Attitude Column: It's Not Just Women Who Are Victims of Domestic Violence
- 23 Feb 2014
I’m lucky. I have been with my partner for more than eighteen years and in that time we have barely exchanged a cross word. We’ve never had a full scale row. ‘Yeah, right’, I can hear you saying. But it’s true. Of course we have the odd disagreement, but I can’t recall a singl...
Clegg v Farage Debate: LibDems Must Now Promise to Support an In/Out Referendum
- 20 Feb 2014
These phone-ins we do at LBC do have a habit of generating a few headlines, and today’s CALL CLEGG was no exception. Nick Clegg has challenged Nigel Farage to a live debate on the EU. As it’s PHONE FARAGE tomorrow morning, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get an answer from th...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 15: Going National, New Imaging Music & RAJARS
- 16 Feb 2014
It’s been quite a week for us all at LBC. In case you missed it the station went national on Tuesday on the Digital One DAB platform. If you think about it, it is quite ludicrous that this country has never had a national newstalk station. Talk Radio, in its various incarna...
Michael Gove Renews His Banter With Simon Cowell
- 12 Feb 2014
Last night I interviewed Michael Gove on my LBC show. We covered a lot of ground, but at the end of the interview I asked him about his spat with Simon Cowell, which occurred just before Christmas. He admitted he had instigated it and wasted little time in responding to my qu...
My Ten Most Interesting Politicians
- 9 Feb 2014
You know how I like a Top Ten list. Well today John Rentoul in the Independent on Sunday has compiled his Top Ten Most Interesting Politicians. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out just why Grant Shapps merited inclusion in such a list. Well, anything John Rentoul can d...
The Ugly Face of 'Muslim' & 'Christian' Patrols
- 7 Feb 2014
Yesterday on my LBC Drivetime Show we talked about the rising tide of extremism in some areas of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Last year there was a lot of publicity about the so-called ‘Muslim Patrols’ who were seeking to impose Sharia Law by ordering people to sto...
Why the LibDem Seats Will Win 30-35 Seats in 2015
- 5 Feb 2014
There’s a lot of speculation about the number of seats the Liberal Democrats will win at the next election. Some people expect a virtual wipeout, while LibDems themselves cling onto the hope that incumbency will help them win seats they might otherwise lose. The truth will pr...
Who Will Be The New Sky News Political Editor?
- 2 Feb 2014
This week applications close for the position of Sky News Political Editor. There has been much speculation about who the runners and riders are, with some ludicrous names being put forward by some of the betting companies to succeed Adam Boulton. I would say this is one of t...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 14: When Bob Crow's RMT Lies To You
- 1 Feb 2014
Yesterday we rang to RMT to invite Bob Crow to appear on my radio show. Boris Johnson had just made an offer to meet him to talk about ticket office closures. His press people said they’d get back to us but Bob was a bit busy. “There’s a lot going on,” they said. Yes indeed. T...
LBC Becomes a National Radio Brand
- 30 Jan 2014
It’s just been announced that LBC is going to go national on February 11th. We will be transmitting on the National Digital One DAB platform meaning that for the first time all our programmes can be heard all over the country. You can imagine what massive implications have fo...
Lecture: The NHS - Things That Need To Be Said
- 27 Jan 2014
This is the text of a 45 minute lecture I gave today to an audience at Queen’s Hospital in Romford. It is the annual Leslie Oliver Oration. Every year the hospital celebrates the works of one of pioneers in Neurosurgery in this country. Leslie Oliver founded the Neuroscience u...
Making a Speech is Like Giving Birth
- 25 Jan 2014
Someone once said that writing a speech is like giving birth. Whoever it was, they had a point. Back in early December I wrote this on the blog… I must be mad. When will I ever learn? I have just accepted an invitation to give a lecture on the NHS to 50 doctors, surgeons a...
It's Thank You and Good Bye to Grant Tucker
- 21 Jan 2014
Four and a half years ago I first met Grant Tucker. He was introduced to me by Dawn Parry, who was then the Conservative candidate for Newport, in South Wales. It was at the Tory Party conference and he was very interested in how I knew Margaret Thatcher and what I thought of ...
An Interview With Cherwell
- 19 Jan 2014
This is an interview I did a couple of weeks ago for CHERWELL, the Oxford University student newspaper. The interviewer was Robert Walmsley. The original article can be read HERE Iain Dale is affable and easy to talk to. He seems to have the ability, which every good radio ta...
Biteback Author Alexandros Petersen Killed in Kabul Bomb Blast
- 19 Jan 2014
On Friday night on my radio show I was interviewing Sir Nicholas Barrington about his new book, ENVOY. Sir Nicholas had spent a lot of time as a diplomat in Afghanistan. Indeed, it was his first posting. During the show I had to read out the tragic news that a bomb blast had ...
Newsnight's Debate Was An Insult to Alex Crawford
- 16 Jan 2014
I didn’t see Newsnight last night but while I was at Sky News Anna Jones told me Alex Crawford was on the programme discussing the merits of foreign news. “I’ll watch that in the morning,” I thought to myself. I rather I wish I hadn’t. What an appalling piece of broadcasting...