Janet Street-Porter

A former editor of The Independent on Sunday, Janet Street-Porter is now the paper’s editor-at-large. As a journalist and broadcaster she has had an innovative and groundbreaking career in television, creating programmes for the BBC, Channel 4 and LWT, for which she has won a Bafta and the Prix Italia. She is also vice president of the Rambler’s Association.

Editor-At-Large: A little flattery and fame, and men think they're irresistible

This season's panto star isn't Pamela Anderson, Joan Collins or even Nigel Havers – but the middle-aged bloke in the rakish hat, Mr Twinkletoes, Vince Cable. I laughed when I read the transcripts of the little chat he had with two attractive young women in his constituency office in Richmond. The gullible Mr Cable didn't realise that Holly and Heidi, two giggling twenty-something young mums anxious for an in-depth chat about party politics, were under- cover reporters from the horrid Daily Telegraph, intent on persuading him to confide what he secretly thought about having to work with the nasty Tories.

Recently by Janet Street-Porter

Editor-At-Large: More women at the top? Fine. But where is work for the rest?

Sunday, 19 December 2010

The expression "grumpy old woman" is television shorthand for a well-known female of a certain age ranting about everything from the menopause to shopping. But this Christmas, the comedy stereotype masks a worrying truth. There's not a lot for women to be happy about right now. The number out of work has risen to over a million, the highest level since 1988. Every day between August and October this year, 260 women lost their jobs. Over Christmas, that figure will rise, as local authorities implement the 330,000 job losses ordered by George Osborne.

Editor-At-Large: If women have it all now, they can thank my generation

Sunday, 12 December 2010

Last week, the long struggle for equal pay reached a historic turning point. The latest statistics show that, on average, a woman in her twenties will earn 2.1 per cent more than a man of the same age. It's taken so long, and so much hard work.

Editor-At-Large: If we can travel in space, why are our trains at a standstill?

Sunday, 5 December 2010

I'd never heard of the "third rail" until last Thursday, but suddenly this mysterious piece of metal was catapulted into the spotlight, blamed for the disruption to our rail network. Country in shutdown mode? Commuters trapped all night on trains in Sussex? Economy losing £1.2bn a day because no one can get to work? When it comes to accepting responsibility for last week's chaos, we're told the third rail must shoulder a large part of the blame.

Editor-At-Large: Hail the Maria Callas of our times! Gillian's got it taped

Sunday, 28 November 2010

This year's 'I'm a Celebrity...' is the best modern drama around

Editor-At-Large: Mess with my GP's practice, Mr Lansley? Over my dead body!

Sunday, 21 November 2010

Andrew Lansley is fast shaping up as my least favourite government minister. Obsessed with cutting costs in the NHS, his latest wheeze is to commission a report that proposes all GP patient appointments could be handled by call centres which would also issue repeat prescriptions.

Editor-At-Large: I'm a leading expert on mothers-in-law. I've had seven...

Sunday, 14 November 2010

My heart sank read ing the excruciating "open letter" my pal Gordon Ramsay decided to "send" his mother-in-law. This plea from the heart wasn't posted, emailed or sent by special delivery. In typically bombastic style, Gordon issued the document to the press – breaking my number one rule for family disputes – keep them private.

Editor-At-Large: Plans to invade our privacy make Street View look discreet

Sunday, 31 October 2010

I thought the point of an Information Commissioner was to protect the rights of the individual, but the current incumbent, Christopher Graham, doesn't inspire much confidence. Last May, Google admitted it had "inadvertently" amassed a staggering amount of personal information about our Wi-Fi networks, collected by its Street View cameras from 2006 until earlier this year. That seems to be a very long time to collect stuff without noticing how contentious it might be. The company said it was profoundly sorry, and had no intention of passing this information on to third parties or exploiting it for commercial gain. Nevertheless, it has not said how it is going to destroy the data or how securely it is currently stored. In an interview last week, Google said it was still deciding what to do with it.

Editor-At-Large: You mustn't make a profit out of a peat bog, Mr Osborne

Sunday, 24 October 2010

Be vigilant – some of our most precious assets are at risk as a result of Mr Osborne wielding the axe. Natural habitats, unspoilt moor land, marshes, and forests are all going to be affected by drastic cuts in Defra's funding. The department's budget took one of the biggest hits: nearly 30 per cent will vanish over the next four years. There will be around 8,000 redundancies in the department and associated agencies. The future of key guardians of our natural assets, the Environment Agency and Natural England, is still "under review", which seems to indicate that more radical surgery is in the pipeline.

Editor-At-Large: Paying workers to give up their jobs is bad housekeeping

Sunday, 17 October 2010

If I get a nasty tax bill and have to cut back on my spending, there are obvious, if unpleasant, measures. Cut up credit cards. Set a daily cash budget and stick to it. Stop shopping, except for essentials. No frocks. Travel off-peak, shop for cheaper energy deals. Not exactly rocket science. To pay off debts you need a simple plan. Families are trimming their expenditure carefully as up to 600,000 public-sector workers face redundancy. So, we are told, is the Government.

Editor-At-Large: Dave, we don't have the time to build your Big Society

Sunday, 10 October 2010

The problem with Dave's Big Society concept is the basic assumption that we've got the time to get involved. Cameron's speech to his party conference last week reaffirmed his regularly stated passion for the idea of communities working together, for people power and so on – but the latest evidence is that we find ourselves with less "me" time than ever. That's the precious few hours when we're not working, running our homes, looking after our families and travelling to and from work. This diminishing downtime is when Dave thinks we'll be taking more community responsibility, running schools and getting involved in local services. He faces a hard task.

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