Which reporter claimed on the BBC ‘Today’ programme in 2003 that the government had ‘sexed up’ a dossier about Iraq?
BBC controversies television programme "Blue Peter", Richard Bacon, was in the headlines when it emerged he had taken cocaine. He was released from his BBC contract immediately. In May 2003, the defence correspondent of the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme, Andrew Gilligan, quoted a government official who stated that the British government had "sexed up" a dossier concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, against the wishes of the intelligence services. A newspaper report claimed that Alastair Campbell (the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy), was responsible. The government strongly denied the claims and this prompted an investigation by parliament. A
Sexed up he stated that an unnamed source, a senior British official, had told him that the September Dossier had been "sexed up", and that the intelligence agencies were concerned about some highly dubious information contained within it—specifically the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of an order. The dubious information was used to make a case for urgent action and to justify the war with Iraq. Sexed up Sexed up refers to making something more sexually attractive. Since 2003 it has been used in the sense of making something more attractive than it really