Keith Simpson's Easter Reading List
- 3 Apr 2014
Guest Post by Keith Simpson MP Whilst FCO ministers will be spending the Easter Recess valiantly dealing with many “little local difficulties” abroad, many MPs of all parties will be going around the country, in the words of Willie Whitelaw, “stirring up apathy” for the Euro ...
Nominated For Interview of the Year Award
- 2 Apr 2014
Bit of a good day at work. For the second year running I have been nominated for a Radio Academy Award, something which I have to say wasn’t at all expected. It’s for Radio Interview of the Year, for my interview with James, an eyewitness to the Woolwich murders. The other no...
Why I'm Writing David Cameron's Authorised Biography
- 1 Apr 2014
Back in 2006 I nearly wrote a semi-authorised biography of David Cameron, only shortly after he had been elected leader of the Conservative Party. I had decided to take six months off, having been fairly burnt out by two failed election campaigns during 2005 (my election in No...
If You Don't Like Gay Marriage, Don't Marry a Homosexual
- 29 Mar 2014
Today we live in country where love and commitment are celebrated between a man and a woman, a man and a man and a woman and a woman. Some people still don’t like that. They should watch this seven second video. It really is as simple as that. Video H/T LiarPoliticians
ConservativeHome Diary: Just Before I Interrupted Myself...
- 28 Mar 2014
As I was saying… It’s that time of year when every Minister of State, and quite a few Parliamentary Under Secretaries, start pushing themselves forward with a single aim of getting two people to notice them: the Prime Minister and the Chief Whip. Why? Because they know that i...
The Ban on Sending Books to Prisoners is Just Plain Wrong
- 26 Mar 2014
The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation – Goethe I know I have developed a reputation for being as wet as a lettuce on prison reform, so no doubt what I am about to write will just burnish that reputation. When I heard that the government was banning ...
The Quiet Rise of Nicky Morgan
- 22 Mar 2014
If David Cameron wants to promote more women to the cabinet he need look no further than Nicky Morgan, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. I’ve known Nicky and her husband Jonathan for more than ten years, although we’re no close friends. She was selected for Loughborough...
A Tribute to Corinne De Souza 1955-2014
- 18 Mar 2014
This site seems to have become a repository for obituaries and tributes in the last week, and I am afraid here’s another one. John and I first met Corinne De Souza back in 1997 just after we opened Politico’s. It turned out that unbeknown to me at the time I had taken over he...
WATCH: Tory MP & Putin Supporter Clash (Again) Over Crimea
- 17 Mar 2014
Two weeks ago I hosted a debate on Ukraine between Tory MP Brooks Newmark and former Kremlin advisor Alexander Nekrassov. Today I hosted Round 2. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.
A Tribute to Tony Benn
- 14 Mar 2014
Even before I first met him in the mid 1990s, Tony Benn was always a source of endless fascination for me. I remember buying a volume of his diaries from a second hand bookshop in Cambridge and being transfixed. By the time I met him I had bought all the other volumes and I r...
Two Extended Interviews With Tony Benn
- 14 Mar 2014
I’ ll write a proper tribute and obituary to Tony Benn later. I first met Tony in the 1990s and we became quite friendly. He said he regarded me as his “favourite Thatcherite entrepreneur”. I am not sure how many other Thatcherite entrepreneurs he knew, but I took it as a comp...
A Tribute to Bob Crow
- 11 Mar 2014
Sometimes you find out something which just leaves you reeling in shock. And so it was about ten minutes ago, when I learned that Bob Crow had died. He was only 52 years of age. There’s no use pretending that Bob Crow and I agreed on anything. We didn’t. But he had my total ...
An Evening of Taboos and Dogging With 'Fascinating Aida'
- 9 Mar 2014
How is it that ‘Fascinating Aida’ rarely get on television, when vastly inferior acts do? Having just seen them perform in Norwich it’s a question which continues to baffle me. I emerged from the Theatre Royal with my cheekbones aching, as did the rest of the audience. How co...
A Tribute to Marion Thorpe 1926-2014
- 8 Mar 2014
If I were to compile a list of the 20 most impressive women I have ever met, Marion Thorpe would be right up there. I first met her back in 1998 when I published a book by her husband, Jeremy Thorpe. I went to their magnificent home in Orme Square, off the Bayswater Road, whe...
International Women's Day: Waste of Time & An Insult to Women?
- 8 Mar 2014
Yesterday on my show I hosted a panel discussion on women’s issues to mark International Women’s Day. Harriet Harman, Mary Beard, Zoe Williams and Cristina Odone joined me for a sparky hour long discussion. Click HERE to listen. But before that, Katy Hopkins had her say too....
Sadiq Khan on Why He Uses Vaseline on His Nipples...
- 4 Mar 2014
listen to ‘Iain Dale and Sadiq Khan on Ed Balls, running the London Marathon and chafing’ on Audioboo
The Quislings Who Give Putin A Free Pass
- 3 Mar 2014
Sometimes I despair of my own countrymen. Tonight on my LBC show I have endured listening to calls from a succession of people who seem quite happy to think the worst of their own country and yet think the best of an illiberal, intolerant, state which thinks nothing of invadin...
Attitude Column: Would I Have Been a Good Dad?
- 27 Feb 2014
Call me a hard hearted bastard but I have never wanted children. My nieces refer to me as ‘Uncle Herod’ so perhaps it’s just as well. Some of us have the child-rearing gene and others of us don’t. My partner would love to have had children and it’s only recently that I have co...
Attitude Column: Why Prostitution Should Be Legalised
- 26 Feb 2014
An episode of the final series of the superb Danish politico-drama Borgen concerned itself with the vexed subject of legalising prostitution. Like the legalisation of drugs, it’s a subject politicians shy away from debating in real life. Most people labour under the illusion ...
Harman & the NCCL: What Has the BBC Really Learnt?
- 25 Feb 2014
One of the most irritating phrases you will ever hear on television is “the BBC has learnt”. You’d think it meant that due to an original piece of journalism, the BBC has found out something nobody else has. Invariably it means the BBC has switched on Sky News. Sky use a simil...