Alistair McAlpine
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CommentThe race for second place
Waking up to find that the Tories have regained popularity is certainly a strange feeling. Maybe they can fail a bit better this time
CommentGlory days
Our building sites are bloodless descendants of the sites of the roaring 50s, when men were men, lavatories were buckets and passers-by were fair game
- Comment
Bleeding edge design
The construction industry is in a state of permanent revolution, which puts a lot of pressure on those of us who have to build things
- Comment
Why the Tories will win
The government's refusal to treat the construction industry as the special case it is has made it very difficult for Labour to triumph in next year's election
- Comment
Gruel intentions
With the corporate killing bill on the way, should company directors be going on courses preparing them for a life of snout, slopping out and table tennis?
- Comment
Machiavelli's advice
What does the future hold for contractors? History can give us some of the answers – and so can a well known renaissance philosopher
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Our blood, our money
The battle for contracts in Iraq has begun. As we were in the firing line, we ought to get a fair share of the work – before the French find a way back in
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O'Rourke's drift
So Ray O'Rourke's fusiliers are going to make £55,000 a year while they put up Terminal 5, are they? Maybe, but they'll have to win some battles first …
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Eyes wide shut
If we're going to seize our inauspicious economy by the horns, companies need to stop kidding themselves that things are better than they really are
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Business as usual
The City largely ignores construction, believing it to be far too risky an enterprise. We should return the compliment and just get on with making money
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Why Blair should worry
Scandal to a politician is like manure to a pig farmer – an inevitable, if not enjoyable, part of the job. However, it can prise power from the strongest PMs
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A leaf from their book
Europeans have a great deal to teach us about the arts, politeness, preserving cultural differences – and about a taste for real food
- Comment
Cometh the hour …
If Iain Duncan Smith's election was remarkable, so are the global and national challenges he'll have to face. And he might just be the man for the job
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Let's stay together
Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith should make a deal, rather than spending the summer slugging it out with each other. Some chance …
- Comment
What a shower!
The Tories' performance in the election was embarrassing, hopeless, abysmal – which isn't surprising when you look at the calibre of those in charge
- Features
After the fire
Alistair McAlpine - That we have turned the countryside into a charnel house is horrific. It is also a unique opportunity to create a less polluting, more humane farming system
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A death in the family
First person - There isn't exactly a rush to buy Laing, but with funeral costs mounting, the owners need to appoint an undertaker soon.
- News
Management buyout is the best hope for a secure future
MORE than 150 years ago, John Laing started his construction company; now it is up for sale, writes Building columnist Alistair McAlpine.
- Comment
Limited opposition
With so many chinks in the government's armour – everything from cows to petrol – why are the Tories failing to strike?