Oberon Houston is a Conservative blogger and regular contributor to ConservativeHome. I attended a charity dinner the other day and one of those present was a senior Conservative and minister in the Coalition Government. I mentioned to him that I was going to write a piece for ConservativeHome on the ‘Big Society’, and I asked […]
Oberon Houston is a Petroleum Engineering Manager for an international oil and gas company and an external examiner at one of the world's most prestigious Petroleum Engineering schools. A keen interest in politics and the Conservative Party has made him a regular contributor to ConservativeHome over the years. In this Platform piece he looks at […]
Oberon Houston works as a New Developments Manager for a major international oil and gas company, and is a regular contributor to ConservativeHome. He is currently based in Tunis, North Africa. He believes that an English legislature will breath fresh life into England and English identity. Back in November 2005, I wrote a Platform piece […]
Oberon Houston is currently in charge of developing one of the most prospective oil provinces in the world, West Africa, and is an external examiner at the Heriot-Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering. Oil prices are soaring and people are hurting, we all recognise that, but where does the solution lie, with government or with industry? […]
The Abolition of the 10p tax band may have been a disaster for Brown. He may have confused even his own backbenchers, when he accused the Tories of being for it, and then against it. Presumably he was for it when he introduced it, and is now so against it he is abolishing it. Confused? […]
St Pancras Station opened to the public on Wednesday after an £800m reconstruction project that sees the Victorian masterpiece, after decades of neglect, returned to all its original splendour. Those now arriving in Britain on the Eurostar service will be treated to the view above the platform of the "Barlow Shed". One of the great […]
David Cameron may have had a privileged upbringing, and influence may have been brought to bear to help him into the fast-track option of the Conservative Research Department (CRD) when he left Oxford University, proudly sporting a first class honours degree in ‘Politics Philosophy and Economics’. Although, even at this tender young age, raw talent […]
In this, my fifth contribution to ‘Your Platform’, I have again decided to dedicate a piece to Gordon Brown. Whilst the recent pensions raid scandal emerging around the Chancellor will be uncomfortable for him, it is interesting that it has taken so long for this story to surface, and that this is the only one […]
I’ve got a small confession to make regarding yesterday afternoon. I was relaxing sleepily in the sunny living room. The kitchen was a bit of a mess, the washing basket pretty full and the wife was at work all day. What’s the right thing to do? I asked myself, as I pushed back in the […]
At the 2005 Labour Party spring conference, Gordon Brown delivered an impressive speech to Labour activists. It combined, in equal measures, self congratulation and scathing attacks on the Conservatives. Not much wrong in that, it’s a politician’s lot to do this, but senior Labour politicians have taken these tricks of the trade to new and […]
This Christmas day, after the turkey and bubbly have gone down, take a short stroll outside before the light goes. During your walk, the chances are that the only others you’ll see are children lucky enough to get bicycles from Santa. I remember a Christmas ten years ago, when my son was six and we […]
If you have an idea for a Platform article, your suggestion should be sent to conservativehome@mac.com. What’s 104 pages long, will cost you £21, and I claim should not be supported by the Conservatives? The Education White Paper of course! Entitled "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All" the paper was launched by the Government in […]
It’s been a turbulent fortnight for Scotland’s Conservatives. David McLetchie resigned the leadership of the Edinburgh Parliament’s Tories and Annabel Goldie has replaced him. Regular conservativehome blogger, Oberon Houston, kicks off a Platform debate about the future of our party north of the border… Ask a selection of Scots whether it would be a good […]
Oberon Houston is a Conservative blogger and regular contributor to ConservativeHome. Our economy is a mess. The two main political parties are in agreement on this, but are reduced to sparring on the pin-head of how quickly to reduce the deficit. A common misconception, however, is that the solution to our economic woe is reducing […]