The
Scotsman
Sat 28 Jun
2003
Campbell and BBC in open warfare
JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
THE bitter conflict between Downing
Street and the BBC intensified yesterday when the corporation accused Alastair
Campbell, the Prime Minister’s press chief, of trying to intimidate reporters in
the run-up to the Iraq war and conducting a personal vendetta against the
journalist at the centre of the row.
In a dramatic raising of the stakes, Richard Sambrook, the director of BBC News, said his organisation had no intention of apologising for a report which alleged No 10 had "sexed-up" a dossier to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.
Mr Sambrook’s reply provoked a furious Mr Campbell into making an unprecedented television appearance on Channel 4 News. In a heated interview, Tony Blair’s director of communications and strategy accused the BBC of hiding behind "weasel words" rather than issue a simple apology for its "lies".
"Let them [the BBC] just accept for once they have got it wrong," Mr Campbell said. "The reason that is weasel words is that it does not answer the questions I put. I asked the BBC whether they stood by the allegation that we deliberately distorted information."
Writing in response to a letter from Mr Campbell posing more than a dozen questions about the BBC’s coverage, Mr Sambrook said the organisation’s reporting had been impartial throughout the Iraq crisis.
Referring to Mr Campbell’s claim that the BBC had an anti-war agenda, he wrote: "It is our firm view that No 10 tried to intimidate the BBC in its report of events leading up to the war and during the war itself.
"Our responsibility was to present an impartial picture and you were not best placed to judge what was impartial," the letter continued.
The BBC said Mr Campbell was conducting a "personal vendetta" against Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who first reported that a senior intelligence source was allegedly unhappy with the way No 10 had compiled the dossier published in September last year. "I do not accept the validity of your attacks on our journalism and on Andrew Gilligan in particular," Mr Sambrook wrote.
In a sign of how serious the dispute has become, the BBC decided to make its fightback the lead item on its news bulletins. By contrast, Mr Campbell’s letter of complaint on Thursday had been placed down the news agenda.
In his 12-page letter, Mr Sambrook issued a point-by-point rebuttal, beginning by citing seven newspaper reports published in April and May this year and also referring to disagreements between the intelligence services and Downing Street.
"We stand by our reporting of the source as saying that the dossier was ‘sexed-up’ and that had happened at a late stage in its preparation - and that the ‘sexing-up ’ relied on uncorroborated material not approved by all in the intelligence agencies," Mr Sambrook wrote.
The BBC said it also stood by the allegation - again made by Mr Gilligan’s anonymous source - that No 10 had added to the dossier the claim that Saddam could unleash his missiles with 45 minutes.
"The allegation was not made by the BBC but by our source, a senior official involved in the compilation of the dossier, and the BBC stands by the reporting of it. Andrew Gilligan made it clear that according to his source the 45-minute claim was real, but unreliable, intelligence information," said the letter.
In a final swipe, Mr Sambrook challenged Mr Campbell to make a formal complaint.
In a statement, Mr Campbell claimed Mr Sambrook’s response confirmed that the BBC broadcast a story "that was hugely damaging to the integrity of the government and the Prime Minister" without knowing that story to be true and without any effort to check whether the story was true.
"It confirms our central charge that they do not have a shred of evidence to justify their lie, broadcast many times, that we deliberately exaggerated and abused British intelligence and so misled parliament and the public," Mr Campbell said.
In a dramatic raising of the stakes, Richard Sambrook, the director of BBC News, said his organisation had no intention of apologising for a report which alleged No 10 had "sexed-up" a dossier to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.
Mr Sambrook’s reply provoked a furious Mr Campbell into making an unprecedented television appearance on Channel 4 News. In a heated interview, Tony Blair’s director of communications and strategy accused the BBC of hiding behind "weasel words" rather than issue a simple apology for its "lies".
"Let them [the BBC] just accept for once they have got it wrong," Mr Campbell said. "The reason that is weasel words is that it does not answer the questions I put. I asked the BBC whether they stood by the allegation that we deliberately distorted information."
Writing in response to a letter from Mr Campbell posing more than a dozen questions about the BBC’s coverage, Mr Sambrook said the organisation’s reporting had been impartial throughout the Iraq crisis.
Referring to Mr Campbell’s claim that the BBC had an anti-war agenda, he wrote: "It is our firm view that No 10 tried to intimidate the BBC in its report of events leading up to the war and during the war itself.
"Our responsibility was to present an impartial picture and you were not best placed to judge what was impartial," the letter continued.
The BBC said Mr Campbell was conducting a "personal vendetta" against Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who first reported that a senior intelligence source was allegedly unhappy with the way No 10 had compiled the dossier published in September last year. "I do not accept the validity of your attacks on our journalism and on Andrew Gilligan in particular," Mr Sambrook wrote.
In a sign of how serious the dispute has become, the BBC decided to make its fightback the lead item on its news bulletins. By contrast, Mr Campbell’s letter of complaint on Thursday had been placed down the news agenda.
In his 12-page letter, Mr Sambrook issued a point-by-point rebuttal, beginning by citing seven newspaper reports published in April and May this year and also referring to disagreements between the intelligence services and Downing Street.
"We stand by our reporting of the source as saying that the dossier was ‘sexed-up’ and that had happened at a late stage in its preparation - and that the ‘sexing-up ’ relied on uncorroborated material not approved by all in the intelligence agencies," Mr Sambrook wrote.
The BBC said it also stood by the allegation - again made by Mr Gilligan’s anonymous source - that No 10 had added to the dossier the claim that Saddam could unleash his missiles with 45 minutes.
"The allegation was not made by the BBC but by our source, a senior official involved in the compilation of the dossier, and the BBC stands by the reporting of it. Andrew Gilligan made it clear that according to his source the 45-minute claim was real, but unreliable, intelligence information," said the letter.
In a final swipe, Mr Sambrook challenged Mr Campbell to make a formal complaint.
In a statement, Mr Campbell claimed Mr Sambrook’s response confirmed that the BBC broadcast a story "that was hugely damaging to the integrity of the government and the Prime Minister" without knowing that story to be true and without any effort to check whether the story was true.
"It confirms our central charge that they do not have a shred of evidence to justify their lie, broadcast many times, that we deliberately exaggerated and abused British intelligence and so misled parliament and the public," Mr Campbell said.
This article:
http://thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=702472003
