Melanie Phillips

Melanie Phillips
Phillips in 2014
Born (1951-06-04) 4 June 1951
London, England
Alma materSt Anne's College, Oxford
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • author
  • publisher
Notable credits
SpouseJoshua Rozenberg
Children2
Websitemelaniephillips.com

Melanie Phillips (born 4 June 1951) is a British public commentator. She began her career writing for The Guardian and New Statesman. During the 1990s, critics claimed that Phillips became increasingly associated with right-wing politics and the far-right, and her work has been linked by some commentators to the so-called "Eurabia" theory. She currently writes for The Times, The Jerusalem Post, the Jewish News Syndicate and The Jewish Chronicle, covering political and social issues from a socially conservative perspective.

Phillips and her supporters have disputed these characterizations, describing her views as stemming from consistent concern for social policy and extremism. She has stated, "I haven't changed. I am still fighting for what I perceive to be truth, justice and a concern for the vulnerable." Others, in 2003, pointed to her long career across a range of publications and her receipt of the Orwell Prize as evidence that her views are not easily categorized. Phillips has also described herself, quoting the prominent neoconservative Irving Kristol, as a "liberal who has been mugged by reality".

Phillips has appeared as a panellist on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Moral Maze and BBC One's Question Time. She was awarded the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 1996, while she was writing for The Observer. Her books include the memoir Guardian Angel: My Story, My Britain. Her writing on immigration was cited in the manifesto released by Anders Behring Breivik related to the 2011 Norway attacks.