Richard Ritchie: In-house, employee lobbyists are different

Because we weren’t client-driven, it was much easier for us to give internal advice which might be unpopular with our bosses.

Richard Ritchie: Historic parliamentary debates show there was no mandate for mass immigration

Without passing judgement on the views of another era, it is clear that MPs never envisioned the sort of inflow we have seen in the decades since.

Richard Ritchie: Why I believe that Enoch Powell would have supported this Brexit trade deal

His archivist writes that this agreement has succeeded…in recovering powers which some thought had been lost permanently”.

Richard Ritchie: The climate crisis – and this pandemic – have made the case for a carbon tax stronger than ever before

Besides, the cash-strapped Chancellor will need to raise revenue from somewhere. Here are some points to consider before going ahead.

Richard Ritchie: What the great Commons debates on devolution can teach today’s unionists

Four decades on, history seems likely to vindicate those who warned that devolution would undermine the United Kingdom.

Richard Ritchie: It is futile to ask where political giants of old would have stood in today’s chaos

Over the past few decades our constitution has been so corroded that the likes of Powell, Benn, Crossman, and Foot would struggle to recognise it.

Richard Ritchie: We all benefit from the oil and gas industry. Why is this Government, in thrall to a moral panic, unwilling to say so?

If artists are so unwilling to accept the support of industrial companies, perhaps they should be prepared to live off box office receipts alone.

Richard Ritchie: Christianity and politics at Easter. Do the Gospels present a manifesto?

Christ’s resurrection certainly doesn’t help us out on Brexit – unless it be to remind us of the Christian virtues of temperance and respect.

Richard Ritchie: Brexit. Four great Commons debates that show how we got here – and what’s at stake.

That’s to say, those of 1950, 1961, 1967 and 1971. Sovereignty was always the key concern, despite arguments over its meaning.

Richard Ritchie: The deeper reason for the hostility to a Powell plaque in Wolverhampton

When a ‘right-wing’ politician is nominated for a plaque, it is almost bound to be controversial with ‘the left’. Tories are much more generous.

Richard Ritchie: Was the election result really such a disaster for the Conservatives?

By 2022, Corbyn will no longer look ‘new’, and that he came close to winning in 2017 should mean that he will then be exposed to far greater scrutiny,

Richard Ritchie: Ten Lenten confessions about Brexit

It is incumbent on all of us who have participated in the EU debate, on both sides, to confess to some sins and omissions.

Richard Ritchie: Power-sharing government at Stormont is always bound to break down

Direct rule from Westminster is the proper unionist option.

Richard Ritchie: Leaving the EU. What would Powell have made of the role of the Supreme Court?

My guess is that he would have argued that this is a matter for Parliament, with no need to resort to the judiciary.