Guardian: Cameron, Segolene and the 'It' Crowd
- 29 Aug 2006
The It crowd It may seem an unlikely comparison, but David Cameron and Ségolène Royal have more in common than you'd think. You wouldn't think a French Socialist and a British Conservative could have much in common, but you'd be wrong. Take Lionel Jospin and Michael Howa...
Memories of Sir Alfred Sherman
- 28 Aug 2006
The Godfather of Thatcherism, Sir Alfred Sherman has died. You can read his full obituary HEREin the Daily Telegraph, but I wanted to add a few thoughts and memories of my own of Sir Alfred. I first met him in the late 1980s at a time when he had been despatched from the Th...
Independent Media Diary: Unreconstructed Wankers
- 28 Aug 2006
Some years ago Tony Blair was overheard referring to the Scottish Press as "unreconstructed wankers". On Friday they had a chance to get their own back as Blair faced the Tartan Press hordes at an Edinburgh Hotel. Well, sort of. Blair's spin doctors have told the hacks that th...
EXCLUSIVE: Anschutz Company Leaked Emails Show AEG Spinning Out of Control
- 28 Aug 2006
John Prescott's best mate Philip Anschutz has been up to his old tricks again. Anschutz, you will recall, owns the ranch which Prescott famously visited to discuss AEG's Casino bids the Slave Trade but didn't register the trip with the House of Commons authorities. Anshutz's c...
Independent on Sunday Diary Column: All Change at ITV Politics
- 27 Aug 2006
The news that two of the finest heads of hair in journalism are to take over ITV’s Sunday political show, has opened up a new career opportunity for ITN newscaster Alastair Stewart. As Andrea Catherwood moves from Mark Austin’s deputy on the News at When to join Andrew Rawnsle...
Political Programmes You'll Never See on the BBC
- 23 Aug 2006
8am The Big Breakfast with Eric Pickles 10.30am This Morning with Ann & Nick Winterton 11.30am Grumpy Old Tories with Sir Peter & Sir Patrick 1.00pm Fox News with Liam and Jesme 1.30pm Keith & Mrs Simpson 2.00pm The Darling Buds of Theresa May 2.30pm Just Wil...
Independent Media Diary: All Change at ITN
- 19 Aug 2006
The news that two of the finest heads of hair in journalism are to take over ITV’s Sunday political show, has opened up a new career opportunity for ITN newscaster Alastair Stewart. As Andrea Catherwood moves from Mark Austin’s deputy on the News at When to join Andrew Rawnsle...
Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena of Our Time
- 13 Aug 2006
11. Why Radio 5 Live is so insecure that its presenters appear to be required to utter the words Five and Live at least ten times every minute. 10. Why I always play better golf when it rains 9. Why the BBC persist with those very annoying dancing idents 8. How Steve McClar...
EDP Column: The Art of the Political Gaffe
- 13 Aug 2006
Well at least he said sorry. Ian Gibson’s ‘foot in mouth’ incident, when he appeared to describe the whole of the county of Norfolk as ‘inbred’, was the latest in the line of political gaffes which have damaged and sometimes ended the careers of those whom were unfortunate eno...
It's Time for the Muslim Council of Britain to Stand Up & Be Counted
- 10 Aug 2006
Yesterday George W Bush referred to the US and the free world being in a war with Islamo-fascism. As soon as I heard him say it I smiled. Why? Because I knew the predictable handwringing outpourings of faux outrage we'd get from the liberal so-called intelligentsia. And sure e...
The Art of Interviewing
- 9 Aug 2006
It's a subject I've covered before on this blog, but Tony Benn has written an incredibly perceptive article in the Guardian Media Section this morning on the art of political interviewing. You can read the article HERE. He rails against the aggressive interviewing tendences of...
Top Ten Things Which Would Be Different if David Davis Had Become Leader
- 6 Aug 2006
Thanks to all of you who contributed ideas for my Top Ten List of Things Which Would Be Different if DD Had Become Leader. Here's the final version - and remember, this is fun, humorous and not to be taken seriously - anyone tempted to have a sense of humour failure should loo...
Guardian: Taking a Leaf Out of Sarkozy's Book
- 2 Aug 2006
Taking a leaf from Sarkozy's book Why are British publishers so sure that political books won't sell? The news that Nicolas Sarkozy's autobiography has sold 275,000 copies in France within a month ought to send British publishers reaching for their chequebooks. But it wo...
Guardian: The Indignity of Labour
- 27 Jul 2006
The indignity of Labour After Douglas Alexander's puerile 'pig' jibe, David Cameron must be quaking in his hoodie - with laughter. Douglas Alexander wears girl's knickers: that's the response I am tempted to give to his ridiculous speech yesterday in which he said David ...
Well Done to Norman Lamb!
- 19 Jul 2006
Now there's a sentence you never thought you'd see on this blog. Norman has written to the Cabinet Office today to ask on what basis Lord Levy's secretary was given an MBE in 2002. The full story is HERE and you can watch the Channel 4 News report HERE. I bumped into Norman...
Guardian: Tim Montgomerie is Wrong on David Cameron's Red Meat
- 18 Jul 2006
The waiting game Tim Montgomerie wants David Cameron to throw some red meat to the right. He needs to be more patient. Tim Montgomerie is a man the Cameron leadership listens to. His ConservativeHome blog has established itself as the pre-eminent British Conservative web...
Guardian: Israel Action Sad But Necessary
- 14 Jul 2006
Sad, but necessary Israel had to make its point. It should now listen to George Bush, and exercise restraint. I have no doubt that Israel was right to react to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers. For some time now, the Israelis have acted with great self-restraint in ...
When I Visited Lebanon
- 14 Jul 2006
I have no doubt that Israel was right to react to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers. For some time now the Israelis have acted with great self restraint under huge provocation from various groups allied to the Palestinian cause. In the end, something was bound to give and ...
For an English Parliament
- 12 Jul 2006
On the eve of the 1997 election John Major foresaw the acts of constitutional vandalism Labour would enact if it won the election. He warned Tony Blair would “do our Union to death”. That may have been a rather lurid description but Major was one of the few...
Rick Stein & Me: A Personal Statement
- 12 Jul 2006
Following allegations on this blog and others that Rick Stein and I are one and the same person and share the same voice box I would like to make it clear that the fact that we have never been seen in the same radio studio together is entirely coincidental. And I hate fish. ...