Ex-BBC chief accuses Blair government of intimidation

The bitter row between the British government and the BBC exploded back into life on Sunday as the BBC8217;s outgoing head accused the government of trying regularly to 8216;8216;intimidate8217;8217; the state-funded broadcaster.

Throughout the Iraq war, PM Tony Blair8217;s then-information chief Alastair Campbell would fire off repeated written 8216;8216;rants8217;8217; complaining about the BBC8217;s news coverage, former director general Greg Dyke said. 8216;8216;What Campbell was clearly trying to do was intimidate the BBC so that we reported what he wanted us to report as opposed to what we wanted to report,8217;8217; Dyke told BBC television.

Dyke complained that Judge Hutton had failed to take into account the sheer volume of complaints the BBC received from Campbell, who stepped down as Blair8217;s chief spin-doctor for personal reasons last year.