Abstract
In answering a cry for help from the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan I found myself in the unexpected position of becoming a temporary spin-doctor for Alastair Campbell. My task was to publicise the action of the British government in granting overseas journalists access to the political correspondents' lobby at Westminster. News of Campbell's unilateral decision to open up Downing Street lobby briefings to foreign journalists and specialist reporters has been greeted with delight by the 400 overseas journalists based in Tokyo. They are making a renewed attempt to persuade the authorities to relax Japan's closed system of government and commercial briefings.
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