The NHS: Things That Need to be Said...
- 4 Dec 2013
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 and consultants from a London hospital in late January. Why on earth can’t I just learn to say ‘no’? I don’t do a lot of speeches nowadays. My job me...
Would You Like to Help Save the Gay Hussar?
- 30 Nov 2013
The purpose of this blogpost is to invite you to become part of an exciting new venture designed to secure the future of the Gay Hussar restaurant in Soho, a favourite hangout of politicos for decades. I am doing so on behalf of a group of diners and staff, the Goulash Co-ope...
A Question For Lloyds Bank
- 30 Nov 2013
When we bought our house in Norfolk in July we purposely chose a mortgage where we wouldn’t receive penalties if we paid off part of it earlier than planned. So on Tuesday I felt very pleased with myself as I went into Lloyds to pay in a cheque to pay off a small part of the m...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 33: Has Jacqui Smith Looked in the Mirror Lately?
- 29 Nov 2013
I never underestimate the political canniness of Alex Salmond, but his 670 page white paper on Scottish independence was a right old dog’s breakfast. Instead of answering 600 odd questions it provoked yet more of them. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised but the SNP clearly wa...
My EDP Column Is Dead - It Has Ceased To Be
- 25 Nov 2013
For the last seven years I have been writing a column for the Eastern Daily Press, initially fortnightly but latterly every week. Any freelance columnist knows that at some point all good things come to an end, and for me that point was reached today. This morning I got a cal...
Attitude Column: Can You be Gay and be a Tory?
- 24 Nov 2013
Can you be gay and a Tory? Yes, I know it’s a stupid question, but people continue to ask it. The simple answer is, of course you can, but there are still those who believe that the two things are completely incompatible. For most people being gay is completely separate to th...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 32: What Would Ed Say if It Were a Tory Coke Snorting, Rent-Boy Addicted Religious Banker?
- 22 Nov 2013
I’m sure that like most of you I am left gobsmacked by the antics of former Co-Op bank chairman Paul Flowers – the so-called ‘Crystal Methodist’ preacher. In many ways we should be shocked by his drug-taking, but perhaps we’re not as shocked as we should be. The Sun is terribl...
Attitude Column: Do Gay Men Have a Crap Taste in Music?
- 22 Nov 2013
“Loved your column in Attitude,” wrote my Sky News journalist friend. “Brings some ballast to the magazine.” Er thanks, I thought. I’m not sure he’ll agree once he gets to the end of this one though. “Why is it that gay men have such a shit taste in music?” queried another fr...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 31: What the PM Should Do in Sri Lanka
- 15 Nov 2013
The Times (£) trumpets that Croydon South has rejected three of David Cameron’s favoured candidates (they all work for him in Number Ten) during their selection contest. It is apparently a “snub” to the Prime Minister. Bollocks. What is far more likely is that the three of the...
Bloody Well Done to Jeremy Hunt!
- 8 Nov 2013
Steve Wright used to have a character on his Radio 1 afternoon show called Mr Angry. Each time he rang into the programme he would end his call with the words “I’m so angry, I could throw the phone down!” And that’s what he then did. I feel like that right now. Why? Because J...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 30: Whatever Happened to 'Recall'?
- 8 Nov 2013
It was in the Liberal Democrat manifesto. It was in the Tory manifesto. It was in the Coalition Agreement. So why has nothing been done about it? What am I talking about? Yes, the power of recall. After the expenses scandal, David Cameron and Nick Clegg made great play of the ...
Book Review: Piers Morgan's Diaries: Shooting Straight
- 6 Nov 2013
I’ve never quite understood why so many people appear to hate Piers Morgan. I like him. I find him funny, witty, entertaining and, yes, often thoroughly irritating. People write about him as if he is somehow thick and has got to where he has purely by luck and good fortune. It...
Book Review: A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine - Tony Benn's Last Diaries
- 5 Nov 2013
Last Thursday I went to see Tony Benn to interview him for the LBC Book Club. Because I hadn’t reached the end of his book, I hadn’t realised he had moved out of his family home on Holland Park Avenue and had moved into sheltered accommodation round the corner. The interview w...
The Tonbridge Open Primary Showed the Tories At Their Best
- 3 Nov 2013
Yesterday morning I became poacher turned gamekeeper, or was it the other way around? Back in 2009 I was a candidate in the Bracknell Open Primary. There were seven candidates in the final. I came third, behind Rory Stewart, and the eventual winner, local GP Philip Lee. Yester...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 29: For Once, Ed Balls Was Right
- 1 Nov 2013
Tomorrow morning, I’m moderating Tonbridge & Malling’s Open Primary, where local people will select a candidate to follow Sir John Stanley. My last experience of an open primary was competing in one in Bracknell in 2009, and a few weeks before that chairing the Bedford May...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 27: Russell Brand May be a Hammer But That's His Only Redeeming Factor
- 25 Oct 2013
I was on my sick bed on Wednesday, so I had the dubious delight of watching the entire coverage of the Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on Plebgate. It didn’t exactly make me think we have the most wonderful police in the country. The three Police Federation representativ...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 27: If Chris Bryant Can Apologise to Andrew Mitchell, So Should Ed Miliband
- 18 Oct 2013
My job leads me to meet some interesting people. This week I interviewed Princess of Michael of Kent about her new novel, The Queen of Four Kingdoms. We were sent a protocol sheet in advance which instructed us what to call her and how to bow. Never having been very good at an...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 26: Has Adam Afriyie completely lost his marbles?
- 11 Oct 2013
I try not to obsess about West Ham in this column, but you will forgive me reporting an exchange between West Ham supporting Tory MPs Alec Shelbrooke and Bob Neill, and Spurs fans Iain Duncan Smith and Mike Penning. You will recall that West Ham hammered Spurs 3-0 on Sunday by...
MPs in Grinder Shock!
- 5 Oct 2013
Shocked. I say, I’m shocked. This was a picture taken on one of the commercial stands at the Tory Party Conference. Sadly I have no idea what the real context is. Maybe just as well.