Peter Oborne

Peter Oborne writes here in his personal capacity. He is the former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph. He has written a number of books identifying the power structures that lurk behind political discourse, including 'The Triumph of the Political Class'. He is a regular on BBC programmes 'Any Questions' and 'Question Time' and often presents 'The Week in Westminster'. He was voted Columnist of the Year at the Press Awards in 2013.

The disastrous HQ of Britain's secret service

The government is persisting in its efforts to pass the so-called Justice and Security Bill. Through the introduction of secret judicial processes, it would permit the cover-up of illegal activity by the State. The attempt should be abandoned.

By Peter Oborne

/ 31 Jan 2013

Torture: Who are Britain's guilty?

It seems clear that British intelligence officers were complicit in torture and rendition. Who gave them their orders?

By Peter Oborne

/ 12 Apr 2012

Sorry, gentlemen, but you’re no Roosevelt and Churchill

The British Prime Minister and the American President are a dark shadow of the wartime coalition: well-meaning, weak men overseeing a wicked military machine. The British should not be involved.

By Peter Oborne

/ 15 Mar 2012

Abu Qatada, British justice and human rights

Having allowed a preacher associated with 9/11 to take up residence in the UK, the British government has held him in prison for over 6 years without trial, in an attempt to send him to Jordon. The result is a disaster for justice.

By Peter Oborne

/ 9 Feb 2012

Is Britishness a generous thing, or has it damaged England?

The Daily Telegraph's Peter Oborne and Scottish writer Neal Ascherson discuss national identity in light of the approaching referendum on Scottish independence.

By Peter Oborne and Neal Ascherson

/ 17 Jan 2012

This sorry display of self-interest brings shame on the UK parliament

Even after the expenses scandal shook parliament to its core, many British MPs are still putting greed before duty.

By Peter Oborne

/ 15 Dec 2011

Cricket is being destroyed by this indecent obsession with money

By neglecting the Test match, greedy officials are undermining the essence of the game

By Peter Oborne

/ 26 Nov 2011

Wake up, Tories! Ed Miliband has redefined the future of politics

Post-crash Britain faces an enormous challenge: to create a new structure for British governance and public discourse. At the Labour conference, Ed Miliband took the first steps towards accepting that great and terrifying challenge.

By Peter Oborne

/ 5 Oct 2011

The moral decay of British society is as bad at the top as the bottom

The response of Britain's political elite to the riots that engulfed England last week was phony and hypocritical. The problems exposed by the disturbances do not only exist in inner-city housing estates.

By Peter Oborne

/ 12 Aug 2011

Sycophantic Kingdom: Cameron and company creep to Obama

The UK's premier breaks his word and apes Tony Blair as he subordinates British foreign policy to the US while imitating its trappings of power and hypocritical rhetoric abandoning self-belief and independence for a place in America's sun.

By Peter Oborne

/ 27 May 2011

Tom Bingham: Britain is right to honour a champion of the rule of law

Among the few establishment figures who resisted Tony Blair's corruption of British politics was the country's senior law lord. We salute his role.

By Peter Oborne

/ 21 May 2011

Known as the book of the expenses scandal, The Silent State has much more to say on Britain's culture of secrecy

In writing 'The Silent State', Heather Brooke planted a giant bomb under the British parliamentary system. After years of diligent enquiry, blocked at every point by the Speaker and Commons officials, it was Brooke who forced into the open the squalid details of the systemic theft of public money

By Peter Oborne

/ 5 Jan 2011