Iain Dale
Iain Dale: I blame that bonking couple for all those LibDem cock-ups
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
The poor old LibDems suffered from two rather
embarrassing email incidents during their conference. The first was when a
press officer sent their entire “Lines to Take” to the media instead of their
MPs. MPs and ministers were given a checklist of five things to mention in
every radio. “We are a party in confident mood” and “We are the only party
which can bring about a strong economt and a fair society” were two of the less
memorable mantras the politicos were supposed to spin to a supplicant media. Oh
dear. I decided to get this out of the way early in my interview with the
chirpy Tim Farron by just asking if he agreed with all of them. The second
disaster to strike the LibDem press office was when an inexperienced press
officer copied and pasted the wrong bit of a document into a press release,
thereby setting a hare running that the LibDems regarded anyone earning more
than £50,000 a year as wealthy, and that they would face big tax rises if the
LibDems had their way. Cue media hysteria and another story which had to be
extinguished as quickly as possible.
There are a couple of explanations for these cock-ups by the LibDem media team. Firstly, apart from the West Ham-supporting Head of Media Phil Reilly (naturally one of the good guys) not a single LibDem press officer has been working for the party for more than eight months. But I wonder if tiredness could be the issue. The entire LibDem front bench and team of special advisers were booked into rooms on the 15th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Glasgow, but it appears they didn’t get much sleep. The exertions of a bonking couple in one of the rooms kept the entire floor awake for most of Monday night. They were apparently “at it” for several hours, and the identity of the couple caused much speculation the next morning. Your humble servant was lucky enough to be present (while waiting to interview the Cleggmeister) when a rather ashen-faced young man emerged from the room looking somewhat dishevelled. Discretion prevents me from identifying the poor bugger. But he did have a smile on his face. I’m afraid I ducked out of asking the Deputy Prime Minister whether he got a full eight hours. Of sleep, that is.
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“Disgraceful.” “I’ve been totally misrepresented,” spluttered a clearly rather angry Paddy Ashdown about an Observer piece last Sunday. So it was with a degree of incredulity that while I was waiting to interview Nick Clegg I spied Ashdown emerging from a lift with The Observer’s Andrew Rawnsley. Furthermore, the two of them were laughing and joking as they disappeared into Ashdown’s room. He’s clearly a forgiving sort. Half an hour earlier, I had been told he wasn’t doing any more media interviews. Rawnsley’s charms were clearly more alluring than my own!
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Iain Dale: Sadly for Rachel Reeves, she will now become the Steve Davis of politics,
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
It’s difficult to say much about the Nigel Evans
case without prejudicing his trial, but one thing is for certain. Over the last
few months he has found out who his real friends are. And that will be even
more the case over the months leading up to his trial. I know several people
involved in political scandals over the years and the common thread among them is
their shock at how easily people they had regarded as lifelong friends cast
them by the wayside at the first sign of gunfire. I well remember when my
friends the Hamiltons were accused of raping a woman in Ilford and I took to
the television studios to defend them. I was told by several people that I
should stop doing so. "Why?" I asked. "Because it would not be good for your
career". I gave a pretty dusty response and said somewhat forcefully that a
friend is a friend is a friend, and that you wouldn’t be a very good friend if
you abandoned a friend at their time of dire need. And that is what I and no
doubt many of you will feel about Nigel Evans’s situation. Small messages of
support can mean a huge amount to someone in his position. His world will have
been rocked to its foundations. He has had to resign from the job he loved and
is now facing calls to resign his seat too. He must resist them. The concept of
being innocent until proven guilty must be adhered to, and it is for his
friends to defend his right to remain Conservative MP for Ribble Valley pending
the trial verdict. Nigel protests his innocence. I believe him. And before
anyone suggests otherwise in the comments (because I am sure they are will), it
has nothing to do with him being gay. It has nothing to do with him being
accused of sex crimes. It’s that I don’t believe the Nigel Evans I know would
hurt a fly. P.S: If you do comment on this below, please be aware of the laws of
contempt of court.
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Poor old Rachel Reeves. She’s been badly let down by the Labour Party’s media team. Quite what on earth they thought they were doing by demanding a full public apology from Ian Katz, Newsnight's Editor, for his tweet which described Reeves as "snoring boring" I just do not know. It made a drama out of a non-crisis. The best way to handle these things is to laugh them off, not ramp up the rhetoric. Sending a normal tweet as opposed to a direct message is a very easy thing to do and many of us have fallen prey to this over the years, me included. It happened to me recently. Luckily I retrieved my tweet within 20 seconds of sending it and no one seemed to have noticed. Sadly for Rachel Reeves, she will now become the Steve Davis of politics, and the word "boring" will forever be associated with her. The truth is she is nowhere near making any Top Ten List of boring politicians. She is very good company indeed, but when she goes on the media she is so on message that you wonder if she has been programmed by Peter Mandelson. When I interviewed her in February she managed to say the same thing 18 times in a five minute interview. If you’re in doubt, you can listen here. Once described as "having the face of an angel and the voice of Pat Butcher", Reeves has suffered from being promoted too early. She needed to learn her trade on the back benches and in junior shadow positions, but like Chuka Umunna she has been thrust into the limelight far too soon. One or two Conservative junior ministers, who are pushing for immediate promotion to the cabinet, might learn something from this. Be careful what you wish for.
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Still no reshuffle, then.
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I approach this weekend with some foreboding. I normally look forward to the conference season. It’s a time to meet old friends, indulge in some heavyweight political gossip sessions and rejoice in a gathering of likeminded political tribes. But this year the Liberal Democrats are in Glasgow. Don’t get me wrong, I have got nothing against Glasgow, having only been there once before...but Glasgow? For a party conference? Apparently, delegate numbers are way down on the norm and commercial exhibitors will also be far less prevalent than in the last couple of years. To put it bluntly, it’s a bloody long way to go. Even further than Blackpool was! I’m told that the LibDems will also be returning there next year for their pre-election conference, a decision which completely defies logic. But I am told all of the other venues they normally use were booked up. Further proof that the LibDems don’t really do long term planning.
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I am well aware that my political interviewing style is closer to that of the late Sir David Frost rather than Jeremy Paxman, but just occasionally I surprise people by baring my teeth. It happened this week with Sajid Javid, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury who had come on to talk about George Osborne’s speech on the economy. All was going well until he queried my figures on the deficit. OK, I said, how much did it reduce last year, I asked, quite reasonably. "Well the important thing is that it’s falling," he said. Maybe, but that didn’t answer my question. It turned into a mini Paxman-Michael Howard moment. I don’t think it is unreasonable for a Treasury Minister to have those figures at his fingertips. I regard Sajid as a friend, but friendship has to go out of the window when you’re being paid to do a proper journalistic job, as Sajid no doubt realised. Credit to him, though. Unlike Rachel Reeves, he responded in exactly the right way and texted me making light of the whole thing. It’s never a good idea to fall out over something like this. You can hear the exchange here.
Posted on 13 Sep 2013 06:36:07 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Yep, UKIP voters are the bisexuals of UK politics
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
READER
WARNING: There’s more than the usual dose of smut in this week’s column.
This week I have been chairing three panels for the Daily Telegraph with the aim of compiling the Top 100 people on the right, left and the Top 50 Liberal Democrats, all of which will, as usual, be published during the three party conferences. Yes, snigger all you like about the latter. I usually do too. The biggest challenge is to actually find 50 LibDems to choose from.
The panellists are a mixture of MPs, activists and commentators, and believe me, the discussions can become very heated indeed. On the Tory panel there was a particularly spirited discussion about whether Maria Miller should be promoted from 78 in last year’s list. One of the MPs was adamant that she deserved a massive promotion on the basis of her performances at the Despatch Box. “I’ve watched her perform really well with shitty briefs,” she said. After a moment of stunned silence in which we all took time to contemplate the implications of that statement, we all corpsed. “What have I said?” asked the MP in all innocence.
One of the other panellists, an MP’s researcher, proceeded to irritate us all with her precocious certainty about her opinions, interrupting everyone at every possible opportunity. “The Home Office gave me a prison,” she said at one point. “No,” I said. “They built a prison in your MP’s constituency.” But that wasn’t the end of it. It was all about her. It was when she blithely told one of the other panellists he was shit at his job that I am afraid I let my irritation show. “Blimey,” I said to one of the MPs at the end of the meeting. “She’s like what Liz Truss would be like after half an hour on a crack pipe.” She’ll go far.
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Posted on 6 Sep 2013 06:51:44 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: If I were a TB-riddled badger, I'd rather be shot in a cull
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
There we were, in the Any Questions Green Room, the panel of
four, all cacking ourselves before being called on stage. So we did what anyone
would do. We discussed what questions might come up. And to my horror, no
matter what the potential subject, we all more or less agreed on the answer.
‘This might be a rather boring programme,’ I thought to myself. So as the
programme progressed, I found myself picking a fight with Mark Miodownik, a
scientist. I nitpicked and gnawed. The lovely professor Alison Wolf was far too
nice to attack, and the NFU President Peter Kendall was so bloody reasonable, I
am afraid Mark had to be my target. As it turned out, there was a little more
disagreement than I feared. On Syria, I was the only one to oppose military
action. It felt a bit odd to be the most left wing panel member.
Unaccustomed as I am… But I soon restored my hardline credentials on the badger
cull. I got a text afterwards from Owen Paterson in which he expressed his
amusement that I had attacked him for pussy footing around! All I will say is
that if I were a badger with TB, about to die a long, painful death, with my
internal organs failing, I’d happily be shot in a cull.
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Seen this week on Facebook: “So, I've just sent an Email to an MP with the title being 'Panel Discussion', only, in my haste, I missed the ‘P’ off, and my iPad saw fit to change it to something else. Needless to say a correction/apology Email was sent afterwards.”
We’ve all been there. I remember when I was organising a course titled “Public Relations in the Ports Industry”. Only I missed out the L in ‘Public’. I think some of the delegates attended under a slight misapprehension.
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My LBC colleague James O’Brien has introduced me to the concept of ‘Newsknitting’, where you knit two stories together. For example, why can’t poor people eat badgers? Should we hold an emergency summit on Kevin Rudd? Basher Al-Assad not convinced by the case for HS2. The list could go on…
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Posted on 30 Aug 2013 07:30:34 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale's Friday Diary: UKIP - a ragtag and bobtail pressure group of well-intentioned and enthusiastic amateurs
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
Tonight I’ll be on Radio 4’s Any Questions.
It’s the fourth time I’ll have appeared on the programme, so you’d think I
would be used to it, but not a bit of it. It’s one of those programmes where
there’s a tremendous opportunity to make a complete idiot of yourself. I have a
real fear of opening my mouth and nothing coming out. It’s never happened yet,
but you never know. It’s a politician free zone tonight with my fellow guests
being an economist, a scientist and the head of the National Farmers Union. I
guess I am the light relief!
People always ask if we have any clue as to what the questions are going to be, but no matter how many times I protest that the first time we hear the question is when we are on air, people give you a knowing look. In fact, of the six or seven questions asked, if you have half a brain you can normally guess the subject area of three or four of them due to the week's news. It doesn’t take Einstein to work out there will almost certainly be a question on the detention of David Miranda, and also on the fracking protests. But there’s always a googly that they like to throw at you – something so unexpected that provokes a reaction similar to that of a gulping goldfish. Each panellist is desperate to come out with the answer that makes the audience laugh loudest but you have only a split second to formulate your hopefully incisive and witty answer. It’s that question we all dread the most.
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The stupidity of the fracking protesters in Balcombe knows no bounds. The usual professional green activists, who we no doubt fund through the benefits system, have gathered at a site where no fracking is taking place, nor is it likely to. These are the same people who no doubt pitched their tents at Greenham Common, supported Swampy and have hitched their skirts to the great global warming swindle. If they think fracking is so terrible, why haven’t they protested at the hundreds of other sites in the country where it has been going on for years? I’ll tell you why. Because they don’t give a damn about fracking. All they care about is rebelling against society and attaching them to the latest leftist-green cause. They’re the true watermelons - green on the outside, red on the inside. And Caroline Lucas is the perfect exemplification of this. I’m all in favour of people’s right to protest, but at least have the decency to have the vaguest idea what you’re protesting about.
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The resignation of UKIP’s chief executive after only eight months in the job tells us a lot. It got a lot of media coverage, which shows how far UKIP has come. If this had happened a year ago it would have barely merited a line in the Daily Telegraph. But it also tells us UKIP is still a ragtag and bobtail pressure group of well-intentioned and enthusiastic amateurs. There’s a lot to be said for harnessing a revolutionary spirit and appearing slightly disporganised, and you can get away with it when you are recording a couple of per centage points in the polls. But when you’re in double figures people’s expectations change. I like Nigel Farage and admire him, but he continues to treat UKIP as his personal, private property and despite protesting that he has let go the control he has traditionally exerted, you get the feeling that he protesteth too much. UKIP’s biggest problem has always been that it is nothing without Farage, but if he is to show true leadership he has got to allow other people to get on the with the job. If, as is rumoured, Neil Hamilton, takes over as chief executive, he’ll need to assert himself very vigorously right from the start. I don’t envy him, or anyone else, the job.
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Talking of UKIP, I have been looking through their MEP candidates. The challenge for UKIP MEPs is to actually last the course of a parliament without being put in prison or defecting. So far, 20-30 per cent of their MEPs seem to do one or the other. There is quite a bit of scrapping going on following the publication of the shortlists, and now those on the lists are at the mercy of the UKIP membership who will cast their vote, so there's lots of grievous self-promotion going on. What are we to make of the fact that rent-a-gob Jon Gaunt didn’t even make it onto the shortlist, or indeed outspoken columnist James Delingpole? But it is those who make it that bear a bit of scrutiny. Many are scratching their heads as to how Tory Europhile turncoat Janice Atkinson (nee Small) is seen as the third most competent MEP candidate behind Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall. She spent years working for Tim Yeo and was always seen as on the dripping wet side of the Tory Party, and yet here she is, a dead cert to become a UKIP MEP. It’s a funny old world. She is two places above Easteligh by-election candidate Diane James, widely considered to be the best candidate UKIP has ever put forward.
In London, current incumbent Gerard Batten is placed second on the shortlist behind Paul Oakley - Oakley is a former chairman of the London Young Conservatives. Batten will not be happy.
Daily Express political commentator Patrick O'Flynn is top of
the Eastern shortlist and many believe rightly so. The man who helped
mastermind the paper's 'UK out of the EU' campaign is a solid and decent bloke
and would do UKIP proud. Michael Heaver, a 23 year old, also
makes it onto the Eastern shortlist in fourth place. The feeling is he
should be placed higher as he is exactly what the party needs - a young, fresh
face, who is informed, intelligent and does very well with his radio and TV
appearances. The membership would be foolish not to back this lad.
Finally, will UKIP get a MEP in Scotland? In 2009, they got around five per cent of
the vote; to get an MEP in 2014 they need 10 per cent. The Tory vote is in a political
coma in Scotland. Could UKIP benefit in the year of the Scottish
independence referendum? The party is opposed to independence. Top of
the Scotland shortlist is the inimitable David Coburn. A born and bred
Scot, gay, and with the ability to give very good media and public speaking
performances, he is the best hope UKIP have of getting a MEP in Scotland,
though will Farage's recent troubles north of Hadrian's Wall provide him with a
handicap?
It's now up to the membership to cast their votes. Closing date is the day
before the start of UKIP's Autumn Conference. The stringent assessment
programme has meant some good characters have made the shortlists, but will the
talent be enough to give a UKIP victory in the European Elections?
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On Wednesday night I went onto the Broadland District Council website to order a garden waste wheelie bin. Unbelievably, there didn’t seem to be a way to do it online, so I emailed them to ask how I could do it. I then got an autoreply which said they would do their best to reply within ten working days – ie. two weeks. Well, thanks a lot for that. If I answered emails after two weeks, my company would go down the pan. What gives local councils the idea that they can treat their customers with such contempt? I expressed my displeasure on Twitter, and to be fair, they responded by tweeting that they are reviewing their ‘auto-replies’. Well, at least I have achieved something. Still haven’t got an answer on the bin, though.
Posted on 23 Aug 2013 06:34:19 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Did I ever tell you about the time I felt my buttocks needed to be a bit perkier?
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
I’m afraid Dan Hannan will have to do without my
vote in next year’s Euro-elections. I can’t and won’t vote for a list that has
Marta Andreasen on it. She’s not a Conservative, never has been and never will
be. I’m not even sure that she is eligible to stand. Has she really got a proper UK
residence? I shall be looking at her nomination paper very closely. Having said
that, she’s not alone in being a Conservative MEP without being a conservative,
is she? The whole selection system for MEPs is so corrupt as to be totally
appropriate for a banana republic. If the selection systems for selecting local
government candidates have been reformed to make them more democratic, why has
the Conservative Party insisted on sticking with this outrageous system which
guarantees the incumbents have a job for life if they want it? He may be a nice
guy, but didn’t Tim Kirkhope outlive his natural usefulness quite a few years
ago? And yet he tops the Yorkshire list. In case you think I am going over to
the dark side in these elections, I’m not – well, not unless I get a sniff that
David Cameron doesn’t really mean it on his referendum promise. I will instead
cast my vote in East Anglia and vote for the very hard-working and delightful
Vicky Ford, even though I could sorely be tempted to vote for my friend Patrick
O’Flynn who heads the UKIP list in the region. If I ever had any temptation to
do that, I just have to look at the names below him to know that way lies madness.
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One story I forgot to mention last week from my phone-in with Eric Pickles is that I can now explain his desperate desire to cultivate the petrolhead vote. It is he, after all, who is behind the moves to allow us all to park on double yellow lines. And all power to his considerable elbow. I can now reveal that Mr P has a secret desire to appear on TOP GEAR and be the star in a reasonably priced car. Surely an invitation from Jeremy Clarkson and his lads can only be a matter of weeks away?
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Being egged is almost a rite of passage for most politicians. But it was particularly bad luck for it to happen to Ed Miliband on his first day back following his three week Scarlet Pimpernelish disappearing act. You could call it an Omniscrambles. My egging initiation came nearly 20 years ago when I was chairing a speaker meeting at the then very left-wing University of East Anglia (or University of Easy Access, as it was known). I was chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students at UEA at the time, and no, I never wore (nor even knew one existed) a Hang Nelson Mandela T-Shirt). Cecil Parkinson was the guest speaker. It was only a year after the Sara Keays affair and his resignation from the cabinet. His wife Ann and local Tory MP John Powley were on the platform with me, facing an audience of 900 students. The lecture theatre was packed to overflowing. Anyway, Cecil started giving a rather dull but worthy speech on trade. After about ten minutes, I could tell out of the corner of my eye trouble was brewing. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a couple of well-known Trots making signals to each other, then the eggs starting raining in. Splat. One hit my me. Damn. My only suit was ruined. Then another. Then a couple hit Ann. All in all a dozen or so eggs were thrown before our security contingent (commonly known as the Rugby Club First Eleven) intervened. All I remember hearing was Cecil shouting “Which of you dirty, lefty rats threw that at my wife?” Calmness was eventually restored and it was only when Cecil resumed his speech that I realised he had escaped scot-free. Not a single egg had hit him. He was as Teflon as his hair. Lefties never were very good at hitting targets.
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The whole row over who was to blame for the fact that the Tories and LibDems trousered £520,000 of a widow’s request to the nation was nothing if not unseemly. It fed the conspiracy theory-like brains of those who want to believe that all politicians are on the take. But I reckon it was more cock-up than conspiracy. Michael Crick suggested that it all happened because her solicitors didn’t appear to know that the Treasury Solicitors are not in fact the Treasury’s solicitors. And on such lack of knowledge is a Daily Mail front page based. Good August story, though.
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OK, 500 words written, 500 to go. Tell you what, writing a political diary column in August is bloody difficult. Consider yourselves privileged that I don’t do a Kevin Maguire and just bugger off for the whole of August.
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Having learned more than I ever needed to about Andrew Pierce’s follically-challenged head, in Saturday’s Daily Mail he regaled us with tales of how he injects botox into his armpits to stop him sweating so profusely. Can you imagine if any politician had written about such things? Piercey would have spent his entire column ridiculing them. Did I ever tell you about the time I felt my buttocks needed to be a bit perkier? No? Well…. [enough, Ed].
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I would like to apologise for the lack of innuendo and double-entendres in last week’s column, which was remarked upon by a valued reader called ExToryAgent. You want a double-entrendre? OK, I’ll give you one. The old ones are the best, eh?
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I would also like to apologise to those of you who feel unable to leave a comment when I don’t mention gay marriage in a column. There. Happy now?
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This is the time of year when I start turning my head to preparing to compile the Daily Telegraph’s Top 100 People on the Right list, which is published during the party conference each year. This will be its sixth year and inclusion in it has become highly prized, particularly by greasy young men on the up. They will shamelessly say to me: “I think I should be included in your list”. Er, OK. Thanks for the advice, but I think I and my panel will be the judge of that! I keep trying to think of a cutting response to such pleas, but I usually just respond with an enigmatic “Do you? I’ll bear that in mind.” Drawing up these lists is an easy way to make new friends and lose existing ones. There’s one MP, who had better remain nameless, who is always a candidate for relegation but I always save at the last minute. Frankly I just couldn’t bear the shrieks of anguish if he were allowed to drop out completely. This year, though, even I doubt I’ll be able to save him.
Posted on 16 Aug 2013 07:35:46 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Miliband would be mad to ignore Johnson ... and why I like Polly Toynbee
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
If you were drawing up a list of the 20 nicest
MPs, Labour’s Alan Johnson would get more than his fair share of nominations.
He is a formidable politician who surely still has a future in front line
politics. But last Friday, when I was interviewing him about his new book, This Boy, he categorically ruled out a tilt at securing Labour’s nomination for next
London mayor. I am sure I heard Sadiq Khan exhale a sigh of relief. But the
question remains: will Ed Miliband will offer him a seat on Labour’s front
bench in his coming reshuffle? Miliband is said to want to rid himself of
people associated with the past and doesn’t want to bring back Johnson or
Alistair Darling. He’s deluding himself if he thinks a shadow cabinet of thirty-somethings is going to cut the mustard with an electorate which is tiring of
youth-obsessed politics. Perhaps he should bring back Gordon Brown. After all,
Ed Balls insists that he saved us. Anyway, back to Johnson. His book is
superb, and tells the story of his poverty stricken childhood in 1950s Notting
Hill. His sister, who brought him up from the age of 13 after his mum died
emerges as the true heroine of the book. It’s been a surprising bestseller and,
on the strength of it, he is planning to pen two further volumes before he gets
to writing about his political career. You can listen to the interview here.
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A month on from Tom Watson resigning as Labour’s campaign coordinator...and there is still no white smoke emanating from Labour HQ telling us who his successor will be. Wee Dougie Alexander was originally touted as a possible replacement among a few MPs, but faced a backlash as a famous three times loser (Euros 2009, General 2010, David Miliband campaign 2010). Also, Jim Murphy and Michael Dugher have been promoted by some. However, after the overseas hires of Lynton Crosby and Jim Messina by the Tories, Labour are desperately looking for their own person from the Obama team. I’ve heard Marlon Marshall’s name a few times. He was Deputy National Field Director for Obama. I’m told he came to London a few months ago and had a few private meetings with staffers in Parliament and Labour HQ, and think tanks. Make of that what you will.
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Posted on 9 Aug 2013 08:05:01 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Just how big is Douglas Alexander's sword?
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday
It’s
interesting that Lynton Crosby is being blamed for virtually everything
the government does now – good or bad. This is a good thing. It means
that it’s clear that he frightens the living daylights out
of the opposition. The latest manifestation of this phenomenon is these
billboard vans that are driving round London warning illegal immigrants
to go home or face arrest. Personally, I think they are a disgrace, and
something Dr Goebbels would approve of,
but that’s by the by. Labour blame them on Crosby. It’s highly unlikely
he had anything to do with them, but the fact that Labour thinks he did
reveals a lot. Last week John McTernan warned Labour that they were
wasting energy attacking Crosby. He recommended
that instead of attacking him, they should get their own version of
him. He asked the very pertinent question: “How do you fight a man with a
twelve foot sword? Don’t start with a six foot sword.” It’s unclear
whether Wee Dougie Alexander possesses even a
three foot sword. But then they say it’s not size that counts.
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A friend of mine went to a wedding in Lausanne at the weekend and while she was there had her handbag stolen. The thief thoughtfully left behind her passport, but it’s not the sort of thing you expect to happen in Switzerland, is it? The Swiss police were very helpful and told her it would undoubtedly make the front page of the local paper. ‘Why on earth would they put it on the front page?’ she queried. ‘Because it was the only reported crime in Lausanne that week…’ she was told. Just like home then.**********
It never rains but it pours. The former Labour MP Denis MacShane, who is up before the beak in a few weeks over expenses charges, got home to his flat in Pimlico earlier this week to find that a careless driver had knocked a wing mirror off his car. But much to his surprise the culprit had kindly left a note with his number on it. MacShane was even more surprised to find out the miscreant’s identity when he called the number the next morning. It was none other than the serial Conservative rebel, Peter Bone MP! Sadly I was unable to find out if Mrs Bone was driving…
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Can it be long before China becomes a member of the G8? I suppose then it becomes the G9. In the next few months the Chinese economy will overtake the US in terms of the size of its economy. By 2020 it will be $23 trillion, compared to the US’s £15 billion. China’s economy is 17 times bigger than it was in 1960, but its growth is dwarfed by Thailand’s, whose economy is 22 times bigger than it was in 1960. I wonder if in 2030 Britain will still make it into the G20, let alone the G8.
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The High Court has ruled that Jeremy Hunt doesn’t have the power to close the A & E and maternity units at Lewisham Hospital. Well, if he doesn’t, who has?! He is, after all, the Health Secretary. Perhaps this is what politicians mean by taking politics out of NHS. Let’s let judges manage it instead, shall we?
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Last week, I took delivery of the manuscript of Damian McBride’s new book, Power Trip. For those who don’t know, my company, Biteback Publishing, is publishing it in late September. I have rarely encountered such high expectations for any book in living memory, with the possible exception of the latest exploits of Harry Potter. “Oh, it’s a shoo in for political book of the year” says one journalist.” Well, that sort of talk always makes a publisher nervous, for there is always a fear that the finished product might be an absolute turkey. Having now read the manuscript, my fevered brow needs no further mopping. I think everyone’s going to be rather entertained. And that’s all I can really say. Because if I tell you any more, I’ll have to shoot you. You see, if I say a single word out of line here, I could jeopardise what ought to be a major newspaper serialisation deal. We have every single paper gagging to see the book. My dilemma is, having got them all to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement, do I sent manuscripts out, or lock them in a room for two hours each. I have to say I am tempted not to do any of that, and ask them to bid blind. That way I can be certain nothing will leak. We’ll see.
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Can anyone explain the point of having a Deputy Prime Minister, when that deputy prime minister is not around to deputise? For the second year in a row David Cameron and Nick Clegg are going on holiday at exactly the same time. You’d think with only 20 months of his tenure left, Clegg might want to make the most of his remaining days in power, bless his little cotton socks.
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Looking through the European Parliament selection results, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that no one in their right mind bothered to apply for selection. It is a scandal that existing MEPs were more or less automatically reselected at the top of the lists. With very few exceptions, they are a very low calibre lot. But those seeking to replace them don’t inspire much enthusiasm either. Again, there are some exceptions, but is this really the best the Conservative Party can do? And I am afraid I shan’t be voting for Dan Hannan, much as it galls me to say so, as he is one of the few, bright lights among these monochrome candidates. I can’t possibly vote Conservative in a region which has the reprehensible Marta Andreasen on its list. I find it astonishing that she is fourth on the list in the South East. Frankly, I’d rather support Nigel Farage. But I won’t. Luckily I now have another alternative and am registered to vote in Norfolk, so it will be Vicky Ford who will get my vote. I think.
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Last week’s diary contained a story alleging that Sir Alan Haselhurst had announced he was standing down from parliament at the next election. I wrote this in good faith, but Sir Alan tells me this is absolutely not the case. Clearly I should have checked with him first, and I would like to apologise to him for the undoubted embarrassment the story has caused him.**********
Andrew Kennedy is Tory agent for Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Chatham & Aylesford. His blog on the life of a Conservative agent has become compelling reading. This week he has treated us to his Top 5 Things Which Should Never Happen to an Agent. As it’s summer and I have got bugger all else to write about, here they are in full.
Taking Dennis Thatcher back to the railway station after he addressed a fund raising dinner:
"What the f**k is that?"
"It's my car Mr Thatcher."
"YOUR car? What the hell is it?"
"It's a Citroën 2CV Mr Thatcher."
"Oh! French. That explains it. How far is it to walk?"
At a Kent fundraiser for marginal seats
"Who's the old duffer talking to Charles Gadd." Lady sitting at my table: "That's my husband."
To an unknown lady who walked into my office, three days before polling day...
"I
am sorry, would you mind seeing my Secretary. I am stressed,
irritable, physically and emotionally drained, I haven't slept or eaten
for two days, I am hot, every bone in
my body aches, I have run out of fags, I've got over 20 phone messages
to deal with, and if that's not bad enough, in 30 minutes Angela Rumbold
will be turning up and I haven't a clue who she is or what I am going
to do with her."
Unknown lady: Well, that's an unusual greeting for a visiting Minister. I'm Angela Rumbold.
At Party Conference in Birmingham and answering a call on my mobile from a friend in Hampshire:
"Andrew, stop it immediately."
"What do you mean...?"
"You're
standing three feet away from Andrew Neil who is doing a piece live to
camera, and the world can see you behind him, scratching your..."
Posted on 2 Aug 2013 06:53:31 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale's Friday Diary: Could Rudd pip Abbott to the post in September?
Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday. He also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Follow Iain on Twitter.
The original version of this diary contained a story saying that Sir Alan Haselhurst had announced he was standing down from parliament at the next election. I wrote this in good faith, but Sir Alan tells me this is absolutely not the case. Clearly I should have checked with him first, and I would like to apologise to him for the undoubted embarrassment the story has caused him.
As the Australian election
campaign cranks up a gear, Kevin Rudd, the new Australian Prime Ministerseems
to be attracting quite a bit of media hostility. The Aussie media, having
encouraged him to overthrow Julia Gillard, is now turning on him. The
Australian Spectator has called him a “complete and utter fraud”. But it goes
even further and concludes: “He is disloyal and he can’t be trusted. He works
for his own advancement by trying to destroy the reputation of his rivals. He
worked against Brereton, against Crean, against Latham, against Beazley and
against Gillard. We wonder if he deceives himself or whether in private there
come the sad or the infuriating moments when his conceit breaks and he exposes
himself to himself." It’s hard to think of a more damning indictment of a
politician, who at every turn seems to put the narc into narcissism.
The Sydney Morning Herald is also no great fan. They take him to task for his new immigration policy, which is one that would make even Enoch Powell blush. They write: “The mask has dropped. We now see the real character of the man who leads Australia, a man so overbearing, so dysfunctional, so self-obsessed that his own government sacked him in his first term, unprecedented in Australian politics, and a third of the cabinet departed rather than serve with him when he returned.” Ouch.
Continue reading "Iain Dale's Friday Diary: Could Rudd pip Abbott to the post in September?" »
Posted on 27 Jul 2013 11:28:09 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: It's time to let Gavin Barwell take charge of Conservative revival
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday.
Gavin
Barwell’s article on Tuesday on how to rebuild the Conservative Party machine was a timely reminder of how the
party is failing to keep pace with the electorate. He was right to say that few
people identify with constituency boundaries, and that they think of themselves
as residents of a town or city or wider geographic area. In addition, email and
the internet give opportunities to include a much wider range of people in
party-led activities and fundraisers. Membership must continue to provide
certain privileges, otherwise why bother, but it must no longer be the be all
and end all. The priority of each and every Conservative Association must
surely be to be as inclusive as possible. That’s why opening up candidate
selections is an idea whose time has come. There was initially an
understandable fear that opposition parties would crowd a selection meeting and
vote to select the weakest candidate, but I know of nowhere this has ever
happened. Full postal primaries are probably one step too far, mainly because
of the cost, but ultimately that is what all parties ought to be aiming for. If
David Cameron wants to signal that he is serious about all of this, why not
make Gavin Barwell a Party Vice Chairman in charge or organisational
regeneration?
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Whatever happened to the notion of Recall? It was in both the Tory and LibDem manifestos and also the Coalition Agreement, yet for some reason it has been kicked firmly into the long grass by Nick Clegg, who is in charge of constitutional reform. There are still twenty months to go until the next election, which leaves plenty of time to get it on the statute book. What is Mr Clegg afraid of?
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They seek him, here, they seek him there, the seek him everybloodywhere. Who am I talking about? None other than the Scarlet Pimpernel of Labour politics, Ed Balls. Having been omnipresent on our TV screens up until last week, he’s now gone to ground. I am sure it is just coincidence that he has become invisible, just as Ed Miliband has a prolonged spat with Unite. It’s something he must have learned from his erstwhile boss Gordon Brown, who adopted a Macavity- like persona whenever Tony Blair could have done with some support from his Chancellor. Same old Brownites.
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If you have always wanted to virtually stroke an MP’s pussy, you can now do so HERE. The new Mrs Slocombe of the Tory benches, Catham & Wailsford MP Tracey Crouch has acquired two muts called Mungo and Basil and has even gone to the lengths of creating a purrfect Facebook page for them. But her colleague Nicola Blackwood (Oxford Whiskers & Abingdon) is going one further. She’s going round showing other MPs her pussy on her iPhone. And it’s blue. The iPhone, that is. The things MPs in marginal seats do to win the pet vote!
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Can I just apologise to anyone who is offended by ‘pussy’ jokes? I get them from John Inverdale.
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Is the Theresa May bandwagon about to roll? I’ve said in a previous column that Mrs May’s main weakness as a potential successor to David Cameron is that no one is very clear on what she stands for. She doesn’t have much of a following in the Commons. Or at least not until now. I think the Qatada deportation has transformed her standing as a front rank politician. I was hearing gossip that Cameron was thinking about moving her from the Home Office in the reshuffle to be Party Chairman. Inevitably, that would be seen as a demotion, but I doubt very much whether she would be prepared to go back to a job she first did more than a decade ago. Her position is now strong enough to she could refuse to move, and there’s little the Prime Minister could do about it. She is seen, even by her opponents, as a successful Home Secretary, and you don’t get many of those to the pound. The only argument she could make to herself for a switch is that she should get out while the going is good.
Oh, and if you were wondering who May’s potential successor would be? Step forward Michael Gove. That would be a crying shame because there is no one else who could take his education reforms forward. Gove should stay put, right up until the election.
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Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt is a canny old Vogel. The 94 year old chain smoker is getting round a ban on menthol cigarettes by hoarding them. SPD Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbruck told an interviewer that his predecessor had bought 200 packs of his favourite smokies, presumably calculating that they should see him out. That works out at 38,000 cigarettes. If he smokes one packet a day he will have enough to last him until his 100th birthday. It seems rampant euroscepticism has overtaken the SPD and Steenbruck has railed against the “unerträgliche Regelungswut” (intolerable lust for regulation) of the Brussels Commission. Expect Nigel Farage to immediately adopt that expression. Steenbruck himself has admitted to hoarding his favourite French lightbulbs in case they too might be banned. Welcome to our world Mr Steenbruck.
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I much enjoyed Ed Miliband’s ‘landmark’ speech this week on union reform, which bore all the hallmarks of being cobbled together in five minutes flat. I half expected him to say ‘And another thing…’ at one point. Tucked away in the small print was a commitment to hold a primary to choose London’s next Labour mayoral candidate. Good, good, I thought. He’s learning. And then I read the even smaller print. It’s not actually a primary at all. It’s a meeting of people who all vote Labour. I thought the whole point of a primary was to allow anyone to take part who wants to, but in this case you will have to have registered as a Labour supporter. That should get the attendance up to thirty, I guess. People always seem to think that opponents will pack a primary and then vote for the weakest candidate. There is no evidence for that at all. In the primary I took part in in Bracknell in 2009 (God, that seems a long time ago) there were indeed activists presents from the LibDems, but for once they took a principled decision and watched but didn’t vote. It’s the modern equivalent of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
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Excuse the shorter than usual offering this week. Yesterday I finally, after six months, got the keys to our new house in Norfolk, so on the day I usually pen this piece I was fretting about mortgage money coming through in time, wondering if BT would do as they had promised and filling holes in the garden fence to keep the dogs in. And this time next week I shall probably still be doing two of those things. Some holiday…
Posted on 12 Jul 2013 06:00:42 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Why have so few politicians taken up the cause of fathers' rights?
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday
What
is it with Tory MPs at the moment? There must be something in the air. Last
week Crispin Blunt ‘mwah mwah’d’ me, and this week I got a bear hug from Mark
Pritchard, who had come into the LBC studio to talk about MPs’ pay. It’s just
not British! Anyway, credit to Pritchard for sticking his head above the
parapet and being willing to talk about a subject which most MPs know they are
likely to get shredded by the general public. Mark’s view is that, yes, MPs
deserve a rise, but it would be impossible to take one in these times of
austerity. I suspect that view reflects the majority view in the House of
Commons, and yet IPSA is about to make things even worse by trying to impose a
£10k rise on MPs. The argument that if you delegate the decision to an outside
authority you ought to then accept its conclusion may be logical, but it won’t
cut much ice with public sector workers who have had to accept an effective pay
freeze for the next three years. What may well happen is that the rise is imposed
anyway and rich MPs will take the moral high ground and refuse it, while MPs
from normal backgrounds will come under huge pressure from the wives or
husbands to accept it. What an utter mess from IPSA. Again. It’s an
organisation which really should have been strangled at birth.
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Three more MP hugs followed on Wednesday night at radio’s Arqiva awards, this time from Cheryl Gillan, John Whittingdale and my good friend Nigel Evans (who, given the circumstances, was in remarkably cheerful form). Quite unbelievably, I had just won Radio Presenter of the Year. I have written about the whole experience on my blog so I won’t bang on about it here, but in my professional life it is probably the best moment of my career. To be recognised by your peers in any walk of life, but especially after only two and a half years of doing it, was quite something. I know many Conservative members [yes, you, Sally Roberts!] get very annoyed when I criticise any aspect of Conservative policy on air, but sometimes people forget that radio presenters are there to present, not be mouthpieces for political ideology. I never thought I would ever say that I was glad I didn’t succeed in my political ambitions, but I truly believe I have, at a comparatively late age, discovered my real vocation in life.
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It’s not often I get told to ‘piss off’ on air, that I’m horrific, that I shout down callers and then have the phone put down on me on my radio show. In fact it’s only happened once, and that was last Friday. It followed a Fathers 4 Justice supporter gluing a message to the Haywain, which I rate as one of the most iconic British paintings of all time. I had interviewed Jolly Stanesby, a spokesman for FFJ and admittedly I gave him a bit of a going over, accusing them of losing the support of people like me by carrying out these random acts of wanton destruction. I put it to him that there wouldn’t be a single MP who would think to themselves: “Oh well, we’d better pass a new law, if this is what they are going to do”. A few minutes later a 19 year old girl came on the phone and laid in to me over the attitude I had displayed. No matter how much I protested that I had great sympathy with FFJ’s cause she wasn’t having any of it and ended the call very abruptly! Whatever the rights and wrongs of what FFJ did, in a sense you can understand their frustration, because no one in power seems remotely interested that fathers all over the country are suffering because of the ridiculous custody laws here. It’s one of the few regrets I have that I never got into Parliament, as fathers’ rights is a cause I wanted to champion. I just can’t understand why so few others seem to have taken up the cudgels.
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Chris Grayling’s article in the Telegraph warning us not to be taken in by the charms of that nice man Nigel Farage was clearly written by a Tony Blair impersonator. Why? Because it contained so few verbs and so many one word sentences. If you ignore the content, it read like a Tony Blair conference speech.
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I regarded James Purnell as one of the better ministers in the last government. But in his new job as Director of Strategy & Digital at the BBC – at a salary of £295,000 – he has quickly acquired the arrogance that most senior BBC executives only start to display after several years at the Corporation. Here’s an extract from an interview I did with him this week on the scandal that the BBC have paid £25 million in severance to a mere 150 executives. His complacency was breathtaking.
Apparently it’s all sweetness and light now. Measures have been taken to ensure this can never happen again, so they say. Tory MP Rob Wilson isn’t so sure and has asked the police if they would like to investigate the fact that some of these massive severance payments were not even authorised by anyone. I suspect nothing will come of that, and he may be better advised to turn his fire on the increasingly ridiculous Chris Patten, chair of the BBC Trust. This body needs abolishing. Apparently, it doesn’t even have jurisdiction over the pay of senior BBC executives. That just about says it all.
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Since reshuffle time is fast approaching let’s indulge in a little speculation, shall we? I find it very amusing that most of the speculation revolves around the same names. It’s either very lazy commentary or those that are being heavily tipped are very good at their own PR and self-promotion. And from the way most people have written, you’d think only women were allowed to be promoted. So far I have tipped Jessica Lee for promotion so let me give you five MPs I’d seriously advise the Prime Minister to promote. None of them would be described as part of the set known as the ‘beautiful people’, but they all have one thing in common. They are clever, transparently honest, great constituency MPs and have run highly successful campaigns from the backbenches. My first nomination is Gavin Barwell. His reaction to the riots in his area and his piloting of some mental health legislation has been exemplary. He is great on the media and comes across as a normal human being. If he doesn’t become a minister there’s truly something wrong with the system. Tracey Crouch may sit for what has been traditional a marginal seat, but her brilliant constituency work will, I believe, enable her to not just hold her seat but increase her majority. She has been something of an independent spirit, but has never been a gratuitous rebel. She’d make a great Minister for Sport given her record as a qualified football coach and general expertise in the subject. Nick de Bois is similar to Tracey Crouch in almost every way except that he has testicles and knows nothing about sport (he’s a Liverpool fan. Need I say more?). His appointment as a minister would certainly go down well on the right, but I have to say I don’t think either I or he expect it to happen. But it ought to. Another woman on the right whose lack of preferment has always been a mystery to me is Eleanor Laing. She’s superb on the media, has a real knowledge of several key issues and is a force to be reckoned with. And she’s got an infectious sense of humour. OK, it’s not necessary to have a sense of humour to be a minister, but it sure helps. And my final nomination is Jane Ellison. Jane is from the left of the party and made her name in the Tory Reform Group. She’s eloquent, speaks normal person’s language and I think would make a great minister. Her supposed Europhile credentials have made her path to the top more difficult, but she’s stuck with it and never given up. That’s a real quality for a minister. So – Jessica Lee, Nick du Bois, Gavin Barwell, Tracey Crouch, Jane Ellison and Eleanor Laing. They all deserve it on merit, but do I expect any of them to make it? I wouldn’t put money on it.
Posted on 5 Jul 2013 06:50:47 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Neither Cameron nor Osborne give a monkey's cuss about tax breaks for married couples. Good.
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday.
Digby
Jones is someone who knows how to give ‘good interview’. I talked to him about
deficit reduction shortly after George Osborne had sat down on Wednesday. He
was keen to emphasise that ringfencing health, education and aid spending was
fundamentally wrong, especially health. He argued that health spending had
risen faster than any other department in recent years and therefore there was
quite a lot of fat to be cut out. He told me a very illustrative tale. On a
visit to a hospital in Leeds he had been shown a brand new cancer machine which
had cost millions. But it was only being used during working hours for five days a
week. There was a massive waiting list of patients who would benefit from using
it. ‘Why don’t you use it at evenings and weekends’, he asked. ‘Oh no, we
couldn’t possibly do that,’ came the response. On a subsequent visit the
hospital administrators told him with great pride: ‘Weve halved the waiting
list for that machine we showed you, Lord Jones’. ‘How have you done that,’
queried Digby. ‘Do you now use it at weekends and in the evenings?’. ‘No’, came
the response. ‘We bought a second machine.’ Facepalm time. And that, in one
anecdote, shows how health spending is out of control and how it could easily
be cut. That attitude to spending public money is prevalent in the health
service, the BBC and many other public sector bodies. It’s not one you come
across very often in the private sector.
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I have never understood the fetishisation of a married couple’s tax break. I am all in favour of the tax system being reformed so it doesn’t discriminate against married people and I am all in favour of encouraging marriage, but does anybody really think people will be encouraged to get married, or even stay married, by a tax bonus of £3 a week? If they do, they should be howling with the wolves because it is a nutty proposition. David Cameron and George Osborne keep paying lip service to this idea in the vain hope that it will keep Peter Bone and Mrs Bone happy if somewhere at the end of the rainbow this promise is ever introduced, but the truth of the matter is that neither Prime Minister or Chancellor gives a monkey’s cuss about this policy, as the LibDems have verified this week. Not once have they asked the LibDems if they would mind awfully if this allowance were introduced. Good. It’s a waste of public money. Instead of doing that they would do well to look at the way the tax system actually rewards people who don’t get married.
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Roll out the barrel, put out the flags, the government are cutting £11.5 billion from public spending in 2015-16. Are we really supposed to be impressed by that? The Chancellor makes out that every spare pound has been squeezed out of government departments, yet some think he protests a bit too much. Public spending in 215-16 will total something in excess of £745 billion. A cut of £11.5 billion amounts to a grand total of 1.54 per cent of total expenditure. Wow, I am impressed. Not. All this surely has to bring into question the ringfencing of the health, education and international development budgets, which total around £250 billion. Anyone that thinks every pound of the £137 billion health budget needs to take some heavy medication.
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Boris Johnson was in fine form according to a source at the London Pride Gala Dinner. My spy tells me that the little scamp told an anecdote about the time the Mayor of Bordeaux came to visit London. He concluded by saying: “He [Alain Juppé] may have been Mayor of Bordeaux and Prime Minister at the same time. Shows how efficient they do things over there.” Naughty, naughty. Boris, like most of the politicians there, ignored the dress code of black tie and instead opted for lounge suit. Vince Cable did the same, but least he was wearing a tie unlike his coalition colleague Mike Freer. Justine Greening rocked up wearing a jumper. In fact the only politician who seemed to adhere to the dress code was Labour MP Chris Bryant. There’ a joke there somewhere, but after last week’s cock joke, I’d better not go any further. Two members of the Google table walked out half way through the speech, muttering loudly about their dislike of Boris. When they pay tax, they’re entitled to a point of view. Until then, they know what they can do.
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Now that the dreadful Julia Gillard has been ousted from the Prime Minister’s office in Canberra, I wonder whether the ‘Dave haters’ will gain inspiration from it. Gillard was beaten by Kevin Rudd because Australian Labor MPs believed more of them would retain their seats. You can see where I am going with this. Leadership chatter has abated in recent weeks, and a good thing too, but it won’t take much to reignite it. My guess is that crunchtime will occur in twelve months’ time. If the Tories come third in the Euro elections , which is a distinct possibility, we enter uncharted waters. David Cameron’s saving grace is that Boris Johnson is not in the House of Commons. Even now, there is no credible challenger from within his cabinet, and even if there were, none of them have Kevin Rudd’s cojones or chutzpah. Do they, Philip? Or Theresa?
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Tweet of the week from the MailOnline’s Matt Chorley: “Somewhere in Ed Miliband’s office, someone is dropping knitting needles and a ball of wool into a bin.”
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I’m sure after the events of this week you are all expecting me to have a jab at the Bow Group again this week. Sorry to disappoint, but I have said all I have to say about their stupid legal threats here. Assuming they are not going to go any further, neither will I. And so, peace breaketh out.
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Could the long-running newspaper review partnership between the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire and ‘Tory Boy' Andrew Pierce be entering its twilight? Monday nights on Sky News would never be the same, but it is understood that Sky News executives were less than impressed to see Mr Maguire spouting his views on the BBC paper review this week, which, of course is now broadcast at exactly the same time as Sky’s. Since the BBC moved to Broadcasting House they have decided to take on Sky’s paper review at 10.30 and 11.30 and effectively copied Sky’s much more successful format. Kevin’s decision to ride with the horses and hunt with the hounds has gone down like a cup of cold sick in Osterley. A yellow card may be about to be issued.
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George Osborne is, without doubt, the most political chancellor since, er, Gordon Brown. His spending review was just as much about the politics of the next election as about deficit reduction. And a good thing too, in many ways. Too many cabinet ministers don’t get the fact that they are in fact politicians rather than administrators, and that an election is only 23 months away. It is very clear now that the Tory strategy is to launch a three pronged attack on Labour – on the economy, welfare and immigration. Already, the next election is being fought on Tory turf and at the moment Labour looks as if it doesn’t quite know how to respond to the dividing lines Cameron and Osborne are drawing. Their response on the economy was to launch a “me too” response. They will find this more difficult to do on welfare. Their only policy at the moment seems to be to abolish the winter fuel allowance for wealthy pensioners. They, and the Tories, should go one step further and abolish it altogether and pump the money back into the state pension, thereby saving millions in administrative costs.
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So President Obama lands in South Africa today for his state visit. A journalist friend of mine in Pretoria got in touch yesterday and said to me: “You do realise that they will keep Mandela alive until Obama gets here, don’t you?” I spluttered back “Surely no one would be that cynical.” It wasn’t until I finished the sentence I realised I was asking a rhetorical question.
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It’s not often I am kissed by a male Tory MP, something I have always been grateful for. But my duck was well and truly broken on Tuesday night at the launch of James Wharton’s new book Out in the army: my life as a gay soldier. Just as I was about to depart – there’s only so much Christopher Biggins and Paul O’Grady a boy can stomach – up bounded Crispin Blunt who did the old ‘mwah, mwah’ trick on me. I’m not a very ‘mwah, mwah’ sort of person, but I coped manfully, if that’s the right word. Crispin has been on a bit of a journey, as he would certainly confirm. It’s good to see him finally able to be himself.
Posted on 28 Jun 2013 07:04:04 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: Did Merkel bring a change of underwear to the G8?
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday.
Whoever chose Lough Erne as the venue for the G8
should get some kind of honour. As a PR exercise it couldn’t be faulted. The
countryside backdrops to all the interviews and press conferences were simply
stunning. Less stunning, though, was the fact that David Cameron seemed to have
a physical aversion to wearing a tie at any point during the event. Orders had
clearly gone out from Number Ten that this was a ‘dress down’ G8, although it
was rather difficult to tell whether Angela Merkel had got the message,
as in all the pictures I saw she seemed to be wearing the same, tired old lime
green jacket. I assume she brought a change of underwear.
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Paul Goodman wrote a fascinating piece earlier in the week predicting the coming reshuffle will be dominated by promotions for women. I think he may well be right, and most of the names he mentions will really deserve their promotion. What a shame it is, though, that we still write articles about the relative merits of women MPs, as opposed to MPs in general. Perhaps it will ever be thus. But at the reshuffle there will be two female cabinet ministers who will retain their cabinet posts purely because of their gender, rather than the fact that they have been any good. Justine Greening has indulged in a long sulk since her unwanted move from Transport to International Development, while Maria Miller is so out of her depth, it would be kinder just to put her out of her misery. But that won’t happen, I suspect. It would be just too politically embarrassing to have a second successive reshuffle in which two female cabinet ministers were pitched overboard.
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I’m really not quite sure why Stephen Twigg made his big speech on schools this week, because I am buggered if I am any wiser as to what Labour’s education policy really is. Is he in favour of free schools or against them? The answer seems to be both. And there was me thinking that sitting on the fence was the preserve of the ‘yellow peril’.
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Continue reading "Iain Dale: Did Merkel bring a change of underwear to the G8?" »
Posted on 21 Jun 2013 06:31:03 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale: The brass neck of Tim Yeo over Lord Debden's green interests
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday.
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It is safe to say that Brian Coleman is a larger than life character. He has for some time been the best-known Conservative politician in North London – and the most argumentative. Last week, he was expelled from the Conservative Party, having in May been found guilty of assault. Never knowingly uncontroversial, Coleman had served for many years on the GLA and Barnet Council, recently as mayor. Last Thursday I saw on my Twitter feed that BBC Radio London had announced he was a guest on their Drivetime show. "Not for long", I thought, as I texted Brian and asked him if he’d like to come on my LBC show instead – the lure being an audience several times the size of BBC London, despite them having a budget and resources at least eight times the size of ours. Sure enough, the bait worked. The BBC were less than gruntled, but all’s fair in love and radio. I expected Coleman to show at least a little contrition. Did he feel he’s let down the Conservative Party and its activists? No. Did he owe them an apology? No. If the word "bouncebackability" (Ok, OK, I know it’s not really a word) applies to anyone, it certainly applies to Brian Coleman. He intends to stand as an Independent in next year’s Barnet council elections, standing on ‘real’ Conservative values. There’s little doubt he will get masses of publicity and although he probably won’t win, it’s likely he will carve into the Conservative vote enabling someone else to. Coleman’s ability to have an impact should never be ‘misunderestimated’.
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Why is the BBC so reluctant to discuss the real reason behind the protests in Turkey? The ostensible reason is the development of a green space, but it goes far deeper than that. The whole background to the protests is that a huge chunk of the Turkish population is extremely concerned by the attempts of the Erdogan government to proceed with the gradual Islamification of Turkey. Those who wish Turkey to remain a country with a primarily western outlook are horrified by the raft of measures brought in over the past few years designed to pacify Islamists, and are now raising their voice in opposition. But this is barely being reported by the BBC. Why?
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It was interesting on Tuesday that Michael Gove sent out Liz Truss to sell his GCSE reforms to the media. The Trussette was furious at Nick Clegg’s intervention on childcare and needed to show her face in the TV and radio studios to rebuild her battered reputation, and rebuild it she most certainly did. She had a good story to tell and she told it well. Gove is rumoured to be rather remote from his ministerial team, and is a very hands-off Secretary of State who ploughs his own furrow and leaves others to plough theirs. But in this case he spotted a colleague who needed a bit of support. and he gave it. His GCSE reforms have been welcomed by some very unusual sources – Diane Abbott and The Guardian being two. They seek to reintroduce some much needed rigour, and although the teaching unions have been spluttering (did we expect anything else?) I suspect they are reforms which Labour won't seek to reverse should they win the next election. Michael Gove may have made a few balls-ups along the way, but he’s proving to be the most radical Education Secretary for a generation. I hope he is left in the post to complete the job.
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One MP I think ought to be considered for promotion in the reshuffle is Jessica Lee, elected in 2010 for Erewash. She is currently Dominic Grieve’s PPS. She probably won’t thank me for saying this, but I first got to know Jessica 15 year ago when she worked for me at Politico’s, in the coffee bar. She makes a mean sandwich! Jessica is intelligent, savvy and sassy, and although her profile is not as high as the likes of some of her contemporaries, it ought to be. Of all the 2010 intake who appear on my radio show. she is one of the best performers. She’s able to present the Conservative case with humour and without being rattled. She is clearly a loyalist, but comes across as a human being rather than a political robot. The Conservatives need to use voices like Jessica if they are to appeal outside the metropolitan elite.
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So the Express’s Patrick O’Flynn has made the jump from commentary to political activism, and is intending to stand in the European elections for UKIP. Patrick is a nice guy and is quite a catch for Nigel Farage, but I wonder what guarantees he has been given by the UKIP leader. When pseudo-celebrities join political parties they usually expect immediate preferment, and then become rather hacked off when it is not forthcoming. They also incur the wrath of party activists who tend to express their jealousy rather openly. Remember Adam Rickitt? Watch your back, Patrick.
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As some readers know, I run Biteback Publishing. In September we are publishing Damian McBride’s book Power Trip. Already people are talking of it as the political book of the year. I’d like to think it will be, but we’d better wait until the manuscript is actually delivered before we get carried away! Those who read Damian’s blog will know what a brilliant writer he is. People find it ironic I should be publishing the book, considering that I was one of those who Damian and Derek Draper tried to smear all those years ago. Anyway, on Tuesday those breakfasting at London’s Corinthia Hotel would have seen the bizarre sight of Damian and I having breakfast with Michael Ashcroft. The good Lord owns 75% of my company and I thought he and Damian might get on rather well. And so it proved. I just sat back and listened to these two titans of political strategy chew the political cud. If the book proves to be half as fascinating as that particular conversation, it will be a very good read indeed.
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I am somewhat mystified by Peter Oborne’s renewed attack on Lord Ashcroft. Apparently the good Lord has an agenda against David Cameron. The evidence cited is the odd mischievous tweet. I am a great admirer of Peter Oborne. I think he is one of our best polemicists. But surely even he must realise that his own support for the Prime Minister appears to depend on which day of the week it is. One day Cameron can do no wrong, the next he is the biggest blunderer in Christendom. Oborne is to Cameron what Polly Toynbee was to Gordon Brown – a fair weather friend.
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Listen to Ed Miliband and his answer to most things is to tax or regulate them. I don’t know why I should be surprised. It’s the knee jerk reaction of every real leftie I know. I exclude Blairites from this admittedly gross generalisation, but it is a generalisation which has several grains of truth in it. Take the housing crisis, for example. The solution to a lack of housing is simple. Build more, and provide building companies with the incentives to do so. Where there is too much demand, increase the supply. It’s pretty basic economics. But what is Miliband’s answer? Not to address the root of the problem, but fiddle around the edges by making ridiculous suggestions about rent controls and regulating landlords. This country has a big enough problem in encouraging the private rental sector without putting further barriers to growth in its way.
Posted on 14 Jun 2013 10:03:16 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Iain Dale's Friday Diary: The climate change industry must stop trying to silence its critics
Follow Iain on Twitter. Iain also blogs at www.iaindale.com. Iain Dale presents LBC 97.3 Drivetime programme 4-8pm every weekday.
The biggest talking point at Westminster this
week has been a certain MP’s lack of hair. No, I’m not talking about Nadine
Dorries, I’m talking about the infamously moustachioed Tory MP for Broadland,
Keith Simpson. For the first time in forty years he has shaved off his
resplendent facial hair and now looks positively naked, albeit ten years
younger. “There must be a reshuffle in the air,” commented one Westminster wag.
The truth, however, is disappointingly prosaic. “I was shaving and whipped a
quarter of it off by mistake, so the rest had to follow,” he told me. So what
did his long-suffering wife Pepi make of it? “It took an hour for her to even
notice, despite me giving her a snog,” says Simpson cuttingly. Known for his military
analogies, I think it is safe to say that the atmosphere in the Simpson
household is as cold as the ice inside a German panzer on the Russian front in
December 1941.
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This week sees the publication of Harry Mount’s Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson, which, I have to say, bears a strong resemblance to my own collection of Boris witticisms, the Bigger Book of Boris. Still, everybody’s welcome to the Boris party. Sadly Boris’s publishers made a bit of an error with the launch party, and scheduled it for the night of Boris’s twentieth wedding anniversary. Boris, keen to avoid a marital dressing down, decided to forego the delights of the launch party and presumably took Marina to a swanky restaurant. During the speeches the representative from Bloomsbury Publishing pointed out the irony that the author of a book extolling the virtues of Boris Johnson was a cousin of David Cameron. At which point Harry Mount shouted “distant”. However distant it is, though Harry, you can’t escape that easily!
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So what’s this I hear about Conservative Grassroots? Apparently there are two of them and they are at daggers drawn. One is run by the chairman of Wycombe Conservatives Bob Woollard, and I almost hesitate to mention that the other one is run by Mr Ben Harris-Quinney. Why am I hesitant? Well last time I had the temerity to pass judgement on his leadership of (what used to be) a prominent Conservative organisation, the Bow Group, he threatened to sue for libel. Tragically for him, I hadn’t actually written anything libellous. Anyway, the chairman of the original Conservative Grassroots is less than gruntled with the operations of what we might call its ‘provisional wing’. Peace talks have been held but to no avail. The two organisations have virtually identical logos, but different personnel, different websites and different Twitter feeds. Come on boys, sort it out.
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The media loves to portray the Tories as being divided on Europe. That’s sooooooo 1990s, darling. If anything, the Tories are more united on the subject than they ever have been, albeit in the Eurosceptic direction. It seems it is now Labour’s turn to experience European splits. On Tuesday evening a new pressure group was launched – Labour for a Referendum. There are about thirty Labour MPs who have no issue in describing themselves as Eurosceptic and proud of it. However, they’ll need to do better if they are to make an impact. A mere three dozen supporters turned up to the launch bash at Transport House, half of which ended up in the nearby Firecracker Karaoke bar. Dan Hodges got things underway by leading a rendition of Things Can Only Get Better. His messages to Ed Miliband are usually less subliminal. Back at the launch, former Europe Minister Keith Vaz was in resplendent form. “When Tony Blair rang me up to offer me Europe Minister I said "But Prime Minister I know nothing about Europe". He replied "Perfect. I'm in charge of European policy, you have to sell it to the public." And what a good job he did. Ahem.
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Tweet of the week from @BadgerMeinhof: “Some of the people commenting at The Telegraph seem to have mistaken The Gay Marriage Bill for The Compulsory Bumming of Everyone Bill.
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I know how the temperature rises on this site whenever I mention gay marriage. So here we go again. The size of the majority in favour of same sex marriage in the House of Lords was a surprise to most people. But the fact is, it could have been even bigger. Having refused to pilot the Bill through the Lords, Sayeeda Warsi couldn’t actually bring herself to vote in favour of her own government’s bill. She abstained. OK, it was a free vote, and perhaps she had found a subsequent engagement, but as the Minister for Faith and Communities you’d have expected her to be present. I find abstaining on these issues a total cop-out. Either you’re in favour or you’re agin. One or the other. There’s no middle way. I can respect people who vote against, but to abstain is to wimp out. And one thing Sayeeda Warsi isn’t, is a wimp. I find it perplexing.
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On Monday evening on my LBC show we discussed Ed Davey’s outrageous idea that newspapers and broadcasters should refrain from giving a platform to climate change sceptics. How very ‘liberal’ of him. Still, at least he didn’t use the word ‘denier’. One should be thankful for small mercies, I suppose.
I remember at 18 Doughty Street (late of this parish) back in 2007 I phoned Greenpeace to invite them to take part in a panel discussion on climate change. They refused on the basis that the argument was won and there was nothing to debate. It’s attitudes like this that make me very suspicious of this climate change industry, which is supported by people whose fanaticism borders on the religious.
The very same people who warned the world in the 1980s about the coming nuclear apocalypse are now warning about the end of the planet. In the 1980s we had politicians who were able to expose these zealots for what they were. We now have cabinet ministers who go along with them and give them money. And have the cheek to tell people on radio stations that they shouldn’t be providing platforms for climate change sceptics. If any of Davey’s staff were listening, they might have been rather worried to discover than with one exception, every caller expressed some degree of scepticism about global warming. I’d say that proves that the argument is far from won and that people like Ed Davey need to up their game. He’d probably say they were all brainwashed by a climate change sceptical media, of course.
Talking of brainwashing, here’s a text we received from Justin. Justin is a geography teacher. This is what he had to say.
“Until two years ago I used to teach both sides of the climate change debate and invite students to discuss the issue and reach their own conclusions based on the evidence available, I have now been stopped from doing this – apparently it confuses the students. I am now only allowed to teach the “climate change is real” evidence. So therefore I have moved to teaching students WHAT to think, rather than to THINK for themselves using the evidence available.”
How chilling is that? Now, I have no evidence that what Justin says is true, but it certainly has the ring of truth about it. Can anyone enlighten us? Is this really the case? Who gave the orders? I feel a little cause coming on….
And for the avoidance of doubt I don’t deny the existence of climate change or global warming. Nor do I deny that part of it is due to man-made influences. But I do deny that the debate is over about the actual extent of man’s influence. Climate change has happened since time immemorial. That, it is safe to assume, is something surely everyone can agree on.
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Word on the street is that Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ is planning a major expose of yet another Tory sex scandal. It’s like it’s the 1990s all over again. A love affair in Downing Street. A Tory MP alleged to be in a lesbian threesome, and now this. Excellent. What was that song again? Let’s party like it’s 1999?
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Reshuffle fever is beginning to mount. It’s always difficult for columnists like me writing about reshuffles. There’s that temptation to tip your mates to be promoted, followed by the hideous thought that you also have to tip people for the sack. I well remember a few years ago I tipped Theresa May for demotion for a reason I can’t now remember. Anyway, it was the night of the Spectator party, and sure enough, as soon as she walked through the door she made a beeline for me. I squirmed my way through the next few minutes as I explained it was just something I had heard from ‘sources’. ‘We must have lunch,’ she said. ‘We should be on the same side’. And with that, she was off. Well, I’m certainly not tipping her for demotion in any reshuffle this summer, she will be relieved to hear. As for other tips, I’ll titivate you with those over the coming weeks. It’s wonderful way to make lots of new friends. And enemies.
Posted on 7 Jun 2013 08:55:21 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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