Alastair Campbell insists he and Tony Blair didn’t lie over Iraq | EUROtoday

Alastair Campbell has insisted he and Tony Blair didn’t lie over the federal government’s choice to invade Iraq however that the rationale behind the choice turned out to be “untrue”.

The former No 10 spin physician made the feedback throughout a chat at The Hay Festival in Wales, which The Independent has partnered with.

“I got called a liar a lot; Tony Blair got called a liar a lot over Iraq,” he mentioned. “I know that we didn’t lie. We made a decision based upon a premise that turned out to be untrue. It’s not the same as a lie.”

He added: “Lying is when you are expressing something you know to be untrue. So Putin knows he invaded Ukraine. He knows it’s not a special military operation because he’s trying to wipe out another country.”

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Mr Campbell was Downing Street’s director of communications and technique whereas Mr Blair was in workplace and have become one of many Labour prime minister’s most trusted aides.

He and Mr Blair have confronted fierce criticism for the reason that UK’s invasion of Iraq, significantly over the file on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, which was used to justify the invasion.

The claims within the dossiers have been later known as into query when no WMD have been discovered.

Mr Campbell stood down amid the fallout however in 2016, the Chilcot Inquiry cleared him of the much-repeated accusation that he “sexed up” the file. He has since mentioned he “wished Iraq never happened”.

He is now the co-host of the award-winning podcast The Rest Is Politics the place he and ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart focus on UK information and politics, and has additionally written 21 books together with some about psychological well being.

He spoke at a busy occasion at Hay Festival about his new guide, But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It.

The wide-ranging speak lined different matters together with his personal points with psychological well being and the risks of populism in at the moment’s political panorama.

Opening up about his brother’s “life changing” schizophrenia prognosis, he went on to explain his personal wrestle with psychological well being.

“I had my own issues, I had a breakdown in 1996 and issues with addiction,” he mentioned.

“I was a journalist and journalism back then was quite macho, heavy drinking, heavy smoking. I got arrested, I was in hospital. When I was let out and finally went back to work, everybody knew something had gone on.

“I just decided there and then – I’m going to be open. And it was amazing, the response from colleagues.”

Since leaving workplace, he has gone on to be concerned in a variety of psychological well being charities, and spoken brazenly about being near suicide.

Hay Festival, which is pread over 11 days, is ready in Hay-on-Wye, the idyllic and picturesque “Town of Books”. The lineup contains Mary Trump, Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil, and extra.

The Independent has partnered with the Festival as soon as once more to host a collection of morning panels titled The News Review, the place our journalists will discover present affairs with main figures from politics, science, the humanities and comedy each morning.