A Lovely Weekend in Dublin
- 1 Apr 2024
I can honestly say that last weekend in Dublin was the most enjoyable I have had in many a month. Just about everything went right, and I didn’t even have any travel disasters. On my taxi journey from the airport to the hotel the driver decided to give me a lesson in Irish pol...
A Few Thoughts on the Political Consequences of the Budget
- 10 Mar 2024
Pre-election budgets are normally quite exciting both in their content and in their delivery. But to be exciting a budget needs a few surprises and at least one rabbit. It needs a bit of theatricality in the delivery. This budget had none of that. Virtually every measure had b...
The Consequences of George Galloway
- 3 Mar 2024
Dear all On a personal level I’ve always found George Galloway to be engaging company. We’ve had our run ins, but always parted as, well, maybe not friends, but… I remember one particularly feisty encounter on his Mother of all Talk Shows programme on a Friday night on...
The Fate of Mr Speaker
- 25 Feb 2024
Within the next 24 hours it is entirely possible that the House of Commons could be without a Speaker. I’m not predicting it will happen, but it’s not impossible to imagine Sir Lindsay Hoyle standing up at 2.30pm to announce that he feels he has lost the confidence of the Hous...
The End of Tory Days - My Analysis of the By-Election Results
- 17 Feb 2024
This article first appeared on Telegraph Online. Government loses two by-elections. Ordinarily that barely rates a headline. These, however, are not ordinary times. Poll after poll shows Labour heading for victory in the general election, and the results from Wellingborough...
A Tribute to Steve Wright
- 14 Feb 2024
It was just before 5pm. I was interviewing Lord Bilimoria for my ALL TALK podcast when I caught sight of a news alert on my phone. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Steve Wright had died. My brain went in several different directions. But I had to keep interviewing Lord B...
Moyes & Sunak: Brothers From a Different Mother
- 11 Feb 2024
I’m sitting here on my sitting room sofa, a dog either side of me, watching West Ham take an absolute tonking at home to Arsenal. As I write the score is 0-6. What an utter embarrassment. Sunak out! Sorry, I mean Moyes out! Or do I? Because what I am feeling now is the same fe...
Derek Draper's Funeral: The Gathering of the New Labour Clans
- 4 Feb 2024
Political parties are like tribes. They defend their own. And in times of stress they circle the wagons and whatever the facts are, whatever the pressures, whatever someone has done wrong, they find excuses and explanations. I was once a very tribal being. Much less so nowaday...
Would you fight for your Country?
- 28 Jan 2024
My generation has been lucky. We’ve never had to fight a war, unlike those of my father’s and grandfather’s generation. Indeed, my Great Uncle, Clifford Norden, was killed only ten days before the end of World War I. This week the head of the British Army, Sir Richard Sande...
The Loan Charge Scandal Could be Bigger Than the Post Office
- 22 Jan 2024
Some of you may have heard of the Loan Charge. Most of you probably haven’t. Mark my words, it is a scandal which eclipses the Post Office scandal, of which it is very redolent. It has, however, affected far more people, most of whom are wholly innocent of the charges against ...
'For the Many Live' Comes to Dublin on 24 March
- 10 Jan 2024
I first went to Dublin in the mid 1990s when I had the pleasure of being one of the first people to see Riverdance performed live, at the Eurovision Song Contest. I’ve been back several times since and have grown to love the city. So when I was approached at last y...
My Predictions for 2024 (And how my 2023 Predictions Turned Out)
- 31 Dec 2023
Before we get onto my predictions for 2024, let's see how I fared when I made my 2023 predictions this time last year. The answer is not well. A pathetic 2.10! Worst ever. 1. Jeremy Hunt won't be Chancellor at the end of 2023. NO 2. Inflation will be under 6% by the en...
My Top Photos of 2023
- 27 Dec 2023
January: Bubba, two weeks before he died, saying goodbye to Jenny for the last time, as she walked down the stairs. February: Dude March: Launch of THE PRESIDENTS at the British Ambassadirs reception in Washington with Dame Karen Pierce, May: In a...
My Top Ten Books of 2023
- 24 Dec 2023
Because of eyesight issues which affected me earlier in the year I have probably read fewer books this year than any other year in my life, But here are ten I have really enjoyed and would recommend to you. 1. Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll 1 Buy it HERE ...
My Top Tweeters of 2023
- 23 Dec 2023
This is a list of 250 Tweeters I have most enjoyed during 2023. This is the tenth year I have compiled this list. I follow about 4545 people on Twitter, 145 more than this time last year. Anyway, these are the ones who have entertained, informed, educated, annoyed and, mos...
My Weekend with Sir Cliff Richard & Friends
- 15 Nov 2023
I first saw Cliff Richard in concert when I was 16. It was in 1978, I think, in London. It was the first pop concert I had ever been to. His 75 Greatest Hits album had become a number 1 bestseller and his Green Light LP had been released. I was hooked. I was already a fan, hav...
Why I Welcome the Return of David Cameron
- 13 Nov 2023
This article first appeared on the Telegraph website HERE. As Sir Alex Ferguson might have said: “Politics. Bloody Hell.” There’s nothing a prime minister likes more than to spring a reshuffle surprise, and boy did Rishi Sunak achieve that this morning with the appoint...
In Concert with Cliff Richard and, er, me!
- 22 Oct 2023
It was in early March. I was in bed in my Washington DC hotel flicking through emails on my phone. One email stood out. It was from Cliff Richard's office. "Can I call you urgently?" asked his PA. What on earth could this be about, I wond...
A Week on From the Hamas Terror Attack - What Now?
- 15 Oct 2023
Whenever a terror attack occurs, as a broadcaster, I try to report facts and avoid hyperbole. Had I been on air last Saturday morning, I would have done just that. But when I finally got on air, on Monday evening, we knew the facts. We knew what had happened. It was beyond dou...
LBC is 50 Years Old! Happy Birthday LBC!
- 8 Oct 2023
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of commercial radio in the UK. LBC and Capital Radio were the first two stations on air, and fifty years on both stations are at the top of their game. LBC has undergone various changes in ownership over the years, and is ...