Tony Blair's ex-Master of Spin and closest adviser is on a media whirlwind promoting his diary. Campbell's apparently straight talking nature gives the prospects of some tantalizing insight into the inner workings of number 10 for the majority of Blair's premiership. He's not getting it all his own way, though. BBC Radio 4's John Humphrey's on the Today Programme (Real audio) (MP3) was more interested in the failings of a government and political movement for which he was an architect and key player, and particularly Campbell's legacy of elevating the role of spin in British politics, even in the inner working of government, allegedly sexing up an intelligence dossier in order to make a more compelling case for war in Iraq (See 10 ways to sex up a dossier). The Guardian, in an article titled Did he mean me?, invited some of those named in his diaries to give feedback, or should that be biteback?
posted on Jul 11, 2007 - View this thread

The UK media is like a "Feral Beast", and is undermining Britain, says Tony Blair. Simon Kelner, editor of The Independent, responds. Some reasons why Blair might not be too keen on the press.
posted on Jun 12, 2007 - View this thread

Prime Minister's Questions is a weekly televised convention in the UK started in the 1950s during which Members of Parliament get a chance to hold their leader accountable for his or her actions. Sick of boring political meetings? "PMQ" is fast-paced, hip, heated, eloquent, insulting, and sometimes hilarious. In fact, the inherant humor of it is has been well explored.

But brits aren't the only ones; "Question Time", as it's called generically, has been adapted in other countries as well. Yet the show often shocks Americans since the concept of weekly unscripted access to leaders without giving days of question prep-time seems like a fantasy. Of course, maybe the alternative (0:41) is much worse.
posted on Dec 5, 2006 - View this thread

Tony Blair announces that he will resign as UK Prime Minister. Just broadcast on BBC. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is expected to be nominated by Labour party as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Blair hasn't set a date for departure.
posted on Sep 7, 2006 - View this thread

"Families of soldiers killed in Iraq launch party to challenge ministers". Reg Keys, father of a British serviceman killed in the Iraq War, stood directly against Tony Blair in his Sedgefield constituency as an independent candidate (see Wikipedia for a brief summary of independent movements in the UK, USA and Canada) in the 2005 UK election, taking 10% of the vote. A founder member of Military Families Against The War, he is also at the centre of a new political movement, Spectre, that aim to stand up to 70 members of bereaved families directly against pro-war government and cabinet members in the 2009 election, and each by-election before then. See also the Guardian's Guide to anti-war websites.
posted on Aug 6, 2006 - View this thread

Henry Porter is the British Editor of Vanity Fair. In the current issue he attacks what he describes as "[Tony] Blair's campaign against rights contained in the Rule of Law". The article follows a series of columns for The Observer and an extraordinary exchange of email between the two men, and has resonance in probably all countries in the Western world.
posted on Jun 28, 2006 - View this thread

Bush and Blair slated by Pinter George W Bush and Tony Blair must be held to account for feeding the public "a vast tapestry of lies" about the Iraq war, writer Harold Pinter said. [Postroad: but then, what do artists know about politics?]
posted on Dec 7, 2005 - View this thread

Finally, The Bush vs. Blair debate that we've all waited to see. Silly Friday-Flash. [Warning, contains profanity]
posted on Nov 25, 2005 - View this thread

Blair loses in the Commons for the first time since his election in 1997. MPs refused to pass laws allowing terrorist suspects to be jailed without trial for 90 days, and Blair's parliamentary majority of 66 turned into a minority of 31. The government has been holding back on the vote for months in an attempt to persuade their party to back the Prime Minister - they failed.
posted on Nov 9, 2005 - View this thread

Tony's Blair's keynote speech to the Labour Party conference today [wmv]. Text summary from Channel 4 news.
posted on Sep 27, 2005 - View this thread

The 'Captain' and his buddies have been stuck with the 'Downing Street Memos' that have to be dealt with on the merits of what they say because no one has questioned their validity. Not anymore. What do you do when you need a miracle? Go back to what has worked in the past and scrutinize the paper and typeface .
posted on Jun 19, 2005 - View this thread

BBC - Question Time Leaders Special [Windows Media or RealMedia]
- Panorama: Iraq, Tony and the truth [transcript]
posted on Apr 28, 2005 - View this thread

Uhoh. Tony Blair's new Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is almost certainly a member of masochistic Catholic cult Opus Dei, as featured in The Da Vinci Code.
posted on Jan 24, 2005 - View this thread

Teflon Tony Blair is a class act as a survivor but could he seriously face impeachment proceedings from These guys? So far its only the loons and the wannabees but how long before the case is taken up by The Prince of Darkness? It looks bad because his Pants are on Fire.
posted on Dec 10, 2004 - View this thread

Sleeping with the president is not a good idea. Bush had no answers to big questions, such as 'what happens on the morning after.' The Daily Telegraph reports that documents show Prime Minister Tony Blair signed up to the U.S. policy of regime change in March 2002, a year before the conflict started... after he was warned that postwar stability would be difficult and the U.S. had few answers. Oh, no problem. This week, Bush said he is 'pleased with the progress' in Iraq.'
posted on Sep 19, 2004 - View this thread

Impeach Tony Blair. Backed by a large dossier, supported by a handful (so far) of UK members of parliament. Summarised by The Spectator.
posted on Aug 26, 2004 - View this thread

As the verdict of Butler Report into the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq, draws near in Britain, a senior intelligence source reveals that MI6 took the "rare step" of withdrawing the intelligence assessment that underpinned the claim that Saddam had continued to produce WMD (an admission that such information was fundamentally unreliable), however Blair did not tell the public "that the evidence of WMD was crumbling beneath him". [Watch the Panorama programme in question here for 7 days from 11-7-2004] The Dossier that Lord Hutton declared was not sexed-up (leading to senior BBC resignations), Dr Brian Jones (former head of the nuclear, chemical and biological branch of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Intelligence Staff) says was sexed-up, and details exactly how.
posted on Jul 12, 2004 - View this thread

The UK local elections have taken place, and for the first time ever forced the ruling Labour government into third position, with their worst showing in history. Is this just a mid-term blip, or the culmination of the huge Iraq backlash that will topple the government? With Bush in trouble too, will any of the warring leaders be left come November? And can the Big Intervention website topple Blair himself?
posted on Jun 11, 2004 - View this thread

Tony Blair: Why we must never abandon this historic struggle in Iraq. Terry Jones: Tony really must try harder.
posted on Apr 14, 2004 - View this thread

PAIR UP FOR PEACE PRIZE It is possible to see the war against Iraq as a good thing,finally, but this Orwellian War is Peace seems a bit strange: :Tony Blair and George Bush have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for waging war on Saddam Hussein. They have been put forward by a Norwegian politician who said ousting the dictator had reduced the threat of a war with weapons of mass destruction."
posted on Feb 1, 2004 - View this thread

The BBC is asking visitors of its news site to vote from a shortlist of the ten most embarrassing political moments. Visitors can watch a short film [real media] which shows all ten nominated moments (forgive the home-video moments style background muzak). There's some variety here: Tony Blair and Neil Kinnock in moments exhibiting a baffling degree of misguidedness, George W Bush and Kenneth Clarke in tight spots (figuratively and literally), while Charles Kennedy and John Prescott probably coming out of their situations looking better than they did beforehand. For me the most cringe-inducing clip is that of John Redwood, the then newly appointed Secretary of State for Wales, attempting to mime the Welsh national anthem. Genuinely difficult to watch.
posted on Dec 5, 2003 - View this thread

“We fear the government using the current climate of fear and uncertainty about the future as a means to allow itself sweeping powers without an appropriate consideration of proportionality" ......no-go zones ........ power to ban peaceful protest ...... destroy private property without compensation ........prepare for the introduction of compulsory identity cards .... The climate seems to be changing.
posted on Nov 26, 2003 - View this thread

Dear President Bush, I'm sure you'll be having a nice little tea party with your fellow war criminal, Tony Blair. Please wash the cucumber sandwiches down with a glass of blood, with my compliments. Harold Pinter, Playwright. Some caustic open letters in The Guardian for the big state visit.
posted on Nov 19, 2003 - View this thread

I created this website because it seemed to me important that Americans said thank you to Prime Minister Tony Blair and the British people.
posted on Oct 9, 2003 - View this thread

You big babies. Chirac gives Blair the perfect birthday gift.
posted on May 7, 2003 - View this thread

Blair, the war criminal Tom Dalyell, a Labour MP with over 41 years of service in the House of Commons has voted with his Labour Party constitutency to call for Blair to reconsider his postion as party leader. He further states that he believes "[Blair] should be branded as a war criminal and sent to the Hague".
posted on Mar 27, 2003 - View this thread

Wakey wakey Mr Blair There's been a lot of media comment recently concerning Tony Blair's visible signs of exhaustion. This piece illustrates just how quickly he needs to wake up to what's going on if he's ever to sleep soundly again. Clare Short should show him the way and save her credibility at the same time
posted on Mar 22, 2003 - View this thread

At what point does a government have to stop and wonder if it's judged the mood correctly?

The UK government manages to bribe a rebel with a cushy job, but not one, not two, but three other MPs walk away from the government in one day. Are things going wrong in the UK?
posted on Mar 18, 2003 - View this thread

When Washington writes Blair's autocue. For those of you outside the U.K. a very funny clip from Rory Bremner, about the only satirist left on U.K. television. (Real Video Stream - 'Blair & Campbell Autocue').
posted on Mar 3, 2003 - View this thread

Blair unveils global warming plan, says U.S. must do more "We will continue to make the case to the U.S. and to others that climate change is a serious threat that we must address together as an international community," he said. "We in Britain have shown that it is possible to break the relationship between economic growth and ever-rising pollution." With the Bush administration relying so heavily on British support of its war plans, does Blair have some real leverage here to push for more progressive Bush policies on other issues?
posted on Feb 25, 2003 - View this thread

Ask not for whom the Bush burns: it burns for Blair. [Quicktime req; via Bifurcated Rivets.]
posted on Feb 24, 2003 - View this thread

Friday Flash! Actually, it's a movie, but it sure is hilarious... Bush + Blair = LUV
posted on Feb 21, 2003 - View this thread

"But if the threat cannot be removed peacefully, please let us not fall for the delusion that it can be safely ignored." Speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair at Labour's local government, women's and youth conferences, SECC, Glasgow.
posted on Feb 17, 2003 - View this thread

The first cracks in the foundations of Colin Powell's "Case for War" speech are beginning to be uncovered by a Cambridge professor. Some of the information taken from an "up to date" British intelligence dossier was apparently plagiarized and dramatically spun from a California graduate student's paper, describing the Iraqi regime during the 1990s. Will it make any difference in U.S. public opinion if the Powell speech is debunked? Will the widening gap between U.S. and global opinion further weaken the UN?
posted on Feb 7, 2003 - View this thread

Britain's Pubs to Entertain Longer Hours? Tony Blair Says Yes! In an effort to curb binge drinking and overall ruddy behavior after closing times at 11pm, Parliament has it before them to allow for extended bar hours, rather than fixed open and closing hours. Communities would have some sort of say in which pubs would be able to have which hours, probably based on distance to residential areas, etc. CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale was one of the formal organizations backing this plan. Open All Hours? is a group opposing the plan. Check it out!
posted on Nov 13, 2002 - View this thread

Of GM food, the PR industry and Tony Blair. George Monbiot exposes the questionable methods (fake public interest groups) of the PR industry in defense of big Agribusiness.
posted on May 29, 2002 - View this thread

Blair to visit the Indian sub-continent to defuse the tension in the region. He is expected to arrive in Pakistan on January 7 following visits to India and Bangladesh.
posted on Jan 1, 2002 - View this thread

Blair's Road to Nemesis "There will come a day when the Government commits suicide" Columist of the year, Andrew Rawnsley's devastating critique of new labour is also supported by the BBC's Mark Mardell "Blair will get bored of just being the British PM soon". Ex-labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley says He must be stopped
posted on Nov 18, 2001 - View this thread

blair postpones freedom of information act until 2005, despite being a labour party pledge for 25 years...... after the undemocratic anti-terrorism legislation forced through parliament on monday, what hope for real civil liberties in the uk?
posted on Nov 16, 2001 - View this thread

blair to declare state of emergency, suspend human rights there is some scary stuff included in these proposals. including internment without trial there are serious implications here, and i find it frightening.
posted on Nov 14, 2001 - View this thread

Blair now a 'legitimate target.' A spokesman for a British Islamic group has said Tony Blair is a 'legitimate target.' According to spokesman, "This means if any Muslim wanted to kill him or get rid of him, I would not shed any tears." Salman Rushdie roomate jokes aside, this is pretty chilling.
posted on Oct 10, 2001 - View this thread

Tony Blair For President! Seriously, I'd vote for him. What are the chances that the Democrats can recruit Mr. Blair to run? Also, the LA Times thinks Tony Blair Puts Bush to Shame. What do you think?
posted on Oct 8, 2001 - View this thread

So while Bush has looked like a small rodent caught on a dual carriageway, Tony Blair has addressed the nation, met with the French and German prime ministers, attended a memorial service, met with both Clinton and Bush, been namechecked in the latters big speech, initiatied negotiations with Iran and, last but not least, been pictured looking photogenically concerned and statesman-like in a well-cut black suit. I don't think anybody does crisis as well as Blair. He's turning into Thatcher. Pity he doesn't have the support of his own party.
posted on Sep 21, 2001 - View this thread

European leaders trying to bring balance to American response. "...Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has offered Mr. Bush his full support, insisted on Friday that any retaliation "must and will be based on hard evidence," and his spokesman has said that the support does not amount to a 'blank check.' "
posted on Sep 16, 2001 - View this thread

Blair just made an address the the British people where he pledged once again his full support for the US, and also emphasised how almost all muslim groups were shocked and outraged by this tragedy and offered their thoughts and prayers to the US people. I was astonished and saddened yesterday by the BBC, who chose to represent UK muslims by AM, an extremist fundamentalist faction whose representative made comments like this was a perfectly legitimate target under jihad, and all muslims who believe this a tragedy cannot call themselves muslim. Jihad does not allow murder of civilians on pain of death.. This is not the first time the BBC has asked this group to represent us, please call 08700 100 222 to complain to the BBC if you feel as saddened by this as I do..
posted on Sep 12, 2001 - View this thread

Tony Blair wants to nix Double Jeopardy protection. A right that has been considered vital since the days of the Magna Carta is under threat from Labour. Blair wants to make it possible that "someone acquitted of a killing can be put on trial again if new evidence emerges". Why not just be sure of the case in the first place? This would only cause a rush to trial by unprepared prosecutors.
posted on Jun 25, 2001 - View this thread

Labour Party WINS UK General Election Tony Blair's Labour Party now officially wins the general election after getting the needed 330 constituencies. Not all the results are in yet, but it's not important. Labour are past the post. Well done Tony!
posted on Jun 7, 2001 - View this thread

Ballot boxing. John Prescott, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister and Tony Blair's right hand (or should that be left jab) man was involved in a skirmish today while on the campaign trail, seemingly throwing the first punch. Politicians seem to be addressing the issue of voter apathy in more erm, 'innovative' ways these days.
posted on May 16, 2001 - View this thread

Britney to Blair: Good luck!
posted on May 16, 2001 - View this thread

A Day at the Races: PM Tony Blair calls for the General Election on June 7. What will the next month of campaigning be like? Well, Trimble has already threatened to resign his post in N. Ireland.
posted on May 8, 2001 - View this thread