Guardian Media Podcast
- 8 Mar 2013
Yesterday I was a guest on the Guardian Media Podcast with John Plunkett, Roy Greenslade and Matt Deegan. I talk about blogging and my new LBC Drivetime show. You can listen by clicking HERE. My bit starts at 8 mins 45 and finished at 19 mins 30.
Twenty Four Hours
- 7 Mar 2013
This is my very odd life at the moment. Today has been the oddest for a long time. It’s panned out like this… 1am Arrive at Crowne Plaza, Chipping Norton, which turns out not to be in Chipping Norton. Hence it took an hour to find. 8am File my Eastern Daily Press column 93...
The Threats and Opportunities Facing Independent Publishers
- 7 Mar 2013
This morning I gave the keynote speech to 300 independent publishers at the annual conference of the Independent Publishers Guild, at a hotel near Chipping Norton. I was a late substitute for Vince Cable. It turned out to be quite an event. I wouldn’t normally publish the enti...
Me and Diabetes: Becoming an Ambassador for Diabetes UK
- 6 Mar 2013
Don’t laugh but I have finally made it as a cover boy! Back in January Diabetes UK asked if I would become an Ambassador for them and they asked me to be interviewed for their magazine BALANCE. And this cover is the result! I guess I really ought to be some new pictures done, ...
LBC 97.3: End of an Era - Beginning of a New One: I'm Moving to Drivetime
- 5 Mar 2013
As a radio presenter you always get nervous when contract renewal time comes round, and I am no different. I’ve had very good Rajars (audience figures, for the uninitiated) and feel that both my evening shows and Sunday shows have done well in attracting a bit of a new audien...
Ever Wondered Why In These Times of Austerity...
- 5 Mar 2013
In case you haven’t visited it before, there is a brilliant new blog by Conservative Agent Andrew Kennedy. He is the agent for my home constituency of Tunbridge Wells. He’s just written a “blogpost”: headlined ‘Ever Wondered Why…’. He writes… ‘In these times of austerity…’ ...
Cardinal Keith O'Brien: Time to Forgive & Let Him Find His Inner Peace
- 3 Mar 2013
This is the statement just released by Cardinal Keith O’Brien. In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them. However, I wish to take this opportunity to adm...
You Can't Out-UKIP UKIP
- 3 Mar 2013
I was on the Andrew Marr Show this morning doing the paper review with Clare Share Short and Jude Kelly. Here;s a short clip that @liarpoliticians has posted on Youtibe where I make the point that I don’t think the Conservatives can out-UKIP UKIP. But some of the stories in ...
Theatre Review: CHESS at the Union Theatre
- 1 Mar 2013
Well that was quite an evening. I’m on the train home from seeing CHESS at the very small Union Theatre in Southwark. Because of my working hours I very rarely get to go out in the evening, so it was really nice to do something a bit different. I bought the tickets ages ago a...
The Challenge for UKIP Comes in May
- 1 Mar 2013
No one should deny that the really big winners last night were UKIP. Few people had seen it coming much before Polling Day itself, John Rentoul being an honourable exception. To come second, only 1,711 behind the Liberal Democrats was an incredible achievement, and much of th...
Chess: I Know It So Well
- 1 Mar 2013
Tonight I am going to see the musical CHESS again. It’s the tenth time I will have been to see it since it first opened in the West End in the 1980s. It’s a cold war story, with music by the men from Abba and lyrics by Tim Rice. To be honest I am not a great fan of musicals, ...
Fifteen Things We Learned From Eastleigh
- 1 Mar 2013
I’ll write a more considered piece on Eastleigh later, but here’s something to think about… Fifteen things we learned from Eastleigh. Voters will sometimes forgive a political party anything. Once the LibDems get in, it’s almost impossible to get them out Gran...
The Idea That This Government Believes in Deregulation Is a Joke
- 28 Feb 2013
Yesterday I got an email from our accountants telling us this… From April this year, HMRC are changing the way in which employers have to report payroll information. Previously, employers had to file a return at the end of each tax year with details of all employees, their...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter: No 4 - Reacting to a Guest Faux Pas
- 27 Feb 2013
This afternoon I recorded an interview with best selling author Barbara Taylor-Bradford, which we’ll be putting out on next Thursday’s LBC Book Club programme. So as a well trained radio presenter, I thought I would trail it at the end of my programme tonight. With me in the s...
Telling Gary McKinnon's Story
- 27 Feb 2013
We made an exciting announcement today. Biteback Publishing has bought world rights to a book from Janis Sharp, the mother of hacker Gary McKinnon. The book, Saving Gary McKinnon: A Mother’s Story, will be published in September. I am thrilled to be publishing Janis Sharp’s ...
The Implications of Eastleigh - Crunchtime for Cameron and Clegg as Miliband Escapes Scrutiny
- 27 Feb 2013
I can’t remember a by-election which was so hard fought and was more difficult to call than this one, apart, possibly from Crewe & Nantwich. However, in that one there was no national overhang on a particular party, and there was a definite feeling of Tory momentum. There...
Grooming a Schnauzer
- 26 Feb 2013
Every six weeks or so our Miniature Schnauzer, Bubba, has to go to a dog groomer in Heathfield to have his hair cut. It’s a bit of a trauma for the poor little lad. For one thing he always throws up on the journey, although never on the return He’s otherwise very well behaved...
A Good News Story About Care Homes
- 26 Feb 2013
We talked about care homes on my programme tonight, Figures from the Alzheimers Society show that 80% of people in care homes are suffering from dementia. That really is a quite incredible statistic. Many people are scared of going into a care home and in some ways you can und...
Assuming Guilt
- 25 Feb 2013
We live in a society where we automatically assume guilt. Yes, we hear the caveat “innocent until proven guilty”, but how many of us really believe it? We all assume that Cardinal Keith O’Brien is guilty of acting inappropriately with four young men because our overall impress...
Clegg Statement Just Makes Things Worse
- 24 Feb 2013
Nick Clegg has just made things a whole lot worse for himself and his party. It’s all very well being indignant, but it’s quite difficult when you haven’t actually got much to be indignant about. Fraser Nelson rightly questions why on earth he has brought Danny Alexander into ...