Talk:Alastair Campbell

Please help. I tried to ‘Add topic’ but it will not work
To 2A02:C7C:3638:FF00:809A:248E:D940:BD40 (talk) 12:25, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

This article is a mess
Can someone who knows Campbell's career well please overhaul this mess? The headings make no sense, the structure is all over the place, there is loads of repetition and not enough citation. It looks like it has never had any tlc or, at least, not for many years. Even the talk page is a mess - has nobody been watching? Anna (talk) 12:57, 29 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Agreed, but why have you deleted literally everything in the talk page? Ellwat (talk) 14:21, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Nothing has been deleted. It's all been archived? Martinevans123 (talk) 14:27, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Oops, my mistake, you're right. Ellwat (talk) 14:28, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
 * All those External links checks could have been deleted! Might make the Archive easier to navigate? Martinevans123 (talk) 14:34, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

As part of a very overdue clean up and on the question of removing highly detailed elements, like where a car was parked or who visited Campbell in hospital: WP is an encyclopedia and strives for that neutral, impersonal and concise perspective. You can ask: "would Britannica include details of who visited him in hospital?" No, indeed. You could also imagine heads of state, nobel laureates, heads of publishing houses, PMs, school children in Gambia reading the article. Is it relevant for them to know where a car was parked? Not really.
 * WP:NOTEVERYTHING Information should not be included in this encyclopedia solely because it is true or useful.
 * WP:SOAPBOX WP is not here for advocacy.
 * WP:BLP : Biographies of living people are special cases where WP have to be very careful. They can be sued if inaccurate info is given or dodgy sourcing is used. To support the project we give the best, strongest and most consistent sources we can. It's a policy issue. I hope that helps to explain the editing decisions. Anna (talk) 14:50, 29 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Martin, I have now removed the botchecks from the archived talk page as requested. Anna (talk) 15:05, 29 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Many thanks, Anna. And I'd say if it had been just me visiting, then probably not. But someone like the Pope might just make it? (especially if the St Peter's taxi was parked up on double yellows...) Martinevans123 (talk) 15:08, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I this about the Gambian school children? (# confused). Anna (talk) 15:12, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Don't worry, just ignore me. I agree with your trimming. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:18, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

Hutton Inquiry
The article currently reads:

I've read the source, and all it says is that Campbell's diary reads: "It was double-edged but GH (Geoff Hoon) and I agreed it would fuck Gilligan if it was his source." and that there was a discussion whether to release Kelly's name.

I am not that familiar with the topic, but this seems like a fairly large factual error to me. I'm going to change it now, but the article should be looked at quite thoroughly, in my opinion. JackTheSecond (talk) 20:51, 29 March 2024 (UTC)


 * I've read on it for a bit now and the issue seems to have arisen in the wake of the Iraq War, when the media and the public came to be aware that someone had lied over the justifications of the Iraq War--but nobody quite yet knew who exactly...
 * Please check my work, I really think it's too long. JackTheSecond (talk) 02:18, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
 * @DuncanHill I gave it another go, it's still awfully long, but better sourced and more balanced. I introduced nuance to what was there and tried to squeeze the whole of the media row at the time into two paragraphs. JackTheSecond (talk) 11:10, 1 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your overhaul. Anna (talk) 23:19, 3 April 2024 (UTC)