Zia Yusuf Calls Alastair Campbell a ‘War Criminal’ to His Face on Question Time: ‘You and Your Old Boss Tony Would Be on Trial’

News | By Matt, Editor

Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf called Alastair Campbell a “war criminal” to his face on BBC Question Time on Thursday evening. He told Tony Blair’s former spin doctor that “if there were any justice in this country, frankly, you and your old boss Tony would be on trial” over the Iraq war. (Express via AOL, 29 October 2026)

The clash came after Campbell accused others of selling voters “a pack of lies” over Brexit. Presenter Fiona Bruce had to step in more than once. Yusuf’s clip of the exchange had been viewed more than 250,000 times on X by late Thursday. (Zia Yusuf on X, 29 October 2026)

Key facts

• Programme: BBC Question Time, Thursday 29 October 2026, from Warwick, the day after the Budget. Fiona Bruce presented. (BBC)
• Panel: Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds (Labour), Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge (Conservative), Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper, Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf and Alastair Campbell. (BBC)
• What Yusuf said: that people would “more aptly describe you as a war criminal” and that Campbell and Blair “would be on trial” if there were any justice. This is Yusuf’s opinion. Campbell has never been charged with any offence over Iraq.
• Campbell’s answer: “Six inquiries into it. Not one of them found that we lied.” (Express via AOL)
• The clip: Yusuf posted it at 21:51 on Thursday. By 23:15 it had more than 4,500 likes and 258,000 views. (X)

Watch the clash

How it started

Campbell said the public had been sold “a pack of lies” over Brexit. Yusuf cut in: “People watching this programme are going to be amazed, we’ve got Alastair Campbell talking about selling a pack of lies.” Bruce told both men to “hold your fire” because the next question was on that subject. (Express via AOL)

That question was: “Is Burnham playing with fire with possible EU free movement stance?” It follows Labour’s refusal to rule out free movement beyond this parliament.

What Yusuf said

Yusuf said he had to address “the fact that Alastair Campbell is calling other people liars”. He went on: “You were the person who presented a dossier to the British people, claiming Saddam Hussein could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. We now know there were no WMDs of any sort.”

“You deceived the British people because you and your old boss Tony Blair wanted to go to war with Iraq,” he said. He claimed that as a result “almost 180 British troops are dead” and “600,000 Iraqi civilians are dead”.

“There are people watching this who would disagree with you when you described yourself as a national treasure recently,” Yusuf said. “They would more aptly describe you as a war criminal. As a war criminal, Alastair. And if there were any justice in this country, frankly, you and your old boss Tony would be on trial.” (Express via AOL)

What the record shows

The Chilcot inquiry reported in July 2016. It found that the judgements about the threat from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction “were presented with a certainty that was not justified”. It also found that the UK joined the invasion “before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted”. (BBC News, 6 July 2016)

Chilcot said 179 British service personnel died before UK forces left in 2009. By July 2009, “at least 150,000 Iraqis – and probably many more – most of them civilians” had died. Yusuf’s figure of 600,000 is higher than Chilcot’s minimum, and estimates of the Iraqi death toll vary widely. Chilcot did not rule on whether the war was legal. (Irish Times, 6 July 2016; Guardian, 6 July 2016)

Campbell hits back

On air, Campbell said: “Six inquiries into it. Not one of them found that we lied. Not one.” He added that Blair was re-elected after Saddam Hussein fell. He then turned to Brexit, claiming it “has taken six to 8% out of the economy”. He also told Yusuf that “your party that you were in at the time” had “supported it”. Bruce told Yusuf: “You’ve made your point. Let him answer.” (Express via AOL)

After the show, Campbell wrote on X that it had been a “very enjoyable evening in Warwick with an audience clearly supporting the idea that Brexit was a disaster and net zero is the only way to go”. He said everyone drank to Daisy Cooper’s health afterwards “apart from @ZiaYusufUK who legged it with his status symbol bodyguard”. He also claimed Yusuf “did not make a single positive argument for Brexit” and mocked his “very weak handshake”. (Alastair Campbell on X, 29 October 2026)

Lib Dem Daisy Cooper said it was “depressing” to hear “a debate that is rerunning the arguments” of the Brexit war during a cost of living emergency. Earlier, Yusuf had posted that Cooper “claimed the reason there’s a housing shortage in Britain is because of Airbnb”. (Express via AOL; Zia Yusuf on X, 29 October 2026)

Reform UK response

Posting the clip, Yusuf wrote: “Alastair Campbell did not appear to enjoy being called a war criminal to his face. The truth hurts.” (Zia Yusuf on X)

Reform UK’s official account shared the exchange: “Watch Zia Yusuf dismantle the lies and hypocrisy of Alastair Campbell. Labour couldn’t be trusted then and they cannot be trusted now.” (Reform UK on X, 29 October 2026)

Yusuf has taken on Labour over Brexit before, accusing Andy Burnham of a Brexit U-turn after the Makerfield by-election, and has attacked the firms making big profits from asylum contracts.

Our view

This section is opinion.

Alastair Campbell has made a second career out of calling Brexit a disaster and its backers liars. Hearing him lecture anyone about honesty is too much for millions who remember the dossier and the funerals that followed.

No court has convicted Campbell of anything, and readers can judge Yusuf’s language for themselves. But Chilcot was clear that the case for war was presented with a certainty the intelligence did not justify. The man who spun that case should not be the BBC’s go-to voice on who misled the public. Yusuf said what many viewers think, and the BBC audience heard it for once.

FAQ

Has Alastair Campbell ever been charged over Iraq?

No. Campbell has never been charged with any offence, and he says six inquiries found that the government did not lie. “War criminal” was Yusuf’s description, not a legal finding.

What did the Chilcot inquiry find?

It found that the threat from Iraq’s weapons was “presented with a certainty that was not justified”, that peaceful options had not been exhausted, and that post-war planning was “wholly inadequate”. It did not rule on legality. (BBC News)

Where can I watch the full programme?

The 29 October edition of Question Time is on BBC iPlayer. (BBC iPlayer)

Sources

• BBC, Question Time, 29 October 2026: programme page; BBC iPlayer
• Express via AOL, 29 October 2026: Question Time’s Fiona Bruce forced to intervene as Zia Yusuf and Alastair Campbell clash
• X, 29 October 2026: @ZiaYusufUK (clip); @ZiaYusufUK (Daisy Cooper); @reformparty_uk; @campbellclaret
• Chilcot inquiry findings, 6 July 2016: BBC News; Irish Times; Guardian
• Main image: Zia Yusuf at Reform UK’s rally at the NEC, Birmingham, 30 June 2024. Photo: Z979, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (public domain dedication).