A Day at Auschwitz-Birkenau
- 3 Mar 2010
Back in 1984 I visited Dachau. I took my mother and sister. And it was true what they said: the birds really didn't sing there. It was a profoundly moving experience. My mother couldn't wait to leave and hated it. In 1990, just after the reunification of Germany, I drove to Bu...
A Tribute to Michael Foot
- 3 Mar 2010
Michael Foot has died at the ripe old age of 96. Whatever one's politics, he was a true political great. The first time I ever really heard of him was when my Grandmother gave me some well meant political advice when I was about thirteen years old. She told me: "Just remember,...
Counterfactual: The Second Falklands War
- 17 Feb 2010
No, it really didn't mean anything, the Foreign Office official told David Miliband. "They do things like this all the time, Foreign Secretary," he soothed. "We've got good relations with Argentina. Nothing to worry about." It was the day after the Argentinian President had is...
When Making a Speech, Don't Change a Winning Formula
- 14 Feb 2010
It's only natural that I have been giving a lot of thought to what happened yesterday and why I underperformed at the East Surrey selection. Without going into a rather long tedious saga of self analysis, I think two things were at play. One is that I broke the habit of a l...
The Super Injunction Law Needs Reforming
- 31 Jan 2010
The John Terry story gets more lurid by the day. According to the Sunday Mirror, he got Wayne Bridge's girlfriend pregnant and then arranged for her to have an abortion. In addition, he allegedly lied to Bridge when confronted about the affair. The non football fans among you ...
Review: 'Mo'
- 31 Jan 2010
There was a part of me that wasn't looking forward to watching 'Mo'. I wasn't sure that Julie Walters could carry it off. Idiot. Of course she could. She grew into the role so that after half an hour you really did imagine she really was Mo. She even get her voice right. Th...
An Appreciation of Duncan Brack
- 30 Jan 2010
One of the great things about running Politico's for seven years was that I got to meet a huge number of people from across the political spectrum, who otherwise I would never have got to know. Duncan Brack was one of those people. Unless you're a LibDem activist you've pro...
I Am A Very Great Man
- 24 Jan 2010
I spent much of today in front of a camera. Nothing new there, you may think, but you'd be wrong. This time it was to appear in a feature film! Admittedly, it's not exactly a starring role, but the experience was good - and different! - nonetheless. The film, which will be rel...
Modesty Forbids... Almost!
- 24 Jan 2010
As you know, I'm a modest sort of guy. Totally unused to blowing my own trumpet. Can't stand these bloggers who think they're God's gift etc etc... BUT... when your Mum phones you and tells you how proud of you she is after reading about you in the Mail on Sunday... well, I'm ...
Why UKIP Are Wrong to Want to Ban the Burka
- 18 Jan 2010
UKIP keep telling us how libertarian they are - that they are the most libertarian party out there. I've never bought that. Their new policy of banning the burka/niqab is yet another example of their authoritarian, populist, streak. Had they announced it at the time of the Fre...
Iain 1 Yasmin 1
- 17 Jan 2010
I know how you all love it when I mention Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, so here goes. On the BBC News Channel paper review last night she talked about Jenni Russell's article in the Sunday Times on class. Here's how the exchange went... YAB: "We had a funny kind of statement fro...
Posh Nosh
- 14 Jan 2010
I've always wondered why some restaurants become known as the "in" places to go. I don't make a habit of frequenting them generally, but I've eaten at a fair few of them and most tend not to live up to expectations. It seems to me that you go to these restaurants to either be ...
My 2010 General Election Prediction
- 10 Jan 2010
Over the last few days I have been going through every single parliamentary seat with the aim of trying to predict which party will win it at the next election. As you can imagine, it has been quite a task. Why have I done this? For one reason - that I do not believe in nation...
Why I Published Peter Watt's Book
- 9 Jan 2010
Next Left's Sunder Katwala knows a thing about political publishing, albeit of the academic kind. We first met when I was at Politico's and he worked for Macmillan. He's written an article headlined WATT'S THE POINT? on Next Left this afternoon, which I think deserves a full r...
If One School Could Open, Why Couldn't Others?
- 8 Jan 2010
I was talking to my Mum last night and she was ranting on about schools who close at the first whiff of snow. She had seen a report on the TV about a school in Norwich which had remained open, despite all those around it closing. It turns out that on Thursday and Friday thi...
Brown Copies Foot Election Strategy
- 7 Jan 2010
The election strategy being fought by Gordon Brown and his team reminds me of that followed by Michael Foot in 1983. These cosy little household chats which Brown is doing every day are exactly what Foot did in 1983, partly in order to keep him away from the media. Foot did hi...
What Next?
- 7 Jan 2010
Many things remain unclear, but let's stick to what we know. We know that David Cameron has said he believes there should be a "strong governmment in the national interest". We also know that Nick Clegg has said that he would first talk to the party which has most seats and mo...
Book Review: Shirley Williams' Autobiography
- 6 Jan 2010
This is a political autobiography which has had some mixed reviews. Some reviewers thought that Shirley Williams hadn't dished enough dirt. She was even nice about David Owen, wrote one disappointed reviewer. But isn't that the point? An autobiography is supposed to reflect th...
My Top Ten Westminster Novels
- 3 Jan 2010
When it comes to reading political novels I always enjoy a plot which centres around Parliament. I started to write a political novel myself a few years ago (which unbelievably featured Charles Kennedy as Foreign Secretary oin a Tory led coalition!) but only wrote one chapter....
My New Year's Resolutions for 2010
- 1 Jan 2010
It's only natural to re-evaluate a few things at the beginning of a new year. I'm not sure I believe in making new year's resolutions, but I'm going to make a few new year's aspirations. Here goes... 1. To make more of a consistent effort to watch my weight 2. To recogn...