Blog
Book Review: The Next World War by Peter Apps
- 3 Feb 2026
My generation has experienced a rarity in British history. We’ve never really faced the prospect of a European or World War. You could argue the nuclear arms race in the 1980s was the closest we came to it, but it was never really a serious prospect. And when the cold war ende...
When Political Tribes Splinter
- 1 Feb 2026
I understand why so many people are disillusioned with politics and politicians, but that being said, politics never fails to amaze, even if it doesn’t inspire. We live in an age of political fluidity, where party allegiances no longer mean an awful lot. Political parties have...
'Fisking' Yasmin Alibhia-Brown on Margaret Thatcher
- 31 Jan 2026
Back in the 2000s many bloggers used the art of ‘Fisking’ as a way of explaining why a MSM newspaper columnist was wrong. The term emerged in the early 2000s blogosphere and is named after Robert Fisk, a well-known Middle East correspondent for The Independent. Bloggers began ...
Starmer Fails the 'Great Expectations' Test
- 24 Jan 2026
Eighteen months really is a long time in politics. Yesterday I was clearing out some papers and came across a copy of the New Statesman from 12 July 2024. It was their post-election issue. I flicked through it and was astonished by the...
Trump on Greenland: Can't. Shan't. Won't.
- 18 Jan 2026
Yesterday, Donald Trump did what he does best. He surprised us all by saying he would impose tariffs on various European countries, including the UK, unless they all acceded to his desire to buy or take over Greenland. He’s behaving like the child bully who makes threats if he...
Jenrick: Cutting Off the Head of the Snake
- 15 Jan 2026
If you want to kill a snake in the grass, the best thing to do is cut its head off. That’s what Kemi Badenoch has done to Robert Jenrick, and it’s not before time. I make it my business to have good relationships with politicians across the political spectrum, and it’s rare...
Iran: And the Media Looks Away
- 11 Jan 2026
The established media comes in for a lot of criticism nowadays from the both hard right and hard left, and indeed some in between. “You’re biased,” they scream. “You’re legacy media,” they accuse. And much more besides. I reject most of the criticisms made, but this week I’...
Q&A with The Irish Times
- 11 Jan 2026
Interview by Ronan McCreevey How did you get to edit a book about Irish taoisigh? I started my original podcast with British prime ministers in 2021 because it was the 300th anniversary of Robert Walpole being our first prime minister. I commissioned 55 people to write e...
New Year, New Innovations for my LBC Radio Show
- 6 Jan 2026
New year is a good time to start afresh, so we've got two new innovations for my LBC eveninf radio show. We're extending Cross Question, our political panel show to four days a week, starting this week. Our first Thursday CQ will feature four LBC presenters - Tom S...
The Consequences of Venezuela
- 3 Jan 2026
For those of us on the centre-right, who have always regarded our alliance with the United States as central to our defence and security policy, today is a difficult day. While no one would bemoan the departure of the brutal and illegitimate Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro,...
My Ten Predictions for 2026
- 30 Dec 2025
These were my predictions for 2025. Let's see how I did... 1. Donald Trump and Elon Musk have the mother of all fallouts CORRECT 2. Netanyahu will not be prime minister of Israel by the end of 2025 INCORRECT 3. The CDU wins rhe German election and eventually forms a ...
A Weekend in Stockholm - Roxette, an Old Ship, Abba & A Superb Meal
- 7 Dec 2025
There’s nothing like going to a new country for the first time, and absolutely loving it. I’ve just come back from a couple of days in Sweden, which for some inexplicable reason I had never visited before. The ostensible reason was to go to a concert by Roxette, at the ...
A Tribute to Brian Hayes - a Legend of Speech Radio
- 1 Dec 2025
It was in the interval of watching a Cliff Richard concert in Cardiff last night that I learned that Brian Hayes had died at the age of 87. I knew he was ill, but it was still something of a shock, following hot on the heels of learning that one of my footballing heroes, ...
Rachel Reeves & the Consequences of Hubris
- 30 Nov 2025
I’m writing this having just watched the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, try to tell is that she wasn’t lying or misleading us about the need for £26 billion of tax rises in the budget, and that she had been consistent all along. Bollocks. It was a confident performance by Reeve...
The Econmics of the Madhouse
- 23 Nov 2025
Sometimes I think: “Is it me, or is the world going mad?” This weekend is one of those occasions. We’ve had weeks of the Chancellor flying all sorts of tax raising kites and leaking different budget proposals, as if she is just flailing around=d without any clue of how to bala...
Review of 'The Taoiseach' in The Irish Catholic
- 20 Nov 2025
rom William Cosgrave to Simon Harris: Irish leaders since 1922 by Felix Larkin This collection of essays about the sixteen men who have led Irish governments has the subtitle: “a century of political leadership”. The essays, however, demonstrate that leadership qualities...
Review of 'The Taoiseach' in The Irish Times
- 18 Nov 2025
This is a review of 'The Taoiseach' in the Irish Times by Diarmaid Ferriter, one of Ireland's most respected commentators and historians. Have we been well served by our taoisigh? This collection of essays on the 16 holders of that position to date will leave readers well p...
Will Budget Day Also Be the Day Labour Lost the Next Election?
- 9 Nov 2025
Rachel Reeves’ November 26th budget looks as if it could the most consequential of modern times. No one quite knows what she is going to do, and I worry that neither does she. So many kites are being flow at the moment, it seems as if no decisions have yet been made, which, gi...
Review of 'The Taoiseach' in the Irish Independent
- 6 Nov 2025
This article, by Eilis O'Hanlon, appeared originally in the Irish Independent HERE Dev, Charlie, Bertie and beyond: the legacies of the 16 men who have led Ireland From the taoiseach ‘well-known for his partiality for whiskey’ to the leader prone to digression duri...
Why Does Nothing Work?
- 27 Oct 2025
When a high profile prisoner, who has been found guilty of committing sex offences against young girls, is wrongly released from prison, and when you find out that last year 262 prisoners were released by mistake, you scratch your head in bewilderment. How on earth can such a ...