Why Rachel Frosh Is Right - Fascism IS Intrinsically Left Wing
- 15 Feb 2013
Over the last few weeks I have had several people ask if I intend to stand for Parliament again. No matter how often I say ‘no’ the message never quite seems to get through. I can use phrases like ’I’d rather stick needles in my eyes’ or ’I’d rather eat my own sick’, but stil...
Who Will Next Face the Horse Heat?
- 15 Feb 2013
I was talking to a friend earlier, who has a loose association with the Contract Catering Industry. These are the people who supply schools, hospitals and the armed forces. We both agreed that those sectors might well be the next sectors to come under the scrutiny of the media...
Book Review: A Kick Against the Pricks by David Norris
- 15 Feb 2013
Let me from outset say that this is one of the best autobiographies I have read in recent years. It’s entertaining, witty, thought provoking, moving and well written. You can’t ask for much more than that. Senator David Norris is an independent member of the Upper House of t...
Stand Up Mehdi Hasan, Future Leader of the Labour Party?
- 15 Feb 2013
I’ve never quite worked out how the Huffington Post survives in the UK. Millions of pounds have been chucked at it, and yet it’s a vanilla site with little ‘must-read’ element to it. Most of its comment pieces are PR puff and little else. Its news stories are ones that you ca...
Listen: Rachel Reeves Repeats the Same Point 8 times in 80 Seconds
- 14 Feb 2013
I rather like Rachel Reeves. She’s got some original ideas and is clearly very clever. You don’t get to work at the Bank of England if you’re not. But tonight on my LBC show she gave a car crash of an interview on the 10p tax rate and the mansion tax. It bore all the hallmark...
Ed Miliband on the 10p Tax Rate: Then & Now
- 14 Feb 2013
This is Ed Miliband making the case for abolishing the 10p tax rate in 2008. “When you make a big set of changes in the tax system, some people do lose out. That is a matter of regret. Of course it is. But overall these changes make the tax system fairer.” (Source: IFS) ...
BBC Parliament Tonight: Harold Wilson Evening Starts at 6pm
- 14 Feb 2013
I was two years old when Harold Wilson first became Prime Minister, and 13 when he left office. But I do remember him. I remember telling my parents in one of the 1974 election why they should vote for him. Even then I was a Eurosceptic and held it against Ted Heath that he h...
Valentine's Special: The Talk Radio Top Totty List 2013
- 13 Feb 2013
Every Valentine’s Day, Adam Boulton and his Sky News colleagues reveal their Top 20 Most Fanciable MPs. Some years ago I caused a bit of a stir by turning the tables and compiling the Top 20 Most Fanciable Political Journalists. To be honest it was a struggle to get to 20. So,...
For Labour in Eastleigh Things Just Got Better
- 12 Feb 2013
This was always going to be a fascinating by-election but tonight’s selection of John O’Farrell as the Labour candidate could make it even more interesting. My suspicion is that he could well attract not just LibDem votes but also a few Tory ones too. He’s a bit of a name, bu...
My Interview on Why I Returned to Blogging With the Mars Hill Blog
- 11 Feb 2013
This is an interview I did at the weekend with Paul Burgin (pictured) of the Mars Hill blog. I hope it may be of interest to my readers PB: In 2010 you seemed to land a blow in the political blogosphere by deciding to quit. Remind us why you made that decision and do you fee...
Remembering Armenia's Karine Kazinian
- 11 Feb 2013
When I went to Armenia a few years ago I met a politician called Karine Kazinian At the time she was the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister and she had quite an effect on me. Indeed, I wrote THIS blogpost about her. Here’s an excerpt… I had the pleasure of having an uproari...
Remember You're a Conservative, Mr Hunt
- 11 Feb 2013
When I heard that the new much needed social care reform were going to be paid for by raiding the Inheritance Tax tin, I was frankly incredulous No one who calls themselves a Conservative should have any truck with increasing the burden of Inheritance Tax. It is a tax on aspir...
My Ten Favourite Places in the World
- 10 Feb 2013
On my old blog, I used to do a lot of lists. Some people liked them. Others found them annoying. Well, I think it’s time for one on my shiny new blog, don’t you? So, here are my ten favourite places in the whole wide world… in no particular order… Washington DC Washington ha...
Owen Paterson Tells Me: Horsemeat Could Be "Injurious to Human Health"
- 10 Feb 2013
A nice little scoop from Environment Secretary on my LBC show this morning. We spent ten minutes discussing the horsemeat scandal and towards the end of the interview (you can listen to it HERE) this exchange took place… ID: There are no health implications, are there? OP...
Political Book Awards: Bollocks Story in the Mail on Sunday
- 10 Feb 2013
There’s a story in today’s Mail on Sunday with the headline MARY’S REVENGE ON LABOUR PEER WHO ATTACKED CAMBRIDGE Simon Walters, the Mail on Sunday political editor, alleges that Professor Mary Beard, a judge at this year’s Paddy Power/Total Politics Political Book Awards , ...
It's Not Size That Counts! Oh, Really?
- 9 Feb 2013
Now, I post this purely as an educational tool. Tool. Geddit? I suppose we all knew that the French were the biggest pricks in Europe, and now we have proof! What I would love to know is how they worked this out. I doubt whether the research cost much to put together. I imagi...
LibDems Pick Mr Charisma
- 9 Feb 2013
This is the candidate the LibDems selected tonight to fight the Eastleigh by-election. His name is Cllr Mike Thornton. This is him at a council meeting. Hardly a surprise that he was so bored, listening to all those LibDem councillors drone on. I suspect this picture is going...
How Eric Pickles Forces Councils to Subsidise Local Newspapers
- 9 Feb 2013
You know those rather boring adverts at the back of local newspapers? Pages upon pages of public notices and planning applications, all put there courtesy of your local authority. Many people wonder why on earth in the days of websites all these adverts appear, week after wee...
Right & Left Is So 1990s...
- 8 Feb 2013
What do the terms right and left mean any longer? These two words have defined political discourse and debate for most of the last century, yet they are becoming increasingly irrelevant as supposedly right wing politicians adopt what have been traditional left wing causes. In ...
An Evening at the IMAX: The Political Book of the Year Awards 2013
- 7 Feb 2013
This time last night we were nearing the end of the 2013 Paddy Power & Total Politics Political Book of the Year Awards. It seemed a long time since the idea first emerged in a brainstorming meeting last summer. It really was the most fantastic evening. Four hundred peopl...