Alastair Campbell talks about his diaries - audio slideshow

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I don't go as far as Twitterising him and I probably shouldn't, because he's more than likely been involved in some very under hand, despicable dealings, but whenever I hear him talk I can't but help liking him.
Even though he's a Clampet/Dingle.

And now: the Dodgy Diaries!

I can't believe The Guardian has opened comments on an article about this man, who is more hated than any other figure from the Blair years.

highlight the gap between what he said as a spokesman and what he really believes

Will this cover the 45 MINUTES FROM ATTACK headline that he fed to the Evening Standard so we could go and kill all those people in Iraq?

What leverage has Campbell got over the rag, that it has to give him more publicity?

Does anyone remember when Campbell turned up at some pointless whitewash inquiry or other, and was stabbing himself under the table with a pin so he could get more angry when required?

Perhaps part of him knows that he needs to prepare for his journey into that very low circle of Dante's Inferno where the worst falsifiers, liars, and frauds reside, constantly having their bodies hacked at by demons, then having the wounds heal, only to be hacked by the demons again forever.

What an odious man. Thankfully he will be entirely forgotten once the actual history books are written.

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg875/scaled.php?tn=0&server=875&filename=3vmo.png&xsize=640&ysize=640

The last bit in particular is very interesting - would be fascinating to see what he thinks New Labour got wrong.

I was wondering why he became uncharacteristically candid at Leveson last week. An imminent book launch explains a lot.

"The Iraq War meets the relevant criteria for 'terrorism' set out in Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Terrorism is violence for political ends - military action is violence for political ends. Given that the Iraq War was 'terrorism' in the meaning of Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000, then there are several conclusions which follow. In funding the Iraq War Gordon Brown committed one or more offences in terms of Section 15 of the Terrorism Act 2000, in that he funded 'terrorism'. The penalty for Brown, if convicted, is imprisonment for up to 14 years (see Section 22 of the Act).

Similarly, Tony Blair & Alistair Campbell have committed one or more offences in terms of Section 56 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in that they participated in directing an organisation which was conducting acts of terrorism in Iraq. The penalty, if convicted, is life imprisonment. The Terrorism Act 2000 is UK Law. A UK court can try individuals such as Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown."

I think Campbell, like Hillary Clinton, is much more left-leaning than his career suggests.

I wouldn't put any money on that. He's writing much of the history, and his diaries will always be a source for future historians.

He was a highly talented fixer, manipulator, and mouthpiece for Tony Blair - he did his job to perfection; it's the man himself, whom Campbell shielded and protected, who bears the moral responsibility.

The damage was done long ago, when Margaret Thatcher changed forever the relationship between politicians and the Civil Service, by asking Bernard Ingham to perform the same role that Alastair Campbell performed later. "Spin" didn't start with Blair; like a lot of things that have gone rotten in this country, it started with Thatcher. Probably, we shall never get back to the days before special advisors and spin doctors were chargeable to the state and an inevitable part of government - but it's not a coincidence that politics started to stink in the nostrils of the public when the phenomenon began and grew.

SPADS and Spin = two words that symbolize the moral disintegration of British politics.

and how transcribing them for publication highlighted the gap between what he said as a spokesman and what he really believes

So the man is dishonest and has no integrity. No surprise there.

why is this warmonger allowed to write in the Guardian?

Another angle to explore...from, an already proven liar's, testimony to Leveson...

"In July 2009, when The Guardian published a story indicating phone-hacking was even more widespread than had been thought, I did a number of TV interviews and articles saying this was a story that was not going away, that News International and the police had to grip it and come clean, that David Cameron should reconsider his appointment of Andy Coulson, and that what appeared to be emerging was evidence of systematic criminal activity on a near industrial basis at the News of the World I received a series of what can only be termed mildly threatening text and phone messages from senior journalists and executives at News International." - Campbell

Interesting how those annual meetings with News Of The World executives and senior editorial staff at No.10 weren't more explored given the level of criminality that was to emerge?

Of course such trifles don't really seem all that important when you're dealing with alleged mass murder on an industrial scale:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/16/alastair-campbell-iraq-war

What's he doing with the money from this? He's not keeping it form himself is he?

I bet he kept his diary 'even during the darkest days of yadda, yadda, yadda'. Guaranteeed income from the mugs who buy the memoirs.

For sure better then the lot in front of Ld. Lev. recently, whose inability to recall so many conversations makes it likely any memoirs they produce will be rather 'thin'.

This nasty criminal is on 5Live as I write.

Why do The Guardian and BBC worship this terrible man, who played a major role in sending so many British people to their death for no reason at best, and on the basis of a lie at worst?

And if Murdoch was pushing Blair to kick off on the Iraq war, why didn't this odious man (Cambell) have the bollocks to make this public? That is outrageous interference by someone (Murdoch) with no right to put any view in to the ring. Get Murdoch behind bars, as soon as Blair, Campbell, Mandelson and Reid are behind them.

Even worse, he's actually laughing on 5Live about his state of mind circa Dr Kelly, Hutton etc.

Very surprised that the Guardian is publicising this man's book, given that the majority of its readers probably think he should be in the Hague next to Tony.

Campbell has never given straight answers about the dossier process which dragged us into war. He was a central figure in decisions which costs thousands of innocent civilians their lives, all based on untruths. He should be held to account.

I think Campbell, like Hillary Clinton, is much more left-leaning than his career suggests.

The leaning counts for nothing; it's the career that does the damage. Giving the impression that behind the warmongering spin-doctoring you're actually a cuddly lefty is part of the spin.

It's what people/politicians do that counts, not what they say or how 'nice' they are interpersonally. If more people realised this, perhaps we'd have half a chance of having some decent politicians.

As much as he would like to be some sort of rasputin type figure he isn't. He's a tiny miniscule foot note. Nobody remembers these people in 20 or 40 years. The likes of Beaverbrook at the time of Churchill was equally odious. But he was much more powerful. Achieved much more than Campbell could ever hope to. Campbell was only ever a rather weak jobbing hack given this immense brief power. But look at him now. He's reduced to appearing on shite lifestyle shows with alan sugar and jamie oliver relying on creaming a living off his diaries. I'd also argue that Bernard Ingham is now almost entirely forgotten. People can barely ever remember who was in a cabinet let alone lowly feckless spin doctors.

One does rather get the impression that the Guardian is somewhat besotted with the man...

The very first episode of The Thick of It, back in 2005, proposed, if I understood it right, that there was no independent reality, nor even current history in and around Downing Street -- only "what we say happened". Now Malcolm himself appears to us, in his current role of Alastair Campbell, to explain that even he lacked personal private convictions on the issues of the day or his own relation to them, that deep down inside he was but another hapless Hugh Abbot, swept by events. Tony Blair can't mount the same defense but perhaps he feels that way deep down inside too. There's nobody home! Anywhere! Thank goodness for the Olympics -- that's bound to be real. Isn't it?

I agree with you to a great extent. I was only making a passing comment; it wasn't meant to be taken as a full endorsement of Campbell.

It's important to be said that Campbell is not, was never a politician. Tony Blair and his MPs are the ones who should be (have been) held to account.

@spum There is a famous scene in, I believe, a Michael Cockerell film where Blair goes into Campbell's office for all the world like a naughty schoolboy going into see the headmaster, giving off at least the impression that Campbell was the dominant partner in the relationship.

Alastair Campbell is Machiavelli.

How sad that Hugo Young is no longer alive and writing and putting scoundrels like Campbell in their place. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the paper is still in thrall to this cad. To see him appearing on all there day-time shows and peddling his blood-drenched wares turns my stomach. It's not so much Campbell but what has happened to the integrity of The Guardian under this editor that is the real issue.

Is he some kind of psychopath? He only ever thinks of himself.

At the end of day a person is left-leaning by acting left-leaning. It´s our actions who define who we really, truly are rather than the double-think we use to justify them or maintain our self-image in the face of the evidence. Salvation comes from deeds not from faith despite what St Augustine and a very large chunk of CIF commentators may think.

Campbell was part of the mob who systematically lied to parliament and the media to foist the Iraq war on us. He actively worked ot undermine our democracy, and start an illegal war to further the interests of a foreign power and it´s corporate backers on false pretences. That´s about the most serious misdemeanour a politician can commit - treason essentially. That entire generation of Labour politicians and hangers-on are tainted by that act. If they weren´t actively involved in the conspiracy, they knew about it and did nothing to avoid jeopardising their own cheap careers or because they put tribal loyalty ahead of democracy. If they knew nothing when the majority of the population did know, then they were incompetents. Some of them belong in prison, others deserve to be our of public office stacking supermarket shelves for the rest of their lives where they can do no damage to the rest of the society, but none of them deserve our pity, our respect or our affection.

I couldn´t really give a damn if Campbell is a creature of the left or the right, really.