Matt Frei grills Alastair Campbell on UK's response to 9/11 and War on Terror

11 September 2021, 12:58

Alastair Campbell tells LBC whether he regrets the war on terror

By Seán Hickey

Tony Blair's former director of communications tells LBC whether he regrets the UK's contribution to the war on terror.

As the world commemorates the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, Matt Frei was speaking to the former head of communications for Prime Minister Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell.

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Mr Campbell recounted the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center and explained to Matt his and Mr Blair's response to the events.

The conversation turned when Matt asked Mr Campbell whether he felt regret for the UK's contributions to the War on Terror.

"I sometimes feel on this that it's almost as if I'm made to feel this was my decision!" Mr Campbell quipped.

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Matt accepted the point of the former director of communications, but replied that he was "selling the decision" that the PM came to.

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"I supported what Tony Blair and the British government decided" Mr Campbell admitted.

"Do I think about these things very, very deeply and do I continue to? Yes I do."

Mr Campbell concluded by telling Matt that "it's possible to both defend what we did and at the same time to recognise there were consequences to those decisions which frankly none of us would wish had happened."