Yvonne Roberts (born 1948) is an English journalist. She was born in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. Her family moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

for three years when she was a few months old and she lived in a number of locations through the rest of her childhood. Roberts was educated at

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

between 1967 and 1969, being taught by historian E. P. Thompson. Her career in journalism began at the ''

Northampton Chronicle & Echo The ''Northampton Chronicle & Echo'' (known locally as ''"The Chron"'') is a local newspaper serving Northampton, England, and the surrounding towns and villages. It was published daily from Monday-Saturday until 26 May 2012 at a price of £0.4 ...

'' in 1969, remaining with the publication until 1971. Roberts was employed on the ''

Weekend World ''Weekend World'' is a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television (LWT) and broadcast from 1972 to 1988. Created by John Birt, not long after he had joined LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at midday ...

'' (1972–77), ''The London Programme'' (1977–79) and '' This Week'' from 1988. She worked on the short-lived tabloid the ''

News on Sunday The ''News on Sunday'' was a left-wing British tabloid newspaper. It was launched in April 1987. Publication ceased seven months later, in November 1987. Origins The founders of the paper were former members of the left-wing group Big Flame. T ...

'', and has contributed to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''. She first joined the staff of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' in 1990, where she was formerly a leader writer. Roberts is a senior fellow at the

Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London that specialises in social innovation to tackle structural inequality. It is named after Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created ...

. She has two daughters, Zoe Pilger (born 1984), from a former relationship with journalist

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; born 9 October 1939) is an Australian journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He has been mainly based in Britain since 1962. He was also once visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. Pilge ...

. and Grace Scott with her husband Stephen Scott who was a producer on BBC's Panorama for a number of years. During 2016–17, she was the first Political Writer in Residence at Sussex University.

Views

Roberts compares

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

to Clement Attlee. She maintains both stuck to principles that the people were ready to accept. Roberts wrote, "What many of the so-called expert political analysts and Labour MPs who rate polish and pragmatism over consistency and conviction failed to recognise is precisely what many of the young spotted immediately – Corbyn’s integrity. Whatever his alleged failings as a manager of colleagues, younger voters have been attracted to his unashamedly steadfast leftwing vision. One that promises investment in the NHS, in childcare, in schools, in social care, re nationalising utilities, making the state a catalyst for higher skills, improved production, more money raised from tax revenues as the number of real jobs grow and, along with it, the economic security and hope of ordinary families, for so long absent". Roberts maintains the system frequently fails psychiatric patients. Roberts wrote about Sarah Reed, a seriously mentally ill woman who died on remand in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Histor ...

following what Roberts and a coroner's inquest considered neglect and inappropriate treatment. According to Roberts: "The inability of mental health services to cope means thousands of vulnerable women like Sarah are on a conveyor belt to understaffed prisons where, frequently, harsh discipline is imposed".

References

1948 births Living people British journalists People from Newport Pagnell {{UK-journalist-stub