The Rest is Politics and Alistair Campbell

Yes and he was a disappointment. Another extended love-in with Alastair.

Ahhh that's all okay then if he wasn't elected. According to Google:

Alastair Campbell played a central role in drafting and promoting the British government's pre-war intelligence documents regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ahead of the 2003 invasion. 1]

Key Actions and Controversy

Director of Communications: As Tony Blair's Director of Communications and Strategy from 1997 to 2003, Campbell oversaw the presentation of intelligence used to justify military action. 1, 2]

The September 2002 Dossier: Campbell helped shape the first government intelligence dossier, which famously featured the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy WMD within 45 minutes of an order. Evidence later revealed that Campbell instructed changes to align certain British assessments more closely with U.S. claims. 1, 2, 3]

The "Dodgy Dossier" (February 2003): Campbell oversaw the release of the Iraq Dossier, which later faced intense public backlash and was dubbed the "dodgy dossier" after unacknowledged plagiarized material and inaccuracies came to light. Campbell later admitted the second dossier episode was a damaging

It all turned out to be a fabricated pack of lies. So nothing to see here then!!!!

But no person is an island. It takes all sorts. Etc etc.

Rory Stewart is completely out of touch on so many levels.

I did used to really like this podcast but it’s become quite self congratulatory without as much insight into issues as they used to share.

They also really lost my respect when Rory Stewart was talking about the Rotherham (and other) scandals & referred to “child prostitutes” or “these girls were having sex with men for money”. All of it is rape and CSA, irrespective of whether money changed hands.

Also, and this is extremely petty, but Rory drives me nuts with his affected pronunciation of foreign words. You can literally visualise him giving himself a little pat on the back.

Perhaps war criminal adjacent ?

I go through phases of finding it really good and then less so. I’ve enjoyed Rory’s spin off re AI as I think he dissects the issues quite well. I kind of like the US one but AS needs to STFU and let Katty Kay talk.

Those recommending IFS, which one as there seems to be a few?

Sealioning.
Had to Google and yes, I'm so glad there's a word for it. Drives me nuts.

To date, I have found Reform to be very confusing as to where they stand on the war with Iran. One minute they seem to be saying that they would go in all guns blazing side to side with Trump and next minute that we shouldn't involve ourselves. I remain curious!

It's almost as if they are looking for the most popular position, rather than the more principled.

When was Campbell elected ? You will have to remind me.

That’s a bit of a reach! He wasn’t an elected official. He isn’t responsible for choices and decisions others made. Nor is he responsible for the false narrative being fed to the UK government by the US. Mistakes were made but calling him a war criminal is a huge exaggeration.

Used to love this and found Rory Stewart really interesting. Alastair Campbell a bit overbearing and self important at times. I do appreciate how openly he talks about mental health and bipolar disorder though.

My fave from the franchise is The Rest Is Entertainment with Richard Osmon and Marina Hyde. Listen to every episode.

Also quite enjoy the Dominic thingy and Tabitha - The Book Club. Although they’ve reviewed so many boring books I’ve skipped loads of episodes.

Campbell never held elected office. The only thing he could take into war is toy soldiers.

I just had to look up sealioning. I'm not pretending to be civil, I am genuinely civil and interested. I was opposed to the war in Iraq and one of the reasons I dislike Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell are because of the nonsense we were fed about WMD.

To date, I have found Reform to be very confusing as to where they stand on the war with Iran. One minute they seem to be saying that they would go in all guns blazing side to side with Trump and next minute that we shouldn't involve ourselves. I remain curious!

However, we digress down a flying monkey rabbit hole. 😁

Nice attempt at sealioning. As far as I am aware they had nothing to do with taking us into a war with Iraq.

@Amythomas I didn't know that Lowe and Farage were against the war in Iraq. When did they come out and say that?

Asked questions by a war criminal who took the UK into an illegal war in Iraq, estimated to be directly responsible for 100,000 - 200,000 deaths, with a further 400,000 - 600,000 deaths resulting from the knock-on effects?

They have repeatedly offered them to come on. There is an open invitation to Farage and Lowe and Trump and many more.
However their invitations repeatedly go unanswered. I guess Farage and his merry men cannot cope with their actions being questioned 🤷🏻‍♀️

😂

They’ve had Nahdim Zahawi, does he count?

Well, according to HMRC .... no.

A much more useful question would be have they asked Farage or Rupert Lowe on there ? Because I suspect there are two people who would run a mile before appearing in a situation where someone might actually ask questions and - the humanity of it - dissect the answers given. Not a style of politicking that either would aspire to.

They've openly said that they've asked Farage multiple times. Don't know about Rupert Lowe.

They’ve had Nahdim Zahawi, does he count? Being Reform and all. I seem to remember Farage has been invited but he turned it down.

It's a mystery to me too, he has been proved utterly wrong so many times, not to mention dangerously deceitful, why on earth do they wheel him out to pontificate on matters so often.

I'm afraid that Julie Burchill's description of him as Tony Blair's Groom of the Stool is an image I can't shake. She also wrote this about him:

"...and doubtless looks in the mirror each morning and mouths the words ‘rock star’." Which is unflatteringly believable, but made me laugh out loud.

Have they had Farage or Rupert Lowe on there?