- News>
- World
Top Blair aide resigns amid Kelly affair
London, Aug 29: The controversy over the death of a British government weapons expert claimed its first political scalp today when a powerful aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he was resigning.
London, Aug 29: The controversy over the death of a British government weapons expert claimed its first political scalp today when a powerful aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he was resigning.
Alastair Campbell, one of the longest serving members of Blair's inner circle, said he would be standing down as the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy.
"It has been an enormous privilege to work so closely in Opposition and in government for someone I believe history will judge as a great transforming Prime Minister," he said in a statement.
Campbell has been a central figure in the ongoing judicial inquiry over the apparent suicide of top weapons scientist David Kelly, which has hurled Blair into the worst crisis of his political career. Kelly, a former UN arms inspector, was the source of a BBC report that Blair's office in downing street had embellished an intelligence dossier on Baghdad's capability to launch weapons of mass destruction in order to boost the case for joining the US-led war on Iraq.
Blair's office hotly disputes the BBC allegation that it "sexed up" the September 2002 dossier and last week Campbell testified before the inquiry, led by senior judge Lord Brian Hutton.
Campbell, 46, a one-time tabloid political journalist, was one of Blair's closest aides, if not a de facto Deputy Prime Minister, and he was instrumental in Labour's sweep to power in May 1997.
Campbell was also loathed by many British MPs and political writers as an unelected, unaccountable "spin doctor", intensely preoccupied with the image of both Blair and his Labour administration.
Reacting to Campbell's resignation, Blair said Campbell "was, is and will remain a good friend". "He is a strong character who can make enemies but those who know him best, like him best," said Blair, who yesterday told the Hutton inquiry he had not mislead the public on Iraq.
"His combination to the Labour Party's modernisation and electoral success was enormous," Blair said in a statement.
"And his contribution during the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, in particular, were of great importance to the understanding of Britain's case here and round the world," said Blair.
It had been rumoured for weeks that Campbell has been thinking of leaving politics to concentrate on running marathons for charity and his downing street diaries and he confirmed as much in his resignation statement.
But the timing of his departure -- a day after Blair testified before the Kelly inquiry and three days before Kelly's widow is to appear before Lord Hutton -- left no doubt of the strong influence of the developing affair.
"I did not think it appropriate to announce this on a day when lord Hutton was sitting and I shall of course continue to be available to assist his inquiry in any way he wishes," Campbell said.
"I will also be available in the next few weeks to assist the handover to my successor, who will be announced shortly," he said. Bureau Report
"It has been an enormous privilege to work so closely in Opposition and in government for someone I believe history will judge as a great transforming Prime Minister," he said in a statement.
Campbell has been a central figure in the ongoing judicial inquiry over the apparent suicide of top weapons scientist David Kelly, which has hurled Blair into the worst crisis of his political career. Kelly, a former UN arms inspector, was the source of a BBC report that Blair's office in downing street had embellished an intelligence dossier on Baghdad's capability to launch weapons of mass destruction in order to boost the case for joining the US-led war on Iraq.
Blair's office hotly disputes the BBC allegation that it "sexed up" the September 2002 dossier and last week Campbell testified before the inquiry, led by senior judge Lord Brian Hutton.
Campbell, 46, a one-time tabloid political journalist, was one of Blair's closest aides, if not a de facto Deputy Prime Minister, and he was instrumental in Labour's sweep to power in May 1997.
Campbell was also loathed by many British MPs and political writers as an unelected, unaccountable "spin doctor", intensely preoccupied with the image of both Blair and his Labour administration.
Reacting to Campbell's resignation, Blair said Campbell "was, is and will remain a good friend". "He is a strong character who can make enemies but those who know him best, like him best," said Blair, who yesterday told the Hutton inquiry he had not mislead the public on Iraq.
"His combination to the Labour Party's modernisation and electoral success was enormous," Blair said in a statement.
"And his contribution during the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, in particular, were of great importance to the understanding of Britain's case here and round the world," said Blair.
It had been rumoured for weeks that Campbell has been thinking of leaving politics to concentrate on running marathons for charity and his downing street diaries and he confirmed as much in his resignation statement.
But the timing of his departure -- a day after Blair testified before the Kelly inquiry and three days before Kelly's widow is to appear before Lord Hutton -- left no doubt of the strong influence of the developing affair.
"I did not think it appropriate to announce this on a day when lord Hutton was sitting and I shall of course continue to be available to assist his inquiry in any way he wishes," Campbell said.
"I will also be available in the next few weeks to assist the handover to my successor, who will be announced shortly," he said. Bureau Report