WATCH: CNNTalk on South African political turbulence & Media censorship in Kenya
- 6 Feb 2018
On our latest CNN Talk we discussed the political upheavals in South Africa and the closedown of TV stations in Kenya.
In Memory of Bert Rose - 1928-2017
- 6 Feb 2018
Last Friday I attended the funeral of Bert Rose at St Martin’s Church, Overstrand, near Cromer. Bert was a dear friend, and a key ally of mine when I stood for the Conservatives in North Norfolk. I gave the second eulogy. His good friend Paul Cater took us through his whole li...
ConHome Diary: Vote for Widders, The Mancock App & Collective Responsibility
- 2 Feb 2018
Ann Widdecombe needs your vote. For those of you who don’t watch Celebrity Big Brother, she’s in the final and voting finishes this evening. It would be great to see her win it, and confound her critics. If you want to vote for her dial 090 20 44 24 03. I keep trying to put...
WATCH: 25 Minutes With David Miliband
- 2 Feb 2018
David Miliband game into the LBC studio yesterday and I interviwed him for 25 minutes about all sort of subjects including Syria, the Rohingyas, Trump, Brexit, whether he fancies coming back into UK politics and his relations with his brother.
ConHome Diary: Doing God's Work with the Devil's Money & Why Life's a Bitch
- 26 Jan 2018
The Cybernats really are the most vicious trolls on the internet. On Wednesday I highlighted a story which had appeared in most of the day’s newspapers that Nicola Sturgeon had ordered that the Union Jack could only be flown from Scottish Government buildings on Remembrance Su...
Nicola Sturgeon: An Apology
- 26 Jan 2018
On Wednesday I read a story in The Times about the Scottish Government ordering a change in its flag flying policy, meaning that the only occasion the Union Flag could be flown on Scottish Parliament buildings was on Remembrance Sunday. Previously there were 14 other occasions...
The 'Irish Times' London Editor Owes London's Black Cabbies An Apology
- 21 Jan 2018
I got an email from a listener on Friday, which I thought I’d share with you. I’m a long-time listener of your show via the internet here in Ireland. As an Englishman living here I’ve become increasingly concerned at some aspects of the anti-English coverage of Brexit, mo...
ConHome Diary: Conservatives Are Failing to Make the Case for Capitalism
- 19 Jan 2018
The collapse of a company like Carillion was always going to result in Jeremy Corbyn attacking the whole concept of ‘contracting out’ – or ‘privatisation’ as he would say. He conveniently ignores the inconvenient fact that it wasn’t Carillion’s public sector contracts which ca...
The Government Needs to Reverse a Thirty Year Policy and Start Increasing the Number of Hospital Beds
- 13 Jan 2018
A lot has been written and said about the crisis in hospitals this January. Much of it repeats what was written last January. And yet it shouldn’t have been like this. The Health Secretary and the Prime Minister and various NHS managers continue to insist that planning for the...
WATCH: CNN Talk - Is Donald Trump a Racist For Calling Some Countries 'Shitholes'?
- 12 Jan 2018
Watch out for a sparky row between me and Ayesha a few minutes in… And watch how I can’t bring myself to say ‘shitholes’ on live TV!
ConHome Diary: A Reshuffle With No Narrative & Why No Jobs for JRM & Kwasi Kwarteng?
- 12 Jan 2018
“It’s all going terribly well, isn’t it?” was my opener to a friend in Downing Street on the afternoon of the Cabinet reshuffle. I was going to devote this whole column to an in-depth analysis of the reshuffle but I think enough has been said already. Paul Goodman’s analysis o...
I've Reason to Know What a Good & Thorough Journalist Michael Wolff Is
- 6 Jan 2018
Now, dear reader, bear with. This blogpost is really about Michael Wolff, but it takes a little time before we get to him… Back in June 2004, when I was Conservative candidate in North Norfolk I remember telling my good friend Keith Simpson, MP for the neighbouring constituen...
CNNTalk: How Seriously Should We Take the Allegations in Michael Wolff's Book?
- 5 Jan 2018
A dramatic moment on CNN Talk today when Michael Wolff’s book FIRE & FURY was delivered live on set!
ConHome Diary: How I Know Ann Widdecombe Snores & How I Became a Victim of Crime
- 5 Jan 2018
If I had a pound for every time Ann Widdecombe has said in my presence that she’s never, ever, EVAH appear on Celebrity Big Brother, then I’d certainly have more money than the undoubtedly large fee which persuaded her to do it this year! Between 2001 and 2010 our theatre sho...
My New Year's Resolutions for 2018
- 31 Dec 2017
I didn’t do any new year’s resolutions last year so I thought I would do so for 2018. I wonder how many I will achieve. To be consistently under 16 stone by the end of the year. I’m 16 1/2 at the moment and have been for some time. To say ‘no’ more often, and not feel ...
My Predictions for 2018
- 31 Dec 2017
I don’t know why, but last year I didn’t do any predictions for 2017, which was probably just as well, as I doubt any of them would have come true. Here are my predictive offerings for 2018. There won’t be a general election in 2018. Theresa May will still be Prime Minis...
WATCH: CNN Talk Review of the Year
- 26 Dec 2017
The CNN Talk crew take a look back on the big stories of 2017.
My Top 200 Tweeters of 2017
- 17 Dec 2017
Each new year I compile a list of people whose tweets I have most enjoyed during the previous 12 months. I follow about 2600 people on Twitter, which is far too many to be honest, but I whenever I try to cull the number I end up giving up because it’s so difficult. Anyway, the...
ConHome Diary: Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down
- 15 Dec 2017
It’s difficult to know what the consequences of Wednesday evening’s government defeat in the Commons will be. It certainly undermines Theresa May as she goes into the next stage of negotiations and probably means that an agreement needs to be reached a little earlier than befo...