The Blair Years

Sunday AM on Sunday 08 July 2007

Alastair Campbell, former prime minister's communications chief

On this week's programme, Andrew Marr talked exclusively to the Prime Minister's former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell - his first broadcast interview, marking the publication of his diaries from the decade he spent working alongside Tony Blair.

Mr Campbell defended his decision to publish the book - entitled "The Blair Years" - saying he wanted people to be able to read his account of events:

"It is an attempt to say to people: forget all the stuff you have read and you hear and the rest of it - some of it is accurate and some of it is not; this is my perspective on what it was like while I was there," he told Andrew.

He confirmed that he had cut out passages which might be damaging to Gordon Brown, saying he did not want to hand the Conservative leader David Cameron "a goldmine to use again at the new Labour Prime Minister".

But he acknowledged the difficulties between the former neighbours in Downing Street:

"I'm not going to deny there weren't times when relations were pretty tense and some pretty harsh things were said, they were," he added.

Blair confession

Mr Campbell also confirmer that Tony Blair had considered standing down before the last general election - and had discussed the issue with advisors as early as July 2002.

Mr Blair told his press secretary: "In truth I've never really wanted to do more than two full terms".

Andrew pressed Alastair Campbell to discuss the Iraq war and specifically, the events leading up to the death of the government scientist Dr David Kelly - after he was exposed as the source for a BBC reporter's claim, that the dossier used to justify war had been deliberately "sexed up".

Critical period

"With the possible exception of family deaths and possibly my own breakdown in the 80s it was the worst period of my life without any shadow of a doubt," Mr Campbell admitted.

"I was a player in a series of events that somehow or other led to a man deciding he should kill himself."

But he insisted he had acted entirely properly throughout: "I can defend everything single thing that I said and every single thing that I did but we all of us have to accept that as that was happening there was stuff going in that was leading that particular individual to feel despair."

Tory policy

The programme also featured an interview with the Conservative leader, David Cameron - who discussed the forthcoming report by the party's Social Justice Commission, on tackling social breakdown.

"I think this is absolutely the big question, the big argument of our times. It is not now necessary in the same way to mend Britain's broken economy, but it is absolutely necessary to mend Britain's broken society," he told Andrew.

"We are getting richer as a country but I think everybody knows that there is something deeply wrong with our society."

Mr Cameron said that supporting families would be a priority for the Conservatives - but long-term cultural change was needed, encouraging couples to marry and stay together, and emphasising the importance of fatherhood.

Criticism and cooperation

The Tory leader acknowledged that Gordon Brown and the new Home Secretary had made a good start, in their handling of the recent terror attacks on London and Glasgow - and he expressed his willingness to work with the government, for consensus on new anti-terror measures.

But he said on other issues - such as constitutional reform and the NHS - Gordon Brown was incapable of bringing about the changes needed.

Newspapers reviewed by Sheila Hancock and Andrew Neil

Andrew also interviewed the Nobel prize-winning writer Sir Harold Pinter.

The newspapers were reviewed by the actress Sheila Hancock and the newspaper executive and broadcaster, Andrew Neil.

Sunday AM returns at 09.00am on BBC One on Sunday 15 July 2007.