Reaction Media Review 52: Dan Snow's History Hit & A Gay & A Non Gay
- 1 Jun 2021
Dan Snow’s History Hit podcast Over the last twenty years there has been an explosion of interest in history, not just British history, but all sorts of different kinds of history. The podcast genre is absolutely ideal to capitalise on this. I’ve already reviewed ...
How using Freestyle Libre Has Helped Me With My Diabetes
- 29 May 2021
This article has just been published in the Diabetes UK magazine, Balance. I suspect I am the same as any other diabetic. I struggle to keep my blood sugars under control. After 13 years I know what I am supposed to eat and drink but I have all the self discipline of a...
Reaction Media Review 51: Geoff Norcott's 'What Most People Think' Podcast
- 25 May 2021
What Most People Think Podcast with Geoff Norcott Geoff Norcott has made quite a name for himself over the last few years as one of a breed as rare as hen’s teeth – a right wing comedian. It has to be said that he’s now not alone as a member of that small band of brothers. ...
Cross Question Goes Three Nights A Week
- 20 May 2021
A bit of an announcement. In September 2018 I started presenting a new show on LBC called Cross Question. It has been a once a week hour on a Wednesday evening, and the format is similar to Any Questions or Question Time, the main difference being that the questions come fr...
Reaction Media Column 50: May Elections Coverage & the LibDem Podcast
- 20 May 2021
One of the things I love most about my job at LBC is being given the opportunity to present election night shows. I’ve done four general election nights, two American elections, two referendums and various local election nights. Last week, however, Covid thwarted me. Most of t...
Reaction Media Review 49: 'Pariah' - The Harvey Proctor Story
- 11 May 2021
Parish, Tortoise Media Many people felt that the internet would signal the end of properly funded investigative journalism and a dumbing down of current affairs coverage more generally. The reverse has been true. Investigative journalism is far from dead and it’s possible t...
Ten Things To Take Away From the May Elections
- 9 May 2021
You can tell an awful lot about a politician by how they react to an election defeat. This week we learned that Sir Keir Starmer is neither a lucky general or is cool under fire. His interview on Friday afternoon was a textbook classic of how not to react. He looked like a rab...
Reaction Media Review 48: Rachel Johnson's 'Difficult Women' & 'State of Mind' with Richard Sefton
- 6 May 2021
Rachel Johnson’s Difficult Women podcast, Global Radio Let me say this up front. I am an unalloyed Rachel Johnson fan. Like most of the Johnson family, she is an adornment to our national life, even if she sometimes puts her foot in it. Her recent memoir of her time in Chan...
Reaction Media Review 47: All to Play For & Line of Duty
- 27 Apr 2021
All to Play For podcast, Joe.co.uk & Coral Football podcasts are two a penny nowadays, but what a discovery All to Play For has been. It is presented by actor and comedian Tom Davis and former West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool and England star, Joe Cole. Each week they ...
A Tribute to Eve Collishaw
- 24 Apr 2021
Photo credit: Archant. Eve Collishaw is someone you won’t have heard of unless you follow Norwich politics very closely. I first met her on the campaign trail in Norwich North in the 1983 general election. She has stood in every local election in the city more or less e...
Reaction Media Column 46: Seaspiracy on Netflix
- 20 Apr 2021
I had heard great things about this documentary from several people I greatly respect. A couple of them were people on the right who I wouldn’t have thought would be persuaded to become more environmentally aware through the means of a Netflix documentary. So it was with high ...
When Your Dog Goes Missing...
- 16 Apr 2021
There are two things that dog owners fear the most. That their dog might run away never to be seen again, or that it might be dognapped. Around 11.30am this morning I left our house in Norfolk to go to Cromer for a round of golf. Fifteen minutes later, I was driving pa...
Reaction Media Column 45: Finding Jack Charlton & Covid Confidential
- 13 Apr 2021
Finding Jack Charlton, BBC2, iPlayer This documentary is a difficult watch. At times I wondered whether it should have ever seen the light of day. At times I wondered if it really fulfilled its aims. At times I wondered if its dual strands of career retrospective and encour...
A Tribute to Shirley Williams (1930-2021)
- 12 Apr 2021
I have just learned that Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, has died at the age of 90. In the last week we have lost Cheryl Gillan, Peter Ainsworth and Ian Gibson from the ranks of politicians or ex-politicians. And now Shirley. I do hope her death is not eclipsed ...
A Tribute to Dame Cheryl Gillan (1952-2021)
- 5 Apr 2021
I was and am proud to call Cheryl Gillan a friend. I was so sad to learn this afternoon that she had died. She had been in poor health for some time and had been devastated by the death of her beloved husband Jack Leeming at the age of 91 in 2019. She was absolutely devote...
And I Say Unto Thee... Me, God and Religion
- 4 Apr 2021
My sisters and I grew up in a small village in North Essex, where the church was an integral part of village life. We were all confirmed into the Anglican church. My mother would go to church semi-regularly and would be part of the church flower rota. We were given the choice ...
Political Counterfactual: How Jacqui Smith Became...
- 2 Apr 2021
For those of you who enjoyed Alex Macpherson's counterfactual about what might have happened if I had been elected MP for Bracknell, he has now turned his attention to my For the Many podcast partner, Jacqui Smith. ‘He died whilst enjoying one of his great passions in...
Reaction Media Column 44: 'Finding Derek'
- 31 Mar 2021
This article first appeared on Reaction. Finding Derek, ITV1 & ITV Hub I’m going to be honest, I have put off writing this column because it’s not easy writing about two people, one of whom I regard as a new friend. The other is a former political enemy, who once tri...
Reaction Media Column 43: Sellafield & Murray Walker Documentary
- 25 Mar 2021
This article first appeared on Reaction. Sellafield’s Toxic Culture, BBC News Channel & iPlayer This film is only eleven minutes long, but it tells a very worrying story. Sellafield ought to be the safest place in the country. It needs to be given what happens on its...
Iain Signs Two Book Deal with Hodder & Stoughton
- 22 Mar 2021
As well as hearing the good news about the book award on Friday, I also got the sales figures as well. Suffice to say they were way beyond my expectations and the advance has already been earned out. (Temporary cover) Today, Hodder & Stoughton are announcing that...