Remember when the media used to robustly hold the government to account? And when government officials would take interviews and robustly defend their position? Nostalgic watching this in 2021 when both media and government are far more disingenuous
Did you not just witness Sky News basically destroy Liz Truss's creditability? Why are you suggesting things have changed? We have an absolute free press, any time the government screws up, reporters are outside number shouting criticism to everyone who walks out the front door
@@jakel8627 firstly, Liz Truss destroyed Liz Truss’ credibility. Secondly, Truss can attend a press conference, give the same BS answer to only 4 questions with no follow up or further scrutiny. There are good journalists asking tough questions (see the local media round) of truss but the environment is set up to not allow proper scrutiny or to expect a reasonable attempt at answering the question. Thirdly I wrote this a year ago but it’s as true then as it is now
I think the main thrust of the point here is how high quality the intellectual combat is and how high quality is the territoriality of fighting for the details between these two during a tight time frame. They both get in long reach punches that are exactly on point and it's electrifying. Then how twenty years later this seems archaic, sadly. A free press and shouting at passing ministers as they depart their office all stands, but the calibre and content of present day discourse is greatly diminished, likely due to prevalent styles of attention as informed by smartphones which were not around back then.
Watched these journalists go toe to toe live. It was electrifying. Jon Snow was superbly vociferous in his questioning and Alistair Campbell was fiercely defensive. It was completely unprecedented for an unelected official to appear on air like this. I recall the coverage in the press at the time and AC apparently just marched up to Channel 4 uninvited to make his case.
Agreed! Can you imagine if we had that same journalistic rigour today in 2022? Not only would it be entertaining but more importantly I think we'd have better politicians as a result.
Jon Snow was compulsive viewing. None of the others are in his league. The build up and start of the Iraq War,he was the one to watch. Enjoy your retirement Jon.
Correct all round! What a special performance from a colossal liar & bully. Read Alistair Campbell by Peter Oborne. He is well out of control at this point of his role with Tony Blair. For years he forgot he wasn't the Prime Minister & this proves it.
What backing can you give for what was put forth by you with Alastair Campbell that "apparently just marched up to channel 4 uninvited to make his case? " If your unable of providing evidence in relation to what you have written, I'd refrain from such claims If I were you. You are to be held accountable for your remarks if Alastair is to be undermined the way he is with your comment.
Whatever side you're on, it's a shame we don't see this kind of debate now. Instead, we get answers to every question something like "I think what the public want to know is..." And reframe the question to some nonsense like "getting Brexit done"
Absolutely. Vague claims that rarely have any standards by which to judge. "Getting Brexit done"...And today for example (Sept 2023) " What does that even mean? At least we (or journalists) can ask the government to account in detail for the extra £350m per week that has been poured into the NHS. Those were the days when good, solid numbers were promised.. Anyone for Red Bus to Peppa Pig World? Flying Pig World seems more accurate.
bit irrelevant to compare Brexit to an illegal war though isn't it. Actually the most glaring difference is how pro-war most of our parties are, there isn't even the room for the debate now unless you want to be expelled from party politics and branded a "Putin-appeaser". Just as there isn't any actual scrutiny into the allies of UK that get funding and military aid. Then there's the issue of how reliant UK is on genocidal human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia, I guess our political establishment just stopped caring about the human rights abuses carried out by Islamist dictators in the early 2000s.
Campbell is an enigma. Even when one believes he was wrong, as I do, he's so self-assured, articulate, confident and informed that I find myself unable to dislike him. A real antihero. His fearless defence of an impossible position is tragic and inspiring in equal measure. A unique and complex individual who many have since tried to emulate but none have succeeded.
He says he still stands by every word he said in this interview. You call it an impossible position but he genuinely believed what he was arguing here.
@@PJH13or both 🤷♂️ I could believe that he questions what he believed then now, but he can't possibly let on to that publicly or the whole game falls through.
I think sincerity has a human signature we all recognise and regardless of our own stance on a particular issue, we can still respect a person of conviction. The problem arises when people speak out of both sides of their mouth and lose all credibility. Cambell has always stood his ground in the face of overwhelming evidence that he was wrong. I can admire that and still disagree agreeably. @Rory626
@@Rory626 I don't know about that. As he says all the time on TRIP, he's in a position today where any answer he's going to give about Iraq is going to be nothing new, so most people don't ask him. When they do, he'll say "I've had six inquiries and they've all found that I did nothing wrong". My point is, that I don't know if he believes what he says, but he's better off if he says he does.
You know Alistair Campbell is on another level when at 3:35 he has the capacity of thought to Chuck a side dig at Blackburn Rovers as a lifelong Burnley fan. Whilst fighting the most serious of fires in his job role at the time.
@@MosesDeLaRoses While a valid - and now always deeply upsetting - point, I would like Alistair Campbell's ability to argue a case. He didn't take the country to war on a flimsy, fundamentally non-existent, premise. He was just the Press Officer. (Not an elected official,, which makes the interview even more curious but others discuss that aspect elsewhere.)
@@JohnPreston888A “press officer” who, though orders in council, was given the power to give orders to civil servants. For an individual to hold such power without formal office was unprecedented since the reign of Henry VII
What a journalist! A consummate professional, he got the importance of even-handed journalism in a world of fog and spin. He always stood up to the plate (remember an apoplectic Alistair Campbell bursting into studio demanding an interview over claims of a 'sexed-up' Iraq dossier?) He was serious, but shorn of pomposity - always fun and self-effacing. Forget the war zones he used to report from, and the 'evil spin doctors in the dark', he routinely made some of the bravest sartorial choices one could imagine. His socks (and ties) were estimably loud. Long live Jon Snow! THE journalist's journalist. Truly the end of an era. I pray his replacement his as much integrity. without people like Snow you just have a cabal of vultures who are unnervingly pally with the PM, and act as the propaganda wing of Downing St. Snow was unique, had personality to spare and was steadfastly independent of the established order
I have to give it to Alastair, he is so sharp in this interview, he knows and understand every detail. If only government ministers/officals were this sharp and talented today
Considering that Campbell literally burst into Ch4 studios unannounced! Snow obviously was shooting from the hip and did a darn sight better job than most journalists who would have actually prepared! Snow's colleague; the appalling Guru Murthy, comes to mind!
It was the stakes. He was a bully. I think he has grown since, but he may have depression previously but based on his work on the Iraq war he forced us into, he deserves to not sleep well at night. As does his boss.
Jon Snow was always at his best when shooting from the hip, and this interview is him at his finest. Campbell showing up unannounced thinking he could catch him off-guard.....Snow was having none of it. 🤣🤣🤣
Jon Snow is a legend. He just leads them into the web and snares them. “And you’ve got proof of that have you?” Jon “Funnily enough I’ve got it right here it was available years ago” #priceless
Campbell goes on about "conflation" of dossiers - as though there were errors in one and not the other. There were errors in both. This is the key part of his spin. It's simply not true that there were "no errors of fact in the WMD dossier in September 2002", as he claims.
Yh, I love it when he complains about dishonest politicians and the weak press; the guy set completely new standards of dishonesty and bullied and threatened half the journalists in London
I'm sure all of what Campbell says is spin and half truth... but his communication here is immense. The eye contact and body language, the ability he has to use the most salient/cutting word in his opponent's argument and dismantle it, "robust", etc. A formidable display from an undoubtedly talented political operator.
Trying to bully his way out, throwing "impactful", emotive language around as he has been media-trained to do. In the end, his only argument was, "you're wrong and you should take my word for it that you're wrong; you should therefore be ashamed that you're wrong and apologise for being wrong and that apology is in itself an admission that I am right and you are wrong." If you and others are swayed by such empty, emotionally charged barbs, then god help us. The man and Blair are pure evil.
He’s objectively a fantastic strategist and communicator. The Iraq war was clearly a disaster for which Campbell holds immense responsibility, but get off your high horse about how you’re too clever to fall for it all when we’re two decades down the road. It doesn’t take a genius to see through the clouds when they’ve had 20 years to clear.
@@teb7426 You and I view political events through different lenses. You're stuck in a Blue vs. Red moral paradigm, whereas I'm quite happy admiring AC purely for his theatric value. I don't care about any kind of moral consideration in this. This is *entertainment* for me. Though, actually, there was considerably more meat on his argument than simply just "you're wrong, feel bad"... your sloppy characterisation aside, this is about AC's incredible force of character. Verbally drubbing a seasoned reporter like this - when you are accused of falsely taking the country to war - is actually insane. If that was you, accused of the same thing, you'd melt like an ice cube on the surface of the sun. If you cannot appreciate that then I genuinely feel sorry for you. But yeah, boo Blair, boo Iraq... whatever lol.
@@teb7426 that's not hte point of this comment, it's more about how absolutely incredible campbell is as a communicator / his force of personality. just because it's bullshit doesn't mean its not competent and well crafted
Alastair Campbell will eventually wake up to his role in the immense suffering caused by his complicity in the lies regarding weapons of mass destruction. He’s a haunted man.
So all this has now since been admitted by the Labour party - why is this guy still walking about, in full view, giving his opinions on the media of today?
@@johermeah7787 I guess it opened my eyes to what went on during that time in politics, such as the massive efforts to do something about the situation in Ireland leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. Also their relationship with Princess Diana I found interesting. And learning a bit about what it is like being part of a general election campaign. It's worth a listen but the book is no doubt a lot better as this is abridged.
@@katytaylor681 An election cycle seems like carnage from the outside, as a member of the general public. Must be more so for those internally! Thanks for the recommendation
The best part of this was when Campbell was in full flow on his high horse and Jon Snow cuts him down in no uncertain terms - th-cam.com/video/GBWE7QzADe8/w-d-xo.html
You can see where Armando Iannucci got his inspiration for the legendary Malcolm Tucker character who would be seen for the first time two years after this interview. I can imagine Tucker sitting there opposite Snow, but far more expletive
I would say that Campbell started the demise of BBC journalism. His threats created fear in the upper echelons of the BBC and the conservative government continued that pressure
Funny to think, in the late 90s/early 00s there were active journalists called Jon Snow and Harry Potter, at the same time fantasy characters who shared the name were being written.
1:25 ".. you can say anything you want on the television, doesn't matter if it's true, doesn't matter if you check it, doesn't matter if it's corroborated.." If you substitute "in a dodgy dossier" for "on the television", Alastair Campbell could be talking about himself.
Despite his comic ingenuity re Blackburn Rovers and maliciously adroit swift and powerful foot-forward self defense, Alastair Campbell fails to meet the simple logic in the questions put forward and reinforced impressively by Jon Snow. Although I'd like to be persuaded, I step away seeing Campbell as a phenomenally talented BS artist, and he leaves the impression from his maneuvering in this discussion that he was very much involved in and very clearly did have something to do with sexing up the dodgy dossier, even if for whatever foible - he appears to believe himself that's not what they did. Every point Snow puts forward, that this fight with the BBC is a distraction, that Campbell takes it personally, that a more thorough alternative process to investigate the matter was cast aside in favour of a comfortable one for the PM, that the intel was 'horlicks'... Every one remains undefeated - indeed reinforced - by Alastair Campbell's muscular ballet around the red tablecloth
Excellent bit of prose. I do wonder if it was AC's "belief", or his job? "muscular ballet"...wonderful description. It is not his place to be interviewed to defend political decisions, but far more deserving of respect than Pledge Repitition (see Michael Spicer for more on that).
However deep and dark the depths of depression Campbell personally sinks to they will never be deep enough or dark enough to justify his pivotal role in the Iraq war.
Slimy arrogant man, he and Blair have a lot to answer for. RIP Dr David Kelly, and all the lads and lasses and innocents that got killed or maimed in the Iraqi war, well done Jon Snow
A client of mine flew in the raf over Iraq after the war... he said he saw no evidence of wmd.. just a few military outdated buildings of which the plans were available readily...
Campbell comes over as a horrible bloke to work for. His campaign to save himself has only dragged the media, along with the country, down to his level.
I suggest reading the Hutton Report, which criticises Gilligan, and largely backs up Campbell's position here. Gilligan lied, and admitted so, and the BBC acknowledged they didn't do enough to verify Gilligan's reporting. He attributed information to Kelly that he in fact made up. The BBC's Chairman and Director-General both resigned within 24 hours of its publication and the BBC instigated new training procedures for journalists. Clearly, that's no basis for a 'well done'.
But the investigation proved them untrue and the Chairman of the BBC resigned…as both Jon and Alistair would say, check your facts and stop peddling lies
No Alistair Campbell has been proven to be lieing. In this video he repeats the false claim that the September dossier is accurate and was not altered. The iraq inquiry has proven (through testimony the memos sent by Campbell) that he instructed for the September dossier to be altered last minute to "one that complements rather than conflicts with" US claims. These were Campbells own words used in the memo.
Here because TRIP told me to check it out!
Same here
Yup same
Ditto
Same… now back to the episode
Me too
Just found this after listening to a discussion on the old days on Alastair and Rory’s podcast this week. He’s a lot calmer these days!
Remember when the media used to robustly hold the government to account? And when government officials would take interviews and robustly defend their position? Nostalgic watching this in 2021 when both media and government are far more disingenuous
No, I remember them toeing the line on the stuff they're allowed to ask about.
Did you not just witness Sky News basically destroy Liz Truss's creditability? Why are you suggesting things have changed? We have an absolute free press, any time the government screws up, reporters are outside number shouting criticism to everyone who walks out the front door
@@jakel8627 firstly, Liz Truss destroyed Liz Truss’ credibility. Secondly, Truss can attend a press conference, give the same BS answer to only 4 questions with no follow up or further scrutiny. There are good journalists asking tough questions (see the local media round) of truss but the environment is set up to not allow proper scrutiny or to expect a reasonable attempt at answering the question. Thirdly I wrote this a year ago but it’s as true then as it is now
I think the main thrust of the point here is how high quality the intellectual combat is and how high quality is the territoriality of fighting for the details between these two during a tight time frame. They both get in long reach punches that are exactly on point and it's electrifying. Then how twenty years later this seems archaic, sadly. A free press and shouting at passing ministers as they depart their office all stands, but the calibre and content of present day discourse is greatly diminished, likely due to prevalent styles of attention as informed by smartphones which were not around back then.
Hardly proves your point when Blair sent out his Spin Doctor to answer questions for him…
Watched these journalists go toe to toe live. It was electrifying. Jon Snow was superbly vociferous in his questioning and Alistair Campbell was fiercely defensive. It was completely unprecedented for an unelected official to appear on air like this. I recall the coverage in the press at the time and AC apparently just marched up to Channel 4 uninvited to make his case.
Jon snow is highly intelligent and held Alaister Campbell to ransom & rightly so I wish he could have done the same with Boris
Agreed! Can you imagine if we had that same journalistic rigour today in 2022? Not only would it be entertaining but more importantly I think we'd have better politicians as a result.
Jon Snow was compulsive viewing. None of the others are in his league. The build up and start of the Iraq War,he was the one to watch. Enjoy your retirement Jon.
Correct all round! What a special performance from a colossal liar & bully. Read Alistair Campbell by Peter Oborne. He is well out of control at this point of his role with Tony Blair. For years he forgot he wasn't the Prime Minister & this proves it.
What backing can you give for what was put forth by you with Alastair Campbell that "apparently just marched up to channel 4 uninvited to make his case? " If your unable of providing evidence in relation to what you have written, I'd refrain from such claims If I were you. You are to be held accountable for your remarks if Alastair is to be undermined the way he is with your comment.
Whatever side you're on, it's a shame we don't see this kind of debate now. Instead, we get answers to every question something like "I think what the public want to know is..." And reframe the question to some nonsense like "getting Brexit done"
Absolutely. Vague claims that rarely have any standards by which to judge. "Getting Brexit done"...And today for example (Sept 2023) "
What does that even mean? At least we (or journalists) can ask the government to account in detail for the extra £350m per week that has been poured into the NHS. Those were the days when good, solid numbers were promised.. Anyone for Red Bus to Peppa Pig World? Flying Pig World seems more accurate.
Agreed, I like Alastair but it’s good to see him. Being held to account
Campbell still employed that sort of rhetoric towards the end in saying that what the public really cares about is public services, the economy etc
The reason is it came to nothing, neither Blair or his government were prosecuted for the war crimes they committed.
bit irrelevant to compare Brexit to an illegal war though isn't it. Actually the most glaring difference is how pro-war most of our parties are, there isn't even the room for the debate now unless you want to be expelled from party politics and branded a "Putin-appeaser". Just as there isn't any actual scrutiny into the allies of UK that get funding and military aid. Then there's the issue of how reliant UK is on genocidal human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia, I guess our political establishment just stopped caring about the human rights abuses carried out by Islamist dictators in the early 2000s.
Campbell is an enigma. Even when one believes he was wrong, as I do, he's so self-assured, articulate, confident and informed that I find myself unable to dislike him. A real antihero.
His fearless defence of an impossible position is tragic and inspiring in equal measure.
A unique and complex individual who many have since tried to emulate but none have succeeded.
He says he still stands by every word he said in this interview. You call it an impossible position but he genuinely believed what he was arguing here.
@@Rory626 Or just that his pathological lying has dug him a hole so deep he can't back out of it or the whole thing will collapse
@@PJH13or both 🤷♂️ I could believe that he questions what he believed then now, but he can't possibly let on to that publicly or the whole game falls through.
I think sincerity has a human signature we all recognise and regardless of our own stance on a particular issue, we can still respect a person of conviction.
The problem arises when people speak out of both sides of their mouth and lose all credibility.
Cambell has always stood his ground in the face of overwhelming evidence that he was wrong.
I can admire that and still disagree agreeably. @Rory626
@@Rory626 I don't know about that. As he says all the time on TRIP, he's in a position today where any answer he's going to give about Iraq is going to be nothing new, so most people don't ask him. When they do, he'll say "I've had six inquiries and they've all found that I did nothing wrong". My point is, that I don't know if he believes what he says, but he's better off if he says he does.
You know Alistair Campbell is on another level when at 3:35 he has the capacity of thought to Chuck a side dig at Blackburn Rovers as a lifelong Burnley fan. Whilst fighting the most serious of fires in his job role at the time.
Haha, so true
Oh he's another level alright. Half a million dead Iraqis, that's another level
His best friend is a War Criminal. Even though I personally like Alistair Campbell, I think his support of the War Criminal Tony Blair is a mistake.
@@MosesDeLaRoses While a valid - and now always deeply upsetting - point, I would like Alistair Campbell's ability to argue a case. He didn't take the country to war on a flimsy, fundamentally non-existent, premise. He was just the Press Officer. (Not an elected official,, which makes the interview even more curious but others discuss that aspect elsewhere.)
@@JohnPreston888A “press officer” who, though orders in council, was given the power to give orders to civil servants. For an individual to hold such power without formal office was unprecedented since the reign of Henry VII
DR DAVID KELLY R.I.P
And Robin Cook found dead on a mountain, Blairs face when he realised he would die if he didn't go along with the war is priceless, says it all.
What a journalist! A consummate professional, he got the importance of even-handed journalism in a world of fog and spin. He always stood up to the plate (remember an apoplectic Alistair Campbell bursting into studio demanding an interview over claims of a 'sexed-up' Iraq dossier?) He was serious, but shorn of pomposity - always fun and self-effacing. Forget the war zones he used to report from, and the 'evil spin doctors in the dark', he routinely made some of the bravest sartorial choices one could imagine. His socks (and ties) were estimably loud. Long live Jon Snow! THE journalist's journalist. Truly the end of an era. I pray his replacement his as much integrity. without people like Snow you just have a cabal of vultures who are unnervingly pally with the PM, and act as the propaganda wing of Downing St. Snow was unique, had personality to spare and was steadfastly independent of the established order
Two Titans going at it. It's so tame these days. Just client journalists.
I remember watching this, it was astonishing.
David Kelly RIP
Blood on campbells hands
@@CapricornLetsplays How? He was just the press officer he wasn't someone who actually started the war.
@@Kryternwake up
@@richardrichard462 Good job in adding nothing.
@@Krytern read a book
Well done Jon Snow.
I have to give it to Alastair, he is so sharp in this interview, he knows and understand every detail. If only government ministers/officals were this sharp and talented today
Yes! I thought the same thing.
Interesting to see Jon Snow clearly a bit nervous
Not a criticism, just shows how important it was
Considering that Campbell literally burst into Ch4 studios unannounced! Snow obviously was shooting from the hip and did a darn sight better job than most journalists who would have actually prepared! Snow's colleague; the appalling Guru Murthy, comes to mind!
I mean this was a month after the war started so everyone is freaking nervous 🤷🏾♂️
@@yottwr6108This was brilliant off the cuff!
It was the stakes. He was a bully. I think he has grown since, but he may have depression previously but based on his work on the Iraq war he forced us into, he deserves to not sleep well at night. As does his boss.
@@idatekatemoss He didn't force us into the war. Blair wanted the war from as far back as 2000.
Jon Snow was always at his best when shooting from the hip, and this interview is him at his finest. Campbell showing up unannounced thinking he could catch him off-guard.....Snow was having none of it. 🤣🤣🤣
Some truth in that.
Apart from the fact that Jon Snow got battered.
AC was invited to do this interview by Channel 4.
I don’t agree actually, I felt a bit let down, and I was a first adopter of his groundbreaking “snowmail” emails back in 2004!
Alastair Campbell's response: "You know nothing Jon Snow"
Jon Snow is a legend.
He just leads them into the web and snares them.
“And you’ve got proof of that have you?”
Jon “Funnily enough I’ve got it right here it was available years ago”
#priceless
I missed that bit. :D Do you have the timestamp? I'd really like to see it.
God Bless you Jon Snow and your investigative journalism. You are so missed, we need you back ASAP.
Oh, deary, deary me... how at odds Campbell's assertions are with the findings of the Chilcot Report.
This is gold. Thanks, algorithm.
Alastair Campbell is holding an unsharpened pencil, it has no point
Campbell goes on about "conflation" of dossiers - as though there were errors in one and not the other. There were errors in both. This is the key part of his spin. It's simply not true that there were "no errors of fact in the WMD dossier in September 2002", as he claims.
Interviewing Malcolm Tucker, ballsy.
Malcolm of based on Campbell pure and simple, we can see it here
Jon Snow totally brilliant here
This Evil Man has blood on his hands 💯
❤️🇬🇧
From the man who did more to destroy trust in politics than any other
I'm no fan of Jon snow but to say he was the primary culprit of destroying trust in British politics is going too far.
@@Mr-Benn-1970s Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Are you referring to Snow or Campbell?
I was directed here by the man himself. Alistair in ruthless form. love it.
Chief enabler of War Criminals. 1.5m died this person should still be in prison.
When politicians and journalists were actually smart. Listen to these guys talk, 2 massive brains.
Have they found the WMD yet?
Yes. Drums of Washing Powder.
@@kevindouglas8652 in 1980
3:50 I guess this is the bit Rory said he was impaling Jon with his pen on the recent TRIP podcast!
let me say this about that. I'm not going to say anything about that. I will however say this.
They lied, plain and simple, no mistakes just complete and utter deceit.
Visiting from TRIP
I wish we have journalists like Jon Snow in America. Love this guy and you better be prepared when he is on you.
You should watch Jeremy Paxman.
He was a thorn,in the side of the Establishment.
Channel 4 news (where Jon snow worked until his recent retirement) still has great journalists (eg Krishnan Guru-Murthy)
@@chilldude30 Alastair Campbell's podcast The Rest is Politics just started to be shown on Channel 4!
Never knew that the Night Watch has other responsibility like interviewing someone.......
They knew Iraq has no WMD. Blood is on their hands.
Here because of 'rest is politics'
And yet both Campbell and Blair still get airtime. ..
The butchers of Baghdad...
He’s clever that one, and it is interesting to hear how ‘holier than thou’ he comes across on his podcasts today… you forget don’t you?
Yh, I love it when he complains about dishonest politicians and the weak press; the guy set completely new standards of dishonesty and bullied and threatened half the journalists in London
I'm sure all of what Campbell says is spin and half truth... but his communication here is immense. The eye contact and body language, the ability he has to use the most salient/cutting word in his opponent's argument and dismantle it, "robust", etc. A formidable display from an undoubtedly talented political operator.
Trying to bully his way out, throwing "impactful", emotive language around as he has been media-trained to do. In the end, his only argument was, "you're wrong and you should take my word for it that you're wrong; you should therefore be ashamed that you're wrong and apologise for being wrong and that apology is in itself an admission that I am right and you are wrong." If you and others are swayed by such empty, emotionally charged barbs, then god help us. The man and Blair are pure evil.
He’s objectively a fantastic strategist and communicator. The Iraq war was clearly a disaster for which Campbell holds immense responsibility, but get off your high horse about how you’re too clever to fall for it all when we’re two decades down the road.
It doesn’t take a genius to see through the clouds when they’ve had 20 years to clear.
@@teb7426 You and I view political events through different lenses. You're stuck in a Blue vs. Red moral paradigm, whereas I'm quite happy admiring AC purely for his theatric value. I don't care about any kind of moral consideration in this. This is *entertainment* for me. Though, actually, there was considerably more meat on his argument than simply just "you're wrong, feel bad"... your sloppy characterisation aside, this is about AC's incredible force of character. Verbally drubbing a seasoned reporter like this - when you are accused of falsely taking the country to war - is actually insane. If that was you, accused of the same thing, you'd melt like an ice cube on the surface of the sun. If you cannot appreciate that then I genuinely feel sorry for you. But yeah, boo Blair, boo Iraq... whatever lol.
@@teb7426 that's not hte point of this comment, it's more about how absolutely incredible campbell is as a communicator / his force of personality. just because it's bullshit doesn't mean its not competent and well crafted
I commend Mr. Snow for practicing professional journalism.
Yes Campbell the biggest spin doctor of them all
Another term for liar
He works for Israel.
Back when the media actually held the government to account, these days they just let them run wild
@@hithere981 they really are not, that is how boris and liz truss happened, people believed the BS because they were not held to account
Jon Snow .. I have so much respect for man.
Venomous snake still at large in our country. We'll done John Snow!
Alastair Campbell will eventually wake up to his role in the immense suffering caused by his complicity in the lies regarding weapons of mass destruction. He’s a haunted man.
So all this has now since been admitted by the Labour party - why is this guy still walking about, in full view, giving his opinions on the media of today?
Iraq was a horrific blunder
If they wanted to remove saddam they didnt need to obliterate the people
They just opened pandoras box nuff said
Listening to Alastair's diaries on audible at the moment - completely fascinating.
How so?
@@johermeah7787 I guess it opened my eyes to what went on during that time in politics, such as the massive efforts to do something about the situation in Ireland leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. Also their relationship with Princess Diana I found interesting. And learning a bit about what it is like being part of a general election campaign. It's worth a listen but the book is no doubt a lot better as this is abridged.
@@katytaylor681 An election cycle seems like carnage from the outside, as a member of the general public. Must be more so for those internally! Thanks for the recommendation
Yo, when I think the UK was much better in the 2000s I normally think it’s just nostalgia. But this is genuinely peak politics and journalism
Get Campbell to show you his “legally sane” badge
When the BBC did real journalism? Rip journalism.
The best part of this was when Campbell was in full flow on his high horse and Jon Snow cuts him down in no uncertain terms - th-cam.com/video/GBWE7QzADe8/w-d-xo.html
You can see where Armando Iannucci got his inspiration for the legendary Malcolm Tucker character who would be seen for the first time two years after this interview. I can imagine Tucker sitting there opposite Snow, but far more expletive
This man is a horror of a human being
Sebastian Hall who Jon Snow? I agree.
Jon Snow? Yes!
Yes
I would say that Campbell started the demise of BBC journalism. His threats created fear in the upper echelons of the BBC and the conservative government continued that pressure
Tory cuts after 2010 did much more damage
Funny to think, in the late 90s/early 00s there were active journalists called Jon Snow and Harry Potter, at the same time fantasy characters who shared the name were being written.
1:25 ".. you can say anything you want on the television, doesn't matter if it's true, doesn't matter if you check it, doesn't matter if it's corroborated.." If you substitute "in a dodgy dossier" for "on the television", Alastair Campbell could be talking about himself.
Ahh memories....when C4's Jon Snow was actually a real journalist soley intent on doing his job.
Well he was clearly lying.
Malcolm, you are now part of the story 😂
You all called Boris a liar this was his Teacher, he's very good
Boris was lying as far back as a child
@@Carlosfandango67 Yes, but previously that kind of dishonesty would've torched your political career. Campbell normalised lying in public life
Despite his comic ingenuity re Blackburn Rovers and maliciously adroit swift and powerful foot-forward self defense, Alastair Campbell fails to meet the simple logic in the questions put forward and reinforced impressively by Jon Snow. Although I'd like to be persuaded, I step away seeing Campbell as a phenomenally talented BS artist, and he leaves the impression from his maneuvering in this discussion that he was very much involved in and very clearly did have something to do with sexing up the dodgy dossier, even if for whatever foible - he appears to believe himself that's not what they did. Every point Snow puts forward, that this fight with the BBC is a distraction, that Campbell takes it personally, that a more thorough alternative process to investigate the matter was cast aside in favour of a comfortable one for the PM, that the intel was 'horlicks'... Every one remains undefeated - indeed reinforced - by Alastair Campbell's muscular ballet around the red tablecloth
Very well said
Excellent bit of prose. I do wonder if it was AC's "belief", or his job? "muscular ballet"...wonderful description. It is not his place to be interviewed to defend political decisions, but far more deserving of respect than Pledge Repitition (see Michael Spicer for more on that).
Spot on
However deep and dark the depths of depression Campbell personally sinks to they will never be deep enough or dark enough to justify his pivotal role in the Iraq war.
This really has not aged well…
And yet ITV give him a job to present the news, 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Slimy Alistair would be a great Bond villain as he's a shifty character who was Blair's crony and did his dirty work
Last of the great questioners
Tbe guilt drove him mad
This is a Narrasist %100
Out! Out! Out! Damn Spot! But the blood lay thick on the floor and up the walls and flowed out until it covered the very country itself . . .
was this before Dr David Kelly went for a walk........?
S*** got real with this interview, thank you Jon Snow legend 👏
Alistair Campbell what a CLOWN
You can always tell when Campbell is lying....his lips are moving
No, your thinking of Boris Johnson
Slimy arrogant man, he and Blair have a lot to answer for. RIP Dr David Kelly, and all the lads and lasses and innocents that got killed or maimed in the Iraqi war, well done Jon Snow
And those in iraq who died. The Iraqi children etc. sad all round
Campbell has teamed up with Rory Stewart to try and find those damned WMDs.
Whatever you think / thought of Campbell, he was a force of nature.
Clash of the Titans.
the difficulties with having the government being able to interfere with the BBCs journalism. What an awful man
2:21 a liar in full flow, look at the eyes and the clever use of words.
What do you mean?
This Campbell needs bringing to justice not interviewed.
Now we know there were no WMD...so what is Alistair trying to defend..???
A client of mine flew in the raf over Iraq after the war... he said he saw no evidence of wmd.. just a few military outdated buildings of which the plans were available readily...
This man and his mate Blair are the biggest gangsters to ever run Britain.
Have you ever heard of the conservative party
War criminal
Wow, I wonder if Campbell looks back at this interview and realises how badly he handled it
Campbell comes over as a horrible bloke to work for. His campaign to save himself has only dragged the media, along with the country, down to his level.
That battering from Jon Snow was a bit desperate. Alastair Campbell had a counter for every accusation fired at him which obviously infuriated him
Well done Andrew Gilligan, the BBC and obviously Dr David Kelly, Rest in Peace.
I suggest reading the Hutton Report, which criticises Gilligan, and largely backs up Campbell's position here. Gilligan lied, and admitted so, and the BBC acknowledged they didn't do enough to verify Gilligan's reporting. He attributed information to Kelly that he in fact made up. The BBC's Chairman and Director-General both resigned within 24 hours of its publication and the BBC instigated new training procedures for journalists. Clearly, that's no basis for a 'well done'.
Campbell complains he can’t finish his point but cuts Jon Snow off throughout the interview.
Well to be fair, it’s an interview not a debate
What happened to David Kelly?
He suicided but some people think he was killed
This man should be in prison with his mate Blair
I think Campbell has convinced himself of his and Blair’s innocence. Something clearly not right with him.
CLASSIC!!!! Jon Snow was the best!!!
'They are serious allegations...' and time has proved them to be true.
But the investigation proved them untrue and the Chairman of the BBC resigned…as both Jon and Alistair would say, check your facts and stop peddling lies
Yeah man time proved the allegations false...
No Alistair Campbell has been proven to be lieing. In this video he repeats the false claim that the September dossier is accurate and was not altered. The iraq inquiry has proven (through testimony the memos sent by Campbell) that he instructed for the September dossier to be altered last minute to "one that complements rather than conflicts with" US claims. These were Campbells own words used in the memo.
Campbell was amazing here, as always.
also remember Alistair Campbell was unelected
The PM was and it's his choice