# Blair avoids criticism; throws advisor to the wolves **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359 "2003-07-18T11:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/21 "2003-07-18T13:13:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jack Batty \* > \*\*Vince Foster, please pick up the white courtesy phone. \*\* This guy was having an affair with Cherie Blair. He tried to blackmail her, so she had him killed. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/22 "2003-07-18T13:24:55Z")
Suicide or heart attack – I wonder what the security services decided he should die from, oops sorry ! . . . what he he die from . . . those naughty, naughty days are over. One assumes . . . ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/23 "2003-07-18T13:27:45Z")
And, I suppose, it’s the first death caused by the \ weapons of mass destruction. Hmmm . . . ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/24 "2003-07-18T13:28:17Z")
I stand by what my OP says: > [@](#): > > whatever the cause of death Whether it be heart-attack, suicide or even Labour Party hit squad, Messrs Blair & Campbell are responsible for the situation this man was in. He was quite clearly singled out as the fall guy whose career and reputation was used as a disposable weapon against the BBC. All to serve as a distraction from their errors. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/25 "2003-07-18T14:41:30Z")
> **[Kelly: Blair promises public inquiry](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jul/18/bbc.politicsandiraq1)** > > 2.45pm update: Tony Blair has promised an independent judicial inquiry if the death of David Kelly is confirmed, journalists travelling with the prime minister on his flight from Washington to Tokyo have said. By Jason Deans. > [@](#): > > Kelly: Blair promises public inquiry > > Tony Blair has promised an independent judicial inquiry if David Kelly has died, journalists travelling with the prime minister on his flight from Washington to Tokyo have said. > > His spokesman, Godric Smith, came to the back of the plane less than an hour ago to announce the possible inquiry. > > He said a judge would be named this afternoon by the Ministry of Defence. > > \ > > Dr Kelly was given five days to consider his options before the MoD issued its statement on Tuesday July 8 to say an unnamed official had spoken to Gilligan. > > And he was given an opportunity to talk through the possible ramifications of going public before the statement was released. > > The MoD spokesman said: "He was first interviewed before the weekend and then asked to think about what the options were over the weekend and a decision was taken to say nothing in the meantime. > > "He was interviewed again on the Monday and the question of what was the best way forward was talked through with him. > > “The contents of the statement were cleared with him before it went out and it was flagged up to him that it was possible his name might get into the public domain at some point and that it was likely the intelligence and security committee and foreign affairs committee would want to take evidence from him.” > > The spokesman added that the MoD had offered Dr Kelly the use of alternative accommodation to avoid any press attention at his home address. > > When he appeared before the committee, Tory MP Sir John Stanley told Dr Kelly he had acted in a “proper and honourable manner” in coming forward to suggest he may have been Gilligan’s source but had been “thrown to the wolves” by the Ministry of Defence. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/26 "2003-07-18T14:57:52Z")
They’re scrambling. They’re really, really scrambling. And a Post Mortem _later today_ ? Holy shit . . . They need to react very speedily so to stop the speculation spiralling out of control; “Lets wait and see what the Judicial Inquiry reports” Got to be done before the Sunday papers get their teeth into it – won’t stop ‘em but the Judicial Inquiry provides a valid make shift defense. I bet Campbell’s doing his pieces on the phone from the Far East 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/27 "2003-07-19T02:44:23Z")
**kabbes** , please don’t think I’m without sympathy, but **feeling** that suicide is the only viable option and having it **be** the only viable option are not the same. I understand how you must have **felt** ; however, if you had committed suicide and someone close to you had posted here about it, I would not have said, “Oh, good, s/he made the right decision.” It is never the right decision; it is never justifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/28 "2003-07-19T10:04:02Z")
Yes L\_C, it’s Bliar’s classic strategy. And you can be damn certain that the remit of the enquiry will be extremely limited. I predict that an enquiry will find the government ‘…not to have acted improperly’, even though I doubt the enquiry will be allowed to ask if this was possibly the case. "…cleared on all counts…unfortunate events…recommend guidelines for questioning of civilians…etc etc’ Didn’t Woy Jenkins’ commission report that we should get PR or something? I wonder where that’s gathering dust? Disillusioned? Me? ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/29 "2003-07-19T10:06:07Z")
Ah, here we are > [@](#): > > With the Cabinet’s backing after a 20 minute discussion, Mr Blair called for a period of national deliberation, but refused to set a timetable. I’m mixing up my Roy’s too :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/30 "2003-07-19T10:21:19Z")
**Andy** - unprecedented times, but I think you can probably risk a little more faith in the UK system of democracy. Very early days but I suspect something greater than even this Blair Administration has now been stirred into action; Parliament as a body and the sense of duty and/or responsibility those representatives currently in the Commons must now feel very for the institution itself. The Blair Administration got itself in the position (over Iraq) where it had no choice but to take the piss, and then tried to avoid the consequences. Parliament’s not having that, IMHO, and there’s enough time for Gordon Brown to get his feet comfortably under the table before the next election. The Parliamentary Labour Party can afford to drop Blair and not lose a stride. Also, if Blair is to go, loyalists will start the process of ever-so-slightly distancing themselves from the official line over the summer in preparation . . . . To slightly paraphrase what the man said this week to the US Congress; “History will judge us”. Yep, I believe it will. He’s in big, big trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/31 "2003-07-19T10:30:36Z")
It does seem like the healthy cynicism most people have of politicians is turning a little darker IMO. I wonder if the best thing that could happen (and I think quite a possibility if Brown gets in) is to have a hung parliament next time around? Of course if I had my way, we’d have a dicatatorship. The only way to avoid short termism and stop politicians trying to do jobs for which they have no talent. Out of necessity, I will allow my name to go forward as the dictator 😉 ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/32 "2003-07-19T11:04:24Z")
Assuming Blair does go, I’d hazard the manner in which he goes has to contribute to how the Brown Administration is perceived by the electorate. If it’s a clean break, Brown could even be seen as providing the New Labour Project with a second wind; we could all soon be believing the New Jerusalem is barely around the next corner . . . . \ But, of course, we’re in the realm of blind speculation. I would say, however, a hung Parliament (next time) would require an historic loss of seats – that’s an awful lot of New Labour blood on the carpet and I don’t believe they’re as stupid as were the Tories over, say, Euro scepticism. But who knows . . .interesting days indeed . . . . Well done on putting your name forward, how about sending Sven to Tyburn and giving me the slot - I promise I won’t play a flat back four ? ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/33 "2003-07-19T11:51:22Z")
The new UK dictator code states, part VI, subsection XXII, rule 9 > [@](#): > > VI/XXII/9: A flat back four is the preferred formation in association football. This is a dictatorship. I’ll leave you to work out what _preferred_ means;) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/34 "2003-07-19T13:05:03Z")
Latest: Dr. Kelly bled to death from cut wrists. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/35 "2003-07-19T14:50:05Z")
Poor bastard. [Friends and colleagues have been paying tribute to Dr David Kelly.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3079775.stm) **Scott Ritter** , who worked with him as part of the UN weapons inspections team in Iraq, said he was a man of “integrity, character, and somebody who cared deeply about his country”. Mr Ritter, who lead the UN inspection team up until it left Iraq in 1998, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Dr Kelly was somebody who had doggedly pursued the Iraqi biological weapons program and who had never caved in to pressure. He said: "My experience of David is that he is a man who does his job and does it quietly. “While a gentle man, he had a core of steel in him. I’ve seen him interact with Iraq government officials; there was no give in this man.” \*Mr Mangold \*said Dr Kelly had not been particularly interested in journalism or journalists. “He was passionately interested in what happens in Iraq,” he said. “That was one of the reasons why Saddam Hussein wanted him out more than anybody else.” ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/36 "2003-07-20T11:22:52Z")
The BBC now says Kelly was their source for the discredited claim that the government “sexed up” the intelligence report. [http://herald-sun.com/firstnews/37-372739.html](http://herald-sun.com/firstnews/37-372739.html) The BBC had not made this claim when Kelly was alive. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/37 "2003-07-20T11:37:37Z")
You are a despicable excuse for a human, **december**. “Blame the corpse”? “The BBC had not made this claim when Kelly was alive.” Did it ever cross your mind that the BBC was _protecting_ Kelly? Fucking asshole. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/38 "2003-07-20T11:59:38Z")
Everyone knows he has his own agenda in relation to the not-biased-enough-to-my-people BBC but this is deeply offensive on a variety of levels. In the same way Opal Cat doesn’t mean to make a buck via this board, december doesn’t mean to troll . . . Just ban the trolling, parasitic scum, please. ---
**Author:** ![ramesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ramesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramesh)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/39 "2003-07-20T12:14:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*You are a despicable excuse for a human, **december**. > > “Blame the corpse”? “The BBC had not made this claim when Kelly was alive.” > > Did it ever cross your mind that the BBC was _protecting_ Kelly? Fucking asshole. \*\* I second this post. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359/40 "2003-07-20T12:17:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*The BBC now says Kelly was their source for the discredited claim that the government “sexed up” the intelligence report. [http://herald-sun.com/firstnews/37-372739.html](http://herald-sun.com/firstnews/37-372739.html) The BBC had not made this claim when Kelly was alive. \*\* **december** , you have got this totally and utterly arseways. The Beeb was keeping Kelly’s identity _hidden_. That is one of the reasons for the government’s anger - they were applying pressure for Gilligan and the BBC to break journalistic integrity by naming the source. They refused to do this, and the reason they have _now_ revealed that Kelly was the source is that Kelly’s family gave them permission. Furthermore, the “sexed up” claim is not in the least bit “discredited”. Like the attempt at spin there, though - worthy of Alaister Cambell. Finally, a little poll: who do we believe? Kelly or Campbell. I bet you can guess what I think… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blair-avoids-criticism-throws-advisor-to-the-wolves/189359.md?page=3)