By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

First I had the extreme experience of sharing a sofa on the BBC’s Daily Politics show with Jon Gaunt, that patriot, who would, if he could, restore the Newgate gallows and string up all literate (yes I mean literate not literary) Metropolitan ‘bloody latté drinkers’, enemies of the nation in his very small book. He claimed to be the voice of ordinary people. Who elected you? I asked, to be washed away by the waterfall of words that ceaselessly tumble out of his scornful mouth. On Wednesday I met more of the species- two from the US and our very own Nick Ferrari, who is marginally more civilized than the chap above. At least he listens.

We were at the  US embassy, London’s Fort Knox, to discuss talk radio and democracy- ha!   

By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

He cannot dig himself out of this hole, he is too deep in the mess he has fallen into - partly because he has lost his bearings.

Gordon Brown needs to focus on equity both in tax policies and for social justice, to show us he is more than some kind of heavy, moralistic wealthy Victorian philanthropist, to respect fundamental rights and liberties- which he says are British values yet betrays and to stop banging on about Britishness and talk about the ideals that will lead us away from xenophobia and narrow mindedness, and to make a clear new shift away from the US and towards Europe.

He will not do any of these and therefore will not deserve the respect of progressive Britons. We will not throw him a rope.

By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

So the white woman won and the upstart black man lost in New Hampshire. The sisterhood will be celebrating, especially after so much early whingeing about the sexism that would prevent Hillary from getting what is her due. Oh but what do we have here? An American reader in the Independent letters page, after the Clinton victory, still complaining that her country is irredeemably chauvinistic. Obama is a man and therefore naturally granted privileges denied to women, they say. Such unforgivable delusionary politics in a country where more black men are in prison than in college (and over represented on death row and gang killings). Here too, white women have bounded up the ladder and most would stiletto any black bloke trying to climb up behind them. (what if he is a rapist?)

By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

It is personal guys. Several BBC broadcasters tell me they are not interested in ‘Guardian and Independent’ points of view. We are passé, irrelevant, annoying, elitist, too middle class and soft. Fashion moves on, the culture is now noisy and intolerant and the Beeb follows, is too feeble to stand up to ugly populism.