The Porn Conundrum & Why Monkey Spanking Has Never Been Cheaper
- 25 Sep 2018
Let me pose a question to you. If straight men enjoy watching lesbian porn, is it not reasonable to assume that straight women enjoy watching gay men go at it on their BluRay screens? You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But try as I might among my female friends and workmates I can’...
Book Review: Alan Johnson - In My Life
- 23 Sep 2018
I might as well get this out of the way right from the start. This is the best book I’ve read this year. Anyone who doesn’t buy it will never know what they’re missing out on. This is Alan Johnson’s fourth autobiographical book. The other three have been bestsellers and it wo...
What Norfolk Means To Me (And Being Interviewed by a Guinea Pig)
- 23 Sep 2018
What is your idea of perfect happiness in Norfolk? Walking along Mundesley beach (pic below). When I was at university in Norwich in the early 1980s I used to drive out there at midnight from time to time and just wander along the beach listening to the waves crashing again...
Some Political Gaffes For Your Delectation
- 22 Sep 2018
Back in 2007 Norwich North MP Ian Gibson experienced what is commonly known as ‘foot in mouth’ incident, when he appeared to describe the whole of the county of Norfolk as ‘inbred’. It was the latest in the line of political gaffes which have damaged and sometimes ended the ca...
Six Weeks in the Autumn - My Very Personal Diary From 2002
- 21 Sep 2018
I was trying to find a database file on my laptop earlier, and stumbled across a Word file called ‘Diary’ from November 2002. I opened it out of curiosity and found 7,000 words from a diary I clearly kept over six weeks from the autumn of that year. Suffice to say, it brought ...
When Peter Hain and I Nearly Ended Up in Prison Together
- 21 Sep 2018
It was six years ago this week. “There’s a letter from the Attorney General of Northern Ireland for you,” said my assistant, Grant Tucker. “Apparently he wants to send you and Peter Hain to The Maze”. And so it began. Six months of legal wrangling that ended up with the Gover...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 63: Interviewing Michael Foot
- 20 Sep 2018
Thirty five years ago, in the middle of the 1983 election campaign, I was heckling Michael Foot at a packed election meeting in a disused church in Norwich. He, of course loved it, and I helped turned a pedestrian election speech into a humdinger. I wrote to Michael Foot af...
How I Might Have Become a Lebanese Hostage
- 19 Sep 2018
I was reading an article on the train home about modern day Beirut. My thoughts immediately turned to a visit I made to Lebanon some 26 years ago, in 1992, not long after the British hostages had been freed. Indeed, I was told during my visit to Beirut that I was the first Bri...
You Can Take the Boy out of Ashdon...
- 18 Sep 2018
I was browsing through some old files on my laptop, when I stumbled across this piece I wrote for the Ashdon village magazine back in the summer of 2013. They say ‘it takes a village’ and Ashdon was my village. It was where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I still regard...
Ten Books I've Enjoyed...
- 18 Sep 2018
Ten days ago I was challenged on Facebook by Jonathan Isaby to think of ten books I’ve enjoyed reading and to post the covers - one every day for ten days, and each day challenge someone else to do so. There was no need to review the book or say why I had enjoyed it. This is ...
Could Theresa May Call a 'Put Up or Shut Up' Vote of Confidence In Herself?
- 17 Sep 2018
I wonder whether Theresa May is considering doing a John Major. OK, it wouldn’t be the first time, I hear you snigger at the back. Could she be considering calling a ‘put up or shut up’ vote of confidence in her time. It would be done on the basis that the ‘leadership issue’ b...
Ten Podcasts I Listen To... (And Why Few Of Them Are Political)
- 16 Sep 2018
The term “podcasting” was first invented by Guardian columnist Ben Hammersley in February 2004. But podcasts didn’t really take off in any meaningful way until years later. I only really started listening to podcasts around four or five years ago. Nowadays, they can be big bus...
The 'Iain Dale's Book Club' Weekly Podcast Has Launched!
- 15 Sep 2018
When I talked to James Rea, my boss at LBC, about moving to the evening show, I said I’d like to present a books hour. He suggested we do it as a podcast so we needn’t be constrained by format, length or commercial breaks. Two months later I am delighted to tell you that we’re...
'Politics Live' - The New Kid on the Political Media Block
- 14 Sep 2018
News junkies are conservative beasts. Whether it’s radio presenters moving to a different slot (!) or political TV shows being axed and then reincarnated, listeners and viewers tend to be very suspicious of change. They jump to conclusions before the first show has even been t...
When You Find Out You've Got a Haitus Hernia...
- 14 Sep 2018
Some of you will have read an article I wrote a few days ago, which explained the fact that I have had a persistent cough for the last month, and in addition I’ve lost a lot of weight, and also lost my appetite. If you missed it, read it HERE. This morning I went into the Spi...
How Can HMRC Defend Retrospective Taxation Going Back 20 Years?
- 13 Sep 2018
This week on my CROSS QUESTION show we had a fairly robust discussion which ended with a text question on something which on the face of it is very unfair. Thousands of self-employed people are being harassed by HMRC for thousands of pounds – in many cases tens of thousands o...
What to do With The Treasonous Anjem Choudary...
- 12 Sep 2018
Yesterday we learned that the Islamist hate preacher Anjem Choudary is to be released from prison at some point in October after serving only three years of a five a half year sentence for inciting muslims to join Daesh. Prisons minister Rory Stewart (pic below) gave an inter...
What the Liberal Democrats Need Is Another Jeremy Thorpe
- 9 Sep 2018
On Tuesday I’m going to be interviewing Vince Cable for an hour - yes, you read that right - in the LBC studio. 8-9pm, since you ask. It comes off the back of his speech on Friday, in which he essentially announced he’s entered the world of lame duckery. Any political leader w...
Waterstone's Buying Foyles Is All About Bricks & Mortar Market Share - Not Amazon
- 8 Sep 2018
Blink and you’d have missed it. On Friday it was announced that Waterstone’s have bought Foyles. Ten years ago this would have been a major news story, and featured in the first few pages of The Times. Today it didn’t feature at all in the main newspaper and only managed a few...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 62: Broadcasting With a Persistent Cough
- 7 Sep 2018
One of the worst things that can happen to a broadcaster is to contract a cold or cough, especially if it lasts for some time. At least on radio, there’s a cough button to press while someone else is talking. You don’t get that luxury on TV. I’ve always had a bit of a tickl...