Category: “Politics”

It’s hard to see why Bernie Ecclestone chose to give an interview to The Times, which appears today under the headlines ‘Hitler? He got things done, says Ecclestone’ as a news story on Page 3, and, on pages 34 and 35, ‘Despots are underrated, says the supreme leader of Formula One.’ My hunch is that [...]

I try hard to avoid being a grumpy old man on here, but every now and then … This story starts in mid May, when in the post was a card from ‘Parcel Express UK’ advising me they had tried to deliver a package, and there was a redelivery charge of £2.20. Cue AC fulmination [...]

You won’t have found too many words of praise for journalists on here, so stand by for a rare event. I refer to a journalist I have never met, named Sally Gainsbury, who works for a magazine I don’t recall ever reading, named the Health Service Journal. A Facebook friend sent me her latest article, [...]

Just missed the train from Preston by a few minutes, so time to knock out a quick blog. Not seen a paper or the news for two or three days, and worried the internet connection won’t last, so not risking dipping in and out of news sites to find out what if any ‘news’ I’ve [...]

What with meetings, family stuff, a funeral and then a train journey north, I missed all the political excitement yesterday. I saw a couple of headlines suggesting Peter Mandelson was suggesting the economy is on the mend, then a couple more in which Dave was having a pop at GB, but beyond that, it sort [...]

Funny old world … I was just arriving at Wimbledon, trying to find a telly that would be showing the Lions match, saying to my son that when we came here last year we were with Alan Milburn … when in pings a text from Alan saying he has told his local party he won’t [...]

Two nice surprises yesterday, three if you include the speed with which The Spectator backed down and apologised, as per yesterday’s blog. First, speaking at a conference I fully expected to be a bit of a drag, but really enjoying it. Second, bumping into someone on the train back – most of you will know (of) [...]

I have never been a fan of the libel laws, and contrary to the claims of some in the media, I rarely bother to complain about things written about me. Life is too short and in any event if people in our street believed the bile and the bilge in papers like the Mail, I [...]

Given I left Downing Street in 2003, it’s rare these days I get mentioned in Parliament. Then … it’s like waiting for a bus. Two mentions one after the other, first in Prime Minister’s Questions, then in the main debate of the day. First mention came from a Tory MP, Mark Harper, and was surprising [...]

No doubt what the Westminster bubble, politicians and media alike, saw as the main political event yesterday, with hour after hour of live coverage on the election for the new Speaker, and reams about John Bercow in the papers today. Well done to him, and good luck. Move fast, I say. But if his (nominally so) Party [...]