Born 1957. Journalist and author and former press secretary to Tony Blair as Leader of the Opposition (1994-97) and as Prime minister (1997-2000). From 2000-2003, he was director of communications for the Labour Party (2000-03). Before 1994, he had been political editor of Today newspaper and the Daily Mirror. Campbell gave detailed testimony on the political media and what he saw as the decline of genuine investigative journalism and the increasing tendency of owners, editors and senior journalists to wish to be political players. Embellishment and pure invention were tolerated and encouraged by some editors and owners, he said.
Father of Diane and Alan Watson, who each died in separate, tragic circumstances. A Core Participant Victim, Watson argued that the press coverage of 16-year-old Diane's murder in the playground at school directly contributed to the later suicide of his son Alan. James Watson gave a brief statement to the Inquiry.
Mother of Diane and Alan Watson who both died in separate, tragic circumstances. Watson has argued that the press coverage of Diane's murder in the playground at school aged 16 directly led to the later suicide of their son Alan. She told the Inquiry that current defamation legislation left families of murder victims unable to challenge malicious falsehoods about the bereaved.
