I was delighted, not to say honoured, when Stephen Pollard approached me to become the political editor of The Jewish Chronicle.
It is a great publication with a long tradition of campaigning for the Jewish community in this country. But above all it is good old-fashioned newspaper with all that this entails, including, of course, having an eye to the future. I was pleased to discover that the paper has an active NUJ chapel, which is welcomed by the management. All very progressive – as indeeed is the decision to appoint a non-Jew as political editor.
I am really looking forward to working with the fine team of journalists in the JC newsroom and, from time to time, finding my place in the paper alongside an eminent roster of columnnists.
In some circles my appointment will confirm the view that I have become a right-wing Zionist neo-con. The truth is, as the despairing readers of this blog will attest, I am none of these things. I will, however, continue to pursue an interest in radical Islam, a subject of clear interest to JC readers. My perspective will be, as ever, liberal and even-handed.
I will not agree with every editorial line the paper takes. But that was true at the New Statesman and The Observer and is certainly the case at The Spectator.
This is going to be something of an adventure for me and I’ll keep readers of this blog informed.
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