Melanie Phillips

The word ‘Orwellian’ has become over-used to the point of cliche. Yet there is really no other way to describe the deeply sinister, upside-down onslaught upon common sense that has extended even into the school playgrounds of politically correct Britain.

Published in: Daily Mail

You may not think it to look at him, but the mild and courteous Michael Gove is fast coming to resemble a black belt in martial arts. Maybe he has been having lessons on the quiet.

Published in: Daily Mail

With remarkably prescient timing, more than 100 Tory MPs have written to the Prime Minister demanding that the £400 million-a-year subsidies paid to the onshore wind turbine industry should be ‘dramatically cut’.

Published in: Daily Mail

As has long been clear, something seems to have gone very badly wrong with the culture of British policing. While many police officers do a sterling job in preventing crime and promoting public tranquillity, barely a week goes past without some fresh revelation of gross incompetence or allegation of cronyism — or even corruption — by the police.

Published in: Daily Mail

When Sasha Laxton was born five years ago, his parents decided they wanted to avoid classifying him as either a boy or a girl. They felt that to do so was a kind of ‘sexual stereotyping’ which had to be avoided at all costs.

Published in: Daily Mail

Oh, the irony of it! The fear that the Scots are heading for a referendum in which they would vote for independence from England drove the Prime Minister last week to launch a campaign to prevent such an outcome.

Published in: Daily Mail

Oh dear. The latest victim of Britain’s new ‘sensitivity inquisition’ is no less than someone whose antennae are most exquisitely attuned to the niceties of political correctness — the Prime Minister himself.

Published in: Daily Mail

Another new year, another honours list and yet another unseemly uproar.

Published in: Daily Mail

Rarely has a song that’s hit the top of the charts provoked more tears and admiration than today’s runaway winner, Wherever You Are.

Published in: Daily Mail

Has David Cameron at last discovered his inner Conservative?

Published in: Daily Mail

History does not yet record whether the Prime Minister is given to philosophical reflections about fate and destiny. Nevertheless, it is striking how David Cameron’s career is associated with random pieces of luck or unforeseen events which have the effect of transforming his fortunes overnight, both for better and worse.

Published in: Daily Mail

The recommendation that children as young as 12 should be taught ‘responsible betting’ in school will strike many people as some kind of bad joke.

Published in: Daily Mail

Even in our crime-wearied times, people sometimes behave with a heartlessness that just stops you in your tracks.

Published in: Daily Mail

Once again, Prince Philip has performed an invaluable national service by tilting at windmills — or to be more precise in this case, wind turbines.

Published in: Daily Mail

Who would have thought that going to a party meant entering a social minefield?

Published in: Daily Mail

Control of its borders is the way in which a nation defends its security and identity. Yet to judge from some recent

Published in: Daily Mail

Having survived one war zone in its history, St Paul’s Cathedral now finds itself under siege in another.

Published in: Daily Mail

Back in 2001, when Tony Blair was Prime Minister, I was invited to talk to him about the National Health Service. At that time, he was particularly exercised about reforming the NHS.

Published in: Daily Mail

When two sacred cows of the fashionable world collide, the outcome can sometimes be as cynical as a politically-correct version of the TV sitcom Yes Minister.

Published in: Daily Mail

David Cameron is exceedingly mortified. Indeed, it appears to be hard to overstate the full extent of the prime ministerial chagrin.

Published in: Daily Mail