Ian Birrell, i newspaper

Ian Birrell

i newspaper

United Kingdom

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • i newspaper
  • UnHerd
  • The Guardian
  • CapX
  • The Independent

Past articles by Ian:

The demise of the NHS cannot be stopped by throwing increasing amounts of state cash at it

'There is a barrage of data to underline the crisis from the chronic staff shortages through to surging waiting lists,' writes Ian Birrell (Photo: Lynsey Addario/Getty Images) → Read More

Police and crime bill threatens our right to protest, eroding a cornerstone of our democracy

This Bill is a populist stunt to appease the hard right, reflecting their loathing of Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion → Read More

The Sarah Everard tragedy shows we need a drastic shake-up of our criminal justice system

We need to tackle state failure – shifting from an adversarial approach in sexual offences, examining reforms such as restorative justice, fixing the dismal prison system and boosting rehabilitation services → Read More

Boris Johnson's derisory 1% pay rise for nurses shows he has missed the lessons of Covid-19 crisis

Britain’s collective worship of the NHS has, however, covered up multiple failures on safety, patient outcomes and less glamorous areas such as mental health → Read More

Vaccines are our path to freedom – but it would be counter-productive to make them mandatory

Compulsory vaccinations would only fuel the fears of anti-vaxxers and 'prove' their theories of a global conspiracy → Read More

Facebook blocking my article brought home the urgent need for tech giants to be held accountable

These companies do not care about facts or news, let alone the destruction of traditional media or the corrosion of democracy → Read More

London is facing an imminent decline from Covid-19 and Brexit

We have a nationalistic government which is focussing on Red Wall seats in the North, while London's financial services and arts industry are under threat → Read More

Matt Hancock is mounting a power grab on the NHS, using the cover of the pandemic

If the government really wants to build back better after Covid-19, I would suggest there are three important reforms it could make → Read More

To challenge the Russian and Chinese regimes, the UK must know that a country is far more than its leader

As we have learned, we cannot bomb our way to a better world – instead, support for local dissidents and those preaching modernity and decency would go a long way → Read More

Vital social care has become the plaything of the super-rich

We can, thankfully, talk about 2020 in the past tense. It was a year of death and despair, of tragedy and trauma, of shattered hopes and shrunken horizons. Yet there was at last focus on the forgotten social care sector after its inadequacies, pitiful support and Cinderella status were exposed with such fatal consequences. There has been much talk also about mental health, with recognition that… → Read More

'It is devastating to see how hopeless she is': Detaining people with special needs is inhumane

I met with Matt Hancock a year ago to try to stop people with autism and learning disabilities being detained in psychiatric units, but the horrific system persists → Read More

The Robert Jenrick and Richard Desmond scandal shows the corruption at the heart of British politics

Our country has a political system which operates around private dinners, party donations, lobbyists, favours and questionable relationships → Read More

Black Lives Matter protests show Britain needs to confront its colonial past

Thankfully the sun has set on our Empire - and the statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston has been torn down - but its shadow remains → Read More

The WHO has failed us again

This isn't the first time the World Health Organisation has let politics get in the way of saving lives → Read More

The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts review – original and compelling

This fascinating account of Siberia’s horrific legacy is told with great verve → Read More

One Nation Toryism has died a brutal death

It would be a brave person who picked out the politician that has most debased themselves since the Brexit debacle exploded. But among the favourites in → Read More

Tory rebels need to stand up to the bullying government and defend the rest of the country

Hardliners in the party are using every trick in the populist playbook from brazen lies to bullying to push their policies. → Read More

Ruth Davidson should have been Tory leader. Instead, she’s on the sidelines

The former leader’s resignation is a grim blow for Tory moderates, who have lost their party, says Ian Birrell, David Cameron’s former speechwriter → Read More

Dire mental health provisions are costing the lives of vulnerable teenagers

I have heard too many tragic stories from the parents of young men and women who have taken their lives after being sectioned → Read More

The secret Brexit document exposes the duplicity of those that led us into this no-deal debacle

If Brexiteers had been more honest, arguing we face perhaps a decade of pain to reset our global stance, I would have more respect for them → Read More