I first appeared at the Fowey Festival at least 20 years ago. My role was to interview Ann Widdecombe about one of her novels. I fell in love with the place and went back to Fowey a couple of times afterwards.
Over the last 43 years I’ve taken part in local elections first delivering leaflets, then as a canvasser, then a candidate, an election agent and latterly as a commentator and broadcaster. They never fail to surprise and entertain, and…
A listener sent me this little polemic, which he had found on Twitter and then edited. It makes some interesting points, whatever stance you take on the conflict.
I don’t know about you, but I am fed up with book reviewers who lazily review the author of the book rather than the book itself. Many of them have clearly read barely a page of the book they’re supposed to be writing about, and instead…
I'm delighted to announce that today I'm joining the Lending Standards Board as a non-executive director, alongside Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and charity leader Caron Bradshaw. The LSB is the self regulatory body…
This will be the fourth year I have hosted IAIN DALE ALL TALK at the Edinburgh Fringe and I'm delighted to be back! There are so far 13 shows booked, all at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre running from 3-11 August. A few more…
I can honestly say that last weekend in Dublin was the most enjoyable I have had in many a month. Just about everything went right, and I didn’t even have any travel disasters. On my taxi journey from the airport to the hotel the driver…
Pre-election budgets are normally quite exciting both in their content and in their delivery. But to be exciting a budget needs a few surprises and at least one rabbit. It needs a bit of theatricality in the delivery. This budget had none…
On a personal level I’ve always found George Galloway to be engaging company. We’ve had our run ins, but always parted as, well, maybe not friends, but… I remember one particularly feisty encounter on his Mother of all Talk Shows programme…
Within the next 24 hours it is entirely possible that the House of Commons could be without a Speaker. I’m not predicting it will happen, but it’s not impossible to imagine Sir Lindsay Hoyle standing up at 2.30pm to announce that he feels…
It was just before 5pm. I was interviewing Lord Bilimoria for my ALL TALK podcast when I caught sight of a news alert on my phone. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Steve Wright had died. My brain went in several different directions.…
I’m sitting here on my sitting room sofa, a dog either side of me, watching West Ham take an absolute tonking at home to Arsenal. As I write the score is 0-6. What an utter embarrassment. Sunak out! Sorry, I mean Moyes out! Or do I?…
Political parties are like tribes. They defend their own. And in times of stress they circle the wagons and whatever the facts are, whatever the pressures, whatever someone has done wrong, they find excuses and explanations. I was once a…
My generation has been lucky. We’ve never had to fight a war, unlike those of my father’s and grandfather’s generation. Indeed, my Great Uncle, Clifford Norden, was killed only ten days before the end of World War I.
Some of you may have heard of the Loan Charge. Most of you probably haven’t. Mark my words, it is a scandal which eclipses the Post Office scandal, of which it is very redolent. It has, however, affected far more people, most of whom are…
I first went to Dublin in the mid 1990s when I had the pleasure of being one of the first people to see Riverdance performed live, at the Eurovision Song Contest. I’ve been back several times since and have grown to love the city.
Before we get onto my predictions for 2024, let's see how I fared when I made my 2023 predictions this time last year. The answer is not well. A pathetic 2.10! Worst ever.
Because of eyesight issues which affected me earlier in the year I have probably read fewer books this year than any other year in my life, But here are ten I have really enjoyed and would recommend to you.
This is a list of 250 Tweeters I have most enjoyed during 2023. This is the tenth year I have compiled this list. I follow about 4545 people on Twitter, 145 more than this time last year.
I first saw Cliff Richard in concert when I was 16. It was in 1978, I think, in London. It was the first pop concert I had ever been to. His 75 Greatest Hits album had become a number 1 bestseller and his Green Light LP had been released.…
It was in early March. I was in bed in my Washington DC hotel flicking through emails on my phone. One email stood out. It was from Cliff Richard's office.
Whenever a terror attack occurs, as a broadcaster, I try to report facts and avoid hyperbole. Had I been on air last Saturday morning, I would have done just that. But when I finally got on air, on Monday evening, we knew the facts. We…
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the start of commercial radio in the UK. LBC and Capital Radio were the first two stations on air, and fifty years on both stations are at the top of their game. LBC has undergone various changes in…
This post provides links to the audio podcasts from Iain's 18 All Talk and For the Many events at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. There are also five episodes of the For the Many Live shows on the For the Many podcast feed,
Conservative mayoral selection contests have rarely run smoothly, but this year really takes the biscuit. It’s been an embarrassment from start to finish. For a year now the Tories have been searching vainly for a high profile candidate…