Alastair Campbell

John Prescott used to say “when I die all they’ll go on about is that bloody punch!” Well no, they went on about a whole lot more. I did a dozen or so interviews paying tribute today and it was so nice to hear so many recalling him so fondly and recognising his enormous achievers and character

Got round to reading Farage two page “manifesto” in yesterday’s Mail. Populist slogans/unfunded promises strung together in a piece designed to portray 🇬🇧 as third world. But how about this for nerve from Mr Brexit? “The casual lies and careless attitudes of our political class have let people down”.

As followers on Xitter and Insta may know I have for some years posted a Tree of the Day. These are usually photos taken by myself. But occasionally someone else sends me one. This is from Matt Kelly founder of The New European. He went to the Amazon in Brazil all to win TotD!!!

So I am currently still using Twitter on the grounds that where the far right operate you have to take them on on their own turf. But at @leightonandrews.bsky.social suggestion am also part migrating here. I may need help! I’m not as tech savvy as my Twitter following might suggest!!

If ever you needed a front page to capture the crass yet also dangerous silliness of so much of our media, and the impact of right wing nationalism which has done so much harm through a history from which some seem so unable to learn

Tree of the Day

Bumped into an old friend at the US embassy Christmas party

Definitely a peaky blinders cap kind of day …

Hard to believe that none of the Reform MPs turned up for the debate on Russian interference in our politics. Maybe they were visiting their former Kremlin talking points Welsh leader Nathan Gill in prison? Or en route to their next BBC interview to act as commentators on why Starmer should go?

Tree of the Day

How long do we think before the Trump-Musk bust up becomes the story du jour?

Can’t even make their own MAGAhats

Tree of the day

Nice walk station to stadium at Stoke #utc

It used to be a newspaper

Tree of the Day

Closest anyone will ever get to an apology from The Orange ManBoy - now he should say something similar to the other 31 countries whose military he insulted

Tick

New Rest is Politics - analysing the early Trump moves, looking at how the mood at COP has changed and trying to explain what is going on in German politics alastaircampbell.org/2024/11/339-...

339. Trump, the Middle East, and Ukraine

How will the president elect deal with the Israel-Gaza conflict? Does the US election result spell doom for Zelensky? What’s going on in Germany? Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questi...

New Rest Is Politics LEADING with Mhairi Black. You do not need to be an SNP supporter to feel sad that someone so young and talented has had enough of Parliament. Fascinating on independence, inequality and
above all the state of our politics alastaircampbell.org/2024/11/108-...

As I am unlikely to wander too far from the sofa today my Tree of the Day comes via my fave Norwegian Jan Aage Fjortoft in Tanzania … his family laughed at him when he said “I must send that tree to Alastair!” But his TotD gold medal makes the mockery worthwhile!!!

Indeed … good question …

Here we go

I’m sure the Sunday papers will be doing massive write throughs on the amazing story of how a Royal and a minister forced Murdoch empire to admit widespread Sun criminal activity. I mean look how the dailies covered it next day!! All in this together! So they bury it. Mail still in firing line 2026