Alastair Campbell vs. David Lammy: GQ meets a backbench rebel | GQ Politics | British GQ

Whether on social-class hypocrisy or seeing Obama cry, the Labour MP for Tottenham is never lost for words.
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Alastair Campbell vs. David Lammy: GQ meets a backbench rebel
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Alastair Campbell vs. David Lammy: GQ meets a backbench rebel | GQ Politics | British GQ

[@brycebamess5117]

These interviews feel like a time capsule from another era since Covid hit

[@Daniel-jy9so]

I actually miss seeing Brexit on the news, rather then seeing deaths everyday.

[@raystephens1142]

I’ll tell you what, this has been an eye opener. As someone, white working class in a northern industrial town, I thought Mr Lammy detested the likes of me. His constituents come first, and I assume that’s a majority black constituency. And that’s how it should be, put the people you’re representing first. Yet, I hear him talk about the problem I’ve always thought it was…class! He mentions Salford and seaside towns. He gets it, he gets us all. Just goes to show, watch a wide range of videos and speeches. Apologies David, you just appear to want better things for the majority. A good listen.

[@amypond199]

Hi Ray, I agree with your assessment of David Lammy. I'd just say that I think working class people of any race and in any place, tend to have way more in common than not.

[@HaZzA12345gUy]

Alastair Campbell is an excellent interviewer, I love these!

[@pgl0897]

He drives such an agenda tho. I’m ten minutes in so far and the whole thing to this point has just screamed of “say something bad about corbyn! Criticise corbyn!”

[@pgl0897]

25 minutes in before the first question that didn’t have an undertone of criticism about the Labour leadership.

[@bendornan8873]

Yeah, Campbell really does drive the anti-Corbyn thing way too far. I'm no JC fan but he comes over as dementedly anti-Corbyn. He'd be better off letting those opinions come out organically.

[@atomiclemon77]

I was going to comment before I watched it, suggesting that he will probably ask Lammy, in some form, whether or not he likes Corbyn but I didn't want to be presumptuous. 1:30 in already and the implication is strong. I get it. You don't like Corbyn. Jheez.

[@sheep3370]

ben dornan I like it tbh. Given his background it's not like he can be objective. His guests know that coming in

[@n00bma5ter69]

Complete polar opposites with David Lammy but I thoroughly like and respect him. A bloody honest and passionate chap. Imagine he's a marvellous representative of his constituency.

[@nigget-tv-videos4135]

yeah because he isnt a race bater is he Labour were ruined because of identity politics, which Lammy loves

[@GoogleUser-lk6xn]

Nigget-tv-videos pointing out racism isn’t race baiting, only right wingers use that strategy.

[@fourfundamentals210]

@@GoogleUser-lk6xn pointing out racism isn’t; blaming virtually every issue on racism is.

[@GoogleUser-lk6xn]

@@fourfundamentals210 what issues can you think of that people are unnecessarily blaming on racism

[@fourfundamentals210]

@@GoogleUser-lk6xn are you genuinely unaware of this? University admissions, crimes committed and diversification in countless jobs and sectors make up just a few of the arenas in which racism is used as an excuse for the current state of affairs.

[@DavidHoughton17]

Really enjoyed this!

[@worship568]

Alastair Campbell was more interested in getting Lammy to criticise Corbyn.

[@ablackgoliath1827]

Correct.

[@Prostar369]

......and why not?

[@targetedwhelm1042]

He’s not allowed to criticise Corbyn?

[@richardgoode5314]

Policy by Labour as a MP.

[@dawn5227]

@@targetedwhelm1042 it's always exactly the same arguement from him with everyone he speaks to. It not that he csnt criticise its just that he has no other subject but Corbyn. Everything he asks is to turn it on Corbyn. Hes not interested in what going on.

[@jaystedman4819]

I'll tell you why there's no good speeches from the front bench- it's because all the talent in Parliament, e.g. David Lammy has been pushed to the backbenches. Why is Lammy or Dan Jarvis or Lisa Nandy or Chukka Umuna not on the Labour front bench?

[@anselmguile6070]

Jay Stedman Because they don't want to be while corbyn is around, they are biding their time.

[@clairemcfadyen90]

David Lammy is talent ?! Hahahaha

[@Sr68720]

Sellouts they quit before he even had his 1st day.

[@undersizemaster2853]

Jay Stedman David Lanny has rejected front bench from Corbyn three times and then he says it racist that he hasn’t received the front bench. He just wants to blame identity politics and blame the problems on the “white man”

[@jamesconnor5306]

Lammy and nandy are back now! Thank god for starmer

[@nikihickey3467]

Labour MP David Lammy fined £5,000 after making 35,000 nuisance calls during last two days of mayoral campaign

[@TooManyBrackets]

....so his campaign office really went to town....so?

[@Ben-cw5fd]

Would love to see an interview with Ian Hislop

[@bendornan8873]

Love Lammy. He should be in frontline role. Passionate, thoughtful, decent, experienced, clear eyed...

[@Harihar_Patel]

No he shouldn't, he plays the race card whenever he can.

[@Abraham_Tsfaye]

Lammy is one of the very best MPs, but please don’t become PM Lammy. We need your noble outspoken truths, uncontaminated by Downing Street guff & spin.

[@Showbizboy]

We need mp’s not to be racist.

[@suzimonkey345]

Duncan Cross I’m a white woman, mother & daughter...Following David Lammy’s principles & logic, he could NEVER represent, or even understand my needs!

[@peterksba]

See him answer on Mastermind. You’ll change your mind. Just a windbag, no knowledge.

[@EdenM911]

600 more MPs like this man. Class act!

[@ChrisSeahorse]

David Lammy is such class individual. He's smart, funny, compassionate, honest and loaded with common sense. In contrast, when one looks at the mess Parliament is in, it is very depressing and quite scary. It is so clear this country needs a passionate, courageous, caring leader who tells the truth, and is grounded with integrity. We are so far from that right now. And when I listen to David Lammy, I really can't think of anyone in politics right now who would make a better Prime Minister. This is an amazing interview.

[@fourfundamentals210]

Im afraid you need to research him better. The man is a race-baiter and racist, as well as a hypocrite.

[@martycrow]

David Lammy is brilliant - not just as a constituency MP - but on the broader issues. He speaks with passion, engagement and with a deeper level of political insight than most on the Labour front bench. It is sad for the choices we face for the future.

[@Showbizboy]

martycrow shame he’s a racist!

[@suzimonkey345]

Duncan Cross I roll my eyes when he calls others “divisive” when he is infamous for being the divisive racist of government!

[@namelessnobody7611]

@@suzimonkey345 Bot

[@namelessnobody7611]

@@Showbizboy Bot

[@ellieward9669]

Great interview...love this guy, so down to earth and real.

[@DannyPoet]

interesting listen!

[@jarjarabrams7748]

great interview, thanks for uploading! I like David Lammy, though I think the way to make Oxbridge more inclusive would be to improve state schools, not stop "middle-class" people from sending their kids to private schools.

[@williambaker7181]

We need all over of toby blair's front bench back, contributing to public debate. They dont have to be in parliament but we need to remember what clear thinking and quality political leadership sounded like.

[@dawn5227]

I came to labour in 2017, previously I was a libdem/green voter and I was made to feel very welcome in labour, why? Because my aim is the same as theirs to get rid of the broken government that does NOT work for the majority of us and get the policies of a party that are promoting what would be best for the majority. Alexander does not get this, he has no idea what we are going through. He speaks from his own little bubble.

[@danielwebb8402]

But the parties you have voted for that haven't won the most seats / votes show you aren't in your bubble / do know what is best for the majority?

[@peterstill3760]

Excellent interview that shows that David Lammy is fit to be the next Labour leader. It shows he would make a much better leader than Corbyn. It shows that he would position Labour as a government party instead of an extreme opposition party. It shows that there is at least one very smart person with the heart in the right place in the Labour Party, David Lammy.

[@uhtredragnorson9930]

Yes much better than Corbyn!! But he’s quite outspoken and partisan - I love that but a leader probably needs to be less so.

[@robin231176]

I admire Alastair Campbell and I am by no means convinced by Jeremy Corbyn, but at a certain point AC just needs to accept that JC is leader of the party for the foreseeable future, and focus on other more pressing issues.

[@th8257]

Well, that comment didn't age well, did it?

[@robbieyoung690]

He is not a rebel 😂

[@nauxsi]

Some of the abuse his way after the referendum was distasteful. He comes across well.

[@johntomlins7696]

Alastair Campbell is no socialist.

[@T800System]

28:30 David Lammy hits the nail squarely on the head here. He's right to lament the fact that there are too many people on both sides of the political divide who are more interested in social mobility, rather than quality of life, for those at the bottom of society. One person who does in fact genuinely care about the latter, and who was on the receiving end of a pretty luke-warm assessment of their relationship by Lammy, is Jeremy Corbyn. I think he should reflect on that.

[@boliussa]

+Alien labour s the only party other than the BNP to be invesetigated by the race and equalities and human rights commission.

[@MRKsound24]

Who’s the artist that created the print of Obama in the background?

[@scooby1992]

His Wife I think

[@tonyryan649]

Reminds me of Justin Fashnu and Vinny Jones for some reason.

[@haironhishead]

Lammy is right when he says that extremism is back, so it rises on both ends of the political spectrum. The difference that he hasn’t spoken about is that the islamophobia on the hard right isn’t given the same coverage because it’s racism that everyday people are participating in. Anti-semitism is despicable, but in Britain it’s not exalted by ordinary people in the street and therefore people are easily united against it. I’m not saying there aren’t Anti semites in the Labour Party, there are racists in every party because parties are made of people and all people are prejudiced in some way.

[@TorbjornMain]

I think Alastair is the sexiest man alive.

[@TooManyBrackets]

Campbell just can't leave that tribal thing alone....

[@MarkJVSomers]

The bit about licking arse could've gone a bit, shall I say, deeper, when Campbell said 'no, you don't have to', that could've been interesting.

[@thehoneyeffect]

Alastair Campbell, sounds so naive lol

[@ellie20lm]

Lammys’ view on education is the most well explained true view of the elitist education system we have

[@martinjstephens]

David has impressed for some time now. Would love to see how he would perform on the front benches. Could he get there? Would he go there given the "power" the back benches possess?

[@martinjstephens]

Ah he basically answered this himself at 32:45 🤔

[@jamieguthrie1760]

I'm usually very much anti-Lammy, but this shows him in a whole new light. What a great set of interviews!

[@anarchojaegerist8453]

Alastair's a great interviewer but I do hope he'll ease up on his pet issues of Corbyn and Trump, and go a bit deeper into each guest's personal life for example, or just stuff that's outside the current political drama really. The interview with Archbishop Justin Welby was a good example of that imo. On the other hand his personal convictions on Brexit might leaad him to conduct the interviews the way he does though, which I guess I can understand. It's a tricky balance to strike I suppose.

[@calumgiacomoriva1280]

Love Campbell absolute ray of hope, love his confidence and honesty in political commentary . After hearing him talk on a few interviews I like Lammy, wish he was a bit more pushy and aggressive ( In a health way), as think he’s the type of considered and smart MP we need atm, but maybe people like him need a spark of aggression just so they are heard more! So we don’t only hear people that don’t deserve the microphone. Spoken as someone who thinks the only competent, successful, respectful, and well meaning government in the last 30 years was Blair’s just as a FYI.

[@richardlaversuch9460]

Neither Capitalism or Marxism...

[@KimPhilby203]

Ex member of labour Alastair Campbell

[@jasonkingshott2971]

Two clowns together!

[@samsue2924]

Why does it have to be "Vs"? Grow up.

[@Frohicky1]

"I try to not talk on things I know nothing about." And yet I keep hearing him speak.

[@jameskennethflynn]

This didn't age well did it lol

[@George-si6qe]

I like Lammy but Jesus was not a refugee. They travelled to Bethlehem to take part in a census, not flee persecution.

[@ruthbashford3176]

How can anyone take Lammy seriously and I'm surprised he hasn't been laughed out of the House of Commons with some of the ridiculous things he has said. He is an embarrassment for the Labour party!

[@toylugaru5]

Can someone explain to me how what Ken Livingstone said was antisemitic? Antisemitism is of course utterly abhorrent, but I genuinely do not understand how his comment was antisemitic, may someone please explain it to me?

[@currahm]

I am a Tory and you are right

[@uhtredragnorson9930]

I love David Lammy

[@nigget-tv-videos4135]

Lammy Corybn WILL be a PM . thats how far removed from the daily UK public he was

[@thomassmith2227]

This interview hasn't aged well, Lammy looks foolish after the election now.

[@simonjandrell5897]

Alastair Campbell and the Blairite Years

[@bmker5469]

Lammy considers the ethnic English, his attraction to communities of shared ancestry takes a sharp dive. “An ethnic Englishness,” Lammy writes, “tied to toxic assumptions about group supremacy, has put down deep roots in recent years.”

[@danielgerke7669]

Nothing special happening here I'm afraid. Lammy has been fantastic on Windrush and Oxford but he's a third way politician with a 90s analysis and 90s ideas.

[@andrewatkinson-dalziel1675]

Interview Paul Mason or Peter Hitchens or someone like them. Interview some free thinkers who don't engage in group think on any subject

[@dawn5227]

I like listening to Peter Hitchens, an Intelligent man, and has some very great points to make. I dont agree with everything but everything that he says he says it with intelligence and some thought behind it, hes not tribalist, or out to just disqualify and ignore an opposing view he has an interest in actually listening.

[@brianlynch2759]

Oh No, Grumpy vs Barmy. I've listened for one minute and that's it, enough ready.

[@th8257]

I agree with David Lammy's politics very much. But there's an element of his personality I don't like - there's too much "me, me, me" about him. He sometimes talks about how wonderful he is a bit too much.

[@merlinjones368]

ohhhhhh jeremy coooorbyn

[@oliversmith4130]

Well done Lammy 👍🏻 , MPs like you are the reason Labour will not see power in my lifetime 🙄

[@matthewv4170]

It's Dianne Abbot out of her drag outfit

[@timcomley3241]

David Lammy all thats wrong with politics at the moment.

[@merlinjones368]

daaaaa da da da daaaa da

[@anselmguile6070]

The windrush generation, lol turned out like 30 people got deported.

[@thehoneyeffect]

Thats not true.

[@anselmguile6070]

thehoneyeffect It is true. Look it up.

[@nigwelwhi]

Anselm Guile Look it up where? What is your source?

[@Craig07L]

Lammy is a race-baiter in the mould of Al Sharpton.

[@clairemcfadyen90]

Lol my down vote keeps getting removed. Afraid of criticism GQ?

[@sadelsor]

Can you imagine getting out of bed in the morning, looking in the mirror and seeing that face, no wonder he is bitter all day, I think I would be Peed off also.

[@user-eo8jx7jq4u]

But David, both you and Dianne Abbott are some of the most racist and judgemental MPS in parliament. You have no idea how degrading you sound to someone like me who feels really awful and frustrated when I hear you place minority groups rights and peace of mind above White British folk. You have hatred in you and I instead of blaming Westminster, and the authorities, you choose to point the finger at ordinary white people who have literally done nothing wrong. May I remind you that the British public are not to blame for the childhood you had. Stop making judgements on innocent people, most of whom struggle with money, work, family, finances, the whole coboodle. We are run by a classist elite and just like having 18 million people's referendum votes ignored by the government, unless you haven't noticed, we're crying out for change but not getting very far. So point your rude, critical finger inwards towards your own party and that of the Conservatives. Everyone in Great Britain except the MPS know full well where the real power (and riches) lie...

[@TooManyBrackets]

But you Sir have problems and seem not to get politics....and there's a lot of you about!

[@ryanybaz2230]

David lammy signifies the downfall of London

[@merlinjones368]

ohhhhhh jeremy coooorbyn