DOCSLIB.ORG

Ministers Reflect Lord Maude

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ministers Reflect Lord Maude Ministers reflect Lord Maude June 2016 2 Francis Maude – biographical details Parliamentary History 2015-present: Conservative Member of the House of Lords 1997-2015: Member of Parliament for Horsham 1983-1992: Member of Parliament for North Warwickshire Government and Opposition Career 2015-2016: Minister of State for Trade and Investment 2010-2015: Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General 2007-2010: Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office 2005-2007: Chairman of the Conservative Party 2000-2001: Shadow Foreign Secretary 1998-2000: Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997-1998: Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister 1990-1992: Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1989-1990: Minister of State for Europe 1987-1989: Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Trade and Industry) 1985-1987: Assistant Whip (HM Treasury) 3 Francis Maude Lord Francis Maude was interviewed by Peter Riddell and Nicola Hughes on 1st June 2016 for the Institute for Government’s Ministers Reflect Project. Nicola Hughes (NH): You first became a minister in the ‘80s. What was your experience of coming into government like then? Lord Maude (LM): I was given a departmental job. I had been a whip and a PPS [Parliamentary Private Secretary] before then, very soon after getting into the House at all. So I received a phone call, actually, because I was up in my constituency, in Warwickshire. I didn’t even know what job I had been given. So she [Margaret Thatcher] said, ‘I want you to go and be Parliamentary Secretary in the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry]’ and I said ‘Well, lovely, thank you, really pleased.’ I was 31 or 32 and a bit scared, frankly. I just about worked out that the job I had been given was Michael Howard’s job, which was fabulous – one of the best junior minister jobs in the government. So I didn’t really know which office to phone up. It was very funny actually – I had guessed it was Michael, so I found Michael’s office number and phoned it. Someone answered the phone and then I heard her saying ‘What is the name? What is his name?’ [laughter] I said, ‘That is me – I think!’ The best preparation you can have is to be PPS to a busy minister who lets you get involved. I was PPS to Peter Morrison [then Employment Minister], who was a hugely detail-oriented, hands-on and very effective minister and when I was his PPS he basically said to me, ‘Here is my diary, you can come to any meeting you want’, which was fantastic. So I had a real insight into how government worked. Then as a whip, I was in several quite busy departments, and you get a good sense, a better sense there of how it is all working – otherwise you have to pick it up as you go along. Things were a little bit more collegiate then, I think you talked to other ministers more than people do now perhaps, because you had more evenings in the house, so there was more gossip, more chat. So you pick up more in that informal way, but I had no formal induction at all. NH: And if we fast-forward to 2010, of course then the party was coming in from opposition; most people hadn’t had the chance to be whips or PPSs before. So how did you think about induction for your ministerial colleagues at that point? LM: Well, we did some induction, but it wasn’t immediate. We did some here at the Institute for Government [IfG] and we came back and did some more – and actually, I organised a formal induction session every reshuffle after that. I think departments have got better at providing some formal induction into the departments, but that is a little bit different from preparing people for what they are going to experience as a minister. Peter Riddell (PR): What were the lessons you drew from your experience in the 90s, from when you were in charge of the 2009-10 preparation [for government] and implementation? LM: Good question, what lessons? I think it is useful to have some induction. Because in ‘87, I came into a departmental job when the Thatcher government was well under way and the Civil Service was – while not necessarily reconciled to – at least acquiescing in the fact that we were there to stay. So in 2009-10 we knew we needed to do more on induction. I was reasonably familiar with what Labour had done before ’97, and so we organised the contacts with permanent secretaries in a much more systematic way than had been done before. I oversaw all of that, and with the implementation unit we set up, we prepared implementation plans. 4 Ministers reflect PR: But how successful do you think it was in terms of – you say implementation plans, in terms of preparing your colleagues, particularly those who hadn’t been ministers, who hadn’t been around in the Thatcher years, for office. And when you look back now, six or eight years later? LM: It beat the hell out of what had been done before, but it was still gravely inadequate, because a lot of people had absolutely no idea what to expect. I think it was much worse for the Lib Dems, who weren’t even expecting to be in government. We had done preparation sessions with the IfG and Michael Bichard, who was then running it, basically said ‘We think it is totally in the national interest for you guys to be as well prepared as you can be and we will do anything to help. Tell us what you want us to do and we will do it.’ So that was very, very good and I think so much better than anything that had happened before – but it was still thin and not everyone, by any means, attended those sessions. Of course, you also had a Prime Minister and a Chancellor who had never been ministers, although they had been in government as special advisers, which does give you a big advantage because you know a bit about the dynamics, the structure and how things work. I remember when we had the first session here, which was probably not until September, and I thought it was important that it got presided over by a senior minister, so I was there throughout all of these induction events. I remember one of the very good Lib Dem ministers – Nick Harvey1 – who was very funny, saying ‘I felt like I had been dropped by parachute, deep behind enemy lines, with no means of contacting anyone, no idea what the strategy was, no idea what I was meant to be doing!’ PR: I actually remember his saying that. We have interviewed him for this series, actually. NH: And between the two periods, what were the big differences or changes you observed in Whitehall, in government? LM: I think the Civil Service had deteriorated really quite a lot. Not in terms of ‘laziness’ and that Blair politicised it, as people normally say – he didn’t politicise it and my concern with the Civil Service has never been that it’s been politicised. It still has some brilliant people, absolutely some of the best civil servants in the world, who are capable of doing some amazing stuff. What also got better, which most ministers would not see, but has been my interest, were the functions: you had people who had at least some commercial or financial background in those roles – whereas 30 years before, it would have been generalist civil servants who were told ‘It’s your turn to be head of finance.’ So all of this was a little bit better than it had been. However, I think the habit of giving very robust, candid advice to ministers had deteriorated a lot in those intervening years of Labour governments, and that is a cultural thing. PR: Not to do with the capability of people, but because of the changed environment over those 13 years? LM: I don’t know what it was – I absolutely don’t know why. There is a lot more parading of the importance of, you know, speaking truth under power and values and all that kind of stuff. But in terms of actual behaviour, the way people behaved was – it sounds like I am criticising everyone, inevitably I am not, the balance was just different. Civil servants had got much less good in the intervening period at accommodating difficult people, people who are a bit quirky, a bit maverick, maybe a little bit eccentric or disruptive. And during a period when disruption has moved from being a bad word to being a good word, the Civil Service contains a lot fewer people who are disruptive in that good sense. 1 Nick Harvey, 24 June 2015, Ministers Reflect Archive, Institute for Government, Online: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-reflect/person/nick- harvey, Accessed: [Download Date] 5 Francis Maude PR: I mean on that – it is very interesting – how did your views of the civil service evolve in 2010 and 2015 particularly, during that Cabinet Office period? LM: They went downhill a lot. Although again, I have to say that at every stage there were some brilliant people who worked for me and I saw some superb civil servants – in fact I was mocked by some of my colleagues, in the run up to the election and soon afterwards, for being a fierce advocate for the existing system. I have said in the past that the idea of a permanent, impartial civil service is an excellent one, that it has served the country well and that all you need is good ministers to make it do what you want it to do.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tory Modernisation 2.0 Tory Modernisation
    Edited by Ryan Shorthouse and Guy Stagg Guy and Shorthouse Ryan by Edited TORY MODERNISATION 2.0 MODERNISATION TORY edited by Ryan Shorthouse and Guy Stagg TORY MODERNISATION 2.0 THE FUTURE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY TORY MODERNISATION 2.0 The future of the Conservative Party Edited by Ryan Shorthouse and Guy Stagg The moral right of the authors has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a re- trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. Bright Blue is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which cam- paigns for the Conservative Party to implement liberal and progressive policies that draw on Conservative traditions of community, entre- preneurialism, responsibility, liberty and fairness. First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Bright Blue Campaign www.brightblue.org.uk ISBN: 978-1-911128-00-7 Copyright © Bright Blue Campaign, 2013 Printed and bound by DG3 Designed by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk Contents Acknowledgements 1 Foreword 2 Rt Hon Francis Maude MP Introduction 5 Ryan Shorthouse and Guy Stagg 1 Last chance saloon 12 The history and future of Tory modernisation Matthew d’Ancona 2 Beyond bare-earth Conservatism 25 The future of the British economy Rt Hon David Willetts MP 3 What’s wrong with the Tory party? 36 And why hasn’t
    [Show full text]
  • The Conservative Agenda for Constitutional Reform
    UCL DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE The Constitution Unit Department of Political Science UniversityThe Constitution College London Unit 29–30 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9QU phone: 020 7679 4977 fax: 020 7679 4978 The Conservative email: [email protected] www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit A genda for Constitutional The Constitution Unit at UCL is the UK’s foremost independent research body on constitutional change. It is part of the UCL School of Public Policy. THE CONSERVATIVE Robert Hazell founded the Constitution Unit in 1995 to do detailed research and planning on constitutional reform in the UK. The Unit has done work on every aspect AGENDA of the UK’s constitutional reform programme: devolution in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions, reform of the House of Lords, electoral reform, R parliamentary reform, the new Supreme Court, the conduct of referendums, freedom eform Prof FOR CONSTITUTIONAL of information, the Human Rights Act. The Unit is the only body in the UK to cover the whole of the constitutional reform agenda. REFORM The Unit conducts academic research on current or future policy issues, often in collaboration with other universities and partners from overseas. We organise regular R programmes of seminars and conferences. We do consultancy work for government obert and other public bodies. We act as special advisers to government departments and H parliamentary committees. We work closely with government, parliament and the azell judiciary. All our work has a sharply practical focus, is concise and clearly written, timely and relevant to policy makers and practitioners. The Unit has always been multi disciplinary, with academic researchers drawn mainly from politics and law.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservative Party Leaders and Officials Since 1975
    BRIEFING PAPER Number 07154, 6 February 2020 Conservative Party and Compiled by officials since 1975 Sarah Dobson This List notes Conservative Party leaders and officials since 1975. Further reading Conservative Party website Conservative Party structure and organisation [pdf] Constitution of the Conservative Party: includes leadership election rules and procedures for selecting candidates. Oliver Letwin, Hearts and Minds: The Battle for the Conservative Party from Thatcher to the Present, Biteback, 2017 Tim Bale, The Conservative Party: From Thatcher to Cameron, Polity Press, 2016 Robert Blake, The Conservative Party from Peel to Major, Faber & Faber, 2011 Leadership elections The Commons Library briefing Leadership Elections: Conservative Party, 11 July 2016, looks at the current and previous rules for the election of the leader of the Conservative Party. Current state of the parties The current composition of the House of Commons and links to the websites of all the parties represented in the Commons can be found on the Parliament website: current state of the parties. www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary Conservative Party leaders and officials since 1975 Leader start end Margaret Thatcher Feb 1975 Nov 1990 John Major Nov 1990 Jun 1997 William Hague Jun 1997 Sep 2001 Iain Duncan Smith Sep 2001 Nov 2003 Michael Howard Nov 2003 Dec 2005 David Cameron Dec 2005 Jul 2016 Theresa May Jul 2016 Jun 2019 Boris Johnson Jul 2019 present Deputy Leader # start end William Whitelaw Feb 1975 Aug 1991 Peter Lilley Jun 1998 Jun 1999 Michael Ancram Sep 2001 Dec 2005 George Osborne * Dec 2005 July 2016 William Hague * Dec 2009 May 2015 # There has not always been a deputy leader and it is often an official title of a senior Conservative politician.
    [Show full text]
  • Docket 119 Synthesis Iof Comments on the Review.Pdf
    i ii Synthesis of Public Comment on the Forthcoming Review by the Federal Governments of Canada and the United States of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement A Report to the Governments of the United States and Canada January 2006 The views expressed in this synthesis are those of the individuals and organizations who participated in the public comment process. They are not the views of the International Joint Commission. INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION JOINT MIXTE COMMISSION INTERNATIONALE Canada and United States Canada et États-Unis INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION JOINT MIXTE COMMISSION INTERNATIONALE Canada and United States Canada et États-Unis Herb Gray Dennis Schornack Chair, Canadian Section Chair, United States Section Robert Gourd Irene Brooks Commissioner Commissioner Jack Blaney Allen Olson Commissioner Commissioner International Joint Commission Offices Canadian Section United States Section 234 Laurier Ave. West, 22nd Floor 1250 23rd Street, NW, Suite 100 Ottawa, ON K1P 6K6 Washington, D.C. 20440 Phone: (613) 995-2984 Phone: (202) 736-9000 Fax: (613) 993-5583 Fax: (202) 467-0746 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Great Lakes Regional Office 100 Ouellette Avenue, 8th Floor Windsor, ON N9A 6T3 or P.O. Box 32869, Detroit, MI 48232 Phone: (519) 257-6700 or (313) 226-2170 Fax: (519) 257-6740 Email: [email protected] Acknowledgements The International Joint Commission thanks the people from the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and beyond who took part in the public comment process and whose voices are echoed in this report. ISBN 1-894280-60-1 This report is available online at www.ijc.org.
    [Show full text]
  • Sro.Sussex.Ac.Uk
    A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details ‘Campaigning in poetry, governing in prose?’ The development of Conservative Party immigration policy in government and in opposition since 1945 Rebecca Partos Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics University of Sussex September 2016 2 Statement I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: 3 University of Sussex Rebecca Partos Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics ‘Campaigning in poetry, governing in prose?’ The development of Conservative Party immigration policy in government and in opposition since 1945 Summary This thesis seeks to explain the development of the British Conservative Party’s immigration policy from 1945 to 2015. It draws on Gamble’s contrasting of the ‘politics of power’ versus the ‘politics of support’ to consider the extent to which Conservative immigration policy is influenced by periods in government and periods in opposition.
    [Show full text]
  • Register of Lords' Interests
    REGISTER OF LORDS’ INTERESTS _________________ The following Members of the House of Lords have registered relevant interests under the code of conduct: ABERDARE, LORD Category 10: Non-financial interests (a) Director, F.C.M. Limited (recording rights) Category 10: Non-financial interests (c) Trustee, National Library of Wales Category 10: Non-financial interests (e) Trustee, Stephen Dodgson Trust (promotes continued awareness/performance of works of composer Stephen Dodgson) Chairman and Trustee, Berlioz Sesquicentenary Committee (music) Chairman and Trustee, Berlioz Society Trustee, St John Cymru-Wales (interest ceased 21 September 2018) Trustee, West Wycombe Charitable Trust ADAMS OF CRAIGIELEA, BARONESS Nil No registrable interests ADDINGTON, LORD Category 1: Directorships Chairman, Microlink PC (UK) Ltd (computing and software) Category 7: Overseas visits Visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, 18-22 September 2018, to celebrate centenary of country’s declaration of independence; flights and accommodation costs paid by Azerbaijan Embassy, London Category 8: Gifts, benefits and hospitality Two tickets and hospitality provided by Football Association to Manchester City v Watford FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, 18 May 2019 Guest of Vitality at the Netball World Cup, 12 July 2019; three tickets and hospitality provided * Category 10: Non-financial interests (a) Director and Trustee, The Atlas Foundation (registered charity; seeks to improve lives of disadvantaged people across the world) Category 10: Non-financial interests (d) President (formerly
    [Show full text]
  • Holders of Ministerial Office in the Conservative Governments 1979-1997
    Holders of Ministerial Office in the Conservative Governments 1979-1997 Parliamentary Information List Standard Note: SN/PC/04657 Last updated: 11 March 2008 Author: Department of Information Services All efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this data. Nevertheless the complexity of Ministerial appointments, changes in the machinery of government and the very large number of Ministerial changes between 1979 and 1997 mean that there may be some omissions from this list. Where an individual was a Minister at the time of the May 1997 general election the end of his/her term of office has been given as 2 May. Finally, where possible the exact dates of service have been given although when this information was unavailable only the month is given. The Parliamentary Information List series covers various topics relating to Parliament; they include Bills, Committees, Constitution, Debates, Divisions, The House of Commons, Parliament and procedure. Also available: Research papers – impartial briefings on major bills and other topics of public and parliamentary concern, available as printed documents and on the Intranet and Internet. Standard notes – a selection of less formal briefings, often produced in response to frequently asked questions, are accessible via the Internet. Guides to Parliament – The House of Commons Information Office answers enquiries on the work, history and membership of the House of Commons. It also produces a range of publications about the House which are available for free in hard copy on request Education web site – a web site for children and schools with information and activities about Parliament. Any comments or corrections to the lists would be gratefully received and should be sent to: Parliamentary Information Lists Editor, Parliament & Constitution Centre, House of Commons, London SW1A OAA.
    [Show full text]
  • Cabinet Committee Membership Lists
    Cabinet December Committee Membership 2014 Lists 1 Contents Coalition Committee ................................................................................................... 3 Devolution Committee ................................................................................................ 4 Economic Affairs Committee ...................................................................................... 5 Economic Affairs (Infrastructure) sub-Committee ................................................... 6 Economic Affairs (Reducing Regulation) sub-Committee ....................................... 7 European Affairs Committee ...................................................................................... 8 European Affairs sub-Committee ............................................................................ 9 Flooding Committee ................................................................................................. 10 Growth and Enterprise Committee ........................................................................... 11 Home Affairs Committee .......................................................................................... 12 Home Affairs (Armed Forces Covenant) sub-Committee ...................................... 14 Home Affairs (Greening Government Commitments) sub-Committee .................. 15 Local Growth Committee .......................................................................................... 16 Local Growth sub-Committee ..............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Parliamentary Private Secretaries to Prime Ministers Since 1906 Prime Minister Parliamentary Private Secretary Notes
    BRIEFING PAPER Number 06579, 11 March 2020 Parliamentary Private Compiled by Secretaries to Prime Sarah Priddy Ministers since 1906 This List notes Parliamentary Private Secretaries to successive Prime Ministers since 1906. Alex Burghart was appointed PPS to Boris Johnson in July 2019 and Trudy Harrison appointed PPS in January 2020. Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs) are not members of the Government although they do have responsibilities and restrictions as defined by the Ministerial Code available on the Cabinet Office website. A list of PPSs to Cabinet Ministers as at June 2019 is published on the Government’s transparency webpages. It is usual for the Leader of the Opposition to have a PPS; Tan Dhesi was appointed as Jeremy Corbyn’s PPS in January 2020. Further information The Commons Library briefing on Parliamentary Private Secretaries provides a history of the development of the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary in general and looks at the role and functions of the post and the limitations placed upon its holders. The Institute for Government’s explainer: parliamentary private secretaries (Nov 2019) considers the numbers of PPSs over time. www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary Parliamentary Private Secretaries to Prime Ministers since 1906 Prime Minister Parliamentary Private Secretary Notes Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1905-08) Herbert Carr-Gomm 1906-08 Assistant Private Secretary Herbert Asquith (1908-16) 1908-09 Vice-Chamberlain of
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix: “Ideology, Grandstanding, and Strategic Party Disloyalty in the British Parliament”
    Appendix: \Ideology, Grandstanding, and Strategic Party Disloyalty in the British Parliament" August 8, 2017 Appendix Table of Contents • Appendix A: Wordscores Estimation of Ideology • Appendix B: MP Membership in Ideological Groups • Appendix C: Rebellion on Different Types of Divisions • Appendix D: Models of Rebellion on Government Sponsored Bills Only • Appendix E: Differences in Labour Party Rebellion Following Leadership Change • Appendix F: List of Party Switchers • Appendix G: Discussion of Empirical Model Appendix A: Wordscores Estimation of Ideology This Appendix describes our method for ideologically scaling British MPs using their speeches on the welfare state, which were originally produced for a separate study on welfare reform (O'Grady, 2017). We cover (i) data collection, (ii) estimation, (iii) raw results, and (iv) validity checks. The resulting scales turn out to be highly valid, and provide an excellent guide to MPs' ideologies using data that is completely separate to the voting data that forms the bulk of the evidence in our paper. A1: Collection of Speech Data Speeches come from an original collection of every speech made about issues related to welfare in the House of Commons from 1987-2007, covering the period over which the Labour party moved 1 to the center under Tony Blair, adopted and enacted policies of welfare reform, and won office at the expense of the Conservatives. Restricting the speeches to a single issue area is useful for estimating ideologies because with multiple topics there is a danger of conflating genuine extremism (a tendency to speak in extreme ways) with a tendency or requirement to talk a lot about topics that are relatively extreme to begin with (Lauderdale and Herzog, 2016).
    [Show full text]
  • University of Huddersfield Repository
    University of Huddersfield Repository Hayton, Richard Leadership without authority: Iain Duncan Smith as leader of the Conservative Party Original Citation Hayton, Richard (2010) Leadership without authority: Iain Duncan Smith as leader of the Conservative Party. In: Leaders of the Opposition: From Churchill To Cameron, 9 July 2010, University of Leeds. (Unpublished) This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9134/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Iain Duncan Smith: leadership without authority Paper presented to the: ‘Leaders of the Opposition: From Churchill to Cameron’ conference, Friday 9 th July 2010 University of Leeds, UK Dr Richard Hayton Lecturer in Politics University of Huddersfield [email protected] Abstract This chapter analyses the tenure of Iain Duncan Smith as leader of the Conservative Party in opposition between September 2001 and October 2003.
    [Show full text]
  • Lobster 70 Winter 2015
    Winter 2015 Lobster ● A fly’s eye view of the American war against Vietnam: 40 years later: who won which war? by Dr T. P. Wilkinson ● Holding Pattern by Garrick Alder 70 ● Last post for Oswald by Garrick Alder ● Paedo Files: a look at the UK Establishment child abuse network by Tim Wilkinson ● The View from the Bridge by Robin Ramsay ● Is this what failure looks like? Brian Sedgemore 1937–2015 by Simon Matthews ● Tittle-Tattle by Tom Easton ● The Gloucester Horror by Garrick Alder ● Tokyo legend? Lee Harvey Oswald and Japan by Kevin Coogan ● Inside Lee Harvey Oswald’s address book by Anthony Frewin Book Reviews ● Blair Inc., by Francis Beckett, David Hencke and Nick Kochan, Reviewed by Tom Easton ● Thieves of State, by Sarah Chayes, Reviewed by John Newsinger ● The Henry Jackson Society and the degeneration of British Neoconservatism, by Tom Griffin, Hilary Aked, David Miller and Sarah Marusek, Reviewed by Tom Easton ● Chameleo: A strange but true story of invisible spies, heroin addiction and Homeland Security, by Robert Guffey, Reviewed by Robin Ramsay ● Blacklisted: The Secret War between Big Business and Union Activists, by Dave Smith and Phil Chamberlain, Reviewed by Robin Ramsay ● Nixon’s Nuclear Specter, by William Burr and Jeffrey P. Kimball, Reviewed by Alex Cox ● Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice, by John A Nagl, Reviewed by John Newsinger ● The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, by Emma Sky, Reviewed by John Newsinger ● Secret Science: A Century of Poison Warfare and Human Experiments, by Ulf Schmidt, Reviewed by Anthony Frewin ● The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination, by Lamar Waldron, Reviewed by Anthony Frewin ● Without Smoking Gun: Was the Death of Lt.
    [Show full text]