political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Sorry, Newsnight
I now feel like an absolute heel. I just had to turn down going on Newsnight against John Prescott tonight. Why? Because I was already committed to doing the Sky News paper review at 11.30. To me, sticking to what I had promised was the honourable thing to do. The last thing I ever want to get is a reputation for ditching one programme for another, just because that programme is better known and has a higher rating. Suffice to say, the Newsnight producer was less than impressed. Just goes to show, you can't please all of the people all of the time. So instead of doing battle with John Prescott, I shall be on Sky with Labour peer Baroness Billingham. I may keep telling myself I have done the right and proper thing, but I reckon an invitation from Newsnight won't be winging its my way for some time.
I'm very glad you're not going on Newsnight and I hope no other Conservative will appear. Prescott has been telling lies all day and Newsnight will be taking him very seriously and pretending Inspector Yates hasn't spoken.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Short notice. Why should you be expected to drop everything to respnd to Prezza? Perhaps they are trying to head off further criticism of the Politics Pen. I think we should be told.
ReplyDeleteWhat's that silly Tory word that you're so fond of using all the time...frit? yes, frit frit frit frit...now I know what it means!
ReplyDelete:)
That's a shame. I'd like to have seen you debating with Prescott. It shall be interesting to see who your replacement will be.
ReplyDeleteI invariably flick between Newsnight and Question Time on Thursday evenings, depending on how interesting the topic is.
Tim
One's word is what matters.
ReplyDeleteThere's a rumor Nick Griffin is going to be on tonight.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed you won't be going up against Prescott on Newsnight but more fool them if they think the worse of you for your sense of duty.
ReplyDeleteYour post sums up a major problem in British Politics; a 23 year old left wing TV producer phones up any politician and is suddenly treated like god; for the left wing broadcast media is the only route to political stardom.
ReplyDeleteHave you wondered why they wanted you and not a Conservative MP? Probably "no one was available".
ReplyDeleteAs Scotland Yard have now said that they have no evidence that Fatboy's phone was 'hacked' (why didnt he change the pin if he didnt as he was having an affair in office hours?), why are the BBC still running with this story and Prescott?
ReplyDeleteNewsnight isn't better known or higher rating than Sky news, anyway
ReplyDeleteYou are better off on Sky than that Labour spin programme, Iain. Your image will be less tarnished than if you visited the Brown Bullpat Contrives.
ReplyDeleteCanvas, read it and weep: MPS Statement – Alleged unlawful tapping of mobile phones.
ReplyDeletePrescott would only loud-mouth over you. He's no respecter of decent manners, so you've had a luck escape.
ReplyDeleteBaroness Billingham is less than impressive also. You have my sympathy but full marks for sticking to your agreed appearance on Sky. We need a bit of integrity in politics.
"I'd like to have seen you debating with Prescott"
ReplyDeleteImpossible. Prescott neither speaks nor understands English.
then again skys more regular , so you get beer money more often .
ReplyDeletego with the flow
@desperate dan
ReplyDeleteI actually think the statment yates gave was rather interesting and the words used were carefully chosen.
C4 has posed some interesting questions that yates has still not replied to and the guardian as of now stands by its story.
who has newsnight replaced you with iain ?
if the story is to go forward the guardian needs a good front page tomorrow.
Maybe iain knows something we don't ?
I can recall either bbc or sky shunting you off the paper review so it does happen and i doubt they would have minded.
Yes, been following this all day, and it's been turned into a complete political witch hunt by the Labour Party wanting to try and discredit the Tories. Leopards can never change their spots. Once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker....
ReplyDeleteHang on. Newsnight, the programme you accused of being a Labour mouthpiece only a few posts ago, asked you on the show? And you turned them down?
ReplyDeleteHave you got tomorrow's 'Newsnight wheels out [insert Labour sympathiser here] AND John Prescott!' shock horror piece pre-written?
Quite the right thing to do Iain. Breaking promises and trust for the sake of five minutes media exposure is the Labour way, not ours.
ReplyDeletegood move Iain, Prescott would have crushed your bollocks..lol
ReplyDeleteAppearing on the socialist mouth-piece and with the fat t*at with two arses is not something you should be aspiring to.
ReplyDeleteWhen they've been cleansed; hopefully before this decade is out; then maybe it would be a suitable venue for an honourable person to attend.
"@canvas
ReplyDeleteFrit isn't a tory word, it's a pikey word."
Why does Iain use it all the time?!! wow.
:)
Pull yourself together man. Its the right decision.
ReplyDeleteIain, Poor you! having to suffer Baroness Bilious possibly the most vacuous disingenuous Labour cretin Sky use.
ReplyDeleteYou'd have been better off tearing up Deputy Dunce on Newsnight.
Goodness, life is tough eh Iain? OMG Turning down Newsnight for Sky. I wish I didn't have to deal with such nasty dilemmas. You're a hero.
ReplyDeleteWhy should you feel anguished or the Newsnight producer cross?
ReplyDeleteIt's straightforward - you had arranged to do something and you kept to it. Anyone with any integrity doesn't drop an arrangement just because something sexier came along. Why you feel the need to apologise is beyond me.
@brittom
ReplyDeleteJelousy is not a virtue dear.
Baroness Billingham eh ? Lucky old you.
ReplyDeleteClueless party hack nonentity.
Why oh why do Sky keep inviting the old wretch, and why does everyone feel that they have to be 'nice' to the creature ?
Iain, your diabetes would have gone wonky just being near that many metabolized pies. You're well out of it.
ReplyDeleteWow! Double whammy Iain. Whilst you are pontificating on the 11:30 Sky slot, the rest of the world will be watching "This Week" over on BBC1. And who do you have for company? The Bolshy Baroness...
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're on sky news. I find the paper review very dull when you're not doing it.
ReplyDeleteAny update on Gio?
"Frit isn't a tory word, it's a pikey word"
ReplyDeleteIt was used by a cartain M Thatcher, it's a Lincolnshire dialect word I think.
As for debating with Prescott, that will not call for much intellectual capacity..... you free to do it canvas ?
Now why would prescott be invited tonight by the beeb and why would he agree to to attend?
ReplyDeleteThe other week the beeb asked 22 labour establishment figures to go on the show, not one would, some lord went instead.
Will john be talking about the low paid workers who will be now paying 20p tax instead of 10p? Having chosen the other night not to bother with them.
Will he be talking about the astonishing figures only picked up by the daily mail that over 1 million people have been on unemployment benefits permanently since 1997? This didnt even get a mention on our public service broadcasters news programmes. Why would that be? Were they busy with another non story?
As we all know from the past ,john never missed a trick to get on the telly did he, when ever it suited him. But it went very quiet when tracy was discovered.
Johns' only concern now is that his phones may have been tapped. Well doesn't he know that his government is doing that every day to thousands of people. Typical liebour, only ever concerned about themselves but never about real people like the low paid and the unemployed.
Canvas, 'frit' is a Tory word, though adopted from Lincolnshire/Norfolk dialect. Its use by anyone outside this region marks that person as a Tory. Iain overuses it in tribute to Mrs T, who first borrowed it for political use.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, 'pikey' is a word used by pathetic racist snobs. Do not believe this sad eejit with a ridiculous handle.
Will Newsnight be using subtitles when John "Bulimic" Prescott (no laughing at the back please) speaks?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find it easier to understand an Afghan Taliban fighter on heroin than him.....
"As for debating with Prescott, ..... you free to do it canvas ?"
ReplyDeleteWhat's to debate? a storm in a teacup.
Is Baroness Billingham the lady who is well rounded, wears pink, was an MEP and is very, very smug? I'd love to listen to you, Iain, but only if you promise to rattle her cage.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure she's the one who when asked, thought her expenses of £27,000 were perfectly justified because "they were within the rules" and the £6 tax for broadband to be added to telephone landlines was a great idea.
you bottled it Iain - if this was a labour spinner in the mire you would have ditched sky, and youd be tarting yourself on every show you could find. you are fast losing credibility. shame really, but your partisanship is just rubbih
ReplyDeleteNewsnight used to be really good, but of that it has become no better than the rest of the BBC.
ReplyDeleteNow that the digital channels have changed round again i either watch SKY News or CNN Europe or for the sheer heck of it russia today, rather that what used to be news 24- the only thing that gets me is i have to pay for the leftie BBC propoganda -what will they accused the tories of next ? The ten plagues of Egypt ? .
Here is an explanation of the handle 'killemallletgodsortemout'. He might argue that use of the name is well intended, as bitterly ironic. As far as I'm concerned, it is about as morally valid as posting under the name of (shall we say) 'Dr Mengele'. Anyway, it doesn't inspire trust or belief.
ReplyDeleteSee if you can find a print version of this story, Iain Gordn Brown slaughters his goats, knife crimes up SIXTY PERCENT under Brown's watch, and he dooms Welsh workers.
ReplyDeleteCanvas, why are you attacking the use of dialect words, like Frit?
ReplyDeleteIt is not a 'silly Tory word,' it is a dialect word. It means scared.
I am rather surprised that you did not know this. Oh. You did, but you merely pretended to be daft? For comedic effect?
Ha ha. You really ARE funny, aren't you?
You've done the right thing. You'll never make it as a journalist or a politician. That's what makes you special.
ReplyDeleteI once turned down the gorgeous Angela Rippon to speak to the appalling Sue McGregor. The loathing has haunted me ever since. As has the loss of the lovely Angela Rippon.
Their loss kiddo.
All of a sudden tory trolls are dying to talk about policy.
ReplyDeleteWhat could have caused this miraculous transformation?
Dont worry dear your day will come - soon you will got to the ball!
ReplyDeleteWhile respecting your decency towards Sky, the media are quite happy to drop people at last minute when it suits them. Appearing on Newsnight would have served a greater good.
ReplyDeleteYou would have put on a good show and made Prescott look like the oaf that he is.
Sky News paper review may not be better known, but the question of whether it should have a higher rating is interesting. Newsnight is a typical Biased Broadcasting Crap product than only very occasionally lives up to its rating.
ReplyDeleteIn the long term you made the better decision - hopefully the BBC is history after the election.
Your decision was honourable, Sir.
ReplyDeletePity you're not on Iain. Gavin Essler (leftie) has got four lefties on to have a go at News International and Andy Coulson.
ReplyDeleteShades of their political panel earlier this week.
Ouch, you got replaced by Max Clifford.
ReplyDeletePeter Mc said:
ReplyDeleteIain, your diabetes would have gone wonky just being near that many metabolized pies. You're well out of it.
July 09, 2009 9:40 PM
That could refer to Prescott or Billingham.
BBC news buys information from people who listen in to phone calls and police radios. Most of the current BBC executives could be sacked for allowing/encouraging it to happen.
ReplyDeleteMy sympathy for having to appear with Baroness B - comes over all sweetness and light then sticks the knife in with a Liebour soundbite.
ReplyDeleteIain Dale said: "To me, sticking to what I had promised was the honourable thing to do."
ReplyDeleteLOL, you mean the money wasn't right!
Iain, you were missed.
ReplyDeleteVery, very biased group - Prescott, Clifford, the Guardian hack and Brian Paddon - ALL THE BUGGGERS PUSHING AN ANTI TORY LINE AS WAS THE NEWSNIGHT GAVIN ESLER.
Then Crick came on to give us more bias.
were you warned off newsnight by tory hq iain ?
ReplyDeleteyou were wise to turn it down my friend.
we still don't know your view on this story lets hope you give us your pearls of wisdom soon.
Newsnight was very interesting and this story has legs
this sealed evidence is the smoking gun its currently locked away in a vault worth about a million according to NOTW.
this is crucial to finding the truth
lets hope some money hungry celeb does the nation a favour and sues.
No need to apologise at all, Iain, you merely kept to your prior commitment.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, "debate with Prescott"? How, pray, does one debate with one whose grasp of language, enunciation and grammar is envied only by amoebae?
"well, baa ecky-thump like laddie, Laybah is committed in and of to da wuking class now, and if and of not but public services may and be run, but and better funded eeeeh bah thumpety-thump-ump Laybah oh yes!" I mean, how do you debate with that??
Have to agree on Baroness Billingham - hard to argue with as she looks like everyone's Granny - but does the [smear &] spin doctor's work neither the less.
ReplyDeleteThis is starting to look like concerted Labour dirty tricks. Team Cameron should look for them to make a mistake and then turn this one around on them.
If it has been on a Labour media grid then the evidence will be out there somewhere journalists - just don't try and see if Gordon's bothered to reset his default pass code on his mobile, before destroying it again, to find out.
I have just seen your contribution against Bossy Bellingham and Bossy Botting, both pinky lefties. Bad luck. You didn't stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteNext time, go on Newsnight, or take up knitting.
You did the right thing,chum.
ReplyDeletemore important to stick with your agreement than go running some bigot of a BBC producer .
That fat jabba Prescott is history anyway.
Iain you kept your word which is important. Plus Prescott would have lost his temper and then punched you like he did to that guy who egged him!!! So you had a lucky escape.
ReplyDeleteAny consulation i watched Rambo II and flicked between the naked office!
ReplyDeleteRamboo II was good! The Naked Office disapointing! If it is any consulation Ramboo II was my preferred chioce and my initial one and i just wished i watched it uninterepted!
In other words your appearance on sky should satisfy you as the appearance on Pravda may not have been as enjoyable! Is any appearance on Pravda nice!!!!
Opps - i think i have given my new project away!
Newsnight is a pathetic shadow of its former self and Toady is even worse. Crick is so lecherous, you can just sense his hideous past.
ReplyDeleteHorrid and unprofessional journalism, the BBC is now the gutter press.
I posted this commnet on robinonsons blog, the one we all for for, can someone tell em how I have offended the houserules?
ReplyDeleteGenuine outrage? I don't think so. The outrage is from you Nick, the BBC and Guardian oh and ofcourse liebour.We haven't seen prescott for a while, then he appears on QT.Wonder why he was invited and why he decided to appear? Now why would that be? The other night in parliament, liebour couldnt even bring themsleves to be bothered about the genuinely low paid workers and ensured that 1.3 million of them paid 20p tax so that every one else could enjoy that too. Previously they only paid 10p. Can you ask prescott where he was when this was being debated? You never even bothered, despite being our public service broadcaster, to report that over 1 million people since 1997 have been permanently on unemployment benefits and that 1.7 million have been for over 7 years.Outrage when it suits them and when they are involved. But can't be bothered to fight for the genuine low paid workers and the unemployed.
Genuine outrage nick, don't make me laugh, you should all be thoroughly ashamed of your fabrications and hype of this non story. No doubt just like the 10p fiasco you thought you could get one over on the tories.
Nothing has changed at westminster or with those reporters and media who seek to help get this awful exscuse of a government re-elected.
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I was watching the kids on Question Time - more sense there.
ReplyDeleteAfter that I caught the tail end of La Billingham who would cheerfully apply a gloss to a Brown turd with her bare hands.
Your knowledge of cricket is shocking!
James said...
ReplyDelete"I have just seen your contribution against Bossy Bellingham and Bossy Botting, both pinky lefties. "
Missed it last night, but recently you have to wonder who is doing the review, the reviewer or the presenter, like Bossy Botting, along with any staff that happens to be sitting on the couch at the time. Its got very tedious and less watchable imho.
He he - Bossy Botting - I like that:-)
School dinner lady to be sacked for whistleblowing over bullying, Tories to hold open primaries, Brown is Gordon Brown, again
ReplyDeleteBy the way. you did the right thing, Iain. But then, that's what you do, isn't it? It's to do with our upbringing, I think.
i thought you were excellent against that very strange billingham.
ReplyDeletenext time you are up against her find out what went wrong in her life and why she is so chippy.
as for newsnight,sinking ship mate.
i think prescott has made up the hacking allegations.how do you know? excellent spin,but dying story,now old bill has put the cosh on it.
Why don't you ask Angela about her time as a PE teacher at Banbury School when she allegedly used to leave the kids on the sports field to cook her family's evening meal.
ReplyDelete[Source - one her past pupils]
Is Yates actually a Tory? Or just an idiot taking instructions from Tories? As Brian Paddick pointed out Yates' announcement was specific to the determined case which ended with a scribbler and a hacker going to prison. It was not a pardon for the other 304 journos identified as conspirers with hackers, blaggers and bin divers by the Information Commissioner. That evidence was sequestered but how long will that last?
ReplyDeleteIf there is no criminal action then literally hundreds of celebs may choose to take civil actions and sub poena those papers. They should be out on a moderatelt short timetable. Coulson will have to go if there are ANY other cases involving NOTW journalists and payments to "consultants".
Just a thought ... how are the BBC now getting critted by your sock muppets for extending an invitation that you were unable to accept? Presumably some Tory apologist or other did find themselves available? I didn't see the programme. How does this make anyone "frit" canvas?
And could it be that your friend the editor is too kind to reveal that his politics pen line up was not his first choice but that some Tory or other was too busy sucking up to Murdoch's Sky TV?
Hey Iain, just looking at the add associated with this blog item.
ReplyDeleteDo you really want to be associated with a bank that charges a typical 1355% APR on a 30 day loan?
Forget Newsnight,if I knew someone who was that arrogant they thought they could tell me to drop all other plans at last minute i would tell them to sod off .
ReplyDeleteTo be honest the SKY paper review was far more entertaining than Newsnight, especially the more light hearted bits about you verses strawberry picking/jogging.
Ah well - John Redwood has, a couple of times mentioned, how the BBC had invited him to appear & after he had cleared the decks rang back to say they had changed their minds. After such disgraceful behaviour thay have no right to complain about your inconvenient but graceful behaviour.
ReplyDelete