Norwegian cheese

 For a while now, I've been a total TRIP groupie: The Rest is Politics is a podcast where Alastair Campbell (Lab.) and Rory Stewart (Con.) agree to disagree agreeably. We spent the Bloomsday weekend in Dublin, jest hangin', with Dau.I and Dau.II who are bunking together in D7. On Monday we went on a site-visit to the branch where Dau.I is currently Senior Assistant Librarian. We were there to bust her out of work for lunch, but I went browsing the This Just In shelves and came away with three (3) books. 

Having galloped through Rory Stewart's recentbio in May, it seemed only parity-of-esteem fair to read But What Can I Do? Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It by Alastair Campbell. Campbell is a prolific writer (and reader) of books, mostly about politics but he has interesting things to say about mental health [full metal mental breakdown 1986], sport [did I tell you I played soccer with Maradona] and leadership. This book can be read as a primer for (young) people who want to Do Something about the evil which stalks the land. Pick your evil, whatever riles your goat: bees, fitness, Gaza, housing, Маріуполь, mental health, period poverty, school dinners, sleep hygiene. Don't spread yourself too thin; keep focus; pick your battles

The first third of the book sets the stage for the post-truth world in which we now endure. In 1994, after another rotten in the state scandal in British politics, John "PM" Major set up a committee to set standards in public office. Thereafter everyone would know what was not okay chaps. The first chair was an eminent son-of-Kerry top judge Michael Nolan and the Nolan Principles set out the requirements for those who wished to serve: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. It is worth three minutes of your time to go through the executive summary, even if you only run an after-school ping-pong club.

eee but Cambell loves his lists and his acronyms. GGOOB getting good out of bad is his watchword for thinking positive in adversity. He cites a number of highly successful people HSP? who reckon that they were made by their set-backs. Operationally, he suggests that problems / campaigns can be more effectively approached by separating Objective and Strategy from Tactics. He was recently invited to inspire a group of Norwegian business leaders: that's when he learned that OST is the Norwegian for cheese. Each chapter in the second (how you can help fix it) and third (taking the next step) part of the book ends with summary bullet points of advice for wannabees.

You can't keep a successful author from churning them out: agents, publishers, and publicists require it. Campbell's latest ventures are a brace of kids' books: Little Experts: Why Politics Matters for primary school children, and Alastair Campbell Talks Politics for teens. Available in August.

Big shout-out to/for Fiona Millar, Campbell's power behind the throne and a person in her own right. She stuck by her man when he was being insufferably ambitious, when his life imploded and when he gave up The Dhrink. Here they are [50m] talking about their journey.