Notorious former UK government spin doctor Alastair Campbell was pondering legal action against the BBC 20 years ago over its reporting of the controversies surrounding the Iraq War.
News stories have been emerging this week about the premiership of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who Campbell advised, due to the release of archived documents under the UK’s 20-year rule.
In one letter, Campbell wrote to Blair stating: “If the BBC remain belligerent, I think the rhetoric has to be stepped up, up to and including the threat of putting the issue in the hands of lawyers.” The threat went no further, as events took over the situation.
Campbell, who now hosts the hit Rest is Politics podcast, had been setting out the ruling Labour Party’s PR operation to handle the Iraq War, which was being met with stiff opposition.
Campbell and Blair were furious with the BBC’s coverage of a dossier indicating that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) – a catalyst for the UK’s going to war in the nation.
Two weeks after Campbell wrote to Blair, a Ministry of Defence employee, David Kelly, who had been named by the BBC as a source for stories about how Labour had “sexed up” WMD reports, died by suicide and an inquiry was launched.
The tragedy led to the resignation of Campbell, BBC Director General Greg Dyke and Chair Gavyn Davies.
The archives also showed that Campbell had considered going on BBC News to answer questions about the dossier, coming a few days after he was grilled on the subject by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow.
