How They Broke Britain

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The former Sex Pistol John Lydon once said that anger was an energy. James O’Brien has enough to light up the national grid.

I’ve certainly held views in the past that I am now ashamed of and the thought of doing what James has done here would absolutely terrify me, so much respect to him for that. It all starts with brutal austerity to save the Banks. I always remember a respected colleague telling me that you should never only cut costs, as you can’t shrink your way to greatness.On any subject, people need to be able to make mistakes, ask and probably say the wrong thing, before people can be come to the realisation that we can be wrong. Often about things we feel very stongly and passionately about. We need to be open to having these conversations, with ourselves, with our friends, our families, our communities and society. a b "James O'Brien: "On radio, people still talk like no one is listening" ". The Guardian. 8 January 2017 . Retrieved 8 February 2018. Bland, Archie (24 March 2015). "LBC's James O'Brien: 'You have to be a bit more sledgehammer than scalpel on TV' ". theguardian.com . Retrieved 26 March 2015. We all need to be open-minded enough to listen: even if ultimately we still have the same opinion as when we started, at least we understand the underpinnings of the other person's argument (or maybe that there are no underpinnings: they are arguing from feelings rather than fact and evidence.).

In 2015, O'Brien presented a chat show for ITV called O'Brien, which aired for ten episodes. [36] Podcast [ edit ] O'Brien has stated that he voted for Boris Johnson in the 2008 London mayoral election, though he now regrets his vote. [41] Newsnight's Race To Succeed Jeremy Paxman: LBC's James O'Brien Gets A Try-Out". Forbes. 16 July 2014 . Retrieved 6 August 2014.But as you move through the chapters, and you reflect on this cache of incompetents and fantasists it makes you feel angry. I get the fact that not everyone is made to be a fantastic leader but we should never accept liars and ‘faux patriotism’. I can recommend How Not To Be Wrong as an engrossing, thoughtful and thoroughly illuminating read. One of my best books of the year so far.

I've enjoyed listening toJames O'Brien on the radio, regularly dismantling other people's opinions on a wide variety of subjects. Many of his viewpoints I agree with: the one's I don't I have sometimes found myself shouting frustratedly at the radio. Either way, it's entertaining. In the last 10 years or so, in the UK at least, we have become much more tribal in our thinking - footballisation as James calls it - not just wanting our team to win, but wanting the other side to lose badly in many other ways. This will never lead to anything good - we need to learn to listen, to understand, to agree to disagree, if we want to get on better and become a united kingdom in actions rather than just a label.. Flynn, Paul (31 October 2018). "LBC's James O'Brien: meet the man behind the mic". Evening Standard . Retrieved 9 September 2019. James O'Brien on changing the mind of his toughest opponent yet: himself". www.penguin.co.uk. 22 October 2020 . Retrieved 16 June 2021.

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Wearing a baseball cap and trainers, O’Brien is quiet and looks a little dazed as we wait for pre-interview coffee. He has come straight from his show, three hours of frenetic talk radio on LBC, which “can be tiring”, he admits. Somewhat incredibly, he has been doing this now for almost 20 years, although many listeners only started paying attention in the lead-up to Brexit, which is when O’Brien became a household name.