Matthew Parris

So it was really interesting.

I remember talking to Matthew Parris about this and he was very funny.

He was an MP first and then he was hired very brilliantly because he turned out to be absolutely amazing at it as the sketch writer for The Times.

And there was this very, very fearsome Scottish editor called Charlie Wilson who hired him.

How do region of Ukraine that Russia is targeting? One of them.

I also read, by the way, in The Times on Monday, a very good column, I thought, from Matthew Paris on this very theme.

Perhaps he is a discreet, stealthy listener to the podcast, part of our never-ending debate.

So this is part of what Matthew Parris said on all of this.

And in reference to those who say that we cannot give a millimetre to Putin and that Ukraine must win, this is what he says.

And this is, of course, not, and this applies to me as well, wanting...

Russia to prevail.

It's a different issue about how to end this war of mass killing on both sides.

As the Chancellor gets down to business, the Energy Secretary drills down, and more and more things seem to be falling apart.

But with me today, held together and strong as ever, are the Times columnist Matthew Parris.

Hello, Matthew.

Hello, hello.

It does happen sometimes if you really pay attention.

He said it actually makes more sense to do it like this, because you announce something in the morning, and then by the time the MPs come to talk about it in the afternoon, they know what they're talking about, because they've seen the announcement, rather than just throwing it at them and expecting them to be on top of it immediately, which I thought was pretty sensible.

MUSIC PLAYS Hello, this is Hugo Rifkind here, currently unpacking the politics of the day with Matthew Parris and Juliet Samuel.

Juliet, you've been reporting on catastrophic near shutdowns within the national grid.

I don't.

But Matthew Parris, who is a Times columnist, is an interesting man.

He's a strange mixture.

He grew up, part of his upbringing in Africa, and was very influenced by missionaries that he saw, Christian missionaries.

They think they're doing the right thing.

Um, but the question is when this moves on, what happens then? When it moves, when it moves into a po- a properly p- post-Christian space, and we've already passed this legislation, and you get people who are not genuinely motivated by compassion, what can you say to such people once you've removed the bulwark? You know, so for, for somebody who's, who's motivated by compassion, fine, you're motivated by compassion, but if you're, if you're an atheist or if you're a materialist, why be motivated by compassion? And we've already seen, actually, you know, to give an example of this, um, uh, Matthew Parris wrote an article in The Times.

I think it was-

I remember

That's what he said, right? So it's in, it's in black and white.

It's in print.

So what can you say to somebody like Matthew Parris except from a, a metaphysical or a religious standpoint? On a kind of atheistic, materialistic, you know, Richard Dawkins standpoint, all you can say is that, "I would prefer to live in a compassionate society." Okay, well, I prefer that.

You wouldn't.

And please also include the reason why you think it's worthy of the accolade.

Next week I'll be talking to Matthew Parris, who's recently presented his final Great Lives.

So if you have anything that you would like me to ask him, then please do let me know.

Well, after a busy week here, that's it for now.