There have been attempts in the past to whitewash Britainâs role in the Iraq war, with some eager to claim Tony Blair was tricked or âdupedâ into the conflict by Washington. Yes, Colin Powell iconically waved a vial of anthrax around at the UN in 2003, warning of Saddam Husseinâs non-existent WMDâs â but Blairâs government concocted its own set of fabrications. Blair was not tricked or duped, he was a willing architect, who enthusiastically spun lies for Bush. The 2016 Chilcot report revealed that when then foreign-secretary Jack Straw was advised that the evidence against Iraq âwould not convinceâ the public of an imminent threat, publication of the government's intelligence report was postponed until juicier details could be dreamed up. Later, the Hutton inquiry revealed that Straw had been instrumental in âhardening upâ the now-infamous âdodgy dossierâ with what his private secretary referred to in a 2004 email as the âkiller paragraph.â That dossier, overseen by Blair spin-doctor Alistair Campbell, included the false claim that Iraq could launch a chemical weapons strike against Britain within â45 minutes.â When the BBC revealed that the document had been âsexed upâ to convince the public to support the war, Blairâs government set about ruining the life of top weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly, the man who had revealed their deceit to the BBC. Kelly was later found dead, officially from suicide, though some still believe his death was suspicious.
Danielle Ryan, 'US lapdog Jeremy Hunt prepping British public for war with Iran, just in case Trump asks', RT
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The once amicable BBC-Westminster relationship changed dramatically when the UK went to war in Iraq, citing 45 minute launch-strike capability of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) as justification.
On John Humphry's radio show, journalist Andrew Gilligan produced a report which suggested that the New Labour government knew that the 45 minute estimation was wrong, as Dr. David Kelly's research suggested. Kelly was a senior Weapons Inspector at the UN. This suggested that potential lies had been told on a governmental level. The Blair government & then-Press Secretary Alastair Campbell had issues with Gilligan & the BBC's contrariness. Director General of the time, Greg Dyke, stepped into defend Gilligan, his report and this had galvanised the BBC into a rebellious denier. Kelly, following intense scrutiny & pressure from politicians, media and secret service alike, was found dead soon after the antagonism had begun.Â
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair instigated the Hutton Inquiry, which led to BBC and Gilligan being condemned and the BBC dropped him and Dyke. It was later found that the Gilligan/Kelly Report had been right in it's conclusions. The British state could not openly admit they'd falsified justification for war, and punished the BBC. Â
The 2003 Hutton Inquiry later acquitted the Blair government of any guilt and the BBC shrunk away, losing Dyke in the process. Â Barnett describes this result as being âstrung up on the rackâ, pointing out the fact that âwe now know the story was wholly accurate and well sourcedâ, and describes he BBC as being âmassively punishedâ [1]. Â Â Â
The BBC, now more sheepish and risk averse than before struggle in a world where everyone is seemingly against them. The reaction was the creation of the BBC Trust, replacing the board of 'audience guardians' with more of a concentration on business  strategy.  The Trust enforces 'purpose remits' and uses a 'performance Measurement Framework', which assesses âReach, quality, Impact & Value for moneyâ. OFCOM also assesses 'Public Value' assessments of any commercial venture by the BBC. The Trust has to regularly report to select committee & the EU monitors their output from a fair trade context. The Trust is a heavily bureaucratised body, with Independent & external stakeholders. These stakeholders increased demands for both financial and cultural goals, while giving the aforementioned regulatory bodies greater power, so as to assure they reach their goals.
It is worth noting that the Director General is appointed by the Trust, which in turn is appointed by the Queen (on advice from Government ministers). The Queen is appointed by no-one, and this could easily be argued to represent undemocratic practice on an institutional level.Â
Beyond the Trust, the corporation now felt it was mistaken to broadcast the Gilligan item, despite it's veracity. The BBC had been âbullied and bent to the will of a  duplicitous political classâ . Indeed, the BBC began to believe that just because a story was true didn't mean it should run, and âmight even be a good reason not toâ.  Â
The BBC lagged behind the crowd with the Expenses and Banking scandals and was largely left alone, but when they covered the Saville case, they were punished. The BBC is now damned if they do, damned if they don't, and the fall out from the Hutton Inquiry led to a BBC which no longer seeks the truth, but manages it.
Molyneux states that if the Media fails to fulfil the service of âsystematic legitimationâ, then the State âas guardian of the overall interests of the Capitalist Class, intervenes to rein it inâ(2010, pg.74) [2] Â This accusation of the State's character as the aforementioned guardian is supported by Marx, who states that the âideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideasâ and that the âruling material force, is at the same time the ruling intellectual forceâ. (cited in Molyneux, 2010, pg.74).
[1]. Â Barnett, A. 2014. Truth and the BBC | openDemocracy. [online] Available at: http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkin...Â
[2]. Â Molyneux, J. 2011. Will the revolution be televised?. London: Bookmarks.
On Monday 11th July 2011, the day after the News of the World published its final issue, Tony Blair spoke to Rebekah Brooks in what Brooks says was an hour-long phone call, and Brooks summarised the phonecall in an email to James Murdoch:
â1. Form an independent unit that has an outside junior counsel, Ken Macdonald, a great and good type, a serious forensic criminal barrister, internal counsel,âŠ
