Listen: Interview With Lady Antonia Fraser
- 22 Jun 2013
Yesterday I spent half an hour talking to renowned historian Lady Antonia Fraser about her superb new book on the 1832 Reform Act. It’s called PERILOUS QUESTION: THE DRAMA OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL 1832. And it really is a dramatic page turner. I don’t know much about this per...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 11: Did Angela Merkel Bring a Change of Underwear to the G8?
- 21 Jun 2013
Whoever chose Lough Erne as the venue for the G8 should get some kind of honour. As a PR exercise it couldn’t be faulted. The countryside backdrops to all the interviews and press conferences were simply stunning. Less stunning, though, was the fact that David Cameron seemed t...
Interviewing Dylan Jones
- 19 Jun 2013
Last Friday I interviewed GQ editor Dylan Jones about his new book THE EIGHTIES: ONE DAY, ONE DECADE and also his work as long standing editor of the most excellent GQ MAGAZINE. You can listen HERE.
Why Is Cameron Talking up Arming Syrian Rebels When Parliament Would Vote Against It?
- 16 Jun 2013
I am far from being a pacifist. Indeed, I am a firm believer in intervention when there is a clear case that can be made. But whatever David Cameron says, that case cannot be made in Syria. It is a mystery to most people why Cameron is going out on a limb on Syria. It is not a...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 10: Tim Yeo is Beyond Hope (And Parody)
- 14 Jun 2013
When I wrote about Tim Yeo last week, I had no idea what the Sunday Times were about to unveil. The least Mr Yeo could do was stand down from his select committee. What I don’t understand is the lack of intervention by the Whips’ Office or Number Ten. Yeo can deny everything a...
Book Review: Harry's Game: Inside the Mind of Harry Redknapp by John Crace
- 10 Jun 2013
This is not a biography of Harry Redknapp. In fact having finished reading it, I am still not very sure what it is. What I do know is that it tells us very little about Redknapp that we didn’t know before. And that’s quite a failing in a book of more than 200 pages. It’s rath...
The Energy & Climate Change Select Committee Must Hold Tim Yeo to Account
- 9 Jun 2013
It’s rare that I am ahead of my time, but less than a year ago I wrote a blogpost titled TIM YEO: THE UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF CONSERVATISM. I wrote… I have always found Tim Yeo’s interest in climate change and green issues a tad hypocritical bearing in mind the amount of tim...
Coping With a Downs Syndrome Child
- 8 Jun 2013
Last night on my LBC show we spent an hour discussing how parents cope with a Downs Syndrome child. There’s a new blood test which apparently is 98.5% accurate in detecting Downs in a foetus. I asked people to phone in and tell us how they reacted when told their child had Dow...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 9: The Case of Mr Simpson's Disappearing Moustache
- 7 Jun 2013
The biggest talking point at Westminster this week has been a certain MP’s lack of hair. No, I’m not talking about Nadine Dorries, I’m talking about the infamously moustachioed Tory MP for Broadland, Keith Simpson. For the first time in forty years he has shaved off his resple...
Why Liz Truss Should Consider Resigning & Become a Tory Heroine
- 6 Jun 2013
Any residual drop of respect I had for Nick Clegg’s political acumen disappeared today. As Toby Young says, he is governing by hissy fit. He’s always had a petulent side to his nature and I suppose we should have grown used to it by now. “Won’t give me Lords Reform, then I wo...
The Intolerance of Climate Change Zealots
- 3 Jun 2013
This evening on my LBC show we discussed Ed Davey’s outrageous idea that newspapers and broadcasters should refrain from giving a platform to climate change sceptics. How very ‘liberal’ of him. I remember at 18 Doughty Street back in 2007 I phoned Greenpeace to invite them to ...
The Ugly Side of Britain's Got Talent
- 1 Jun 2013
Like millions of others I am gripped by Britain’s Got Talent. But I do wonder how responsible it is to put very young children on a stage like this. In Tuesday’s semi-final, the first three places were taken by children under the age of 14. There’s no denying that they were a...
A Day in The Life Of...
- 31 May 2013
I sometimes think I lead a very strange kind of life. Today was no exception. Here are a few of the things I did today… My 8th Conservative Home Diary appeared EDP Column published Got recognised at Woolwich Dockyard station with the words: “Hello Mr Whale!” Did a ph...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 8: So, Vince Cable Has a Point!
- 31 May 2013
So Vince Cable is at it again – criticising the very government he is a member of. This time, it’s about immigration policy. He thinks that public concerns over immigration have been fanned by the promise of an immigration cap. He also points out that we are losing the fees o...
Book Review: Red by Gary Neville
- 25 May 2013
I’ve never met Gary Neville. But I’ve never liked him. Until now. His football punditry is excellent, insightful, and he displays a sense of humour we never knew he had. And it’s all present in his autobiography RED. OK, it was co-written with footie journalist Matt Dickinson...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 7: Here's an Election Winning Idea!
- 24 May 2013
I’m not quite sure what has happened to the Bow Group. It seems to have disappeared up its own backside, putting out daily press releases which seem designed to undermine the Conservative Party leadership at every opportunity. I remember when it considered itself a pseudo thi...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter: No 10 - Freebies
- 24 May 2013
Back in the hey-day of music radio, when men were men and children should have been very afraid, I’m told that virtually every day radio presenters would be sent loads of freebies. Free clothes, free food, free whatever. Those days are long gone, and rightly so. But we present...
Dude, I Need a New Laptop!
- 23 May 2013
Dude , I need a new laptop. And it’s all your fault. In case you think I’ve gone mad, Dude is my Jack Russell, and thanks to him I’m going to have to trot off to the Sony Centre and buy a new Vaio. And before you start, don’t even think of suggesting I get a Mac. Invention of...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter: No 9 - Handling Breaking News of a Potential Terror Incident
- 22 May 2013
I’m writing this forty five minutes after coming off air from possibly the most challenging four hours of radio I am ever likely to be faced with. So forgive me if this is at all rambling or disjointed. Sometime after 3pm this afternoon our Classic FM newsreader came over t...