Spoken by Rishi, scripted by Boris

A former Number 10 speechwriter assesses the chancellor’s Budget rhetoric, and finds a philosophical mess reflecting Sunak’s overriding need to placate Johnson

A portrait of the PM as an empty vessel

A former Number 10 speech writer analyses the vacuous stream of consciousness that Boris Johnson passed off as his conference address – and finds no substance to match the bombastic promises

Biden poses as a war leader

A former prime ministerial speech writer decodes the President’s address to the US people after 13 U.S. troops and dozens of Afghans were killed in an attack at the Kabul Airport on August 26.

A by-election with a bite

Labour’s triumph in Batley and Spen may have been narrow – but it could prove seriously consequential. George Galloway was seen off, and Boris Johnson’s run of success was finally ended

The second Cummings

The prime minister’s erstwhile chief advisor has accused him of leading a chaotic government responsible for tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. Here, a former Number 10 speechwriter analyses Dominic Cummings’ testimony

The Queen’s Speech

The State Opening of parliament lacked pomp and – more importantly – purpose. A former Number 10 speechwriter judges the government’s legislative plan to be both vague and grubby

Saved by incompetence

If David Cameron were better at lobbying, he might be in even hotter water over the Greensill scandal. His statement and exchange with Rishi Sunak show that he was a poor advocate for a failing business

Dominic Cummings vs. Whitehall

A former Number 10 speechwriter analyses Cummings’s appearance before the Science and Technology Select Committee, and what it says about the man himself

Philip Collins: Flashbulbs, blood feuds and fairy tales

A former Number Ten speechwriter unpacks the true meaning of Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah – and the dissonant ideas of monarchy and modernity at its heart

Philip Collins: Between the extremes

A former Number 10 speechwriter gives his assessment of the prime minister’s Monday evening address

Philip Collins: Jackie Weaver vs Aled’s iPad was a rhetorical battle for the ages

2001: A Space Odyssey, The Usual Suspects, William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar… the Handforth Parish Council meeting had it all

Philip Collins: Biden brought the daylight

A former prime ministerial speechwriter assesses the president’s Inaugural Address, which may have lacked a strong central idea – but struck the right tone

Philip Collins: Trump’s paean to untruth

It was just another rambling Trump speech to his supporters. Except it wasn’t. This was the speech that got the president impeached for a second time.

Halloween 2020

Reanimated

The PM’s press conference to announce a second lockdown was a dreadful affair. We asked a former Number 10 speechwriter to produce a better, alternative script