Whatever my views on the honours system, I offer nothing but congratulations to Armando Iannucci on his much deserved OBE.
It’s just a shame Alastair Campbell can’t do the same. To mention that he’s unsure of why Armando accepted it, or even that he thinks he shouldn’t have accepted it is one thing, but to do it in such a blunt way and persistently ask for a response from Armando to it just seems childish and unfair.
“So @AIannucci OBE joins the establishment he claims to deride. Malcolm Tucker and I do not approve of honours system.”
It seems to me very off claiming that it’s not something Malcolm would approve of, despite the fact its Malcolm’s creator that’s in question here so arguably no-one has more claim over the character (maybe of course Peter Capaldi equally, but in my view most certainly NOT Campbell). I know there has been many a comparison between Tucker and Campbell, but especially considering the cast and crew have repeatedly stressed Tucker’s not solely based on Campbell at all I don’t know why he now thinks he has presidence over him in such a way. Even aside from that, I personally think that questioning someone on a decision like that is quite out of line on many levels – despite what views Iannucci may have expressed in the past, it’s a very personal decision based on where he stands at the present, and I don’t feel it’s fair to challenge that.
I’ve never had anything major against Campbell, and think he’s (largely…) dealt with the whole Malcolm Tucker thing in quite a sporting manner. And although I’ve never been a particularly ardent fan of establishment concepts like the honours system, I’d equally never consider judging people for accepting or declining them – some of my favourite people have accepted them, and some of my favourite people have rejected them. But I just don’t get Campbell’s reason behind pushing this.
Exchange can be read between their Twitter feeds:
@AIannuci https://twitter.com/#!/Aiannucci
@CampbellClaret https://twitter.com/#!/campbellclaret
