When Alastair Campbell Called Alex Salmond To Defend Blair

30 November 2016, 18:13

Not long after he lost a parliamentary vote on Tony Blair and Iraq, Alex Salmond started his LBC phone-in. He didn't expect the first caller to be Alastair Campbell.

Determined to defend his former boss, "Alastair in Gospel Oak" gave Salmond a proper grilling about the vote he lost in the Commons by 439 and 70.

The former First Minister of Scotland had wanted further action taken against Tony Blair over the Iraq War. Campbell asked Salmond would his efforts not have been better spent putting the government under pressure on Brexit?

Surprisingly, it seems that it took a little while before Alex Salmond put two and two together and realised just who "Alastair" was - even though Campbell dropped some heavy clues early on.

"You're a very talented, experienced parliamentarian," said Campbell. "Why not actually put some of your energies into the task [of holding the government to account]?

"We're about to leave the European Union. You said this is about the accountability of politicians...Boris Johnson and Michael Gove straightfowardly lied and I've yet to see anyone in the House of Commons go after them on that.

"Could you please put your skills to hold these people to account when they're proven to have lied?"

Salmond and Campbell debated the issue for more than five minutes and as you'd expect, neither man backed down. Watch their full exchange above.