A presentation I made to voluntary youth leaders in Oxfordshire today…
Click here to access the PowerPoint slides and associated notes.







A presentation I made to voluntary youth leaders in Oxfordshire today…
Click here to access the PowerPoint slides and associated notes.
This morning’s Armed Forces Day flag raising in Garth Park, Bicester, was a moving and meaningful moment—quietly dignified, and all the more powerful for it. The ceremony brought people together in recognition of the men and women who serve our country, often far from home and in challenging circumstances. His Majesty The King was formally…
Some people dream of seeing the Victoria Falls. Others want to swim with dolphins or climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But if you were a Brit and couldn’t travel overseas, what 50 things should you aspire to do before you die? The Ask Jeeves website has come up with an answer. (I’ve checked and I…
Yesterday, when my cousin, Professor Rory Medcalf, delivered the 2025 Sir James Plimsoll Lecture in Hobart, Tasmania, he discussed a compelling idea that has immediately resonated with me: progressive patriotism. Rory—who heads the Australian National University’s National Security College—spoke not just with academic insight, but with a real sense of civic purpose. His reflections, though…
This evening, I had the immense pleasure of presenting the Platinum Character and Citizenship Awards to Year 6 pupils from primary schools across the Cambrian Learning Trust. Held in Wantage, the ceremony was a joyful and heartening celebration of something our world needs more than ever – young people with strong character and a sense…
Last night, Christmas Eve, Mark and I were at Christ Church Cathedral for the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols – one of those moments in the year when time seems to slow, and the familiar becomes newly luminous. There is something deeply grounding about this service. The shape of it – scripture and music…
“Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now” – Bob Dylan It now looks as though the result of the UK’s election could have been down to young people turning out in their droves to vote. Talk of a 72% turnout for 18 to 24-year-olds has been doing the…