Blair's fixer tipped to quit

[DoYouEverWonder]

Herald Sun

26jul03

LONDON -- Speculation was rampant yesterday that one of Tony Blair's closest advisers was about to resign, as the Prime Minister's credibility rating plummeted.

Sixty-eight per cent of people in a newspaper poll said there was a culture of deceit and spin at the heart of government.

It is a damning condemnation of Mr Blair's communications chief, Alastair Campbell, his right-hand man who has been dubbed Britain's real deputy prime minister.

The BBC's chief political correspondent, Andrew Marr, reported yesterday that Mr Campbell would be gone by the northern winter at the latest.

There was an immediate denial from Downing St, which rubbished the reports as "wishful thinking".

[MasonJar]

1. Bush and Blair

Those two really know how to pass on the blame. My opinion of Blair gets lower every day. Bush,of couse, cannot get any lower; he's mold at the bottom of the cesspool.

[Star]

2. Did Campbell head UK's version of the OSP?

I just found these references this morning, but I can't find anything about who was in this "group".

"But the report is expected to contain criticisms of Mr
Campbell, especially in his role of chairing meetings of the Iraqi
Information Group, the body that produced the later dossier in February.
It may also criticise Tony Blair for making crucial war decisions
without consulting the relevant cabinet committee."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southnews/message/3446


"The Foreign Secretary, in his letter to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has referred to your role "as chair of the cross-departmental Iraqi communications group". Did this communications group have a separate institutional identity from the Central Office of Information, which you head, and the Government Information and Communication Service, which you direct? Does it have its own personnel and resources?"

http://middleeastreference.org.uk/today030624.html