Where do you stand on the issue of No 10 vs the BBC?

As somebody who opposed the war from the start I look in at this ongoing farce as a neutral observer. Once again the media village that surrounds Westminster get great pleasure from the 'process' and individuals rather than the real story.

Having seen what I have seen over the last week or so and watching the Select Committees it seems pretty clear that the ' 45 Minutes' is a genuine Intelligence briefing. That Alistair Campbell did not sex-up this part of the dossier.

But what fasciniates me is that the idea of sexing up an argument is a problem in the government. Our 24 hour media circus sexes up EVERY story they got hold of. Every story is a crisis or a Minister in beleagured if they are ever criticised. To me the media are destroying politics in this country and it is one of the reasons that I would want to leave politics if I ever felt that I wasn't able to help people.

I have experienced the media pack for a week. With 160 requests in 24 hours for interviews, with rejection in the last few weeks if offerd an interview I wasn't prepared to attack the government. They have an agenda, there are hundreds of them and if they don't get their story they simply make it up. I have been quoted in newspapers as "He told us..." when I have never spoken to them and was even out of the country. I know politicians, pop stars, sports stars who have all ahd the same treatment.