Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe - S6 EP36: Alastair Campbell

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the former journalist and strategist, author and mental health campaigner - Alastair Campbell. His new book 'But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It' is available now. This episode includes discussion of alcoholism and depression. Please keep this in mind when deciding if, how and when you’ll listen. For resources on these topics, visit https://resources.byspotify.com/. Parenting Hell is available exclusively (for free!) only on Spotify every Tuesday and Friday. Please leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs... xx If you want to get in touch with the show here's how: EMAIL: [e-mail] INSTAGRAM: @parentinghell MAILING LIST: parentinghellpodcast.mailchimpsites.com  A 'Keep It Light Media' Production  Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, I'm Rob Beckett. And I'm Josh Winnockham. Welcome to Parenting Hell, the show in which Josh and I discuss what it's really like to be a parent, which I would say can be a little tricky. So, to make ourselves and hopefully you feel better about the trials and tribulations of modern-day parenting, each week we're chatting to a famous parent about how they're coping. Or hopefully how they're they're tha th hearing from you the listener with your tips, advice, and of course, tales of parenting woe. Because let's be honest, there are plenty of times when none of us know what we're doing.

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Learn more at Miller Light.C.A. Must be Legal Drinking Age. Hello you're listening to Parenting Hell with Hey Charlie, can you say Rob Beckett? And Josh Whitticum? Josh Whitticum. Josh Whitticum? How about me? Okay, can you say Rob Beckett?

And Josh Wittiken. What do you love again? Real nice guys, real nice. Real nice guys. That was a good one, wasn't it? It sounded Welsh. Were they Welsh? Uh, well, he's pretty cool, wasn't he? He had quite a sexy voice. Hi-relateable, sexy Rob and Josh. He's in Dubai so it's difficult to know.

Here is Charlie 29 months and his big sister Clara, 67 months. Introducing your names for the their told the podcast. We're all big fans although their mother doesn't like them hearing any swear words. So we have to listen in secret during school runs otherwise it keeps the tea thr of summer in Dubai, you absolute psycho, James. Oh, one thing we do talk about in this episode, before we start chatting about other things. We talked to Alistair Campbell and we do talk about addiction and alcoholism, so a little trigger warning about that. So I've got a couple of things to talk to you about Josh.

I've realized that I've been to like I've become a bit of an expert on Church Halls. Oh yeah taught me through it. We've just got a lot of opinions on Church Halls because... Go on. What's a what makes a good or a bad Church? Well you don't know you're in a good one so you're getting one and you realize they've they've spent a bit of money on this one they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they've they've they've they've to they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've They've done it, they've got a good collection play going around there. Exactly. They've got a big donor. Someone lives around here. Someone lives around here, a bit of money, loves a church. Someone's worried about going to heaven around here. A millionaires worried that a rich man can't get into heaven. And they've got like air on the wall. I tell you what, I do like to see the their like their like to like to like to like to like to see like to see now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now now like to see to see to see to see to see now now like to see to see to see to see to see to see to see now to see to see to see to see to see to see to see to see to see to see their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I do like to to to to to to their. I do like their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th th th th th th th the their th their their their their their their their their their you see them sort of school tables that fold down and get stacked, chairs that stack on each other. The VMop! Yeah. Why are they caging their radiators in churches? To stop children touching them and burning their hands, but

I never got it because then the metal on the cage gets hot. So they just made it bigger and hotter. Or is it to stop people turning the temper temtemtemtemtemtemtemtemtem tem tem tem tem the the the the the the the the the the the the the the temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature temperature Yeah, exactly. Or is it to stop people turning the temperature up and down so it doesn't get too expensive? Oh, man. Do you know, we'll turn it up? Rose? Does she have it too hot? She, I turned the heating off Rob. Yeah. I watched summer. Because it's May. Yeah, because it's May. Because it was fucking boiling. There was a radiator on in my room last night, Rob. Overnight? When I, about 7 p.m. You don't need radiators. Oh, she's not even here, Rob. She's scheduled it. On the nest?

You got a nest? We've got a hive. We've got a hive. Hive. Do you know what I love, more and anything is when a new invention comes out that's not fully painted like, you know Dyson sort of just were in charge of that for a bit. But there's inventions that come out there everyone goes, oh yeah that's quite good actually, just a little sort of smart heater thing and they go, oh that one's called the nest, what should we call it? What's like a nest but, hmmmahs? mound. Anyway, Churchill's, I realize I've been a lot of Churchill's, that's what I was talking

about. Oh yeah. And oh, the other things, Gabby Rosin left me a voice note, do you want to hear it? Yeah, there we go, listen to this. It was quite a fun, a random thing. Me and Gabby Rosin go way back. I used to do a radio show when she got me on to do like little comedy to years. Yeah, they, th. Yeah, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. Gabi, th. Gabi, th. Gabi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. Gab, th. Gab, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to thi, to two thi, thi, sort of like the main, well, only celebrity was there and it was just all my friends and family. My mate's went, why is Gabby Roslin here? Because then it's like someone from comedy they'll sort of get the link. But I was like, no, she came to my Lester Square gig years ago. Did she? Did she? Did she? She's so lovely. She's been on the show, and she? Listen to this. Oh my God, I just got off the tube. And there was a guy on the tube, pretending to be you and giving everybody autographs. And it wasn't you. You weren't on the tube right now at Piccadilly Circus.

Syserical. And everyone was Anyway, help you well, my darling. Lots of love. I haven't seen you for far too long. Big kisses. Oh, Gabby Roszi. That's amazing. That is so good. Was it on our stories now? Oh, it might have gone now. It wasn't. She didn't film the guy.

But if you are a tube user take a photo, we're trying to track this guy is. Because often there's this thing where people get impersonated on Instagram, but not in real life. In real life being Beckett, blimely. But just like, but no, but it's not great for me, is it though, is it? Because if he, because Gabby Rosal knows me, she's not, the to, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because was like, was it you? Because it sounded like you. Because she might thought I was having some sort of episode where I ignored her and just was going up to people

and getting photos. But if people are having photos, they must have thought it was me. So there are people that think I go on the tube and ask people if they want autographs. Yeah, which is not, which is not, which is not, th is not, th is not, great look PR-wise, is it? No, it's not ideal. And do you know, now I say this is a huge fan of Gabby Roslin, Rob. Oh yeah, you're aware of that. Yeah, absolutely. And I'm a huge respect to all of her work, and I think she's great.

Go on. But it's a bad sign, isn't it, for the fickleness of the fickleness of showbiz? When you're sat on a tube train as Gabby Roslin, not only are people ignoring you, but they're ignoring you in favor of a look-alike of someone who is currently more on the TV. Yes, but I imagine Gabby Roslin, who's a very lovely normal person would be on the tube. It gives you a head down headphones, you just get in all of a day. Yeah, I would argue. Not like old fake Bobby Beckett is walking on. Oh, aye!

Hey, here, old Rod Beckin, Rod Beckett, he's boulding around. I mean, photo. So I think I imagine people were going, is that Gabby Rosson, but they were far too concerned by the man pretending to be me shouting, well, mate, do you want a photo. Yeah, and do you know what what what what what what what what what the their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the th. Oh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, Rod, the, Rod, the, Rod. Oh, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to, to, th. the. th. ththat people could imagine doing that the problem is you are probably high near the top of the list. Yes and that annoys me actually because I think people do people come up and talk to me if I'm sat on my own as if like I'm scared and lonely and I'll be glad of it and I don't mind a chat that's a problem with your public image Rob you are prime approach the the street. No one's doing that with Dylan Moron. No, or Jack Deion Romish. They don't, they obviously know, recognize them, but they leave

them alone because I think they'll be told to piss off. Yeah, well I look like I'll be glad of it. Yeah, but I'm quite happy to be sat on my own. We haven't mentioned this oh, the two tou. After the two gig and this, and this, the th. And th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, th. And, the, the, thin, thin, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the tho, they, they, tho, tho, th. They, th. They, th. They, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thin, thin, thin, thou, the, tho. They're, tho. They're, tho. They're, they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're tho, my father-in-law came down backstage to say goodbye. Oh yeah! And we need to put this picture on Instagram. You were wearing a black and brownie beige striped top, horizontal stripes. Yeah. My mother-in-law was wearing a black and brownie beige horizontal stripe top. Astonishing it. Exactly the same, and actually the same thickness of stripe.

Not only was it the same and actually the same thickness of strife. Not only was it the same color. She's a well-dressed woman. Lovely lovely, very well turned out is his old Teresa and then then I we were laughing at that that you had the same tops on. Then Rose came along your wife and then Michael, Teresa's husband and they were both wearing the exact same color sort of orangey coaty coat. And it was hilarious. And the photo of us. We're loving it. Teresa and not so much enjoying the photo. I sa Teresa and Michael a bit more anxious about the photo where you and Rosa are having the term of your life. But yeah it was it was so funny. Trees were Michael not on high from having played the O2 maybe

whereas I'm still riding that wave. Yeah, you were still flying from that solo cup of tea you had at the interval, but yeah, we'll put that picture on Instagram. It's very, very enjoyable. Um, so, uh, should we bring on Alastair Campbell? He's got a book out, he mentions it? Yes, they're very competitive. Alista Campbell. So what is Alista? He's a writer. He was a spin doctor for Tony Blair and the Labour government. Is that spin doctor? In the 90s? Yeah, I think so. I think political advisor. Yeah, spin doctor would be the colloquial term I suppose. And now he has a podcast that's not quite as popular as ours

called The Rest is Politics. But he's a very, very interesting man, very interesting, very funny and he's got three kids that are all grown up that he talks about. And yeah, you get get a, he's got, he's got, the, the, th. the, th. th. the, th. th. their, their, th. their, th. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their, their, their, their, their, their, their their their their their their their thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, the co. the co. the co. the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. to. t but I think it's very interesting and good to talk about it but very funny man very interesting man is Alasta Campbell. Alista Campbell hello hello? Hello guys how are you you're like you see a little bit stressed at the start we thought it might be that you've got a busy morning because there's loads of like election results coming in and the polls and you might be like on all the channels too actually turns out you've got a dog in your house that's angry about a dog that lives next door is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is about parenting this isn't it? Yes. So our daughter Grace who is a

comedian Josh is in there. Yeah. And she lives next door because when my mom was still alive, Fiona's mom is still alive as well. She's now 98. And we need a dog now? Yeah. Slightly. Don't worry. It's all color.

So we thought being nice children of a certain generation, that a flat that flat, and the market next door. Always get that flat. And then one of our mums can live there whenever they feel like, well, my mom died, and in any way she lived up north. Kiona's mom decided living next to us would not be compatible with her life. So Grace spotted a gap in the market. So anyway, and then Grace decides to get a dog, similar breed to our own.

What breed have you got? Cavalier King Charles, very, very topical. Yes. So and then decides to go to America while the dog's on heat. We've been dealing with that and our dog Sky, she's sort of getting used to it but if she sees the little dog Eddie getting again within a sort of three-mile radius of her dog bowl. Oh right. That's what you're hearing next door. So they're in there together at the moment in the like the house. I'm. So they're in there together at the moment in the house? I'm guessing from the silence now that Fiona has picked up on my vibes and they separated them.

Do you do not? I think what people must, I'm very excited to know how Alistair Campbell parents because I'd say you've got a reputation for strong vibes if you want to produce strong vibes is that fair to say? Yeah. Do you parent like you manage the press core in 1997? No. No. No. Probably too far the other way. Really you're softy. So if you've got one daughter is that just Grace? Is that? Grace is the youngest and you've got two older brothers. And what ages are they? Rory is 35 and Calum's 33 and Grace is 29 last week.

Right, okay, so busy house, three of them. No, well it was a busy house, but I think the reason why I probably am a bit, I can be very tough. But they've th. I can be I can be I can be I can be I can be I can be I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. I can be very th. th. th. thi though though though though thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. to to to to to to to to to to the. to the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the.tough, but they've got to push me a long, long way before that happens. Yeah. A long way. And I think actually the, partly we are quite liberal in our views, sort of stuff like parenting. But we are also, I think there's a lot of guilt going on in me, that the fact that, and Grace does, there's a lot of her comedy gets into this thing about you know, absent parents and a daddy was never there and a daddy loved Tony Blair more than he loved me and all that stuff. Yeah. So I think that maybe makes us, makes us a bit softer than we otherwise would be and probably should be. So, because you were at the point of their child, like the, say 97 to whatever, 2003 or whatever, the the the the the the the the th, th, th, the th, th, th, th, th, and the th, and the th, and the th, and th, and the th, and the th, and th, and th, and th. And that, and that, and that, ab ab aba, ab aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, aba, ab ab ab aba, ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab ab aba, they, they, they, they, they, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet, abet..a, abet.a, abet.a, abet. Aea, abet. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A at the point of their child like the say 97 to whatever 2003 or whatever were the key moments when you were really busy.

Well no I started in 1994 in opposition and and Grace had literally just been born. Right. Wow. Rory was a school. Callum was just starting school and Grace wasn't even born when, was Grace born when John Smith died? Yeah she'd just been born. So a bit like the our age of our kids now Josh that yeah you know I've got five on a seven year old and just has got younger younger ones but it's sort of like the peak bit of their child was was when your career was going stratospheric really wasn't it? It's interesting how you do you count them that way from the young to the older. Yeah. Interesting. Does the older child,

does the oldest child resent them the fact that the five of yours is your favorite? Is that how you deal with a difficult question to put it back on other people? No, what I do is I have say five and seven because then I'm highlighting I've got a younger one rather and so it looks like it's still hard because you worry when you do a parenting podcast. You go, yeah, because you know what it's start when they're 15 and 18 and you go, I've not actually seen them for her. That is quite hardcore bits of parents because when they're really young and babies it's hard but they don't know you're not there but when they are five six seven and eight that around that age and you are their they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they working, I imagine the hours you were doing in that period of an on-stop because you are working so much. Do you think there's a bit of guilt there now they're older that you were not there as much? Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I don't

they get to me that much. I think it gets to Fiona more. I think it gets to Fiona more. And the truth is I did she did pick up pick up a lot of the pieces and she was doing the job as well. She tells this terrible story about me which he really is terrible but you're not going to like this that I think you're not going to think of a good person. Oh there a lot of people don't anyway so that's fine. Yeah but you don't Josh I know you think I'm absolutely marvellous. So I made you what you are by giving you your best element on that. Yeah, the team program you do. You don't know. But just those people who do watch your program ought to know that when they do that bullshit buzzer thing, that was my idea. I didn't get a single penny for it.

I get no thanks for it, no credit. What's this buzz thing? There's th. There's. There's. There's. There's. There's. There's. T th. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. thin. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. But, I. But, I. But, I. But, I. But, I. But, I's. But, I's. But, I's. But, I's. I's. And thin. And thin. And the. And the. And thin. And together. And, together. And, together. And, together. And, thoooooooooe. And th. And the. And th. And this buzzer thing? There's a bullshit button on the last leg that Hillsy classes that says bullshit. And when we were interviewing Nick Klag, all those years ago when he was the deputy prime minister, wasn't he? We had you on to teach Alex how to do a political interview and you said you should do a button that says bullshit. And that was your idea, but our idea was to run with that increasingly thin joke for eight more years. And the commitment to that is quite impressive, is it? Yeah, but to think, so they benefited hugely financially and culturally from an idea for which

they literally never paid me a penny. You are good at spin because I didn't even know that button exists and I'm in the industry. Anyway, so this is a terrible story. So what happens this, that John Smith, the Labour leader, died in May 1994. Tony Blair became Labour leader in the election that followed it, and then he asked me to work for him and I said no, lots of reasons, but one of them was Fiona didn't want me to do it my parents didn't want to do it two young kids two young boys and a daughter who's just been born doing pretty well in journalism just got my life together after a breakdown all this sort of stuff going on

and anyway Tony and he sort of tho' he's gonna work on me so he and Shary and the kids they literally just turned up on holiday where we were the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to to their. to to to to to to to to to to to to their. their. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the the. the the the. the the. the the the. the. to the. to to to to to to to to to to to work on me. So he and Shari and the kids, they literally just turned up on holiday where we were. Oh wow, like Alex Ferguson would. A bit like that, a bit like that. And also we were on holiday with Neil and Glenn. I'm not done it, don't want to make this like sound like a Labour Party so so proper, but we were on holiday with Neil and Glenn, where was you? We're in France? We're in France. And Neil was also trying to talk me out. I love Europe that long, didn't they? Tony Ryan did, yeah. So, that's the, what is it? We can go, that's the longest I've gone to play with that I mentioned in Brexit. So Tony, Tony taughts me into it. And he then goes off. I then, now I've decided I'm going to do it. I'm just in the zone already and I want

to get back to start working planning. So I say, look, I'm going to go back a few days early. I know this is telling, it gets worse, it gets worse. So I don't particularly want to take train and I don't want to fly, so we'll take the car, I think you should get a higher car for the rest So I'm going to take the car, I think you should get a hired car for the rest of the holiday. So I drove Gioda and the kids to this hire car place. But it wasn't open, it wasn't open yet, but I was in a hurry. Oh no. I know it's terrible. So you left her and the kids at the higher car place to wait for it to open and then you drove back to go to work. Yeah. But you won the election.

With, with Josh, the kind of landslide that political parties have dreamtops. And what's more on the day, on the day, on the day, here's another, there's some good name dropping coming up. On the day that we won the election, Tony and Sharia had to go to the palace to see the Queen. So that's how it works. And I'll try and educate you as we go. That's how it works. I've seen the Michael Sheen movie. I've seen the Michael Sheen movie. So we I were in the were in the car behind behind the cops. So we get we get to the palace and we get siphoned off into this sort of side room and all the sort of palace courtiers are there and we're talking to them while Tony and Sharia go off to see the Queen.

And I'm talking to Robin Janvin who is the Queen's private secretary and he's looking over my shoulder, Mr. Talley's on behind me. And he says, oh, look at those. And they're reporting live from Downing Street. And Robin goes, oh, lovely children. And I turn around, it's my kids on the tele. I said, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, look, I haven't seen the braging. There's great for the little flag of the boys. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having to spend to power your scale with no preset spending limit. Redefine possible with business platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply.

Visit A.x.c.S.A. slash Business Platinum. This episode is brought to you by Nespraso. Elevate your morning coffee ritual. From the first sip of coffee in the morning to the on-the-go cup. Make every morning unforgettable with Nespresso. Discover a world of possibilities with or without milk. Visit Nespresso.c.c.c.a. to learn more or an espresso boutique near you. Well, how was Tony Blair with the kids? Was he good? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. It still is. In fact, Grace does this hilarious act where she got, when she started to do comedy,

she was doing a gig in London somewhere and she mentioned that I was her dad. A woman in the audience went absolutely berserk. They started shouting at her and your dad's a war, criminal and do-da-da, and then stormed the stage. Oh my word. Right, so anyway, they took her off. So she phoned me out and she told about it. She sounded a little bit shaken up about it. The next day I was with Tony, right? So I was telling you about me, he said, oh, that's tell. That's terrible. That's so bad. That's all because of me. And he's all because of me and it's quite bad. And he felt quite about it. At which. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. At. the the the the the the the the the next. And, the next, the next, the next, the next. And the next, the next, the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And mean who cares in the end silly old cow blah blah she's very good like that she's very good in my new book which we have not even we are we do that we do it in the middle I knew that was gonna I've invented a new word called perseverance and Grace is very persivilian she

persevered and she's resilient so she bounced back so I'm actually with the guy who's fault it was do you want to have a quick chat so I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I the the the to to the to the to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to. the the try. the the try. the to to to to to the the to the the the the the the the guy whose fault it was. Do you want to have a quick chapter? So I put him on and Tony just did this oh grace I'm so sorry it's horrible for that to happen. And it's you know it's not it's not your fault it's not your dance well it's really about me isn't it. And so then she tells this story and she says to I uniquely in the world I'm the one person to whom Tony Blair has apologized for the Iraq war. So, get good out of bad, we say. And you come across us so proud, right, when you talk about your daughter being a comedian. Is that not stressful? I'd say it, and I think you'd agree with me on this, Rob, I'd find it incredibly stressful to have a daughter or son as a comedian?. Well yeah, but I think Alice had a slightly different, difficult, stressful job to us

where in the grand scheme of things, running an election campaign, isn't as, you know, I think, I think, you know, my son, my son, Callum, the thing I'm proud of him about is the fact that he's a recovering alcoholic. He was, you know, he's not had a drink for 11 years. And that makes me feel proud about him. And like I was our old boy Rory, just, you know, one of the cleverest kids you could be. And so I am proud of them. The thing with watching Grace a comedy, no, it's difficult to be honest. It is difficult. And she does want, she wants to our approval a lot. And I the the th. And I tho to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the to the the their. their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the too. the the too. the too. too. too. to be to be to be to it is difficult. And she does want, she wants our approval a lot. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but so she wants us to go to her shows. A lot of the first one, the first time she was, did the Edinburgh festival, a lot, it was actually called Why I will never

go into politics. So it was about, a lot of it was about growing up with me as her dad. And she says, just go at the back. And the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, and th, and th, and to, to, to, to, to, th. th. to, to, to, to, to, to, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, th. But, th. But, th. But, th, th, th, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, tie, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, too, too, to go in the back. But it was one of these events where you sat at the back but then everybody had to go past you to get into their seats. So I'm sitting at the back and everybody sees me and it, and she then when she gets onto all that quite about a good third of them would look round at me first before they laughed. So she'd do her stuff. They'd look like if I was laughing they'd feel it's okay to laugh. Yeah. They were sort of feeling my pain I think.

What's it like to hear her talk about sex? Because she's very open. It's quite difficult to be honest. I mean, she talks about stuff that I wouldn't talk about to my best mate. Yeah, but on stage you're front of hundreds of people. There's this bit where, I mean, I don't even know if I can bring myself to describe it. She's basically, she's giving a blowjob to a microphone on the stage and people are laughing a lot. I tell you what I do, I put myself in this thing where I really enjoy the fact that people are laughing and I look at them. I look at them laughing, I think, is it great they're laughing at it?

And I sometimes do, when she does stuff, I sometimes think I pretend it's somebody else. Yeah, yeah. I think in a way though, I think all comedians, when you first break through, unless you're a character act, you, the whole thing is introducing yourself to the world of comedy and go, hello, this is me, this is who I am. All my stuff was dominated by class and what my parents did and said, and her dad happens to be someone who's very well known. so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, and th. thi, and she, and she, and she, and she, and she, and she's, and she's, and she's, and she's, and she's, thi, and she's, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, the the the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th.. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their, their, their, it's weird if she doesn't and then the shock stuff is probably coming through because that's what's more

shocking than your dad being honest to Campbell is to do stuff about sex and blow jobs because that sort of goes who cares about what your dad is if that's the shocking material however I imagine over time she'll as all comics grow and develop you find your voice and different things you want to talk about and all comics then end up just doing satirical stuff because you sort of get slightly bored about talking about yourself you just talk about your view on things. Yeah well that's that's that's really interesting because I think that's what's happening. That's what's happening. So the last show I went to was the Ali Pala the funny and she got standing in the vation and what have you. But actually afterwards speaking to people, Tessa Jowl's daughter, Jess, was there and she said, you know what, that was one of the most impressive feminist arguments I've

ever seen. And it was really when you boiled it down, it was like, it was a show about feminism, but it was just incredibly funny. And I think that's where she's moving, She's moving to a different space where she weren't. Would you tell her if she had a bad gig? I'd tell her if she wasn't as good as I expected it to be, yeah. Would she get quite upset with that? Really? Yeah. But she knows, deep down she knows. I mean, I've never seen I had a really bad one ever. But I've seen sometimes because you know when you see particular when she was doing the Edinburgh show she was going around little places in London and trying out material and stuff and I go along. And look I help her with stuff she tries out all her stuff on me I go and watch it I tell her

where I think she could tighten things up or deliver things better I give some you know she denies this but I give us some pretty good material. Let's do your book now as well at this point before we get back into parenting. You're only in there using us and our listeners and our views. You're very competitive. You're trying to get me on since week one, I'm just going to read you the text. Now it only because Josh loves you, you know, I'm quite chilled out about it, but you're, he's the proper fan girl, but you, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to thi, thi, to to to to to to to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thi's thin, thi's thi's thi's thi's thi, thi, thi a proper fan girl, but... Right, I'm going to read you what you said. I said, Hi, Mr. C, it feels like it's been too long before I ask the air.

Mr. C, you fucking loser. That is lame, isn't it? Sorry, it's been a long time, but my tongu's firmly up your ass, it's very difficult to a text. Mr. C. Fark you. Sorry. Would you like to come on the most popular podcast in the country? We would love to have you on parenting out of love. I said I already present it. No you don't.

In what way are you put, in what way would you usefully promote my book out in May? That was your response. And then you've put, uh, could we do it to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their to to to to their to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the their the the their their the most the most the most the the the to come, so to come, so to come the to come the the the the the the the most. So, so the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the. the. tho. tho. tho. thoooooooo. Would to to to to thoooooo. to to to tho. to to tho. to your response. And then you've put, that's fair enough. Could we do it around book time, May? Or are you desperate to have me on to give you a bit of a boost? So you've got to read my emails Josh, have you read the book? But you've read the book? I've read the book.

So I haven't read the full thing. But I'm enjoying it. And I've. I've the th. I've th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th th th th th th th th th toe. toe. to toe. toe. th thathea. toe, thoome, thoome, thoome, thoome, thoome, thoome. Could. Could. Could. Could. Could. Could. Could. Could. Could. th. th. C. th. the th. C. C. th. C. th. C. C. C. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. C. the. the. the. C. the. toe. toe. toe. toe. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. toea. to. hours ago, so I haven't read the full thing, but I'm enjoying it, and I've scanned through, so I haven't just read the start. I've read your book Winners, I've read that one as well, but I've not read this one. Josh does the read, you know, I just pick up the banter if it gets a bit awkward or quiet. That's how we separate it. then roles actually is... This is a good delineation of roles I would say. Exactly, you know, but it's called why politics has gone so wrong and how you can help pick them. But what can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What do you tell us, Alistair? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? What can I do? before he got a bit testy. I thought I thought we've done well there.

Yeah, well, yeah, because you know, sometimes you feel like politics can be a bit elitist and if you don't know everything about it and you do something wrong, you can be laughed at. So thanks to tell me I read the tit point, we can all do something is the point. I think what I try to do is debunk this idea. The one, politicians are all the same, no they're not, they're very, very different and who's in power really really matters. Two, that nothing ever changes.

Change is happening so fast and the question is do you want to be part of it or do you want to just happen to you. And the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th is that people can't make a difference on their own. People can make a difference. So I'm not saying, reading my book and you can become Prime Minister, I am saying that if you're really pissed off with the way the world is and the way politics is, don't just moan about it, don't just tweet, get engaged, get active and start doing stuff. And I try to explain, I try to analyze what's gone woan woan what's their their their the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the woes the way than, than, than, than, I's than, I'm thrown thrown the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way the way. I'm the way. I'm the way. I'm the way. I'm the way. I'm the way. I'm the way. I's the way. I's the way. I's the way. I's the way. I's th. I's to to to to to to to to to thr-I. toea. thr-I. thr-I. thrownea. toea. to their their their their their to analyze what's gone wrong with our politics, which I think a lot of it is down to populism and polarization. So just to unpack those terms for people, polarization is like the two extremes, right? Well they're very related. The very, in fact, there's this guy, Moises Naim, he's a Venezuelan, brilliant writer and

and used to be a politician. He calls, he's got this this title, this the title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title title the th, th, th, populism, polarization, post-truth. So Trump, Johnson, Putin, Orban, Erdogan, Modi, there's a lot of them. Populism is basically where you divide your electorate into an elite, bad, boo, and the pure people. Good. And the populist politician, even though they come from the elite, like Johnson, Trump, they tell the pure people that they are the only people that they are th. th. th. th. th. th. th.. th populist politician, even though they come from the elite like Johnson and Trump, they tell the pure people that they are the only people who really understand them. And they say to them that if it wasn't for this wretched elite over here who are doing you in because they're looking after everything for themselves, your lives would be much better.

Yeah. So Brexit absolutely was populist polarizing and post-truth. Polarization is where you divide people rather than bring together. You have, instead of seeing politics as the means to solve problems, you use it to exploit problems. So for example, Trump build a war, why? Because, you know, Mexicans are bad. Suella Bravaman, send people to Rwanda, why? Because that's a way of I can say to people who are probably never gonna meet your refugee,

you're good, refugees are bad. I'm standing up for you against any elite, people like me, people like you probably, who actually think is no bad thing that we're nice to people who fleeing war and famine and persecution, etc. And then post-truth is not just about lying, it's about deliberately distorting the realities in the world. So for example, recent one, how many times have you heard recently? We've got 20,000 more police officers. Well, actually, no, you haven't. But you have a debate about that rather

than actually the state of crime. Post-truth is Vladimir Putin saying that we haven't invaded Ukraine, we've got a special military operation because the Nazis are taken over. Post-truth is virtually anything that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth. Post-truth is Boris Johnson saying, you know, and a border will be built in the Irish sea, will go down the Irish sea over my dead body. Post-truth is Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings saying, vote Brexit and you're going to get 350 million pounds with a national health service, and we're going to stay in the single

market and we're going to stay in the customs union, and then we come out of those things and we don't get the money for the health service, they say, well that was not what he was ever about, it's about a new set of lies that we're going to tell you. Right. Have you met Putin? I have, yeah. What was he like? Quite a few times. Well, I've met him, I've not met him, I've not met him. I'll find out he has got kids and I'll tell you what I'll tell you as we're talking about

parenting my kids have met his kids. You've had a play date with Vladimir Putin. They've actually been on the London eye with his kids and this was only last week. They've been on the London eye with Vladimir Putin's kids. Yeah. Yeah, so what was he like? He was very, very different to what he is now in some ways, but you can see that he's still the same person. And I think the truth is that we, we slightly fell for this idea because we wanted him to be different. And because he knew that we wanted to be different, I think he came across as being different. But I think that where he's changed, I think he genuinely was trying

to sort of be more oriented towards the West to internationalism and so forth. But then I think he went through a corrupt phase. Then I think he realized that reform is very, very difficult without being autocrats in his country. he changed and you know one of the you obviously thanks for reading winners but if you'd read my diaries you'd know that I've met Vladimir Putin many times I'm not reading I'm not reading. I'm not reading it I'm Mr. C. Come on. Okay and if he's not reading him who is because he's like number one fan I'll Mr. C. Over there's a my number one fan's not reading that's a bit harsh. Yeah. Yeah. One of the most, one of the most dramatic moments of the whole many dramatic moments I lived through with Tony was actually when we got in Tony got invited out to see Putin is one of

his many many many Dachers. I don't even know where it is because we flew to wherever we flew to we were picked up by a helicopter. We were flown to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the. the. thean thean thean thean thean thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. the the most. the is because we flew to wherever we flew to. We were picked up by a helicopter who were flown to this place in the middle of nowhere. And we had this lunch or dinner with Putin who proceeded to, I can't even describe it. Just, it was like, I actually said in the diary that it reminded me of Fiona when she's really, really at the end of her tether with me. And there's nothing I say, nothing I can say that doesn't just make it even more angry. And the, and Pewty was like that with Tony. And it was about Iraq. It was about our relationship with America.

As we came out, I remember David Manning, who was told his main foreign policy advisor, and he said, I've never, ever, ever, ever seen anything like anything anything anything anything life and that was when we knew he completely and maybe that was always the real him yeah I don't know with like the stuff you were doing and like you're in like having a meeting with Putin and all this when you're in power with labor how are you dealing with looking after kids when you get home how do you switch off from that or are you still on the phone tho you're trying to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the to to to the the to the to the the to the to the the to the the the to to to the to the to the to their their their their. their. their. I'm. I'm. How. How. How. How. How the the the the the the the the the their.. I I I I. their.. I I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And the. And. And t try. try. try. t. try. t. try. t. the. the. the. the. And. And. And the. And. And the or are you still on the phone the whole time and you're trying to go to a kid's party and then you're getting phone calls and obviously you have to take the phone calls it doesn't stop it's 24-7 how do you how do you juggle that? You said before like you come off the back of having a breakdown and things like that how do you manage that stress? Probably not very well to be the to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be honest.. I. I. I to be to be to be to be to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I to be honest. I. I to be honest. I. I. I to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tod today. I today. I did today. I did the the the the the the the the the the the the to the to to the to think my kids would accept that I did my best in that, and Fiona would

accept I did my best in that apart from the job, Burnley games when I could, a bit of running and my backpipes, I didn't do anything else in my life. I didn't expect the bagpipes. I didn't expect you had time to do bagpipes and Burnley home games in that period of the 90s. Burnley weren't even that good. But this is the thing about, this is the thing about, it is a good one for your parenting thing.

Fristardt my boys really like football. Yeah. My oldest boy, he works in football and Cullum works with him at weekends and stuff. So I would drive them the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, though, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, th. Well, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thi's thi's thi's thin, thi's thi. But, thi. But, so you're with them. Burndi Games. And I would think, aren't I a good dad, I'm taking them to Burndi Game when I've got one of the busiest jobs in the country. This was before we brought in the law about using your mobile phone in the car.

Yeah. Caved. Yeah. Cave-I remember, of his alcoholism and we had to, you know, he was in rehab and all that and we'd taught people. And I remember sort of him making this observation that it was quite weird at times. And he mentioned, you know, like, you know, we'd go to Burnley, he'd be driving for four hours, but he'd be on the phone all the time. Yeah. And so, and I think the other thing that I think, Calum always found it quite difficult when we're out and about, is how many people just wanted to talk to me all the time. You know, you just act about people. Oh, let's go and have a chat. I'll tell him what I think about the health service or all.

So, I think I try, I t I love being with them. I tried to spend as much time with them as good. But you're kidding yourself if you're doing those sorts of jobs. I've got a very funny picture upstairs of Grace, me trying to feed something to Grace, which is a baby, while I'm watching Tony Blair on television. And Fiona took the picture just like, she obviously just decided. It was like, so I'm sort of tried to give Grace proper attention, but Tony's doing an interview and I'm keeping tab. It's a bad though, because it's a weird balance, because if you want that kind of career

or that kind of job and that's what you've always wanted to do and you enjoy it, there are some jobs where you can't balance it all. There isn't that work life balance and it's people try to work out, you know, how to do that about feeling guilty either way and stuff like that and how to balance it because there isn't a right or wrong where you should just be at home your kids all the time or you should be able to do it 50-50 or you know everyone's allowed to decide how they want to live their life without sort of judgment. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's that's that's that's did I can remember once going in we're living the same house as I lived when we were back then and I can remember one morning I can't remember what the situation was but there's something going on at work that was like massive and Fiona and I had a bit of a barney about something rather and two of the kids were sort of let it off and you know it was all really kind of morning stressful all that stuff but I had to go out I had to go out and I can remember walking out

the door I think it feeling really really bad and then getting to the end of the road and say to myself I've got to try not to think about it yeah yeah but it's hard it's hard it's hard and you know you're to try to try to. to to to to to to to to the to to the to to the the the to the the to the to to the to the the to the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the toooooo.e I I I I I was. how much you sort of tell yourself you tried your best, you know it's not good enough deep down. Yeah. I can look at myself and say I was a better parent than a lot of parents were, but I wasn't as good as a parent as I could have been, I don't think. Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country the it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 plus glasses for just 999.

So go ahead. You can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Back to school signals a fresh start for students. New classmates, new teachers, new lessons. Change is in the air. But one thing hasn't changed. The forward government still isn't investing in public schools.

Six years of cuts mean our students aren't getting the supports they need. They can't wait another year. If the forward government won't change, it's time to change the government. Our kids are counting on us. Join us at building better schools.c.a. A message from the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. You've talked a lot about like well you've mentioned a couple of times like your son's alcoholism and you used stop drinking as well didn't you when you had in the I stopped for 13 years I do have a drug at the

odd dream I think I'm an addicts and I was I was addicted to alcohol whereas I think Kalam is a whole the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th is th is really really really really really really really really really really really really really the the the the the the the the the th. th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm to to to to to to to do. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm t. I'm. I'm. I'm t. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm t. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm t. I'm t. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. t. t. te. te. te. I'm. te. I'm. t. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm an addict and I was I was addicted to alcohol whereas I think Callum is a full-on alcoholic as it were and deals with it really well now. How do you deal with that as a parent? Very, very hard. Worse when I was sort of you know getting in the group of alcohol the thing is when you're the person you sort of you feel you know you're out of person, you sort of, you feel, you know you're out of control, but you sort of feel you're in control. And I was a functioning, I was functioning perfectly well. I was actually one of the reasons I had the breakdown was because I was, I was like high flying, I was being promoted and high head hunted for new jobs and I think it was in that culture in the media where, you know, you were considered a bit weird if you weren't a. the the the thi thi thi th. th. th. th. thi thi th. thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thr- thr- thi, thi, thrown the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th th th th th th th th th th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th feel the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the theee theeeee thee thee the thee the the the the the the was in that culture in the media where you know you were considered a bit weird if you weren't a heavy drinker. Yeah. And I got so

and I came through it. Whether I would have done if I hadn't been I was arrested which was probably a good thing and I ended up in hospital which was a good thing. Fiona stood by me with it was the most important thing I went back to do my old job so I sort of work it out I never to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the. the the. I the the. I the the. I the the. I the the. I to to to to to to to the the. I'm. I'm. the the the the the the the the the the. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I'm. I. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And I. I. I went back to do my old job. So I sort of worked it out. I never really got to the bottom of it. And I think my thing, I think I've been drinking to deal with the depression that I wasn't even acknowledging. Whereas I think with Calum, it just became a kind of, you know, and you just feel utterly powerless, you know, and you know it's happening. You can't it's happening, but you just can't do anything about it. And I'll tell you know, and one of the worst things, like, worst moments of my life, bar none, was when I was, I don't see him so much now because I'm in quite a good shape at the moment,

but for a while I was seeing my psychiatrist like regularly. And while this was all going on, I was explaining the background and what was happening and what have you. And I. And I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th. And I th. And I th. And I th. And I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, I thi, I thi, I th. And I th. And th. And th. And th. And the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, and the worst, I the worst, I the worst, I the worst, I the worst, I the worst, I the the the the the the the th. And I th. And I th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, this was all going on, I was explaining the background what was happening and what have you. And he said, well, I think you're just being too, you've been too soft. I said, what do you mean? He said, well, you really do have to show tough love. You cannot say to him, you can't live here. You can't come back. If you come back drunk, we're not letting you and you can't say that and then when it happens you let them in. And you know you can't say if we find that you're stealing money from us you know we're going to you can't say that and then not follow through in it. And so one night and it was freezing cold two three in the morning or something we're a line of bed door door door bell goes calms at the door. He's lost his wallet or he's lost his keys or some bloody thing.

And I just said to him, you know the deal, you're not coming in. And I shut the door. Oh my God. And I just sort of, and I literally, I lent against the door, and I did that a thing that you see in films, you know, where you literally slide down the door and I was like banging my head against my knees. And he spent the whole night thinking, you know, what if he falls in the canal, what if he does this, what if he does that? He can't remember it is interesting. Wow. Wow. But anyway, eventually, then eventually we reached a point where he agreed, well, he went into rehab once and that didn't work. That was a place in Ireland, which was very nice but it just, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you th. What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what if th. What, what if th. What, what if th. What, what if th. What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, th. What, th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. thi. thi. th. thi. th. thi. thi. th. the place in Ireland, which was very nice, but it just, you know, sometimes these things just don't work.

And then, you know, he, he, he carried on, things were getting worse and then eventually he went to this place in Scotland. He has not a drink sense. Amazing. That's amazing. That must be, that's such a thing to go th th th th th th th th through th through th through th through to go through as a family. Yeah it was hard. It was really hard. It was, it was, it was really hard. And I can remember one night lying in bed and we just weren't sleeping, you know, he just worried about it all the time. I remember Fiona saying, you know, we're going to have to harden ourselves. So what do you mean? Well, you know, we're probably are going to get an up in the door and the to to be dead. to be dead. to be dead. to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to to the the to to the the the the the the the the the the the to be to be their their their thin to be lying to be their lying thin thin to be lying lying to be lying lying lying to be lying lying lying to be lying lying lying lying to be lying lying lying lying lying lying, to be lying, to be lying, to be lying, to be lying lying, to be lying, to be lying lying, to be lying, to be lying lying, to be lying, to be to be to be lying, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the the the the thin thin thin to be to be to be the the to be to the to to the the the the the the the the the thin, the the their thin, we their thin, God yes, amazing. You know, like I say, no wonder you're proud of him to sort of, you know, go through that and then 11 years later, still being sober, but... And still be, and he's very active in AA, and he sort of, you know,

he's very kind of immunity-minded, he's always on the lookout for other people and stuff like, unlike me, I don't go in pubs. Oh really. Yeah. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha. And, tha. And, tha. And, th. And, th. And, th't go in pubs. I hate going in pubs. I hate going in pubs. Oh really? Yeah, and although I do have the odd glass of wine now, I've never drunk beer or whiskey since 1986. Oh really? Yeah, they were like my things and I used to drink, you know, beer until I got pissed and then I drank whiskey. Yeah, that's proper like media in the 90s kind of drinking, and I can't even, I can't even be near whiskey now. I can't smell it, I can't look at it, I can't. So and going in pubs, there's partly there's the whole thing about, you know, oh, there's Alice Cub, let's go and there's a bit of a loser. Most people are incredibly nice, but it just needs one. Yeah. And but the other thing is I just don't,

I don't like the atmosphere in pubs because I don't relate it to having a nice time. I relate it to how did I used to spend so many days. Yeah. Because you're just an escape, you'd just be in there drinking to forget and then plowing on the next day. Totally. Where is Calum will the the the the the the the the c Calvin the c Calvin the calan will the calan will the calan will the calan will th going thin will thin will thin will thin will thin will thu. plowing on the next day. Totally, whereas Calum will go in pubs to watch football with his mates. Right. He should get Sky.

I wanted to talk about your competitiveness as well because you're, you, after I heard you on the Chatter-Biks podcast, that's the problem. Is it ultra competitiveness or something? That's the one, yeah, where it's sort of like all consuming and as that as you're getting older is that coming down a bit or you still really? I think it's getting worse actually. So it's like yesterday I was I was doing James O'Brien's podcast and because he's on my Mr. C list obviously. Oh Mr. C. Can you come and talk to about the news? His studio is next to the studio that the news agents the the the the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news the news that the news. the news. It's that that that that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the news. the news. the news. the news. the news. the news. the news. the news. the news agents. Is. Is. Is. Is. It's. It's the news? His studio is next to the studio that the news agents are in, John Soapel, Emily Billinson, New York, New York Times and New York Times, who laughably present themselves

as the rivals to the rest of the politics, even though we're a number one month after month, month after month. And I just, I was, I was like you know I must be so hard for you you work so hard you do this five days a week and we troll out with a couple of episodes a week and we beat you every week it must be so hard. So yeah I am very maladaptive. Fionin it drives her mad it drives her absolutely mad. I do it in I do it in tiny tiny ridiculous things. Does it make you unhappy if you lose them? Like, I'd find that is like, I was really competitive as a kid, and I really tried to kind of deal with it

because I found it wasn't really a root to being very happy. Yeah, I think, well, no, it's not, well, it depends what you find is happiness in It's not a root to lots of happiness in the moment because you can set yourself up for lots of failure. But if I think for example people say the diaries that you haven't read a lot of people who read them, real Mr. C. fans, they will say to me, I get the feeling you weren't very happy a lot of the time and I say, well I wasn't happy a lot of the time because it was pressured and all that I'm very. the feeling..... Well. Well. Well. Well. I was very. I was very. I was very. I was very. I was very. to. the feeling. I was very. the feeling. to. the feeling. the feeling. the feeling. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I'm thi. to th. I'm the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. I'm the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. I'm the th. I'm thi. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm thi. I'm ti. I'm ti. I ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. ti. thi. I thi. I'm it was pressured and all that, but I'm very, very, very happy that I did it. Right, yeah. And that to me is what happiness is about.

It's like me and Fiona, I mean, I've mentioned Fiona, we've had quite a few ups and downs and you know, times when I've been impossible to live with, but the thing that makes me happiest of all in life is that she's, th. women wouldn't. Yeah. That is happiness to me, even though we've had a lot of, and we've had loads of great times along the way, but we've had some really bad times. And it's like, but I'm so happy that we've kind of got through that. And that's happiness to me.

It's like, you know, with at sort of like a joke in the side about the podcast thing, if I'm going to devote some time and energy to something, I want it to work, I want it to be good. Yeah. I want it, and if you measure that by, you know, and to be honest, when we started, I had no idea it would be as big as it's become. The idea that would be the most listened to podcast in the UK would be a the the the the the the the the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi. thi. thi. thi. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the the the the the the. the. theate. the theate. toldlde. to be to be to be to be good. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to podcast in the UK would be a ridiculous idea but once it happened I'm right right I'm on it now. This is going to say this way. Obviously you want your children to be happy if your child comes to you and says... I don't dare you assume that. Your child comes to you and says I'm the happiest I've ever been and I'm standing as a conservative MP for the next election.

How do you feel? Well, I feel happy because I know that's not going to happen. No, but it has happened now. I find it difficult. If they're in your constituency, would you vote for them? I find it hard. I probably tell them that I voted for them. Or forget your ID. I forgot my ID. No, I would find that. Look, although I say in the book, which you clearly don't want to talk about. I was going to talk about it. I do say though,

that there's this survey about the numbers in America now of people who say that they would be really unhappy if their children married somebody who was not of their political party. It's gone through the roof. Oh really? I guess a more realistic question, what would happen if they came back with somebody who was a Tory and said, you know, this is the person with whom your first grandchild is going to be made? So what you mean they're going to have 50% Tory blood? I mean, you know, that's quite hard, no. But again, I'm not sure that would happen necessarily.

I don't know. I hope it does now. With your competitive thing, were you, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, are, are, are, are, are, are, are, are, are, are, are that, are that, are that, are that, I that, I that, I that, I that that that that that that that that that, I would that, I would that that that that to say that that that that that that that that that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that, I would that. We that. We that, I would that. We that that that that that the?, I would the? We the? We the? We're the. We're the. We're the. We're the. We're thean't thean't thean't thean't thean't the. the. the. would happen necessarily. I don't know. I don't know. I hope it does now. With your competitive thing, were you playing a child at snakes and ladders or you're playing a child at, I don't know, snooker or about pool or whatever, were you all right to throw a game or did you want to beat them? I was all right to throw a game up to the point where they might might might might might might might might might might might might might. a game up to the point where they might be able to beat me. Yeah.

If it was actually, I do remember the time at which I actually started to realize that when we're out just kicking a ball about, they were better than me. Yeah. That's quite a bad moment. Well, coming back to your book, but what can I do, which is released on the 11th of May? Have you looked at who else is releasing a book that week? And one, are you competitive? I want to beat them to get number one. Two, do you not even want to mention their name now because you would be giving them some free press?

I haven't looked. I haven't looked. Do we to look? Would I just, it's pretty hard to get to number one. Not for us. Not for us. I imagine if you've got a really big podcast, it'll be really easy, but maybe your numbers are line. Thank you, well. I'm just saying that we went to number one in the Sunday Times bestsellers in the most competitive week.

October, because we don't release a book in the pipeline, you know, well, look, I'll tell you what we'll do. I haven't got another book in the pipeline, but I'll put another book in the pipeline and can we agree that we publish it in the same way? What, like blur and oasis? Yeah, not a problem. Yeah. I can't do one this year. I'm off this year because we've both had to, we've both, we've both, we've both, the to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, to, to, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, off and let the other guys get a few books sold then we'll bang one out next year if you're up for it. Cool. Anyway, the answer is I haven't checked who's got books out but I do want, I would like to get to number one.

Yeah, I'm sure you will. But yeah, I've got high hopes for this one. Yeah, well good luck and thank you. Thanks for coming. Oh, the final question. Let me let me tho. Thank the final. Thank th. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank. Thank. Thank. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. Thank the final. the final. the final. the the the the the the the the the the final question. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. things. the the the the the the the the the the the things. Josh and let me let me let Mr W. have the final talking. Yes, I never forgot about that. Thank you very much Mr. C. Oh my word. Sorry I just clicked. He's really, I actually is a bit of a fan boy of yours and he's getting a bit flappy which I'm quite enjoying. I just enjoyed 1997 so much. But anyway. I'm just a fan of the 90s. I'd be the same the same the same the same the same th if if if th if it th if it th if it was th. th. to to to th. to to to to to th. to th. to to to to th. to to to to to to to to to to th. th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. Thank th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. to the. to to to to to to to to the. to the. the. the. the.'m just a fan of the 90s.

I'd be the same if it was, you know, Peter Andre. I was the same with Peter Andre, or Mr. A, as I call him. But you wouldn't have had the 90s if we hadn't won. They wouldn't have been like it was. No, exactly. Exactly. Well, you know. Because politics does make a difference. It's one of the the the the the the the the the the thiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I th. I thi. thi. thi. I'm th. I'm. I'm. th. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I. I. I. I. I............................................................................................................................., you know. Politics does make a difference. It's one of the key things to my book, but what can I do? And the answer is we've all got to do whatever we can do.

So I think if you love 1997, Josh, as you take your best-selling book and your number five, six most popular podcast in the country out on the road, do at least have some sort of political messaging. We have done that. their thole th. thole thole thole tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. We've tho. We've tho. We've tho. We tho. We tho. We tho. th. We th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. to to to to to to to to to to to to to thoooooooooooooooooooo. So, the. We tho. We've th heart. We haven't done that. We just sold out an arena tour. Where are you playing your live shows, Alistair? We did the Albert Hall? Okay. Palladium sold out twice in seven minutes. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Haragher. Have they got an arena there? They got a big theatre. I'm tackling. Just trying to see how competitive you are. Let's do the final question. The the the final. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. to see to see to see to see to see to see to see to see how. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the th. the the th. the the th. th. the. the. the. the. tole. tole. tole. toda. toda. today. today. tole. toda. tole. toda. tole. tole. tole. tole. tole. tole. the final question. The final question is always the same. It's about Fiona. That's a bloody hour. There's my clock going. It's been an hour of this. Yeah, yeah. Well, you were two minutes late, so I'm sure you can play. You've only had, that's because of the dog, which you said is a great owner. What one piece of parenting does she do that annoys you. What one thing does Fiona do that makes you think you are an incredible parent? I'm so lucky to be with you and what one piece of parenting does she do that annoys you

but you haven't had the guts to tell her but were she to listen to this? This is your chance to communicate it. She absolutely, it actually is the same thing in answer to both of the questions. Okay. Is that because you're short on time or is it the truth? No, no, no, no. It's, she absolutely, almost 24 hours a day, will be thinking in addition to issues and challenges and problems that she might face about stuff that the kids might be able to deal with.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And we'll fix them if she can. and problems that she might face about stuff that the kids might be able to deal with and we'll fix them if she can. So for example, Rory at the moment is away in Europe and Fiona's just gone around to get the plumbing sorted. Right, I wouldn't do that. The dog, the dog, how many parents would take a dog on heat? Right, have you tried going for a walk with a dog on heat? I haven't, no, I'll be honest, I haven't. No. So yeah, so she does absolutely everything for them. And so that would also be my criticism. Yeah. I think sometimes we should, we should be less, can the to be less, can the parents? to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, to be, the parents, to be, to be, to be, the parents, to be to be the parents, to be the parents, to be to be the parents, to be their parents, to be to be to be to be to be their parents, how, how, how parents parents parents, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, the parents parents parents parents, the parents, the parents, the parents, their parents, their parents, their parents, their parents, their parents, them and so that that would also be my criticism. Yeah. I think sometimes we should we should be less we should be less kind of hands on. Right. Yeah, yeah, let me do it themselves. Yeah, that is a lovely end. It's been a joy Alista.

Yeah, and you've got a book out. Josh don't call me Alistair little Mr. C. But what can I do out on the 11th of May, buy the book, read the book. Cheers, Alistair, thank you very much. Been a pleasure. Good luck with the book. Cheers, mate. C. No, it's all.

Love, Mr. C. There. Oh you little run. I can't believe I did that. It's when I'm scared of someone. Also, you were in control of reading that message. I know. You could have just said Alistair or Mr Campbell, even Mr Campbell, Mr. Campbell, because you're trying to not look like you're talking to a teacher. Yeah, I got to thrown to the the the the tea. He's scared try try sc jabs at and see how he'd be great. I thought you did well with that. It was great. I loved it. And he took them well.

He took them on the tip. He took them on the trip. I think he 2023. However, the mid-90s being a parent was a completely different time. He had one of the most stressful jobs in the country that demanded 24-7 working days essentially and it is very difficult. It must be people listening that want a certain career but there is sacrifice and it's about balancing if that sacrifice is right or not. And no one will ever know, you'll never know and and everyone's different. But I do I find I find I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I that I find I that I find I find I find I find I find I find I find that I find that I find that. I find that. I find that. I find that. I find that. I find that. I'll that. I that. I that. I that. I that that that that that that that that that if that sacrifice is right or not. And no one will ever know, you'll never know, and everyone's different. But I do, I find that really interesting about the sacrifices people make for their job and their family and what's right, what's not right and what works. But I think the bottom line is you don't ever really know if what you're doing is correct.

Anyway, thanks for listening and we'll see you Tuesday. Bye.