If It's a Choice Between This Awful Brexit Deal and Remaining in the EU, This is What I'd Do...
- 14 Nov 2018
I’ve been debating with myself since last night whether to write this, but in the end I have to, otherwise I become just as supine as those Cabinet ministers who will no doubt find yet another reason to cling onto their jobs today and not do what their consciences tell them th...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 64: Herding the Brexit Cats
- 13 Nov 2018
Each Monday night on LBC we covene a panel to debate what we think is going to be one of the big issues of the week. Sometimes we have panellists that no-one has ever heard of. Sometimes we deliberately invite younger pundits. On Friday my producer, Sophie, and I agreed that B...
Remembrance Day: The Fascinating Reason Why World War One Ended At 11am
- 11 Nov 2018
On my way to pick up the Sunday papers I switched on the car radio to listen to Nigel Farage talking about the World War 1 Armistice. He was interviewing a descendant of Admiral Sir Rossalyn Wemyss, who was the senior British representative at the signing of the armistice 100 ...
The Tale of Clifford Norden - My Great Uncle Who Was Killed 12 Days Before The End of WW1
- 4 Nov 2018
October 31st was the hundreth anniversary of the death of my Great Uncle, Clifford Norden. I say, death, but what I really mean is it’s the 100th anniversary of the day he was killed in the First World War, only twelve days before the Armistice. I often wonder what might ha...
A Tribute to Audrey Barker 1927-2018
- 4 Nov 2018
I had some sad news when I woke up this morning. A good friend of mine, Audrey Barker, had died at the age of 91. I first met Audrey in 1985 when she became Conservative Party Agent in Norwich North. At the time, I had just left university and was working for the local MP, Pa...
A Short Term Idea to Help Mitigate the Housing Crisis
- 3 Nov 2018
On Cross Question this week, one of the panel came up with what I thought was a very interesting idea in response to the difficulties young people are finding in getting on the housing ladder. Lance Forman is MD of H Forman & Sons, a high end smoked salmon supplier base...
Alison Saunders - Good Riddance To The Worst DPP in Living Memory
- 3 Nov 2018
When I was at Biteback I published four books by people who had been victims of withchunts in the field of child sex abuse allegations by the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service - Paul Gambaccini, Harvey Proctor, Simon Warr and Jeremy Clifford. Today the Daily Mail reveal...
The Loan Charge Scandal: Why The Treasury Must Embark on a U-turn
- 2 Nov 2018
This article first appeared in this week’s edition of The Spectator You probably haven’t heard of the Loan Charge. I hadn’t until a couple of months ago when I told listeners of my LBC radio show that I would soon be interviewing Mel Stride, the Financial Secretary to the Tre...
Honourable Ladies: I'm Looking For Some Women Writers...
- 1 Nov 2018
As you may know, in September Jacqui Smith and I published the first volume of HONOURABLE LADIES, a collection of 168 biographical essays of female MPs elected between 1918 and 1996. Jacqui and I are now commissioning essays for Volume 2, featuring all women MPs elected bet...
Why Tracey Crouch Must Not Resign & Why Philip Hammond Is Wrong on FOBTs
- 1 Nov 2018
UPDATE 5.30pm: Tracey has now resigned from the government, so that makes this article a bit redundant now! Just when you think this government can’t get any more incompetent, they prove to you that they can. And no, I’m not talking about Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes’s...
When it Comes to Injunctons, Sunlight is the Best Form of Disinfectant
- 25 Oct 2018
The rumour mills have been busy over the last two days, ever since the Telegraph were forced by an injunction to abandon printing their story alleging sexual harassment, racist remarks and bullying against a prominent businessman. Instead they printed the allegations on their ...
Are You or Have You Ever Been a Bisexual?
- 23 Oct 2018
Inside the mind of every bisexual is a gay man struggling to get out. At least, that’s the view of many. It’s a widely held view that bisexuals are people who either want the best of both worlds, or, who are still too scared to embrace their inner gayness because they are on h...
Forks in the Road: How My Life Might Have Turned Out Very Differently
- 22 Oct 2018
Have you ever made a decision that has turned out to completely alter the course of your life? Forks in the road or sliding door moments, call them what you will… Without them, you know your life would have been completely different. There have been quite a lot of those in my ...
In Defence of Nick Clegg - The Man Who Likes Taking Risks
- 21 Oct 2018
I remember back in around 2003 my friend Duncan Brack, a leading figure in backroom LibDem politics, told me about a Liberal Democrat MEP called Nick Clegg. “He’ll be LibDem leader one day,” said Duncan. Two years later Nick Clegg swapped the European Parliament for Westminste...
20 of my Favourite Places in the Whole Wide World!
- 20 Oct 2018
I love traveling, and in my younger days I’d be off somewhere at every opportunity. However, with the work I do now, it’s difficult to go away for any length of time and I’m married to someone who doesn’t like foreign holidays! And owning two dogs makes it quite difficult, as ...
Why I'm a Petrolhead & All the Cars I've Ever Owned
- 19 Oct 2018
This may be a blogpost that is of no interest to anyone else, but I’m going to write it anyway. This is a very unfashionable thing to admit nowadays, but I’m a petrolhead. I love cars. Not quite as much as my partner John does, given he has more than a dozen of them, but my ca...
What's New on My Podcasts?
- 19 Oct 2018
As many of you know, I have three weekly podcasts running at the moment and you’d do me an enormous honour if you’d try each of them out. And if you like them, subscribe so you’ll automatically get new episodes on your phone each week. Cross Question is a weekly programme th...
Would I Want to Join A Club That Would Want me As a Member?
- 18 Oct 2018
I’ve never been a very ‘clubby’ person. Maybe I’m not very clubbable either, but I’ve never felt the need to join one of these members only clubs. Well, when I say never, that’s not quite true. Around 20 years ago I joined the National Liberal Club, not because I was a Liberal...
Harry & Meghan's Baby: This Is Not News, It's Showbusiness, Yet We'll All Pretend Otherwise
- 15 Oct 2018
Today the world will go mad. A man and a woman are having a baby and that will now lead the BBC news, the LBC news and every other news. The plight of Jamal Khashoggi will be relegated to a footnote. The Brexit backstop? Nah, not so important. The government’s new Loneliness S...
My Top 100 Songs Of All Time 1-25
- 14 Oct 2018
Sunday evening used to be the time when we’d all listen to the radio and find out who the number one now. Nowadays no one really cares. It’s easy to forget what an appointment to listen it really was for anyone under the age of 30. Anyway, given I decided I wasn’t go to think ...