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 *

Alastair Campbell’s diary: The right wing case for climate crisis denial is going up in flames

Europe is burning, food insecurity is growing and Trump and Farage are still shouting about “Net Stupid Zero”... Continue

28 July 2026

199. Is Trump’s Chaos Pushing Iceland Towards the EU? (Prime Minister of Iceland, KristrĂşn FrostadĂłttir)

What are the real reasons Iceland has brought forward its vote on restarting accession talks with the EU? What lessons did the Prime Minister learn from watching Brexit unfold while living in the UK, ... Continue

27 July 2026

Britain’s Ticking Time Bomb: The Food Security Crisis

Could the UK be facing empty supermarket shelves by 2030? Are food distribution centres sitting ducks for drone warfare? And how has Britain got to a place where is has just 3 days to 3 weeks worth of... Continue

23 July 2026

556. The US-China AI Arms Race and Badenoch vs. Rory’s Centrism

Is China quietly outsmarting the US in the AI arms race, and is Trump laying the pitch to challenge the results of the US midterms with his repeated, unfounded claims of Chinese election meddling? Why... Continue

23 July 2026

Alastair Campbell’s diary: My night with the homeless showed me that Burnham must end rough sleeping

The new PM must be radical – including on Britain’s place in Europe... Continue

22 July 2026

555. Burnham’s Cabinet Purge and Rough Sleeping Pledge: Will He Succeed?

What does Andy Burnham’s purge of Starmer loyalists from the top of government tell us about how the new British prime minister will govern the UK? Why did Ed Miliband drop his ten-year Energy Secur... Continue

21 July 2026

198. How Trump’s Imperial Presidency Really Works

How does the most chaotic White House in history actually make decisions? How did Netanyahu sell Trump on a regime change war in Iran? Who is the only world leader Trump is truly afraid of?  Alastair... Continue

20 July 2026

196. How America Talks Itself Into Endless Wars

What does the gap between American foreign policy rhetoric and reality reveal about the failures of its military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Iran? In an age of algorithm-driven poli... Continue

6 July 2026