Iain Dale is an LBC presenter, a commentator with CNN and the author/editor of over 30 books.
There are few things in politics nowadays which make me shake my head in disbelief, but it happened on Wednesday afternoon when my producer showed me a Sky News ‘Breaking News’ report alleging that Theresa May had said that a Canada Plus deal would be worse than No Deal.
No, I thought, they must have got that wrong. No-one in their right mind would say that, I said. I know they say of Sky News that they’re ‘never wrong for long’ (grossly unfairly IMHO), but it turns out they got it spot on.
What on earth was she thinking? She’s now boxed herself into a corner which will be very difficult to escape from. She has also needlessly antagonised those who are promoting a Canada Plus-type arrangement.
Why would you do that when your position is already precarious enough? It’s a question I struggle to find the answer to.
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I made a very big mistake on Tuesday night. I tweeted that the following morning I would be interviewing Ruth Davidson about her new book Yes She Can for an hour, and would anyone like to suggest questions I might ask her?
Wisdom of crowds and all that… I really ought to have known better. It didn’t take long or the Cybernats to swarm by and spew their bile out. They really must be rather frightened of Davidson, given how aggressive they were.
I was ordered to ask her questions about so-called ‘Dark Money’ and some Conservative councillor who had been accused of sexual misconduct…and God knows what else they were worrying their tiny heads about. Virtually everything was very parochial to Scotland, and would have been of little interest to most of my UK-wide audience
So I ignored their kind advice. Many of them were also sexist, gratuitously insulting and clearly sitting in their bedrooms indulging in onanistic activity. Still, at least it reminded me why Cybernat rhymes with Twat.
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A couple of mentions of events tgar I’m chairing at the conference. If you’re a party member, come to the main conference hall at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon when I’ll be chairing a Challenge the Chairman session. I’ll interview Brandon Lewis for20 to 25 minutes, then for the rest of the hour it’ll be your chance (assuming you’re a party member) to ask him any question you like.
And then on Monday at 4.15 I’ll be compering an In Conversation with Dominic Raab. That’s taking place in the IEA Think Tent. And if you see me mooching around the conference, don’t be scared to come and say hello. I don’t bite. Unless you’re a Remainer. Joke.
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Text from a friend on Wednesday evening: “I’m on a train from Liverpool. Seumas Milne just slid into the carriage & he has to be the most entitled wassock I’ve encountered for a while.” That’s what a posh education buys you.
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I’m making the final edits to my annual list of the Top 100 People on the Right. Except this year I’m changing it a little. I’m renaming it the Top 100 People on the Conservative Right. I’m also allowing Conservative-minded commentators to be included.
So I am most certainly not including anyone on the so-called Alt-Right. And UKIP has now become a quasi-Islamophobic sect – so their few representatives are out too.
Cue howls of abuse in the comment. And if you think Tommy Robinson should ever be included in a list like this, can I suggest that you’re on the wrong site?
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Talking of UKIP, I see William Dartmouth, one of their MEPs, has resigned for the party, citing Gerard Batten’s apparent determination to change the party from a Brexit-promoting organisation into one whose primary mission is to counter Islam.
I’m told he’s not the only senior party member to have quit in recent times. I know various others who are considering doing the same. One can but hope that Nigel Farage will be one of them. I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.