ThePoliticalReader

John Humphrys on the Welfare State

2011-10-26T01:11:00.000+01:00

Loyal readers of the Sunday Times will have seen John Humphrys writing in this week's 'News Review' section, promoting his upcoming programme on the Welfare State (in something of a coup for the BBC, right alongside Andrew Marr's piece on his upcoming programme and book about The Diamond Queen).

The welfare state, the brain-child of Sir William Beveridge (Liberal), is something which has inevitably effected almost all of us over the course of the past 70 years, since his self-titled report was published. His goal? To rid society of the five great ills: want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. However, is the idea of paying people not to work to alleviate idleness not the paradox that now does so much damage to our society?

With 2.57 million people currently unemployed, and similar numbers claiming sickness benefits, the case can be made. And has been. And is being made now more strongly than ever. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton launched a welfare revolution, turning welfare into workfare and taking benefits away from those who would not work in the United States. Did that work? Will it work in the UK? And is it in the best interests of all that is does?

John Humphrys' 'The Future State of Welfare' is on BBC this Thursday at 9pm.

What's happening with TPR?

2011-10-26T01:01:00.000+01:00

TPR has had a busy couple of months - and as a result, this has been a disappointing blog. Indeed, it hasn't been a blog at all. So, what can you expect from TPR in the future?

When I first started the blog, I was hugely flattered by the reception we received. The viewing numbers were better than expected, and the opportunity to write for Huffington Post and Conservative Home, amongst others, was a great thrill. However, time simply no longer allowed to levels of reading and commitment the blog took.

So, what are we to do with TPR? From time to time, I will continue to review books, articles and make recommendations - all the things we did that brought you hear in the first place. However, from hereon in the main thing this blog will be doing is putting all that political reading into use through comment pieces.

Whether it's discussing morality, the welfare state, how to solve the European crisis, we'll be commenting on it here on TPR. And also recommending more books and TV programmes on politics and much more besides, passing opinion on them all.

Remember to follow us on Twitter (@PoliticalReader) from which we will now be tweeting and re-tweeting much more, and highlighting the best of this and other blogs.

Fewer books. More politics. The future of TPR.

Friday Comment: Take Up Your Arms: It’s Time to Fight in the Culture War

2011-08-19T01:33:00.001+01:00

TPR has always had a strange relationship with the BBC. In principle, it is abhorrent. Just imagine that today, in the pioneering age of the internet, a government supported agency came up to you and said “you must pay £142 a year to own a computer that can access the internet so we can produce an inexhaustive range of websites. Failure to do so will be a matter for criminal prosecution.” Many of us would be outraged by such a move and everybody from the penny-pinchers to the ultra-libertarians would be flouting the law in a principled act of civil disobedience. However, when it comes to the BBC, we accept it – willingly, in most cases. TPR himself accepts it, and uses BBC iPlayer more than any other on-demand service and whenever he comes to think of his favourite programmes, on television or radio, the work of the BBC often features amongst the best. The tension caused by the principle behind the funding of the BBC is mediated by their quality broadcasting.

However, it goes beyond quality. The BBC is tolerated – nay, supported – on the grounds that not only does it produce high volumes of quality output, it also produces broadcasts with a public service angle. For example, take the recent documentary series ‘Great Thinkers in Their Own Words’. This unashamedly high-brow series was enlightening to even those who consider themselves to be semi-experts on matters of society and psychology, featuring never before seen footage of some of the 20^th Centuries' great thinkers from the BBC archive. Alternatively, we have ‘My Father was a Nazi Commandant’. Perhaps a surprise hit for both the BBC and those who viewed it, this show tracked the daughter of the Commandant of Plaszow concentration camp in Poland as she sought to meet up with the oppressed Jewish girl who served her father’s household before she was born. Or think of ‘Only Connect’, the most intellectual of quiz shows – and a major success. All of these programmes are quality and fulfil the public service remit that Lord Reith had in mind at the BBC’s foundation. All of these programmes are worth fighting for as a valuable contribution to British culture. All of these programmes first appeared on BBC4.

Therefore, it is of particular concern that the Guardian is reporting that BBC4 is set to be streamlined to “arts and repeats” in the BBC’s attempts to find 20% cuts in their budget. Times are hard and friends are few, and I dare say the BBC ought to find opportunities for budget cuts and greater revenues from selling commercially their broadcasting around the world, yet they must never stray away from their main focus in providing quality public service broadcasting. And arguably, BBC4 fulfils this remit better than any other BBC station - even if its quality is not always reflected in its ratings. When budgets need to be cut, we must all see the appeal in cutting that which receives the fewest viewers. However, this must be mediated by the extent to which BBC4 helps the BBC fulfil the reason why so many of us acquiesce in funding it year after year: quality, public service broadcasting. BBC4 is worth fighting for.

You can join a FaceBook campaign here (I do not know how official the campaign is, or who runs it, and I certainly don’t endorse any of its comments beyond “Save BBC 4”).

UPDATE: A Speaker in Order?

2011-08-18T14:43:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I highlighted an article by James Macintyre on Speaker Bercow. This article caused quite a bit of interest - as anything about Speaker Bercow usually does. So...

TPR has great pleasure in recommending a book by Bobby Friedman on the Speaker called 'Bercow, Mr Speaker: Rowdy Living in the Tory Party'. Friedman (website here) is a familiar face from programmes including the Daily Politics and BBC News 24. Whilst I haven't read his book on the Speaker, I'm sure it has much to recommend it as the first book on the most divisive holder of the chair in living memory.

You can purchase the book here.

TPR Recommends... The House of Cards

2011-08-18T01:00:00.008+01:00

TPR was once told that up to 90% of plots originate from Shakespeare. At first, this seems unbelievable and somewhat disappointing. Indeed, one is often led to ask "what happened to imagination in the near four centuries since Shakespeare's death?" Well, the themes of Macbeth and Richard III throughout this series of books and TV series give significant cause to celebrate the continuing dominance of Shakespearean plots and helped make this perhaps the most celebrated political fiction of all time. I speak, of course, of the most amoral of political figures, in the most Machiavellian of plots, in The House of Cards.

The original series of books, written by former Chief of Staff at CCHQ Michael Dobbs, were a remarkable bedrock for the format in which we later came to know the character of Francis Urquhart MP. With enough underhand tactics to make every wannabe-Machiavelli jealous, Urquhart begins the book as a Chief Whip that would make current MPs feel they are treated mercifully by their whips. By the end of the book, he is Prime Minister. An essential opening to the trilogy. Purchase here.

Dobbs second book centres on one of the more peculiar relationships at the heart of the British constitutional system - that of the Prime Minister and the Monarch. Published at a time of significant controversy for the monarchy, this book has remained as apt now as it was then. And the antics of Prime Minister Urquhart mean, as before, that this is gripping stuff. Available here.

I dare say this recommends section have become a little predictable, but it would be amiss of me to highlight two thirds of the trilogy and not mention the final book. Purchase here.

And finally... many book-lovers often feel than the dramatisation of books ruins them, typically failing to express the full depth of the plot. TPR, not wanting to be a philistine, doesn't always go along with this theory. And I'm delighted that the House of Cards TV series is a case of mastery in words and on screen. Treat yourself this summer - and remember, it could always be worse at the top - here.

Essay in Focus: A Speaker in Order?

2011-08-17T01:00:00.003+01:00

The original article on which this is based first featured in Prospect Magazine and can be read here.
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Loyal readers of TPR will now how much I dislike the work of James Macintyre, and how much I feel that Prospect Magazine's political coverage has gone down in quality since he was appointed Political Editor. As a reminder of my feelings, here is an extract from a recent short biography I posted of Macintyre before reviewing his first book, Ed:

"Truth be told, TPR's heart sank when he saw Macintyre was one of the joint authors of this book. Whilst he has had a fairly illustrious career (working at The Independent and New Statesman) much of his work has been of grave disappointment. Beyond his style, which I do not find favourable, he could easily be portrayed as part of the media arm of the Labour Party and consequently biased to a journalistically embarrassing point. After all, who can forget his predictions of a Labour majority in the 2010 General Election (here) or when he had the New Statesman sued by accusing the Conservatives of institutional and Dan Hannan of personal racism (here). Oh, and his speculation of a Diane Abbott win in the Labour leadership election (here)."

So, perhaps it is strange so soon after publishing this to be focusing on an article written by Macintyre. However, Macintyre has done a somewhat better job in his most recent piece for Prospect Magazine, and the sheer interest caused by its topic made it an irresistible choice.

Speaker Bercow's election did not take place at a celebrated time for the House of Commons. In the aftermath of a Speaker's ousting, Bercow ascended to the Chair of the House at a time of public disgust with MPs. More controversially for him, he ascended with minimal support from his own party. The controversy surrounding both Mr Speaker and his role in the Chair has not subsided since. Many Tory MPs, whilst contented to him fulfilling the role for the immediate future, still think he parades around like Royalty whilst acting like a sanctimonious dwarf (attributed to Conservatives Mark Pritchard and Simon Burns respectively). But despite his ongoing polarising effects - a divide Mrs Speaker frequently encourages through her Twitter account - how successful is Bercow in achieving his objectives in the Chair?

In one sense, Bercow is doing remarkably well. I have little doubt that his number one objective is self-promotion, and as a speaker who frequently interrupts the Prime Minister during PMQs and gives more speeches than many previous speakers, his profile is certainly high - both in the Westminster bubble and outside. In his secondary objective, of raising Parliamentary standards and championing back-benchers, he is having some success, too. Bercow frequently speaks of wanting to make the House of Commons matter again (something much more down to electoral arithmetic than the role of the Speaker on most occasions). While the outcome of the General Election often puts the relationship between the legislature and the executive beyond the Speaker's control, progress has been made with the setting up of a backbench business committee along with the greater use of Urgent Questions from back-benchers. The election by all MPs of the chairs of the select committees, too, is a step towards achieving his goals. However, at times one is led to wonder whether Bercow's championing of back-benchers in scrutinising the government is a means by which he can attack Cameron and his government by proxy, a relationship in which no love is lost, rather than exclusively championing back-benchers for their own sake.

Throughout this piece, Macintyre does a satisfactory job of charting Bercow's first two years in the role. He begins by highlighting some of the key themes of his Speakership. And he is right to assert at the end that Bercow's position is now safer than it has ever been. Let us not rejoice too soon that Macintyre is a reformed man. For that, he would have had to miss out the silliness of mentioning the unsubstantiated rumours that the reason some Tory MPs dislike Bercow is because his is Jewish. Remember Michael Howard, Mr Macintyre? If journalists were leopards, the metaphor would hold.

TPR Recommends... The War in Afghanistan

2011-08-16T01:00:00.019+01:00

Next Sunday, our review will be of 'Tommy this an' Tommy that' by Andrew Murrison, an exploration of the case for the military covenant. As we approach the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 next month, and consequently the beginning of the War on Terror and conflict in Afghanistan, let us consider the best books for understanding the conflict which, along with the conflict in Iraq, has come to define the military in the past decade.

Perhaps the most high-profile Afghanistan-focused memoir to date, Sherard Cowper-Coles, Britain's Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2007-10, arrived on the scene after his retirement last year. In many respects, this was the most important time for the mission in Afghanistan since the initial invasion itself; the withdrawal from Iraq shifted focus onto the Afghan mission whilst the NATO forces failed to achieve a lasting peace there. John Simpson said this book is ‘The clearest, best informed, and most honest account yet of why and how Britain was drawn deeper and deeper into the Afghan war' - broadly speaking, I trust him on these matters. Purchase here.

Peter Tomsen is another former ambassador to Afghanistan, this time from the United States. However, Tomsen was Ambassador at the end of the conflict in Afghanistan involving the declining USSR, a conflict which eventually ended in withdrawal for the second-placed superpower. This book brings together that conflict along with the most recent escapade in Afghanistan in the most holistic analysis of the attempts to conquer the Afghan people and their terrain I've read yet. A fascinating read for an essential insight. Purchase here.

And finally... Ross Kemp on Afghanistan. Just kidding - don't buy it.

Next Week's Sunday Review

2011-08-15T01:30:00.001+01:00

In the aftermath of the riots, attention has turned from one group of sacred public servants to another. Yet, as the ongoing commitments to Afghanistan and Libya continue, attention will no doubt shift once again to how the civilian government treats its armed services. This book, by Andrew Murrison, is an exploration of one of the coalition government's biggest commitments to our service men and woman - the military covenant. The review will be published next Sunday and you can purchase the book here.

Sunday Review: Sandel's Justice

2011-08-14T21:12:00.003+01:00

TPR is delighted to present our first guest review, this week submitted by Zoe Molyneux. Enjoy.

Who said philosophy was dead?

(Sandel, Michael J., 2010. Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? London: Penguin.)

In 1984, Michael Sandel wrote: “Political philosophy seems often to reside at a distance from the rest of the world… [E]ven our best efforts to ‘live up’ to our ideals typically founder on the gap between theory and practice”.[i] His words criticised some of the discipline’s most beloved philosophers – particularly John Rawls – for keeping principles and political reality entirely separate, as if the two have no bearing on one another. 25 years later, Sandel is still arguing against philosophical vogues.[ii] In Justice, he suggests that we ought to take stock of the kind of society in which we want to live, and what principles we might use to justify our chosen way of life.

The central mission of Justice is to take the reader on a philosophical tour of highly controversial debates including affirmative action, paid surrogacy and abortion. Early on in the book, Sandel suggests three ways of evaluating such contested issues: welfare, freedom and virtue. He then attempts to achieve this by touching upon the theories of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant through to Rawls and Robert Nozick, finally taking us back in time to Aristotle’s Ancient Greece. It is an amiably written, unintimidating primer for those who are new to the study of moral philosophy, not least because so many important philosophers are covered in such a concentrated manner. But it should not be dismissed by those who are well-versed in debating about justice, because Sandel’s ultimate proposition is more important than ever. In a world that is ever divided by national, cultural and religious interests, with such divisions occurring even within states, does it still make sense for governments to insist upon the seperateness of public and private morality? Or should we admit that, for its tendency to neglect the people who give political life all of its purpose, this approach to public policy has failed?

Sandel’s journey begins with a critique of utilitarianism, and this move is important. Though liberalism turned it into a pariah theory for the best part of the previous century, it has enjoyed a revival at the hands of Peter Singer, J.J.C Smart, Bernard Williams and the like. It is also, on the face of it, a plausible way to approach questions of right and wrong. Sandel first picks up on the case of R v Dudley and Stephens, an 1884 case where three shipwrecked sailors killed and cannibalised a cabin boy. It is famous amongst trainee lawyers as key to understanding the necessity defence in legal practice. Yet even more importantly, it provoked a huge demonstration of public sympathy towards Dudley and Stephens, who were both on trial for murder. Utilitarian reasoning seemed to be prevalent even in untrained philosophers. In Justice, it is presented to us as a litmus test for our utilitarian tendencies and while Sandel makes no judgement as to whether the actions of the sailors were truly reprehensible, he seems uncomfortable with this state of affairs. He suggests that we might want to ask bigger questions about the extent to which human life is sacred and whether we really have any inalienable rights. This is all very well. It is frustrating, however, that Sandel never truly reveals his hand on this or any other of the controversies featured in the book. He seems to be suggesting that individuals have intrinsic value that must preclude them from becoming fodder for starving sailors, just as elsewhere he displays unease at governments placing a dollar value on human life and personal happiness. At each instance the conclusion seems morally repugnant, and therefore damning of utilitarianism. But committed philosophers will ask for more from a justification for abandoning utilitarian theory. Moreover, while Sandel provides the requisite tools for us to think about right and wrong like philosophers, he is constantly reluctant to take his reasoning to the point of producing definitive judgements.

He is equally dissatisfied with John Stuart Mill’s revised form of utilitarianism, which uses “higher pleasures” such as liberty to evaluate utility. Mill saves utilitarianism from becoming a “crude calculus of pleasure and pain” but, in Sandel’s eyes, these higher pleasures easily collapse into a defence of individual rights independent from utility. The next, most voluminous part of the book considers the very concept of individual rights, via the work of a few very different philosophers. His suggestion that this part covers “freedom” as the basis for justice is a misnomer: Robert Nozick’s libertarianism, Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative and John Rawls’ liberal equality have many differences, but their greatest similarity is that they are all rights-based theories. What is more, the rights upon which they insist must be universally applicable. This is crucially important since, if we are to believe Sandel, the search for universal values may represent an overwhelming wrong-turning in the course of our collective moral reflection.

In assessing these different conceptions of universal moral principles, Sandel provides a string of real-life stories and ethical questions that test just how squeamish we are with respect the logical consequences of those principles. If we believe in rights to self-ownership and individual freedom, are we willing to extend this to allowing women in India to rent out their wombs? Equally, should we accept that German software engineers can consent to be killed and eaten by one another? Our answer is of little importance, since Sandel knows that he has backed the universalists into a corner. What matters is that each of these debates shows how, when politicians pick a single criterion on which to base policy that is neutral to any one person’s conception of the good, they often lose sight of what matters to anyone.

The third and final section of Justice focuses on what might be missing from this picture. Aristotle, Sandel explains, saw that the just distribution of a good must be determined by the purpose or telos of that good. The best flutes should therefore go to the best flute players in order to produce the most beautiful music. If we extend this, the purpose of politics is to pursue the good life in Aristotle’s sense of the concept –citizens must strive to cultivate virtuous character traits, those which strike a balance between excess and deficiency on every level. One such positive attribute is active participation in political life. Therefore, goes Sandel’s reading of Aristotle, political rights and freedoms must be distributed to this end.

Sandel leaves his prescriptions until the final chapter, which turns out to be the most thought-provoking part of all. While all of his anecdotes are engaging, there is an obvious sense throughout much of the book that Sandel’s personal judgements have been missing. If he is dissatisfied with Kant, Rawls, Nozick and the rest of them, we wonder, then what does he suggest is the right way to think about justice? What we eventually receive is a wonderfully apt treatise on the value of civic engagement. This may not be a cure-all for eradicating injustice. But encouraging community cohesion, which in turns promotes democratic debate, is surely an important step in the right direction. None of this argument is new – Sandel has been making the case for communitarian moral and civic renewal for most of his career and his ideas are obviously inspired by those of Aristotle. Sandel’s truly imaginative step is to reiterate his case as a progressive solution to our generation’s unique political problems. His solution seems more relevant than ever as globalisation has taken hold and the world’s economic and religious divisions therefore become increasingly marked. And he is right to argue that any attempt to find a politically neutral solution to this situation seems to have made the problem worse.

The cynics amongst us might find Sandel’s tone to be a little too saccharine; some might too-quickly summarise his method as simply telling the world to talk about its problems more and hoping that this will make them go away. Anyone that watched Sandel’s recent BBC series will remember how fascinated the philosopher was with David Cameron’s Big Society project – that which now seems so fraught with controversy yet aligns quite neatly with Sandel’s communitarianism. In light of this, I hope most readers of Justice are not so quick to dismiss his ideas. The scale of the book gives Sandel little time to fully elaborate upon his project, which I imagine would be a Theory of Justice-sized endeavour. And even Sandel’s detractors must engage in a debate about how political life must proceed without becoming irrelevant to current debates about morality and religious conviction. If nothing else, Sandel is part of a vanguard attempting to save political philosophy from its fate as the preserve of a privileged few.

[i] Michael J. Sandel, “The Procedural Republic and the Unencumbered Self”. Political Theory 12:1 (1984): 1. Accessed 4 July 2011, http://www.jstor.org/stable/191382.

[ii] Though he may find some company in UCL’s Jonathan Wolff. See Jonathan Wolff, Ethics and Public Policy. London: Routledge, 2011.

Friday Comment: Panic on the Streets of London [Manchester, Liverpool...]

2011-08-13T00:16:00.001+01:00

The Hyperbole of Mob Mentality and a Good Week for the Cameron Narrative

In the land of tea and scones, the world has been shocked at the recent riots on the streets of the UK. Indeed, nobody was more shocked than the British themselves. After a perceived social harmony in the UK throughout the New Labour years (a view held primarily by the middle class and the establishment) the riots came as a bitter reminder of the lack of satisfaction with British society amongst some of its members. More worringly still, it highlighted the lack of morality within elements of British society, as the horror of the Malaysian student mugged by his helpers demonstrated ably. However, just as the perception of Britain’s social harmony before the riots was over-dramatized, so is the current prevailing view of the significant mob detached from society. Instead, these riots represent a minor section of British society – part of which can be cured – and a vindication for David Cameron in the shaping of the medium-term political narrative.

Anybody who lives outside of the cities in which violence occurred will understand how close their communities were to being invaded by BBC news teams. People in Oxford will have seen the surprising number of hooded people hanging around the crossroads in the centre of town whilst the residents of Cambridge will have seen a similar situation on Midsummer Common. The same will be true for the residents of dozens of towns and cities across the UK. Yet very few witnessed images of smashed windows and riot police that London, Manchester and Liverpool did. The reason is simple and can help us explain how we tackle this problem in the medium to long term: the immorality of most looters is passive and can be altered whilst only a small minority of them are hardened to the immorality of the past week.

The unusually high number of people in towns and cities across the country were there, without question, in expectation that disorder may take over their communities. However, they were never going to be the ones to start it. They lacked the courage of their opportunism and were simply waiting for someone else to start the fire from which they could claim themselves a plasma screen TV or pair of trainers. The passive group, masked in shame of their opportunistic criminality, are not the big threat – their immorality could be remedied. It is those who led and instigated the riots who are the greater threat and those whom government and society will always fail to engage. This realisation must help mediate the potency for knee-jerk reactions in the aftermath of the chaos. Similarly, whilst some looters can be reintegrated into society, we must not be overly optimistic about all looters as the debate shifts.

When the debate does shift, these riots represent a broad vindication of David Cameron’s narrative which should pay dividends in the future. Whilst his stance on the police risks losing him the current political battle, these riots have given credence to his claim of a “broken” society that previously received little traction outside of the Daily Mail readership. This hardening of the public attitude is good for the Conservative agenda for society going forward – and like any crisis, this gives Cameron significant opportunity to act. Conversely, Cameron has been vindicated on his Big Society narrative. The only actions that matched in magnitude the evils of the muggings, lootings and murders were the inspirational acts of the people who tried to peacefully stand-up for their communities, or the incredible sales figures of brooms in Camden as a community came together to reclaim their streets. Whilst the state will play its role in rebuilding the communities affected, the first and most significant actions came from the residents themselves. The Broken and Big Societies are alive and the riots have helped form a narrative to realise Cameron’s objectives for them both.

Coming up this Friday...

2011-08-10T23:26:00.000+01:00

On Friday, I'll be launching my first weekly comment piece.

The purpose of the comment piece is not necessarily to simply focus on the issue of the week, but to raise an underlying issue evolving in politics. Basically, put political reading to practical use.

This week, however, I would be at a loss not to focus on the rioting which has affected London (where I currently am) and many areas of the North West that I call home.

I hope you'll join me on Friday as I add a new feather to the TPR cap - and, of course, do continue to join us every day for updates and on Sunday for our weekly in-depth review.

TPR Recommends... Tony Blair

2011-08-10T23:10:00.000+01:00

With the Chilcot Inquiry soon to announce its conclusions - and Labour's most electorally successful Prime Minister set to be in the firing line - what better time to reflect on the books that best record the life and times of Anthony Blair. Here, TPR selects his pick of the best - ignoring TB's own contribution to the market.

It would be a disservice to describe this book as anything other than an epic tome. Anthony Seldon, who has written the seminal biographies on Blair to date, here compiles the most holistic analysis of Blair's ten years at the top - ten years that completely changed the face of the nation... sort of. Published by Cambridge University Press, it can be purchased here.

As the title page implies, this book is much more suited to the beach holiday (save the previous book for the study). In this book, Larry Elliot and Dan Atkinson make a convincing case against the first ten years of the New Labour government's in a way that has since become near instinctive for many critiques of Blair, Brown et al. Read the first damning critique published in the immediate aftermath of Blair's departure and Brown's ascension here.

Alastair Campbell did more to damage British politics than almost anybody else in modern politics. There, I've said it. His time as Communication Director for Tony Blair fostered the culture of spin in a way that would have been broadly incomprehensible in the 1980s and it would be a tough sell to say this is a positive development. Yet, we have two things to thank him for. Firstly, for helping make the satire of The Thick of It so cutting. And secondly, for the contribution of his diaries. Like anybody with an ego who keeps a diary every night, these volumes are often too long but many gems can be found. All things considered, they're worth the struggle. Click the picture of the volume (one to four, left to right) to purchase your copies.

Next Week's Sunday Review

2011-08-08T00:16:00.000+01:00

Next week, we'll be welcoming our first guest review. Regular watchers of BBC4 - and who isn't? - will recall Michael Sandel's recent recordings of his Harvard University lectures on the course Justice. As with all good BBC documentary series, there is a book to accompany it. Next week, we'll be reviewing it.

Buy Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? here.

An apology

2011-08-02T00:55:00.002+01:00

Loyal readers,

TPR has been away without internet and the blog, despite being set to auto-update pre-written posts, failed to update.

Apologies to everybody who visited the blog in the past week looking for new post - normal service resumes tomorrow!

Yours,
TPR

From Conservative Home...

2011-07-30T13:41:00.000+01:00

In the even younger life of The Political Reader, we published a review of Chavs: The Demonization of the Working-Class. At the time, I wrote a piece for Conservative Home about what the Conservatives can learn from a book like this. I'm delighted that they have published it.

So, re-live the memories of Owen Jones' first contribution to the world of political books within the context of the Conservative Party... and let us know what you think!

Click here to read the article.

Coming up this week...

2011-07-30T12:38:00.000+01:00

What you can expect in the coming week in the world of The Political Reader...

Later on today I'll be posting a link to an extra article TPR has recently written for another website. Read it here later to reinvigorate memories of one of our recent Sunday Review titles...
On Sunday you can read our next Sunday Review, this week of 'In Defence of Politicians (in spite of themselves) by former Times Political Commentator and true legend of the political commentariat, Peter Riddell. The highlight of the TPR week.
Monday sees the announcement of next week's Sunday Review when we'll be taking a guest review. Viewers of BBC 4 will likely be familiar with the author of next week's book...
By the time Tuesday comes around, we'll be recommending some more summer books to the read in the best of political fiction.
On Wednesday we'll be doing another 'Essay in Focus' section and looking stateside once again to find the best analysis of the (by then surely resolved, for now at least) U.S. Debt crisis.
Thursday sees another author biography, this week focusing on the Harvard Professor who writes this week's book. Know who it is yet?
And on Friday we have another recommends section looking at the work of Immanual Kant and asking "what are the essential books to understand the man, his philosophy and his legacy today?"
Saturday sees us do this all over again as we usher in a new week at The Political Reader.

Like what we've got coming up? Dislike it? Got some recommendation for titles to review or topics on which to recommend? Always feel free to get in touch!

TPR Recommends... The Vulcans

2011-07-28T00:15:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, we look at a book which highlighted the greatest perceived divide of the last decade - that of Islam and the West. Whenever we reflect on that period, it can be remarkable just how much personalities have come to the define the debates and the events - be it Bush, Cheney, Rice or Rumsfeld, the personalities often linger longer in our minds that the policies themselves. In light of this, here are TPR's pick of the best books to understand the key figures in the American cast of the War on Terror.

This book is effectively the best summary available on what this recommends section is about. James Mann profiles the history of six key figures in Bush's inner circle - Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Armitage and Condolleezza Rice - charting their careers back to the Nixon administration and forming one of the most lasting group biographies of the team that redefined America's role in the post-9/11 world. Purchase here.

Not often does a memoir reference one of the most mocked linguistic moments in a politician's career. In only one of the many unconventional elements of Donald Rumsfeld, he has done exactly that (for anybody who doesn't remember, this video is worth a watch). Rumsfeld's career at the top of U.S. Government began in the Nixon administration, making it all the more remarkable that the former wrestling champion was still at the very top of government when President Bush finally accepted his resignation in 2006. To TPR's mind, the best memoir from a member of Team Bush available to date. Purchase here.

Okay, I've cheated - Sir Christopher Meyer is not American. However, from 1997-2003 he was Britain's ambassador to the United States and lived just down the road from the White House. When this book was published in 2005, it was attacked by the Labour government and slated by many MPs who urged him not to publish it. However, it reads credibly and remarkably engaging for a diplomatic memoir. One of the most accessible insights into one of the most interesting times. Purchase here.

Next week, we'll be continuing our author-specific recommends sections as we look at books by Peter Oborne.

Author Profile: Peter Riddell

2011-07-27T02:57:00.000+01:00

True politicos are weird people. Not only do they enjoy the prospect of BBC Parliament showing hour-after-hour of 1983 election coverage, but will do almost anything in politics simply for its own sake - even long into retirement. All of us who are, to put it rudely, weird enough to fall into this category are in good company. Amongst us are many famous faces, and amongst them is former Times Political commentator The Rt. Hon. Peter Riddell.

The two most significant gigs in the career of Peter Riddell have been big ones. From 1989 to 1991 he was U.S. Editor and Washington Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, observing the end of the Cold War from the Washington perspective. From there, he went to The Times where his contributions to the political debate were numerous and almost always insightful. Throughout this latter period, his voice was a familiar one to all of us who listen to Radio 4's Week in Westminster or ever turn on the Daily Politics.

Yet Peter's engagement in politics goes much beyond his journalistic career. In 1996, he got involved in the Hansard Society, which aims to make clear the work of Parliament and the role of representative democracy. He now chairs this organisation (and his latest book is full of facts from their annual reports on engagement with politics). More recently, he was made a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Government, one of the most important think tanks in the UK (and worth looking into).

Peter Riddell is a true politico. His engagement with politicians and political academics alike is of great service to his continued comments on the current state of politics and increasingly his interest in the structures of politics beyond the day-to-day debates. His departure from the Times in 2010 ought to be regretted - his continuing contribution to the world of political books ought to be welcomed.

Those lucky enough to be behind The Times paywall can read Peter's old work here.

TPR Recommends... Peter Riddell

2011-07-26T10:47:00.000+01:00

Peter Riddell has been a benchmark figure in the British commentariat for decades. Known to most of us as the political editor of The Times until his retirement after the General Election of 2010, his insights have generally been both pithy and insightful. Indeed, whereas many political commentators (genuinely naming no names) have been inclined to enter into the most absurd hyperbole, Riddell has often been much more grounded in a nuanced political world. So it gives me great pleasure to recommend two of his books, and one more to commemorate his career.

Far too often, when TPR is searching Amazon for images of some of his favourite political books for this site, they appear out-of-print. Such is the case with the stand-out book of Peter's career, 'Hug them Close'. Focusing on the Anglo-American "special/essential relationship" (delete as per your view of Britain's role in the world and/or dependence on American power) this highly engaging book from the former Washington D.C. correspondent for the Financial Times is a must-read. Set in the context of the Blair years, what it tells us about the British-American dynamics ring true in the new age of Cameron-Obama relations. Purchase here.

Over time, I hope, the top tier of my bookshelf will feature The Times Guides to the House of Commons that reflects the entire duration of my interest in politics. This is the must-own book for everybody who thinks or comments on the practicalities of politics in any detail. Never watch an unknown backbencher rise to his feet in the House of Commons again without knowing their vital statistics (constituency, majority, career background...) with this well-researched volume covering the last General Election of Riddell's career. Purchase here.

And finally... our current book of the moment, In Defence of Politicians (in spite of themselves). It no doubt tells us something about the nature of this book that Peter Riddell waited until the end of his thirty years of covering politics as the God-father of the Westminster village before writing this book. Part memoir, part general analysis of the way we do politics, this is a lasting testament to a great journalistic career. Visit us on Sunday for our in-depth review but in the meantime read along and purchase the book here.

Next time, TPR Recommends... The American cast in the War on Terror. All of the must-read books on the figures who shaped the American foreign policy we have now simply come to call 'The Bush Doctrine'. Arriving Thursday.

Next Week's Sunday Review

2011-07-25T00:01:00.001+01:00

After a decade and a half of cash-for-questions, cash-for-peerages, the perceived betrayal of the War in Iraq, the expenses scandal and now Hacking-gate, the case in defence of politicians is rarely made. However, like many politicos, TPR believes that the process of politics itself - and inevitably, the people who form that process - are not only essential but grossly under-rated. Therefore, as Parliament comes to a close for its Summer Recess, we'll be reviewing a book likely to make our MPs spend the summer feeling a little more vindicated about their representative duties - Peter Riddell's 'In Defence of Politicians (in spite of themselves)'.

You can purchase the book hereto read along with us and, as ever, our in-depth review will be published on Sunday.

Sunday Review: Ed

2011-07-24T01:43:00.000+01:00

Brothers at Arms

(Macintyre, J. & Hasan, M., 2011. Ed: The Milibands and the Making of a Labour Leader. London: Biteback Publishing)

The opening chapter of this book could easily — and happily — be the synopsis of a great Second World War novel. “Ralph, the Jewish protagonist, walks sixty miles with his father to catch the last ferry from Belgium to England in order to escape the encroaching Nazis. His wife remains in Belgium while he begins to carve out a new life in England. Tension grows as his new home successively turns down his applications for citizenship. Eventually, when granted indefinite leave to remain, he becomes the most prominent Marxist academic in the country and makes Britain his home with his wife and young family.” Such is the drama in the life of Ralph Miliband. Against this backdrop, the precocious yet predictable lives of his sons could only disappoint.

Soon, this book’s real protagonist enters the main stage. Inevitably, given the proximity of their birth and the similarity of their progress through education and the Labour ranks, his appearances are matched constantly by his elder brother, David (in whose shadow, one feels throughout this book, Ed had always felt). Their careers began in earnest at London’s Haverstock School, before David and later Ed attended Corpus Christi, Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). Their mechanical careers — as if the output of a social democratic factory — matched each other almost perfectly. Later, David studied for a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a direction Ed would also follow when he spent a year at Harvard. Both returned from America and made their way through the world of Westminster’s Special Advisors (SpAds) and into the House of Commons before sitting together at Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

On the basis of the preceding paragraph, one could skip the majority of this book. Not that these pages shouldn’t be there – I dare say the formative years of Mili-E and Mili-D, as many came to refer to them during the leadership contest, are important to understanding the men today. But this story is predictable, building up to the inevitable conflict that finally materialised in the summer of 2010.

The commentary does little to ameliorate the inevitability of much of the initial pages of this book. That which we receive comes on the backs of the numerous interviews this book’s authors, Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre, conducted with the figures who have shaped the brothers’ lives. However, while the input of broadly unknown figures may be of interest to some, their contributions are largely fruitless when forming a holistic image of the brothers. After all, so many of the figures that shaped their lives are a consequence of their father’s left-wing contacts and few of them are well known, even in the political world. Those that are well known, on the other hand, hold obvious bias. The noble task of interviewing so many people does this book little service. A more factual account, while inevitably slimmer and less well articulated, could have permitted the reader to form his own opinions.

Using the bedrock of facts as the basis for opinion, some aspects of Ed’s rise to the top and the people he has taken with him can teach us a lot, especially about his approach to building a political team. When Ed was seconded from Harriet Harman’s office to work for Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown, he worked alongside Ed Balls (the current Shadow Chancellor), Yvette Cooper (Balls’ wife and currently Shadow Home Secretary) and Douglas Alexander (Ed’s Shadow Foreign Secretary). Between the four of them, they shadow the four key offices of state. This could suggest one or both of two things: First, if Ed views anything as family, it is his political clique rather than his brother; second, Ed has failed to transcend the Blair-Brown divide beyond which he claimed he could take Labour. Rarely has such a ridiculous claim been made as his statement to move beyond New Labour — Ed and his team are not moving beyond the divides of 1994-2010, they are simply evidence of Team Brown’s victory.

Where this book really does come into its own is with the leadership election that created the “dysfunctional relationship” that persists between the two brothers. The key point of contention in this section, which throws into question so much about the character of Ed, is when he decided to run for the leadership of the Labour Party. According to Ed, when David announced that he would stand the day after Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister, he had yet to make up his mind whether to run. Though yet to make up his mind, he had already sought the support of former cabinet colleagues Hilary Benn and Peter Hain. And he had clearly been giving significant thought to the matter when he sought the advice of Lord Kinnock in January 2010 and the support of an adviser in Brown’s team in the dying days of his government. On top of Ed’s apparent misleading statement about the timing of his decision, the question of whether Ed ever drove to David’s house to tell him he was running has also been a point of dispute between the two. David continues to deny that any such meeting ever took place. Why would David lie? And why, for that matter, would Ed? There are some things that only brothers know — this is one of them — but there are some things we can all infer from such controversies.

On the back of this review, many people may feel that the act of political fratricide that Ed committed against his elder brother is intolerable and renders him unfit for Prime Minister. There may be something to this — we must all be left asking what we think of a man whose brotherly bonds seemingly mean so little to him. But what shines through this book is that we ought never to have doubted the ability of the younger Miliband to win against his brother and we certainly never should have felt that David was the obvious successor to Brown. In this context, the fratricide is less one-directional. But the lasting point of this book, written by two Labour-supporting members of the British commentariat, is a moderately convincing case for this man to lead the Labour Party and the country (at least, relative to Labour’s other figures). However, the credibility gap between their portrayal and the man we see on our television screens — the awkward man, winning on the backs of the unions, promoting his old friends, repeating phrases over and over again, and rarely laying a punch on Prime Minister David Cameron during Prime Ministers’ Questions — is not Prime Minister material. If this book is right, then ‘Prime Minister Miliband’ is a long way off.

You can purchase 'Ed' here.

Coming up this week...

2011-07-23T00:29:00.001+01:00

We're at the end of the third full week in the life of The Political Reader blog - having fun? I do hope so...

Here's what we've got coming up this week:

Tomorrow (Sunday) we'll be publishing our forth in-depth Sunday Review. This week, the book we'll be focusing on is 'Ed' by James Macintyre and Mehdi Hasan. The first book dedicated to the new Labour leader, this ought to give us an interesting insight into what the future has in store.
Monday sees the announcement of our next Sunday Review title. Next week's is a fairly snappy read by a familiar face in the world of British politics. Former Times Political Editor is your clue for this week... got it yet?
By the time Tuesday comes around, TPR will have prepared another Recommends section. For this edition, we'll be recommending some author-specific titles focusing on the author of this week's Sunday Review.
Wednesday sees the return of the no-longer-controversial Author Profile when we'll be looking in-depth at the prestigious career of the author of this week's Sunday Review title.
On Thursday the TPR Recommends section returns as we set our sights once again on some of the best books in a field. In advance of tomorrow's focus on the broader divide between Islam and the West that has manifested itself para-militarily in the War on Terror, we'll be considering the best books than understand the key figures involved in those wars - the vultures and hawks of the political and academic neo-conservative movement.
Friday sees the return of TPR's Short Reads. This week, we'll be looking at 'The Word and the Bomb by Hanif Kureishi. Described as "a collection of Kureishi's most controversial and though-provoking writing on the gulf between fundamentalist Islam and Western values" it should hopefully spark up significant debate on the seminal cultural divide of this Century.
And finally, on Saturday we do this all again and prepare for the week ahead in the world of The Political Reader.

As it's summer, TPR will leave you with a not-so-political recommendation of some fiction books. TPR has recently become a fan of the writings of Christopher Isherwood. A British author, born in Cheshire, who later became a naturalized American citizen, Isherwood wrote the famous stories of Sally Bowles which formed the basis of Cabaret and also A Single Man on which the 2009 film with Colin Firth was based. And for a political edge, he would later be seen as a key figure in the gay rights movement in America before his death in 1986. For a break from the political, check out some of his works here.

TPR Recommends... George W. Bush's Elections

2011-07-22T00:25:00.000+01:00

In TPR's fairly short life, few politicians have been as polarising as President George W. Bush. Reviled by those who opposed the episodes which have come to define his eight years in office (namely the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) yet still seen as under-rated by many who valued his vision for the world and will to see it through, he remains controversial to this day. And outside of today's political debates, who can deny the lasting controversy of his 2000 election victory (which went to the U.S. Supreme Court and many still feel was stolen by the Republicans) and his divisive 2004 re-election. So, here to re-live the memories of the elections of George W. Bush, here are TPR's pick of some of the best books in and out of print.

This book describes itself as "not a journalistic account of campaigning and media strategy but a reflective assessment of the strangest election in modern American history." Exactly what such an election requires and, truth be told, what the world of political books requires in a market saturated with journalistic tell-alls by the darlings of the political circuit using their unparalleled closeness to the candidates to cash-in on a book. If this book does what it claims, one to cherish. Yet, as ever, the proof is in the pages. Purchase here.

TPR is a little disappointed to see this book is no longer in print. However, David Frum's account of George W. Bush's early days in the White House is a thoroughly engaging book. If virtue is to be found in content, then the events of 9/11 make this account of life in the White House at the time gripping. Beyond that, we find the case for George W. Bush elegantly made from the perspective of 2003. David Frum is, especially for those interested in Canadian politics, a wonk to watch. Purchase here.

Written by the Newsweek team who followed the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, this book (also sadly out-of-print yet still available from certain sellers) is a must-read for those who are willing to settle for a less insightful analysis in favour of a narrative re-run of the rollercoaster campaign that secured Bush's place in history as a two-term President and Senator John F. Kerry's place as a political side-liner. Purchase here.

Anybody who has ever themselves searched on a book site for "Bush" "Election 2000" or "Election 2004" will have been met with an unprecedented number of conspiracy theory-touting books claiming that Bush stole either the first or the second election - or both. I have done my best to avoid these. Yet if you know of one that is well written and insightful (and doesn't simply attribute the perculiarities of the U.S. judicial system to a Bush family conspiracy) do drop me an email.

Author Profile: James Macintyre and Medhi Hasan

2011-07-19T23:25:00.000+01:00

This Sunday, TPR will be reviewing the first book to be released about the new leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband. Given the Labour Party's reluctance to depose failing leaders (as Mr Miliband has been perceived until the last few weeks' scandal unraveled), this is an important book - the first attempt to fully understand the man who will likely lead the Labour Party into the next General Election. So, in light of this, here is a brief teaser for this Sunday's Review - brief biographies of its two authors.**

James Macintyre

Truth be told, TPR's heart sank when he saw Macintyre was one of the joint authors of this book. Whilst he has had a fairly illustrious career (working at The Independent and New Statesman) much of his work has been of grave disappointment. Beyond his style, which I do not find favourable, he could easily be portrayed as part of the media arm of the Labour Party and consequently biased to a journalistically embarrassing point. After all, who can forget his predictions of a Labour majority in the 2010 General Election (here) or when he had the New Statesman sued by accusing the Conservatives of institutional and Dan Hannan of personal racism (here). Oh, and his speculation of a Diane Abbott win in the Labour leadership election (here).

None of this was cause for encouragement, and TPR entered this book from a cautious angle. Indeed, it has certainly been a risk for Biteback to publish this work from an unpublished figure. Let's simply hope for all sakes that this rumoured-to-be controversial biography (not as true as the rumours suggest) doesn't find itself in the pitfalls of his previous work.

Mehdi Hasan

Until Macintyre recently left the New Statesman to be Politics Editor for Prospect magazine, Mehdi Hasan was one of his "speccie" colleagues. Also a clear supported and passionate critic of the Labour and Conservative Parties respectively, one would inevitably approach this book wondering if these Labourites have it in them to criticise the man who will likely lead Labour into 2015.

A graduate of Christ Church, Oxford, at which he studied PPE (demonstrating the Oxford PPE-ers don't only dominate the House, but Fleet Street too), Hasan begins his approach to this book from a somewhat worrying status himself (indeed, on occasions his Labourism has seemed to undermine the clarity and strength of his arguments (for example criticising David Cameron's speech on the basis of its supporters and not his substance - here). Yet he is himself a prominent figure with plenty of experience - and he is without question one of the more articulate figures in Britain's current leftist commentariat.

TPR has high hopes for this book. As an avid follower of politics whose interest is unlikely to wane before 2015, this is the beginning of a nation-wide engagement to understand potential Prime Minister Mili-E. On Sunday, we'll be considering the book itself. However, a cautious note is worth raising on its authors. If we are to thoroughly understand Ed, we need some more books from a more diverse range of opinion, and quick (yet feel free to take more than the six months this book took to write).

**As many of you will recall, last week TPR has a dispute with author Peter Hitchens over just such a brief biography. As previously (when Mr Hitchens, despite his dramatic protests, could not find a single factual inaccuracy) I have researched this biography. If anything is incorrect, I would only be too delighted to correct it. However, nobody ought come to a review site and not expect opinion, so I make no apologies for the personal opinions that I express about either of these two authors. They are a consequence of my analysis of their work. As ever, any protestors can drop me an email.

TPR Recommends... The French Revolution

2011-07-19T00:16:00.000+01:00

For TPR, few events in history quite match the excitement and the philosophical majesty of the French Revolution. Indeed, TPR is likely one of the many fans of this period of history who have a tendency to over-romanticise the bloody events of the 1790s and the tyranny of Napoleon in the 1800s. However, with so much of the political consensus we know today inspiring the French Revolution (Montesquieu) or formed in reaction to it (Burke), it's certainly a topic worth knowing about.

The seminal book on this topic is by British historian Simon Schama. Here he offers one the definitive account of the French Revolution. More than likely too heavy to take on the beach for your summer holidays, and too dense to be read whilst taking notes, this is a book that best sits on the side of the desk for digesting chapter-by-chapter for the broadest narrative and some interesting analysis. Purchase here.

Politicians just ain't as good as they used to be. Ever feel this way? Maximillian Robespierre will compound and challenge your view all at the same time. Potentially the most interesting revolutionary figure (whose time of dominance of the Committee for Public Safety brought in the 'Reign of Terror') his time of authority went from the aforementioned bloodiness of the terror to the bizarre attempt to create his own pagan religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being. To think it all ended with an attempted suicide (in which he managed only to shatter his own jaw with a pistol) before he was guillotined without trial. Purchase here.

Edmund Burke was the founder of modern conservative ideology (which would later be applied to the party, the founding of which in its modern form is attributed to Robert Peel). It is fitting, therefore, that he wrote a book about the management of change. Few times were so fitting for such a book to be written - France was in revolution, America had revolted and formed an independent nation and the industrial revolution had brought about significant change in Britain itself. Reflections on the Revolution in France remains a classic of British political philosophy. Purchase here.