Blog
Reaction Media Review 49: 'Pariah' - The Harvey Proctor Story
- 11 May 2021
Parish, Tortoise Media Many people felt that the internet would signal the end of properly funded investigative journalism and a dumbing down of current affairs coverage more generally. The reverse has been true. Investigative journalism is far from dead and it’s possible t...
Ten Things To Take Away From the May Elections
- 9 May 2021
You can tell an awful lot about a politician by how they react to an election defeat. This week we learned that Sir Keir Starmer is neither a lucky general or is cool under fire. His interview on Friday afternoon was a textbook classic of how not to react. He looked like a rab...
Reaction Media Review 48: Rachel Johnson's 'Difficult Women' & 'State of Mind' with Richard Sefton
- 6 May 2021
Rachel Johnson’s Difficult Women podcast, Global Radio Let me say this up front. I am an unalloyed Rachel Johnson fan. Like most of the Johnson family, she is an adornment to our national life, even if she sometimes puts her foot in it. Her recent memoir of her time in Chan...
Reaction Media Review 47: All to Play For & Line of Duty
- 27 Apr 2021
All to Play For podcast, Joe.co.uk & Coral Football podcasts are two a penny nowadays, but what a discovery All to Play For has been. It is presented by actor and comedian Tom Davis and former West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool and England star, Joe Cole. Each week they ...
A Tribute to Eve Collishaw
- 24 Apr 2021
Photo credit: Archant. Eve Collishaw is someone you won’t have heard of unless you follow Norwich politics very closely. I first met her on the campaign trail in Norwich North in the 1983 general election. She has stood in every local election in the city more or less e...
Reaction Media Column 46: Seaspiracy on Netflix
- 20 Apr 2021
I had heard great things about this documentary from several people I greatly respect. A couple of them were people on the right who I wouldn’t have thought would be persuaded to become more environmentally aware through the means of a Netflix documentary. So it was with high ...
When Your Dog Goes Missing...
- 16 Apr 2021
There are two things that dog owners fear the most. That their dog might run away never to be seen again, or that it might be dognapped. Around 11.30am this morning I left our house in Norfolk to go to Cromer for a round of golf. Fifteen minutes later, I was driving pa...
Reaction Media Column 45: Finding Jack Charlton & Covid Confidential
- 13 Apr 2021
Finding Jack Charlton, BBC2, iPlayer This documentary is a difficult watch. At times I wondered whether it should have ever seen the light of day. At times I wondered if it really fulfilled its aims. At times I wondered if its dual strands of career retrospective and encour...
A Tribute to Shirley Williams (1930-2021)
- 12 Apr 2021
I have just learned that Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, has died at the age of 90. In the last week we have lost Cheryl Gillan, Peter Ainsworth and Ian Gibson from the ranks of politicians or ex-politicians. And now Shirley. I do hope her death is not eclipsed ...
A Tribute to Dame Cheryl Gillan (1952-2021)
- 5 Apr 2021
I was and am proud to call Cheryl Gillan a friend. I was so sad to learn this afternoon that she had died. She had been in poor health for some time and had been devastated by the death of her beloved husband Jack Leeming at the age of 91 in 2019. She was absolutely devote...
And I Say Unto Thee... Me, God and Religion
- 4 Apr 2021
My sisters and I grew up in a small village in North Essex, where the church was an integral part of village life. We were all confirmed into the Anglican church. My mother would go to church semi-regularly and would be part of the church flower rota. We were given the choice ...
Political Counterfactual: How Jacqui Smith Became...
- 2 Apr 2021
For those of you who enjoyed Alex Macpherson's counterfactual about what might have happened if I had been elected MP for Bracknell, he has now turned his attention to my For the Many podcast partner, Jacqui Smith. ‘He died whilst enjoying one of his great passions in...
Reaction Media Column 44: 'Finding Derek'
- 31 Mar 2021
This article first appeared on Reaction. Finding Derek, ITV1 & ITV Hub I’m going to be honest, I have put off writing this column because it’s not easy writing about two people, one of whom I regard as a new friend. The other is a former political enemy, who once tri...
Reaction Media Column 43: Sellafield & Murray Walker Documentary
- 25 Mar 2021
This article first appeared on Reaction. Sellafield’s Toxic Culture, BBC News Channel & iPlayer This film is only eleven minutes long, but it tells a very worrying story. Sellafield ought to be the safest place in the country. It needs to be given what happens on its...
Iain Signs Two Book Deal with Hodder & Stoughton
- 22 Mar 2021
As well as hearing the good news about the book award on Friday, I also got the sales figures as well. Suffice to say they were way beyond my expectations and the advance has already been earned out. (Temporary cover) Today, Hodder & Stoughton are announcing that...
A Political CounterFactual: What If Iain Dale Had Become MP for Bracknell...
- 19 Mar 2021
With Duncan Brack I have edited several books of political counterfactuals including Prime Minister Michael Portillo & Other Things That Never Happened, Prime Minister Corbyn & Other Things That Never Happened, and in July this year Prime Minister Priti & Other Thi...
Reaction Media Review 42: Caroline Aherne at the BBC & Winston Churchill's War
- 19 Mar 2021
This article first appeared on Reaction. Caroline Aherne at the BBC, BBC4 & iPlayer If you were compiling a list of the top 10 funniest women in Britain over the last 20 years, Caroline Aherne would undoubtedly feature on it. This half-hour tribute to one of Britain’...
'The Prime Ministers' Wins Prestigious Book Award
- 18 Mar 2021
Everyone likes winning an award, and of course I am no different to anyone else. So when I heard that The PRIME MINISTERS had won an award, you can imagine how thrilled I was. Although the book is edited by me and the award is in my name, there are 54 other contributors to...
Justine Greening Asks the Questions
- 7 Mar 2021
Last week I did an interview with Justine Greening for her podcast, Fit for Purpose, which you can listen to here. They've transcribed some of it. Enjoy! Iain Dale Podcast Political commentator, broadcaster, author and podcaster Iain Dale talks to us abo...
Review: The Accidental President
- 6 Mar 2021
The Accidental President, Amazon Prime, Apple TV Just when you thought you’d had your fill of Donald Trump and could happily never think about him again, along comes something which shatters that particular illusion. And so it is with ‘The Accidental President’, which looks...