It is intended to provide information about what I am doing now, to offer access to a selection of the archive of my past activities and to provide a means to contact me if you wish to do so.

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My work, in varied fields, takes place around the common theme that good governance is a pillar of civilised society.

 

Without a political system that truly reflects contemporary society and its international context, is responsive and can effectively deploy cutting edge academic research, the public realm is doomed to fail in fulfilling the needs of the citizens it exists to serve.

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Bad laws undermine both civil society and the market, in a vicious circle of ineffectual gestures and stagnation.

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On the other hand, institutions, regulations and laws that are crafted with attention to the latest policy and technological innovations will enable individuals to better develop the rich networks of relationships that characterise a just society and a productive economy. Government must have a proper understanding of the people and organisations that are its social partners - how they co-operate, compete, and conceptualise each other - and then marry this with a clear-headed analysis of problems and solutions according to values.

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Through my years of political work I have become increasingly convinced that the quality of public policy and public debate in Britain could achieve far higher standards. The disconnect between "politics" and "policy" has seemed to me something that limits our potential for realising the potential of Britain's talented citizens, both individually and communally. Too often politics seems shallowly vote-grabbing or irredeemably short-termist. Politics must be popular in that in a democratic society its practitioners must convince voters that this or that decision is a sensible route across the rough seas of globalisation. Yet this is no excuse for populism which demeans both the politician and the elector. Only if politicians are brave enough to tackle the big challenges of 21st-century politics will voters accord them the respect to make the hard choice inevitably necessary along the way.

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This is my objective in the work I do. Using my experience in politics and, since leaving Parliament in 2010, greater associations with academics and policy experts, I aim to contribute in any way possible to getting serious political problem solving. My three main areas of activity are Academic politics, International education and Migration. They represent different aspects of discussion of the ways in which democratic politics needs to develop in a globalising world and I hope to able to contribute something to this process. This is the work which I currently do: