Oliver Letwin MP

Just occasionally, something happens that makes you realise how community-minded most people are. 

Something of this sort happened to me last week, when I participated in the launch of the Dorchester Work Club.

This work club will become part of a national network of clubs that have been spreading, bit by bit, around the country.

The idea is [...]

The recent and ghastly events in Japan have engaged the sympathy and admiration of the whole word. We have all witnessed not only the astonishing courage of the heroic fire fighters at the nuclear plant but also the calm dignity with which the inhabitants of the afflicted area have conducted themselves in the face of [...]

To judge by my postbag, almost no local topic has caused so much interest recently as the question of the fate of our community libraries.

The Bridport area is rich in these libraries.  As well as the main library in South Street, Bridport (whose future is not in question), there are much treasured libraries at Burton [...]

I am able to use this column this week to focus on some good news. 

Lest this should seem too unlikely a claim amidst all the perturbations of the international scene, I should prepare you, dear reader, by prefacing the main cause for joy by mentioning a small but significant discovery that I have made during [...]

Regular readers of this column, if there are any, may recall an occasion about two years ago when I told the remarkable tale of the intrepid Brian Bean and his Chickerell litter project.

To recap: Brian Bean is one of those undaunted individuals who conceives an idea and then, against whatever obstacles may be laid in [...]

When I was at school, I had a history teacher who wanted to write a book about the books that matter more than anybody thinks they do.

I don’t know whether he ever got round to writing this book – but I hope he did, because his fundamental thesis is clearly right.

There are a lot of [...]

Anyone doing a job which involves meeting large numbers of people, finds that their faith in human nature is constantly being replenished by discovering things that inspire and encourage.
But there is, of course, also a darker side.
In particular, there are long-running disputes.

These disputes come in all shapes and sizes. Often enough, they are between neighbours. [...]

On my way down to Dorset in the early morning last Friday, I heard the first news of the day from the BBC on the car radio.  Amidst the dire tales of protests and shootings in the Gulf and adjoining regions of the world, came the news that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime [...]

From time to time, I have used this column to highlight the fact that the invention of the internet will have effects as profound and widespread as the effects of the invention of printing.

Anyone who had residual doubts about this proposition must surely now have become convinced by recent events in Egypt. Electronic communication has [...]

What is the right way to deal with the vexed problem of support for children when parents sadly split up?

This is an issue that has been dogging us for the last couple of decades.

Of course, the ideal answer is for parents not to split up in the first place. But, alas, there is nothing that [...]