George Osborne Sets 'The Agenda'
- 19 Feb 2013
I don’t know how many of you watch ITV’s The Agenda, fronted by the excellent, and mischievous Tom Bradby, but if you don’t you ought to. He has four guests on a panel and they chat about four or five issues in the news. It usually includes a high profile politician. Cameron,...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter: No 1
- 19 Feb 2013
If you’re in the media, people inevitably have opinions about you. Some good, some bad.. They’re rarely shades of grey. The praise tends to be OTT (“You’re simply the greatest presenter ever to appear on the radio”) as does the criticism (“You have the voice of John Major cros...
'The New Normal' - Best US Sitcom Since 'Scrubs'
- 18 Feb 2013
Nowadays I very rarely watch any TV programme when it is actually shown. Sky Plus is my friend. Anyway, last night I was wondering what to watch and I remembered I had been recording a new American sitcom called The New Normal. It’s been hailed as the new Will & Grace, an...
Why The Right Needs To Spread the Gospel of Low Taxes
- 18 Feb 2013
I have always believed that a low tax economy is always going to be more successful than a high tax one. We now seem to be in a period where all three main political parties seem quite happy to be entering a competition to see who can come up with the whackiest ideas for impos...
Meeting Sir David Attenborough
- 18 Feb 2013
One of the great things about doing my job at LBC is that I get to meet and interview some of my all time heros. Today was one such day. Of course the challenge when interviewing them is not to go all gooey and just indulge in half an hour of fan worship. I always try to remem...
An Encounter with Anjem Choudary
- 17 Feb 2013
This morning The Sun did what the News of the World used to do. It had a front page piece of proper investigative journalism. which exposed the radical cleric Anjem Choudary as a thoroughly nasty piece of work. They taped a three hour lecture in which he called Cameron and Oba...
Eastleigh By-Election Gets Dirty
- 16 Feb 2013
By-elections bring out the worst in normally quite sane people. It’s all “my party right or wrong”. And today we have seen the Eastleigh by-election descend to the depths, courtesy of the Liberal Democrats. I don’t know why I am surprised. However, I am surprised by Stephen Ta...
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...