Alistair Campbell on Channel 4 with Rory Stewart

[Screamingabdabz]

On ‘The Rest is Politics’ show…

Doesn’t ‘need to read JKR’ because he ‘knows what her position is’. She may thinks she speaks for women ‘but not the women in my life’ etc. trans are ‘the most marginalised and disadvantaged group’ etc etc Voters don’t actually give a shit.

Rory Stewart more nuanced answer and told him to listen to the Witchtrials podcast (AC’s face said ‘hell will freeze over first’) BUT then says as men it’s not really their issue so they should just ‘step back’.

Fucking infuriating.

I wonder if he's the kind of man that the women in his life would feel comfortable sharing their true feelings with? 🤔

He comes across as one of those pompous lifelong committee men - bluster and ego, knows a little about a lot, but actually a bit thick. The way he waved away the topic like it was beneath him…

Why are two white men hosting that programme anyway? Especially if they need to feel they need to ‘step back’ from talking about something as fundamental as women’s rights.

Alistair Campbell is a typical white lefty man - misogynistic, doesn’t believe women are real people.

I have read that his daughter Grace is the root of his views on trans stuff. I used to really rate AC but not anymore.
Rory Stewart is a much more considered person who doesn’t appear to follow any set path and instead actually looks into issues before coming to his opinion. I often wonder how things could have been so very different for the whole country if he had become mayor of london instead of boris but of course the people preferred a buffoon they thought would be a laugh to have a pint with rather than someone with knowledge, skills and morals.

Strange thing was, when RS mentioned issues of privacy and dignity (voiced by ‘feminists’) and said he had sympathy for that position, AC said ‘yes so do I’ - well that’s not what you said a minute previously you massive arrogant dipshit…

Rory Stewart more nuanced answer and told him to listen to the Witchtrials podcast (AC’s face said ‘hell will freeze over first’) BUT then says as men it’s not really their issue so they should just ‘step back’.

Why do so many men have that attitude? "Women are being shat on by some men, but we should just step back and do nothing to help because it's not our problem."

The man should be in the Hague - he lied re Weapons of Mass Destruction etc
Horrible misogynist as well. Long live JK - she is wiser and stronger than the lot of them!

I know they've made a lot of money from it, but the worst thing Rory Stewart ever did was get involved with Campbell. Rory is a more considered, nuanced person, but he's not strong enough to stand up to Campbell. I don't listen to them anymore .. used to like their podcast but their blindness/disregard for women infuriated me too much.

The only time Campbell's boorish nature has been a net positive was when he took on Owen Jones and made Owen look like a third rate student politics numpty.

When you question them on it, I've found some men will say that in the past women have told men to stay out of women's issues and that they don't have the right to have an opinion on women's issues and told men that they can't be feminists because they're men. So standing back and letting TRAs attack women feels like either cluelessness that the problem is at root a male issue and thus for males to tackle OR it's malicious compliance of some sort.

If I were a man I would do my research before commenting on women's issues. I would want to demonstrate that I understood what the problems were. I would be acutely aware that I was in danger of coming across as a complete knob with no actual knowledge on the subject.

@WallaceinAnderland
Alistair Campbell thinks that women’s issues are beneath his lofty intellect, so he doesn’t give a toss about whether anyone thinks he’s a knob because he doesn’t take an interest.

In fact the thought that anyone could think he was a knob for any reason has probably never even crossed his mind.

I think RS was running for PM against BJ, not mayor

I've just listened to this now and hoped there was a thread! Rory clearly is reading up on it but AC was beyond rude - he refused to read what JK said because he knew what she'd say...!!!!

Anyway, I'm planning to email them and it would be good if others did too. The email is: [email protected]

I'd like them to understand that this is a big issue and if labour get a landslide, there will be no one voicing legitimate concerns of many women (and most men agree that TWAW is nonsense, but they can't see the danger in it).

As a side note to this, the last The Rest is Politics gave a tiny mention to Rosie Duffield cancelling hustings because of fear of violence in the recent podcast on elections.

Apart from everything else, to me it is the height of arrogance, and self importance, to declare that you know all about something that you haven’t even bothered to read. People have done that to me, like they just know something, and will not do you the courtesy to actually read whatever it is they pronounce opinions on that differ to mine, as they just know because they are so much more knowledgeable than me.

She may thinks she speaks for women ‘but not the women in my life

So? Is he saying the rest of us don't matter? Arrogant fucker.

The rest is history mentioned her having to do this too because they’re doing a series on elections

theyre both hopeless on this issue. They can’t be arsed with it, they are the literal embodiment of men who cant hear women because their voices are too high or something

I wonder what other issues AC allows his daughter to do his thinking on - foreign policy perhaps? Our relations with the EU? Policy on dealing with rural drugs problems? Housing? Or is it just this one thing

i know they've made a lot of money from it, but the worst thing Rory Stewart ever did was get involved with Campbell. Rory is a more considered, nuanced person, but he's not strong enough to stand up to Campbell. I don't listen to them anymore .. used to like their podcast but their blindness/disregard for women infuriated me too much.
This exactly. I stopped listening when they 1st addressed the issue, about a year ago.

Didn't his wife Fiona Miller, write an article about how difficult she found communicating with him at times? As a result of his depression if I recall correctly?

The violence committed by men necessitating the need for single sex spaces is absolutely to do with men. Ultimately this is only a 'women's' problem because they're on the receiving end of it. So many men are prepared to see VAWG as cultural wallpaper that they wouldn't have chosen but they're prepared to live with.

I have very mixed feelings about AC. Used to admire in the Blair days and his openness/writing about his depression and alcoholism were impressive, but his arrogance and refusal to acknowledge women's rights issues really wind me up.

Alistair Campbell is a well known arse on this issue. I think read somewhere he has skin in the game a la David Tenant.

BUT then says as men it’s not really their issue so they should just ‘step back’.

But it is men who are causing the issue for women.

🤦‍♀️ I meant to type The Rest Is History. That’s what you get when listening to a podcast, reading Mumsnet and trying to get ready for work 😂

I agree with you, but I thought it interesting it was mentioned.