Eric Pickles Articles

Demanding photo ID at polling stations discriminates against the poor and the young, argues Paul Wheeler While the nation gently snoozed off its post-Christmas excess the government thought that Boxing Day was the best time to announce major changes to the voting...

The indices of deprivation statistics recently released by CLG are disappointing, but not surprising. Blackpool has had pockets of poverty since it was founded. A former colleague on the Labour benches – who died only fairly recently – spent part of her childhood in...

An angry response to what seemed to me to be a well-intentioned, albeit somewhat clumsy, government letter to mosques was blamed over the weekend on a failure to engage with Muslim communities. Eric Pickles, the secretary of state for communities and local government,...

Actor Paul Higgins moves seamlessly from foul-mouthed and over-confident Downing Street operator in the Thick Of It to his latest role as contorted local councillor in Jack Thorne's latest play, Hope. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, Higgins is number two...