Simon Carr

The Independent's parliamentary sketch writer and columnist since 2000, Simon Carr was described by Tony Blair as "the most vicious sketch writer working in Britain today". "Poison," said Charles Clarke.

In the 1980s he helped launch The Independent, and was a speech writer for the prime minister of New Zealand from 1992 to 1994. His working principle is "Indignation keeps us young."

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John Bercow has been attracting criticism for his partiality as Speaker of the Commons

The Sketch: The Speaker could be more indiscriminate in his barking and biting

Simon Carr: A torrid few days for the Speaker, and maybe we've learnt something about him we didn't know before.

Recently by Simon Carr

The Sketch: The day Meryl Streep saw a performance in the House of Commons

Thursday, 20 January 2011

Simon Carr: Meryl Streep's down there." "Meryl Streep? What, literally? Where?"

The Sketch: Babies in the breadbin and brawling in the front room

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

You could tell something unusual was up in the Lords. The dozing gave it away. The napping and snoozing. Heads rolling and slumping as they slept through invective, abuse and mobile phone rings. "A tired man is not a good legislator," Lord Anderson had said, and that was only 5pm the day before. They'd been up all night listening to Julian Fellowes on his television career, Sebastian Coe on the Olympics, and an interminable opposition on the demerits of the proposed voting system. The all-night session could have rolled into an all-day session. That meant Tuesday would have remained Monday, and today could have been Monday too. But the new intake has learnt from the last time it sat all night. They don't get paid for Tuesday and Wednesday if it's all a parliamentary version of Monday.

Simon Carr: Everyone is sincere in this maelstrom of conflicting facts

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Sketch

The Sketch: The uppers look after the lowers, and the lowers reciprocate

Friday, 14 January 2011

Simon Carr: What had she got on her head? We were in the lobby of the House of Lords for the swearing-in of the new peers. Julian Fellowes was one of them. The writer. The actor. The author of Snobs and Downton Abbey.

The Sketch: Cameron's light touch could be a killer weapon against an odd opponent

Thursday, 13 January 2011

In my varied matrimonial life, there was one pair of in-laws I had who for years conducted a sophisticated psychological war against each other. The game was for each to get the other to lose their temper while appearing themselves to be sweet reason. The quiet, intelligent voice was a particular weapon – it could start a fist fight over a christening font.

The Sketch: Bean counters must not count on the fact we understand their 'plight'

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Bob Diamond, the banana who runs Barclays, must have promised himself to be as boring as possible in front of the Treasury Select Committee. He succeeded spectacularly with one lapse. His answer to all questions contained a mix and match of the following: resolution and recovery process with capital rules on the architectural changes of the integrated universal banking model going forward. It's a fridge magnet game and the winner gets £100m. Well done, Bob. All that good work went to nought with his observation that bankers should stop apologising for the crash. That met with a united response. Maybe he'll turn down his bonus.

Simon Carr: Providing opposition, but not inspiring much in the way of confidence

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Sketch: The good news is that he's better than he was. The bad news is he sucks

The Sketch: Embarrassed? Dave and Nick didn't look it

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Rose Garden II. From the darling buds of May to the crisp midwinter. How's it gone, then? The PM had called a press conference to talk, in part, about the vulnerable. And look, hello, there was Nick Clegg. Vince was the first and 50th question. Weren't they embarrassed? Did they trust him? Could he bring down the Government? Would he be fired? Did he have an overwrought sense of self-importance or did he indeed have that self-proclaimed "nuclear option"?