Wednesday, July 18, 2007

It's Not The Winning...

I'm just off to the House Magazine/Sky News political awards dinner in Whitehall. I've never been up for an award at an event like this before, but I am shortlisted for Political Commentator of the Year. I'm up against Nick Robinson, Matthew D'Ancona and Jackie Ashley so I am not expecting to win, I can assure you. As it is all being filmed I am practising a sickly grin for when the winner is announced. In the unlikely event I win I shall of course emulate Ms Paltrow...

UPDATE: Nick Robinson won the award and made a very funny and gracious speech. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Jackie Ashley at the dinner and trying to convince her that not all blogs are bad. She loathes the commenters on CommentIsFree. I promised to send her some proper blogs to look at which might encourage her to change her mind.

49 comments:

  1. Good luck kid. Break a leg.

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  2. Good luck, and just please, if there is any justice in this world, could somebody get the video of Iain blubbing when he wins.

    (Don't forget to thank your many bloggers, without whom...etc.

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  3. Good luck Ian

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  4. Best of luck, have fun! :)

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  5. All the best, Iain. Have fun.

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  6. Reading between the lines, I just KNOW you have got a speech prepared..

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  7. Hmm.. in fact we know that Nick Robinson is no John Cole, and Jackie Ashley's opinions have been vacillating more often than the wind.. so I think it is a head-to-head with Matthew D'Anconservative..

    Worth a quid of anyone's money...perhaps you could get Theo Spark to design a suitable blog banner..

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  8. Tell us the important stuff:

    Is your suit Armani or Versace?
    Have Bulgari or Cartier lent you a watch, cufflinks and tiepin?

    Which shoes did you decide to wear?

    Will you be keeping the award in your lavatory with all the others, or giving it to your Mum?

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  9. God, Iain, you are famous!

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  10. ...and are you wearing your soup-stained Duchamp tie?

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  11. 3 Tories out of 4 - can't be bad. Just getting nominated should do wonders for your advertising revenues.
    God, Iain, you are rich and famous!

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  12. Well statistically, one of them must be right.

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  13. Enjoy yourself Iain, being a blue nose 24/7/365 is hard enough, take a break. While your out I will keep the threads going.

    You missed the following at 4:00PM today#:-

    The Conservatives are fighting a claim that a businessman did not know what he was doing when he left the party £8.3m in his will.
    London's High Court heard Branislav Kostic was "deluded and insane" when he willed his money in the 1980s

    "deluded and insane".... surley shome mishtak

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  14. Don't sob, "You like me! You really like me!" Also, no pleas for indigenous peoples - unless they're the British, of course. But bag the Native Americans and Ozzie Aboriginals. Done. to. death.

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  15. "In the unlikely event I win I shall of course emulate Ms Paltrow..."

    You mean, you'll marry second-rate singer who bores everyone to death with their naive views on fair trade and name your children after fruit and veg?

    Bit of an odd, reaction, wouldn't you say, Iain?

    Still, if it makes you happy - best of luck!

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  16. If Iain is at this awards ceremony, he won't dare to have his Blackberry switched on...

    ...this means we can say anything we like...

    hee-hee-hee!

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  17. Iain, I have only just managed to read the comments sections on some of your posts (some technical problems) and have to say:

    Your blog has one of the worst troll problems I have ever seen! It is actually worse than ConHome, and unfortunately far beneath PB.com in this sense.

    I don't know whether it's you that's the target, or just because of the content you tend to dwell on, but isn't there something you can *do* about this problem?

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  18. Iain, by your own admission, you are not a commentator, but a propagandist. If you had any honour, you would have turned down the nomination.

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  19. Anatole just doesn’t get it Iain, that is the best thing about this site, its open, not averse to criticism and most of all it invites all participants across the political spectrum to give their 2p worth. This is why its popular site. Censure it and it will become the domain of Tory only lovies. Then the site will lose all its values and become a forum for those who like to wallow in there self righteousness. Keep up the good work Iain. Criticism isn’t just from trolls, it may shock Anatole but many Tories are not too keen on Cameron’s performances lately, and surely they should have a say as well

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  20. Gutes Glueck, Iain

    Alles Beste

    G E

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  21. Seems to me Cameron's critics get an awful lot of airtime in the blogosphere!

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  22. Iain,

    Just look at the comments from political friends and foes alike.

    Love you or hate you, this is the Number One Political Blog to read and post on.

    Have you turned your Blackberry on yet?

    Test Message: "Tim Ireland is a wanker."

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  23. Jimbo

    Anatole does get it. Between 9am and 5pm dedicated Labour trolls pour negative bile on every other post on this and Guido's site.
    On Iain's recent survey of regular posters, the troll problem was by far the biggest concern.
    ConHome doesn't have Labour trolls (Chris Paul and various Anons) and neither does Politicalbetting.
    I had hoped that Iain would sort it out after the survey. I'm still hoping, because this is too good a site to be buried by saboteurs.

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  24. Who do you think are the Labour trolls?

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  25. Into my heart a wind that kills

    From yon far country blows

    What are those Blue Remembered hills

    What Farms what spires are those?


    That is the Land of Lost Content

    I see it Shinning Plain

    Those happy highways where I went

    and shall not go again



    http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/13884

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  26. Bad luck Iain, especially on being adjudged worse than even Nick Robinson.

    Still, I'm what's commonly referred to as a 'Labour Troll' but this is still my favourite blog because of the range of opinions. Don't exclude us or your blog will perish.

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  27. Nick Robinson gracious and funny? Not in my experience of the arrogant, uncouth and just plain rude man he isn't. You sure you didn't see this one through alcohol tinted spectacles Iain?

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  28. Nick Robinson is another Tory innit? Anyway, well done Iain, from one top blogger to another. I just hope they didn't make you buy a table at £200 a plate as part of the nomination arrangement?

    If so, shame on them! Well done mate.

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  29. Chris Paul - Nick Robinson was *once* a Tory but no longer. And are you seriously describing yourself as a "top blogger"? Hehehehe.

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  30. Ex-PM spoke to Murdoch before war


    Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke to media mogul Rupert Murdoch three times in the 10 days before the outbreak of the Iraq war - once on the eve of the US-led invasion - it has been disclosed.

    The telephone conversations were among six calls between the two men detailed by the Cabinet Office in response to a Freedom of Information request from Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury.

    The information was released on the day after Mr Blair handed over power to Gordon Brown last month, after a three-and-a-half year battle by the Lib Dem peer. Lord Avebury waited until now to publicise the release.

    No details were released of what subjects Mr Blair and the News Corporation chairman discussed in the calls on March 11, 13 and 19 2003, ahead of the launch of US-led military action in Iraq on March 20. Further conversations took place on January 29, April 25 and October 3 2004.

    The Cabinet Office response also listed meetings between Mr Blair and Express Newspapers publisher Richard Desmond on January 29 and September 3 2003 and February 23 2004. The release covered the PM's phone conversations and meetings with the two men between September 2002 and April 2005.

    Lord Avebury initially asked for the dates of Mr Blair's phone calls and meetings with Mr Murdoch and Mr Desmond in October 2003. When this request was rebuffed by the then leader of the Lords, Baroness Amos, he made a complaint under Freedom of Information legislation.

    In 2005, Downing Street responded that the information was exempt from disclosure because of the need for the Prime Minister to be able to undertake free and frank discussions. The Cabinet Office said that releasing the timing of the PM's contacts with individuals could be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs because it might lead to the content of their discussions being disclosed.

    Their arguments for secrecy were backed in a July 2006 ruling by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, who said that the timing of any calls need only disclosed if they were official contacts, with civil servants taking minutes.

    The peer lodged an appeal last August with the Information Tribunal. On June 28 this year, a day before evidence was due to be served on the parties to the case, the Cabinet Office made the surprise announcement that it would release the information.

    Lord Avebury said: "This is a welcome blow for the cause of freedom of information, but it shouldn't have taken so much time and effort to extract information that was so clearly of great public interest. Rupert Murdoch has exerted his influence behind the scenes on a range of policies on which he is known to have strong views, including the regulation of broadcasting and the Iraq war. The public can now scrutinise the timing of his contacts with the former Prime Minister, to see whether they can be linked to events in the outside world."

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  31. If you want to compete with Nick Robinson you will have to censor 90% of the replies to your blog, as he does. Dissent and non-PC postings are simply not published there, nor will you be permitted to post twice on any topic.

    Victor

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  32. Story emerging (www.sikhsangat.com) that someone called Mr Rai has committed suicide. If this is Dr Rai one of the candidates, do the rules allow the election to carry on.

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  33. I promise to start loathing Jackie Ashley right back as soon as I google her.

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  34. Chris Paul said:

    "well done Iain, from one top blogger to another

    hahahahahaha

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  35. From Sikh website, what does this mean ?

    Vote Tony Lit Keep The Racist Bhaman Out

    Suicide story not correct.

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  36. which might encourage her to change her mind.

    She hasn't got one and you canot change her hard-wired bigotry

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  37. If you want to compete with Nick Robinson you will have to censor 90% of the replies to your blog, as he does. Dissent and non-PC postings are simply not published there, nor will you be permitted to post twice on any topic.

    You should complain on a premium-rate phone line if the production team don't get there first !

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  38. Well, Iain, if it is any consolation, I visit your site very frequently, and never read Nick Robinson unless you refer to something specific he has written.

    I don't dislike Robinson, I just think you have the freedom to comment which his employment does not allow.

    I also like the fact that sometimes you do not engage brain before removing foot from mouth - it shows you're human!

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  39. It's Not The Winning?

    Tell that to David Cameron about Ealing Southall. Never in the field of byelection history, has so much hung on so LITtle.

    The knives are being sharpened across the media to downgrade Cameron as he decides to fight the EU Constitution.

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  40. It's hard to disagree with Jackie Ashley about "the commenters on CommentIsFree". It's a problem that afflicts most popular blogs (including yours) and, I'm afraid, that will also ruin any attempts by political parties to provide electronic communication channels for the public. They are almost certain to be dominated by nutcases (like me) with too much time on their hands or single-issue obsessives. Quite how sensible editorial control that doesn't risk becoming censorship can be applied is beyond me... I

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  41. I have a fair amount of sympathy with Jackie Ashley's views on some commenters on commentisfree, who can be extraordinarily personal. That said, her cause isn't helped when her colleague Polly Toynbee writes an equally personal and vituperative attack on Boris Johnson, thus losing the moral high ground.

    It is my impression that the comments on commentisfree have got more moderate in tone in recent months, which is a good thing. Certainly there are a lot of interesting points made there, and if the journalists descend from their Olympian heights, they might learn something.

    PS You would have made a worthy winner from that shortlist.

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  42. "I had the pleasure of sitting next to Jackie Ashley..."

    Oh, the things you have to endure ! And I speak as a fully-paid up Guardianista.. She once did a fashion feature and I felt like writing to her that fashion is geared for women who aren't wizened over fifties..

    You was robbed etc etc

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  43. i must have been in hibernation.

    who is jackie ashley?never heard of her.

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  44. Chris Paul-Nick Robinson is another Tory innit? Anyway, well done Iain, from one top blogger to another.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA...worst piece of Labour spin I've ever seen.

    Still I suppose self-delusion is what Labour is good at.

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  45. ha ha ha ha indeed! laugh out loud! don't deny it, that tickled you!!

    anyway, to a more serious business - hotheads with a pro-Lit, anti-Sharma banner in some cases - appear to think that stating that a candidate may be dead (Dr Rai) is fair game when trying to boost Cameron's Conservatives

    Exclusive screen grabs here.

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  46. Jimbo, beboper &c. The point is that the blog itself is interesting, but I can see very little of interest if I scan down the comments here unlike at PB.com or ConHome. This is not a question of diversity of opinion, just that there are lots of trolls!

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  47. As was clear from the ceremony, the winners (and the presenters) knew in advance who had won, so no need to worry about having an acceptance speech ready!

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  48. Well no, its not the winning. Is that why everybody is trying to lose the Ealing by election?

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