Alastair at the Inquiry, again

So once again Alastair Campbell has been in front of an inquiry into the Iraq War. And surprise, surprise, there were no surprises. No clangers were dropped, no faux pas made. And of course none could really have been expected. But that did not stop today's media feeding frenzy. There was a veritable scrum of photographers waiting for him when he arrived to give evidence, News 24 and Sky broadcast the lengthy session live, we will have Andrew Gilligan and all manner of talking heads commenting on his performance on every news programme, paper and website for the next 24 hours and don't even get me started on the write-throughs. Alastair is one of those people that no matter how much journalists criticise, they can't get enough of him. Back in the days when he was the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (1997-2001), his twice-daily briefings to the Lobby (Westminster-based political correspondents) were something to behold. They would sit there desperate to get his attention, hanging on every word like love-struck teenagers. Of course they would claim afterwards that they had "grilled him" during the briefings, but take it from one who was there, there was an awful lot of simpering in the mix. And it got worse when, after the 2001 election, he became the No 10 Director of Communications and Strategy and stopped giving briefings. The response of the hacks was almost comical - they became rejected love-sick teenagers, furious at being spurned, this time desperate to get revenge. Seems like old times.

New year resolutions

I have been thinking about new year resolutions. Apart from my rollovers (losing weight, getting fit and doing something new and/or scary at least once a month), my personal goals for 2010 are (in no particular order) 1. do everything in my power to stop Nick Griffin winning Barking (www.hopenotehate.org.uk) 2. perfect the New York Cheesecake 3. post blogs more frequently 4. shine a spotlight on the hypocrisy of those in power be it political or economic. Talking of which, can I add my two-pen'th in on Iris Robinson? I know acres of news space has been spent on Mrs Robinson, but the sheer hypocrisy of the woman does bear repeating: there she was condemning homosexuality as an abomination when she was having an adulteress affair with a teenager to whom she was allegedly channelling public money. Shameful.

Thank god for the Generals

On the day that the Generals have taken on the BNP, I find myself wondering where all the politicians are. They were queuing up last week to comment on Sir Thomas Legg's intervention on their expenses but I have heard not a peep from a senior Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem MP, or even a not so senior one. They appear to be adhering to the view that it is best not to engage in debate with, or indeed on, the BNP. And they are wrong. Very wrong. This is why the BNP has been able to gain ground. They have been allowed to get away with spreading vicious lies by politicians not prepared to tackle them for fear of getting into difficult territory. So we are left with Lord Guthrie and Generals Cordingley, Jackson and Dannatt to make stand against racism and extremism. And never have I been so pleased to see men in uniform getting stuck in - those of you who know me will know how uncharacteristic this is, believe me I would be the first on the streets in the event of a military coup - good on them. And let me add special mention of and indeed thanks to Simon Weston who has been on the airwaves all day filling the vacuum left by the mainstream politicians and calling Nick Griffin and his hateful party what they are - racist liars.

Shrit - not again!

So the conference season is finally over. Thank god. I returned to London exhausted by the hours of standing at stands, fringe meetings and bars. My liver and digestive system have suffered untold damage, my spleen took a bit of a battering as well. I was asked yesterday for my conference highs. Clearly the questioner had never experienced "conference" for he would not otherwise have asked. How can the massing of politicians, political journalists and grassroots activists possibly result in any highs? Well, I say that but a funny thing happened, indeed it happened twice. At the Labour Conference, as we waited for the Dear Leader to give his speech, I was approached by a young man from Dow Jones online and asked to give my thoughts on the occasion. Not that funny you might think, this is not the first time I have been asked to give an interview and I am sure it would be the last. But this time, the wording of the request "Ms Vadera, Would you like to talk to Dow Jones about Mr Brown's speech?" I should of course have proceeded to opine away. Alas I laughed and when my colleague declared himself Neil Kinnock the game was up. The hapless reporter skulked away, very embrassed. But he needn't have been for a far more experienced journalist made the same mistake the following week. Yes, Mr Jon Snow, for it was he, strode up to me in the lobby of the Palace Hotel in Manchester, kissed me on both cheeks and said "How lovely to see you in your new guise". It was evident he had mistaken me for the good baroness but what he thought she was doing at the Tory Conference I do not know. What I do know is that both Shriti and I are of Asian descent but as far as I am concerned that is the limit of our similarity. What do you think?

Top of the class

Can I be the only one perturbed by the story running in the UK media today that revealed (yes it was obvious PR stunt) that teachers expect children called Callum, Kyle, Chelsea or Chardonnay to be naughty and Alexanders, Alices and Sophies to be good? It has been a long time since I saw something so riddled with class prejudices. Those living outside of the UK may not at first glance appreciate that the "naughty" names are all associated with working class families while the "good" children have nice middle class names. No wonder we find failing schools in poor neighbourhoods - it would seem children are being written off on the first day of school with just a glance at the register. The wonderfully named Faye Mingo who commissioned the research says "It's only natural for teachers to make judgements . . . but I'm sure there are happy to be proved wrong. After all, there is always an exception to every rule." Well I am sure that is a great comfort to all the Daniels and Jessicas who start school this week. Our children deserve better whether they are named Jack, Charlie or Elizabeth.

Griffin on QT

So the BBC is considering inviting Nick Griffin on to Question Time - cue much handwringing and angsting about whether it is appropriate to give the leader of the ugly BNP a platform. Well, I say bring it on. As I have said before, the "not giving them the oxygen of publicity" strategy has never worked. Right thinking people should be prepared to tackle BNP lies everywhere and anywhere. I personally can't wait to see what contribution the unpleasant Mr Griffin makes to thoughtful political debate. However polished he starts out, he will soon reveal his and his party's true colours. The veneer of respectability is very thin and he willl soon start ranting about the need to keep England English, railing against the BBC for including black characters in Robin Hood or other such nonsense. He can't help himself, the hate just pours out of him. My only plea to the QT production team is that it ensures that the other panellists won't be cowed in the presence of a racist, are prepared to have the debate and aren't handwringers themselves. May I suggest a few potential candidates? Archbishop John Sentamu, Stephen Fry, Val Amos, William Hague, Gary Younge, Tony Benn, Malorie Blackman. As for me, I would love to be in the audience, watching his thinking being taken apart piece by piece.

New year, new beginnings

January take your place behind September - for me this is the start of the new year. Years spent in formal education and then working in politics provoke a Pavlovian response in my to the days after the August Bank Holiday. I want to make resolutions, get my uniform ready, buy a new satchel (these days its a handbag). This year is no exception. Indeed this year the feeling is more acute for my company (Grayling) has in the last few days merged with two sister companies (Trimedia and Mmd). So we start the new year as a new company - a much bigger company, many more people in many more places. It is very exciting and, if I am honest, a bit daunting. New colleagues to meet, new opportunities seize. I feel as I did when I moved from junior (Dollis) to secondary (Copthall) school . Excited and looking forward to the challenge ahead but ever so slightly anxious about the change. The good thing this time is that we are all new girls and boys starting big school at the same time, all hoping to impress the teachers, make new friends and come out of it having had a good experience and with a string of A*s to our names.



Happy New Year!