Campbell: PM is doing what he thinks is right

Alastair Campbell broke his silence over Iraq yesterday to insist that Tony Blair would not be deflected by the public hostility to his handling of the crisis.

No 10's director of strategic communications said: "The charge against Tony has been for years that all he does is consult spin doctors and focus groups. He's a person with very strong beliefs who believes in doing what he thinks is right ... trying to get Iraq disarmed peacefully through the UN."

Mr Campbell told LBC 97.3 Radio that the Government was not ignoring the anti-war marchers, but was equally committed to confronting the issue of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Campbell said: "People underestimate the extent to which senior politicians are actually driven by wanting to do the right thing."