Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
I don't know whether to be sickened or laugh my head off 
Author Message
Legend

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm
Posts: 45931
Location: Belfast
Reply with quote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8502730.stm

Quote:
Ex-Downing Street communications chief Alastair Campbell has emotionally denied Tony Blair misled MPs over the intelligence ahead of the Iraq war.

Mr Campbell had to take a moment to compose himself after being asked the question on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

He said the subject kept being brought up by those wanting to "settle scores".

Mr Campbell also said he did not think current Prime Minister Gordon Brown had intended to cry during an interview with Piers Morgan recorded for ITV.

It has been reported by the Mail on Sunday that the PM shed tears as he talked of the death of his daughter Jennifer, during an interview for Piers Morgan's Life Stories recorded on Saturday.

In Full: Interview transcript

During his own emotionally charged interview on Sunday morning, Mr Campbell was asked by Andrew Marr about Tony Blair's assertion that he believed the case for Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction was proved "beyond doubt" by the intelligence.

Mr Marr asked: "If beyond doubt is not established in the intelligence when this inquiry looks at the intelligence, does it then follow, yes or no, the prime minister misled Parliament?"

Mr Campbell, who has a new novel out, replied that Mr Blair "did not mislead Parliament" before being pressed again. He began to reply but paused, looking close to tears.

'Constant vilification'

He said: "I've been through a lot on this Andrew. And I've been through a lot of that inquiry... and... Tony Blair, I think, is a totally honourable man."

Mr Campbell said the media was obsessed with "settling your scores and setting your own agenda".

"You did it again this morning, which is probably why I'm a bit upset, this constant sort of vilification.

"You compared the novel to the dossier, and it's all fiction and all the rest of it. It's not. And I just think the way that this whole issue has developed now where I don't think people are interested in the truth anymore, Andrew."

He added: "I'm sorry if I do get upset about this but I was there alongside Tony, I know how that decision weighed on him, I know the care that we took."

Mr Campbell said he understood why people were "upset" about the decision to become involved in the conflict.

But, he added: "The reason people are going over it again and again and again is because those who do disagree with the judgment that Tony Blair made actually don't want to see the other side of the story."

'Many people upset' by Iraq

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague, speaking later on the Andrew Marr Show, said he was sorry that "Mr Campbell was upset" by the questions but "we are all upset by what happened in Iraq".

Mr Hague added: "I am very upset that it seems our soldiers were often sent into action without the necessary equipment because of poor political decision making, that there was no plan for the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq.

"We are all upset. I am upset about the fact that in a debate in which I supported Tony Blair at the time of the Iraq war, we were told that the intelligence was authoritative and extensive and beyond doubt, and it seems listening to the Chilcot inquiry, that that was not the case.

"I think many people are upset in different ways about it, and that must not stop us learning the lessons.

Asked if he thought Tony Blair had misled Parliament, Mr Hague said: "I feel that increasingly in many aspects of the case Parliament was misled but I think to come to an overall judgement on that question we have to see the inquiry result as a whole - this inquiry has been set up after years of pressure from us and other opposition parties."

William Hague
William Hague: Increasingly feels that in many aspects MPs were misled

Later in his interview with Andrew Marr Alastair Campbell was asked about the reports of Mr Brown's tears during the Piers Morgan interview set to be broadcast next weekend.

He said he advised Mr Brown ahead of the programme, which he hoped would help the PM reach a wider audience.

"The only communication that works now really is where people are being utterly authentic. The public, they hear all this stuff about spin, they know the media spin, the politicians do it and they can see when people are being authentic."

He added: "If Gordon just talks about some of these issues as he really feels then maybe the public will see a different side."

But Mr Campbell said he did not believe the prime minister, whose daughter died in 2002 10 days after being born prematurely, had gone on television "with the purpose of crying".

The PM's wife, Sarah Brown, posted a message on Twitter on Sunday to a member of the studio audience who had sent her a message hoping she was ok.

Mrs Brown said: "Thank you for coming to watch the interview too - it was a great audience, so warm."


Click the link for an interview transcript and vid.

'It's awful, nobody believes us anymore!' :roll:

_________________
Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/


Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:34 pm
Profile
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:11 pm
Posts: 12143
Location: Belfast
Reply with quote
pcernie wrote:
'It's awful, nobody believes us anymore!' :roll:
He sounds like somebody who really believes in the job that he's doing. Which is nice to see in someone these days.

Mark

_________________
okenobi wrote:
All I know so far is that Mark, Jimmy Olsen and Peter Parker use Nikon and everybody else seems to use Canon.
ShockWaffle wrote:
Well you obviously. You're a one man vortex of despair.


Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:40 pm
Profile WWW
What's a life?
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm
Posts: 17040
Reply with quote
timark_uk wrote:
pcernie wrote:
'It's awful, nobody believes us anymore!' :roll:
He sounds like somebody who really believes in the job that he's doing. Which is nice to see in someone these days.

Mark

Unfortunately it also means he must be mad because the job he's doing (trying to make people think Blair wasn't an opportunistic moron who simply did whatever the american government asked him to) is utterly untenable.

Jon


Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:56 pm
Profile
Legend

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm
Posts: 45931
Location: Belfast
Reply with quote
jonbwfc wrote:
timark_uk wrote:
pcernie wrote:
'It's awful, nobody believes us anymore!' :roll:
He sounds like somebody who really believes in the job that he's doing. Which is nice to see in someone these days.

Mark

Unfortunately it also means he must be mad because the job he's doing (trying to make people think Blair wasn't an opportunistic moron who simply did whatever the american government asked him to) is utterly untenable.

Jon


I have to agree with that, and they've got nobody but themselves to blame when the public can't tell the difference between what's real emotion and what isn't anymore...

_________________
Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/


Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:21 pm
Profile
Legend
User avatar

Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
Reply with quote
timark_uk wrote:
pcernie wrote:
'It's awful, nobody believes us anymore!' :roll:
He sounds like somebody who really believes in the job that he's doing. Which is nice to see in someone these days.

Mark

Actually sounds more mike confabulation. Where he has deluded himself to actually think that he is doing the right thing. :oops:

_________________
Do concentrate, 007...

"You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds."

https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTk

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21


Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:07 pm
Profile
What's a life?
User avatar

Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm
Posts: 12251
Reply with quote
I’m a cynic. I think he was making it up. You get points for blubbing on live TV. It worked for Peter Andre didn’t it? And for the record, I think Andre wasn’t being entirely genuine either.

_________________
All the best,
Paul
brataccas wrote:
your posts are just combo chains of funny win

I’m on Twitter, tweeting away... My Photos Random Avatar Explanation


Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:49 pm
Profile
Legend
User avatar

Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
Reply with quote
paulzolo wrote:
I’m a cynic. I think he was making it up. You get points for blubbing on live TV. It worked for Peter Andre didn’t it? And for the record, I think Andre wasn’t being entirely genuine either.

I doubt that any of us would have any sympathy for Campbell. No matter how much he blubbed.

_________________
Do concentrate, 007...

"You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds."

https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTk

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21


Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:13 am
Profile
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:12 am
Posts: 7011
Location: Wiltshire
Reply with quote
Amnesia10 wrote:
paulzolo wrote:
I’m a cynic. I think he was making it up. You get points for blubbing on live TV. It worked for Peter Andre didn’t it? And for the record, I think Andre wasn’t being entirely genuine either.

I doubt that any of us would have any sympathy for Campbell. No matter how much he blubbed.


+1 :twisted:

_________________
<input type="pickmeup" name="coffee" value="espresso" />


Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:53 am
Profile WWW
Spends far too much time on here

Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:44 pm
Posts: 4860
Reply with quote
if all else fails, cry. someone somewhere will always take pity, just not for this a-hole …

_________________
Hope this helps . . . Steve ...

Nothing known travels faster than light, except bad news ...
HP Pavilion 24" AiO. Ryzen7u. 32GB/1TB M2. Windows 11 Home ...


Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:17 pm
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 9 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software.