Alastair Campbell has defended his role in the lead up to the Iraq war, arguing “there’s a difference between being wrong and lying”.
Tony Blair’s former director of communications accepted that the so-called dodgy dossier was “terrible” but said the document, which was briefed to journalists, has wrongly been confused with the dossier that Blair presented to parliament, which he called “a serious piece of work”.
In an interview for ‘The Real Question with Shehab Khan’, Campbell said: “I know whether I lied or not, and I know that I didn’t. I can understand why people will say, well, this happened afterwards, and you said this was going to happen, and I understand that, but there’s a difference between being wrong and lying.”
Campbell, who has written a new book titled Persevilience – a word he has coined which combines perseverance and resilience – also made the case for why Andy Burnham has more persevilience than his predecessor Keir Starmer.
Here are some other topics Shehab pressed Campbell on in the wide-ranging interview:
Campbell’s position on Gaza and how that differs from Tony Blair’s role in Donald Trump’s Board of Peace
His BBC ‘Question Time’ clash with Zia Yusuf, who called him a war criminal
Why he believes Andy Burnham has the political qualities Starmer lacks
The legacy of political spin and the impact of ‘The Thick of It’.
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This interview was filmed in the Adam Hub in London.
ICYMI: More episodes of ‘The Real Question with Shehab Khan’
