Joan Smith

Joan Smith: I'd rather confront a terrorist than a litter lout

Published: 19 August 2007

At the end of June, when two men tried to drive a blazing Jeep into the entrance of Glasgow airport, members of the public risked their lives to help the police. A baggage handler, John Smeaton, was praised for his courage in tackling a man who continued to struggle with officers despite having set himself on fire. Mr Smeaton emerged unscathed from an incident in which he could have been seriously injured. It seems likely, in the post-9/11 world, that many of us would behave as he did if lives were at stake.

Joan Smith: These preachers of hate must be exposed

Published: 14 August 2007

The decision to investigate the Wahhabi influence in British mosques cannot be faulted

Joan Smith: It's raining. It's all the Government's fault

Published: 29 July 2007

The anger aimed at politicians in the wake of the floods tells us a lot about a dangerous loss of political engagement

Joan Smith: The politics of pandering to Middle England

Published: 26 July 2007

Like any suitor, Brown comes with gifts, not just roses but promises to put Europeans in their place

Joan Smith: The whim of wealthy men

Published: 22 July 2007

Buy a peerage? Or donate to good causes? Choices, choices. But the cash-for-honours affair and Tom Hunter's philanthropy merely prove the rich call the shots in an unequal society, says Joan Smith

Joan Smith: The common factors behind the bombers

Published: 11 July 2007

In the past two decades, there has been a steady flow to this country of teenage boys damaged in wars

Joan Smith: The evidence indicates that political Islam hates our way of life, not our foreign policy

Published: 04 July 2007

We have to stand up for our values, which means this time we are in for the long haul

Joan Smith: Rushdie's gong almost made me ask for my MBE back

Published: 24 June 2007

From time to time, someone who has accepted an honour from the Government makes a big point of returning it, declaring that they can no longer stomach Tony Blair's policy on this or that - or just Tony Blair. In the case of Joseph Corré, purveyor of racy underwear to British women, it took a mere three weeks to accept and reject his award, a conversion so swift that he never had the opportunity to grasp the insignia (as I believe purists call it) of the MBE in his hot little hand.

Joan Smith: Children of a lesser nation

Published: 10 June 2007

We wear yellow ribbons for little Madeleine; she touches our child-loving hearts. But look a little deeper and you'll find a country happy to demonise its young and abandon them to abuse and grinding poverty

Joan Smith: A minority is trying to impose its morality on us

Published: 01 June 2007

Whenever people start talking about abortion becoming a political issue once again, I know they're speaking in code. What it means is the religious right has spotted a chance to impose its opinions on the rest of us, first in the guise of more restrictive criteria for terminating pregnancies and then in the form of an outright ban.