfort on Europe tomorrow and remind Labour and Tories why they should fear his party - 8th March 2008 Our ministers should forget America and study the Mail - The directness and clarity of the plastic bag campaign show dithering politicians that real change is possible - 1st March 2008 Interventionism can be the only moral course of action - Britain was right to play its part in the Kosovo conflict and, however difficult, we have to stick with the consequences - 23rd February 2008 Elitist? Yes. But some things are simply better than others - Barenboim's cycle of 32 Beethoven sonatas is a reminder that the best art is uniquely ennobling. It should be available to all - 16th February 2008 It's hardly Bolshevism to propose taxing non-doms - Ministers are afraid to assert the principles that underpin the wider contract between efficiency and fairness - 9th February 2008 Labour needs to take a good hard look at the opposition - The government's woes are not all self-inflicted. The party has too long ignored how Cameron's messages are playing - 2nd February 2008 Hain's departure epitomises the eclipse of 60s idealism - Whatever his flaws, this grizzled veteran came from an era that was a world away from today's technocratic politics - 26th January 2008 President Blair can make Sarkozy's dream come true - The French leader has the classic Gaullist vision: Europe, with our former prime minister in the chair, shaping the world - 19th January 2008 This battle will not come to an end on Super Tuesday - On both sides in the US presidential primaries, the big discussions need to continue far beyond the polls of February 5 - 12th January 2008 Hillary is the candidate of retribution, not of hope - Young voters want to end not only the Iraq war, but the US culture wars. They aim to move beyond Bush - and the Clintons - 5th January 2008

Articles: 2007 US politics has been wrecked by rigid party allegiances - America's governance system has become so polarised that it can barely solve its own problems, let alone the world's - 29th December 2007 Gout is no joke. This I know from painful experience - Like many mainly male things, this agonising disease is rarely spoken of, and so falls victim to mythology and mockery - 22nd December 2007 Send in the strings! - Martin Kettle on the true purpose of the New York Philharmonic's trip to North Korea - 12th December 2007 The next decade just might belong to the Lib Dems - It may seem cavalier, but the coming years could bring fresh opportunities, as well as false dawns, for the liberal tradition - 8th December 2007 Stop fighting Tony Blair and start leading the government - In the key battlegounds of character, competence and consistency, Brown is on the run. He must tell us what he's all about - 24th November 2007 archive

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Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Kettle Prospect magazine: 'performance notes' (archive)