Less a blog than an apology for not having done one

  • Post

  • 21 June 2009

  • Posted by Alastair Campbell

  • 6

Since starting this blogging malarkey some months back, I have done at least one every day. Obsessive, moi? This is really just a way of keeping up that record, though when we go away for our summer holiday I do not intend, unlike on the Scottish holiday we had at Easter, to blog every day. So why has it taken until almost seven pm before I put finger to keyboard? Answer, a combination of tiredness and cricket. Tiredness because last night we were up north for a very enjoyable family birthday/wedding anniversary party, which meant a late night, then an early start to do the longish drive to get back in time for the Twenty20 Finals. Not being sexist, ahem, I was keen to get back to see the women's final as well as the men's. It was a bit of an anti-climax, as England's women hammered New Zealand with the ball, and once they began their own innings, the result was never in doubt. I was impressed though, and really pleased England won. (Cue angry comment from Wyrdtimes re my confused national identity.) The stadium filled up for the men's final, which I fully expected Sri Lanka to win. They didn't. Pakistan did. So as well as being one of the shortest blogs I have ever written, it is also contains a rare admission I got something wrong. Someone asked me today 'who invented Twenty20?' I don't know the answer, but whoever it was deserves a lot of praise. A final thought - Margaret Beckett for Speaker, gardening bills or not. Dunbloggin'

6 responses to “Less a blog than an apology for not having done one”

  1. I see Margaret Beckett being done on the front page of the Telegraph today. Am assuming they saved that one up for today to try to damage her in the vote for the speakership tomorrow, so I hope she gets it. The way the Telegraph has been using its illgotten computer disc to damage politician after politician is obscene

  2. Every day? Well done, and may I say though I do not come on here every day, when I do I always find something interesting.

  3. Watched a bit of the women’s cricket. All just a bit slower and less intense than the men’s. Mind you —- men’s final not that exciting

  4. Reading your blog, you frequently complain about our dismal media culture, then let slip you were chatting to rebekkah, gordon and cameron at murdoch’s party. Irony not your strong point is it?

    Yes our media and political culture in England is abysmal, but you should acknowledge your part in that, not least our entire political class sucking up to the odious Murdoch. And to answer a previous question, no media site I know of lets you post negative comments about them, which says it all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

203. The Man Taking On Infantino: UEFA President Aleksander ÄŒeferin

How did UEFA president Aleksander ÄŒeferin lead the revolt that tore apart Gianni Infantino's plan to privatise the World Cup? Is Infantino finished as FIFA President after alienating the European fed... Continue

24 August 2026

Becoming Burnham: Thatcher, Hillsborough, and the Anger that Shaped Him | Part 1

To hear the full episode and the series as it drops, sign up up at therestispolitics.com Alastair is joined by Andy Burnham’s closets confident, friend and former colleague, Steve Rotheram – the ... Continue

20 August 2026

564. Burnham’s Media Machine and West Bank Settler Impunity

Is Burnham’s Britain’s first ‘TikTok Prime Minister’ and what does that mean for accountability, old-fashioned journalism, and the Westminster lobby? Why are violent Israeli settlers able to a... Continue

20 August 2026

563. Britain’s Afghanistan Shame and the Jason Arday Tragedy

Five years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, why has not a single Western government marked the anniversary of a war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of doll... Continue

19 August 2026

Alastair Campbell’s diary: Sometimes I do ‘do God’, but only as a favour to the Pope

There’s a golden rule that you don’t plug someone else’s book when your own one is out. But there are some times when you have to make an exception... Continue

19 August 2026

202. Is Peace in the Middle East Closer Than We Think? (A Palestinian & An Israeli’s View)

How do an Israeli who lost his parents on October 7th and a Palestinian whose brother died after torture in Israeli prisons come together to reject revenge and build a brotherhood for peace? Why do th... Continue

17 August 2026

202. Maoz and Aziz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices... Continue

15 August 2026

Will Climate Action Go Backwards Under Burnham?

Should Andy Burnham deliver a covid style national emergency briefing to inform the public about the climate emergency? How do we foster cross-party consensus on the climate emergency? And, can we bal... Continue

14 August 2026