NO SEXING UP, PLEASE...WE'RE BRITISH

BBC on edge of defeat on Iraq dossier row (Tom Baldwin, David Charter and Ian Cobain, July 04, 2003, Times of London)

THE BBC was preparing for defeat last night in its battle with Downing Street as it became apparent that a report by MPs will clear Alastair Campbell of “sexing up” the intelligence dossier on Iraq.

Corporation executives have acknowledged to The Times that “heads may roll” after such a verdict from the Foreign Affairs Committee and that they will have to broadcast a correction over the most contentious charge levelled at Downing Street.

This was a report by the defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan that Downing Street forced the intelligence services to include “unreliable”
information about Iraq’s capacity to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

Mr Gilligan’s position is immediately under threat, not least because of an article he wrote for the Mail on Sunday alleging that Mr Campbell had personally ordered that the claim be inserted.

At least the NY Times can say it is still setting journalistic trends... Posted by Orrin Judd at July 4, 2003 12:10 AM