*Ø* Blogmanac| Campbell quits

"Alastair Campbell has announced he is to leave his Downing Street job in a shock move mid-way through the Hutton inquiry. His place will be taken by David Hill, a former director of communications for the Labour party.

"Despite early indications that Tony Blair's director of communications would be exonerated by the judicial inquiry, it was always suspected he would leave the government after the affair."

Source

"It points the finger at Tony Blair because he (Campbell) worked under Blair's regime.

"Blair is responsible ultimately for the loss of trust because he allowed the methods Campbell employed to operate.

"I think we have seen it from the beginning, this absolute obsession with the media ... We have seen it repeatedly, the way in which these methods have been employed. It is the ultimate in cynicism.

"They do have a strong bond and that makes Blair all the more culpable. We have seen the most appalling era of government communication."
The former press secretary to Baroness Thatcher, Sir Bernard Ingham