Alastair Campbell

Stuff just taking too long to resolve of decisions not being taken at the pace that they need to.

So, and if you just think, to think over the last few days, there we are on Sunday, President Zelensky flies into London.

Why London?

Because Keir Starmer has managed to develop this good relationship with Macron and Merz, the E3, the European three big defense powers.

And, you know, they say the right things and they talk about the support.

But then literally within two or three days to have your defense secretary come out and say that since we've started arguing about this defense investment plan, things have actually got tougher, not least because of Iran.

And he refers to the high north and the potential of war in the Arctic.

So I can't really answer your question.

It's very, very frustrating.

What it speaks to is this sense of, you know, we're now, because of the challenge to Keir Starmer's leadership, because of sort of everybody hanging around waiting for this by-election, it's almost like people say, well, we can't get stuff done.

Well, I don't know that that's the nature of the conversation.

The other bit, you've given the two options.

The third option is that you have what I would define as a very kind of human conversation.

and you win them around on a different basis.

Now until, you know, doubtless we will hear more from John Healy and we will possibly hear more from Keir Starmer, but we probably won't get the true ins and outs.

But I have been in those situations where you can, the fact that this literally came out of the blue for most of us, for most people inside the government and for most people outside the government,

I think actually speaks to John Healy's credit in that I don't think he was doing what a lot of ministers do, which is to sort of, you know, do the bullying and the blackmailing and the intimidation through the media.

He didn't seem to me to do any of that.

So this has presumably been going on for a while.

But I wonder if it speaks to a deeper frustration and that that is what has provoked it at this time.