They're Not Militants, They're Terrorists
- 19 Jan 2013
Why is it that the BBC calls terrorists militants? They may well be militants, but people who kill others for political aims and cause terror are also, without doubt, terrorists. I’ve never heard a convincing argument from the BBC as to why they insist of using a word most of ...
Tomorrow on my Sunday Morning LBC Politics Show
- 19 Jan 2013
This is what we have lined up for you tomorrow morning between 10am and 1pm on my LBC Sunday Politics Show. 10am Algeria/Mali. Guests include former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen. 11am Adoptions are lower than ever despite attempts to make adoption easier. Guest from Barnardo...
We Mustn't Send Troops to Mali
- 19 Jan 2013
Events in Algeria are truly worrying. But it is perhaps the situation in Mali which is of even greater concern. On Thursday former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner seriously suggested that Britain should send ground troops to Mali to support his country’s efforts. Up ...
It's Snow Joke
- 18 Jan 2013
So it’s snowing. Big deal. This country has gone stark raving bonkers in its reaction to the latest bout of snowflakes settling on the ground. Many public sector organisations actually told their staff not to come to work purely on the basis of predicted snow, rather than act...
Best of This Week on my LBC Show
- 18 Jan 2013
Every Friday on the blog I’m going to provide a few links to some of the interviews I have done over the previous seven days on my LBC show. Here are this week’s offerings. Book Club hour with Big Issue founder John Bird, talking about his book THE NECESSITY OF POVERTY and Ju...
The LibDem MEP Who Tweeted "Al Qaeda 1 David Cameron 0"
- 17 Jan 2013
This is a tweet just sent out by Liberal Democrat MP Graham Watson. What a disgusting thing to do. If you’d like to let him know what you think, tweet him @grahamwatsonmep. I wonder whether LibDems will have the good grace to tell him how he has brought their party into disr...
Miliband Whips Cameron at PMQs
- 16 Jan 2013
Well I hope the Prime Minister is on better form than that when he makes his big European speech on Friday. Ed Miliband whipped his sorry pink ass at PMQs today. He was funny, fluent and seemed in command of the House, which even his biggest supporters would acknowledge has n...
We're to Blame for HMV, Not the Government
- 16 Jan 2013
A lot has been written about the demise of HMV and yes, it is indeed very sad whenever a well known name like HMV goes into administration. But people need to remember that administration does not necessarily mean bankruptcy. Nipper hasn’t barked his last bark quite yet. It w...
The LibDem Flip-Flop on a European Referendum
- 15 Jan 2013
The hypocrisy of the LibDems can be truly astonishing. I suppose that is a statement of the bleeding obvious, but on Europe it is simply breathtaking. The way they are talking about David Cameron’s as yet unnannounced plans for a European referendum, you’d think he was announ...
Ignorance About Transsexualism Breeds Fear
- 15 Jan 2013
I was astonished to learn just before my programme went on air last night that The Observer had deleted Julie Burchill’s article (see previous post) from its website. Whatever one thought about it, it didn’t deserve that fate. By doing that The Observer has not only made a foo...
Suzanne Moore, Julie Burchill, Lynne Featherstone & Transsexuals - Time For Some Perspective
- 13 Jan 2013
Let me say from the start, that I have never been a fan of Julie Burchill. I started one of her books once but didn’t last long. Puerile rubbish. I’ve always thought her writing to be ordinary in the extreme, and have struggled to understand why she appears to be so popular. T...
Book Review by Alex Marsh - An Encounter With The Blogfather
- 12 Jan 2013
Excuse the self indulgence, but I’ve never read a book review of any of my books which “gets” what I was I was trying to achieve with a book like this one. It’s written by Alex Marsh, Professor or Public Policy at the University of Bristol, and originally appeared on his blog,...
Tory MEP Slags Off Cameron Euro Speech Before He Knows What's In It
- 11 Jan 2013
I first met David Campbell-Bannerman when he was head of the Bow Group, and an aspiring Conservative MP. He then defected to UKIP and became a UKIP MEP. Not that long ago he left UKIP and re-defected to the Conservatives, and now sits as a Tory Euro MP for East Anglia. Having...
Have I Joined the Establishment?
- 11 Jan 2013
Earlier this year I got a letter from A & C Black, the publishers of Who’s Who to say they wanted to include me in their 2013 edition. To be honest I had mixed feelings about it. Why? because there’s an assumption that if you’re in Who’s Who, you’re definitely part of the...
Call Clegg - Did It Work?
- 10 Jan 2013
If you missed Call Clegg on LBC 97.3 this morning, I’m going to repeat it from 7pm on my evening show Those of you who don’t listen to talk radio much may well wonder what all the fuss is about. But for a Deputy Prime Minister to commit to doing a half hour radio phone in eve...
Why It's My Final Sky News Paper Review Tonight
- 9 Jan 2013
Twelve or so years ago I started doing late night paper reviews on Sky and the BBC News Channel. I gave up doing the BBC ones two years ago, when I started doing my LBC show because the timings didn’t work. Earlier I tweeted that tonight, at 11.30pm, I will be doing my final ...
UKIP Youth Leader Fired
- 8 Jan 2013
Twitter was abuzz with rumour and counter rumour about the sacking of UKIP’s youth wing leader Oliver Neville tonight. The story was apparently that he had been sacked because he dared to oppose the official UKIP line on gay marriage. In other words he was being the true liber...
Look, I Just Don't Like David Bowie
- 8 Jan 2013
Look, I just don’t like him, OK? It’s a free country. We’re all entitled to our opinion. I thought I’d get that out of the way before I come to my main point. Cue the drum roll… I really don’t like David Bowie. I’m sure he is a very nice man but I can’t stand his music and n...