Tony Blair's ex-Master of Spin and closest adviser is on a media whirlwind promoting his diary. Campbell's apparently straight talking nature gives the prospects of some tantalizing insight into the inner workings of number 10 for the majority of Blair's premiership. He's not getting it all his own way, though. BBC Radio 4's John Humphrey's on the
Today Programme (
Real audio) (
MP3) was more interested in the failings of a government and political movement for which he was an architect and key player, and particularly Campbell's legacy of elevating the role of spin in British politics, even in the inner working of government, allegedly sexing up an intelligence dossier in order to make a more compelling case for war in Iraq (
See 10 ways to sex up a dossier). The Guardian, in an article titled
Did he mean me?, invited some of those named in his diaries to give feedback, or should that be biteback?
posted by nthdegx
on Jul 11, 2007 -
7 comments
Prime Minister's Questions is a weekly televised convention in the UK started in the 1950s during which Members of Parliament get a chance to hold their leader accountable for
his or
her actions. Sick of
boring political meetings? "PMQ" is
fast-paced,
hip,
heated,
eloquent,
insulting, and
sometimes hilarious. In fact,
the inherant humor of it is has been
well explored.
But brits aren't the only ones; "
Question Time", as it's called generically, has been adapted in
other countries as well. Yet the show often shocks Americans since
the concept of weekly
unscripted
access to leaders without giving
days of question prep-time seems like a fantasy. Of course, maybe the
alternative (0:41) is much worse.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed
on Dec 5, 2006 -
63 comments
Blair loses in the Commons for the first time since his election in 1997. MPs refused to pass laws allowing terrorist suspects to be jailed without trial for 90 days, and Blair's parliamentary majority of 66 turned into a minority of 31. The government has been holding back on the vote for months in an attempt to persuade their party to back the Prime Minister - they failed.
posted by Pretty_Generic
on Nov 9, 2005 -
38 comments
The UK local elections
have taken place, and for the first time ever forced the ruling Labour government into third position, with
their worst showing in history. Is this just a mid-term blip, or the culmination of the huge Iraq backlash that will topple the government? With Bush in trouble too, will any of the warring leaders be left come November? And can the
Big Intervention website topple Blair himself?
posted by wibbler
on Jun 11, 2004 -
13 comments
The BBC is asking visitors of its news site to
vote from a shortlist of the ten most embarrassing political moments. Visitors can watch a
short film [real media] which shows all ten nominated moments (forgive the home-video moments style background muzak). There's some variety here: Tony Blair and Neil Kinnock in moments exhibiting a baffling degree of misguidedness, George W Bush and Kenneth Clarke in tight spots (figuratively and literally), while Charles Kennedy and John Prescott probably coming out of their situations looking better than they did beforehand. For me the most cringe-inducing clip is that of John Redwood, the then newly appointed Secretary of State for Wales, attempting to mime the Welsh national anthem. Genuinely difficult to watch.
posted by nthdegx
on Dec 5, 2003 -
31 comments
“We fear the government using the current climate of fear and uncertainty about the future as a means to allow itself sweeping powers without an appropriate consideration of proportionality"
......no-go zones ........ power to ban peaceful protest ...... destroy private property without compensation ........prepare for the introduction of compulsory identity cards .... The climate seems to be changing.
posted by JohnR
on Nov 26, 2003 -
3 comments
Blair, the war criminal Tom Dalyell, a Labour MP with over 41 years of service in the House of Commons has voted with his Labour Party constitutency to call for Blair to reconsider his postion as party leader. He further states that he believes "[Blair] should be branded as a war criminal and sent to the Hague".
posted by lometogo
on Mar 27, 2003 -
22 comments
At what point does a government have to stop and wonder if it's judged the mood correctly?
The UK government manages to
bribe a rebel with a cushy job, but not
one, not
two, but
three other MPs walk away from the government in one day.
Are things going wrong in the UK?
posted by twine42
on Mar 18, 2003 -
63 comments
Blair now a 'legitimate target.' A spokesman for a British Islamic group has said Tony Blair is a 'legitimate target.' According to spokesman, "This means if any Muslim wanted to kill him or get rid of him, I would not shed any tears." Salman Rushdie roomate jokes aside, this is pretty chilling.
posted by prodigal
on Oct 10, 2001 -
23 comments
Tony Blair wants to nix Double Jeopardy protection. A right that has been considered vital since the days of the Magna Carta is under threat from Labour. Blair wants to make it possible that "
someone acquitted of a killing can be put on trial again if new evidence emerges". Why not just be sure of the case in the first place? This would only cause a rush to trial by unprepared prosecutors.
posted by dwivian
on Jun 25, 2001 -
11 comments
Labour Party WINS UK General Election Tony Blair's Labour Party now officially wins the general election after getting the needed 330 constituencies. Not all the results are in yet, but it's not important. Labour are past the post. Well done Tony!
posted by wackybrit
on Jun 7, 2001 -
23 comments
Ballot boxing. John Prescott, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister and Tony Blair's right hand (or should that be left jab) man was involved in a skirmish today while on the campaign trail, seemingly throwing the first punch. Politicians seem to be addressing the issue of voter apathy in more erm, 'innovative' ways these days.
posted by Markb
on May 16, 2001 -
23 comments
