Martin James Kettle (born 7 September 1949) is a British journalist and author. The son of two prominent communist activists, Arnold Kettle (best remembered as a literary critic; 1916–1986)[1] and Margot Kettle (née Gale; 1916–1995), he was educated at Leeds Modern School and Balliol College, Oxford.
Kettle worked for the National Council for Civil Liberties (now known as Liberty) as a research officer from 1973. He then began his career in journalism as home affairs correspondent for New Society (1977–1981) and moved to The Sunday Times in 1981, working as a political correspondent for three years. He has been with The Guardian since 1984 and also wrote regularly for Marxism Today in its later years. He writes a column on classical music in Prospect magazine.
Kettle is best known as a columnist for The Guardian, where he is assistant editor, having worked as the newspaper's Washington D.C. bureau chief from 1997 to 2001. He was formerly a leader writer (1993–1997) and chief leader writer from 2001 onward. He has often defended New Labour and Tony Blair (a personal friend) – though not over the Iraq War. However, soon after the 2010 general election, Kettle wrote that David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government had had a positive effect on the country.[2] Kettle has been dismissed by John Pilger as Blair's "most devoted promoter".[3]
Kettle has a low opinion of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Kettle wrote that "[t]he immediate effect of the judgment [when the Supreme Court declared the prorogation of Parliament invalid] is devastating for Johnson. It is expressed so cogently and unambiguously that it will be difficult for him to wriggle out of it – even though he is certainly foolish enough to try."[4]
In March 2021, Kettle wrote of the current Chancellor: "Sunak wants to deploy the financial heft of the Treasury to reinstate the UK in the heart of Scotland's economic and political conversation.."[5]
Bibliography
- Hain, Peter; Kettle, Martin et al., Policing the Police, 1979, John Calder, ISBN 0-7145-3628-8. Rev. ed. 1980: ISBN 0-7145-3795-0
- Kettle, Martin & Hodges, Lucy, Uprising!: Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities, 1982, Macmillan, ISBN 0-330-26845-7
- Kettle, Martin (ed.), Guardian Guide to Europe, 1993, Fourth Estate, ISBN 1-85702-119-3
- Kettle, Martin, The Single Currency: Should Britain Join?, 1997, Vintage, ISBN 0-09-977351-1
References
- ^ Martin Kettle "What MI5's records on my father tell us about the uses of surveillance", The Guardian, 28 July 2011
- ^ Martin Kettle "A man of grace. Cameron has been good for Britain", The Guardian, 8 July 2010
- ^ Pilger, John "Let's face it – the state has lost its mind", New Statesman, 16 May 2005
- ^ The supreme court judgment is a devastating blow for a failed prime minister The Guardian
- ^ The Guardian, 3 March 2021