Was Campbell being unhelpful to Tony’s successor?

On the face of it the Iraq inquiry is now a side-show to the big political drama in the UK – the fight by Labour to stop the Tories winning an outright majority in the coming general election.

Labour’s key players at the time – Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell – have now moved on though it’s said that the latter is playing a behind the scenes role in supporting Mr. Brown.

So what’s going to be the impact of the hearings? Is this going to rub-off on Labour or is it from a bygone era and that we’ve all moved on?

The critical issue in election terms is whether anything sticks on Brown – and yesterday Alistair Campbell was not being helpful to the current incumbent at Number 10.

For Campbell’s evidence that Brown was a key member of Tony Blair’s “inner circle” who was consulted regularly doesn’t quite fit with the aura of detachment from it all that the former chancellor has tried to create.

The PM’s appearance before the inquiry won’t take place until after the election – which might not turn out to be as beneficial to him as it might appear. Would not it have been better for Brown if he had had the platform before the election to “clarify” any of the assertions that are made about his role?

This will, of course, get messier when Blair himself makes his public appearance.

Mike Smithson