This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AdorableRuffian (talk | contribs) at 14:53, 2 June 2005 (Added external link. Restored reference to Desmond's pornography as this was the stated reason for Hitchens leaving the Express). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 14:53, 2 June 2005 by AdorableRuffian (talk | contribs) (Added external link. Restored reference to Desmond's pornography as this was the stated reason for Hitchens leaving the Express)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Peter Hitchens (born 28 October 1951 in Sliema, Malta GC) is a British journalist, author and broadcaster.
He was a reporter on the Daily Express, where he was Moscow and then Washington correspondent. In 2000, after the Express was bought by Richard Desmond - a publisher of pornographic magazines - Hitchens left to join the Mail on Sunday, citing his strong anti-pornography views and the resultant conflict of interest as his reason for leaving.
A former Trotskyist, Hitchens now espouses conservative values. He advocates the restoration of capital punishment and staunchly opposes United Kingdom membership of the European Union, Prime Minister Tony Blair's constitutional reforms, and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which he regards as a 'sell-out' to the Provisional IRA. He has denounced the decline of religious faith and family life, progressive teaching methods, the influence of television on children, the 'permissive society', multiculturalism and the metrication of Britain's weights and measures. However, he has often been at odds with fellow conservatives, opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the privatisation of the UK's railways. He is frequently dismissive of the modern British Conservative Party and has spoken of his desire for a new conservative movement to take its place.
Hitchens is the author of The Abolition of Britain (1999) and A Brief History of Crime (2003), both critical of changes in British society since the 1960s. A compendium of his Daily Express columns was published under the title Monday Morning Blues in 2000. An updated edition of A Brief History of Crime, re-titled The Abolition of Liberty and featuring a new chapter on identity cards, was published in April 2004.
Christopher Hitchens, also a journalist, author and critic, is his older brother. Christopher's views on most issues are to the left of those of his brother.
External links
- peterhitchens.com - Official site
- BBC News, 9 December 2000, Veteran columnist quits Express
- The Guardian, 31 May 2005, "When Christopher met Peter" after the brothers had not spoken for four years