Campbell Faces Grilling At Iraq War Inquiry


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Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell will appear before the Iraq Inquiry today to answer questions that he helped his boss exaggerate the case for war.


He is the most high profile witness yet to give evidence and is likely to be pressed on the presentation of vital intelligence in the run up to the conflict.

Mr Campbell has always denied 'sexing up' a crucial dossier in Sept 2002 which set out the case for war.

It claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be deployed in 45 minutes. No such weapons were ever found.

The dramatic allegation led to a furious row with the BBC and resulted in the suicide of government scientist Dr David Kelly-the source of the claims.

The inquiry has already heard that Britain received intelligence in the days before the US led invasion that Iraq had dismantled any chemical weapons.

That revelation will have fuelled the scepticism of many in Britain about the reasons for going to war.

Alastair Campbell may be pressed to give his insights into whether regime change was the motivation and exactly when the boss he answered to decided to pursue military action.

How far he pushed the truth has been the subject of fierce debate and other inquiries in the years since shock and awe.

Today will be a significant test of Sir John Chilcot's determination to pursue answers.

He and his team have faced criticism about being too 'soft' with their questions to previous witnesses.

What the former Blair aide has to say will be closely scrutinised not least by former Prime Minister himself, who will face his own scrutiny at the inquiry in the near future.

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