- Blair 'Misrepresented' Intelligence But Did Not 'Mislead' (July 7, 2003)
... them. In May, the BBC cited an anonymous intelligence source as saying Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications head, had inserted a claim into a dossier last Sep... - Truth Behind 'Sexed Up' Claims (July 22, 2003)
...office of 'changing the content' of reports and misleading the public". Alastair Campbell even found himself using the phrase — or at least a carefully constructed... - Do Not Use 45-Minute Claim, CIA Said (July 31, 2003)
... draft of the government's dossier on September 11 last year, the same day Alastair Campbell, the prime minister's communications director, saw it, according to eviden... - Dubious Victories (February 1, 2004)
...e, not even in a dreamy, nighttime conversation with his form spin doctor, Alastair Campbell: the BBC, a highly critical opponent, on its knees, and his political oppo... - Blair May Call Iraq Inquiry ... If Bush Lets Him (February 1, 2004)
...is accusing the law lord of ignoring the systematic bullying of the BBC by Alastair Campbell and accused No 10 of denying stories that later turned out to be true. ... - Iraqi Mobile Labs Not Involved in Germ Warfare (June 15, 2003)
.... The Prime Minister and his director of strategy and communications, Alastair Campbell, are expected to decline invitations to appear. While MPs could attempt to... - Hostages of the Empire (July 1, 2003)
... on Iraq. He will not be doing so on behalf of the British people. Perhaps Alastair Campbell should recommend a private ceremony.... - Blair Puts Religion at Center of Government (August 3, 2003)
...uld answer to for the deaths of British soldiers, replied: 'My Maker'. Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications director, said 'We don't do God' when the Prime Mi... - US Fostering Sinister Sort Of Democracy (August 1, 2003)
...ish spokesman from the Foreign Office, appointed by Blair at the behest of Alastair Campbell, talked about the reports of abduction and rape in Iraq. He acknowledged t... - The Road to War (October 5, 2003)
... day, passing through No 10 on my way to the Cabinet Office, I bumped into Alastair Campbell and again expressed the view that we should not be too grudging in our res... - BBC News report on Alastair Campbell's resignation
- http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page13.asp#2
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3023922.stm
- Profile: Alastair Campbell, BBC
- Economist article on Alastair Campbell's involvement in the Iraq WMD dossier inquiry
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Alastair Campbell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alastair Campbell (born May 25, 1957) was the Director of Communications and Strategy for 10 Downing Street.
While political editor of The Daily Mirror he was a close advisor of Neil Kinnock. After Tony Blair became leader of the opposition, Campbell left the newspaper to become his spokesman.
When Blair became Prime Minister in 1997, Campbell became his chief press secretary and in charge of the government's press machine.
As the New Labour government found its feet, Blair became increasingly reliant like many prime ministers on a close circle of advisers. Campbell was seen as particularly influential, sometime being referred to as the "real Deputy Prime Minister". His influence was certainly greater than his new job title ("Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy") suggested: uniquely for a special advisor (i.e., a personal appointee of the Prime Minister), he was given the authority to direct Civil Servants, who previously had taken instructions only from ministers. Campbell's control of the Lobby System under which a select group of accredited journalists were given privileged access to the Prime Minister's spokesman (and the journalistic kudos that this access could bring) meant that he wielded a good deal of power over the media. In Blair's second term the increasing marginalisation of junior ministers, backbench MPs and grassroots Labour Party from the policy making process meant that Campbell was sometimes regarded with suspicion (if not outright hostility) by elements Labour Party, as well as the amongst Blair's political opponents. However, those who worked closely with him describe an aggressive but funny and loyal colleague, who inspired loyalty in others. He was memorably sponsored by the US President George W. Bush to complete a marathon in aid of a cancer charity.
In June 2003 he was a central figure in the "dodgy dossier" controversy. Campbell had been in charge of a group of researchers who compiled a dossier about Human Rights abuses in Saddam Hussain's Iraq. The dossier purported to be based on intelligence but was in fact largely borrowed from an out of date article downloaded from the web. The source was not acknowledged an the dossier was published without MI6 clearance.
A few months later he became embroiled in further controversy after the BBC reported Andrew Gilligan broadcast claims that the government had "sexed up" an earlier dossier (about about Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction). In a later newspaper article Gilligan said that his source had specifically identified Campbell himself as responsible for the alleged exaggerations. Campbell demanded an apology from the BBC, but none was forthcoming. In the ensuing row, the BBC's secret source David Kelly came forward to his employers the Ministry of Defence. Unusually, the government released Kelly's identity to the media. Kelly committed suicide shortly afterward and the judicial inquiry into the circumstances of his death pushed Campbell further into the limelight. The Inquiry showed that Campbell had been working closely with the Intelligence Services, and made suggestions about the wording of the dossier. He had also been keen that Kelly's identity be made public writing in his diary "It would f*** Gilligan if that were his source". However, Lord Hutton cleared Campbell of any serious impropriety, on the basis that Campbell's suggestions had (this time) been cleared by the Intelligence Services, and that Kelly's name was made public not out of political expediency, but avoid allegations of a cover-up.
Having "become the story", on 29 August 2003 he announced his resignation from 10 Downing Street. He kept a diary throughout his time in Downing Street the manuscript is rumoured to be worth up to £5m.
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