Alex Singleton

I was on Richard Bacon’s show on BBC Radio 5 Live last night to discuss the Government’s plan to involve bring in private sector management in the NHS. Although I’m in favour of greater private involvement in healthcare, like Iain Martin, I took the view that the Government’s specific proposal misses the point.
BUPA and Nuffield […]

Saturday was the last night that consuming alcohol was allowed on the London Underground. On Three Line Whip, I criticise the violent hooliganism that took place to mark the ban: there is “something deeply unpleasant about sharing public transport late at night with large groups of shouting drunk people”. In researching YouTube footage of Saturday, […]

With summer approaching, the “shorts suit” - a lightweight suit consisting of a jacket and a pair of shorts - has been hailed as “a bold fashion statement that’s totally tied to 2008″. The Telegraph’s congenial Robert Colvile has been given the task of trying one on in this short film. Andrew Pierce is interviewed at […]

On Telegraph.co.uk, I write about churches and Sunday trading:
I was once taken to a church in London called the Kensington Temple, the sort of church where people either engage in crass, self-indulgent behaviour or are led to visibly express their love for the son of God, depending upon your point of view. We were early […]

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times today about whether print publishers can successfully make the tradition online. It focuses on IDG, a magazine publisher for which I have freelanced.
The journey beyond print is uncertain and perilous, but the experience of I.D.G., the world’s largest publisher of technology newspapers and magazines, suggests that it […]

On Telegraph.co.uk, I argue that the Fabian Society could learn from advice given to Jeanie Buller in the film Ferris Beuller’s Day Off:
In the cult 1980s film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, there is a lesson that the Fabian Society would do well to learn. Ferris Bueller’s sister gets herself worked up because her ever-charming brother […]

Gordon Brown is a tax addict
Is Ed Balls a bad parent?
Spare us the listening Prime Minister
British oppose green taxes
Hugo Chavez is blinded by ideology
Promoting local shops the wrong way
Britain needs more toll roads
Battle of the pollsters
Restricting the railways
Schools are key to reforming manners

Well done to the Co-op. It has ditched a hateful device called The Mosquito, which emits a high-pitched sound that causes irritation among people under 25. The purpose of the device is to stop youths loitering outside their stores, but it is irritating for the silent majority of young people who lead perfectly law-abiding livings. […]

I hugely enjoy watching Right On, the weekly Telegraph TV politics programme presented by Guy Ruddle, previously a presenter at the BBC. The programme combines Telegraph commentators with the television-producing expertise of ITN, the same company that makes news for ITV1 and Channel Four. I find it compelling viewing. Here’s the latest episode:

On Telegraph.co.uk, I write:
The rise in internet-based electioneering has been significant in the United States. On this side of the Pond, there is an argument – made by the likes of Computing - that electioneering over the past few weeks has been surprisingly old-school. Boris Johnson is supposed to be gaff-prone, so why were we not deluged with […]