Alastair Campbell has insisted he and Tony Blair did not lie over the government’s decision to invade Iraq but that the reason behind the decision turned out to be “untrue”.
The former No 10 spin doctor made the comments during a talk 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 said. “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.”
Mr Campbell was Downing Street’s director of communications and strategy while Mr Blair was in office and became one of the Labour prime minister’s most trusted aides.
He and Mr Blair have faced fierce criticism since the UK’s invasion of Iraq, particularly over the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which was used to justify the invasion.
The claims in the dossiers were later called into question when no WMDs were found.
Mr Campbell stood down amid the fallout, but in 2016, the Chilcot Inquiry cleared him of the much-repeated accusation that he “sexed up” the dossier. He has since said he “wished Iraq never happened”.
He is now the co-host of the award-winning podcast The Rest Is Politics, where he and ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart discuss UK news and politics, and he has also written 21 books, including some about mental health.
He spoke at a busy event at Hay Festival about his new book, But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It.
The wide-ranging talk covered other topics, including his own issues with mental health and the dangers of populism in today’s political landscape.
Opening up about his brother’s “life-changing” schizophrenia diagnosis, he went on to describe his own struggle with mental health.
“I had my own issues; I had a breakdown in 1996 and issues with addiction,” he said.
“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 office, he has gone on to be involved in a number of mental health charities, and spoken openly about being close to suicide.
Hay Festival, which is spread over 11 days, is set in Hay-on-Wye, the idyllic and picturesque “Town of Books”. The lineup includes Mary Trump, Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil, and more.
The Independent has partnered with the Festival once again to host a series of morning panels titled The News Review, where our journalists will explore current affairs with leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy every morning.
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