I was on the GB News Breakfast Show yesterday.
It followed the announcement on Monday that the Department of Health and Social Care is proposing to add inserts to tobacco products that will feature information designed to encourage smokers to quit.
Having appeared on The Live Desk, the lunchtime news programme, the previous day, I was invited this time to go head-to-head with Hazel Cheeseman, deputy CEO of ASH, on the wider question, ‘Should the Government introduce stricter rules for smokers?’.
I had one or two problems on Monday with my internet connection, which seems to be a bit slow at the moment, so I offered to go the GB News studio in London instead of doing the interview on Zoom.
The producer said they would take a chance on the connection being OK, which at least saved me from a very early drive into London, and thankfully it seemed to be alright, although I think I may need a new wireless router.
Anyway, the ten-minute ‘debate’ went reasonably smoothly, with no technical issues, and despite Hazel having the inevitable dig at Forest’s funding there was none of the slightly unpleasant edge that has come to characterise interviews involving me and her boss, Deborah Arnott.
On Monday, for example, I was on the Five Live phone-in with Deborah and as soon as I was invited to speak she started to interrupt, despite the fact that I had listened to her in respectful (!) silence.
She then seemed to suggest that I had once ‘recommended’ that people should smoke, a claim I took strong exception to.
That said, I don’t mind Deborah’s barbs because they make her, and ASH, appear rather petty, so as far as I’m concerned she’s welcome to go on making them.
Hazel, on the other hand, comes across as a reasonable and fairly sunny individual. Time, perhaps, to give her the top job and we can all move on.
Anyway, I wanted to praise the GB News Breakfast Show presenters, Isobel Webster and Stephen Dixon, who gave us equal time and the debate was conducted extremely fairly, I thought, in a relaxed and non-confrontational manner.
It was a far cry from the more gladiatorial approach of ITV’s Good Morning Britain where guests are (or were) pitted against one another and encouraged to engage in what, in my experience, often became a loud and boorish argument.
To be fair, I haven’t been on GMB for some time, and since Piers Morgan left the programme I rarely watch it, so perhaps it’s changed, but after one or two uncomfortable experiences in the ‘debate’ slot (does it still exist?) I would take some persuading to return.
(Ironically, the only time I enjoyed being on GMB was when Piers was the interviewer because I found him to be very fair. Susanna Reid too, the yin to his yang.)
Anyway, despite its critics, GB News seems a happy ship, with a growing audience, and as an occasional interviewee I can honestly say I have never (touch wood) had a bad experience.
Guests are treated with respect and allowed to have their say without repeated interruption. That doesn’t mean we go unchallenged, far from it, but there is a refreshing willingness to debate issues in a way that doesn’t always happen on the BBC, for example.
Like all TV and radio stations there are views broadcast on GB News I don’t agree with at all - some might even be described as conspiracy theories - but if you support free speech that comes with the territory. Ultimately the viewer, or listener, can make up their own minds.
Sceptics should also note some of the recruits to GB News, most recently Christopher Hope, formerly chief political correspondent and associate editor at the Telegraph.
Or Nigel Nelson, ‘the longest-serving political editor and political news reporter in the United Kingdom’, formerly with the Sunday People for which he still writes a column, I think.
Then there’s Olivia Utley, a young (ish) Telegraph journalist, who evidently weighed up her options and decided that GB News was a better bet and arguably more fun.
I particularly like the fact that alongside more experienced anchors such as Webster and Dixon (formerly Sky News), Pip Tomson (a recent recruit from Good Morning Britain), and Eamonn Holmes, GB News has given opportunities to a number of young reporters and presenters.
The energy they bring is palpable, and some of the younger regional news reporters are excellent.
There are still issues, of course. For example, I understand it’s not always easy for producers to attract guests, hence the regular appearances of a relatively small cast of contributors, especially in the evenings and at weekends.
Nevertheless, after yesterday’s discussion on the Breakfast Show, I said to my wife, “I love GB News”. And for all its faults, none of which are insurmountable, or even unique, I meant it.
See also: GB News: ‘So refreshing!’ (July 2021) and The unbearable darkness of GB News (June 2021).
Below: With Hazel Cheeseman of ASH on the GB News Breakfast Show
