“I remember talking to Alex Ferguson about Tony [Blair] and Gordon [Brown], and he said: "Why doesn't Tony just get rid of him?" But if you sack someone in football, they can't turn up to training the next day. In politics they're still on the pitch. Gordon would still have been a big player.” IfsHas BeensSaidStillsBigsRememberTurnsNextTalkingPlayerFootballTrainingBrownNext DayAlexBlairFerguson Author:Alastair Campbell
“Tony [Blair] slowly sucked me back in for the 2005 campaign, and from six months out, I was basically working full time trying to keep the Tony[Blair] - Gordon[Brown] thing together for the campaign. It was awful.” TryingTogetherMonthsSixCampaignsAwfulBrownSix MonthsBlair Author:Alastair Campbell
“As Tony [Blair] said in his book, Gordon [Brown] was brilliant and impossible. If he'd just been one of those things, the options are obvious.” IfsSaidBookImpossibleObviousBrilliantBrownBlair Author:Alastair Campbell
“For all that the papers would say I was a liar, I took the words I was saying at briefings as seriously as Tony Blair took what he would say at the Despatch Box. I find it very difficult not to tell the truth. I felt I was accountable for what I said.” SaidFeltDifficultPaperBoxesTelling The TruthLiarsPapersBlairBriefing Author:Alastair Campbell
“He [Tony Blair] was always ambivalent about the [Rupert] Murdoch papers. But he gave other papers the chance to believe it was just about 'The Independent.' And that was wrong.” BelieveChancePaperIndependentPapersBlairAmbivalent Author:Alastair Campbell
“Paul Keating told us before we were elected that you can do deals with [Rupert] Murdoch without saying you were doing a deal. Did we do that kind of thing? Maybe. But from around about the turn of the century, I felt strongly that we had to do something about media ownership and self-regulation. Tony [Blair] disagreed.” KindSelfTurnsFeltCan DoDealsCenturyMediaRegulationOwnershipBlairSelf Regulation Author:Alastair Campbell
“I never met David Kelly, but I knew from what he told other people that this was not his view. The BBC were saying that Tony Blair was making up lies so that he could send young men and women to war, maybe to die. I think that if the BBC had done their jobs professionally, they'd have realised that you couldn't justify what they said. And nothing has emerged since to justify that report.” PeopleIfsThinkingMenSaidWarDoneJobsYoungLyingDiesViewsMetsMen And WomenYoung ManReportsJustifyThey SaidRealisedMaking UpBlair Author:Alastair Campbell
“Sometimes Jonathan [Powell] and myself would go to Tony [Blair] and ask him if he was absolutely sure about this or that. That was our job. But ultimately it was his decision.” IfsSometimesJobsAsksDecisionBlair Author:Alastair Campbell
“Tony's [Blair] convinced I'm going to find God. I do have spiritual moments, but I don't think it's God.” ThinkingMomentsSpiritualConvincedBlair Author:Alastair Campbell
“I have a nightmare about Tony [Blair] and Gordon [Brown] killing each other. Not every month, but now and then. I also have a recurring dream about losing.” DreamMonthsLosingKillingBrownNightmareNow And ThenBlairRecurringKilling Each OtherRecurring Dreams Author:Alastair Campbell
“I do think it's strange that I get associated with Iraq more than the people who were Foreign Secretary or Defence Secretary. It's because of my closeness to Tony [Blair], which I don't regret at all. I think that was a privilege.” PeopleThinkingStrangeRegretIraqPrivilegeSecretaryDefenceClosenessBlairDon't Regret Author:Alastair Campbell
