Friday, 13 July, 2007
- 13 Jul 07, 06:17 PM
From tonight's presenter, .
LABOUR
We hope to have a big story on Labour party fundraising. It will surprise you. Watch this space.
CONRAD BLACK
Conrad Black - once a powerful tycoon - is facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence, for fraud and obstructing justice. A jury in Chicago found him guilty on four of the13 counts against him. Lord Black controlled a media empire - including the Daily Telegraph - through Hollinger International, a company based in Chicago. He was convicted of defrauding the other shareholders in this company by taking millions of dollars in fees which he wasn't entitled to. He was also convicted of obstructing justice by removing boxes of documents from his office. He's said he'll appeal against the verdicts. We'll be speaking to his friend Andrew Neil and his biographer, Tom Bower.
BORIS
Is Boris Johnson going to run as the Conservative Party mayoral candidate? Our Political Editor Michael Crick is on the case.
DIARIES
And then on Newsnight Review we continue the political theme with a review of Alastair Campbell's diaries of The Blair Years. Michael Portillo, Andrew Gilligan, Michael White and John Harris deliver their verdicts after some close reading (!) and that will be preceded by an interview with Tony Blair's former Communications Chief AKA the ultimate spin doctor about what he left out, about his temper and obsessiveness, Iraq and Dr David Kelly, Bill Clinton, oh and Princess Diana. I hope you'll be watching.
Comments Post your comment
I implore you, nay I beseech you: no more Campbell.
Complain about this post
You are wrong Dickie Dawkins' lovechild.
To study Campbell is to realise just how bad things are in British politics. The British electorate permitted the rise of Blair, who took Campbell to his aberrant bosom.
This can be termed "the causes of Campbell". If Brown turns out to be as weird as Blair, there is little we can do to stop his weirdness being inflicted on all of us. e.g.If Brown decides on some British anthem to be sung by school kids every morning (to relieve his Scottish guilt) who will stop him? And what manner of monster might Brown appoint as HIS travelling companion, as he rides, roughshod, through our lives? Study Campbell minutely: the "Dragnet" delivery, the multi-angle running shots (even overhead!)the inference that he was controlling (note that word) everything. This is a terrible man. He is a product of party politics and ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔr Simpson voting. Keep Campbell the bogey man in mind and run hard in the opposite direction.
Complain about this post
As soon as the diary is shown we switch over.Tom
Complain about this post
CONRAD BLACK is hardly a story. A British knight and lord behaving badly, isnβt that the base line? His only error was to get caught like Archer. Certainly, after Archer, it would be a disgrace if anyone took his peerage away β not HIS disgrace, Britainβs.
After all, until Brown went all βson of the manseβ on casinos, we were headed for banana Las Vegas status; where better to nurture the highest of low life? Perhaps Margaret will have a word with her protΓ©gΓ©e Tony and Tony will have a word with Dubya and Black will be pardoned? Isnβt that how honourable Christian folk do it?
Complain about this post
Boris now for London Mayor, whatever next.
First the spectacle of try ing to get Roland Rat's creator, then Sir Digby and now Boris.
Boris and Norris have one thing in common, neither of them had any toys to play with as children (no prizes for guessing what that means).
The Tories are scraping the bottle of the barrel now with this bufoon.
The man is a certified Cadbury's fruit and nut case. Shows what Cameron thinks of Londoners to inflict this clown on anybody.
Complain about this post
Please explain why the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ has given such a disproportionate amount of air time to this mendacious Labour spin doctor? He and his book have been on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ TV and radio every day since Sunday - sometimes more than once. Why has the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ been acting as his literary agent? This is not how we expect the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ to spend our licence fee!
Complain about this post
Owen Oyston wasn't the only appalling figure at the Labour Fundraiser. Kia Joorabchian has an arrest warrant out for him in Brazil and is a very dubious character. Sam Allardyce has been condemned by your own Panorama.
Complain about this post
Why pick on Owen Oyston? I don't know anybody who thinks he was guilty.
Complain about this post
Your guest advocated leniency.
Leniency?!
The man has been convicted of stealing Β£60m!
People who steal Β£20 (*twenty*) pounds with carrots in their pockets go to jail for 20 years!
WHY? WHY?! WHY should people who steal with ties and fancy suits serve any less?
Complain about this post
Excuse me... this *is* the same A. Campbell who was so swingeingly vindictive to the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ over the Kelly report? Now he has a three part series on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ2 as well as being interviewed on Newsnight??
Complain about this post
I watched Campbell. He rang quite true - but as a spin doctor he would. The one thing that didn't ring at all true was his denial of sexing up the Iraq Dossier. Yes, he did it. He and TB told their agreed lies, there is no way he can convince us otherwise. One day he will admit it, and just as Ted Heath admitted his Common Market lies, it will be too late. So put him and TB on trial now.
Complain about this post
New Labours Chief spin doctor, the other PM! in reality a one time red -top political hack who's a very good or conveniently less than truthful diarist !.....& as of now...we may never know the real truth.
Whatever, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ (Board)should reflect on their understood/perceived Broadcasting apolitical stance for allowing this delusional arch- Blairite man so much "Diary" pre-publicity... plus 3 nights worth of further promotional airtime for alter ego "Alastair Campbell"!
Complain about this post
LABOUR FUNDRAISING Surely the βRapist at The Dinner", as βThe Man in the White Suitβ said, has βpaid his debt to societyβ? Lord Archer it seems has paid his and is rehabilitated β still a lord. So is the difference the crime? If it is, then prison for both rape and perjury is obviously a nonsense. Prison, it seems in Brown's morality, does not recompense society for a rape. So whatβs to be done? The law is obviously an ass, but not half the ass Gordon is going to look if the rapist's money is paid back to him. Surely this might be called defamation? At least Gordon will get a close up and personal lesson in Britishness! But did a Blairite mole set up the whole thing? Keep watching, Blair has not finished with Gordon.
Complain about this post
I hope Mt Gillighan feels better soon, after his weak reprise performance tonight I wonder whether he was physically ill or just overtired from his apparently near obsessive enmity towards Alistair Campbell.
Smart move on the programme's part keeping the handwaving Mr Gillighan's input to a mimimum. Rarely has a panelist on the review looked so out of their depth.
Thank goodness there were a couple of grown ups in the forms of Michael White and Michael Portillo to carry the also-rans and protect the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ from the possibility of a major Gillighan faux-pas.
Complain about this post
Michael Crick remarked upon the apparent popularity of Boris Johnson. Omit Merseyside from the bases of popularity for this buffoon, Michael.
Regarding the Owen Oyston story, I recognise its news value. However, Newsnight's treatment of the story seemed a little tabloid, the sort of story which would head ITV News on a good night.
The discussion on the Campbell diaries only fleetingly dealt with its central flaw. Campbell openly admits to self-censorship, selective presentation of his own diaries & a highly partisan version of daily events. In this context, the daries are not truly valid as an historical document; future historians who approach the diaries in the hope that they will serve as valuable primary sources will be sorely disappointed.
Complain about this post
I found Michael White's comment about the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ gloss on Kelly's death quite pertinent. It is also interesting that Gilligan's characterisation of the dossier as well as the diaries as 'fiction' as well was left unchallenged.(I am sure he practiced that one!).
What is never repeated/shown/discussed on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ programmes about this incident is Andrew Gilligan's particular role in 'outing' David Kelly as Susan Watts' source. He did this via an email to the Liberal Democrat MP on the FA Committee: who then questioned Kelly on this matter in the televised hearings. This was in itself a breach of journalistic ethics(you do not reveal other journalist's sources) and put Kelly in an impossible position. He had already revealed himself as Gilligan's source, but not as Watts'; he was therefore put on the spot there and then to confirm or deny this fact --watch the TV recording of this hearing and judge the significance of this incident for yourself.
This is a bit of ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's own dirty laundry that never sees the light of day...involving very messy relationships not only with editors and managers but also amongst Gilligan, Gavin Hewitt and Watts.
Hope you publish this. All these facts are in the public domain....except of course what Watts and Hewitt have to say... beyond their testimony to Hutton.
Complain about this post
What is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ about A.Campbell, can we have a break, every time he comes on, I turn the telly off.
Complain about this post
Where is the newsnight review feedback; a N/N special with the Campbell diaries , have you had that much traffic? i can only imagine the moderator is having a nightmare sifting through all the hate riddled comments that have come through.
What has campbell get against the daily mail? i find it a very informative and impartial newspaper, far better than that pius rag, the Guardian..
Anytime i see ali campbell, the word 'gobshite' always comes to mind..
Complain about this post
Alastair Campbell and his diaries are devoid of wit and charm. Alastair Campbell is a boorish character that takes a delight in swearing. We get the impression from the diaries that Tony Blair is very similar.
Michael Portillo seems to have a crush on both Campbell and Blair. That can only be because of their looks, not because of any literary or intellectual merit.
Mr Gilligan by the sound of it is still smarting from the Dr Kelly events and was not really a good person to give his opinion on The Diaries - far too biased.
I thought the best reviewer was John Harris.
Complain about this post
Umm, the episode currently available on the website is the one from last Friday, not yesterday's programme. Any chance you can fix this?
Complain about this post
Why not Boris? London needs a flamboyant character, and we have all surely had enough of the nasal droning of the newt-lover Livingstone who's main effect on our capital has been the eradication of one of it's most distinctive icons - the Routemaster bus - 10 years before the EU said he had to - and their replacement with bendy buses which when not catching fire are killing cyclists and encouraging fare dodging.
I can't see the cycling Boris wanting to keep them, and that's a very good reason to have him as mayor!
Complain about this post
For we expats who rely on the internet for our Newsnight, it would be helpful if the hyperlink on the website pointed to last nights programme, not last weeks.
Complain about this post
Sir, I listened to that 6.06 Radio 4 interview with Gilligan. I believed it then and still do. The world knows Campbell lied through his teeth. His channel 4 outburst? Methinks Sir doth protest too much! Why do we give this imposter air-time? He was better writing for Forum, that was his level, it is only the silly media that gave him status. The countless hundreds of thousands of lives lost could well be attributed to the Machavelian intriques of Blair and Campbell. I look for a trace of remorse in every interview, maybe an ounce of contrition, but no, it is all raging at these 'little people' who didn't get it. We got it allright, Campbell, the millions who marched got it spot on. People that you dismissed in such a cavalier fashion are still out there, disbelieving as ever. Just disappear, Alistair, please, you are to painful and you caused so much heartache. Sincerely, Steven Calrow. L'pool
Complain about this post
Can you put the current Friday programme on the web site please?
Complain about this post
Alastair Campbell is deluding humself.
Not only did he 'sex up' the dossier and was responsible for the dodgy dossier but he was allowed to say that Andrew Gilligan lied. Gilligan's story was spot on in every detail. Today and Gilligan both amended their story almost immediately, despite it being accurate.
No one has asked why it was proper for an unelected spin doctor to 'persuade' an intelligence committee that 'sporadic and patchy' intelligence was to become 'detailed and authoritative'.
Also, the public was not aware of the secret evidence provided to Hutton by people such as Carne Ross and Dr. Brian Jones, both of whom were experts outraged at the misuse of intelligence.
Campbell's self-serving defence of the outing of Dr. David Kelly is shameful.
Complain about this post
I have already posted here already, but i am a bit puzzled, am i having difficulty finding the link? where is the n/n review feedback-back? was some deal done by Campell and newsnight regarding the diary interview? was there conditions attached to Campbell giving an interview to the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ flagship news show? (friday review slot) are there moderators sleeping in a field somewhere surrounded by bottles of martini, cheap wine and a blow up doll?...is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ really that scared of Campbell? was kirsty hypnotised so as not to ask any hard searching questions?... these questions need answering.
i am writing a book(40 pages approx) titled 'THE CAMPBELL YEARS' and i have subtitled it-'is he really the son of satan?'will i make any money? no i don't think so; will Campbell make any money from his book? yes a f..o..r..t..u..n..e..£££
And one final question, will i read Campbells book? yes i will, a well-used paper back purchased from ebay sometime in the future, i am sure it will be an interesting read.
Complain about this post
cookie ducker don't worry, but check out
The Editors Blog:
Putting things in order(19)comments submitted.
However displays only one ?
Peter Barron is on holiday so no one seems to be monitoring the site.
This is the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ -if you look at Sky News all their blogs are updated and no one can compete with the Media on line at the Guardian,but Newsnight seem to fail.
Great title:
*Putting things in order* best they start with their web site.
Complain about this post
No-one could afford the amount of publicity given to A. Campbell by the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ. The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ appears to be giving huge amounts of publicity to A.C and the Labour Government and its acolytes.This man, A.C. has no credibility with the ' ordinary man'. It is our ( license payers) money funding his P.R.
Complain about this post
Your heading "We hope to have a big story on Labour Party fundraising. It will surprise you. Watch this space"
The heading should have read "Office junior makes mistake with invitations list"
The surprise was, I suppose, that it was such a non-story? And Alastair Campbell is reviled for spin? Best to look in your own back-yard.
Sarah (at 16) spot on comments. I agree entirely with you. Gilligan's performance, as remarked on here already by Dr. Bob (at 14) looked desperate.
I defy anyone who supports Gilligan's account of events, and who watched him last night, not to have felt a worrying unease, at least a shadow of doubt about his authenticity.
I think Alastair is right about him. The bumbling, inarticulate 'journalist', was the catalyst for the terrible events that resulted in the death of David Kelly.
Complain about this post
No-one could afford the amount of publicity given to A.Campbell by the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ. The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ appears to giving huge amounts of publicity to the labour Govt.,and its acolytes. This man ( A.C.) has no credibility with the ordinary man or woman. It is our money ( license payers) funding his p.r. by the way my first comment was censored for some reason, resulting in my having to type this comment over again. I am puzzled by this as the content was in no way offensive.
Complain about this post
Are the diaries on the Newsnight Arts programme because one is to consider them as art, as spectacle, as artifice?
If so why was there no analysis of the dustcover, of the typeface, of what impression and subtle signals the physicality of the book is meant to give the public and in that way decipher its true intent? For is not art judged by its intention?
Complain about this post