don't read the menu options and go directly to the page content 
Welcome to my new website

Many of us over 60 are counted out when part-time jobs come up despite our collective wisdom and abilities.

To counter some of this prejudice I have dispensed with sending my CV and have instead created The Complete Picture, an animated ninety second overview of my life to date @ https://vimeo.com/223960456.

 

 

 

Blog

You are here: Home / Blog
31
MAY
We had an Editorial Intelligence board meeting last night at Somerset House. We have a full programme over the next few months. www.editorialintelligence.com  
30
MAY
I went to hear Tom Watson MP and Chris Bryant MP talk about Leveson et al on Monday evening. The Labour Party must keep the initiative afterall it was Ed Miliband who broke the convention on Murdoch by calling for an investigation and it was Tom Watson - often isolated - who kept up the pressure.
28
MAY
Israeli companies should not get UN contracts to rebuild Gaza 28 May 2012 - For immediate release Caabu condemns the reported decision by the UN to award contracts to Israeli companies to help in rebuilding Gaza. These contracts should be cancelled with immediate effect and the UK government should make known its strong disagreement. Two Israeli companies have won UNICEF contracts to build water plants inside the Gaza Strip. Much of Gaza's infrastructure had been destroyed by
27
MAY
Lewis Hamilton 5th in Monaco but still not at his best; England thrash BaaBaas at Twickenham; Luke Donald wins the PGA Championship (again) and England's cricket team is running through the Windies with 2 days still to go (plus England won at football last night). 
25
MAY
My old college at Oxford - St. Catherine's - held a party to celebrate its fiftieth year at the Danish Embassy last night thanks to the kindness of its Ambassador HE Anne Hedensted Steffensen. You might ponder why this Embassy? Well Catz (as it is better known) was designed by Arne Jacobsen (1902-71) who also happened to have designed the Danish Embassy on Sloane Street....... I had a long chat with Lord Raymond Plant, a former Master, and we agreed to have lunch soon....
24
MAY
At Leveson today it became apparent that the plan may have been for Sky to subsume News International and for there to be one media company covering News, Entertainment and Sport providing content for television, newspapers, mobile and tablets.
23
MAY
Shelly Bancroft, artist and sculptor, completed a charcoal and pencil sketch of me yesterday after five sittings. The finished product will be up on my site shortly! Hope you like it!! 
23
MAY
I was a  guest of HRH The Queen yesterday at a garden party at Buckingham Palace. 
21
MAY
I went to see Goodbye First Love (Un amour de jeuness) at Curzon Mayfair last night along with 20 others which was a bit disappointing given its reviews. It lasts 1hr 50min‎‎ is rated 15‎‎ and is directed‎ by Mia Hansen-Løve with a main cast of Lola Créton, Olivier Yglesias and Greg Akcelrod.   It involves a puppy love story which blossoms and then is thwarted; inevitably as the film is spread over 8 years another lover arrives. Then, the
20
MAY
I went to the Third Test yesterday at Lords with my dear friend Roger Truelove. We had been given a couple of debentures which meant we also had lunch and tea. It was surprising to meet some many old friends there including Lord Tim Razzall and Bob Marshall-Andrews. The cricket was surprisingly dull as there were so few West Indians in the crowd making a noise with   their chanting and music.  But for a mad eight minutes when the Windies lost 3 wickets in the afternoon, it
20
MAY
I was a guest at the Mayor of Southwark's annual ball last night at Vinopolis. My mind was also on the Chelsea game which they seemed destine always to win.....and so it proved. Well done them. 
18
MAY
Leveson Inquiry Update 1 It seems to me there are some critical questions that need attention: Where is the Inquiry going? When will it publish its findings? What will then be the response of the political classes at Westminster? How dangerous is the publishing timetable v the next general election? Will the PM agree to placing newspapers under statutory control? Will there be a change in the ownership rules? Will non-UK citizens be allowed to own more than 10% of the...
18
MAY
I went last night to see the photos from the movie Mumbai Charlie - which is about a Charlie Chaplin sect -at the Hempel Hotel and somehow was persuaded to buy one!! Hey ho.
17
MAY
I had an hour with Nick Emery, CEO, Mindshare just off Tottenham Court Road. Neither of us could remember when we last met....but my sense was at least ten years - that's what happens when you are confined to Westminster....We talked about digital, programme making, Leveson et al.  See: www.mindshareworld.com
17
MAY
This morning I am at a BSAC Get Creative conference where the chat is almost exclusively about the Leveson Inquiry and whether Jeremy Hunt will survive as Secretary of State (no-one said he would). In the first session: Do we have the brands, virtual networks and infrastructure?  I asked Kip Meek, a panellist, whether the rise of litigation against Ofcom demanded a resolution which might be a Court of Arbitration on the lines of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in...
16
MAY
I attended a meeting of Hacked Off last night - you can check it out at www.hackinginquiry.org - we meet under Chatham House rules so all I can tell you is that it was a very productive discussion.
16
MAY
Ed Miliband's sureness of touch was heightened yesterday when he asked Jon Cruddas MP to head up his Policy Review team. This is very good news indeed.
16
MAY
The CAABU Executive met again yesterday evening. We have now had four letters in Private Eye putting right a scurrilous piece they wrote about us two editions ago. Nonetheless, we are still struggling to make ends meet and we may yet have to close if we do not find further funding.
16
MAY
I went up to talk to John Carter, captain of the Dark Blues rugby XV and Tim Stevens, who runs the admin. about our plans for an overseas tour in 2013. 
13
MAY
It is awhile since I read how much the BBC spends on News and hard-edged documentaries but it must be between £300-£400m a year. So since 2005 three years before the global banking crash until today it must have spent c£2.8 billion and yet it missed most of it and is still playing catch up. Who was tracking the JP Morgan fiasco announced last last week where they may have lost $3 billion?? No-one in the media for sure.....
13
MAY
Once again, given the resources at the BBC's disposal - three or four times what Sky News has at its disposal why didn't the BBC put more resources into the Hacking inquiry? 
13
MAY
Could the BBC tell us if they select the political representatives on Any Questions? Or on Question Time? or do they negotiate with the respective parties? Both programmes could do with new presenters, a face lift and the freedom to ask who they like onto the programmes. 
12
MAY
Here is my perfect Saturday morning - before 1030: ** being shaved by Pepi in an old fashioned barber's in Regency Street, SW1 ** having the greatest breakfast at the Regency Diner (it is to die for) ** reading the Weekend FT - simply the best newspaper in the world ** completing the crosswords and sudoku in The Guardian
12
MAY
I'm a restless reader of non fiction. Daisy, my darter, asked me last year for my New Year's wish if I would read more fiction but after two in two months I reverted to type and re-started on my never ending piles.... This past week I have read: ** The Obamas: A Mission, A Marriage by Jodi Kantor which was pretty awful. I met Obama in his Chicago HQ's when fighting off Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in April, 2008. Jack, my son, is hoping to do the same when he spends a...
9
MAY
                                                                                  8th May...
9
MAY
I caught up with Dominic Rogers yesterday. We met at an editorial intelligence dinner which I hosted.
9
MAY
I went last night to hear Dan Hind speak about the paperback edition of his book: The Return of the Public which I read in November, 2010. He took on a lively audience at Shoreditch House (a relative of Soho House) who did not find favour with his conclusions.
7
MAY
I went to see the Damien Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern yesterday. The queues were mild for a bank holiday which might be a reflection that Hirst is not at the centre stage of modern art.  I found his work self centred and disappointing. I think this may be the era of Con-Art.
7
MAY
The scenes from Paris last night were reminiscent of 1998 when they won the world cup......But hooray for Hollande who has just ousted the wretched Sarkozy.  In Greece, its results were hardly less surprising. The aged political class has been corrupt for aeons and behind the curve by decades. As for the fact that the winning party wins an additional 50 seats just for wining is nuts.  Greece has to leave the euro if it is to start over. 
6
MAY
Richmond just beat Caldy yesterday in the play off fixture between second placed Division 2N and their Division 2S counterparts The scores were level at full time but Richmond edged it 20-13 and thus won promotion to National League 1.  So both my sides which I support - Charlton Athletic and Richmond - were promoted. 
5
MAY
Why have seven ministers including the PM been given advanced copies of Rebecca Brooks' evidence to the Levesnon Inquiry which includes her emails? Could there possibly be such hot information in them that they show the closeness of the Tories to the Murdoch Empire? Book now for seats on Friday.
5
MAY
Ken Livngstone in the end - the last 2 weeks - fought a campaign which had all the right messages but it was too little too late. His self indulgence earlier hurt the Labour cause in London. The real question is how and why did the London Labour Party only have two candidates to choose from - Ken and Oona King - neither of whom had a message beyond Labour to win the race. That is what the inquest must dwell on.
5
MAY
I spent the morning of the local elections on Thursday at a local polling booth taking numbers. In Westminster, the Tories hold sway and so it proved. However, across the country including both Wales and Scotland  Labour showed they were back with a vengeance. A lot of this is to do with Ed Miliband's leadership.
5
MAY
I was a guest of the Charlton board today and sat next to Michael Grade. We won 3-2 which was a great tribute to our realtively new manager, Chris Powell. But next year we must finish mid-table and then go for promotion in 2013-14.
1
MAY
Should we be that surprised about the CMS Select Committee's findings on Hacking PLC? 1. It was widely trailed yesterday as though leaking has become the "new hacking" rather like the Budget; this soils the political process. 2. News International continued to lobby Tory members of the committee but they haven't had to put this into the public domain. Why not? 3. The Clerk of the House or one of his associates leaked a story about a single MP of the committee in the Mail On...
1
MAY
First the RFU appoints Stuart Lancaster as its coach until the next rugby world cup in 2015 and now the FA appoints Roy Hodgson until 2016 (so he will oversee one world cup in 2014). Stuart Lancaster should have been given a one year contract for 2012 which incorporated the South African tour next month and the southern hemisphere games later in the year. Roy Hodgson has had a limited experience with top flight players. Managing Sweden, Switzerland and the UAE is one thing as is...
website by Hudson Berkley Reinhart Ltd