Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Great Polluter
And so, at last, to Alastair Campbell's Diaries. Gordon Brown said he didn't know why they were being published, a pretence at incomprehension which is a well-known and very effective political technique. Campbell himself said in the course of a 30-minute interview on the Today Programme of the type ususally reserved for serving Prime Ministers that he hoped the diaries would provide "the first chapter of a record that I intend to put into the public domain about an amazing prime minister, a great leader in my view, who was responsible for taking Labour into power and taking Britain forward."
To which I have only two words to say. My Arse.
The reason Alastair Campbell is publishing his diaries now is not the desire to write the rough first draft of history of the Blair Years. It is filthy lucre, and the fact that he knows that had he waited a couple of years, we would all have forgotten about him and no-one would buy them. That is also why he has taken out the references to Gordon Brown - so he can make another fortune in a few years' time by publishing those bits once Brown has left office.
Then again, what more should we expect? As Michael Howard said on
Newsnight, Alastair Campbell has done more than anyone else to pollute the political process and destroy public trust in our democracy over the past few years, so why should we expect him now to be driven by any higher motive than selfish greed?
As to the book's contents, I have already said my piece in the latest edition of the Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze about his self-justificatory and disingenuous account of the David Kelly affair. I still cannot believe that Campbell can say, in the same breath, that he briefly considered topping himself over the episode, while continuing to maintain he did absolutely nothing wrong.
It goes without saying that I am not going to buy the book. I would recommend instead the excellent biography Alastair Campbell: New Labour and the Rise of the Media Class by Peter Oborne, which will tell you all you need to know about Campbell's media management techniques and the reign of terror he exerted over Whitehall press departments and the Parliamentary Lobby between 1997 and 2003.
The publication of the Campbell Diaries, and the extraordinary way in which the BBC has allowed itself to become his publicity machine, has already produced some superb blogging and commentary elsewhere, notably from Martin Kettle who is puzzled by the absence of references to Campbell's media collaborators Tom Baldwin and Trevor Kavanagh, and Chicken Yoghurt, who likens the book to another featuring "fantastical plots requiring a massive suspension of disbelief from the reader" - Harry Potter.
Top biscuit however goes to Septic Isle for this post on Obsolete which deserves to be read in full, not least for the full impact of some ace swearblogging. "As any psychologist will tell you, a pathological liar not only lies to everyone around him, they lie the most to themselves....They say cheats never prosper, but liars it seems will inherit the earth."
To which I have only two words to say. My Arse.
The reason Alastair Campbell is publishing his diaries now is not the desire to write the rough first draft of history of the Blair Years. It is filthy lucre, and the fact that he knows that had he waited a couple of years, we would all have forgotten about him and no-one would buy them. That is also why he has taken out the references to Gordon Brown - so he can make another fortune in a few years' time by publishing those bits once Brown has left office.
Then again, what more should we expect? As Michael Howard said on
Newsnight, Alastair Campbell has done more than anyone else to pollute the political process and destroy public trust in our democracy over the past few years, so why should we expect him now to be driven by any higher motive than selfish greed?
As to the book's contents, I have already said my piece in the latest edition of the Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze about his self-justificatory and disingenuous account of the David Kelly affair. I still cannot believe that Campbell can say, in the same breath, that he briefly considered topping himself over the episode, while continuing to maintain he did absolutely nothing wrong.
It goes without saying that I am not going to buy the book. I would recommend instead the excellent biography Alastair Campbell: New Labour and the Rise of the Media Class by Peter Oborne, which will tell you all you need to know about Campbell's media management techniques and the reign of terror he exerted over Whitehall press departments and the Parliamentary Lobby between 1997 and 2003.
The publication of the Campbell Diaries, and the extraordinary way in which the BBC has allowed itself to become his publicity machine, has already produced some superb blogging and commentary elsewhere, notably from Martin Kettle who is puzzled by the absence of references to Campbell's media collaborators Tom Baldwin and Trevor Kavanagh, and Chicken Yoghurt, who likens the book to another featuring "fantastical plots requiring a massive suspension of disbelief from the reader" - Harry Potter.
Top biscuit however goes to Septic Isle for this post on Obsolete which deserves to be read in full, not least for the full impact of some ace swearblogging. "As any psychologist will tell you, a pathological liar not only lies to everyone around him, they lie the most to themselves....They say cheats never prosper, but liars it seems will inherit the earth."
Blogroll changes
I've made a few changes to the Blogroll to try and simplify the number of categories and also to reflect my current assessment of who's hot and who's not in the blogosphere.
Up into the list of Linford's Top Blogs come the revamped Conservative Home, king of the Anglosphere Little Man in a Toque, and leftie kindred spirits Chicken Yoghurt and The Nether World.
Also up there is Ben Brogan which I guess will surprise a few people. Brogan and I did not see eye to eye during my time in the Lobby, for reasons which seem spectacularly trivial now, but I always rated him highly as a journalist and in my view he is now the leading MSM blogger.
Out, for the time being, go Tom Watson, whose energies are currently being taken up by the Ealing Southall by-election, and Labour Watch, which has been taken offline while its author, Greg Stone, fights the corresponding contest in Sedgefield.
Some blogs which have been dormant for a couple of months or so disappear from the blogroll. Sadly, these include Forceful and Moderate which was once my favourite Lib Dem blog. It's main author Femme de Resistance is now pursuing other interests and I wish her luck.
Other changes include a new link to my Facebook profile and an invitation to join Tim Ireland's latest worthy crusade, Alastair Campbell Can Go And F**k Himself Fortnight. More about that one later.
Up into the list of Linford's Top Blogs come the revamped Conservative Home, king of the Anglosphere Little Man in a Toque, and leftie kindred spirits Chicken Yoghurt and The Nether World.
Also up there is Ben Brogan which I guess will surprise a few people. Brogan and I did not see eye to eye during my time in the Lobby, for reasons which seem spectacularly trivial now, but I always rated him highly as a journalist and in my view he is now the leading MSM blogger.
Out, for the time being, go Tom Watson, whose energies are currently being taken up by the Ealing Southall by-election, and Labour Watch, which has been taken offline while its author, Greg Stone, fights the corresponding contest in Sedgefield.
Some blogs which have been dormant for a couple of months or so disappear from the blogroll. Sadly, these include Forceful and Moderate which was once my favourite Lib Dem blog. It's main author Femme de Resistance is now pursuing other interests and I wish her luck.
Other changes include a new link to my Facebook profile and an invitation to join Tim Ireland's latest worthy crusade, Alastair Campbell Can Go And F**k Himself Fortnight. More about that one later.
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