The Rest is Politics and Alistair Campbell

That’s misrepresenting the findings of the inquiry. They evaluated the information the government had at the time.

I was a subscriber and thought it was wonderful. Then there were some guests and some issues that they obviously didn’t agree with and I was so disappointed that they talked over or disrespected the guests that it seemed to me that I wasn’t going to get the informative discussions that I wanted.

Also they became a bit smug and, though it might seem strange, they both seemed very predictable and conventional

Some people, even when presented with clear evidence, and even with hindsight and 20/20 vision, only see what they want to see, or are perhaps simply too thick and obtuse to draw the right conclusions,

I like Planet Normal but I do find Liam's regular mocking of Alison Pearson regarding her knowledge of economics as really odd. He does it all the time and in front of guests, announcing she's the guru of the bond market or something. It sounds very sexist and that's clearly not her area so why do it.

I like Political Currency. I like the fact that they were opponents that respect each other's views. Their talks are very interesting.

Triggernometry is another favourite and very easy to listen to particularly Konstantin who I think just talks sense.

The RIP is impossible to listen to. Alistair Campbell is what he is (a sexist oaf in my view) but he's not trying to pretend he's something hes not. I disagree with him on most things anyway. Rory Campbell on the other hand is always wrong about everything but has such a condescending tone as if he's talking to children. It's infuriating.

It reviewed it with the benefit of hindsight. It couldn’t unknow what it knew.

Triggernometry has some really interesting guests who get properly challenged on their views, whether left or right leaning. And the presenters often talk a lot of common sense.

The war that the majority of people in the country supported. Poll at the time had 54% of the public in favour of war vs 38% against.
yougov.com/en-gb/articles/12483-remembering-iraq
In the Commons vote the LibDems were against the war (wanting a UN resolution), with the Labour and the Conservatives parties in favour (85 Labour MPs and 3 Conservatives defied their parties and voted against the war).
www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2003-03-18&house=commons&number=118

Sorry for being repetitive in remembering recent history and the collective amnesia of the British public. Sometimes I feel like Benjamin the donkey in Animal Farm.

As do all inquiries. The Covid inquiry is doing just that as we speak, yet I doubt many will give the Tories the benefit of hindsight.

Blair had plenty of information at the time that there were doubts. He lost several ministers over it. He went along with Bush regardless. That was documented at the time. No hindsight involved.

See the post above yours.

Book marking to read properly as I love podcasts.
Alastair is complicated. I have the same reservations as many pp.
The recent episode on persevilience was excellent though.
Love trip USA, Newsagents.
My absolute favourite is
PodSaveAmerica. I now know too much about White House staffing and the midterms, but worth listening to for their passion expertise and humanity. The episode when Charlie Kirk (not politically aligned) was shot was one of the most thoughtful moving pieces I’ve ever heard.

The fact that there was agreement from other parties to go to war, doesn't make any difference to how I feel. I agreed with those ministers who resigned at the time. I remember it well.

I respect that you feel differently and felt there was a clear case for war.

The Iraq war was more popular than Brexit. 😱

I only listen occasionally now for many of the reasons stated above. I particularly dislike their 'questions' episode where the standard behaviour is that Rory Stewart repeats the question at great length, but never actually addresses it, then says "..over to you", which is a cue for Alistair Campbell to tell an unrelated anecdote about Tony Blair.

And, but maybe this should go to pedants' corner, there are other adjectives (or adjectival phrases) than "very very".

I want to like TRIP but I just can’t. Every time I try after 10 mins I say nope to this and turn to TRIPUS, TRIH or The Rest Is Entertainment. All of which are much more enjoyable and informative without being smug and condescending. Sometimes Triggernometry. Like is too short to listen to podcasts you don’t enjoy.

I think from recollection the country hadn't at that time become jaded about regime change war and trusted the government. So as the government said we should go to War most people thought initially it would be for the right reasons and it would be successful and lead to a good outcomd. And Saddam had announced he had WMD. Information about the dodgy dossier and David Kelly obviously started emerging and then more people started realising it wasn't perhaps what they had assumed at the start. Thats my memory of it only tbough.

Campbell does seem to have reinvented himself from the days when he was the real-life inspiration behind Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It. I used to work for a large public broadcaster and I well remember those days. I recall standing next to a senior journalist while he took a call from Campbell minutes after a news bulletin had gone out. I couldn't hear every word leaking from the phone handset but he was shouting loudly enough for me to pick up "What the FUCK was that SHITE you just put out on the One?" Plus threats to go above his head & basically get the guy sacked from his job. I think this was par for the course for AC back then. He was utterly toxic. Now, most journalists have pretty thick skins - thank goodness - and most of them just held the phone a few inches away so they could tell when he'd finished.

But since those days we've heard a lot more about his problems with alcohol & depression. We're invited to feel sorry for him. Indeed, not very long ago that public broadcaster invited AC to address its Newsroom staff on the question of mental health. Now, if I'd ever heard him even once apologise for the disgusting way he dealt with people, I might have been able to hear this without shouting, oh yes! That's a great idea! Get the fucker who's probably caused more mental ill-health among journalists than anyone to come in and talk to them, many of them victims of his OTT rage attacks, about how to survive it!! Irony died. I had, and continue to have, no time whatsoever for this self-regarding, abusive asshole. Rory Stewart I rather like. If he got himself another podcast partner...

David Kelly's family blame Alistair Campbell for the pressure leading to his death particularly by leaking his name to the media, although Alistair Campbell was officially cleared at the enquiry.

Except there wasn't a clear case for war was there as all of the information concocted from the top down to sway the public and back bench politicians has been proven to be a basket of lies and deceit.

I think all the evidence, despite his recent reincarnation as a popular podcast host, and any whitewash of an enquiry, paints Alistair Campbell as a rather nasty piece of work.

And anyone trying to defend him, or his abhorrent actions whilst influencing government decisions, is probably someone who has similar values, and is most likely also a rather nasty piece of work.

I remember the reporter Andrew Gilligan on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme reporting that the government had “sexed up” the dodgy dossier about the risk posed by former Iraqi WMDs. I remember being at the demonstration in Hyde Park against the war. I remember the mysterious suicide of David Kelly. I remember Gilligan being forced to resign after a judicial inquiry criticized his reporting. I remember for years after, right wing apologists for the war saying, there might not have been WMDs, but it was worthwhile because the war got rid of dictator Saddam Hussein. That was before the collective amnesia, until it became politically expedient to be against the war.

It's irritating how AC enjoys putting himself across as the liberal nice guy and patting himself on the back.

I think there was a clear case for war at the time. The fact that it had cross party support is evidence of that. Anyway it’s pretty pointless debating it 23 years after the event given that time travel is impossible.

A clear case based on lies? Seriously, what planet are some people on?

And there is every point debating it, that's how we learn from past mistakes to avoid repeating them.