The prime minister has been accused of trying to "muscle in" on the funeral arrangements to give himself a more prominent role in the events.

Veteran Labour MP Tam Dalyell has joined calls for Mr Campbell to quit, saying his decision to go to the Press Complaint Commission (PCC) over reports that Downing Street sought an enhanced role for Mr Blair at the Queen Mother's lying-in-state was "barmy".

Mr Dalyell's attack comes as the prime minister attempts to head off the growing criticism that his government is obsessed by "spin".

Do you think the government relies too much on spin? Should Alistair Campbell resign? Does this row really matter?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

The right-wing press which has, rather perversely, assumed the role of the official opposition, really should reflect on this: the problem they have with the government is that Labour have cunningly turned to their advantage the many undesirable precedents that the Tories set whilst in power. The Tories did it all without hardly a whimper from the right-wing press, but for some reason Labour aren't allowed to. After all, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander isn't it?
Steve, UK

The media should stop attacking Tony Blair and concentrate on the real issues

Rick Muir, UK

This is an utterly irrelevant issue. I am a Councillor and what matters to the people I represent is the fact that they live in poor housing, they want jobs and they want the government to support a living wage. The Labour government has helped a lot and I want to encourage it to go much further. The right wing press want to discredit the government over this issue. The media should stop attacking Tony Blair and concentrate on the real issues affecting peoples lives - the need for more social housing, decent wages and good public services - areas in which the government has made improvements, but where they need to go much further.
Rick Muir, UK

Yes, it does matter. At issue is not whether Tony Blair has a greater or lesser role at the funeral, which is a quite trivial point (except, perhaps, to Mr. Blair) but whether he, or his office (for which he is surely responsible) have lied. If they have lied, or tried deliberately to mislead, then the Prime Minister cannot be trusted, and that is surely more serious than the latest spin concerning the health service, transport policy, or whatever.
M Bellinger, U.K.

The only people who seem to care about this are the newspaper people - no one else gives a damn. Why would anyone want a "role" is someone else's funeral for goodness sake? I think this is all morbid nonsense.
George, UK

What a tragedy that such a solemn and religious occasion as the funeral of the Queen Mother should have been tarnished for ever in our national memory by this unseemly row.
Chris Gillibrand, England

Why all the fuss now?

Tamara K. Winfrey Bennett, USA

Oh, please! Who really cares if Tony Blair played a prominent role in the funeral of the Queen Mother? He played a prominent enough role in the funeral of the Princess of Wales in 1997 and no one seemed to care about that? Why all the fuss now?
Tamara K. Winfrey Bennett, USA

What is chilling and significant is how it appears that anyone with a voice of dissent to the Government is assumed to be motivated by politics first and stating the facts second - that they just must be wrong or misguided. So much for democratic debate.
Caroline, UK

Surely the media need to take responsibility in reporting news rather than allowing a public slanging match between politicians who have no reasonable arguments to present. The public, for their part, should ignore mud slinging and avoid newspapers or broadcasts that focus on it.
Christopher Laird, Japan

Give Mr Blair and his team some credit for a change

Andrew M, UK

More smear by the very right-wing press and their super-rich owners against our democratically elected prime minister. Government "spin", i.e. managed news has to exist because of such horrible bias. Give Mr Blair and his team some credit for a change. Everybody knows it will take a generation to get the country back on its feet.
Andrew M, UK

Since half the people in No. 10 appear to be unelected, it's interesting to speculate on the rights and wrongs of the equally unelected right-wing press trying to knock them off one by one.
Guy Chapman, UK

Alistair Campbell should definitely go, and he should never have been "there" in the first place. He is unelected, unaccountable to the electorate and unanswerable to Parliament. He should go and go fast. I voted for Labour in 1997 and toyed with voting for them in the last general election. I am now completely fed up with their cronyism and would like to see nothing more than to get them out of government, if only that didn't mean putting the Tories in.
Reg Whitworth

I think he is right to point out that the stories are untrue

Marc, Sweden

Some right-wing newspapers publish offensive lies about the Prime Minister and people are surprised that he is upset by this. I think he is right to point out that the stories are untrue - I would if somebody wrote something untrue about me. Most of the British media serve not to inform the public but act as a propaganda tool for the Tory party.
Marc, Sweden

This is a small issue that unfortunately is a symptom of a much bigger problem. This country is effectively run by Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell. Policy is defined not according to the needs of the country but the need for President Blair to look good.
Mark Rillands, UK

Aren't we living in a wonderfully idyllic world, where according to many newspapers the most important news item is whether Tony Blair was going to walk or be driven to the Queen Mothers' funeral. That must mean that all of the problems in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Northern Ireland.... etc must have been solved whilst I wasn't watching.
Tim Pile, UK

Had they just ignored the one or two paper stories it would have been forgotten before most of us ever heard about it

James, England

Blair and his cronies have become so arrogant so quickly they really don't think they should be criticised and thereby have lost the ability to spin the media. Had they just ignored the one or two paper stories it would have been forgotten before most of us ever heard about it.
James, England

Given the shabby way the press treated Michael Foot over the "donkey jacket at the Cenotaph" incident, and the Spectator's leanings, I'd say take it all with a pinch of salt! I've no great affection for Tony Blair but he is the leader of the country after all - he is entitled to shape his role in state events. Can't let royalty walk all over you!
Max Blinkhorn, UK

I'm quite simply fed up with those that 'spin' every story into a circus for their own political agendas... oh, and I'm quite annoyed at the Government as well.
Daniel, England

To say the Government relies too much on spin is a massive understatement - the Government is nothing BUT spin. From Tony's posing with Albanian children in Kosovo to his pathetic 'mug of tea and woolly jumper' routine when baby Leo was born to this latest effort to muscle in on the Queen Mum's funeral, our PM (or more precisely his obnoxious side-kick) never misses a trick when it comes to getting his picture in the paper.
Mick, UK

I was quite depressed when I heard this story on Radio 4 Today this morning. The knives are out for one Labour grandee after another. The UK media is obsessed with knocking people off pedestals that they have put them on. Either we accept that a political party will wish to control and manage the flow of information to the media and public, or we stand there and accuse them of not telling us what is happening. I do not believe that this is a story worth giving air time to. This is ONE error that Campbell has made - not reason enough for him to resign, surely?
Kate Lovegrove, UK

What a lot of hot air over nothing. There was a mess-up. Who cares? It's trivial.
Em, England

What on earth are they concealing?

TP, UK

The government is accused of bullying the media, lying and putting pressure on a civil servant to agree with the government's story. If they're willing to go to these lengths over something so inconsequential then what on earth are they concealing of far greater importance? It seems to me that their credibility diminishes by the day as fewer and fewer people can believe a word they say.
TP, UK

Yes, yes and yes. This row really matters simply because, to misquote - "Methinks they do protest too much."
Derek Thornton, England

What a tedious episode! It seems the only newspapers interested in fuelling this story are The Spectator and one or two right wing others - now why might that be?
Robert Crosby, Nottingham, UK

Media scrutiny is so intense that spinning is becoming more and more transparent

Graham, Poland

Governments have always spun! Methods may have been changed, but the 'battle-for-hearts-and-minds' is as old as politics itself. The difference is that in the past, governments have had more room to manoeuvre. Media scrutiny is now so intense that the process of spinning is becoming more and more transparent. And all the tricks of image control are on display; burying, profile enhancing, smearing, leaking, lying etc. It's a bit like the Wizard of Oz; we can now see the little man behind the curtain; and it's all a bit pathetic.
Graham, Poland

Blair should keep out of matters to do with the personal lives of the Royal Family. He should concentrate on delivering his promises to the nation. I won't hold my breath.
Ken Smith, England

I am afraid that I do not believe anything Mr Blair says any more. I can well imagine him wanting a starring role at the Queen Mother's funeral. That is simply inexcusable.
Monica Gould, UK

Although a relatively minor issue, it once again highlights the problem at the very heart of this immoral government. It could well be that Blair and Campbell will fall on their own swords!
John, UK

This is just another example of Tony Blair trying to gain support from non-political events. He still had a part in the funeral, but he wanted more. He wanted to capitalise on the popularity of the monarchy, despite leading the most republican government since Oliver Cromwell.
Chris Hawes, UK

This just illustrates the arrogance of this government

Nigel, UK

In this case it was never really the government's business to have any part in the lying-in-state and funeral unless invited by the Palace. This just illustrates the arrogance of this government, and now it is coming back to haunt them.
Nigel, UK

This would never have happened if the Labour party hadn't established the environment that supports spin in the first place. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Brian, UK

This is a right Royal storm in a Royal tea cup. The government certainly relies too much on spin, but it still seems logical to me that the Queen's First Minister should have a high profile role during the funeral arrangements of any Royal. So why all the fuss?
Graham Rodhouse, The Netherlands

Yes, it matters. Labour are all talk, and talk is cheap. The fact that they sought to cheapen an event like The Queen Mother's funeral is shameful. This kind of thing is outside Parliament's business, and Tony Blair is not the King. He should pay some respect to the modern monarchy that allows him to carry out his job. Add to this the fact that he's not even a very effective prime minister, and it doesn't really make sense why anyone votes for him!
Russ, UK

Tony Blair must be having a good week if this is all that they can come up with!
James Tandy, UK

The government is finally coming to realise that spin is a double edged sword

John, Wales, UK

The government is finally coming to realise that spin is a double edged sword. Yes the government can "spin" the news in its own favour but don't think for one moment that the public and press don't realise what's happening. The truth of the matter is that whatever the government says, whether it be truth or lies nobody believes them anymore. If there is good news then look for the bad story the government is burying. If there is bad news then the government is obviously playing down its seriousness.
John, Wales, UK

I am no fan of Blair, but these allegations seem a bit ludicrous. The Tories were hammered at the last two elections because people didn't think they were a party that cared about the real issues of health, education, transport and so on. The more time they spend scoring petty points like this the lower they go in my estimation. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to attack Blair and this government and its disappointing performance without having to scrape the barrel with this storm in a tea cup row over nothing important.
Jon Cooper, UK

No of course it doesn't matter where Tony Blair wanted or didn't want to stand at the QM's funeral. But I think it does matter that the government is so obsessed by its media image that it actually changes policy or tactics to improve this, and bypasses Parliament in making new announcements.
Michael, UK

The PM needs to get his priorities right. Get tangible improvements to the transport system (especially the trains), health service and postal service, and any minor issues like this will become forgivable. His post-election victory speech was all about delivering on his promises - if Tony doesn't start soon the press will be calling for more resignations, including his own.
Mike Parker, England