London Calling

Heads Held High

24
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Disappointing results on the pitch Sunday night as England fell to Italy on penalty kicks. Among the faithful in attendance was one Toby Young who was hangin’ with the WAGS. We get a firsthand report from Wembley.

And then we, uh… tackle the “Rainbow Dildo Butt Monkey” at the Redbridge Library. (Well, those are words we never expected to type…) and the PM says we’re definitely on our way out of lockdown on the 19th. Toby wonders if, when it comes to the vaccine, does James have his price?

Preview Open
London Calling

Centre Court

25
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Another week and another “freedom date,” this time it’s July 19th, and by this time next week it might as well be the 12th of Never.

England is going gaga over the success of Team England in the Euros (the Semi-final vs Denmark is Wednesday July 7) but our intrepid duo can’t seem to get as excited as everyone else, although Toby is following the progress of Emma Raducanu, the rising star of British tennis at Wimbledon.

Preview Open
London Calling

To Catch a Thief

44
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

We start off the week with pure thievery – Toby goes to Central London and gets his phone pinched, which meant that he missed Saturday’s march. Not that it really mattered since James had such a good time he doesn’t remember too much of it himself.

Then it’s off to the news of the week dominated, of course, by the resignation of Matt Hancock as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Hancock was caught snogging an aide inside the Ministry, was forgiven by the PM and then quit anyway. Was the whole thing a pantomime or a car crash?

Preview Open
London Calling

Two Men and a Vespa

23
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Monday June 21st was supposed to be “Freedom Day” in the UK as the Covid-19 restrictions were to finally go away. Yeah, right.

James and Toby reflect on the PM’s delay and look forward to a weekend of conflicting protests next Saturday as lockdown sceptics, BLM and Extinction Rebellion all plan to take to London’s streets.

Preview Open
London Calling

Know What the “B” Stands For

11
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

The PM has announced that Covid restrictions will not end on June 21 as planned and may continue for up to four more weeks. “At a certain stage, we are going to have to learn to live with the virus and to manage it as best we can,” the prime minister said.

James, of course, doesn’t think restrictions will ever end.

Preview Open
London Calling

Match of the Day

23
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is goin’ on around here?!? After the obligatory acknowledgement of the latest royal progeny, our intrepid duo have a take at the three biggest stories in sport this past week. First up is Ollie Robinson, a bowler (for you Yanks, that’s the “pitcher” for a cricket team) whose debut for England on the international scene was overshadowed by the resurfacing of some social media postings made almost a decade ago when he was a teenager.

They also offer their take on the booing football fans are giving the players for their continued “taking a knee against racism” and the story of Henry Slade, a Rugby Union player who’s become the first high-profile athlete to refuse to take one of the Covid-19 vaccinations. (Slade is a Type 1 diabetic.)

Preview Open
London Calling

Release Us From This Servitude

34
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Fresh from their smash reunion tour this weekend, James and Toby recap the weekend’s anti-lockdown march that wound from Parliament Square to Toby’s doorstep.

We then parse the testimony of the PM’s former “top man,” Dominic Cummings, before the House’s Health and Science select committees last week and who came out of it better. Do you want a Prime Minister or a Monarch (and by “monarch” we’re not talking about the one we’ve already got.)

Preview Open
London Calling

Royalty on the Couch

14
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

This week, in an interview with Dax Shepard, Prince Harry created a stir in his new neighborhood by labeling America’s First Amendment as “bonkers.” It was but a small comment in a larger discussion of a Royal in therapy and James and Toby tackle both head on.

Other topics deftly addressed in this episode include Laura Dodsworth’s new book  A State of Fear: How the UK Government Weaponised Fear During the Covid-19 Pandemic (an excerpt of which can be read at Lockdown Sceptics),  Heather Mac Donald’s piece on colourblind casting at Juilliard, and how former NY Times science writer Nicholas Wade has brought the Wuhan Lab leak theory into the mainstream.

Preview Open
London Calling

Party at the Young House!

43
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Due to the graciousness of Her Majesty’s Government, we’re starting this week with a party at the Young house! (No, not in the Young house, just at the Young house.)

We talk about the BBC’s decision not to cover last Saturday’s anti-lockdown protest – in spite of roughly 100,000 people attending –  the forthcoming march on May 29th, whether the “Indian Variant” will stop the PM from lifting all restrictions on June 21st as planned, and why are so many media types promoting the vaccine?

Preview Open
London Calling

Build Back Better

84
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

The results of the elections are in: The Tories increase their Parliamentary majority with a by-election win in Hartlepool, the SNP came up short of a majority in Scotland and Lozza lost both his race and his deposit. James and Toby have plenty of analysis.

We then turn to Auntie Beeb’s “hug” expert, they debate who will be more sorry in five years time, and just what exactly does “Build Back Better” really mean?

Preview Open
London Calling

Global Citizens

12
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

After butchering the American holiday calendar, our intrepid duo takes on the Government’s Covid calendar. Such is the nervousness of the general population, the Delingpole family went to lunch and behaved so normally they got banned from the restaurant for life.

James and Toby then take on why the media has become lapdogs for Number 10 on Covid policy. How is it that a Tory government is getting absolutely no push back? Maybe a £320M media buy will grease the skids?

Preview Open
London Calling

A Pair of National Treasures

17
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

We start with Saturday’s anti-lockdown protest in London and the under-reporting of it by the BBC. When press does report on such events you can count on them to be generally characterized as being  populated by Covid deniers, conspiracy theorists and far right extremists. (James Delingpole with the hat trick!)

Then we move on to the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) and its stance on BLM and Susan Michie – a member of the both SAGE and the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Preview Open
London Calling

Happy Trails and Unhappy Stadiums

22
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

James hit the campaign trail with Laurence Fox this past weekend (Mmmmmm, donuts…) and now we gather to talk a little treason and try to avoid getting arrested. Toby, meanwhile attended an FA semifinal match and, between the masks and the stadium Nazis, had an absolutely miserable time.

Our hero of the week is Rod Humphris, landlord of The Raven in Bath who threw Labour Leader Keir Starmer out his establishment.

Preview Open
London Calling

James vs the Volcano

54
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

Today was the day to begin day drinking in the UK (at least in public.) Pubs and retail stores may resume operations but with restrictions, of course.

We would be remiss not to address the loss of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. We take note of this interview he gave to Afternoon Plus in 1984.

Preview Open
London Calling

Classical Gas

13
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

The Easter holiday comes to an end and with it the deprivations of Lent. When will the deprivations of lockdowns go with it?

James is convinced his generation is waving the white flag of surrender for traditional liberal Western values while Toby blames their corruption on the power we’ve handed them. (To understand the forces at play here he recommends Power Broker from the Lockdown Sceptics’ Library.)

Preview Open
London Calling

Happy Monday!

12
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

We start the week by doing the weekly shopping with James and Toby – without masks, of course.

According to the government today is “Happy Monday,” with a limited return to outdoor sport and tea in the garden with the neighbors. But that’s always “the variants” lurking around the corner… lurking like a balloon animal stuffed with walnuts coming after your puppy. (That story has a better ending than Freddie the Hammersmith seal.)

Preview Open
London Calling

We Few, We Happy Few

85
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

James attended this past weekend’s anti-lockdown protests in London with Reclaim mayoral candidate Laurence Fox and managed not to get arrested. But how many people were in attendance is certainly up for debate, and debate is what James and Toby do.

Who is the biggest impediment to getting the adult population of Europe vaccinated? Is it people like our intrepid duo or is it really “leaders” like France’s President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron?

Preview Open
London Calling

A Long Walk Off a Short Piers

44
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

We took a ride on the Technical Struggle Bus this week. Someone was throwing some electrical interference James’ way (we think MI-5 has finally caught up to him) and Toby was coming in a little bit hot… Apologies in advance.

But content-wise we have plenty of good stuff in here. After a small bit of self-congratulations (We’re Number Three! We’re Number Three!) we tackle the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout across Continental Europe, the defenestration of Piers Morgan following his criticisms of Meghan Markle, and the cancellation of the banjo player from Mumford and Sons for liking Andy Ngo’s book.

Preview Open
London Calling

Royal Victims

209
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

What did you expect one day after CBS flooded our screens with Meghan and Harry and Oprah? Toby and James review the allegations, the whining and the greater themes of royal victimhood and racism.

Then they’re on to Laurence Fox’s entrance and Nigel Farage’s exit from electoral politics. (You can catch Fox on the Ricochet Podcast here or the video here.) And then we have a Covid update that casts a wide net from Glasgow to Boise.

Preview Open
London Calling

Uriah Heep Sycophants

52
Hosted by James Delingpole & Toby Young

This week James and Toby are naming names. James Corden, Graham Norton, Natascha McElhone, Peter Hitchens and, of course, Harry & Meghan. Could a couples therapy be in the offing between our hosts and Oprah?

We continue weaving our way through the Bernard Cornwell oeuvre, talk a little French television (including Marseille with Gérard Depardieu) and Toby flips his wig – literally.

Preview Open