Sorry to hear that Sandy Gall has died. The former journalist and ITN newsreader had a remarkable career that went slightly under the radar but he was up there with the very best.

He was also the first prominent person I ever interviewed. The year was 1979. Mrs Thatcher had just been elected prime minister and Gall was rector of Aberdeen University, having been elected to the honorary post the previous year.

Organised by Students for Liberty UK and Ireland, this was a far cry from the huge conferences and conventions hosted by the parent organisation in the US.

But I rather enjoyed the intimate, almost clandestine, nature of an event that was advertised and promoted at relative shortly notice.

Taking Liberties has moved. It’s also been given a makeover. And a new URL.

The previous platform, Squarespace 5, was released in 2008 and transferring the blog to the current version, 7.1, was long overdue.

The future of liberty is the subject of a special event in London on Saturday.

Venue is The Miller, a pub that features regular comedy shows. This, I can assure you, isn’t one of them!

I did a couple of interviews last week about smoking on beaches.

One was for BBC Look North, the local evening news programme. The other was for the BBC Radio Lincolnshire breakfast programme.

Great to speak to Duncan Barkes and Benjamin Elkes of the TaxPayers Alliance last week.

Duncan has interviewed me several times on radio and currently hosts the TPA podcast A Nation of Taxpayers.

I've witnessed some car crash interviews in my time but rarely one as bad as this.

Interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (and City Minister) was asked about the new Lower Thames crossing ....

When was the last time you watched a film at a cinema?

I still go, occasionally, because I do think most films have more of an impact on a big screen, but I’m not a huge fan of modern multiplexes.