Simon Carr
The Independent's parliamentary sketch writer and columnist since 2000, Simon Carr was described by Tony Blair as "the most vicious sketch writer working in Britain today". "Poison," said Charles Clarke.
In the 1980s he helped launch The Independent, and was a speech writer for the prime minister of New Zealand from 1992 to 1994. His working principle is "Indignation keeps us young."
Simon Carr: So, scientists are just as political as the rest
We must add climate scientists to those who treat us as hawks treat chicks
Recently by Simon Carr
The Sketch: Those were the days, when clarity was still a virtue
Friday, 27 November 2009
Our guest was a little late yesterday, allowing us time to sit quietly and reflect on the Iraq inquiry.
The Sketch: Lords bowled over by Sugar's maiden speech
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Lord Sugar's debut in the Lords can't be called a maiden speech. It was more demi-mondaine, with a touch of street-walker, a bit of pole dancing and one of those tricks that Thai strippers do with a ping-pong ball.
The Sketch: If he's come to this inquiry with an open mind, he'll leave with one too
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Will they do what they are told? They are so well chosen they don't have to be told
Simon Carr: David Miliband, the Nearly Man of our age
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Sketch: Bless the child, he is fantastically bad at diplomacy
The Sketch: Ed Balls: the dull thud of a party next door
Friday, 20 November 2009
Can't they put Ed Balls into law? Make him the subject of a Guarantee? Can't he be a right that every parent has? If for the first time Balls was put on a statutory basis millions of people would be certain of access to him.
The Sketch: More a living will than a Queen's Speech
Thursday, 19 November 2009
"Check against delivery". That was the instruction on the front of the Queen's Speech. It's the one thing we don't have to worry about with our head of state. She won't get seized with inspiration and announce a "November Guarantee to create 30,000 jobs".
The Sketch: A public need to find a truth too secret to reveal
Friday, 13 November 2009
Secret inquests went to the Lords and yesterday came back. Poor Jack Straw regards himself as a champion of coroners' juries but has to introduce this new way because there are things too secret for ordinary people to hear.
The Sketch: Questions are not there to be dignified
Thursday, 12 November 2009
What is going through the Prime Minister's mind when he says of Cameron: "This is the man who made a cast-iron guarantee on a referendum on the Lisbon treaty!" He laughs lingeringly, and seems to enjoy the sally. His back benches roar away.
The Sketch: He's forgotten the first rule of leadership: indifference
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
They have strong stomachs in the lobby. I'm not sure I can go through another one of those press conferences.
Simon Carr: Trust him, he's the Justice Secretary ... Oh, if only we could
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Sketch: We know that ministerial assurances at the despatch box aren't worth the air they're breathed into
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Columnist Comments
• Bruce Anderson: Toryism does believe that there is society
Thatcher believed concern for the bottom was 'wet'. Cameron is opposite
• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Help, I'm feeling sorry for Blair
We should have had ordinary Iraqi and British citizens on the inquiry panel
• Andreas Whittam Smith: The Commons has lost all power
If MPs want more influence they must stop whining and raise their game
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Emailed
2 Johann Hari: A morally bankrupt dictatorship built by slave labour
3 Bruce Anderson: Traditional Toryism does believe that there is society
4 Robert Fisk: India may hold whip hand in this power game
6 Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: I'm beginning to feel some sympathy for Tony Blair
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10 Leading article: Left and Right square up for a battle over poverty
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