Most Sun readers don't know why I parted company with the Currant
Bun in the summer of 2001, so I've set up this page to answer the
questions I get asked every time I go out. You may well be disgusted
by the way I was treated after a sixteen year association with
the paper I loved. I know I was at the time...
1) Why aren't you at The Sun any more?
They sacked me because The Daily Star serialised my novel The Face, even
though the serialisation had nothing to do with me whatsoever.
The Sun's management said I should have known in advance
that when I sold the book to a publisher - John Blake - he
in turn would give the serialisation rights to the Star who
in turn would publish it alongside digs about the Sun...So
basically I should have been Mystic Meg.
It was about as fair as Frank Bruno's arse, but that's what
happened. However the Star were only able to serialise the
book because the Sun's then editor, a wet blanket called David
Yelland, broke his word and refused to promote it. He shook
my hand in January 2001 and promised faithfully that he would
back the book to the hilt as part of a deal to keep me at the
paper; but he didn't. The only surprise was that this surprised
me.
2) Why wouldn't Yelland promote it?
He claimed later that he objected to a passage where my
fictional gangsters have a pop at Lorraine Kelly on GMTV.
They refer to her as "the Paisley
pig". (I have since apologised about this as I understand she comes from
Arbroath).
It's hard to believe this is the truth however, as Yelland was shown
that passage in the book at the launch, yet didn't change his mind about
promoting it until ten days later. If we take him at his word, what does
it say about him? That the editor of a national newspaper was so dim
he believed that every line of dialogue in a work of fiction must reflect
the opinion of the author. These are ruthless villains with nasty views,
I no more share their thoughts than I spend my spare time pulling off
bank jobs. Perhaps Yelland thinks Harry Potter really can do magic (he
has the look of a man well accustomed to polishing his own wand). As
it happens, I think Lorraine has a certain mumsy appeal on TV. As a columnist,
however, she is one of the worst in Fleet Street, specialist subject?
The bleedin' obvious.
3) Was the Daily Star serialisation anything to do
with you?
No. John Blake my publisher did a deal with the Star while I was on holiday.
I never believed the book could be serialised - it's far too filthy for
a family newspaper. That's why I had only asked Yelland to promote it.
The first I knew about the serialisation was when Dale Winton called
me at about 8.15am on the day it began. Blake had told me that he had
just asked The Star to review it.
4) Does Blake back up your side of the story?
Absolutely, he wrote a letter to Yelland owning up to 100 per cent responsibility,
but Yelland preferred to believe the voices in his head.
5) Did you do anything to try and stop the Star?
Yeah, I rang up two solicitors that morning (Henri Brandman and Gary
Jacobs)to ask them what I could do. They said nothing, but at least I
had a go which is more than The Sun ever did. Why would I have done that
if the serialisation was my master plan?
6) How did you feel about getting the sack?
Gutted of course. I loved that paper and the readers. I
had slogged my guts out for it over the years, and to get
the boot without Yelland even
asking me to give him my side of the story was a real kick in the cobblers.
I went through the internal appeals procedure believing the truth would
out but it was farcical. It seemed to me that they had made a decision
and were just trying to retrospectively construct a case to justify it.
In the end most of the charges that were levelled against me were thrown
out, so all they could sack me for was, as I said, for not knowing in
advance that the book would be serialised elsewhere if they happened
to change their mind about plugging it. I must have mislaid my crystal
ball that week. How in the name of sweet reason could I be guilty of "gross
misconduct" for signing a contract eleven months before I was sacked:
when a) The Sun's top executives knew I was writing the book for Blake
and actively encouraged me to do so. b) I had signed hundreds of similar
contracts with TV companies and book publishers before. And c) There
is a list of News International employees as long as Dion Dublin's dick
who have done similar deals with Blake without getting sacked... Three
years later, in June 2004, Yelland gave an interview to the Guardian
where he admitted that I was sacked because he was "uncomfortable" with
me and "when an editor is uncomfortable with a columnist one of you has
to go". In other words, his entire case against me was utter cobblers
and he just used the Star serialisation as an excuse to hang me with.
Back in 2001, I had the hump, quite naturally; but loads of
people rallied round and they were far angrier than I was.
I had to stop a load of mates from going up to picket Wapping.
Everyone I know stopped buying the Sun and friends in the business
were very supportive. Bob Monkhouse even rang up the newsdesk
using a Scottish accent to ask questions they couldn't answer.
It was never going to make a difference but I appreciated their
solidarity.
7) So where can we find Bushell On The Box now?
In the People, every Sunday.
8) What happens next with the Sun?
I settled out of court with The Sun in 2002.
9) Where can we buy The Face?
It's just come out as a £5.99 paperback with an expanded glossary of
slang. You can get it direct from Blake's by phoning 0207.381.0666 or
e-mailing rosie@blake.co.uk. Or
order it from any bookshop by quoting the ISBN number 1-903402-96-4.
The follow-up Two-Faced is now finished and will be published in June
2004.
10) Why join The Sunday People?
Socialist Worker wouldn't have me back...
I had talks with six Fleet Street editors, but Neil Wallis impressed
me the most. He has a lot of drive, a great news sense and he's given
me tremendous backing. The Sun were always censoring the jokes at the
end. Neil didn't. Unfortunately he didn't have any promotion budget either
so to this day most Sun readers don't know where the column is. (A Best
of Bushell collection modestly called King Of Telly came out in October
2002, so you can catch up on all of the People columns in handy book
form. You can order your copy by ringing 01206 868200 or emailing linda.green@bloozoo.com.)
11) Are you still on telly?
I do bits and bobs all the time. I did the last nine months of Big Breakfast
which was a blast; but I'm not that bothered. I turn down more than I
accept.
12) What has happened to The Sun?
Under Yelland it was losing sales hand over fist until they started giving
it away for 10p. The Sun needs an editor who knows Joe Public as well
as they do Dow Jones but it must be seen to be above board too. Management
enforced u-turns, like supporting the Dome and Mandelson to keep in with
their corrupt New 'Labour' pals have made a laughing stock of the paper.
It's not the business of any newspaper to be the government's lap-dog.
On the plus side, The Sun's (cynical) espousal of anti-asylum has connected
with the popular mood; on the downside they don't really mean it, they
are up to their necks in the Iraq mess and often seem to put US interests
above British ones. Crucially, while the laddish but brainless Daily
Star continues to make gains, The Sun seems increasingly feminized.
13) Do you hate Yelland?
I don't even personally dislike him. Yelland was just the wrong man for
the job. He turned the Sun into a schizophrenic mess, desperate to get
away from most of the things that made it successful but terrified of
losing their old readers. His leaders read like the rantings of a mad
man (maybe there's a book in this; Yelland - A Study In Delusion). The
result was a paper that too often came over as a drab, Blair-worshipping
comic. If the Mirror hadn't been trying to re-invent itself and lost
touch so dramatically with public opinion, the Sun would have been down
even more sales. (The news-free Daily Star has successfully trawled in
their gutter). The bottom line? Yelland knew economics but he doesn't
know showbiz, he never understood Sun readers. One of his first decisions
when he took over was to scrap the serialisation of Lenny McLean's book
The Guv'Nor claiming that no-one knew who Lenny was. The book went on
to sell a million copies. There are plenty more stories like that but
you'll have to wait for the autobiography if I ever write one.
14) Was there any element of personal animosity between
you?
Not that I was ever aware of, although he's an odd bloke with few social
skills who can't hold his drink. And a Genesis fan to boot - always a
bad sign. Speaking to Sun executives since, it seems the general feeling
at the paper was that Yelland saw me as a link with the raucous MacKenzie
Sun, someone who didn't fit it with his bland wet-liberal approach to
tabloid editing. They also suggest that there was a degree of jealousy
involved - he resented me being a house-hold name.
15) Can you laugh about it now?
A lot of it seems funny now. For starters I work from home. On that first
Monday I got a call from Yelland's PA asking me to come into the office
and when I got there he just asked me to go home again. He called me
in to send me home! Other than that Yelland refused to speak to me. It
was pretty hot that summer and I used to joke that to cool down I would
pop down to Wapping just for the chilly reception.
16) Would you ever go back to The Sun?
On balance, I think not. You should never go backwards in life if you
can help it. A public apology might help though.
17) What is Yelland doing now?
He was writing a piss-poor economics column in The Times until they dropped
it. Now he works in PR and writes the occasional media column for a London
regional paper which seems keen to stress what a great editor he was
when he was in the newspaper business.
18) What are you writing next?
The Jeff Turner story: Cockney Reject. Then a rock n roll travelogue
and more highly cultural songs for the Gonads.
Our new album, Old Boots No Panties will be out when the band sober
up long enough to record it. Two-Faced is written, it will be published
in June 2004, and there's a third Harry Tyler book in the pipeline.
I'm also three chapters in to a rock n sci-fi novel. I've written the
intro to a book about street punk. No publication date yet. And I contributed
a piece to Cass Pennant's book, Congratulations: You Have Just Met
The I.C.F.
19) Is The Face being turned into a film?
I'll believe it when I see it. Eric Rowan, Billy Connolly's mate who
is exec-producing the Rolling Stones film Stoned, was up for making a
movie version and there has been some TV interest but talk is cheap.
I am in the Dave Courtney film Hell To Pay though. That's out on DVD
some time in March 2005. I get gunned down in Docklands, which should
please Jo Brand. I've also been asked to play a barman in the Lenny McLean
movie, which would be tremendous, although for some reason my insistence
on an artistically valid bedroom scene with Jo Guest is causing problems.
Not with the producer - with her.
20) What else are you doing?
Watching Charlton, reproducing, recording with my band. Go to www.the-gonads.co.uk for
details. Life is pretty good. All the best,
