Mark Pack v Iain Dale on Sky News
- 7 Jan 2013
This is the video of a discussion I had with Mark Pack this afternoon on Sky News, reacting to the Coalition mid-term review. courtesy of @liarpoliticians
A Bit Of a Do In Downing Street
- 7 Jan 2013
There was something a little underwhelming about the event at Downing Street this afternoon. There they were, the bride and groom (I’ll let you decide who’s screwing who) renewing their vows after only two and a half years, both leaving the impression that they had very few t...
A Face Value Resignation?
- 7 Jan 2013
It’s rather sad to see Lord Strathclyde stepping down from the government. He’s a very charming, likeable and affable character and he’s done good job since he took over the leadership of the Tories in the Lords from Lord Salisbury. Inevitably there will be speculation about ...
Instead of Insulting UKIP Voters, Cameron Needs to Hug Them Close
- 6 Jan 2013
He’s like someone with an itch who just can’t stop scratching it. Why is it that the Prime Minister just can’t help himself? You’d think he would be trying to attract support from as many people as possible, yet he delights in insulting UKIP members and supporters. A few year...
Will Britain Lose It AAA Rating & Does It Matter?
- 6 Jan 2013
This morning on Andrew Marr David Cameron sidestepped a question on the likelihood of Britain losing its AAA credit rating this year, almost as if he was accepting the inevitability. An hour later I interviewed Ed Balls on my LBC show and much to my surprise he failed to make...
Sunday Morning From 10am...
- 5 Jan 2013
A new feature on this blog will go live tomorrow at 9.59am. Instead of the book banner above, you’ll see a banner which tells you what is on my LBC show and a LISTEN LIVE button, so you can read the blog and listen to me live. For those of you who don’t know I present a radio...
That Labour Health Policy Making Process In Full...
- 5 Jan 2013
You can just imagine the scenario around the table in Portcullis House… Andy Burnham: Right guys, Ed’s said we have to come up with an eye-catching policy to grab the headlines in the new year. Let’s have a brainstorm. Researcher 1: Increase spending on the NHS by 10%? Re...
In Loving Memory of Mary
- 4 Jan 2013
A couple of days ago I was emailed by a friend who wanted to draw my attention to an appeal launched by 25 year old Duke Safo. He wants to raise £5,000 in order to be able to finance, er, his mother’s funeral. His Mum died in November at the very young age of 48. He is auctio...
Six Pounds Down, Eight To Go!
- 4 Jan 2013
As readers of old will know, I have constant battle with my weight. A couple of weeks before Christmas I had my flu jab and promised the doctor I’d get down to 16 and a half stone by mid March. That would entail losing a stone. Having been ill most of Christmas and the New Ye...
West Ham Player Appears On Cover of Gay Magazine
- 3 Jan 2013
It really is something that there is not a single ‘out’ footballer in the world of professional football, not just in this country but throughout Europe and probably the world. West Ham winger Matt Jarvis is this month’s cover boy on Attitude Magazine, the UK’s leading glossy...
Mark Pack Reviews My New Book, 'The Blogfather'
- 3 Jan 2013
Mark Pack has reviewed my new book THE BLOGFATHER on his own blog. He’s kindly given me permission to repeat it here, warts and all. A selection of Iain Dale’s blog posts from 2004-2012, The Blogfather is a potted history of one of the pioneering political blogs in the UK wh...
Anyone Would Think That Rail Fare Rises Were New!
- 2 Jan 2013
Watching Labour Transport spokeswoman Maria Eagle touring the TV studios today, you’d think Labour had never put rail fares up during their time in office. If only that were true. Since 2004 fares have risen by inflation plus 1% under a formula put in place by, yes, you guess...
Book Review: My Fight With Life by Leon McKenzie
- 2 Jan 2013
No one thinks of footballers as people who are likely to be suffering from depression, but after the suicides of Gary Speed and Robert Enke, people are waking up to the fact that even people earning tens of thousands of pounds a week and seen as heroes can suffer from depress...
Good People Doing Nothing...
- 1 Jan 2013
Before West Ham home games it has become a pre-match ritual for me to visit Ken’s Cafe, just down Green Street from the stadium, for a pre-match fry-up. Jo Phillips and her grandson Marlowe join me, and we catch up on the gossip over Sausage, Beans & Chips. We queue up an...
Happy New Year!
- 31 Dec 2012
I will be glad to see the back of 2012. It has been without doubt the worst year of my life. I think 2005 is the only year which could compete with 2012 for twelve months of unalloyed personal misery. I failed to win the North Norfolk seat at the election by a massive 10,600...
Ten Faces To Look Out For in 2013
- 31 Dec 2012
ALISTAIR GRIFFIN Griffin is a singer/songwriter who was behind the Olympics Gamesmakers song ‘I Wish For You The World’ and the Formula 1 theme ‘Just Drive’. His latest album ‘Albion Sky’ is just brilliant and I predict great things for him in 2013. OLLY MANN Olly Mann is o...
McGuinness to Trouser £20k Severance Payout
- 31 Dec 2012
So Martin McGuinness has announced he is resigning as an MP, causing a by-election in the seat of Mid Ulster. It would be hard for him to be sorely missed seeing as he has never actually taken up his seat. He refuses to swear the oath, yet has claimed millions of pounds in exp...
The Cruelty of Families
- 30 Dec 2012
Christmas can be a very lonely time, especially for the elderly. I hear time and time again on my radio show of people whose families just aren’t there for them. They’re too busy with their own lives to worry about their elderly parents, let alone visit them. I just don’t unde...
Is Paul Goodman Right? Are the Tories a 2015 Write-Off?
- 30 Dec 2012
It is a brave man who predicts an election result two and a half years away from polling day, but that it what Paul Goodman has done in today’s Sunday Telegraph . Paul is a shrewd observer and one of my favourite pundits. He may have been a loss to the Commons, but he is a mu...
My Top 50 Favourite Tweeters of 2012
- 30 Dec 2012
Each new year I do a list of people whose tweets I have most enjoyed during the previous 12 months. I follow about 1100 people on Twitter (I think it might be time for a cull, but I know how upset people get when they are unfollowed!) but these are the ones who have entertain...