It has become fashionable to praise Theresa May for her ‘resilience,’ and also to express sympathy for her predicament. I find it harder and harder to do either. Yes, she inherited a tough hand from David Cameron, who legged it...
Read More
I was out earlier this evening at a Carols concert at St John’s Church in Notting Hill, to raise...
Read More
When I agreed to do this event, I was determined – and I think Lesley was keen – that I did not...
Read More
Let’s start with a bit of self-awareness. I am fully conscious, as I recorded last week following...
Read More
If you have already been onto Joe.UK, you may have read this one already. JOE is a relatively new...
Read More
by
Caught in the no man’s land between being a key figure in Downing Street and the relative anonymity of the world outside politics, Alastair Campbell finds himself being torn in several directions as this latest volume of diaries opens. Having succeeded Tony Blair as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown wants Campbell at his side. Campbell resists, flooding his reservoir of guilt as a general election looms and Brown’s indecision and fluctuating moods suggest the Labour administration is seriously threatened by the Tory ‘posh boy’, David Cameron.
Soon Campbell is earning not only praise but big money from motivational speaking and writing novels which darkly reflect the mood swings that continue to concern both him and his family. Serious journalism across platforms old and new puts him back in the public eye and together with live appearances and a love of sport – his enduring love affair with Burnley Football Club still smoulders – sees him board a celebrity merry-go-round that often leaves him far from his comfort zone.
With politics constantly tugging his sleeve, he eventually returns to the front line to marshal a party in disarray. The intensity of the months leading up to 6 May 2010 is as dramatic as any screenplay, with Campbell chronicling Brown’s struggle to win over a disillusioned nation and then his dignified departure from the main stage. For Campbell, another chapter closes. So what next?
‘Exploring ... looking closely’ ... best endeavours ... every effort ‘ ... the waffle cliche book is being well and truly plundered by @theresa_may here
‘Best endeavours ... stands ready’ .... meaningless phrases that do nothing to hide zero fundamental change to backstop and general summit humiliation. @peoplesvote_uk
.@theresa_may starts her statement with reference to the Russian misinformation campaigns and the need to take them seriously. Without (as ever) referring to their role in Brexit
Labour source: "If the Prime Minister does not announce a date for the meaningful vote immediately and the vote taken promptly, Jeremy Corbyn will table a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister." NB: This is not the same as a motion of no confidence in the government.
