James Purnell Can't Justify His Salary or the BBC's Move to Salford
- 2 Jul 2013
listen to ‘'Are you really worth twice as much as a Cabinet Minister?' – Iain Dale to the BBC's James Purnell’ on Audioboo Have a listen to this from an interview I did yesterday with James Purnell, the former cabinet minister and now the Director of Strategy and Digital at ...
Discussing Mental Health on the Radio
- 30 Jun 2013
Since I have been presenting on LBC (nearly three years, since you ask) one of the subjects I have covered a lot is mental health. Last year the programme was shortlisted for the Mind Media Awards for best radio programme. We didn’t win. but were delighted to attend such an ...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 12: Osborne & Cameron Don't Care About Marriage Tax Breaks. Good
- 28 Jun 2013
Digby Jones is someone who knows how to give ‘good interview’. I talked to him about deficit reduction shortly after George Osborne had sat down on Wednesday. He was keen to emphasise that ringfencing health, education and aid spending was fundamentally wrong, especially healt...
Listen: Michael Gove's 'Whopper'
- 27 Jun 2013
listen to ‘'I hear you're more of a Whopper man Mr Gove!'’ on Audioboo From an interview I did with Michael Gove this afternoon. We had been discussing new school buildings, but I decided to end the interview on a lighter note and talk about George Osborne’s burger eating ha...
In the Case of The Bow Group v Iain Dale... Round 2
- 25 Jun 2013
I warn you now. Reading this blogpost may make you lose the will to live. Back on 24 May I incurred the wrath of the Bow Group’s chairman Ben Harris-Quinney when I wrote this in my ConservativeHome Diary. I’m not quite sure what has happened to the Bow Group. It seems to ...
Book Review: 'Goodfella' by Craig Bellamy
- 23 Jun 2013
Craig Bellamy is a player than opposing fans love to hate. It ought to be because he’s a bloody good player, but the real reason is that people think he’s just a bit of a nasty piece of work. It’s true. He can be, but this book shows there’s more to Craig Bellamy than the sna...
Listen: Interview With Lady Antonia Fraser
- 22 Jun 2013
Yesterday I spent half an hour talking to renowned historian Lady Antonia Fraser about her superb new book on the 1832 Reform Act. It’s called PERILOUS QUESTION: THE DRAMA OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL 1832. And it really is a dramatic page turner. I don’t know much about this per...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 11: Did Angela Merkel Bring a Change of Underwear to the G8?
- 21 Jun 2013
Whoever chose Lough Erne as the venue for the G8 should get some kind of honour. As a PR exercise it couldn’t be faulted. The countryside backdrops to all the interviews and press conferences were simply stunning. Less stunning, though, was the fact that David Cameron seemed t...
Interviewing Dylan Jones
- 19 Jun 2013
Last Friday I interviewed GQ editor Dylan Jones about his new book THE EIGHTIES: ONE DAY, ONE DECADE and also his work as long standing editor of the most excellent GQ MAGAZINE. You can listen HERE.
Why Is Cameron Talking up Arming Syrian Rebels When Parliament Would Vote Against It?
- 16 Jun 2013
I am far from being a pacifist. Indeed, I am a firm believer in intervention when there is a clear case that can be made. But whatever David Cameron says, that case cannot be made in Syria. It is a mystery to most people why Cameron is going out on a limb on Syria. It is not a...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 10: Tim Yeo is Beyond Hope (And Parody)
- 14 Jun 2013
When I wrote about Tim Yeo last week, I had no idea what the Sunday Times were about to unveil. The least Mr Yeo could do was stand down from his select committee. What I don’t understand is the lack of intervention by the Whips’ Office or Number Ten. Yeo can deny everything a...
Book Review: Harry's Game: Inside the Mind of Harry Redknapp by John Crace
- 10 Jun 2013
This is not a biography of Harry Redknapp. In fact having finished reading it, I am still not very sure what it is. What I do know is that it tells us very little about Redknapp that we didn’t know before. And that’s quite a failing in a book of more than 200 pages. It’s rath...
The Energy & Climate Change Select Committee Must Hold Tim Yeo to Account
- 9 Jun 2013
It’s rare that I am ahead of my time, but less than a year ago I wrote a blogpost titled TIM YEO: THE UNACCEPTABLE FACE OF CONSERVATISM. I wrote… I have always found Tim Yeo’s interest in climate change and green issues a tad hypocritical bearing in mind the amount of tim...
Coping With a Downs Syndrome Child
- 8 Jun 2013
Last night on my LBC show we spent an hour discussing how parents cope with a Downs Syndrome child. There’s a new blood test which apparently is 98.5% accurate in detecting Downs in a foetus. I asked people to phone in and tell us how they reacted when told their child had Dow...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 9: The Case of Mr Simpson's Disappearing Moustache
- 7 Jun 2013
The biggest talking point at Westminster this week has been a certain MP’s lack of hair. No, I’m not talking about Nadine Dorries, I’m talking about the infamously moustachioed Tory MP for Broadland, Keith Simpson. For the first time in forty years he has shaved off his resple...
Why Liz Truss Should Consider Resigning & Become a Tory Heroine
- 6 Jun 2013
Any residual drop of respect I had for Nick Clegg’s political acumen disappeared today. As Toby Young says, he is governing by hissy fit. He’s always had a petulent side to his nature and I suppose we should have grown used to it by now. “Won’t give me Lords Reform, then I wo...
The Intolerance of Climate Change Zealots
- 3 Jun 2013
This evening on my LBC show we discussed Ed Davey’s outrageous idea that newspapers and broadcasters should refrain from giving a platform to climate change sceptics. How very ‘liberal’ of him. I remember at 18 Doughty Street back in 2007 I phoned Greenpeace to invite them to ...
The Ugly Side of Britain's Got Talent
- 1 Jun 2013
Like millions of others I am gripped by Britain’s Got Talent. But I do wonder how responsible it is to put very young children on a stage like this. In Tuesday’s semi-final, the first three places were taken by children under the age of 14. There’s no denying that they were a...
A Day in The Life Of...
- 31 May 2013
I sometimes think I lead a very strange kind of life. Today was no exception. Here are a few of the things I did today… My 8th Conservative Home Diary appeared EDP Column published Got recognised at Woolwich Dockyard station with the words: “Hello Mr Whale!” Did a ph...