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The weird virus infecting Labour debate

My partner Fiona has a piece in The Guardian today pointing out not merely how much the last Labour government achieved in education, but also how absurd it is for someone like Zarah Sultana, a newly... Continue

Did nobody at the eurozone crisis summit ask Papandreou about the R-word?

Did the word 'referendum' cross anyone's mind, let alone anyone's lips, at the eurozone crisis summit last week? It certainly didn't appear in any of the coverage I read. Could it be, once more, that... Continue

1 November 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

About time too – government recognising public money sometimes needed to get private money flowing

No cliche is being left unturned to emphasise the Prime Minister's determination to kickstart the sluggish economy. He is straining every sinew. He has found his passion (er ... again). He is on an al... Continue

31 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Royal and honours tinkering, and an odd suggestion re women – short haul for Cameron’s long haul flights

Perth in Western Australia is a lovely place, but I suspect David Cameron wishes the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting could have been held in the equally lovely Scottish namesake. No matter ho... Continue

29 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

With crisis seemingly averted for now, Europe’s leaders need to explain the issues better

The mood music out of the eurozone crisis summit was pretty good, the reactions not bad, and so the sense is of disaster averted. The problem is that further difficult steps now have to be taken, and ... Continue

27 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Cameron looking weaker under twin attack from Sarko and Eurosceptic backbenchers

You'd have thought President Sarkozy would still have been in post-Libya mutual backslap mode with Dave, added to which a new baby usually puts a man in a good mood for a few days. So our PM must rea... Continue

24 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Osborne right to be gloomy – politically we’re out of the euro but economically we’re all in this mess together

I promise I am not going soft, but I am beginning to feel a little bit sorry for David Cameron and George Osborne. As a regular attendee of European summits when Labour was in power, I always feel a b... Continue

22 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

A (very long) essay on political communications, French style

The post has just arrived and in it a very nice surprise, the discovery that Jacques Seguela, one-time adviser to President Mitterrand, now close confidant of President and Madame Sarkozy (indeed he i... Continue

19 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

The questions do not stop with Fox’s exit. And let’s hope high speed rail not another casualty

It will not have escaped most people's notice that despite Labour being out of power, its senior figures continue to be held accountable whether via public inquiries, a media that sometimes seems to t... Continue

15 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.