Alastair Campbell Claims Rupert Murdoch Pressured Tony Blair Over Iraq War

Rupert Murdoch has denied Alastair Campbell's claims that he put pressure on Tony Blair to speed up the UK's involvement in the war in Iraq. In the last volume of his diaries, Mr Blair's former spin doctor said the media mogul made a telephone call warning about the dangers of delaying Britain's involvement. The claim comes days after questions were raised about Mr Murdoch's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics that he had "never asked a prime minister for anything". But Mr Murdoch has backed his evidence, saying on Twitter: "I stand by every word I said at Leveson". Mr Campbell's book, The Burden of Power, Countdown to Iraq, suggests the press baron made moves to help US Republicans the week before the Commons vote in 2003 on deploying British troops to Iraq. Mr Murdoch and Mr Blair in Washington in 2008 On March 11 2003, he wrote: "(Tony Blair) took a call from Murdoch who was pressing on timings, saying how News International would support us, etc. "Both TB and I felt it was prompted by Washington, and another example of their over-crude diplomacy. "Murdoch was pushing all the Republican buttons, how the longer we waited the harder it got." The following day he added: "TB felt the Murdoch call was odd, not very clever."