I have given Nick Clegg a mild (very mild) kicking in the Spectator diary this week, so may I say a few words of praise and thanks to the embattled deputy PM. If it is true that the government, at Clegg’s insistence, is...
Read MoreI don’t agree with every word of Lionel Barber’s Cudlipp Lecture last night, and I hope the FT editor’s larynx was coated in irony when he spoke of Paul Dacre towards the end. But for journalists in particular,...
Read MoreEd Miliband will know well enough not to put too much faith in this morning’s poll showing Labour 11 points ahead of the Tories. Better to be ahead than behind, but at this stage of the Parliament it is as much about bad...
Read MoreThe New Statesman this week runs a piece I wrote about what I had learned from reading my diaries of our first two years in power. Here it is … ‘Nobody can accuse you of writing a self-serving memoir,’ said...
Read MoreI was rushing around a lot yesterday making a short film on phone-hacking for The One Show on Monday, having earlier done an interview for a much longer Despatches documentary being made on the same subject. TV can be a very...
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by
"Your country needs you. Your world needs you. Your time is now."
Our politics is a mess. We have leaders who can't or shouldn't be allowed to lead. We endure governments that lie, and seek to undermine our democratic values. And we are confronted with policies that serve the interests of the privileged few. It's no surprise that so many of us feel frustrated, let down and drawn to ask, 'But what can I do?' That question is the inspiration behind this book. It's a question regularly posed to Alastair Campbell, not least in reaction to The Rest is Politics, the chart-topping podcast he presents with former Tory Cabinet minister Rory Stewart. His answer, typically, is forthright and impassioned. We cannot afford to stand on the sidelines. If we think things need to change, then we need to change them, and that means getting involved. But What Can I Do? provides each of us with the motivation and the tools to make a difference. Opening with an acute analysis of our polarised world and the populists and extremists who have shaped it, it goes on to show how we help transform it. It explains how we can develop our skills of advocacy and persuasion. It draws on Alastair’s long experience, as well as on role models and lessons from history, to offer practical tips on starting and leading a campaign. It offers advice on developing confidence and coping with criticism and setbacks. And it sets out the practical steps by which we can become political players ourselves. Part call to arms, part practical handbook, But What Can I Do? will prove required reading for anyone who wants to help change things for the better.