Comments

George Woodhouse

2010-01-17 22:57:43

Sadly your clarification is nothing of the sort - presumably this was your plan.

And like so many words "clarification" has had its meaning changed by NuLabour over the years to mean "Oh Dear - I've made a mistake better cover it up"!

We can see right through you Alastair - as we can through Blair.

Henry McNeill

2010-01-17 20:27:49

Never mind all that politics Alastair, did you see the Arsenal match? And was it not wonderful to see Coyle lose his first game. His team lacked the skill or the fight of the ones he left behind. Just heard I got my ticket for the Reebok next Tuesday. I could ask you if you will be there but I think I know the answer. Your support for all the causes you are behind is an inspiration, but for me the three that matter are Labour, Burnley and mental health campaigning. Keep it up and keep telling the tossers to toss off

S Evans

2010-01-17 19:58:14

We all hang our heads in shame. We should have done more to stop you all from the illegal war. The legacy of New Labour is nothing new, the worst of history, repeating itself.

A young man so very sad with modern politics.

Roy Roberts

2010-01-17 17:31:10

You handled the vultures very well Alistair in your appearance before the Iraq inquiry.What is it about the tabloid press that they think they have a right of access to the inner temple of government to get their story before they spin it to their own view?
From your Faucon friend

olli issakainen

2010-01-17 15:41:21

The Iraq war had no precedent in international law. It was not a defensive war, nor was it fought to prevent genocide or ethnic cleansing. It was a war to prevent potential future terrorist attacks.
In Chicago on 22 April 1999, Tony Blair made his famous speech. The Chicago doctrine was born. But was the Iraq war a just war? Was it legal?
Since the treaty of Westphalia the thinking has been that nation-state sovereignty is of an utmost importance. This is backed by Article 2.7 of the Charter of the United Nations. But the UN Charter justifies intervention under Chapters VI and VII.
What about the concept of humanitarian intervention? Sometimes the principle of non-intervention yields to the international responsibility to protect. It can be argued that Iraq was such a case as the sanctions were endangering lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Of course, costs and benefits of humanitarian intervention must be carefully calculated before any action.
Barack Obama said in Oslo that make no mistake, Evil does exist in the world. And containment and deterrence do not work against terrorism.
In my opinion Iraq was attacked because the neocons wanted to bring democracy to the area after 9/11. They were persuaded by a top academic that this could not be done peacefully.
Whether this strategy will work remains to be seen. When asked about the French Revolution, Chinese PM Zhou Enlai replied that it was too early say. What we can say now is that many tactical mistakes have been made in Iraq.

Brian Hughes

2010-01-17 15:15:44

An amusing feature of conspiracy theorists is that so many of them also claim that the Labour Government is incapable of organising the proverbial event in a brewery. Quite how they can simultaneously think it capable of devising, enacting and maintaining a complex conspiracy involving scores of people is a mystery.

It's a shame that so many journalists have mortgages to pay and thus feel obliged to write what they think their proprietor would like to read. An amusing suggestion in the film "Thank you for smoking" is that the world would be less full of hype if more people rented.

Perhaps there should be a licencing system for journalists. To keep one they would have to demonstrate they'd spent at least a week each month away from London speaking to people who weren't in the media (a bit like the drivers' miles requirement for hanging onto an HGV licence). Also they'd have to be renters...

Robert Jackson

2010-01-17 15:08:52

While we are all in the mood to nail deliberately sowed misunderstandings, in the past few days there has been a BBC Radio 4 programme explaining politician-speak preceded by rather sarcastic jingly-jangly music.

One of their pieces expressed sympathy with the Tory claim that they will be disadvantaged by the fact that the electorsl boundaries will not be reviewed before the 2010 general election - so that Tory voters who have moved out of the cities to the country will be voting to pile up larger majorities in constituencies that are safe Tory seats anyway.

This is a reflection of the natural process of people moving around. Folk still a have a vote - they are on the electoral registers.

What the article conveniently did not mention was the fact that in the days before the electoral rolls were updated throughout the year an election could be called just before the rolls were revised - so people who had moved home had moved away from their vote and, to all intents and purposes, were disenfranchised. Students, tenants and the like.

And that's what the Tories did before the 1992 general election by calling it in the April fighting it on the old registers.

To my mind disenfranchiseng voters deliberately is immoral and that's one of many reasons I am not a Tory.

Chris MacDonald

2010-01-17 14:08:11

Agree with the woman at your match. My brother is out in Afghanistan now and I am sick and tired only ever hearing about things when someone dies or something goes not quite right in the mind of the journalists. We have the best armed forces in the world and whether Iraq, Afghanistan or Northern Ireland - my brother has been to all three - we should all support them and be proud of what they have done and are doing day in day out

Pat Graham

2010-01-17 14:06:13

I watched every minute of your evidence after the event on the inquiry website. I had already seen the coverage on the news. It was like they had seen a different event. well done

Hilary Pearse

2010-01-17 14:05:04

Nice piece in the Obs, which at least recognises your strengths rather than the usual one dimensional profile we see from most of the press, TV and radio. I thought it was wonderful to see someone stand up for themselves. We out here in the real world dislike and mistrust the media far more than we do politicians who at least believe in the main what they are saying

Jimmy Mac

2010-01-17 14:03:22

Too modest Al ... I was one of the ones singing 'there's only one Ali Campbell' as you were going mental at the ref when Valencia should have been sent off. Nice to see the bastards are not getting you down

Rebutting the good and the bad, and support from football fans

2010-01-17 12:45:38

We only get The Observer on a Sunday, and I fear that Gaby Hinsliff and Nick Cohen will be going into hiding after their articles today. Sorry, but you just can't say these things!!

Ms Hinsliff has written what even my other half (who is used to reading unpleasant things about me) has described as a very friendly, quite flattering and insightful profile of me. In the media village, let us admit the truth here, one is not allowed to write friendly, flaterring or insightful things about me. One is only allowed to state and restate a negative view, because that is the game those in the village like to play.

If the reaction of the people at Old Trafford yesterday is anything to go by, and I do not just mean fellow Burnley supporters, then the negativity with which the press and TV sought to coat my evidence to the Iraq inquiry appears not to have got through. Media opinion and public opinion should never be confused. 'We hate the papers as much as you do,' one said. 'Cos they never write about us unless we're in trouble.' But I would like above all to record the comment of a woman who stopped me as we were leaving the ground, who said her son was in the Army, she was incredibly proud of what he did in Iraq, and is now about to do in Afghanistan, and glad that someone had stood up for what we did.

There were similar if less emotional reactions as I made my way out through the United fans too. I got one hostile comment all day, and that was about football.

In an attempt to help restore Ms Hinsliff in the eyes of the negative media majority, I should say there are a number of points I could rebut, but only one that I want to. As she says, I have a novel to sell in two weeks' time so I must correct her when she says my first novel, All In The Mind, got 'stinking reviews.' I think if she had inserted 'one or two' before 'stinking', that would have been accurate.

But I am sitting here looking at the back cover of Maya, my new book, complete with a loving front cover endorsement from Piers Morgan, which has a collection of superb reviews for All In The Mind. Even the ghastly Mail on Scumday is on there with 'eloquent and touching ... a triumphant exploration of the imperfection of heroism.'

From The Financial Times to the Irish Times, the Times to the TLS, the Mirror to the Guardian and the Indepedent, there are reviews that most first time authors would give their right hand for. Maya plug of the day over.

As for Nick Cohen, he has written a piece seeking to draw attention to the conspiracy theorising that surrounds so much of the debate about Iraq. Cohen has written consistently on this theme for some time. People say they want the truth, but so many of the critics and conspiracy theorists only want those parts of the truth that fit their criticism or their conspiracy theory.

Whilst in rebuttal mode, I should like to say something about a story in The Sunday Telegraph - no we don't get it but Sky and the BBC called me about it last night so I looked it up online - which says I was 'forced to clarify' my evidence to the inquiry.

I wasn't forced to do anything. I decided to send a note to the inquiry, because I felt the transcript as sent to me for authentification risked giving a wrong impression.

The conspiracy theorists are already out commenting, but for the record, and trusting to the fair-mindedness of most of the people who come on here, I paste below both the exchange in question, and the addendum which is now on the inquiry website. The exchange relates to the foreword of the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's WMD.

SIR RODERIC LYNE: So you certainly still stand by the words "beyond doubt"?

MR ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: I do, because at the time that was the judgment that he was led to make. I would also stand by -- I know that the Butler Report felt that it overstated things, to talk about "extensive" and "detailed", and so forth, and "authoritative". I stand by that as well, because I think the document had the full authority of the Joint Intelligence Committee. It was detailed, and it wasn't just about the intelligence that had come in in the last couple of days and I think some of the caveats were in there. You could certainly make the point, as both you and Sir Lawrence have now done, that there could have been more in terms of the public presentation, putting over the case about why those caveats were important, but I think, ultimately, in terms of what the public would have taken out of it, it wouldn't have made that much difference, because it was a cautiously put case.

SIR RODERIC LYNE: So if the JIC assessments, when we are able, perhaps -- I don't know if we will be able to publish them, but certainly re-read them -- were not to correspond to the phrase "beyond doubt", and if members of the JIC -- and we have already heard somebody who did serve on the JIC, Sir William Ehrman -- were to say that "beyond doubt" was not a phrase that was justifiable, would you at that stage say that Parliament had been misled by the Prime Minister saying "beyond doubt"?

MR ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: No, I wouldn't.

SIR RODERIC LYNE: You wouldn't? Okay. Thank you.

The note I sent to the inquiry after reading the transcript is as follows.

'My answer at page 9 line 20 of the afternoon session. Reading the transcript, it would appear that I am saying it would not matter if it transpired that JIC members had made clear at the time of the assessments, and in the preparation of his presentation of the September dossier to Parliament, that the Prime Minister was not entitled to make a judgement that the claims being made on WMD, in the relevant sentence from the foreword Sir Roderic Lyne read to me, were ‘beyond doubt.' That is clearly not correct. Indeed I say elsewhere in my evidence that if Sir John Scarlett had said to the Prime Minister that he could not make the claims he did about WMD, the Prime Minister would have accepted that without question. I thought I was being asked whether, if it was not stated in the JIC assessments that the case as put by the Prime Minister was ‘beyond doubt', would that mean he had misled Parliament? The reason I said ‘No, it wouldn't' is because, as I stated elsewhere in evidence, the PM would be entitled to make the judgement he did based on the assessments he saw and had had explained to him, and those words did not have to be in the assessments for him to make that statement. Reading the bald words on the page gives the wrong impression of what I was saying in response to what I thought I was being asked in a question which contained a number of points in parantheses, and I would be grateful of the opportunity to make that clear to the committee.'

There you go. I accept I could have tried to make the first sentence shorter, but I am writing this for the inquiry team, not a bunch of hacks likely to twist what it says regardless. Rebuttal over. First sunshine for ages out there, so the bike beckons. My weekly AOL blog on Burnley's heroics at Manchester United, and Fergie's wild claims to have dominated a match we should have won 4-3, will be posted shortly.

And thanks to Trevor Malcolm for advertising the Amazon rate for Maya. Oh, is that another plug?

Archive

Clegg rise good news for the campaign

Publish date: 2010-04-17 10:02:47

The election landscape has changed. Exciting times

Publish date: 2010-04-16 14:45:39

Clegg wins on style, Brown on substance, Cameron on shallowness

Publish date: 2010-04-16 01:32:41

Bring on the big debate. And don't miss Eddie Izzard tomorrow

Publish date: 2010-04-15 18:58:37

Cameron's preference for process over policy in pre debate blather

Publish date: 2010-04-14 15:59:32

Black hole plus DIY public services - Cameron's second manifesto

Publish date: 2010-04-13 10:37:52

Never mind 5 more years of GB. It's three more weeks of DC people worry about

Publish date: 2010-04-12 11:16:02

Ashdown spot on about Tories' Sarah Palin moment

Publish date: 2010-04-11 12:10:44

London Marathon the best of British

Publish date: 2010-04-10 12:37:42

Pressure needs to be kept on Tories over NICs

Publish date: 2010-04-09 13:15:17

Tories wrong on recession wrong on recovery

Publish date: 2010-04-08 11:47:59

Cameron's deception goes beyond the businessmen

Publish date: 2010-04-07 19:55:22

Labour's greater scope for positive campaign

Publish date: 2010-04-06 13:14:53

Cameron uncut - message matters more than money

Publish date: 2010-04-05 11:33:17

Key election questions remain the same and the answer is still Labour

Publish date: 2010-04-04 17:43:56

Osborne should heed his own words

Publish date: 2010-04-03 16:01:39

The 25th Hour

Publish date: 2010-04-02 11:13:31

Hardly surprising if business prefers tax cut to waste

Publish date: 2010-04-01 11:43:48

Tories really ought to listen to TB and Mr Kaletsky

Publish date: 2010-03-31 09:59:37

TB's return to fray a reminder of Cameron strategy failure

Publish date: 2010-03-30 10:44:34

A chance to design Labour's next poster

Publish date: 2010-03-29 09:47:29

Right pledges, at the right time

Publish date: 2010-03-27 11:32:06

Can't wait to hear what George's tax wheeze is

Publish date: 2010-03-26 14:55:00

Darling credible, Mandy exciting, Tories panicking over ads

Publish date: 2010-03-25 11:21:25

Today is all about credibility

Publish date: 2010-03-24 09:38:11

Obama's win good news for politics everywhere

Publish date: 2010-03-23 10:11:13

I take my hat off to a genius briefer

Publish date: 2010-03-22 17:21:23

With Hague disabled, Labour team v Tory team even more important

Publish date: 2010-03-19 11:43:25

Tory lack of clarity gets candidates jittering

Publish date: 2010-03-18 10:12:25

Is Kate Winslet's split more important than Michael Foot's funeral?

Publish date: 2010-03-17 11:38:52

Why Sir Trevor did no favours for Cameron

Publish date: 2010-03-16 10:57:18

Support the Street Kids World Cup

Publish date: 2010-03-15 11:25:17

Bumping into Peter M on the fundraising campaign trail

Publish date: 2010-03-14 00:27:35

Adonis shows the way on transport, and debates

Publish date: 2010-03-12 12:22:05

The record needs a better hearing - Labour and Tory

Publish date: 2010-03-11 08:50:51

What happened to the detoxification of the Tory brand?

Publish date: 2010-03-06 12:00:38

Support, activism and hope returning to Labour

Publish date: 2010-03-05 09:46:34

Happy Birthday Lord Ashcroft HB2U

Publish date: 2010-03-04 10:59:48

Michael Foot ... above all else a lovely man

Publish date: 2010-03-03 14:22:46

Elvis support for Labour lifts the mood further

Publish date: 2010-03-03 10:16:30

Hoovergate - the rebuttal amid hope of Labour win

Publish date: 2010-03-02 13:00:35

At least Britney knows what she is singing about

Publish date: 2010-03-01 10:57:28

News blackout on Olympian success story

Publish date: 2010-02-28 14:52:49

Kseniya Simonova's got talent

Publish date: 2010-02-27 21:14:58

Debate expectations in a good place for GB and Clegg

Publish date: 2010-02-26 10:21:53

We all agree - Carlisle is cleverer than DC

Publish date: 2010-02-25 11:59:11

On News International phone-hacking and Cameron

Publish date: 2010-02-24 09:40:08

GB, temper or not, a better leader for Britain than DC

Publish date: 2010-02-23 10:24:48

Cameron inquiry call says more about him than GB

Publish date: 2010-02-22 15:15:59

Some great stuff in The Observer today

Publish date: 2010-02-21 11:00:46

Game definitely on. If polls narrow more, Tory jitters set in

Publish date: 2010-02-20 14:35:40

Cameron so right about pigs in pokes

Publish date: 2010-02-19 09:12:50

How twitter is changing balance of power in film indsutry

Publish date: 2010-02-18 12:00:19

Thanks for the thanks. Is online shopping not always like this?

Publish date: 2010-02-17 10:44:30

There'll be another New Big Idea along in a moment

Publish date: 2010-02-16 09:53:22

People may listen more to the political GB having heard the personal GB

Publish date: 2010-02-15 13:11:57

Happy Valentine's Day. My present to you is Jacques Brel

Publish date: 2010-02-14 12:06:54

A celeb fest in my weekend of culture

Publish date: 2010-02-13 10:38:58

Alan Johnson right to stand up for security services

Publish date: 2010-02-12 14:27:56

Time to turn up volume on sport schools revolution

Publish date: 2010-02-11 10:17:54

Let's give Cameron a Doris Day moment over Ashcroft

Publish date: 2010-02-10 10:29:05

Time for Maya's voice to be heard amid the non-tears

Publish date: 2010-02-09 09:04:22

Marr needs to explain his 'sexed up' question re casualties

Publish date: 2010-02-08 13:55:36

On GB's tears with Piers, and my emotional moment with Marr

Publish date: 2010-02-07 16:04:56

On NI, Tory fears of Labour spinsters, and headbands in sport

Publish date: 2010-02-06 10:00:25

Daily Mail tells truth shock horror

Publish date: 2010-02-05 08:54:36

Welcome to the virtual Maya launch party

Publish date: 2010-02-04 10:38:44

Public ahead of press on the mess that is Cameron

Publish date: 2010-02-03 13:52:26

Cameron winning on media support but losing on leadership

Publish date: 2010-02-02 10:47:50

Buy The Blair Years and raise cash for Labour

Publish date: 2010-02-01 09:00:00

A lesson in campaign mindset from young Labour students

Publish date: 2010-01-31 13:14:19

Media tweets show the real agenda

Publish date: 2010-01-29 21:18:59

TB made a judgement, and is defending it well

Publish date: 2010-01-29 14:04:38

On inequality, special advisers, Ireland, and TB/Iraq

Publish date: 2010-01-28 13:45:08

Message machine Mandelson on form today

Publish date: 2010-01-27 12:15:42

Only one place to be tonight

Publish date: 2010-01-26 09:20:26

Cameron and tweeting ought to be natural fit

Publish date: 2010-01-25 11:55:58

Big bucks campaigning not what it's cracked out to be

Publish date: 2010-01-24 10:28:57

A life in unemployment statistics

Publish date: 2010-01-22 09:39:21

Learning the wrong Iraq lessons for Afghan war

Publish date: 2010-01-21 10:24:46

Denis MacShane MP on the rewriting of history re Iraq war

Publish date: 2010-01-20 10:44:07

Darling v Gove, Osborne and help the rich squad is No Contest

Publish date: 2010-01-19 10:12:27

Dacre's Downfall

Publish date: 2010-01-18 03:30:21

Mandela is a great man, Invictus a great film

Publish date: 2010-01-16 08:54:48

Is Paul Dacre hiding a guilty secret that explains his deranged paper?

Publish date: 2010-01-15 09:56:24

What's the real fight to be had?

Publish date: 2010-01-14 10:20:20

On Owen Coyle and Brian Laws

Publish date: 2010-01-13 18:27:58

Thanks to friend and foe alike for helping yesterday go by

Publish date: 2010-01-13 08:49:25

So far so good in campaign to remove discriminatory law

Publish date: 2010-01-11 09:48:15

Thanks to Will Hutton for talking sense on 'class war'

Publish date: 2010-01-10 12:56:48

In defence of airbrushed posters

Publish date: 2010-01-09 16:45:29

Fire is always best turned on the Tories

Publish date: 2010-01-07 15:41:19

On Hoon-Hewitt and John Prescott

Publish date: 2010-01-07 00:55:10

Sad and baffled to see Coyle go

Publish date: 2010-01-05 16:26:05

Cameron's wobble the product of his team saying what their audiences want to hear

Publish date: 2010-01-05 10:50:58

New Tory slogan - if you've got the cash, splash it on crap ads

Publish date: 2010-01-02 12:11:18

And the musicians of the decade were ... The Beatles and The King

Publish date: 2009-12-31 18:52:25

Prepare for avalanche of Ashcroft posters for Tories

Publish date: 2009-12-30 15:06:06

Here's Good Luck to you, Mrs Robinson

Publish date: 2009-12-29 12:22:42

One man's White Christmas joy is another's football disaster

Publish date: 2009-12-24 13:36:05

My favourite fact of the day - a French decimal time system

Publish date: 2009-12-23 16:48:00

A few crisis management tips for Eurostar

Publish date: 2009-12-22 11:49:35

Do we need same approach to booze as smoking?

Publish date: 2009-12-19 09:13:28

Prepare for tears, tantrums and an imperfect but miraculous Copenhagen conclusion

Publish date: 2009-12-18 10:23:03

London 2012 and Copenhagen today ... different approaches to tight deadlines

Publish date: 2009-12-16 11:13:21

Tiger cut off at the knees. I bet he'll be back

Publish date: 2009-12-14 11:03:17

Cameron Shameron on the need for new laws to clarify Ashcroft tax status

Publish date: 2009-12-13 17:06:56

When poor mental health creates great art ...

Publish date: 2009-12-12 15:21:13

Giggs gets my Sports Personality vote, but I'll miss the big moment

Publish date: 2009-12-11 13:56:15

Tough day for Labour, but tough questions for Tories too

Publish date: 2009-12-10 10:03:13

Alistair Darling's quiet authority key part of recovery.

Publish date: 2009-12-09 11:03:25

Clegg risks squeeze as election nears

Publish date: 2009-12-08 15:30:58

Copenhagen really matters. Guardian front page sets scene well

Publish date: 2009-12-07 10:26:33

Four years on, what do we think of Cameron's leadership?

Publish date: 2009-12-06 13:55:17

Boris and Waddles, an everyday tale of Tory croneyism

Publish date: 2009-12-05 09:53:35

The Speaker's wife is a credit to him, and spot on about Cameron's Toryism

Publish date: 2009-12-04 10:52:37

PMQs win for GB was a direct result of Cameron's strategic failure

Publish date: 2009-12-03 08:21:10

Cameron's conkers add to his problem with serious opinion

Publish date: 2009-12-02 10:59:45

Sarko at risk of riling Obama and GB. Cameron on conkers

Publish date: 2009-12-01 10:29:48

The life and death of the man who made the link between exercise and health

Publish date: 2009-11-28 11:37:29

Even top Tories think Dave and Co can't do piss up in a brewery

Publish date: 2009-11-27 20:51:29

Well done BBC Inside Sport. Shame on media for news blackout on Coulson bullying case

Publish date: 2009-11-26 13:59:57

Well done BBC in Mental Health Media awards. Looking forward to Inside Sport on depression tonight

Publish date: 2009-11-25 10:26:22

BBC main bulletin blackout on leaders' speeches bizarre

Publish date: 2009-11-24 10:17:48

Business right to be worried about Tory axe on RDAs

Publish date: 2009-11-23 10:17:12

Why should Brown and Cameron apologise for being seen to pay tribute to the war dead?

Publish date: 2009-11-22 11:12:38

Beware climate change denial dressed up as 'commonsense'

Publish date: 2009-11-21 12:54:27

Something for the weekend - a long lazy blog lifted from interviews

Publish date: 2009-11-20 12:35:23

If France and FIFA won't act on Thierry Henry, let's have a boycott of Gillette razors

Publish date: 2009-11-19 10:09:00

Never in the history of human taxation has so much been promised from so many to so few

Publish date: 2009-11-18 18:32:39

Tories far from 'effete and unfamiliar' when it comes to twisted tax priorities

Publish date: 2009-11-18 09:52:12

Two very different stories of depression

Publish date: 2009-11-17 17:17:11

Congrats to Ellie on PPB campaign, and Willy Hague on getting van Rompuy

Publish date: 2009-11-17 11:40:14

Private schools worse than State schools - unless it's drugs you're after. Discuss

Publish date: 2009-11-16 12:10:25

Fiona Millar 5 Toby Young 0

Publish date: 2009-11-15 13:18:38

Where we fight we win

Publish date: 2009-11-13 11:22:00

Good luck to Number 10 on 'lobby' review. And a big NO to the other PR

Publish date: 2009-11-12 14:39:11

Robert Enke RIP. May his death increase understanding of depression

Publish date: 2009-11-11 17:59:53

On the exploitation of grief to get Gordon

Publish date: 2009-11-11 08:59:01

Why Tories are not home and dry, and wrong to call GB callous

Publish date: 2009-11-10 13:00:20

Labour needs more of the winning mentality

Publish date: 2009-11-09 10:30:44

The scandal of friendship and the shame of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Publish date: 2009-11-07 10:53:53

US clarity of strategy required for full explanation on Afghanistan

Publish date: 2009-11-06 10:31:48

Just because he is French doesn't mean he's wrong

Publish date: 2009-11-05 10:58:46

Congratulations to David Cameron and Trevor Kavanagh

Publish date: 2009-11-04 10:34:36

Is there a Sun blackout on Cameron's dumping of 'cast iron guarantee' on Europe?

Publish date: 2009-11-03 20:37:04

Johnson seems to get it on immigration. Right on advisors advising too

Publish date: 2009-11-03 11:58:59

Public opinion on climate change - the public might be the problem

Publish date: 2009-11-02 11:37:23

In praise of Stephen Fry, who should tweet or not as he sees fit

Publish date: 2009-11-01 09:29:34

John Sergeant spot on re TB. TB's Olympics legacy. Liam Gallagher's generosity

Publish date: 2009-10-30 11:50:44

Conservative contortions on Europe and Blair

Publish date: 2009-10-29 11:44:12

Two-jobs Osborne suffering credibility deficit

Publish date: 2009-10-28 09:14:22

Canaries win AC spin award with dark nights productivity survey

Publish date: 2009-10-27 09:41:48

Blair - dead big in Japan!

Publish date: 2009-10-26 17:21:17

No complacency, variants on a theme

Publish date: 2009-10-24 09:48:46

Griffin may have been dreadful, but there can be no complacency

Publish date: 2009-10-23 11:57:29

Margaret Hodge MP on how to fight the BNP

Publish date: 2009-10-22 16:48:39

Thanks to Charlie Falconer and Dominic Grieve - yes, I know he is a Tory

Publish date: 2009-10-21 17:24:18

On Biscuitgate, barmy Tory policy, and BNP v Generals

Publish date: 2009-10-21 10:36:15

More on Obergruppenfuhrer Dacre, Biscuitgate and Bullingdon Conservatism

Publish date: 2009-10-20 12:16:37

Biscuitgate and Susan Boyle, no win territory for GB

Publish date: 2009-10-19 12:31:00

Hating the Mail - a mindset worth having

Publish date: 2009-10-17 11:28:12

A line by line guide to the Mail statement on Gately article outrage

Publish date: 2009-10-16 19:12:36

Hit the Mail where it hurts

Publish date: 2009-10-16 16:36:02

Talking Cameron and Obama with US Democrats. Progressive Convervatism? No, he can't

Publish date: 2009-10-16 10:02:40

Inspired by kids' green passion

Publish date: 2009-10-14 18:24:13

Good news on leukaemia, good news on student activism

Publish date: 2009-10-13 08:24:21

Musings from Bertie Ahern, and how I won the Nobel prize for literature

Publish date: 2009-10-12 09:26:18

Continuing double standards in the media

Publish date: 2009-10-11 11:36:21

The best policies in Cameron's speech were those of Labour Big Government

Publish date: 2009-10-08 17:07:40

Tongues slipping all over the place

Publish date: 2009-10-08 09:00:07

Cameron confuses strategy and tactics and puts Union at risk

Publish date: 2009-10-07 10:29:26

Osborne inspires apathy at BBC Leeds

Publish date: 2009-10-06 16:01:59

Let's see more of the Tory candidates please

Publish date: 2009-10-06 09:23:11

Labour needs to fight on record to stop Tory vandalism

Publish date: 2009-10-05 14:28:40

VacuDave goes all peevish at difficult questions. Bring on the debates

Publish date: 2009-10-04 23:33:52

Lots of joking around in Jersey, though nothing as hysterical as Dave's Europe position

Publish date: 2009-10-03 10:31:22

On The Sun, Obama in Copenhagen and Alistair McGowan on the loo

Publish date: 2009-10-01 10:59:49

Sun switches ain't wot they used to be

Publish date: 2009-09-30 10:17:14

Darling and Mandelson show what I mean by authenticity

Publish date: 2009-09-28 16:28:18

Serious Politics 1 Low Journalism 0

Publish date: 2009-09-27 11:55:54

Media's love for Cameron should be turned into a weakness

Publish date: 2009-09-26 10:30:03

Time for ministers to stand up and fight

Publish date: 2009-09-25 09:40:26

Today's media double standards watch

Publish date: 2009-09-24 09:29:45

Breaking News - GB wins award, Lib Dems face all ways

Publish date: 2009-09-23 09:43:49

Why authenticity is the key to comms, and why Merkel will win

Publish date: 2009-09-22 08:29:13

Why I love NHS walk-in centres

Publish date: 2009-09-21 12:13:03

Here goes with the smoked Salmond

Publish date: 2009-09-20 10:40:21

Breaking News - Cameron's vacuousness an impersonator's nightmare

Publish date: 2009-09-19 11:06:09

Cameron has an army of spin doctors - aka journalists

Publish date: 2009-09-18 10:07:06

On Scottish independence, Cameron's short-termism, and Jimmy Carter being right

Publish date: 2009-09-17 09:56:56

Is Cameron Alex Salmond's Trojan Horse?

Publish date: 2009-09-15 10:13:42

On the TUC, Roy of the Rovers and Anna Wintour

Publish date: 2009-09-14 11:04:46

Memo to Apple boss Steve Jobs

Publish date: 2009-09-13 17:36:31

A day in the life of a (crap) City trader

Publish date: 2009-09-11 17:52:25

Defend record with pride, attack Tories with gusto

Publish date: 2009-09-10 11:06:36

Cameron's Conservatism beyond parody

Publish date: 2009-09-09 10:38:00

On transforned cities, and tales of Princess Di and Laura Bush

Publish date: 2009-09-08 09:45:54

Labour should put minister up against Griffin on Question Time

Publish date: 2009-09-06 12:39:56

School speech the latest source of right-wing frothing at Obama

Publish date: 2009-09-05 08:23:02

More horse's mouth, less Beeb blah please

Publish date: 2009-09-04 22:49:20

Real respect for sport can be Olympic legacy

Publish date: 2009-09-04 09:27:34

First ladies watch out for Japanese bombshell

Publish date: 2009-09-03 10:47:19

TV debate - good idea in theory, but ...

Publish date: 2009-09-02 15:37:43

'No worries' - the new response to thanks

Publish date: 2009-09-01 12:25:19

Tremors of Japanese political earthquake will be felt far and wide

Publish date: 2009-08-30 15:50:54

Pressure on Ed Miliband can help get a climate change deal

Publish date: 2009-08-28 13:39:08

Why Tories and media cannot stomach GCSE success story

Publish date: 2009-08-27 16:03:34

Exposing the absurdity of Chris Grayling

Publish date: 2009-08-26 13:20:19

Joy and beauty and a night of magic

Publish date: 2009-08-20 10:55:11

Twitter NHS backlash good for Obama

Publish date: 2009-08-14 15:44:49

A lifetime's ambition fulfilled

Publish date: 2009-08-08 16:59:02

Breaking the blog-a-day spell as warm up to holiday

Publish date: 2009-07-20 17:44:49

No hiding place from Twitter, me on the bike, JP in DC

Publish date: 2009-07-17 18:17:09

At last - something Obama cannot do well

Publish date: 2009-07-16 10:05:47

Will MPs take the lead in the debate on euthanasia?

Publish date: 2009-07-15 12:30:01

Berlin brothel leads the way to a greener world

Publish date: 2009-07-14 10:57:25

A time for GB to explain the whole picture

Publish date: 2009-07-13 12:37:54

All hail Monty, Jimmy and Collie!

Publish date: 2009-07-12 20:06:36

First triathlon of the summer for me, education award for Fiona

Publish date: 2009-07-12 09:43:06

Of Burnley's friendly and Obama's wandering eye

Publish date: 2009-07-11 12:38:52

Two great early morning moments

Publish date: 2009-07-10 10:27:07

Cameron had better be sure he's right

Publish date: 2009-07-09 11:06:22

Guardian scoop has big questions for press, cops and Cameron

Publish date: 2009-07-08 20:40:54

Divisive legend: Lance Armstrong

Publish date: 2009-07-07 10:38:23

First hug a hoodie, now grab a gay

Publish date: 2009-07-06 12:57:09

Mail on Scumday's wonderful account of Lansley's kipperdom

Publish date: 2009-07-05 13:14:51

Ecclestone undermines his own success with alarming views on Hitler

Publish date: 2009-07-04 14:04:04

When the conmen move more quickly than the council

Publish date: 2009-07-03 10:19:52

Andrew Lansley done up like a kipper

Publish date: 2009-07-02 10:10:52

A day spent interviewing footballers, then being interviewed by a transvestite comedian

Publish date: 2009-07-01 14:47:40

When the power of black eyes fades

Publish date: 2009-06-30 09:24:59

Farewell to Henry Hodge

Publish date: 2009-06-29 20:41:12

Honouring the power of sport to do good

Publish date: 2009-06-29 14:49:42

Andy Murray is a winner. Is that why some Brits don't like him?

Publish date: 2009-06-28 09:19:20

New Parliament will look very different. The younger the better

Publish date: 2009-06-27 17:34:26

Two nice surprises, sad end to day

Publish date: 2009-06-26 09:16:33

Apology from the Spectator on Iraq boosts Henry Hodge fund

Publish date: 2009-06-25 19:57:26

Thanks to Mr Harper on mental health, rebuttal of Mr Hague on Iraq

Publish date: 2009-06-24 23:47:54

Glad to find Eric Cantona in a quiet cinema ...

Publish date: 2009-06-24 00:46:23

By Dave's friends shall we know him?

Publish date: 2009-06-23 11:30:20

The Speaker has to balance tradition and change - but defend Parliament

Publish date: 2009-06-22 11:58:44

Less a blog than an apology for not having done one

Publish date: 2009-06-21 20:07:43

The day Lions skipper Paul O'Connell took my trousers down

Publish date: 2009-06-20 11:48:28

On the Iraq inquiry, Independent article wrong

Publish date: 2009-06-19 20:28:24

Thank you to three readers, now please get involved

Publish date: 2009-06-19 09:13:35

A tribute to a lovely man

Publish date: 2009-06-18 17:19:40

Bad times in Belfast, great day for Burnley, odd statement from Ed Balls

Publish date: 2009-06-18 10:04:47

A plea for five-figure cyber-donations

Publish date: 2009-06-17 07:40:42

On two inquiries

Publish date: 2009-06-16 08:57:39

From India to Iran to Labour wit

Publish date: 2009-06-15 10:13:17

Memories of Princess Diana

Publish date: 2009-06-14 09:54:55

A House Divided?

Publish date: 2009-06-13 02:53:47

A humbling NHS experience, a media row and a good GB speech

Publish date: 2009-06-12 10:48:46

Psychiatrists heading for relegation in 'disease prestige' league table

Publish date: 2009-06-11 10:25:35

The shrinks await

Publish date: 2009-06-10 09:44:16

As Obama fights for healthcare, let's celebrate the record here

Publish date: 2009-06-09 12:52:55

Anger at BNP seats must be turned into activism

Publish date: 2009-06-08 14:11:10

Can today be as frenzied as Friday?

Publish date: 2009-06-07 10:31:04

Take heart from a win in Lambeth

Publish date: 2009-06-06 18:46:40

JP is right there was no proper campaign but Tories still weak

Publish date: 2009-06-05 13:47:20

Do we care more about the NHS or moats?

Publish date: 2009-06-04 00:21:23

Guardian of social justice or attention-seeker?

Publish date: 2009-06-03 10:19:33

Who says Britain can't deliver the best?

Publish date: 2009-06-02 08:08:38

Mainstream has a duty to vote against BNP

Publish date: 2009-06-01 11:03:29

Let Diversity inspire a vote against the hate-filled BNP

Publish date: 2009-05-31 12:24:20

White House whack at UK media well-timed but sure to be ignored

Publish date: 2009-05-30 13:41:00

Elvis has a plan to make MPs King again

Publish date: 2009-05-29 12:09:44

At least there's a campaign on in Italy

Publish date: 2009-05-28 09:04:32

A blow to gay rights and a boost for Cameron's short-termism

Publish date: 2009-05-27 11:27:41

It's my blog and I'll be a big kid if I want to

Publish date: 2009-05-26 23:25:58

Highs feel better after so many lows

Publish date: 2009-05-26 10:13:12

Only one present counts

Publish date: 2009-05-25 11:05:46

Contrast Cheney and Bush

Publish date: 2009-05-24 12:11:45

Sex (or at least the female form) obsessed Britain

Publish date: 2009-05-23 20:49:57

Sport at both ends of the financial spectrum

Publish date: 2009-05-23 09:57:23

Stronger together - whether Scotland or expenses

Publish date: 2009-05-22 10:22:36

Back to Number 10, familiar faces, familiar arguments

Publish date: 2009-05-21 10:14:34

Speaking up for Parliament

Publish date: 2009-05-20 11:44:17

Peace in the Middle East - yes he can

Publish date: 2009-05-19 09:37:35

Breaking news - one frenzy at a time

Publish date: 2009-05-18 10:34:30

Getting a good look at Vince Cable

Publish date: 2009-05-17 09:36:55

How do you solve a problem like Silvio?

Publish date: 2009-05-16 09:32:21

It was the internet wot won it

Publish date: 2009-05-15 10:04:57

There now follows ... a good whack at Cameron

Publish date: 2009-05-14 17:21:28

They got their kit off - so you get your cash out

Publish date: 2009-05-14 07:41:11

Expenses row must not obscure Tory intentions on minimum wage

Publish date: 2009-05-13 16:12:08

We love you Burnley, we do ... what a night

Publish date: 2009-05-13 02:37:17

A tweet cannot express the wonders of TGV

Publish date: 2009-05-12 08:48:31

It's Mind week - Get it off your Chest with me and Stephen Fry

Publish date: 2009-05-11 06:29:15

Hate the Mail, love Obama

Publish date: 2009-05-10 10:04:00

Burnley 1 Reading 0 - a biased report

Publish date: 2009-05-09 21:26:32

MPs expenses - time for party leaders to meet again

Publish date: 2009-05-09 09:50:19

Should happiness replace prosperity as national goal?

Publish date: 2009-05-08 08:43:23

Musings from a sleepless night

Publish date: 2009-05-07 07:33:49

Darren Fletcher - an injustice that has to be righted

Publish date: 2009-05-06 09:52:29

Maggie's legacy not as great as she thinks

Publish date: 2009-05-05 08:33:02

Here's hoping Cardiff is metaphor for Cameron

Publish date: 2009-05-04 09:38:30

More Mr Benn and Co please

Publish date: 2009-05-03 10:03:00

Going Fourth with JP

Publish date: 2009-05-02 18:25:41

Journalism - print first, think later

Publish date: 2009-05-02 09:10:01

In praise of two poets

Publish date: 2009-05-01 10:26:36

JP hits the road again

Publish date: 2009-04-29 18:52:11

My night with Eddie Izzard

Publish date: 2009-04-29 10:53:25

Explaining the 50p top tax rate

Publish date: 2009-04-28 09:22:53

George Best and Martin McGuinness

Publish date: 2009-04-27 09:02:35

Cameron confused over indepdendence and impartiality

Publish date: 2009-04-26 12:20:56

Guide ro Marathon running part 2

Publish date: 2009-04-25 11:01:34

Good signals on coal and the Olympics

Publish date: 2009-04-24 10:45:28

Tips for the London Marathon

Publish date: 2009-04-23 17:29:27

Missed the Budget, saw why it mattered

Publish date: 2009-04-22 23:09:31

Football good, politics bad. Allegedly

Publish date: 2009-04-22 00:00:24

The Great Wall gets greater

Publish date: 2009-04-21 09:55:22

Two sides to police story

Publish date: 2009-04-20 11:39:54

Budgets, Balls, billionaires and Susan Boyle

Publish date: 2009-04-19 12:31:45

Do muscles have memories?

Publish date: 2009-04-18 09:44:44

Bring back standing at football

Publish date: 2009-04-17 14:50:22

When Facebook friends fall out

Publish date: 2009-04-16 12:29:16

Guardian sightings and the email and bath plug agenda

Publish date: 2009-04-15 11:32:16

The spin is all in the prism

Publish date: 2009-04-14 09:22:41

A setback, not a crisis

Publish date: 2009-04-13 12:55:19

The real lessons from Damian McBride

Publish date: 2009-04-12 10:49:47

Will English always be the dominant language?

Publish date: 2009-04-11 10:02:02

On the pipes and what makes a Scot

Publish date: 2009-04-10 11:06:20

John Prescott lazy? NO WAY

Publish date: 2009-04-09 09:11:31

David Frost is seventy

Publish date: 2009-04-08 08:48:38

The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pm

Publish date: 2009-04-07 14:25:31

Obama, colds and being woken by Korean missiles

Publish date: 2009-04-06 11:59:24

When a call matters more than protocol

Publish date: 2009-04-05 11:33:42

Green Cities Champions League

Publish date: 2009-04-04 10:19:53

Could Cameron have delivered the G20 deal?

Publish date: 2009-04-03 10:11:59

Of Benn and Bono

Publish date: 2009-04-02 08:21:16

Memo to Sarko - allez vite a Londres

Publish date: 2009-04-01 08:46:17

Happy April Fool's Day

Publish date: 2009-04-01 01:44:05

Eurostar, Le Monde and a thought for the G20 sherpas

Publish date: 2009-03-31 09:17:22

Why Kevin Rudd made an impact

Publish date: 2009-03-30 10:24:41

Pre-G20 hype matters less than post-G20 process

Publish date: 2009-03-29 13:17:28

The Damned United

Publish date: 2009-03-28 10:37:04

A hobby horse, a plug and a bit of sport

Publish date: 2009-03-27 10:22:23

Cloughie - he had a lot to be big-headed about

Publish date: 2009-03-26 09:38:36

A sad sight of the old fearing the young

Publish date: 2009-03-25 17:03:07

Post-modern, post-structural, or bullshit?

Publish date: 2009-03-25 08:18:02

Learning the right lessons from Obama

Publish date: 2009-03-24 08:53:15

Lazy Dave needs to keep an eye on lazy Ken

Publish date: 2009-03-23 11:16:14

Farewell favourite restaurant, hello hometown

Publish date: 2009-03-22 08:18:09

Dave, Danny and have the Tories really changed?

Publish date: 2009-03-21 08:55:13

Life beyond Dover ...

Publish date: 2009-03-20 10:11:21

My friends in The New Statesman - Fergie, Fiona, Tony, Sarah, Kevin, 'Dacre,' and a great GB idea for the G20

Publish date: 2009-03-18 10:38:22

Iraq, Iran, GB, Obama and diplomatic chess

Publish date: 2009-03-17 10:07:13

The Age of Stupid

Publish date: 2009-03-16 08:27:13

Is all change good?

Publish date: 2009-03-15 10:00:06

The pressure of being a post-modern sex god

Publish date: 2009-03-14 10:00:55

Cameron still hasn't sealed the deal with business

Publish date: 2009-03-13 09:21:49

Stand up for social workers

Publish date: 2009-03-12 08:31:17

Surely Malcolm Tucker could have told Armando Ianucci ... You can't spin a spinner

Publish date: 2009-03-11 10:58:25

Start of a new approach from Labour?

Publish date: 2009-03-10 09:54:12

A peace process still strong

Publish date: 2009-03-09 08:21:05

Day of destiny for the real footballer of the year

Publish date: 2009-03-08 09:21:06

Private advice to Peggy Mitchell - the leaked note in full

Publish date: 2009-03-07 08:17:21

Boris, the Tories and the tummy-tickling poodle press

Publish date: 2009-03-06 09:49:37

A day in the life of the self-obsessed TV reporter

Publish date: 2009-03-05 07:55:47

GB - good speech, well delivered

Publish date: 2009-03-04 19:31:05

Notes on the environment, a role in EastEnders

Publish date: 2009-03-04 10:58:56

She may be my 'wife' but it is time to rebut!

Publish date: 2009-03-03 10:52:59

Some speeches matter more than others

Publish date: 2009-03-02 12:04:45

Mental health and the Carling Cup Final

Publish date: 2009-03-01 09:08:17

Inside the chocolate factory

Publish date: 2009-02-28 10:23:59

GB on the G20, JP on Jeremy Kyle

Publish date: 2009-02-27 09:14:36

Charity and the credit crunch, please give generously!

Publish date: 2009-02-26 08:55:12

Why oh why are the Tories not home and dry?

Publish date: 2009-02-24 09:44:59

Me, Dermot and ten top songs

Publish date: 2009-02-23 10:02:19

Names round-up

Publish date: 2009-02-22 08:43:39

What's in a name?

Publish date: 2009-02-21 09:58:14

Editing the New Statesman

Publish date: 2009-02-20 11:42:36

Salute Peter M’s proper use of the F word

Publish date: 2009-02-19 09:58:58

Labour's communications challenge for the NHS

Publish date: 2009-02-18 10:34:39

In praise of Keighley

Publish date: 2009-02-17 14:33:57

A night at the Emirates

Publish date: 2009-02-17 00:06:51

When marriage is tested

Publish date: 2009-02-16 13:36:35

Spare me the myths and the whining

Publish date: 2009-02-15 13:29:50

Dave Cameron - is that all there is?

Publish date: 2009-02-14 11:11:55

Boris Johnson: F is for ...

Publish date: 2009-02-13 07:55:10

The Cameron vacuum

Publish date: 2009-02-12 14:48:33

Lincoln, Obama, Blair and the 24 hour media culture

Publish date: 2009-02-11 10:28:47

Eighteen interviews later ...

Publish date: 2009-02-10 19:24:45

Time to talk about Time to Change on Newsnight

Publish date: 2009-02-09 22:47:49

So that’s what they mean by online community?

Publish date: 2009-02-08 12:12:51

First blog

Publish date: 2009-02-05 15:23:57

Blog